CAIN chapter three

CHAPTER THREE

Outside the two guards had left. Sitting next to the door, slouched in a chair with his legs sticking straight out in front of him, Sam Archer was snoring. With his head bent forward, his arms folded on his chest, and his feet crossed, he didn't look comfortable at all.
Eve glanced at her wrist watch. It was 0410. She put her hand on Archer's shoulder. With a snort he jerked to a sitting position on the edge of the chair. He rubbed his hands on his face, and peered up at her blinking his eyes.
"What time is it?" He asked. "Are you finished?"
"Hardly," Eve answered. "It's a little after four."
"What's wrong? Has he said anything?" Archer asked as he pushed himself up from the chair.
"Nothing's wrong, Sam." Eve replied. "We need something to eat. I was wondering if it would be alright if we went to the mess hall, maybe make a stop at the restrooms along the way."
Archer considered the idea a moment and looked at the closed door.
"Are you sure that's a good idea? What if he tries to escape?"
"Sam, he isn't interested in escaping, but if we don't get him to a bathroom soon it's going to get messy. I know the kitchen is closed, but I think I can manage a couple of sandwiches on my own."
Archer rubbed his forehead. "What's he been telling you, Eve? Did you find out why..."
"Come on, Sam, we can talk about it at the mess hall. I want you to meet him. You are not going to believe this."
Eve opened the door behind her. She leaned in and motioned for Cain to come out. He got up from the chair and paused in the doorway looking at Archer.
Eve closed the door behind him, "Cain, this is Sam Archer, my boss."
Archer put out his hand and Cain shook it. "I saw you before during the medical exam. How are you?" Cain said.
"Yes," Archer replied, "I'm a little nervous about going to the mess hall. The cooks will be there in less than an hour to start preparing morning chow. Perhaps we can go to my office after we grab some food and talk there."
Cain looked at Eve. She nodded. "There's a restroom in the mess hall, you can use that one while I make sandwiches."

The mess hall was dark except for a single light left on in the kitchen area. Archer found the light switches inside the door, and turned them all on. He pointed to the right of the kitchen door. "The can is that door." He said.
Eve made her way between the rows of tables and chairs toward the kitchen. Archer followed her through the swinging double doors and stood behind her right shoulder as she looked around for the refrigerator.
"I don't like this, Eve." He whispered. "If he escapes, we are both going to be court-martialed."
Eve spotted the large stainless steel door of the refrigerator off to the left and walked towards it. "He isn't going to escape, Sam. I told you he isn't interested in that."
"How do you know that?" Archer exclaimed.
Eve pulled open the heavy door and, after examining the shelves, pulled out a platter of half eaten roasted chicken, and sat it on the counter. "Sam, for one thing he turned himself in. Second, even if he did want to escape we couldn't stop him. Hell, an entire platoon armed with machine guns and grenades couldn't stop him. Go look in the pantry and find the bread."
Eve returned to the refrigerator and grabbed a head of lettuce, a jar of mayonnaise and mustard and cradled them in her arm. "Do you want cheese?" She called out. "There's swiss and cheddar."
"Cheddar." Archer replied as he approached with a loaf of bread. "What did he tell you in the interrogation room?"
"Get them for me, will you?" Eve asked, as she put her armload on the counter next to the chicken. "I'll tell you everything I know when we get to your office. I'd hate for someone to overhear us if they walked in."
Archer snatched the two blocks of cheese from the refrigerator and closed the door with his elbow.
Just then Cain returned from the bathroom.
"Thank you, I really needed that." He said, as he approached the counter.
"See." Eve gloated, giving Archer a smug look.
"See what?" Cain asked.
"Oh, Sam thought you might try to crawl out the bathroom window." Eve confided.
"Not likely," Cain said. "It's entirely too small."
Eve and Archer froze and stared at Cain in disbelief.
Cain started laughing. "I'm sorry. I couldn't resist."
"Haha," Eve retorted. "Very funny. Do you want cheese on your sandwich?"
"Yes, thank you." Cain replied, "Swiss."
"Mustard? Mayonnaise?"
"Both. Do you have any tomatoes?"
"Tomatoes!" Eve exclaimed. "I knew I was forgetting something. Sam, would you mind?"
Archer had already turned back to the refrigerator. "Way ahead of you, sister." He opened the door, took a tomato from the crisper, and brought it back to the counter, letting the door swing closed on its own.
Finally, after preparing seven sandwiches, Cain had requested three, returning everything to where it came from, and turning off the lights, they left the mess hall and headed for Archer's office.

As they passed the block house Eve asked, "What happened to the guards, Sam?"
"I told them they could leave." Archer replied. "I said I would take charge of the situation."
"They didn't have a problem with that?"
Archer grinned. "Dr. Salanger. I'm the chief of staff here, and I'm a Colonel. When I give an order, people jump."
Eve grinned. She had thought of Sam Archer as a colleague for so many years that it had slipped her mind that he was a decorated war veteran. He had served his country, in the first world war, as a medic through two tours in Europe, and distinguished himself by earning several medals.
"Mr. Cain." Archer began. "Where are you from?"
"Just Cain, if you don't mind. I'm originally from the Middle East, but I've traveled most of my life."
Eve looked up at Cain's face, and he gave her a knowing smile. She wondered about all the places he had been, the things he had seen, the events he had witnessed. In a lifetime that spanned the whole of recorded human history he could have seen everything from the building of the pyramids, to the founding of America. He could have firsthand knowledge of events that contemporary scientists could only speculate about.
"How long have you been in the states?" Archer asked.
"I've lived here before for extended periods, but I've been here six years this visit."
"How long do you plan on staying?" Archer asked as he dug into his pants pocket, and pulled out his keys.
"Longer than I thought I was going to yesterday." Cain replied.
"Yes, that's one of the things I'd like to discuss with you," Archer said, as they approached the door to his office and he put the key in the lock. "How did you do that?"
Archer turned on the lights, while Eve skirted around him, and placed the tray of sandwiches on the table. Cain went to the couch and sat down.
"We forgot to get something to drink." Eve stated.
"There's plenty of coffee," Archer offered, "or I have tea."
"What kind of tea?" Cain asked.
"Earl Grey." Archer replied.
"I'll have tea."
Archer took the kettle from the table, and walked to a door by the couch. He opened the door, flipped the light switch, and entered the bathroom. "As I was saying, Cain, how did you manage to survive that explosion?" Archer asked from the sink as he filled the kettle with water.
"I can not die, Dr. Archer," Cain replied. "Apparently."
Archer shut off the water, turned off the bathroom light, and shut the door. "What did you say?"
"I can't die." Cain repeated.
Archer walked back to the table, set the kettle on a hot plate, and turned it on. "How is that possible?"
"Sam," Eve said, handing Archer a sandwich. "Ever read the Bible?"
"Of course, but," Archer paused, struck by a sudden realization. He looked at Cain, then looked at Eve, then looked back at Cain. Cain waved his hand in a gesture of resignation. Eve put Cain's three sandwiches on a plate and carried them over to him. "How...I mean, you..."
"Sam, have a seat, eat your sandwich, and then we'll explain. I still have a million questions of my own." Eve said, taking a bite of her sandwich.
Archer pulled the metal chair over to the couch, and sat down. He absently took a bite of his own sandwich, and stared at the floor. The kettle started whistling.
Archer took another bite of sandwich, got up and walked to the table. He set his sandwich down on the table and, turned off the burner. He filled two cups with water. He took two tea bags from a canister, and dropped one in each of the cups, then brought Cain a cup. He sat back down, and stared at the floor again.
"Sam." Eve said.
Archer looked up from the floor. His eyes were vacant.
"You left your tea and sandwich on the table." Eve said, pointing at the table.
"I did?" Archer asked, looking over at the table. "I guess I did." He got up and walked over to the table. He picked up the sandwich, and took a bite. He picked up the cup of tea, and walked back to his chair.
"It's the curse, right?" Archer asked.
"Yes." Cain replied, taking a sip of his tea. "This is good tea, doctor."
"Thank you," Archer said. "So the mark of Cain is..."
"Immortality." Cain finished.
"I never realized you were religious, Sam." Eve stated.
"I'm not, really." Archer replied, "Edna is the religious one in the family. Although after tonight I may reconsider."
Edna was Sam Archer's wife. Eve had known her almost as long as she had known Sam. It was Edna's custom to invite Sam's top students to Christmas dinner every year when he was teaching at the academy. She would spend all day cooking a giant turkey, as well as cornbread dressing, giblet gravy, deviled eggs, mashed potatoes, sourdough rolls, creamed corn, butter beans, and cranberry sauce. For desert there would be pumpkin and pecan pie. She was a petite woman with long dark hair, that she normally wore up in a bun, and warm brown eyes that sparkled when she smiled.
"How were you able to survive the flood?" Sam asked.
"Oh yes, the Great Flood." Cain smiled. "As I was telling Dr. Salanger earlier, the historical accounts in the Bible aren't completely accurate. There was a flood, but it wasn't quite as devastating as the Bible makes it out to be." Cain shoved the last bite of his first sandwich in his mouth, and picked up his second.
"Did you see it? The ark I mean." Eve asked.
Cain swallowed, and nodded, smiling. "It was a complete monstrosity. No one had ever seen such a thing. Everyone thought old Noah was crazy to even build it." Cain's smile faded from his lips. "Until it started raining, that is."
"I remember watching the animals enter the ark. It was unnerving to see lions walking side by side with antelope. Elephants, rabbits, bears, zebras, cattle, horses, sheep, goats, monkeys, giraffes, chickens, all marched side by side in pairs into that massive ship. No one could believe what they were seeing."
"After the door closed, and the storm broke, everyone ran for their homes. Within a week the entire village was under water. People sat huddled on their roofs. Others who owned fishing boats converted them into makeshift houseboats, they lasted the longest."
"How did you survive?" Archer asked.
Cain shrugged. "Unlike the rest, I didn't have to worry about drowning, or starvation. Like most of the people I climbed the highest mountain I could find. One hundred sixty four men women and children started up that mountain with me. By the time the water covered the peak I was alone."
"Then what did you do?" Eve asked.
"Just before the mountain submerged a boat drifted by. It was half full of water, the mast was torn off, and it was full of corpses, but it was salvageable. I threw the bodies overboard, dumped as much water out as I could, made a tent from what was left of the sail, and waited out the storm. It stopped raining a couple of days later. It was another month before I saw land."
"You went without food the entire time?" Archer asked.
"No, not the entire time. I managed to catch fish from time to time. Once an uprooted apple tree passed near the boat."
"You said the account in the Bible wasn't completely accurate," Archer said. "Apart from the amount of detail, your account is about the same."
"Some time later, I discovered the flood was a relatively localized event caused by an asteroid hitting the Atlantic Ocean. The tidal wave it created swept across Europe, Northern Africa, and reached as far inland as Central Asia. Heat from the asteroid boiled the ocean sending huge amounts of moisture into the atmosphere, causing it to rain. I'm sure this continent was similarly effected. However, there were parts of the world that were not flooded."
"So God didn't destroy the world with a flood." Eve said, sipping her coffee.
"He did, from Noah's perspective." Cain replied.
"Cain," Archer said. He paused trying to think of the best way to ask his next question. "Why did you kill your brother? And why were you singled out to be cursed like this?"
Cain looked at his feet. "The first question is simple. Jealousy. Abel was better at everything than I was. Everyone liked him better, even God. I lost my temper." Cain sighed. "As for the second question, Abel and I were the progenitors of our race. We were only the second generation. By killing my brother, with a single act of thoughtless, self centered violence, I altered the course of future history more than any person ever has, or will. The world would be a better place if Abel had lived."
The guilt and remorse in Cain's eyes was so profound, so mind numbingly deep, Eve could feel it.
"I got what I deserved." Cain stated. "Since that day, I have performed every penance God has asked of me. It is my responsibility to compensated for the wrong I did."
"I don't understand." Eve said.
"I think I do." Archer began, "Try thinking of it this way, Eve. Visualize an inverted pyramid. If you were to knock out one of the blocks near the top you might lose a few, but everything below that point would still be intact. If you knocked one out at the bottom, the entire pyramid would collapse. When Cain killed his brother he altered God's plan for the world, not to mention mankind, so drastically that, in order to get it back on course, he must perform duties to compensate for that one mistake."
"Very astute, Doctor." Cain said.
"I still don't get it. Maybe I'm just too tired to think in such abstract terms right now."
"Don't worry about it, Eve, it took me centuries to understand the significance of what I did."
Archer looked at his watch. "The sun will be up shortly. People are going to come looking for us, Especially you, Cain."
Cain smiled. "I doubt that."
"After what you did yesterday? I'd be surprised if the president hasn't heard of you by now."
"You forget, Doctor," Cain replied. "I'm a supernatural being. From the moment I turned myself in to the MPs a host of angels have been hard at work covering my tracks."
"How so?" Eve asked.
"I never really asked. They just do what they do."
"Incredible." Archer rubbed his hand across his mouth.
"What are you going to do now, Cain?" Eve asked.
"I could use some sleep." Cain replied.
"I think we all could." Archer added. "I'm giving you the day off, Dr. Salanger. Go back to your quarters, and get some rest."
"Will you be here when I wake up, Cain, or will I have forgotten you also?"
"I'm not going anywhere, Eve," Cain replied. "We have plenty of time."
Archer said. "Cain, you can stay at our house, I'm sure Edna wouldn't mind. Eve, can I give you a ride to your place?"
"No thanks, Sam, I've got my bike."
"Join us for dinner then?" Sam asked.
"I'd love to," Eve replied, smiling. "It's been a while since I had Edna's cooking, and I could use a home cooked meal."
"Good. Dinner starts at six o'clock. Be ready by five."