Chapter 61: Medicine and History

Chapter 61: Medicine and History

Hey, hey, hey! Welcome back to the program. I'm Mr. New Vegas, and you all look extraordinarily beautiful today. News story that just got slid across my desk - apparently, there've been numerous reports of explosions, off to the north-east of Vegas, in the vicinity around Nellis. Sounds like someone didn't see the signs, and wandered into Boomer territory again. With any luck, it was just a few fiends getting blown to smithereens. Well, that's all the news I have for you right now. Now it's time for some more classic tunes: It's Bob Crosby and the Bobcat's taking us "Way Back Home."

All my friends were gathered around a large guard tower when the Jeep got back to drop off Raquel and me; Raul pulled up alongside the Jeep, and ED-E was flying close behind. The guard tower was pretty close to the front gate, and when I looked around I realized...

"Hold up, my car is gone!" I shouted, jumping off the Jeep. "Where is it?"

"Some robots came 'round, a few minutes ago," Cass spoke up, leaning against the tower. "Four of'm. Picked it up, an' flew off."

"What?!" I looked around, trying to figure out where they might have gone. "Why?"

"Because I told them to retrieve it," Raquel said, stepping off the Jeep and following me. "Your car was leaking radiation. Before we left, I ordered a fireteam of Mr. Gutsy's from 5th Platoon to collect it, and move it to a place where the radiation can be contained."

"It was that bad, huh?" I asked. She nodded.

"You heard how frantically your Pip Boy's Geiger counter was ticking. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have work to do. Mother Pearl may have given you permission to stay, but I don't have the time to continue being your babysitter any longer."

"Wait, hang on! Before you go - Mother Pearl said you had a big problem?" Raquel rolled her one good eye, looking annoyed.

"A bug problem, yes," Raquel adjusted the strap on the rifle she was carrying. "Long story short, the power for the primary generator failed a few days ago. Giant ants tunneled into the generator room and set up a nest. I led a team down to exterminate them, but... we lost. Two dead, three wounded. I'm just glad the backup generators are still holding, otherwise the Homeland would be completely without power."

"You want us to deal with it?" I asked. Raquel shrugged her shoulders.

"Personally, I think it's more than a pack of savages can handle. But if you want to try and kill those ants and switch the power back on, fine."

"I think we can handle a few giant ants." Veronica shrugged away the sleeve covering up her power fist, and it let off a burst of steam.

"Sure. Anyone can handle a few... but there's more than a few down there. You want to commit suicide, go ahead and see for yourself. I will warn you: the ants must be eating gunpowder from the munitions down there, or... something. They exploded when Rico hit them with a flamethrower. Dizzy was using a laser pistol - same thing."

"What about bullets?" Boone asked. Raquel cocked her head to the side, thinking for a minute, and then shrugged.

"Can't say for certain. I ordered a retreat before anyone else died. As long as they're not incendiary rounds, I think you should be fine. Just don't hit any of the artillery shells down there." She stepped onto the back of the Jeep, but turned back to face us one last time. "Loyal's been working on some kind of weapon to use against them. Maybe you should check with him first." She banged on the side of the Jeep twice, nodded to the driver, and they sped off.

"So... guess we're stuck here for a while," I said with a heavy sigh.

"Well, you guys are," Raul said with a smile; he still hadn't gotten off his motorcycle. I just rolled my eyes.

"What's the move, Fisher?" Boone spoke up. "We gonna deal with the ants?"

"No... at least, not yet. I think we should hold off on that, at least until we talk to Loyal, like Raquel said."

"So, what then?" Arcade asked. I was surprised; I think this was the first thing he'd said since we'd crossed the artillery field.

"I think, before we do anything else, we should try and learn a bit more about the Boomers. If I remember correctly, Mother Pearl mentioned something about 'The Story' and a museum. I say we start there. Any objections?" Everyone looked to each other, but nobody spoke up. At least, not to disagree.

"Don't worry, Boss," Raul chimed in. "I'm sure the sudden tension in the air is just a passing thunderstorm."

The pack of us made our way across Nellis, wandering around as we tried to find the museum. It's not like we could ask for directions though - every time we saw any Boomers as we passed, they all seemed to vacate instantly as soon as we came into view. Since we didn't really have anything else going on, I decided to take this quiet moment and talk to Arcade. He was lagging behind, in the very back of the crowd.

"Hey," I said, slowing my pace enough to walk next to him.

"Oh, uhm... hello?" Arcade adjusted his glasses.

"You alright?" I asked. "You seem a bit distant."

"Just... thinking a bit."

"Anything you want to talk about?" I asked. Arcade shrugged.

"Well, why I'm following you, for one. I'm still... not quite sure why. I mean... no offense."

"None taken. I mean, it's kind of understandable - what did you say my offer was when you first joined up with me?"

"Appropriately resolute, and yet vague, I believe is what I said. The problem is, that hasn't really been enough lately. I mean, sure you helped The Kings sort out their differences with the NCR in Freeside, but... I mean, hell, this last plan you had may have worked, but it was insanely reckless, and put all our lives at risk. And for what? Because House told you to?"

"It was going to have to be done, sooner or later. Look, House..." I sighed, realizing that I was about to defend House, of all people. "He has a plan, and it involves keeping Legion on the other side of the river. We're going to need the Boomers' guns to help make that possible. This is going to keep innocent people in the Mojave from getting hurt by Legion - you know that. And be honest: working for House hasn't been all bad."

"Ehh..." Arcade pulled off his glasses, and rubbed the bridge of his nose. "Yeah... in all fairness, it has been nice to sleep in a real bed with real sheets and having food available on a regular basis, whenever I want. That's something not even the Followers have been able to provide, and something I haven't... I've not had that luxury for quite a while. But still... I don't think House has anyone's interests in mind except his own."

"Well, that much is true. And if it makes you feel any better..." I scratched the back of my head, trying my best to try and keep cool. "It's not like I have much choice in the matter."

"What do you mean?" Arcade looked over at me, concern etched on his features for the first time.

"Before Victor... escorted me back downstairs, House made something very clear. Something he wanted to make sure I always kept in mind: I can be replaced. I'm sure that if I keep fucking around like I have been, he's going to get rid of me. And, call it a hunch, but I bet it won't involve a pat on the head and a shove out the door."

"See, that's what I mean. And you're really willing to work for this man? Risk your life for him? He obviously doesn't care about you. He just sees you as a tool, not a person. You sure you want someone like that in control of the wasteland?"

"Yeah, well... what other choice do I have?" I said with a shrug. "I'm not going to let the Legion cross the dam. That's for... damn sure." I chuckled softly at the unintentional pun. "And... well, as far as the NCR goes, they're better than the Legion, but that ain't saying much. I just know that if I let them win control of the Mojave on their own terms, it isn't going to be any good for the people here, either."

"Don't let Boone hear you saying that," Arcade chuckled softly. "Still... I'm in full agreement with you there. I've seen enough of the NCR over the years to know that it's every single negative quality of the US before the Bombs dropped. It's bloated, it's inefficient, it's corrupt... The NCR gets an easy win against Legion without any consequences, it'll just keep going until it collapses in on itself."

"So, I've got three options, and they're all wrong." I laughed grimly. I shook my head a couple of times... and then, off to my left, a very large building caught my eye. I hadn't really noticed it until just now (since we were walking past it) but now that I was looking, I saw a sign written in big block letters on the overhang above the front doors: "Mike O'Callaghan Federal Hospital" and, on one of the pillars, a smaller sign: "Boomer Medical Station."

"Let's hear the rest of the story!" Veronica said. Both Cass and I looked over at her; she was leaning forward on the couch, resting her chin against her hands.

"Ah... heh... yes. Anyway!" Pete cleared his throat, and continued on with his story, pointing to the next part of the mural. This section of the painting showed several pods, and there were clouds floating above them. Inside the clouds, I could see pictures of pre-war jet fighters. "Nellis has revealed many secrets. It has taught us how to fly the bombers and the jet fighters once based here. And it has taught us how to find one!"

"And that is our story so far, for this last image is our future," Pete moved to the last part of the mural, and... it was a bit frightening in the implications. It was a painting of an old world bomber, flying above the landscape and dropping dozens upon dozens of bombs onto the landscape. Below it was a mass of vivid oranges and yellows ripping the ground to shreds in colorful explosions. "To restore the bomber, to fly the open skies in armored safety, raining high explosive ordnance upon ignorant savages - this is our destiny!"

Pete finished his story, and looked at the three of us sitting on the couch expectantly... I looked over to Cass, and then Veronica. By this point, even Veronica looked worried about their ambitions. Even so, all three of us (very slowly) started clapping... albeit, nervously. If Pete picked up on how awkward we all felt, he didn't show it. He just smiled warmly at us, with that goofy, gap-toothed grin of his.

"I'm very pleased that you listened to the whole story! Now that you know the story of our people, I'm sure you must have all sorts of questions!"

"I have a question," I said, thinking about his story. "Why did your ancestors leave the safety of a vault?"

"Oh, so you know about the Vaults! But then... well, of course you do." He looked down, and gestured at the Pip Boy on my arm; I didn't really have the heart to correct him. "Yes, we lived in one of the Vaults. Ours was numbered 34. In our Vault, everyone had guns - but the Overseer wouldn't let you fire off any of the really fun ones. I guess all the little pops and bangs at the firing ranges just got boring after a while."

"Yeah, I can understand that," Veronica said. "Any detonation with a yield of less than half-ton of TNT is pretty every-day."

"Hey, Shea, remind me - how much C4 did we use when we blew up th' Silver Rush?" Cass asked.

"Uh..." I had to think about that one. "I can't remember. Was it... I can't remember if it was ten packs or ten pounds."

"You know, I'm surprised Nellis was empty when your people found it," Veronica said. "Most old-world military bases I know about have been occupied by now."

"Several automatic warheads detonated here hundreds of years ago, leaving the base highly radioactive." Pete said - I think he must have meant atomic warheads... "The savages of the wastes, ignoramuses all, avoided Nellis by habit." I looked down at my Pip Boy, and thought back to when I popped the hood on my car.

"But your people all had Geiger counters built into your Pip Boys from your time in the Vault, though." I said. Pete looked impressed, and nodded at me.

"That's exactly right! You're very knowledgeable for a sav-" Pete coughed. "An outsider."

"How d'yall survive out here, totally cut off from everythin'?" Cass asked.

"Nellis is a completely self-sufficient community! We draw water from Lake Mead, solar arrays provide power, and we grow our own crops!" I really had to admire this kid. He was just so enthusiastic about everything!

"What about meat?" I asked. "Do you get any protein?" Veronica shook her head.

"Nah, it's not meat - we would've seen signs of brahmin or bighorners by now. If it's just crops, I'm guessing... soy? Legumes?" Pete nodded as she spoke.

"Indeed we do! Very impressive."

"Alright, here's a puzzler for you," Veronica said; apparently, she was really getting into the whole 'asking questions' thing. "I've read about Nellis. The Brotherhood has files on every old-world military installation from before the bombs. Nellis is an Air Force base. What are howitzers doing here?"

"Well, they weren't here originally. We found the guns at a huge weapon depot called Area 2, many miles north of here. It took many weeks to drag the guns and their ammunition back to Nellis - and it was the last time any of us set foot beyond our homeland."

"Alright, so that explains the howitzers," I said. "One thing I'm curious about, though: you said that Nellis taught you how to fly?" Pete nodded. "How? Is there like an AI on this base or something?"

"Oh no, nothing like that. When we finally restored power to the base, we learned that some elaborate chairs we'd been sleeping in were actually virtual reality simulators! We believe they were used to train combat pilots before the automatic warheads fell. We use them extensively. I alone have shot down over 500 Chines Xian-85 fighters, and flown over 1000 simulated sorties for the Lockreed F-42c!"

"An' th' bomber?" Cass asked. "Where'd you learn to find one'v those?"

"Loyal, one of our elders responsible for repairs in the maintenance wing, found a file somewhere on the base, complete with magazine articles, photographs, and a map even! It seems that a bomber - apparently the 29th of its kind, crashed in Lake Mead on July 21st, 1948. Just imagine... that's over 300 years ago! The photographs showed that it was basically intact, and the map tells us exactly where to find it. But we haven't left Nellis in decades."

"I can't imagine that would be easy to dredge up from the depths of that lake," I said with a chuckle. "You'd need a hell of a crane."

"No you wouldn't," Veronica said, shaking her head at me. "You'd just need to attach ballast to the plane to make it buoyant, and then those Mr. Gutsy's you have around could haul it back for repairs. If my math is right, based on what Raquel said earlier about having at least five platoons, that's going to be 50 robots, easy. That should be more than enough to carry a B-29."

"Yes!" Pete shouted, excitement spreading over his features. "In fact, that's exactly what Loyal has planned to do. You should definitely go talk to him!"

"Maybe we should," I said, pressing against my knees to help me get up. "Well, Pete, this has certainly been... educational."

"I'm glad you liked it!" Pete beamed at me. "I certainly wish everyone was just as interested in The Story as you are! Maybe I should act out the battles or learn how to throw my voice..."

"Hey, if y'keep it up, y'can prob'ly sell tickets!" Cass said, ruffling Pete's hair and making for the door.

"Thank you for sharing the story with us, Pete," Veronica said, smiling. "You know, thinking about what you said... there are a lot of similarities between the Brotherhood and the Boomers. It's... I didn't expect that." Veronica followed Cass.

"See you around, Pete. Thanks for the story." I said, giving him a very sloppy salute, touching two fingers to my right eyebrow, as I made my way to the door.

"See you later, alligator! Oh, wait!" Pete rushed off behind the bookcase. "Before you go, here!" He came back, holding something in his hands and presenting it to me. "Something to commemorate this suspicious day-" (did he mean auspicious?) "-of the first Outsiders to hear The Story!"

"What is it?" I asked, picking it up. It was a glass half-dome, with a white base that read "Nellis AFB" in big red letters. Inside the dome was some fluid, and a cutout of a Vault Boy, wearing a leather jacket and a peaked military cap. Behind him was a picture of the two large hangars, and a restored B-29 bomber flying in the air. There were several flecks of white... somethings floating in the water.

"It's a snow globe!" Pete said. "I made it! Give it a shake, and it looks like radioactive fallout! Do you like it?" I turned it upside down, and the flecks of white all moved around, making the inside look like it was snowing. Huh. That's a novelty.

"Thank you, Pete. This is... this is wonderful, thank you."

"So, do you guys want to check in with Loyal next?" I said, stepping out of the Boomer museum and putting the snow globe in my duster's pocket. "Maybe we can find out if that weapon he's building to fight the ants is actually a thing or not."

"Sounds good to me," Veronica said. Cass and Boone nodded, and ED-E beeped. Raul, on the other hand, was just looking up at the sky.

"Raul?" I asked. "You alright?"

"Okay," the ghoul said, looking down at me with a shrug. "So, maybe I was wrong about the thunderstorm thing. I admit it."