Chasing a Familiar Shadow

by Aman Gupta

  Emma’s phone still was unreachable when Joey tried to call. Morrow PD didn’t have the capabilities to track a phone. Eric and Kate were worried. Emily hadn’t told them about Vik’s plan when Eric had questioned her about Vik’s disappearance. They had been gone for two days, and the team didn’t have any clue as to their whereabouts. Eric had learnt about MSC from Fred and inquired with both Tyson and Willy about the surveillance footages to find out where Vik and Emma had disappeared. There were no anomalies found. Vik had remotely accessed the cameras to loop a previously recorded feed at a specific interval before leaving. They were effectively down for almost thirty minutes, which was enough time for him to disappear. A person with little technical expertise wouldn’t have been able to figure out the difference. Little did he know that Emma would follow her during that same period.

  “When did you last see her?” asked Eric.

  “We’ve through this at least a dozen times. I saw her leave for her home. The next morning, she didn’t show up at the precinct. Her phone hasn’t been reachable since then,” said Joey.

  “Someone must have seen her,” said Eric.

  “I asked around. No one knows,” said Kate.

  “One thing is for sure. Vik’s disappearance is connected to hers. Both of them disappearing at the same time can’t be just a coincidence,” said Eric. “But there was nothing in the cameras. Almost as if they knew where the cameras were.”

  “That’s not the question that I’m concerned about. What we need to know is whether they left willingly or someone took them,” said Kate.

  “Do you think Bill’s team is involved? They haven’t done anything ever since they showed up here. Hell, we got more work done in two days at Atlantis than they have done in the past week,” said Joey.

  “I can’t see a motive,” said Eric.

  “Yeah, Karen already has access to Vik’s files and lab. They don’t need us. We’re already out of their way,” said Kate.

  “Then what is it that we’re missing?!” said Joey as he slammed his fist on the wall in Eric’s office.

  “She’ll be fine,” said Eric. “Vik wouldn’t let anything happen to her.”

  “Are you sure? Because her being with him is pretty much the only reason she’ll ever be in trouble,” said Joey. “What happened to the tracker we had placed in his car?”

  “I checked. His car is still parked at his home,” said Kate. “His other car is missing, though.”

  “Emma’s car is gone too,” said Joey. “It rules out kidnapping, but I don’t know. Maybe their cars were taken intentionally to throw us off.”

  “Okay, I’ll bite. But why, Emma? Vik, I understand, but why her?” asked Eric.

  “Maybe they needed leverage. I don’t know,” said Joey.

  “There are no signs of any forced entry or struggle inside Emma’s home,” said Kate.

  “I still think Emily knows a lot more than she’s letting on,” said Eric.

  “Well, let’s bring her in and force her to spill out the secrets,” said Joey. He was visibly upset, which Kate noticed.

  “Listen to yourself,” said Eric.

  “I know, but we can’t just sit idle,” said Joey. “Emma wouldn’t if it was anyone of us.”

  “I know,” said Kate.

  “Okay, let’s wait out today. Tomorrow, we confront Emily,” said Eric.

  “Okay,” said Kate.

  Joey nodded.

  Eric was hiding Emma’s disappearance from Bill’s team. Karen was suspicious but wasn’t much interested. She was preoccupied with some work that even her team didn’t know about. Bill had gone away for some personal work without telling anyone the specifics. The case of ‘Fire at Old River’ had hit a dead end, while the case of Orange Town was unofficially closed for investigation after Eric had briefed Bill about their experience and learnings. Bill bought the idea of a rogue group killing an entire town for fun. It wasn’t exactly the first time it had happened in Bill’s career. Before leaving, he had told his team to find out the reason why the rogue group chose Orange Town and Old River. They were told to answer one simple question – Why New Frontier County and its surrounding regions? Karen hadn’t mentioned anything about Alphas and Betas to Bill.

  As the Sun went down on Morrow, Joey’s anguish had reached its peak. He had parked his car near Emily’s restaurant. He didn’t want to take any chance. Emily had noticed Joey parked outside her restaurant. She didn’t care. To be on the safe side, she closed the restaurant early and went to her apartment upstairs.

  She would look out the window every few minutes to check if Joey had left. He hadn’t moved an inch. She called Vik, but his phone was turned off, while Emma’s was unreachable. She knew she had promised to wait for another day, before heading to TS – 17 looking for Vik. But in her heart, she didn’t know if she could wait another day.

  Chapter 18: Endurance

  Vik couldn’t find a fuel pellet at a local store in the last town, Cornell, which lied on the perimeter of Fedric County. By his estimates, he would run out of fuel almost 50 miles too early. There weren’t any significant downhill slopes left that would aid in fuel efficiency. He hadn’t slept for a minute, and his body was shutting down. He hadn’t given a thought to Katie, as he knew it wasn’t the time to think about her. He needed to get himself and Emma back home before sparing a thought about losing his daughter. Somewhere in his mind and heart, he knew he hadn’t lost everything. The fake chip that he had given to Vicky, which was later stolen by Anton, was his holy grail. As long as it was around a tower that could transmit data to a satellite or even to its next peer, he would find the location of Anton. He expected Anton to plug it into a computer to verify its authenticity, which would ensure the tracker would transmit at least once in its lifetime.

  He glanced at Emma, who was still sleeping.

  He was proud of Katie that she had realized Vicky’s ulterior motives and fooled her into believing that she trusted Vicky enough to deliver her message to her father. His train of thought betrayed him for a millisecond when Sarah’s face flashed before his eyes. How proud she would’ve been of her daughter putting on a fight!

  A few minutes later, around 8 in the night, the car’s engine stopped, and the car crawled to a standstill a hundred meters ahead.

  Emma woke up on hearing the commotion as Vik got out of the car to push it.

  “What happened?” asked Emma.

  “Hey, good evening to you, too,” said Vik. “Ran out of fuel.”

  “Oh no,” said Emma. “Where are we?”

  “Still in Fedric County technically, but in the middle of nowhere,” said Vik. “How are you feeling?”

  “Sore,” said Emma.

  “Tell me about it,” said Vik.

  “I’ll help,” said Emma as she got up.

  “No, take the wheel instead,” said Vik. “I’ll push it. Keep trying the phone. Though, we’re still a few hours out.”

  “Are you sure?” asked Emma. “We can ditch the car.”

  “No, ideally, you shouldn’t put any pressure on your arm. But since you’re insisting, I’m telling you to take the wheel,” said Vik.

  Emma nodded.

  Vik went to the back of the vehicle and started pushing it forward. The automobile industry had pushed Advanced Carbon Nanotubes, or ACNs, as called by car enthusiasts, to every low-cost vehicle as a commitment to keep up with the new standards set by Environmental Agencies around the world. Modern electric engines were light and robust. Vik felt like he was working out at a gym while he was pushing the car forward.

  The roads were poor, which was his only complaint. He almost twisted his ankle a couple of times. He would yell at Emma whenever she would forget to steer the car clear of potholes. She would occasionally laugh while swearing at him the rest of the time.

  The ride was bumpy and terrible to a fault. Emma, though, only had herself to blame. Vik should shift positions when he would spot potholes down the road. While he was pushing the car through the dri
ver’s side, Emma thought of starting a conversation.

  “Hey, if they can track my phone, shouldn’t we be, I don’t know, ditching my phone in a field somewhere?” asked Emma.

  “Check in the car,” said Vik.

  “What am I looking for?” asked Emma as she began looking behind at the backseat.

  “Do you see my daughter?” asked Vik.

  Emma couldn’t turn and face Vik. But after a couple of deep breaths, she turned around and looked at him. She looked apologetic, which made him turn his face back towards the road ahead of him.

  “I want them to know I’m back at Morrow,” said Vik.

  “Why?” asked Emma.

  “We’ll talk about it when we get home,” said Vik.

  “Promise?” asked Emma, pretending to be a child. She realized it was a bad time for that when he gave a deadly stare.

  “Did you get a signal on the phone?” asked Vik.

  “No. Why don’t they work here?” asked Emma.

  “Outside the perimeter,” said Vik.

  “What’s the perimeter?” asked Emma.

  “Apparently, New Frontier,” chided Vik.

  “Sorry, stupid question,” said Emma. “Mayor did talk about a deal that provided New Frontier with access to technology. Anthony Arnold arranged the deal, he told us.”

  “I see,” said Vik.

  “It’s up for renewal later in the year,” said Emma. “No one knows apart from him.”

  “Funny how things work out, isn’t it? Now, things are starting to make sense,” said Vik.

  “What things?” asked Emma.

  “Nothing,” said Vik. “Keep trying.”

  Another four hours passed by. It was nearly midnight. The roads had improved a lot, which helped them in covering the distance quickly. Vik was now basically jogging with the car. They had stopped a couple of times en route to take a breather for a few minutes.

  “I don’t think we’ll get a signal till we’re a few miles outside Morrow,” said Emma.

  “We don’t need to push that far. We’ll get the pellets from my car,” said Vik. “Another 20 miles to go until we reach my car.”

  “Those won’t work in mine,” said Emma. “The belt and the pellets can’t be reused in any other machine once they get a machine lock. Thought you knew that?”

  “I got a spare,” said Vik.

  “Oh, that’s cool then,” said Emma, delighted.

  “Wish I had taken my car,” said Vik.

  “Why?” asked Emma.

  “It has solar panels on the roof that prolongs the life of a fuel pellet,” said Vik.

  Emma got curious.

  “Where did you find your car, anyway?” asked Emma.

  “I stole it from an abandoned house while on the way to Morrow,” said Vik.

  “Is that the whole truth?” asked Emma.

  “Since when did you get so smart?” said Vik.

  Emma simpered.

  A couple of hours later, Emma saw in the rearview mirror that Vik was completely exhausted. The last couple of days had been emotionally and physically taxing on him too. The car was barely moving while Vik was using every body part to get the car rolling somehow. Emma got out of the car while it was still moving slowly and started pushing it. Her arm was hurting like someone had poured hot lead in her veins. She was grunting with pain when Vik noticed her.

  “Hey, what the hell are you doing?” asked Vik.

  “Helping,” said Emma.

  “I don’t need your help,” said Vik.

  “We were getting beaten by a snail, Vik,” said Emma.

  “We’re almost there. Now’s not the time to be a hero,” said Vik. “Look.”

  Vik pointed to a mile marker couple of hundred yards away.

  ‘New Frontier welcomes you.’

  Emma jumped in excitement. She quickly grabbed the phone and checked for a signal.

  “It’s weak,” said Emma. “The call is not getting through.”

  “Get in the car,” said Vik. “I got a couple of pushes left in me.”

  “Okay,” said Emma.

  She taunted Vik by getting in the car while he was still pushing it. It worked. He gathered every ounce of his strength and started pushing it harder and harder. Almost as if he had found a hidden reserve of adrenaline after exhausting it few miles back.

  As they crawled into the New Frontier County’s perimeter, the phone showed full signal strength.

  “Got the signal,” said Emma.

  “We’re nearly there. See that road bend couple of miles ahead,” said Vik. “That’s where my car is.”

  “So, should I call or not?” asked Emma.

  “It’s almost 4 in the morning, I think. Perhaps, we shouldn’t. By the time they mobilize and get here, we’ll already have enough fuel to get us to Orange Town and back,” remarked Vik.

  “Okay, I’ll hold on for now,” said Emma.

  It took them ten minutes to cover those last two miles. Emma steered the car to the side of the road, while Vik went down into the bushes to locate his car. Emma followed him. After searching in the dark under the cloudy sky for another ten minutes, they finally found it.

  Vik tried starting the car, but the engine was damaged. A puff of smoke came out from underneath the car. After kicking the tires couple of times, he popped the hood to locate the storage belt. He joked about Emma being a car mechanic. It pissed her off a little. She tried looking at the engine, but she wasn’t a professional mechanic. Vik wasn’t surprised. He grabbed the spare fuel belt he had in the trunk.

  “Let’s go,” said Vik.

  “Finally,” said Emma. “Can I drive?”

  “Of course, doesn’t matter who got you to the finish line as long as you cross the checkered flag, am I right?” said Vik.

  “Hey, I got you in the race. Don’t forget that,” said Emma, smiling.

  “Oh, I’ll never forget it,” said Vik.

  She stopped smiling.

  “Aarghh!” grunted Emma to herself.

  It took them another ten minutes to install the fuel pellets in Emma’s car.

  Emma revved up the engine in excitement. The sound of engine revving brought a sense of relief on Vik’s face. He sat on the passenger’s side and told Emma to drive.

  “No sudden movements, though,” said Vik. “Use your good hand only. If you bleed to death on the roadside, I’ll..”

  “You’ll what?” asked Emma.

  “Leave you behind,” said Vik. “Wake me up before we enter Morrow.”

  He laid back on the seat and closed his eyes. Half an hour later, Emma woke him up. He could see the gate a quarter mile away.

  “Stop the car,” said Vik.

  She immediately applied the brakes.

  “We have to switch positions,” said Vik.

  “Why?” asked Emma.

  “Trust me,” said Vik, and got out of the car.

  She moved over to the passenger’s seat, holding her arm with the other hand.

  Vik drove the car to Morrow as the sun began rising from the east. Vik learnt that since their disappearance, Adam had been anointed as the official guard manning the Morrow’s main gate, by Eric. Vik wondered if Eric had done that out of worry or spite.

  “Get in,” said Vik.

  “I still got a couple of hours left,” said Adam.

  “No one cares,” said Vik. “Get in. You can accompany her to the hospital.”

  Adam quickly got in the backseat.

  “What happened?” asked Adam.

  “I got injured,” said Emma. She didn’t know if Vik wanted her to tell anyone about the gunshot.

  Of everything they talked about the last few hours, Vik couldn’t believe he forgot the only discussion worth having.

  “Where did you guys go?” asked Adam.

  “I wanted to go out to clear my mind. She followed me there,” said Vik. “We stayed for a day before returning.”

  “Okay,” said Adam, with a confused look. “Then how come you don’
t have your car with you?”

  “Okay, you got me. I got into a minor car accident. My car is around 2-5 miles away,” said Vik. “Maybe 10. I don’t really know.”

  “Everyone’s so worried. I heard they are bringing in Emily today to question her,” said Adam.

  “Who’s they?” asked Emma.

  “Joey, Kate, Eric,” said Adam.

  “Call Joey,” said Vik.

  “Okay,” said Emma.

  She made a call to Joey, who picked it up within a second.

  “Hey,” said Emma.

  “Where were you? I got so worried,” said Joey, loudly.

  “Just got back,” said Emma.

  “Tell him to meet you at the hospital,” said Vik.

  “Who’s that?” asked Joey. “Is that Vik?”

  “Yeah. Listen, meet me at the hospital, okay?” said Emma.

  “Are you alright?” asked Joey.

  “I’ll tell you when I see you,” said Emma. “Tell Kate and Eric.”

  “Okay,” said Joey.

  Before he could say another word, Emma hung up.

  Vik stopped the car near the town square.

  “What happened?” asked Emma.

  “Adam would drive you,” said Vik.

  As soon as Adam got out of the car, Vik told Emma to keep TS – 17 to herself. He told her to stick with the getaway story. Emma agreed but told him that she wouldn’t keep up the charade much longer and tell them everything.

  “It’s not your secret to tell,” said Vik. “You owe me that much, don’t you think?”

  He got out of the car in anger and left towards the square. He saw Adam drive away Emma to the hospital a few miles away. As soon as they went away, Vik sat on the concrete benches around the square. He took out the blue chip from his shoes and put it in his pocket. He walked to a nearby house and asked to make a phone call. The owner recognized Vik as he was a frequent visitor to Emily’s restaurant as well. Vik called Emily and told her to pick him up near the square.

  Emily looked out the window and saw Joey’s car was no longer parked in front of her building. She quickly changed her clothes, went downstairs, and drove to the square in her car. She saw Vik standing near one of the pillars surrounding the square, while people had started using the spot for their daily morning runs.