by H C Edwards
“Here,” he said, pulling a pistol from his back waistband and proffering it.
Claire shook her head in response.
“I-I don’t know what to do with that.”
“It’s easy,” he said shortly, pointing to a little switch. “You flick this over until you see the green light, then point and pull the trigger.”
“I could never-“
“You never can until you do,” he growled, cutting off her protestation. “I don’t know what you got ahead of you, kid, but you’re a tough one. Be safe.”
And with that he was gone, leaving Claire with the councilwoman in the half-darkened warehouse of one of the recycling plants. Ahead of her were an open bay door and the last vestiges of the enhanced daylight, leading to the unknown.
Placing her hand on the console she powered up the transport. A voice spoke up and asked her destination. She hesitated a second before reciting the address, an address of a person she had followed on more than one occasion, and whose father she was hoping could help with whatever was happening in tandem with Akropolis and The Mountain.
A Chance
“Do you think she’ll be okay?” Mia asked as the young girl and Frank, carrying the unconscious councilwoman, disappeared down the tunnel, heading towards the surface level and the promised transport.
“I think we have more than enough to worry about right now without having to add to our plate,” Bear replied.
Chase put a reassuring hand on Mia’s arm.
“The girl made it here by herself. She’s resourceful. Besides, it’s not really her I’m worried about right now.”
Mia nodded, turning away from the tunnel where the trio had departed. The rest of the group had piled into the second Mag-Lev train as per Bear’s orders while the first train on the rail remained empty. It was their diversion engine, the one that somebody had to ride to the Red Zone, providing a distraction that was significant enough that the second train could slip into the main hub behind it, unloading their meager rescue party before anyone was the wiser.
“So,” she said when the three of them came to a stop next to the door of the first train. “Are we drawing straws or what?”
Mia didn’t expect to feel this nervous. It wasn’t fear, of that she was certain. Or maybe it was; just a different kind of fear. For the first time since arriving in Akropolis she felt as if she belonged somewhere, with these people who worked the hub. All these years to find her place and it would be over soon. She didn’t have any illusions as to the success of their venture. It would be a miracle if they could escape into The Mountain’s hub without detection, much less make it to the Red Zone and find those people. And even if they could accomplish that, somehow find and wake those people from their dreaming in the Cloud, what then? Hundreds of people and just a handful to protect and guide them. It was suicide or foolish or both, but she also knew why they had to try.
“We’re not drawing straws,” Bear scowled. “Wouldn’t know where to find them even if we wanted to. I’ll be taking this train by myself.”
Chase stepped in front of the big man, putting her hand to his chest.
“What the hell are you talking about? You’re not going anywhere without me.”
“We’ll go together,” Mia said, not certain if all three of them could fit into the conductor’s cabin together but also not willing to let Chase out of her sight.
Bear put a hand up in front of him.
“Listen, this is not up for negotiation. Mia here is the only one who can navigate The Mountain, and she’s going to need you, Chase, to keep the rest of our group in check.”
“But-” Chase tried to argue, only to be interrupted.
“Look at me,” Bear said gently, gesturing to his chest. “I can’t go to the hub. They’d pick me out in a heartbeat. Besides, you’re going to need one hell of a distraction to keep their guards off your back, the kind that only I can provide.”
The big man reached out and gently stroked Chase’s cheek, a tender gesture that Mia didn’t think he was capable of exhibiting. She felt a twinge of something she couldn’t quite admit, and was almost at the point of stepping forward when she realized that her own emotional response was just short of ridiculous.
Chase took Bear’s hands in both of hers and pressed them to her lips. Two tears cascaded down her cheeks, unhindered and unashamed. When they stepped apart, he turned to Mia, holding out his hand for her to shake. She hesitated only a moment, more out of the unexpected than anything else.
Big hand engulfing hers, he leaned forward and whispered in her ear.
“You look after my little girl.”
Mia was stunned by this small revelation as Bear pulled back, giving her a quick wink to offset the gravity of his request.
“She was always different,” he said to Mia, though he spoke loud enough for his daughter to hear. “It’s not a thing they judge kindly in Akropolis, especially when every breeder is needed.”
She glanced quickly to her side, only to find that Chase was looking at the floor, color in her cheeks.
Bear continued, eyes soft, voice barely a whisper.
“Akropolis was supposed to be our second chance, except we kept on making the same mistakes. Maybe that will change, but it’s going to need strong wills to change it.”
Bear leaned forward and planted a kiss on the top of Chase’s head, lingered for a moment longer, and then walked away.
“Give me about fifty miles before you follow,” he said loudly over his shoulder, heading for the door of the first Mag-Lev train.
Mia knew why he didn’t spare the last look back. If he had, it might have changed his mind.
They sat in the driver’s cabin and watched as Bear’s engine cruised slowly out of the hub and down the tunnel that led to The Mountain.
“I’m sorry,” Mia said, when the lights of the train faded into the distance. “I didn’t know.”
Chase shrugged, still performing her system’s check across the console in front of them.
“How would you?”
“I’m just,” Mia started to say and then stopped.
What was there to say? Would she spout something blithe as to assure of Bear’s safety in all of this? She wouldn’t, couldn’t do that, and so she stayed silent.
Chase finished the system’s check and sat back in her seat. In front of them a screen showed Bear’s train and the distance gained between them.
“I wanted to help you. Took some convincing but he always listens to me,” Chase blurted out, looking everywhere but at Mia, her usual confidence and air of wry cynicism having evaporated. “It just seemed like the right thing to do. Even when you told us what you did, I knew it wasn’t who you were. I could tell. I’m good at that, at reading people.”
Mia reached over and placed her hand on top of Chase’s. The other woman flinched, but she didn’t pull away.
“Thank you,” Mia said sincerely.
They sat there, the two of them, wishing for a better circumstance or at least a future that provided one, knowing that it wasn’t for this life or the next.
A crackling from the comms made them both sit up and lean forward.
“That should do it,” said Bear’s faint voice. “I’ll take this girl to the Red Zone. You get off at the main hub. I’ll keep them occupied long enough for you to make it to the central floor. Don’t come back for me. Don’t even think about it.”
He switched off the comms system so that they couldn’t reply, not that they knew what to say had they been given the chance.
Mia gave Claire’s hand one last squeeze and then reached over to unlock the train’s brakes. They felt the Mag-Lev engine lift up a few inches, hovering above the rails. Chase flicked a switch and then pushed up on the throttle, easing them gently forward.
It took only a few moments to adjust their speed to match Bear’s. His comms system had been shut off, and so they had to monitor his progress through their own systems to make certain that they gave him the room he neede
d. Mia had no idea what kind of distraction he had in mind, but whatever it was she hoped it gave them the time to make it out of the main trade hub.
“What happens when we get there?” Chase asked.
She was more subdued since their departure. Mia had a feeling it wasn’t the success of their mission that had her worried so much as her father’s choice.
“The hub in The Mountain is small compared to Akropolis,” Mia explained. “It’s about fifty yards across. The Red Zone entrance is at the very end. A security team performs inspections before the on-site conductor switches the train to the end of the line.”
“The Red Zone,” Chase mumbled, then frowned in thought. “How will we arrive without anyone seeing us?”
“Chances are we won’t. But if what Bear has planned can keep their attention long enough, we should have time to escape the hub and take the lift to the sub level. We might be followed or we might have to fight our way through. Either way, we need to reach that lift.
“After that?”
Mia sighed.
“After that we’re going to need all the luck in the world. The main level is kind of a free market exchange hub. Unlike Akropolis, The Mountain relies on a barter system to procure goods and services. Thousands congregate in that area. We can lose ourselves in the crowds, at least long enough to make it to the main lift.”
“I thought you said we couldn’t access the Red Zone through main avenues,” Chase interjected.
“We can’t,” Mia admitted. “But we can get to the lower levels. From there I know the way.”
What she didn’t add was that she hoped nothing had changed in the past twenty something years. The only people that knew about the unguarded Red Zone entrance were the maintenance workers. It was their crawlspaces and sewer tunnels that accessed the area, and while you could by no means sneak a force of any real size into there, it would be sufficient for their meager band.
Looking to the side, Mia could see that Chase was staring intently ahead, not that the lights of the train illuminated anything besides the never-ending tunnel. It wasn’t difficult to guess the focus of her attention.
“He’ll be fine,” Mia consoled, even though it sounded hollow to her own ears.
What was there to say? Chances were this wasn’t going to end well for any of them. They were armed, and she knew that The Mountain’s security would be as well. There was no way they could sneak that many people out, even if they did get to them.
One thing at a time, she told herself.
It was good advice.
Chase startled her with a question.
“What did it feel like?” she quietly asked.
Mia, eager to leave her morbid thoughts behind, almost jumped on the question.
“What did what feel like?”
“To be pregnant…what was it like?”
“Oh,” Mia replied, taken aback. “That.”
“If you don’t want to talk about it that’s fine,” Chase hastily apologized. “I was just curious is all.”
“No, it’s okay,” Mia assured her, realizing that it was okay, maybe for the first time ever.
That life, after all, seemed so long ago.
“It felt,” she paused, closing her eyes and recalling those memories. “It felt…like waking up after a beautiful dream. You know, one of those where you can’t tell if you’re awake yet or still dreaming.”
She opened her eyes and blushed to see Chase staring at her, but it didn’t discourage her.
“I never felt alone, because I wasn’t. When I talked to him I felt him go still as if he was listening, and when I finished he would give me a little kick as if to say he understood.”
Mia laughed lightly.
“And when Tom sang to him, he would beat on my uterus like it was a bongo drum. I would get the worse heartburn after that.”
It was strange. She didn’t feel a twinge of guilt saying that name, because she knew the man she loved had died on the same day as she and Ambrose. The Tom she killed had been nothing but a shell filled with the guilt and self-loathing of a tortured soul. That wasn’t her Tom. It never had been.
“I wish I could have seen him,” Chase said.
“Me too,” Mia replied softly.
She reached up and wiped away a single tear. That was the least amount of crying she had ever done over the subject.
“And what about you?” Mia asked, smiling a sad smile but smiling nonetheless. “Were you a viable candidate?”
Chase nodded, but her mood seemed to shift uncomfortably, anxiously. It was apparent by the way she avoided eye contact and how her body seemed to almost shrink in on itself.
“I was,” she said, looking down at her hands, which began to wring each other self-consciously. “But uh…well, it just didn’t work out.”
Mia could sense the wall that went up and decided that she didn’t want to pursue that topic, not when the reaction was so abrupt and dismissive. She didn’t know how much time she had left with her friend, her only friend, but she wasn’t going to waste it.
Reaching over, Mia placed a hand on both of Chase’s, stilling the wringing hands. When the other woman finally looked up, she did so with a smile. It wasn’t the wry grin Mia was accustomed to but considering their situation it was probably the best it would get.
“I need you to do me a favor,” Mia said.
Chase nodded. Mia reached down and picked up the rifle that Bear had handed to her in the hub. It felt light in her hands, but the possibilities were a heavy weight on her conscience.
“I need you to show me how to use this thing,” she said, trying for an affable tone and almost nailing it. “I don’t want to accidently shoot myself in the foot.”
Or someone else in the back, was the thought left unspoken.
The Dive
They descended for a minute before Trey spotted the water.
“How many levels?” he asked when they reached the flooded area.
“Thirty-two,” Albert responded. “If you take the hallway at the bottom and two rights, you’ll be at the secured elevator. There’s an access hatch in the floor.”
“And from there?” Trey asked.
“Give me your arm.”
Trey held out his hand. Albert sighed.
“Your other arm,” he said with exasperation.
Trey switched hands. Albert took hold of it and turned it over slightly, accessing the forearm computer Trey wore. His fingers blurred into motion, speedily tapping on the screen.
“What are you doing?” Trey asked curiously.
“Backup systems are still on, which means there’s still power feeding into the quantum chamber. It’s enough for me to tap into it and download the schematics of the underground facility. I’m plotting you a direct course to the computer.”
“I already have the schematics,” Trey interjected.
Albert raised an eyebrow.
“According to your device they are incorrect, or outdated, whichever you prefer.”
His fingers flew across the screen.
“There…that’s done,” he said, releasing Trey’s arm. “The quantum chamber isn’t as large as the one in Akropolis, not by any means. If you can retrieve one of the main processors, you should be able to uplink with our Cloud and download the profiles to the hard drive in the housing unit you brought, if the computer still works.”
Trey, confused, confirmed what he had just heard, “One of the main processors?”
“Yes, there are four main processors to the Quantum Computer. It can operate with only two but no less than that. Weren’t you briefed about this?”
Trey bristled slightly at Albert’s tone of annoyance.
“Look, I’m not a scientist. I was given instructions on how to extract the processor from the chamber and that’s it,” Trey stated.
“Fine,” the other man said impatiently. “Just…just make sure to take only one.”
“How long will there be power to the chamber?”
“The syst
em was meant to withstand almost any disaster. The turbines still feed power to the generators that power the chamber and the field, even with no one to man the controls. It could keep going for years. All Cloud chambers were built like this in case of…”
Albert paused.
“In case of what?” Trey prodded.
“A disaster…like this one,” Albert finished solemnly.
“Don’t worry. I’ll get it,” Trey said with conviction.
Albert nodded without comfort.
Trey reached into his pocket and withdrew the oxygen filter device, which also regulated pressure. He had been told before leaving Akropolis that there could be anywhere between one thousand to two thousand pounds of pressure per square inch in the flooded lower levels; nothing his body couldn’t handle with the help of the small device, assuming it worked properly and for the duration of time it took to navigate to the chamber, which was self-contained and not flooded. It was a risk, but so was this whole trip.
“Thank you for your help,” Trey said, holding out his hand to shake. “I’m not sure how long I would have wandered around down there without it.”
“Indefinitely, most likely,” Albert replied without sarcasm, but rather with a sense of his own hopelessness, taking the proffered hand, but not releasing it after the shake.
Trey looked down at the suddenly strong grip locked around his fingers. Albert pulled him close, his voice almost a whisper.
“What happened here was no natural disaster.”
Trey knew he appeared as confused as he felt.
“What?”
“The tsunami wasn’t caused by a hurricane or an earthquake. Such a thing is impossible.”
“I…I don’t understand,” Trey replied.
“Neither do I,” Albert said. “But whatever it was, it happened in the blink of an eye, more powerful than anything we had ever seen.”
Trey pulled his hand out of the grip, but it was a lot longer before he could tear his eyes away from Albert’s gaze. When he finally did, he turned away, adjusting the oxygen filter in his mouth and over his nose. He looked back once before descending into the water, only to see Albert’s back as he limped back up the steps. Nonetheless, Trey felt even more troubled than before as he dove into the water.