by Talis Jones
“Perhaps you should,” I snap hotly.
Charlie grins then takes in the hostile faces surrounding him in enemy territory. One wrong move, Yosef had said and he’d meant it. “Is there somewhere we can sit?”
We pull chairs into a circle and any discomfort Charlie might feel he hides well. “I assume everyone is caught up on events,” he begins not waiting for confirmation. “Before I get into the details of the task Sanctuary has assigned for you, Maddy, what exactly is your gift? Our data is vague.”
“That’s probably because I don’t really have one,” I shrug. Charlie stares at me and I roll my eyes. “I can sometimes sense people’s intentions, or maybe it’s their thoughts or their aura? I don’t really know and I’ve done my best not to.”
Confusion and perhaps even a little concern fill his face. “I don’t understand.”
“Not everyone wants to be different,” I mumble. “I don’t want any reminders of that part of my life.”
Sympathy flattens his mouth before nodding and carrying on. “You have a sense of whether someone is trustworthy or not. If you’d been exercising that ability it probably would have revealed my motives immediately, instead you caught just enough to know I wasn’t there to hurt you and that was that. It’s like looking at the world through squinted eyes. Not safe.”
I can practically feel Yosef’s desire to say “I told you so” and use my satisfaction that he would rather die than admit any alignment with Charlie to control my temper and guilt. “My mission?”
“Right.” Charlie slaps his hands against his knees and leans forwards. I don’t like how amiable he’s acting without Yosef’s gun in his face. “Sanctuary has a few different factions but it originated in the former territory known as Pennsylvania. That faction is run by Dr. Liz Convici. Her sister runs the commune in the northern Midwest, we have an establishment going up in the south, and we’re still working on getting a nest into the Confederation in the west. We think you can help with that seeing as you’re a rare escapee with insider knowledge.”
“Insider knowledge of a ten year old,” I point out.
“Even so, you’d be our only recruit native to the area,” he dismisses. “Once a full agent, that will be your assignment. We want to help those people, Maddy. Don’t you?” He doesn’t wait for a response. “Today, however, you, and your friends if they choose to help, will be doing a typical hunt and retrieval. Most of our agents do these as a way of finding others like us and bringing them to safety. I found you and now we want you to find someone else.”
“Who?” I bite out not at all pleased with being tasked to force someone else into this life.
He sits back and his face hardens. “The doctor has many enemies as one can imagine but none so hated and battled against as Dr. Xi. He’s been keeping those experiments you endured alive, evolving, and right here within the Alliance. Rumors of it are part of why I was sent from the Eurasian Union to investigate where exactly our money is going to once it crosses the ocean.
“A child from his laboratory has managed to escape and we want to find them first,” he continues. “Unfortunately Xi’s security is almost as tight as our own and our people are still trying to hack in far enough to get any details on what the child looks like. All we know is that there was an escape and they fled north. Ironically their security guards are not as secure as their lab and their mics were easy to pick up before the lab went into full lockdown and shut us out.”
My hands turn clammy at the parallels of my story and this child’s. I don’t want to hunt them down but I also don’t like the chances that they’d find people to protect them like I did especially when the Alliance is fully equipped to help this Xi hunt them down. At least when I escaped we killed everyone who knew us and put a continent between the ashes and freedom.
“How are we supposed to find a kid with no description or location in not just a city but potentially the world if they’ve crossed any borders or hopped any boats since their escape?” Castor shakes his head.
“Ah so you will be helping,” Charlie observes.
“This task is ridiculous,” Yosef frowns.
Charlie shrugs. “Maybe but it’s the one I’m giving. Technically it was my task but I don’t mind sharing.”
“So kind,” I grouse.
“As it was on my to-do list, I can tell you that we’ve reason to believe they’re in this city. It’s logical to assume by their northbound departure and the lack of cities large enough to hide them between the lab and Canada that this would make for a good stop. There’s plenty of places to hide and a major port if they decide to flee the Alliance.”
“What if they took off into the Coalition?” I ask. I mean, it’s what I did.
“Not everyone is as crazy or desperate as you,” he shakes his head. “Most people choose terrain they’re familiar with rather than running blindly into a territory of lawless hooligans.”
I cross my arms again with a tch.
Tossing aside my eloquent one-worded argument, he makes an offer. “I assure you my intel is solid. They are in this city. I’m prepared to share everything we have on this assignment already, I’m allowing your crew to aid you, and if you succeed by the end of the week you’ll get a chance to say farewell to your friends before leaving for Sanctuary. If you try to run, you’ll be hunted down and dragged to Sanctuary and there will be no promise your friends will be allowed to live past that day.”
My heart stops and my ears ring in protest. “What happens at the end of the week?”
“The doctor will be here to collect you,” he answers grimly.
A week? I only have a week, less than a week, to say goodbye to my family? To find a way out of this mess? Tears choke my lungs and I want to lock myself in a closet to hide. Outrage has broken out at Charles’ words but I can’t listen to anything but the painful pounding of my heart.
“What the hell is the point of this trial run if you’re just going to take her anyway?” Castor fumes.
“Death stalks you,” KJ swears in that soft lethal voice of his that raises the hairs on even the bravest person’s neck.
Tension grows and I’m vaguely aware that they’re all standing and moments away from exchanging blows when Yosef suddenly crouches in front of me and reaches for my hands. With fear roaring in my ears I force myself to turn and look at him.
“We made a vow, Maddy,” he declares just loud enough for me to hear, “and so did you. Maybe it won’t be today, this week, or even this year, but I expect you to keep it.”
Things are dire when even Yosef can’t find a loop to jump through. I hold onto his words and nod then nod again more firmly. Shoving aside my panic and agony I stop my heart mid-break and seal it back up with those words.
I am going to Sanctuary.
I am going to become an agent of Sanctuary.
I am going to survive each day and when the time comes I will return home.
I force myself to accept this and I can, I will, because even while I’m gone I will still have the might of the Rolling Bones pouring their resources into helping me find a way out. I will never for a moment be discarded, alone or forgotten. Not this time.
Lifting myself to my feet I elbow my way into the fray and face Charlie holding myself just beyond reach. “I’ll do it.”
He smiles. “Excellent.” With crisp movements he straightens his jacket then turns to Yosef. “Can I ask… Who hired you to steal those weapon schematics?”
Yosef weighs the man carefully before answering. “Someone or something called Ares.”
“Ares?” Charlie ponders the unfamiliar name. “And did you? Steal them? Or did you lose those as well?”
“When we’re hired to do a job,” KJ breaks in, “we do the job.”
A flash of frustration crosses Charlie’s face. “I suppose there’s no chance I can convince you to give them back to me, is there?”
“Too late,” Yosef smiles with empty apology.
Charlie gives a brusque nod and exits
not quite able to reclaim his usual grace.
Twenty-One
Good to his word, Charlie sends over all of his files on the missing kid. Everything besides a physical description. Fan-tastic.
“This is idiotic,” Nyx snaps. “They must know more or how else could they have tracked this person this far?”
“In the R.A. a kid on the run isn’t something that goes unnoticed or unreported,” Arcas sighs while sifting through the data files on his tablet and Nyx spins in the chair beside him. “We like tidy streets and runaways don’t stand much of a chance with every camera pinging their location anyway. This kid’s facial I.D. obviously isn’t in the system considering their origins but that stands out in its own way.”
Castor places a pot of something delicious smelling on the table in our home before speaking up. “If it’s been so easy to track this kid then why haven’t they been able to pick them up?”
“It hasn’t been easy,” Arcas corrects. “Somehow the kid manages to enter one building and never come out only to reappear in a completely different place. It would have taken a team of eyes searching for patterns and sifting through footage to track their path, likely having to guess where they’d go next and hope they catch sight before the footage is deleted.”
I listen as they theorize and debate over how to accomplish this impossible task, this largely pointless task, while huddled in the far corner of the couch. Yosef flicks through the same data Arcas has on his own tablet with one hand while his other plays mindlessly with my hair. In less than a week this will all be gone.
If I’m going to be taken away then I’d rather enjoy the time I have left here in my home and with my family. At least we can be home. Since they already know who and where we are it seemed silly to keep “hiding.”
Charlie’s words haunt me. The promise of finding this kid in exchange for a goodbye and promise of protection for my family clings to my nerves and provides the sole motivator to sacrificing this time on such a ridiculous endeavor. And another thought refuses to be put out, the thought that if we manage to find this kid first…maybe they can help me, help us. What if they have information we can use to make Sanctuary back off and leave me alone? What if they have some place safe they’re running to, someplace we can go to hide too?
Or what if we find them and have no choice but to turn them over to their captors, resubmitting them to a fate of whatever it was they couldn’t bear any longer? My stomach drops at the notion and sinks further knowing they might view being turned over to Sanctuary an equal offense. I want to help them…whether or not I can is irrelevant without even being able to find them in the first place so that’s what I will focus on. Even if there is no hope for me, maybe I can help this kid who’s all alone and on the run.
“What if they were picked up?” I wonder aloud.
Arcas glances up from his screens, kicking Nyx’s chair to stop it from spinning. “If they were picked up then what are we doing?”
“No, not by them,” I insist still letting my mind wander. “The orphanages.”
Something glints in Yosef’s eyes as if catching onto where I’m going and he straightens up.
“In theory, all orphanages are to report any capacity changes but they’re not all privately-owned institutions that have no need to lie. Some are government-owned and underfunded and it isn’t beneath them to hold out for rewards for runaways that might be amongst their charges especially since non-private orphanages are legally exempt from collecting rewards. They lie all the time about being below maximum capacity in order to avoid having to transfer any charges to other districts and lose out on rewards, using the older kids as free labor instead of paying staff, and they even get incentives for every kid they either re-home or hold onto until eighteen and release with a job or education lined up.”
“They’re for profit,” Yosef smiles. “You were never reported or else you wouldn’t be here. They’re crowded, which is how you were able to slip out with Castor. If Osman’s intel is correct then this kid arrived in this city and hasn’t moved on within the past few weeks making it plausible that an orphanage picked them up and is keeping it hushed waiting to see if a reward will be posted. All we need to do is a little digging into the government-run orphanages in the area and see who’s new…” Yosef’s mind continues to spin, weaving a plan into place and just the reassurance of having something to do, some direction to follow eases the tension in his shoulders noticeably.
Arcas’ fingers fly over a keyboard and his gaze turns distant as he focuses on the screens in his eyes, taking this idea and running with it. Nyx continues spinning in her chair, twirling a knife between her fingers. I remain tucked into the couch, my arms hugging myself as I try not to allow the memories of my first days in the city to swallow me whole.
“We’ll do a better job of hunting down this theory on a full stomach,” Castor interrupts and I’m grateful for it.
Arcas looks about ready to protest when my stomach lets out an unruly yowl and Yosef stands swiftly leading the exodus to the kitchen table. Castor’s made some sort of stew and it’s like drinking a hug.
“I know some of the staff at the orphanage in this district and the northern district,” Castor pipes up. “I can visit and see what might be found that’s not on any computers.”
“Where’s KJ?” Almost as if on instinct we’ve kept together since returning home but KJ has been holed up, presumably in his room, for hours and no one passes up a meal cooked by Castor.
Yosef opens his mouth to respond when the telltale clomp of KJ’s boots descend the stairs. He can be silent as a cat, but at home he sometimes lets himself succumb to gravity like the rest of us mortals.
“If we’re looking into the orphanages,” KJ rumbles smoothly while tapping his ear to indicate he’d been wearing a mic and listening in, “then perhaps we should talk to our newest recruit.”
In sync we all turn towards Frocket, her feet swinging from her chair, cheeks red at the attention, spoon suspended between her bowl and her mouth. How do I keep forgetting about her?
“I can go with Castor,” she squeaks.
KJ pulls out the chair in his usual spot at the table and sits down serving himself a bowl and we all remain silent as if sensing he’s doing something even if we’ve no idea what.
“I found Castor at the harbor district,” Frocket supplies unprompted. “There’s a lot of traffic there being so close to the docks and it’s understaffed.” Silence. “It’d be a good place to lay low for a while.” KJ locks her gaze and she splutters out more words, anything to give him whatever it is he wants and get his attention off of herself. “I may have met a boy there who seemed kind of strange… He was new and obsessed with tracking the boats that come and go like when and where and who owns them and who would be on them… When I told him that the cameras would spot him trying to sneak aboard he just laughed.”
“That’s some useful information, Frocket,” KJ smiles and releases her from his drilling stare.
As if freed of his spell ourselves we all resume eating. Well, I at least felt spelled. Yosef and Arcas are avid for any information while Nyx turns gleeful any time KJ pins anyone like a bug beneath glass. Castor frowns at KJ’s treatment of our little Frocket and pats her reassuringly on the arm.
“Frocket can come with me tomorrow and we’ll see if we can find this boy,” Castor nods.
“We found him!” Frocket beams proudly as she stomps snow off her boots. Behind her Castor hangs up his coat and looks grim.
“Well that was easy,” Arcas frowns.
“Ooo is he a ghost boy?” Nyx asks excitedly.
Frocket frowns puzzled. “What?”
“Because I don’t see him,” Nyx singsongs.
“What happened?” Yosef asks Castor.
“We went over to the Harborside Orphanage,” he begins, “and while I talked to some of the staff and the older kids I’m familiar with, Frocket was supposed to keep an eye out in case she saw the boy.” Castor lets out a huff
of frustration and I see guilt in his eyes. “She was right beside me,” he insists.
“He found her first,” Arcas guesses.
“One moment she’s right by my side and the next she’s gone,” Castor nods. “I looked everywhere until suddenly she skips from an alley right as rain and clutching a note in her pocket. Damn near gave me a heart attack.”
Yosef holds his hand out for the note and Frocket surrenders it at once. “An address?”
“He said to meet him there at nightfall,” she nods.
“What exactly happened when you left Castor?” he orders calmly.
Frocket stutters for a moment at Yosef’s lack of praise she’d clearly expected or hoped for. I almost snort. Yosef isn’t exactly the gold stars and high fives kind of leader.
“Um, well, he grabbed my hand, placed a finger over his lips to signal I should be quiet, then tugged me down the street to an alley he claimed couldn’t be seen by any cameras,” she describes. “He wanted to know what I was doing back at the orphanage after disappearing and who Castor was so I told him. Sort of. Not everything obviously,” she backtracks quickly at our dark disapproval.
“I said that Castor had taken me in and I’d run into another runaway with strange powers that reminded me of him and I’d hoped to see if he could help this runaway keep running.” Frocket’s spine straightens, refusing to second-guess her trust in this boy. “I asked him why he hasn’t moved on yet like he always talked about and he said it wasn’t time yet but that he’d be willing to meet this runaway and maybe consider sharing his getaway with them. I trust him,” she insists. “Even if he’s just a loony liar, what can he do against you guys?”
She has a good point. “Nothing,” I agree. “You’ve proven yourself to be quite helpful as of late. Thank you. I know you don’t really know me…”
Her big doe-like eyes seem to turn cold as she says, “We don’t let anyone take our own. You and I might not know each other well but we’re on the same side. Neither of us wants Sanctuary to steal you away.”