by M. J. Reed
“That’s ridiculous!” Wrenna spat. “Solne wants the people of this city to be kept safe. She would want us to dispatch him and go on with our lives.”
Dr. Ward jumped in to defend the stranger. “What if God did send this man to us for a reason?” The doctor asked, trying to appeal to Oswalt’s faith. “It’s no secret that maintaining genetic diversity in Departure is a challenge. Fresh blood is exactly what we need to ensure the health of our city.” He added, appealing to Syndic Charr’s pragmatic nature. “We could match him with a nice young lady, train him to do a job, and he could become a contributing member of society.”
“What are we supposed to do?” Wrenna argued. “Assign a security detail to him and wait for the trouble to start?” She asked. “I can’t-” was the last distinct phrase I could hear before everyone, myself included, began arguing with each other.
“Enough!” Reglin Charr shouted above the din of the chaos. “We can’t know if this person is going to help or harm us until we get to know him.” Tayla Odile, the head of manufacturing, opened her mouth as if to object, but Reglin glared at her and continued. “Miles, since you and your daughter seem so interested in this man’s wellbeing, he can stay with you until we decide what to do with him.”
I grinned like a fool. This is the most exciting thing that’s happened in Departure in ages, and I’m going to get a front row seat for the action!
Syndic Greer continued. “Wrenna, set aside a security officer to follow our newcomer whenever he leaves the Halax’s house. Dr. Ward, I want you to monitor his health closely. Make sure to give the Halax’s any supplies they’ll need to keep our guest’s wounds dressed. If he has any other medical issues, I want you to tend to him personally.” Reglin was met with some angry looks from Wrenna and a few of the other department heads, but he ignored them. “Once this young man has made himself decent, we’ll convene a meeting of the directorate, find out what we can about him, and discuss what to do from there.” His eyes swept over everyone in the room. “I’ll see you all in the situation room in an hour.” Without another word Reglin Charr swept out of the room, confident that his orders would be obeyed.
For a moment a familiar tense silence fell over the room, but just as it looked like another argument was about to break out someone new spoke up. “So I guess I’m staying with you two, huh?” The man on the gurney was still lying back, but at some point, he had propped himself up on his elbows. What remained of his clothes was covered in dried blood, and he had an impressive number of stitches stretching from just above his belly button to just below his right armpit, but his eyes seemed alert despite all his injuries. His hair was a few inches long and very dark, and he sported a surprisingly cheerful smile for someone who had just caught the end of a conversation about killing him.
“Try not to move too much, or you’ll rip your stitches.” Dr. Ward said, crossing the room to fuss over his new patient.
The outsider raised himself into a seated position with his legs dangling off the side of the bed. His wound looked severe, but his injuries were somehow softened by his mischievous smile. Dr. Ward had put a sheet across his lower body to cover him, but his upper body was bare but for the remains of his tattered clothes, and my eyes were drawn to the hint of lean muscles below his skin. The streaks of dried blood and dirt only served to accentuate his physique. I admired his abs, and the ripple of his arms as he stood. I wonder if Dr. Ward would consider rematching me with this guy so I wouldn’t have to be related to Wrenna Greer? I smiled at the thought, and at Dr. Ward’s patient.
“Thanks for sticking up for me.” He said, first looking at my dad, and then at me. Fortunately, I was able to stop my conspicuous inspection of the stranger before he caught me appraising his appearance.
“Of course.” My dad said, extending his hand. “I’m Miles Halax, and this is my daughter Cora.”
The man shook his hand. “Wyatt Cascade.”
My dad grunted an acknowledgment. “Cora, go run and grab our guest some clothes. He can wear something of mine until we can find something in his size.”
I wanted to stay and hear more about Wyatt, but I knew my father would lose his mind if I disobeyed him in front of the other department heads. I rushed out to find some clean clothes, hoping to get back quickly and learn more about this mystery man. Wrenna followed me out, muttering to herself about security risks under her breath.
Chapter 9
“How the hell did you get in here?” Barked a woman who looked like she had just sucked on a lemon. I had only been formally introduced to a few of these people, but since waking up, I had managed to figure out who most of them were. The angry looking woman who spoke to me was Wrenna Greer. I had gathered that she is in charge of city security. I suppose her irritation at an unexpected intruder makes sense, but she needs to take it down a notch.
"I just pushed the open button on the access panel. I didn't expect to wind up here, specifically. I just wanted to see what would happen." I answered in as neutral a tone as I could muster.
She shot me a skeptical glare. "You broke in here by pushing a button? I find that difficult to believe."
"Actually, that's not so far fetched." Piped an older man. I didn't know his name, but I was thankful for his intervention. The man, despite the gray that had taken over his hair, looked formidable. He was on the short side, but he was almost as wide as he was tall, making him look much more exuberant than a man of his age might otherwise look. "When they designed the city they made the blast doors easy to open from the outside to facilitate incoming aid after a limited strike, but difficult to open from the inside without the access codes so people couldn't accidentally expose the city to radiation.” He explained.
So, I need an access code to get out of here.
"So we're just at the mercy of anyone who passes by and pushes a button?!" Wrenna asked, rounding on the man.
"Not exactly." The man replied, ignoring her animosity. "When the city was designed the outer blast doors were built in a remote cavern. We have several explosives in the armory which we can detonate to destroy the cave and block the entrance if the Charrs choose to do so." The man finished with a pointed look towards the end of the table where Reglin and Oswalt Charr sat.
So, they have an armory here. I had noticed that Wrenna seemed to be the only person who carried a gun, but I hadn’t discounted the possibility that the people here could have weapons. If they have bombs, and their own armory, these people might be more heavily armed than I had initially thought. I’m glad I haven’t made anyone mad enough to shoot me, yet.
“But, that would prevent us from making structural repairs to our surface equipment if our remote repair systems fail, or, really, leaving the city for anything else.” He added quickly, trying to impress upon the others at the table, especially Reglin and Oswalt, that blocking the entrance to the city is not a decision which should be taken lightly.
I had gathered that the Charr family was in charge after a fashion. The elder, Reglin Charr, is a government official and seems to have the final say in most matters. The younger, Oswalt Charr, is a preacher or religious leader of some kind. Though I'm still not sure what his official role is, I did notice a few heads swivel to see his reactions as we spoke so I could tell his opinion mattered to the other people seated at the table.
Oswalt shook his head. “No one is destroying the entrance to the city. Our primary mission is to remain in wait here until Solne wills us to return to the surface and rebuild society. Without access to the surface, we won’t be able to accomplish our mission.”
A few heads at the table nodded in agreement with Oswalt, but Wrenna brushed off what he had said and rounded on me. "Fine." Wrenna huffed. "What were you doing hanging around in some cave in the middle of nowhere?"
"And how have you been surviving out there?" Asked the old man with an edge of excitement in his voice. "Our sensors still show a large amount of radiation and decreased surface light after the war. What's it like on the surface?"
>
“We’re getting ahead of ourselves, Corvan.” Reglin Charr said, quietly. Those seated around the table stopped talking, though Wrenna and Oswalt didn’t look particularly happy about it. If Reglin noticed their annoyance, he didn’t acknowledge it. Instead, he turned and addressed me. “Please state your name for the record.”
“Uh, I’m Wyatt Cascade,” I answered. I still wasn’t sure what these people were planning to do with me, but based on what little I had overheard it didn’t seem like they knew what they were going to do with me yet, either. For the moment, I’m just going to try to gather information about this place, and see if I can find a way out of here without pissing any of these people off.
“And how did you find yourself at the entrance to our city?” Oswalt Charr asked from the other end of the table. Now it was Reglin’s turn to look annoyed, but he still didn’t comment on the tension between them.
“Well, I was looking for a place to hide out for a while, and I was sure with all the solar panels around that there must be a building somewhere nearby. I thought I might be able to repair the power system, find some food, and hang out for a bit.” Reglin and Oswalt were listening intently, but Wrenna seemed to be growing more furious by the second. I surged ahead, trying to make my case before she interrupted me again. “But I had no idea that anyone was living around here! I figured that the solar panels were probably just old, non-functional infrastructure from before the war.”
“So, you’re mechanically inclined?” The old man, Corvan, chimed. “Because we could always use more people on the engineering teams.” He puffed his chest out, proud of his work. “In fact, we have an ingenious way of maintaining the solar panels without access to the surface. Not that those are our only source of power. We-”
“Corvan! How about we don’t tell the intruder all our engineering secrets?” Interrupted a bald man. I hadn’t heard him speak until this moment, but I had noticed him, and a few others, nodding along in agreement whenever Constable Greer spoke.
I did my best to ignore him. “Yeah, I’m pretty handy,” I replied. “That’s a big part of how I’ve survived for so long on the surface.” And if it’s valuable to these people, it might help me down here, too.
Reglin seemed contemplative. “If that’s true, maybe there could be a place for you here.”
“We can’t just let him stay here.” Said the man sitting next to Corvan. “We’ve had to cut rations on the lower levels once this year already. If we let him stay, he would just be another mouth to feed.”
“Exactly!” Wrenna said, finally breaking her loosely held silence. “We still don’t know anything about this guy!” She turned to me. “You said you wanted to “hide out” somewhere; what were you hiding from?” The question caught me off guard, and Wrenna pressed the advantage. “You were clearly injured when you arrived here, were you running from someone?”
I’m not sure I should tell them the truth, but I’m a terrible liar. “I, um,” I began, resolving to come clean rather than risk being caught in a lie. “I was part of a gang for many years, but I realized that some of the things they were doing were wrong. Getting away was difficult, to say the least, but I couldn’t stay with a group like that. When I tried to leave they attacked me, and I was injured.” I said with a nod towards Dr. Ward. “It was getting late, so I decided to rest in a cave for the night, and I wound up finding a hidden city instead.”
And finding a populated city was the last thing I wanted. After my time with the Unseen Company, falling into place in another community sounds like a terrible idea. I thought of what happened to my brother and suppressed a wince. I don’t want, or need, to form attachments with another group of people. That kind of codependency just opens you up to being hurt and forces you to compromise your ideals for others.
“So you’re a criminal!” Wrenna trilled, victoriously.
“Even if he was, he’s not anymore!” Miles shot back at her. “He says he left whatever group he was involved with.”
“And how can we trust him?” Wrenna growled. “It’s not like we have any way to verify his story.”
He gestured at me. “You saw how badly he was hurt. You think he’s still friends with whoever did that?”
“Enough!” Reglin shouted. He took a deep breath to compose himself. “We don’t know enough about our new guest to make a decision right now. Miles Halax has arranged to house the young man, temporarily, until we can make a judgment.” Wrenna looked like she was about to launch into an objection, but Reglin Charr cut her off smartly. “And when Miles or his daughter Cora can’t watch him, I’ll have my daughter personally escort him around the city.” He finished, gesturing to the young guard who had been trailing our group since I woke up.
Wrenna still looked irritated, but she didn’t object.
“My father is right, we should withhold judgment,” Oswalt said, hoping to get the last word in. “For all we know, Wyatt here could be the sign we’ve been waiting for that we should return to the surface, and bring religion to the world that remains above.” Oswalt looked cheery, but for the first time both Wrenna and Reglin looked equally unhappy with something said at this unusual gathering. Though Reglin and Oswalt both had the same dark features, it was clear that they didn’t see eye to eye very often. “After all, if people are surviving up there, why couldn’t we?”
“Meeting adjourned.” Reglin declared over the murmur of discussion. “We’ll convene another meeting of the directorate in a few weeks to make our final decision. Miles,” He said, addressing Mr. Halax. “Please show our guest his quarters.”
I nodded and followed Miles Halax deeper into the underground city.
Chapter 10
“I just don’t know what to do.” Carla Escobedo said, gesticulating wildly.
Carla is a woman of the faith, and I’ve gotten to know her well since becoming Cardinal. To most people, Carla seems unflappable and confident, but I know that she only talks with her hands when she’s nervous. Not that I can blame her for being a little jittery. If my father found out about this little chat, we could both be charged with treason.
“I mean, I know Reglin doesn’t want us to go to the surface until our sensors show that it’s safe, but if people are living up there, maybe it’s not as horrible as we thought.” She spoke in a hushed voice even though we were alone in her house. “The climate on the surface isn’t what it used to be. We’ve seen a marked decrease in radiation levels over the years and, more importantly, signs that the nuclear winter may have ended. I’m not sure what Reglin is waiting for. Does he just expect us to live down here forever?”
Carla is the third department head I’ve spoken with today, and all of them seemed similarly frustrated. People here are catching on. They’re starting to suspect that the surface isn’t as hostile as my father wants everyone to believe. Especially now that that outsider, Wyatt, stumbled into Departure.
“My father is a wise man, but he’s stubborn. He clings to the bureaucracy of running Departure while ignoring the teachings of the church.” I replied. I chose my words carefully. Carla is a fair, reasonable woman, but she’s also always a friend of my father. I know if I’m ever going to live to see the surface I need her on my side, not his. “His heart has been closed to what God requires of us.” I sighed. “He wants to keep everyone here safe, but he’s become overly cautious. The world above will never be safe enough for him.”
I thought of the statue of Tanya Charr on display in Departure’s central marketplace. Tanya, a wealthy philanthropist before the war, built this place. She had the foresight to see that a nuclear conflict was inevitable, and everyone living in Departure today owes her their lives. When I bring us back to the surface, they’ll have to build a statue of me.
Mrs. Escobedo nodded slowly. “I suppose that makes sense after what happened to your mother.” Carla looked away quickly. “I’m sorry.” She whispered. “She was a good woman.”
It’s always awkward talking about the disease that swept through the
city almost twenty years ago. On the one hand, my being the only child to survive the epidemic was what put me on the short list to become Cardinal in the first place. On the other hand, the disease killed a large number of people, my mother included, before a young Dr. Ward effectively quarantined and treated the remaining infected citizens.
“Reglin was never quite the same after we lost her.” My shoulders sagged at the thought. I hated imaging what my relationship with my father might have been like if my mom hadn’t died. If she were still here, maybe I wouldn’t be the one leading us to the surface. Maybe, my father would have already allowed us to return. I shook off the thought, focusing on Carla. “But the fact remains that the Syndic is allowing his personal feelings to interfere with his duty to the people of Departure.”
“So, do you think it’s time?” Carla stared at me, shifting nervously from foot to foot.