Death's Twilight

by A. J. Leavens

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

  JFK Airport, Eastern UT, December 7, 2308 07:17:14 (T-Minus 05:22:42:46)

  Slade walked briskly down the hallway, fastening the ring of keys to his belt. Each long stride sent an echo ahead of him as his shoes met the tiled floor. Fluorescent lights above illuminated every space, leaving no room for shadows or hidden personnel. He passed doorways to his right and left, all marked Holding, with the respective consecutive number assigned to the silver nameplate.

  There was no one else in the hallway, but Slade still felt the urge to look over his shoulder every hundred meters or so. He had no idea where he was at the moment, other than the general location of Terminal Five. He saw a door marked washroom up ahead, and he ducked inside, letting the door close behind him. Accessing his chronometer, he pulled up a map of the terminal, sending the image to the glass of the mirror in front of him. As he studied the map, he splashed some cold water on his face, refreshing himself for the next step in the plan.

  Slade's chronometer also projected his location in the form of a blinking blue dot. He could see an exit ahead, about eight hundred meters. That exit would lead him to the airside portion of the airport. While on the wrong side of where he wanted to be, a circuitous route might be the best plan to get back to his hover in the parkade. On the other hand...

  Slade keyed a number into his chronometer. His earpiece picked up the signal, and Slade waited for the connection. A soft chirp sounded in his ear, and then the familiar voice of Sarah was there.

  "Hover 8669, how may I help you?"

  "Sarah, it's Slade.

  "Welcome back, Slade. How was your trip?"

  "A disaster, I'm afraid. Sarah, can you get a fix on my location?"

  "Affirmative. You are in terminal five, but you appear to be nowhere near the baggage area. In a holding room?"

  "A long story. And I'm using a different chip. Can you lock onto this signal?"

  "Working. One moment. Signal acquisition confirmed.

  "Great! There is an exit approximately eight hundred meters from my current location. Can you meet me there in five minutes?"

  "Affirmative, Slade."

  "Thank you, Sarah. See you shortly."

  Slade disconnected the call, and exited the washroom, walking toward the exit. Ahead, he noticed a pair of guards dressed in the same uniform he was wearing walking toward him. A male and a female, they were chatting amiably between each other. As they passed, they nodded politely in his direction before carrying on. He smiled at them in return.

  So far, so good. He thought to himself. When they rounded the corner back toward Holding Room # 1, Slade relaxed. Apparently there were no retinal scanners in the maintenance corridors of Terminal 5. He walked the remaining distance to the exit door, and opened it, being flooded with bright sunlight. He could see his breath in the cool air, but the warmth of the sun took a bit of the chill off. Sarah waited, engine running. There was no frost on the windshield, and he knew that the interior of the car would be set at a nice ten degrees.

  Entering the passenger side, he sat in the seat, buckling himself in. He adjusted the radio to an iCorps frequency, hoping to pick up some information about the person or persons after him. After listening for a few minutes, he realized that all he was going to hear was the usual calls to Control about assisting in a Delivery. He changed from the radio to his personal music folder, and placed his Beatles folder on shuffle. The first song to play was "Let It Be". It suited his mood perfectly.

  "You have not specified a destination, Slade. Where would you like to go?" Sarah asked him.

  Slade glanced up, catching his reflection in the mirror. He still looked like Marcel. He would have to change that before he got to the College. He remembered the Beta who had approached him at Melrose. He would be waiting there for Slade this evening. What was his name again? Something like a truck and a dog. Peter Ford? Nope. That wasn't it. Mack! Mack something. Mack...Terrier? Screw it.

  "Sarah, I need to go home, but before we leave Terminal 5, I need you to display all Beta Emissaries in the third year with the first name of Mack." He paused, remembering Mack's features. "Remove all results with blonde hair, and those under one point eight meters."

  "Working...one moment, Slade."

  Pictures appeared on the hover's windshield. Slowly, at first, but then with quicker succession. Some of the pictures disappeared as the search terms rendered them not a match. At the end of Sarah's search, there were only three Macks: Mack Smith, Mack Izumi, and Mack York.

  "Sarah, eliminate all except Mack York, and fill to screen."

  Mack's face was instantly more than life sized, and Slade once again began to alter his features to match York's. When he was satisfied, he asked Sarah for a comparison.

  "Ninety-nine point eight percent match. Only the retinas are different."

  "Good enough for me," Slade said. "Let's go home."

  Sarah drove back toward The College. As Slade passed the familiar streets of his hometown, he felt a mix of comfort and apprehension. Though he knew these streets like the back of his hand, he was acutely aware that, around any corner, down any alley, or behind any door could be the person assigned to eliminate him. He wasn't even sure if posing as Beta York was going to succeed. Though it wasn't unheard of to see a Beta in The College, it was the exception, and usually only at an Alpha's request. If he was stopped, he would have to tell whoever stopped him that he was here to see himself, which might put him at risk. One hurdle at a time, Slade. He told himself. First you get the key, then the cache, and then you disappear off the grid.

  It sounded like a good plan.

  Slade waited a full minute inside Sarah's protection before exiting the hover and walking in through the main entrance of The College. He had planned his entrance around lunch time as he knew the majority of the support staff would be either upstairs in the cafeteria, or out at the various establishments close to The College. Looking at the bank of empty first-floor offices as he ascended to the second floor in the elevator, he knew he had planned correctly.

  It hadn't taken long for Slade to realize that someone would be guarding his dwelling. If the roles were reversed, Slade would have sent someone to guard the residence and alert him if the party returned home. The question was, who? And if it was someone Slade knew, could he trust them with his actual identity, or did he use his York alias?

  The elevator dinged, announcing its arrival to the second floor. The doors opened, and Slade saw an empty hall ahead of him. The elevator was north facing, so the radius in front of him was Radius VII - those Alphas born in July resided here. He quickly poked his head out of the elevator, scanning left and right to see what was waiting for him. So far, he saw nothing and no one.

  He exited the elevator, bearing left around the circular corridor toward Radius II. As he passed each of the Radii from VI to III, he quickly stole a glance down the hallway. In his current guise as a Beta, he hoped that anyone who saw him would take his looking as interest and awe at the building that he aspired to live in. All Radii were clear, except IV, which had a couple discussing lunch plans as they walked toward Slade. They noticed his Beta uniform and smiled knowingly at him, encouragingly even. He managed a blush, and ducked his head as he continued around the corridor.

  Radius II was a different matter. Not only were there people in the hallway, there were sentries stationed every four doorways, making a covert entrance next to impossible. He was only on the second floor, though, and an exterior infiltration was possible, but not during the day. He decided to take his chances. Slade turned into the hallway, and headed toward the first sentry, looking at room numbers as if trying to locate a specific dwelling.

  "Can I help you, Beta?" the sentry said, his voice like gravel being dragged through tar. He towered over Slade by almost a meter, and outweighed him by fifty kilos or more of solid muscle. He, like all the other sentries Slade could see, wore white iCorps uniforms with red epaulets highlighting the rank of the individual. This particular sentry had
two chevrons, indicating a corporal. While Slade highly outranked him, he deferred to the sentry because it helped his current mission.

  "Um, maybe." Slade feigned nervousness and uncertainty. "I'm looking for Dwelling Fifteen. I was asked to meet an Emissary here for a lunch date." He knew his neighbor was female, but he had never spoken to her since she took over the dwelling from its previous occupant.

  The sentry scrutinized him.

  "Beta York, isn't it?"

  Slade nodded, feeling a dagger of fear in his stomach. If the sentry knew him, he might be done for now.

  "Is this your first Alpha date? I would have thought that being in your third year, you'd have gone on a couple already."

  Slade shuffled his feet side to side, shaking his head in the negative. The guard smiled, a broad warm smile that, had Slade not been on the run, might incline him to strike up more of a conversation with the sentry.

  "I wouldn't worry, York. Alexandra is a great lady. She got her Alpha spurs last year. If she's taken a liking to you, you're in great hands. I'll escort you so the other sentries won't hassle you every ten meters."

  "Thank you." Slade mumbled, pretending to be grateful for the escort. Suddenly, Slade realized that Alexandra might be home. "She told me that I should come to the door alone. Maybe she's nervous?"

  The sentry chuckled again, a deep rumble that set his whole upper body aquiver. He slapped Slade on the back so hard that the real Beta York would have probably fallen straight over. As it was, Slade was nearly pushed down the hall with the slap, and he took a double step to maintain his balance. The sentry whistled two short notes down the hall, and the remaining sentries relaxed, ignoring Slade to the point that he might as well have been the carpet the he walked down.

   Arriving at door fifteen, glanced at the sentries. The two closest to him were about ten meters away from him. That would make the next step a little easier. Next, he activated his chronometer. He had already pre-programmed Sarah to run a lock pick algorithm that would help assist him in getting into the dwelling. He knocked on the door, and stepped a half step back. While it appeared to the sentries that he was fidgeting with his chronometer, he was actually eliminating entry codes.

  He stepped forward again as his chronometer let out a soft chirp. There was a green checkmark on its screen, and he knocked again on the door. Less than a second later, the door swung inward. Slade took one last look down the hallway and saw the first sentry give him a wink and a hand motion that said Go for it. Don't be shy. Slade smiled at him, and then stepped into Dwelling fifteen, shutting the door behind him