Archipelago N.Y.: Flynn

by Todorov, Vladimir

  “But, there must be some mistake, sir! Tony’s still young, my age ... that’s never happened before! Usually...”

  “We don't make mistakes, Perry! You know that!”

  “But...”

  “Romero’s sick and therefore unable to contribute to the community,” the Rottweiler said, studying his nails. “He’s on the List for the greater good of our city! It’s the law of the land.”

  “Sir, we just won the Trials together! Surely, you can do something...”

  “The matter’s closed! Don't make it worse for yourself!” Duncan Roth paused for a second, pointing his finger at Flynn. “There’s someone here in this building… someone very powerful… who’ll be glad to see you join your father and your friend! Is that what you want?”

  Flynn stared at Duncan Roth and clenched his fists. He knew that this someone was Leo Van Zandt.

  “I strongly suggest,” the man said slowly, “that you forget about your father and Romero and concentrate on your career, young man! You’ve got a bright future ahead of you. And I expect you to be ready for work assignments as of tomorrow…. I've already selected a Crew Mate to replace your friend.”

  Flynn took a deep breath… He wanted to scream at Duncan Roth.

  “You can go now, Perry. Our little discussion is over!”

  Flynn hung his head. He felt like an idiot! What was he thinking, really? That winning first place in the Trials made him special? That it gave him the right to demand favors, or that they would make an exception and bend the rules for him? Did he expect someone like the Rottweiler to change his mind? His father was right about the man after all… he really was the biggest bastard in town! Flynn had no doubt about it now… Duncan Roth had no heart, and Flynn was a complete fool to think he would spare Tony, or anybody else for that matter... Slowly, Flynn turned and opened the door. The guard was waiting for him.

  “Take the boy back downstairs, Hopper… And make sure he uses the front door this time.”

  Flynn heard Duncan laugh as the guard's hand grabbed him by the collar and threw him out of the room.

  TWENTY

  The Midtown Bay’s Scavenging Station shimmered in the distance ahead. Its cargo hold was made of a rusting railway transfer bridge, kept afloat by dozens of barrels and tires, encircled by large floating pontoon docks. This was where the “newbie” Free Scavengers were supposed to gather and get their first instructions and assignments from their boss, Duncan Roth. Flynn slowed down the Seeker and let it glide slowly toward the nearest dock.

  Pharrell and Clay were already there, their raft moored to the Station’s docking platform. Flynn was immediately struck by how quiet the two boys were. Always full of laughs and loud chatter, they were now sitting in silence. Pharrell turned to look at Flynn. “You alone?” the boy asked, puzzled.

  “They took Tony,” Flynn said as he tied his raft next to theirs. “And my father!”

  Pharrell nodded. He then looked away, his red-rimmed eyes wandering absently over the horizon. Flynn studied him for a moment, frowning, trying to figure out what was wrong with Pharrell... And then it hit him… The boy had lost someone close, someone who had been on the List, just like Flynn’s father.

  “Who did they take?” Flynn asked quietly.

  “Both my parents,” replied Pharrell, his face full of pain and misery now. “I was kind’a ready for my old man, but my mom ... that came out of nowhere…”

  “Were you there… when they came for them?”

  “Yeah, man. Dad held it together, but my mom... she took it pretty bad, cryin’ an’ all that!”

  “I wasn't there for my dad,” said Flynn.

  “That must’ve been rough, bro…”

  “Yeah, real rough,” Flynn said and turned to Pharrell’s buddy. “Your family OK, Clay?”

  “Mine’s safe!” Clay mumbled. “For now...”

  Flynn sank into his seat and closed his eyes. He felt bad for Pharrell. The fact that he wasn’t alone in his loss didn’t make it less painful, though… In the course of only two days, Flynn had gone from the highest to the lowest point in his life… Winning and losing! But Flynn wasn’t prepared to lose! Not like that, not without a fight!

  “Where’s the girl?” Pharrell’s voice brought him back to the present. “Wasn’t she your back-up Crew Mate?”

  “Not anymore… Don’t need her!”

  “You kiddin’?” Pharrell raised an eyebrow. “Duncan won’t let ya work without a Crew Mate, ya know...”

  “The hell with work,” Flynn snapped, “…and Duncan Roth!”

  Pharrell cocked his head. “What’s on your mind, bro? Fed up with life on the Upper Side already?”

  “No, but if I don’t do something soon, my life will mean nothing!” Flynn jumped from his seat and hopped onto Pharrell’s raft. There was a new urgency in his voice. “I can't just let them kill Tony and my dad, can I? You can’t let your parents go away… We’ve got to do something, Pharrell.”

  The boy just stared at Flynn, stunned by his words.

  “C’mon, we can come up with something… get them out of there…”

  “They’re gone, man, they’re gone!” said Pharrell, shaking his head. “Give it up!”

  “Give it up?” Flynn cried angrily. “You’re going to sit and watch you folks die, just like that? I never took you for a coward Pharrell…” He was now stabbing his finger in Pharrell’s face.

  “I’m no coward!” Pharrell sprang from his seat. “But I ain’t stupid, either! I know the rules here, and I plan to stay alive for as long as I can! Get it?”

  “Yeah, I get it!” shouted Flynn, glaring at him. “I’m stupid ‘cause I don’t want to accept their rules… and to keep my mouth shut…”

  “You’ve lost your mind Perry boy! Quit with this reckless bullshit talk before you get us all into trouble.”

  “Yeah? And live like a coward for the rest of my life!”

  “Watch it!” Pharrell growled, pushing Flynn hard in the chest.

  Flynn stumbled back, found his footing quickly and saw that Pharrell was now pointing a diving knife, inches away from his face. As the blade slashed sideways through the air, Flynn caught Pharrell by the wrist and drew his own knife… But before Flynn could strike, Pharrell had grabbed his wrist, too. Now, with their hands locked and arm muscles bulging, the two began to move around in circles.

  “Hey, hey! Stop!” yelled Clay, trying to break up the fight. He managed to pull the boys apart and stood between them, hoping that he could get them to calm down. Flynn and Pharrell glared at each other, breathing heavily, their bodies tense and ready to pounce at each other again.

  Suddenly, the loud sound of a motor boat made them all turn their heads. Duncan Roth was speeding toward the Station, his boat cutting through the glassy waters of Midtown Bay. He wasn’t alone. There was someone sitting next to him. Flynn squinted and lifted up his hand to shade his eyes against the glare of the sun. He saw a boy sitting next to the Rottweiler and his heart skipped a beat. “Tony!” he cried. Duncan Roth had changed his mind, Flynn thought happily. But as the boat approached, Flynn realized he had made a terrible mistake. “Shit!” Flynn spat in the water with disgust... It wasn’t his friend sitting next to Duncan Roth… It was Madison Ray, her long hair cropped to within inches of her scalp.

  Flynn couldn’t believe his eyes. What the hell did she want? As if hooking up with Leo wasn’t enough, Madison was now hanging round Duncan Roth! Raging inside, Flynn watched the boat as it slowed down and slid next to the boys’ rafts. Avoiding his gaze, Madison got up and followed Duncan Roth onto the docking platform. Flynn noticed the golden badge pinned above her breast and his face darkened.

  “Perry!” Duncan Roth turned to address Flynn. “As you’re well aware, Anthony Romero can no longer serve as your Crew Mate!”

  Flynn felt his whole body tense. He stared furiously back at Duncan Roth.

  “Therefore…” the man continued, “having trained with you prior to the Trials, Madison Ray will
take his place.”

  “No, sir!” said Flynn, lifting up his chin. “She won’t!”

  Pharrell and Clay’s jaws dropped when they heard Flynn’s words. They had never seen such open defiance of authority. Stunned, their eyes darted back and forth between Duncan Roth and Flynn. Madison also shot a worried look at Flynn… No one dared talk back to the Rottweiler, no one!

  At first, there wasn’t an immediate reaction from Duncan Roth. His cold eyes remained fixed on Flynn for a painfully long moment. “Perry!” he finally spoke, “I’ll pretend I didn’t hear that! And I strongly suggest you don’t repeat it again!”

  Too late, thought Flynn. Blood was rushing to his head now. He had crossed the line, he knew that, but he couldn’t stop himself... He was beyond caring about the consequences… “I don’t need her! I can work alone!” he said.

  Duncan Roth ignored him and turned to Madison. “Go ahead! Board his raft.”

  Without any hesitation, Madison jumped down from the platform and walked over to Flynn. He glared at her, and then at Duncan Roth. "Sir, I won’t work with..." Flynn began to say.

  “One more word out of you Perry…” Duncan Roth began, pointing a warning finger at Flynn, “and you’ll be joining the Departure List! Winner of the Trials or not! Is that clear?”

  Flynn opened his mouth to speak, but Madison grabbed his elbow and squeezed.

  “Stop!” she hissed in his ear. “You’ll ruin everything!”

  “Get away from me!” he hissed back and pulled his arm free.

  “I know how to save them all!” she whispered through her teeth.

  Although her words were barely audible, Flynn heard them well. He threw a quick questioning glance at her and saw Madison nod her head. He looked back at Duncan Roth. Had the man heard her? Flynn hoped not… The Rottweiler’s expression had not changed, his finger still pointing at Flynn, waiting for his response. “Is that clear, Perry?” he asked again.

  “Yes, sir!” Flynn straightened up, throwing his shoulders back. “For the Greater Good, sir!” he yelled.

  The corner of Duncan Roth’s mouth twitched as he lowered his arm. “Now, let’s get going. I have your first Scavenging task for the day,” he said, addressing everybody.

  But Flynn wasn’t listening. His heart was still pounding hard against his chest. Madison had stopped him from getting into serious trouble with Duncan Roth, but the die had been cast… Flynn knew that sooner or later, he would clash with that man again. There was a time when Flynn had looked up to Duncan Roth, and he had wanted to be like him…But the last twenty-four hours had changed everything. Now, he hated the man with a vengeance! Duncan Roth had allowed poor Tony to go on the List… And his father had been right all along… Those rumors about Ann Baxter were most probably all true, Flynn thought... He was sure that the Rottweiler was responsible for her death… If only Flynn could make the man pay for all of this! And then a thought struck Flynn like a bolt of lightning…He was going to rescue his father and Tony… and then kill Duncan Roth! That would be his revenge.

  The section of Twenty Third Canal, between Fifth and Sixth Avenue Canal had not yet been scavenged properly. The mountain of mangled, rusting vehicles still littered the submerged street. This was quite an unusual sight for this stretch of Midtown Bay, at the edge of the Lower Side, where most cars, buses and trucks had already been salvaged and lifted up to the surface. Flynn had swum deep into the bowels of the large hardware store and was filling up his mesh sack with cans of adhesive glue, tubs of epoxy cement, vacuum-packed screwdrivers, pliers and power tools.

  The Free Scavengers were on their assignments, following orders… Duncan Roth had sent them to this specific location with a long list of items to be gathered, and the teams were checking them off that list at a good rate. Nothing unusual about that job, Flynn thought, except they were to deliver the scavenged goods not at the officially designated holding port, but to a far-out spot in the Hudson Bay… He couldn't care less where Duncan Roth wanted his stuff. It didn't matter… What mattered to Flynn was to lay low and not draw any attention on himself. For the first time in his life, Flynn had made an effort to listen and to obey. Flynn knew he had to hold back his anger and save it for later… He couldn’t afford to raise anybody’s suspicion and spoil the plan.

  The Plan!

  Yes, they did have a plan… It was Madison's, of course… Clever Madison! Flynn had trouble accepting that... accepting her back on the Seeker, but he had to give her credit for being so ingenious. Madison had found out a valuable piece of information about the Departure Ceremony. According to her, Duncan Roth would take the Departure raft with all the people on the List out into open waters and set it adrift… and Duncan Roth would do that alone! He had been doing this for the last couple of years…No guards, no one else around… The opportunity was unique… All they had to do was wait for the Ceremony to finish then trail the Rottweiler… Once away from the Archipelago, they would strike him down, grab his father, Pharrell’s parents and Tony… then hide them in one of the underwater air-pocket shelters Flynn had found on one of his dives…

  Nobody had ever dared to carry out such a rescue mission in the history of the Archipelago! It was a good plan, though. All thanks to Madison, Flynn thought again… Madison had details about the Departure Ceremony known only to a few select members of the Government. Flynn tried hard not to think about how Madison had extracted all this information, but he was sure it all came from the mouth of Leo Van Zandt… Again, he felt the stab of jealousy … He knew he was now picking at a scab that had grown over a recent cut… yet Flynn couldn’t stop himself…Why would he be jealous? There was never anything serious between him and Madison…Just that one little kiss! She wasn’t even his type! For a brief moment in time, he had been in love with the girl, but not any more…Flynn had to stop thinking about her that way… and focus on his work.

  He scooped up another can of glue from the shelf. Getting low on oxygen and with his mesh sack full and weighing him down, Flynn kicked his feet and turned to go. He swam between the aisles of the hardware store and out through the broken glass window toward his diving bell. Once inside, he took a breath to check the air quality. It was fresh. Madison was doing her job to perfection. Flynn knew she was working extra hard to impress him… trying to regain his trust… As much as he didn’t want to admit it, he was enjoying her efforts…

  As far as Flynn was concerned, Madison had done her bit…He suspected that it was her way of trying to save face. Everyone knew that she was now Leo’s property. She had told him how the two of them would be paired after the Departure Ceremony… The Van Zandt boy had agreed to let her work as a Crew Mate on the Seeker until then, only because Duncan Roth had requested it. In fact, his father, Marcus Van Zandt, had ordered Leo to let her go… for the Greater Good of the Archipelago…

  Flynn rested for another minute inside the bell, took a couple of deep breaths and went back out. Pharrell was also scavenging the store shelves below, his diving bell swaying close to Flynn’s. Pharrell and Clay were in on the rescue plan, and Flynn wondered what had made Pharrell take the risk. Whatever the reason, Pharrell had done something remarkable… Shortly after Duncan Roth had left them with their assignments, he and Clay had agreed to join in and follow Flynn. And Flynn was grateful for that. He would have gone alone, but the chances of succeeding had improved greatly with the two boys by his side… He wasn’t counting Madison in on the action, though... she had done her part, but she wasn’t one of them anymore.

  Using his powerful dolphin kicks, Flynn began his rise back to the surface. The shadow of The Seeker was right above him now, no more than thirty feet away. Flynn screamed to let the last bit of air out of his lungs, and surfaced with a splash. After the peaceful underwater silence, the sounds of the outside world rudely blasted at his ears. The buzz of the early evening boat traffic, the shouts coming from the nearby fishing nets, the screaming of the Archipelago’s hungry seagulls… He heaved the sack on top of his raft and fell b
ack in the water, spreading his arms wide, letting his body relax and float. He looked straight up at the sky, so that his ears dipped under the water to muffle the noises for another few more minutes of peace and quiet. The sun was low and the sky was a beautiful swirl of purple and orange.

  With the corner of his eye, Flynn caught a glimpse of Madison. She was standing at the edge of the raft, her backlit silhouette towering above him like a bronze statue, her skin glistening. Damn it, she was beautiful, Flynn thought… Even with all her hair chopped off… She was talking to him, saying something he couldn’t hear. Flynn was listening to his own voice which was screaming loudly in his head … Madison was Leo’s girl! And no matter how Flynn fought it, the idea of these two being together really hurt… But there was nothing he could do about it... Saving his father and Tony were his top priority… He wouldn’t allow any of his feelings toward Madison to cloud his mind and jeopardize his mission… It was much easier to hate her, he thought. Happy with this decision, Flynn lifted his head out of the water.

  “…going to be late, if we don’t head back soon.”

  Flynn only caught the last part of Madison’s sentence. He was by the side of the raft in two powerful strokes. Ignoring her extended hand, he pulled himself up on the platform and crouched down by his sack. With his back to Madison, he started emptying its contents and adding them to the pile of scavenged hardware from his previous dives.

  “Flynn!” She stood right behind him. “Look at me!”

  He didn’t. Instead, he continued to fuss over his sack.

  “Stop acting like I don’t exist!” she yelled at him. “Why won’t you talk to me?”

  “Tell me…” he said without turning.

  “What do you want to hear, Flynn?”

  “Tell me, Miss Ray…”

  “Stop calling me that!”

  “Now, don’t get me wrong,” Flynn tried to keep his voice steady, “I’m very grateful for all your help… and the plan to save Tony and my dad…”