Static Mayhem

by Edward Aubry

And all the warning signs running around in Harrison's head coalesced into one horrible picture. "Oh, my God," he said grimly. "Please tell me this isn't what it looks like."

  "Why don't you ask your friend, Scott?" she snapped. "Maybe he'll tell you which ones are his favorites." One of the girls started to cry. "Oh, God," she said. "I'm sorry. Shit." She ran back to the crying girl and said something no one else could hear. The five men from New Chicago stood perfectly still, trying to look nonthreatening, the girl calmed down, Claudia came back.

  "Did he," Harrison started. He had no idea how to finish the question. He tried again. "Are you …?"

  "Not that I would want to talk about it, but no, no one's been by tonight," Claudia said. "Thanks for asking, though." He had no idea if she was being sarcastic.

  "Is Hatfield here?" asked Alec.

  Claudia shook her head. "Nobody here is much older than I am," she said. "Some are younger. I have no idea where they took the women."

  Harrison felt like he had been punched in the stomach with brass knuckles. Any consideration he might have given to the motives of these people was now shredded. He wanted to lash out, but there was no handy target. As he was thinking about what he would like to do to Scott's face, the memory surfaced of his first impression of the castle. "There are no women here," he said.

  "Oh, no," said Hadley, growing pale.

  Harrison turned to Glimmer. She looked like she was just standing by for further instructions. He wondered why she didn't look furious, as Claudia did, but then it dawned on him that in her glorious, but randomly applied, innocence, she had no idea what was going on. "Glimmer," he said, "castles have dungeons, right?"

  "Yes. They do."

  "Find this one's dungeon," he said, and she was gone.

  "Alec," said Claudia, "we have to get these girls out of here. Right now. I count twenty-eight, not including me."

  Alec looked around the room, then back at her. He looked like he was about to say something, but as he hesitated, Harrison turned to Lt. Anderson.

  "Could you pilot one of those fliers they used to bring us here?" he asked. Claudia glared at him.

  "Yes," the lieutenant said instantly.

  "Can we use one to evacuate almost forty people?"

  Anderson grimaced, obviously attempting to solve a geometry problem. Harrison knew that the eight team members, plus twenty-eight frightened girls, would be a tight squeeze in a manta, but he also knew that Anderson had spent the entire flight to the castle studying the flier. He hoped that the lieutenant had thought of something creative that he had not. Alec watched them both without comment or expression, and Claudia tried to take in all three of their faces, but seemed completely lost.

  Suddenly, Anderson's eyes widened and his lips moved slightly. He opened his mouth, let it sit like that for a couple of seconds, then said, "Yesss." He was no longer looking at Harrison, but at a point in space somewhere behind him. Harrison could tell that gears were grinding furiously in the lieutenant's head, but he didn't care which ones.

  Harrison pointed at the barred window in the back of the room. "Can you open that?" he asked the lieutenant.

  "Hold on," said Alec. Harrison and Anderson ignored him.

  Anderson studied the wall, mental gears still grinding, and in far less time than it took to answer the previous question, said, "Yes" again. The answer was confident, unequivocal.

  "Negative, Lieutenant," said Alec. "This is not our problem at the moment."

  "Alec?" Claudia asked. She looked confused.

  "We'll come back for them," he said quietly.

  "When?" She was trembling now. Harrison was unable to tell if she was shaking from fear or anger. Then he realized the distinction made no difference whatsoever.

  "Lieutenant," he said, but he was looking Alec straight in the eye. "Are you sworn or obligated in any way to protect the citizens of New Chicago?"

  "At home and abroad," Anderson replied. He sounded pleased to say it.

  "Claudia." Harrison was still looking at Alec, whose lips were getting thin. "Is anyone in here over eighteen?"

  "I don't think so," she said. She looked back into the room. Several of the girls were shaking their heads.

  "All right, then," said Harrison, calmly, evenly. "As their first adult contact, I claim adoption rights to all of these children."

  Alec shook his head. "Oh, no you don't," he said.

  "If you'd like to contest it, or have me declared unfit, I'll gladly walk through that gauntlet, but as of five seconds ago, everyone in this room is a citizen of New Chicago." Harrison had been through all of this with Mitchell and Dorothy. The law was direct and clear on this matter. It had been written to expedite the placement of the hundreds of refugee children. In the vast majority of cases, it had worked out to everyone's benefit. The fact that Harrison was the first adult in the door gave him the authority under that law to do what he had just done. "And they are all now under our protection," he added, superfluously.

  "We haven't got time for this," Alec said.

  "Then Roland better get a move on," Harrison said. Too late, it occurred to him that it was probably inappropriate to use the lieutenant's first name, but Anderson showed no negative reaction. "These girls come with us," he added, "or I stay."

  Claudia seemed to be in shock by now. A single tear streaked down the side of her nose.

  "You know bloody well you aren't staying here," Alec hissed.

  "Then I'd say you have a problem," said Harrison.

  No one spoke for a few seconds.

  Finally, Alec said, "No. I'm sorry, Harrison, Claudia, but we have to go now." It was a call. If Harrison were bluffing, Alec knew this would be the end of the discussion.

  "Yes, we do have to go now," said Harrison. Then he leaned into Alec's face and said, soft enough that only the team members could hear him, "And every single one of my children is coming with us."

  For a moment, looking at Alec's reaction, Harrison thought he might just have earned himself a permanent home in the castle.

  Then Alec turned to Anderson and said, "Take the sergeant and Dr. Tucker, secure a flier, and prep it for evac. Do not take off until I get there."

  "Yes, sir," said Anderson. He saluted Alec, nodded (just barely) at Harrison, and left with the other two men. Just as they went through the door, Glimmer flew in.

  "Found it," she said. She pointed. "That way. Left, left, down three flights, then straight down the hall. You can't miss it."

  "How many guards?" Alec asked.

  "Two, sir," said the pixie, saluting. This was still a game to her, Harrison noted. She couldn't know how sour it was turning.

  "Get to the hangar and assist Lt. Anderson, then wait for us there," said Alec.

  Glimmer looked at Harrison, who nodded. She was gone.

  Alec turned to Claudia. "Wait here. We'll be back for you in a few minutes." She nodded, but did not make eye contact. Harrison couldn't tell if Alec even noticed. "You," he said to Harrison, his voice glacial, "are now a key, and only a key. Stay behind me, and keep your mouth shut."

  "Sir. Yes, sir," Harrison said, deadpan. Then he turned to Claudia. She did make eye contact with him, but he could see the fear in her eyes. For the first time in his memory of her, she looked childlike. He tried to think of something reassuring to say, but this was too big for him to make any promises. He had just taken a tremendous risk. He hoped it would pay off. "Cross your fingers," was all he could say.

  "Good luck," she whispered.

  * * *

  Alec and Harrison made it to the dungeon without incident. As ordered, Harrison kept his mouth shut, but both men knew he had already said plenty. They found two guards standing watch over an iron door at the end of the hallway.

  Alec killed them both.

  Harrison was unable to comprehend how it had happened so quickly and so successfully. From the moment they reached the bottom of the stairs, they were in plain view of both guards, who saw them immediately and drew their swords. Alec ad
vanced on them at a casual walking speed, silently, both hands raised, while Harrison hung back. They told him to halt, and then they were dead. One lay in a sea of his own blood, which had washed out of what was left of his throat, the other was slumped against the wall with Alec's short sword through his heart. It had been one fluid motion with the same weapon, slashing and throwing. Somewhere in there, Harrison realized, Alec had also deflected a blow from the first guard's sword, which lay on the floor several feet away.

  Alec pulled his sword out of the second guard's body and wiped it on the dead man's pants. When he sheathed it, it blurred before becoming invisible again.

  Don't throw up, Harrison ordered himself. Please don't throw up.

  "Open, please," said Alec. Harrison ran the rest of the way and put his hand on the door. It clanked at them indignantly, then swung open. "We're in it, now," the spy said. "I hope you know." Harrison nodded numbly. "Do you still think this is fun?" Harrison shook his head. "We are rescuing exactly two people from this dungeon. You are a key. Keys do not think, keys do not make judgment calls. Are we clear on that?"

  Harrison gulped. "Yes," he said. It turned out to be a moot point. Only one cell was occupied, and it held their lost teammates. The only "furniture" in the cell was the straw strewn on the floor. The president of New Chicago and the doctor had been treated like livestock. He paled as the implications of that sunk in.

  "What's going on?" Louise asked in an astonishingly calm voice.

  "We're leaving," said Alec.

  Alec and Louise each took a sword from the dead guards. The way out was clear. Harrison had been concerned that the guards might have raised some alarm, but it did not appear that they had done so. Once they were on the main floor, they stopped.

  "Get back to the dormitory and get Claudia," said Alec. He handed Harrison a sword. "I'll get these two to the hangar."

  Harrison did not move. "You mean wait for you," he said.

  Alec shook his head. "Just get her to the hangar. We'll take it from there."

  "You mean, 'get up to the dormitory and wait for us to get you out,' right?" said Harrison, still not moving.

  "What's this about?" asked Louise. Now she was frowning.

  "Nothing," said Alec and Harrison in unison.

  "We have to go," said Alec.

  "Great," said Harrison. "We'll be ready when you get up there." He stepped closer, and said quietly, "You incredible bastard."

  * * *

  Harrison tapped lightly on the door before opening it, which he did slowly. Claudia was still waiting right inside.

  "Where's Alec?" she whispered.

  "He's coming. Is everyone awake?"

  "Yes," she said. "They're also very scared."

  "Yeah, well, soon they won't have to be," he said. Looking around, he took in the frightened and confused faces of the few girls who had not curled up into balls. "Do they understand what's happening?"

  Claudia shrugged. "About as much as I do. I did tell them that you're legally their father now."

  "How did that go over?"

  She looked over her shoulder, then back at him. "Mixed. Most of them have been here for months. They don't have a lot of trust left."

  "I won't take it personally." He hesitated for a moment. "I can't wait out here. I need to come in. I'm sorry. I'm going to have to close the door, and we should probably leave the light off."

  Claudia grimaced. "How long do we have to wait?"

  "Not long." He had absolutely no idea. He pulled the door shut, and the room dimmed dramatically, though it did not go completely black. Harrison could now see pale blue light radiating from a small, plastic blue bird stuck to a wall near one of the bunks. A nightlight. He found it disturbing.

  Someone whimpered. Someone else made a shushing sound.

  They waited.

  After a few minutes, Harrison started to get nervous, not only about the prospect of Alec abandoning them, which he did not consider remote, but also because he and Alec had left two brutally murdered people downstairs, and it was only a matter of time before they would be found. He turned toward the door, and started probing its featureless surface with his fingers.

  Claudia watched him, frowning. "What are you doing?" she whispered.

  "Not sure," he said honestly. "I want to try something." And just then, he could feel the bolt slip back into place. "Whoa," he said. "I didn't think that would work."

  "Did you just lock us in here?" said Claudia.

  "Relax," he said. "If someone comes by and sees the door unlocked, they'll be suspicious." He stared at his hands. "I've never been able to do that before, though. I wonder if it only works when I'm scared out of my mind."

  He meant for it to be a light comment, but when he looked up at Claudia, her eyes were as wide as he had ever seen them. Great, he thought. She had been hanging her hopes on Harrison's bravado. Now she had no reason to think they weren't doomed.

  "I'm kidding," he said. He wasn't. She knew that.

  Just as he was trying to find something, anything, to say that wouldn't make things worse, Glimmer came barreling through the window, bright as day and throwing sparks everywhere. "Get back!" she shouted. "Get away from the window!"

  The girls screamed. Most of them were seeing her for the first time, and they didn't know what she was. The few who had heard what she said threw themselves toward the wall farthest from the window, but mostly to put distance between them and her. The rest followed because they didn't know what else to do. When Claudia suddenly turned on the light, this was greeted with more screaming, as many of the girls threw their hands over their eyes.

  "What the hell?" said Harrison.

  "Sneaky time's over," Claudia barked. "We may as well see what we're doing."

  "It's locked," said a voice in the hall, and Harrison jumped. Everyone in the room immediately went silent.

  "So open it, idiot!" said another voice outside.

  No one in the room was speaking or screaming or crying or even shushing anymore, so when the horrible scrape began, it was terrifyingly loud. It sounded like a giant nail on a giant blackboard, with occasional snaps and cracks, as though it were ripping the board to pieces.

  "What the hell was that?" cried one of the men in the hall.

  "Get the damn door open!" said the other one, and Harrison got it. They couldn't. He had not only locked the door, but he had frozen it somehow. Was it jammed? Spot welded? He wished he could see it. He was allowing himself a fraction of a second to wonder if he could unlock it himself, when the scraping stopped with a loud whang, metal on metal.

  As one, everyone in the room turned. There was an iron talon wrapped around one of the bars on the window. As they watched, it curled and pulled. There was a whining sort of engine noise, then hideous thunder. The window, plus several large chunks of the wall, broke away and tumbled out of sight. Through the jagged hole, about a dozen of the talons were visible, arranged in facing pairs.

  "What the hell is happening in there?" shouted one of the voices in the hall. No one in the room was frightened of whoever was out there anymore. They had larger concerns. Suddenly, the talons pulled back and rotated out of view. The engine noise faded with their passing.

  "Everyone just stay calm," said Glimmer. "And keep away from the window."

  They had no trouble doing the latter, but the former proved impossible. All the girls were panicking, and some of them were finally starting to shout at Harrison.

  "We're all going to die!" was a favorite. "Why couldn't you leave us alone?" also came out a few times. Harrison was dumbfounded. The last thing he expected was for these kids to be vilifying him. He started to say something in his defense, then realized that would be the height of stupidity at that moment.

  Claudia took over. "Shut up!" she shouted.

  It was impossible for Harrison to tell where she was directing that, but it turned out not to matter, because at that precise moment an open door slammed into the outer wall. A huge piece of stone broke off and fell
into the room. The door led to a lighted room, and it took Harrison a second to recognize it. "Everybody in!" he shouted. No one moved.

  "GO!" the pixie shouted. Everyone jumped, then they all started piling into the rear hatch of the buggy. "Plenty of room," Glimmer was saying. "Though some of the smaller people will have to double up in a seat." She was trying to direct traffic, but once they got past the threshold, everyone figured out exactly what they had to do.

  "Get into the driver's seat," Harrison told Claudia. "Do you know where the hatch control is?" She nodded. "Good. I'll go last. As soon as I'm in, seal the hatch. Hopefully, Roland will feel that and he'll move out."

  "Got it." She ran to the buggy, squirming past the fleeing girls.

  "You're welcome," he said quietly. He turned to Glimmer. "You going in?"

  "Negative," she said. "I think they're scared enough. I'll fly myself."

  Harrison waited until the dormitory room was empty, then climbed into the hatch. It started closing before he had a chance to say he was in, and he trusted that Claudia already knew this. All the seats were filled, some with more than one body, so Harrison remained standing, which became extremely difficult once they started moving.

  He was able to see out one window of the buggy as the flier holding it pulled away from the castle. They were facing the rear of the building now. From this angle, he was treated to a sight he had missed on the way in because they had come from the other direction. There was a pen lit with flood lamps on the grounds holding several dozen animals. It was covered with a wire mesh roof. He had seen these beasts before he had found Dorothy. They still reminded him of lobsters, but these creatures looked larger than the one he had killed. They were possibly larger than men. Then he saw something else. Several bleached human skeletons were clearly visible in the pen. He knew that from that distance, and from a moving vehicle, it would be impossible to make out details, but they somehow looked like women. He looked away, crouched down to the floor, and settled in the narrow gap between two seats.

  Several of the girls backed away as he moved, and even though he understood why, it hurt a little. He said nothing to them as they flew and put his head down to avoid eye contact. After a few minutes, he felt a hand on his arm. He thought it might be Claudia, but when he looked up, he saw one of the girls looking right at him. She had curly red hair and freckles, and Harrison thought she must be about thirteen. Barely older than Dorothy. It broke his heart. She stared at him for a while, and he had no idea what he should do.