I got lucky on the western side. It looked like the reception desk had been there, along with smaller chambers, maybe a bar and some meeting rooms. I found the staircase and shed light on it. It looked safe enough, so I started descending, until the huge door to the basement stood in front of me.
It took a few tries to force it open. I used a crowbar I’d found discarded on the floor to make my way through. I hit the jackpot on the other side. What looked like a huge cellar took most of the hotel wing. Broken glass and fallen shelves would have to be cleared, but it was tall and wide enough for what I needed.
I dropped my backpack on the floor and started pulling out the things I’d brought. Old radio transmission devices, a battered laptop, still working, and some electrical cords were all stacked together inside. After a little more fumbling, I found what I had really been looking for: the hotel’s backup generator.
I laughed and allowed myself to rest. Yes, I could do it now. But first, the quick meal of sandwiches and dried fruit I’d snuck out of the house.
With my belly full, I closed my eyes, bringing up plans for a scanner blocking device in my mind’s eye. Despite what humans believed, flyers couldn’t sense the moment an engine was ignited. Nor did they instinctively know what type of engine it was, to then discover who was working on it. They used a highly sophisticated scanner, undeterred by any manmade material.
I planned to block said scanning devices and shield the area where the hotel was. It would only work for a limited amount of time. Every few months, the flyers would send out squads to check every section of the planet that was still inhabited. When that happened, I couldn’t hide what we were doing. But with the increased Freedom Alliance activity I’d planned, they might delay their scheduled scans. I knew they’d just done one because I kept a close eye on Samandriel. The flyer usually checked on me every few days. He’d gone for a couple of weeks without contact recently, and I couldn’t fathom any other reason for his absence.
I ventured we’d have about three months from the moment every bit of tech was delivered to the hotel. We’d build all pieces of the ship separately, making use of the limited space the hotel had. We’d have to then put it together on the rooftop. It would be a race against time, but it was the only way. Once we were airborne, we’d be safe. Well, at least long enough for us to make it out of our solar system.
There were too many ifs and maybes in my plan, but I could not come up with a better one. I’d have to rely on the knowledge the Freedom Alliance members had, on the schematics I’d stolen glances at, and the ship parts they’d amassed along the years. Earth had had faster-than-light abilities before the ban. The Alliance boasted about having ship parts stored everywhere on the continent. They had issues getting engines to function and getting caught at every test wasn’t helping. With their skills, assets, and manpower, they had a slim chance of succeeding. They’d do their thing with the updated schematics while I’d keep them shielded.
It was paramount I built the scan blocking device before they got to the hotel. As long as they did not know how I kept them shielded, they would not try to take over.
Flying off this dreaded planet was my only goal. I had the knowledge and the oversight, and I was unbreakable. You couldn’t destroy or deter something already shattered. That would have to be enough. It sure beat shutting myself off to sulk in my room.
I cringed every time I imagined the look on Michael’s face at finding out about my decision to break all flyer rules. I pushed it away easily. Michael had broken me first. I was free to break Michael’s rules now. I was free to find a way to survive. Long enough to… No, I couldn’t go there. I couldn’t think of what came after I left Earth.
IT TOOK FRED more than I’d expected to get everything ready. Much to his surprise, he held less clout among the Freedom Alliance factions from different parts of the continent. With a little help from others who were more impressed with me being my father’s son than anything, we eventually got things rolling and the slow crawl of parts and people toward the abandoned hotel began.
The hardest part had been to apply the plan I had come up with, of course. Organizing rebellions and engine tests was not that easy when most of the Alliance members were making their way to the same spot. Yet they got it done and every few days, the flyers were regaled with another fire to put out.
By the end of the first month, they’d stopped bothering with public executions. The flyers would kill those caught breaking the rules on site, then drop their dead bodies in village squares. The atmosphere around me was grim, and my mother found it harder to preach obeying the rules.
I came up with a brilliant plan to help Mom out. I made new pamphlets focusing on how instead of learning, we were just making the same mistakes over and over again. The pamphlets did their job, they appeased the angered and sorrowed villagers. The downside to helping my mother keep our initiative alive was that it got a lot harder to find more volunteers, and I desperately needed them to keep the flyers distracted.
My initial calculations were off by two weeks. Which meant two weeks less to get everything built and ready. I wasted another week trying to explain the schematics I’d drawn from memory to the baffled engineers trying to turn them into reality. I knew how to draw them, I had memorized large files of specs, but I couldn’t really get into in-depth explanations of mechanics, technology, and engineering. I wasn’t properly trained in any of those subjects.
I couldn’t spend all my time at the hotel either. Samandriel’s visits were not as often now, but he still came to see me once a week. After not finding me in the village once, I did not want to risk it again. Samandriel knew of the hotel, and I couldn’t have him coming here to search for me.
By the time we started working on the slick ship meant to take us into deep space, we were three weeks behind schedule. That meant we only had a little over two months to have each component ready for assembly. Any day after that was a huge risk which could end with all of us dead.
All I could do was bite my nails, try to explain what I could to the engineers, monitor the scanner blocking device I’d built, and hope against all odds. Everyone got progressively more weary and irritable, which only slowed down our progress. I tried my best to make sure the teams were made up of people who liked each other to begin with, but in a basement filled with raging rebels, that was not an easy task.
Glares, frowns, and curses under their breath was what my team usually had to offer me. If I actually cared about them, maybe I’d be hurt or disappointed. As things were, I was merely frustrated and angry myself. Why couldn’t they leave egos and pissing contests behind and just get on with it? Who cared a kid that knew nothing was guiding them? I was the only one with some knowledge. I was also the only one who managed to keep such a large-scale operation a secret.
On some level, I understood they were all losing people they knew and loved. A lot of Freedom Alliance sacrifices had been made since this whole thing had started. Despite the cold, hard truth that they were all heading in that direction with or without doing as I asked, they seemed to have convinced themselves they were untouchable in their fragmented organization. Sure, it was easier to locate an individual cell than rounding up all of them. But that was only because flyers were not interested in finding them all. Unless they were caught working on a ship or engine, the flyers had no quarrel with the Alliance.
Was it the best strategy to squash the rebellious spirit of the Freedom Alliance? Not in the slightest. But now more than ever it was becoming clear to me that flyers never tried to end our efforts. They just cut us down when we broke their rules and hoped we’d eventually give up. No such luck.
SAMANDRIEL FROWNED and narrowed his eyes, his piercing gaze following me around the garage. I turned my back on him, but I could feel him watching me as I fumbled with the tools I was supposedly cleaning.
“Something’s off with you,” he growled, frustration thick in his voice.
“Is there?” I shrugged and continued my syste
matic polishing of screwdrivers and wrenches.
“You’ve lost weight, you’re tired and distracted, and you disappear a lot. You used to spend every waking hour in here, and now you barely make it a few times a week.”
Samandriel had been out chasing Freedom Alliance rebels, his flyers had been busy with much the same. How did he know that I wasn’t around as much? I stiffened under his relentless gaze and squared my shoulders.
“I need time on my own, Samandriel. I might act like life just goes on, but…” I gasped at how easy lying was. I usually was completely useless at deceiving people, but in this matter, it came naturally. All I had to do was channel the pain consuming me. In truth, I did need time away from the curious looks of the villagers, from my mom’s sad look, full of pity and need to make it all better for me, from Samandriel’s stubborn attempts at watching over me.
“You mean to tell me this is your way of dealing with Michael’s departure?” He snorted and that only managed to anger me more.
“Everything has to do with Michael abandoning me. And he did not simply take his leave, he fucking ran away!” My breath came out in harsh blows, my fists clenched tight and my entire body rocked by shivers.
Samandriel took a step back and held up his hands. “Okay, let’s say that’s the truth. You have to understand, I can’t relate, human. I don’t know what being so consumed by someone else feels. I don’t understand your lust and… love?”
I nodded and forced myself to relax. Not for his benefit, no. I was simply afraid I might let something important slip in the heat of the moment. “I don’t know who’s the loser in this deal. You, for never experiencing such a connection. Or me, for having had it and lost it.”
Samandriel shrugged and sat on the work bench. “I’d say I’m more at peace then you are. And judging by how distressed Michael was before leaving… maybe I am better off.”
A wistful look played on his face, but it was gone before I had time to analyze it. “I do worry about you, Adam. I don’t want to have to crush your neck in front of your mother. More so, I don’t want to send in the report about your death. Gone or not, I don’t think Michael would let that slide and he’s always been stronger than me.”
“So you’re not really worried, you’re just protecting your hide?” I smiled, but I didn’t really feel it. I was convinced his interest in me was nothing more than his way of making sure Michael’s human plaything was kept intact.
“Who knows? At this point, I’d rather see you dead than keep looking into those soulless, angry eyes of yours.”
I gasped, my eyes widening. He’d sounded genuinely upset. And while I didn’t give a rat’s ass whether he was bothered by it or not, I couldn’t help think what my mother saw when she looked at me.
“Sorry to force you to deal with such a displeasing sight, flyer. Maybe you should stop stalking me and make it easier on the both of us.”
He laughed, letting his head fall back. “Oh, you’d love that, wouldn’t you? I can’t though. I am quite sure you’re no longer as innocent as you claim to be. You are connected with all these Freedom Alliance uprisings. I just can’t figure out how.”
I tilted my head and continued to look at him. I didn’t feel guilty in the slightest. Sure, I was breaking the rules, but in doing so, I was also condemning a huge number of rebels to an untimely death. So far, without a functioning ship, the benefits outweighed everything else.
“Seems to me you’re cleaning up our world of the Freedom Alliance.”
“I wonder. See, I know all their top-level engineers and mechanics.” Samandriel smirked and jumped to his feet, coming closer to me. “We have files on all of them, boy. We know what their skills are, how high the chances of doing more than lip service for the Alliance. None of those people have been involved in recent transgressions.”
“Maybe they got tired of trying something doomed to fail.”
“Or maybe everything is a big old distraction.”
I forced myself to laugh and shake my head. “You give too much credit to the Alliance. They are not that well organized. They are selfish, egomaniacal individuals who want to prove one cell is better than the other. Can you actually imagine trying to get them to cooperate?”
Samandriel’s eyes pierced through me, as if he was trying to see into my mind. Too bad Michael had been the only one to achieve that level of openness with me. And he hadn’t even realized how deep our connection went.
“It would indeed take a very special kind of person to get them all to work toward the same goal.”
“I doubt that person has been born, flyer.”
He smiled and shook his head. “You must think me quite the fool.”
“Not at all,” I said calmly, although the protest was quite real. “I think you have too much faith in my abilities. I am just a man, with other interests than helping the Freedom Alliance.”
“You mean to tell me your loyalties have not changed after being dumped by Michael?” He arched a brow, still grinning, and took another step toward me.
“No, my loyalties have not changed. I still think the Freedom Alliance are a bunch of crazy fools that have nothing better to do than dream of flying machines. Like our planet wouldn’t still be dying if they managed to take off without being obliterated by you lot!”
“Hmm, your speech is very compelling. It still fails to convince me.”
I snorted and placed a hand on his shoulder, squeezing a little. “You’re just looking for a reason to keep tabs on me. I don’t know what you fear, but I won’t harm myself. Not more than Michael already did.”
Samandriel sighed and covered my hand with his. I tried to snatch it away, but he refused to let go. “See, that’s what scares me. I saw how deeply and irrevocably Michael hurt you. You’d have to go a long way to match that.”
I smiled and nodded. “Thank heavens for self-preservation instincts, I suppose.”
He laughed and released me, the tension suddenly gone. Samandriel waved broadly and made his way to the door. “I will see you again soon, Adam. Keep your behind out of trouble.”
I had planned to go back to the hotel that night, but something told me it wasn’t a very bright idea. Something in Samandriel’s demeanor as he left pushed me to play on the safe side for once and head home instead.
As always, the house smelled delicious. By now, my mother had no idea when I’d be back home, but she still prepared our evening meal religiously, hoping for a chance to spoil me and kiss my boo-boos away.
“Adam, you’re back!” Her enthusiasm made my chest tighten uncomfortably. I was truly an awful son. I smiled and pulled her into a hug, kissing the top of her head.
“I missed you so I decided to stop by.”
She laughed and waved my comment off. She knew better, and so did I. Of all people, it was her I could not lie to. Thankfully, my mom had been gracious enough to not ask too many questions about what I was doing.
As she always did when I was home, she stuffed me with everything she could find. What she’d just cooked was never enough, so she made sure I had some fruit, some cookies she’d baked earlier in the week, and she even tried to tempt me with some spiced wine.
I thought refusing outright would make her too suspicious, so I forced myself to give in, yet stopped after a first cup. I tried to complain about how tired I was and sneak off to my room, but she insisted I stayed a little longer. Mom gave me a full account of everything she’d done with the villagers. She stressed how happy they were with the new tractor and how much easier things were now that they had it. She subtly tried to refocus my efforts by mentioning how they wondered what I’d come up with next.
I nodded through her enthusiastic stories, promised to help some families with repairs, then finally escaped to shower. I fell asleep the moment my head hit the pillow.
I would have expected the remaining flyers to populate my night terrors. I was breaking the law, after all, and the punishment was death. Yet it was Michael who plagued me almost every nig
ht. It always started with a deceiving sense of safety and being loved, to then have me thrown into the painful morning when I woke up alone. Sometimes he left while I was begging him to stay. But most times I had to relive that dreadful moment when I realized he had already ran away from me, to never return.
I woke up the next day more tired than I’d been when I’d gone to sleep. It wasn’t something new and it was the main reason I’d lost weight and had those tell-tale dark circles inked under my eyes. I ate right and quite a lot, I worked hard, but the inability to sleep countered all my efforts to stay healthy.
After another breakfast where Mother stuffed me like a Thanksgiving turkey—I got the point of her forced feedings just about as much as I got still celebrating nonsense like Thanksgiving and Christmas—I finally made my way out of the village. Now that I didn’t have to fumble about to find my way, getting to the hotel was much easier. The contraptions the engineers had built also made the ascent a lot faster and almost effortless.
When I walked into the basement, I was suddenly surrounded by fuming men, stinking of oil, fuel, and sweat. The grime on their faces made their frowns even deeper.
“Where the hell have you been?” asked Tom, the lead engineer.
“Yes, Nephew, what were you thinking, not coming back?” Fred added, taking a side-step to stand next to Tom.
The grunts of the other men around them, mechanics, and some cell leaders, were just as menacing.
“I was thinking I should stay put till the suspicious Punisher flew away. By all means, I will lead him here straight away next time.” I was surprised by how steady my voice was. Only months before I would have trembled under their scrutiny, expecting a beating and a torrent of insults.
The grunts and nods changed to approval fast enough. We were all living with the fear of being discovered. They were afraid of dying, I was afraid I would not be able to carry out my plan. Funny, how liberating being dead inside really was. There was no fear of death or pain, just fear of failing.
Angel's Feather (Flyer Chronicles, Book One) Page 7