As we approached, the one who had been looking at us turned to the mobile screen. That was bizarre. A security station in the middle of nowhere, and they ignore the only people likely to pass by for days.
Even more bizarrely, they started cheering and clapping each other on the back.
I was tempted to try walking past them to see what had happened, but Christina spoke. “What’s going on?” she asked the mibs. Probably a wiser option. They had guns strapped to their waists, and they were possibly mentally unbalanced.
“Breaking news,” the taller one said. “China had a press conference. They said they deplored the Territories’ cowardly action in attacking their own ally and that they can’t support the current offensive because of that.”
That was great news. I’d avoided thinking too much about the war ever since the battle; it was all so hopeless and depressing. But maybe the Chinese Empire could change things. “Are they going to help our side?”
“No. Not yet anyway,” the mib said, “but as long as they don’t get involved against us, we have a chance. Three against two, we can manage.” He suddenly seemed to remember his job. He squared his shoulders, and beside him, his less-talkative partner shut off the newscast. “Now. Who have we here?”
I came to a stop in front of them, wondering what I could say to satisfy them. Could I pretend we were lost?
Christina, however, sped up her walk and kept going past them. “We’ll just be on our way.”
The mib jerked into action, pulling out his gun and moving to block her.
“What are you doing?” I called out to her. “Get back here.”
The other mib had drawn his weapon and was pointing it at me.
“What is it?” Christina raised her hands and slowed down, though she continued to shuffle forward. The mib stood directly in front of her and pointed his gun at her, his finger on the trigger and his thumb ready to pull back the safety. “Go back and stand over there with your friend.” His expression and manner were deadly serious.
“Christina.” The word came out as a squeak. What was she thinking?
She shrugged and walked back toward me with her hands in the air and a little smile on her face.
The mib standing behind her had a puzzled rather than angry look on his face. He touched his hand to the side of his glasses as he scanned us.
“Mr. and Mrs. Roberts,” he said, going over to stand by his partner. He took his finger from the trigger. “Can you explain what you are doing in this part of the undercity?”
“Yes, of course.” Christina replied confidently. “You, of course, know that my husband lost his brother, the president, recently.”
Both mibs nodded.
“He used to play around here when he and Darius were children. He wants revisit the old haunts to remember his brother. It will help him mourn and start the healing process.”
The mib holstered his gun and gestured for his partner to do the same. “Why didn’t you just tell me that instead of just walking past me like that?”
Christina shrugged. “We weren’t doing anything wrong.”
“Well, just stop and answer questions next time. Off you go.” He pushed the button on the widescreen tablet and crouched over it. “Let’s see the reaction to this news.”
I kept looking over my shoulder as we left, expecting some kind of trick. But there wasn’t any. The mibs just went back to celebrating the news about China.
As soon as we were out of sight, I grabbed Christina by the shoulder. “What did you think you were doing? They could have shot you for that little stunt. Mibs don’t mess around.”
Christina slapped my arm away. The excitement had made her playful. “Aren’t you one of those fearless fighter pilots protecting our skies and keeping us free?”
“Not anymore.” I didn’t share Christina’s excitement. The nostalgia from seeing the skipping cables had been replaced by dread. When we’d started out, I had assumed that there was only a minimal chance of discovering anything. I was beginning to fear that we would find something.
“Sorry. Wasn’t thinking. Now where are these ancient tunnels of yours?”
“This area wasn’t guarded last time. Perhaps they’ve blocked up the entrance.”
“Just lead the way. We’ll get in.”
“Who are you, and what have you done with my wife?” I was only half joking.
She just laughed. “A man can never truly know a woman. He just catches glimpses of her here and there.”
We continued on. The passageways continued to deteriorate. In one section, we had to carefully edge along the wall, navigating around a hole in the floor. Moss on the walls became more common than bare plasterboard, and in one passageway, an arch of moss and ivy covered the roof. It reminded me of my cabin on the Eisenhower with the tomato plants, except there, everything about the growth had been controlled by the horticulturists who ensured the plants had the exact right amounts of light, water, and nutrients. Here, the vegetation managed with dim emergency lighting and sucked up moisture from the creeping damp. I had no idea where they got the nutrients from. Science had to try so hard to achieve what nature and time did naturally.
The vent that provided a way into the tunnels wasn’t covered by vegetation, and it came free easily. There were no obvious signs that someone had been through recently. I was peering into the dark opening when I realized something. “I haven’t brought a flashlight.”
Christina was way ahead of me, as she’d been the whole day. She retrieved a small headlamp from her pocket, strapped it to my head, and switched it on. She then put on her own headlamp.
As I looked into the opening again, with the headlamp providing light, another thought occurred to me. “I was smaller last time I went through, and even then, it was a bit of a squeeze.”
“Coming through.” Christina pushed me out of the way, poked her head and arms inside, and pulled herself in. Most of her was through in an instant; there was a pause while her calves and ankles stuck out. Then, with a final wiggle, she disappeared. “No problem,” she called back, her voice sounding hollow.
I sighed. She was smaller, so her getting through didn’t tell me much. There was nothing else for it now, though. I leaned down and reached inside until I was able to get a decent handhold. I stuck my head inside, pushed with my legs, and pulled with my arms. Once I was halfway in, my legs left the ground, and I had to slither snake-like to continue on. There seemed to be just enough room. I raised my head to see the exit, and my headlamp touched the top of the vent and turned off.
Everything went black, and suddenly, I was back inside the crashed cockpit, unable to move. Jagged pain lanced through me; I couldn’t tell which part of my body was hurt. The heat of the fire clawed at me. A scream caught in my throat. My fingers scrabbled at my head.
The light popped back on, and the feelings faded. I took several deep breaths until my heart stopped racing. I pulled myself farther along the vent, and my head was just about to exit when my shoulders caught on the sides. My arms were sticking out, but they were at an awkward angle so I wasn’t able to turn them and get hold of anything. Deep breaths; don’t panic. I made sure not to move my head too vigorously as I didn’t want to accidentally turn off the light again. That had been bad enough when I wasn’t stuck.
I twisted my hips back and forth and pushed with my toes, but pressure on my shoulders just increased. I was about to call for help when, all of a sudden, the pressure released, and I slithered out the other side.
Chapter 7
The air felt different—less sterile, more earthy. The beam of light from my headlamp shone on the concrete walls of the maintenance shaft as I moved my head back and forth. I was momentarily alarmed at not seeing Christina, until I looked up. Her feet were on the last rungs of a ladder, and as I watched, she disappeared over the top. It was good that I hadn’t gotten stuck—she hadn’t waited around for me.
The ladder consisted of rusted metal rungs embedded in the concrete. I climbed them
and climbed out of the shaft to the tunnel above. It was exactly as I remembered. Metal rails, which had once served a train system, ran down the center of the ground, and platforms rose along the wall on either side. In one direction, there’d been a cave-in, and a wall of rocks reached the ceiling. Going the other way, rubble blocked easy passage both along the rails and on the platform. Just as they had in the passageways below, moss and ivy had begun to reclaim everything. It was dark but not as dark as the vent or the shaft. Natural light was leaking in, though the source was likely not close to the spot where I stood.
Christina’s bobbing light in the distance told me she still wasn’t waiting around. I headed after her, taking long strides so I could catch up; the ground was too uneven for me to break into a run. I kept the headlamp aimed low so I could watch where I stepped. When I reached her, Christina stopped and turned. As I looked at her, the beam of light from the headlamp illuminated her face. She had never looked so beautiful—not even when the bandages were unwrapped from my face, and she had been the first sight I’d seen in weeks.
“Where to now?”
She was flushed and not just from the exertion. “Why has this made you so excited? I don’t think I’ve ever seen you this animated.” Even in the bedroom, I thought ruefully.
“It’s an adventure,” she said. “I haven’t had one in a while.”
“This is a long shot we’re following. Most likely, we won’t find anything.” Even as I said that, deep in my gut, I was becoming more certain we would. Darius’s actions the day before the attack were no longer the only pointer. Thinking back, Burnett had made it seem as though he were indulging me, but at the same time, he’d introduced me to Bureau Director Mari Larsen. Even with her amused smile, Larsen had been interested in what I had to say. And now with the mibs guarding the empty passageway, then just letting us past. I had no idea what was going on, but something certainly was. And I still didn’t understand why my wife seemed like a whole new person. “Christina, there isn’t something you know that I don’t?”
“Can’t tell you everything. A touch of mystery is one of the secrets of a successful marriage.”
“Is this a successful marriage?” I hadn’t meant to ask that—it just came out. We had spent so little time together since our wedding—most of that was probably my fault—and we hadn’t slept together since I’d gotten back.
“Get your head out of your own ass, Jordi. This isn’t the time for your moaning. Let’s get this done. What are we looking for?”
“We spent most of our time in a rusted train carriage. Not much farther.”
“Let’s go.” She started off again.
I sighed and followed, regretting I’d ever agreed to come. I could have been sitting on a bar stool, enjoying the first of many glasses of Invernes Red.
After only a few dozen steps, Christina stopped again, pointing her headlamp at a spot on the ground. “Look down here.”
I aimed my headlamp at the same place.
“Could this be a footprint?” Her voice bubbled with excitement. “Someone’s been here recently. Come on.” She took off again, increasing her pace.
I crouched to examine the mark more closely. Moss had been scraped off the rock. It certainly could have been caused by a small slip of someone walking past—another indication that we would find something. Each new clue increased both Christina’s excitement and my foreboding.
“I can see the train carriage,” Christina called from up ahead.
I straightened and hurried after her. There was no turning back; it was time to find the light at the end of the tunnel and to see where it led.
The carriage had several doors, but the only open one was the one that Darius and I had pried open. Standing outside, watching the light from Christina’s headlamp slash through the darkness inside, I felt as if I were somehow betraying my brother by bringing my wife here. This had been our sanctuary, mine and Darius’s. Our secret place. I should have come alone.
“I found something. Get in here,” came Christina’s high-pitched voice.
I went inside. Christina had discovered a pair of backpacks on the seats. “I assume these weren’t here when you were children?”
“No.” The backpacks looked like the kind military special forces took out on missions.
Christina opened them and began to methodically empty them, pulling out bottles of water and food rations. “A survival kit,” she said. “Food, water, a scanner, a power pack, utility tools, medical supplies.” She felt along the lining. “No weapons, though. Or any documents or identification cards. Nothing to indicate who left them or why.”
“Could have nothing to do with Darius. Maybe this is related to the mibs we passed.”
“If Darius did leave you a message, it’d probably be somewhere that you’d find it. These backpacks are for someone else.”
I remembered back to when Darius and I used to come to the tunnels. “We’d always sit in the same seats.” I closed my eyes, and I could almost see fifteen-year-old Jordi and fourteen-year-old Darius turn sideways as they entered through the half-open door. Darius, the younger of the two, led the way. He would walk down the aisle between the rows of seats, with flakes of rust crunching under his feet. And he would slide in to the left-hand-side seats in the third row. I went to the third row and sat where he used to sit. I didn’t hear the same crunching sound—an indication that the aisle had been well-trodden since I was last there. “Darius would sit on the inside and lean his arm on the back of the seat as he turned toward me.” I slid across to the other seat. “And I would sit here.”
Sitting in my old seat, I felt something underneath me. I leaned to the side so I could get my fingers at in, but it seemed to be under the seat cover.
“You found something.” Christina was watching me. “Move over. I’ll get it.” She went back to the backpacks, picked up the utility tool, and pulled out a blade.
I moved across, and Christina slit three sides of the cover and pulled up the flap. In the middle of the rotting seat foam was a small black gadget.
“This is what we’ve been looking for.” Christina picked it up. “This is a hologram projector. Only Darius knew that was your seat. He did leave you a message.”
“He probably wanted just me to see it.” I reached to take it from her, remembering my earlier feeling that bringing Christina had been a betrayal of what Darius and I shared. He’d obviously meant for me alone to find his final message.
Christina closed her fist around it before I could take it, and she moved to the center of the carriage. “There’s no way I’m going to wait a moment longer to find out what it says.” She clicked a button on the device, and Darius’s form jumped into life. An instant later, most of him disappeared as we both looked at the image and the light from our headlamps went through him. “Turn off the light.” Christina clicked off hers. I reversed my headlamp so that it pointed backward.
Darius returned, looking so lifelike, it hurt. “If you are watching this, it means I am dead.” He gave a cheeky grin that was all Teenage Darius and none Cultivated Statesman Roberts. “Such a corny line, but I always wanted to say it, and I wasn’t going to miss this opportunity.” He grinned again. “Since I’m dead, I’ve no idea who is watching this or why, but I do hope it’s you, Jordi. Be aware that after you’ve finished watching, the projector will self-destruct.” Another cheeky smile. “Actually, it won’t. It appears even the president can’t get ahold of self-destructing hologram projectors. If you are watching, Jordi, perhaps you’ll do me the favor of getting rid of this message after you’ve heard it. If others see this, I’ll be in a lot of trouble. Or I would if I was still alive.”
Stupid Darius, still making jokes.
“I’d tell you not to freak out at what I’m going to tell you, but I know that’s not possible. So I’ll just ask that you take the time to think about what I’ve said once the shock has worn off. I’ve come back from the grave to tell you this, so you know it must be important.” Darius d
idn’t smile. Instead, he said: “I am a member of Celeste.”
I waited for the laugh that never came.
“I know that horrifies you right now,” he continued. “And telling you is a risk that no one wanted me to take. But I want you to be able to see the world with open eyes. Much of what you think you know is false. About Celeste, about the American Conference, about how the world works... everything. I won’t tell you any more than that now; sometimes, the truth is too big to swallow in one bite. You took the first step on a journey by coming here. When we last visited this train carriage together, we were best friends as well as brothers, but our journeys have diverged wildly since then, and I wish we had stayed on the same path—on the path I have taken. So I invite you on a journey to find the truth that I and only a few others know. You have begun, but you’ll need to go further, much further and unravel the layers of lies. It won’t be easy.”
Darius’s hologram took a step forward and lifted his fingers out toward Christina; he obviously thought he was reaching out toward me. I felt as though I’d been kicked in the stomach. “I probably should have kept you out of it. Your best option is to destroy the projector and forget everything you heard. I made a decision. Now it’s time for you to make yours.”
The hologram winked out. Christina disappeared into the darkness. Neither of us moved a muscle for a long moment, then I turned my headlamp back around to the front. My thoughts had stopped working.
A look of disbelief was frozen on Christina’s face. “The American president was a terrorist.”
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