Solace Within

by Gavin Zanker

  ‘Very well,’ she said, gritting her teeth. ‘I will pay the reward, though I’m not sure how you’re doing me a favour when I’m paying. If I wanted to buy the man, I could have done it myself.’

  ‘In my city? We both know that’s not possible. I have eyes everywhere.’ Reinhold lit his cigarette with a match and blew clouds of thick blueish smoke into the room. ‘Even in that ghetto cesspool up on the surface.’

  ‘You mean the homeless outside the redoubt?’ Blanc asked.

  ‘That’s right,’ Reinhold said, exhaling sharply. ‘There’s even a circus up there now. The place is brimming over with smugglers and thieves. I even heard they have mutated outlanders performing in some sort of freak show, can you believe that?’

  ‘I saw it on my way into the city,’ Blanc said. ‘Have you not been up there yourself?’

  ‘Pah, why would I waste my time dirtying myself up in that slum?’ Reinhold said dismissively. ‘Anyway, enough of my problems. How long will you be staying?’

  ‘Just for the night,’ Blanc said. ‘I’ll be taking Aiden back north with me tomorrow. I trust this is acceptable?’

  ‘Of course, you are welcome here as long as you desire. In fact, it’s nice to have a bit more female company around the place.’

  Blanc’s eyes narrowed. She would cut out someone’s tongue for that sort of statement back home. She took a calming breath, reminding herself that she still needed this pear-shaped sack of offal. At least for the time being.

  ‘You can join me for dinner,’ Reinhold continued. ‘I ate with Aiden yesterday. I have to say he does not make good company. My Captain has taken a special dislike to him.’

  ‘Their feud goes back a long way,’ Blanc said with a smirk as she remembered their history and the time the Captain assaulted Aiden. ‘Plus Aiden does have a habit of irritating the wrong people.’ She glanced around the richly furnished room. ‘I expect the surroundings helped to rub him the wrong way too.’

  ‘Not everyone can appreciate fine taste, I suppose. Well, he is in the dungeon anyway. You can go and collect him whenever. You will have dinner first though, I insist.’

  ‘Possibly,’ Blanc said, glancing at the clock on the wall. ‘Adam will be arriving soon, we have work to do.’

  ‘Adam?’ Reinhold asked, stubbing out his cigarette and accepting a drink from the servant who just entered bearing a tray of glasses. ‘Is this a companion of yours?’

  Blanc waved away the drink. ‘Adam is my… problem solver. He does a lot of important work for me. Work that I would trust with no one else. He should be finishing up an errand in the city. I assume he won’t have any trouble entering the grounds?’

  ‘No, of course. I will have word sent to the gate.’ Reinhold nodded at the servant who rushed away. ‘So tell me, because I’ve been curious ever since I heard that radio message of yours. What is it you want with this Aiden? Or is it just a simple matter of revenge?’ Reinhold said, waving vaguely at the bandage on her head.

  ‘He took something that belongs to me,’ Blanc said, unconsciously spinning the ring on her finger. ‘You still have his equipment in your possession, I take it?’

  ‘Whatever is his, is yours.’ Reinhold eyed Blanc’s fidgeting, causing her to stop. ‘So is there any more to it? This is a long way to come for one man, even if he did steal something of yours.’

  ‘Not just, no. He has some information that I need.’

  ‘Like how he got inside that old world facility?’

  Blanc looked sharply at Reinhold.

  ‘You think I don’t keep an eye on what goes on in my part of the world?’ Reinhold said with a smirk. ‘Like I said, I have eyes everywhere.’

  ‘What do you know about it?’ Blanc asked, her tone guarded.

  ‘Not much, and if I’m honest, I don’t much care to. Places like that don’t interest me. I can’t imagine there’s anything of value down there anyway. Just some dusty old equipment, and maybe a few ghosts.’

  Blanc remained silent, realising he was probing for information. He must know a lot less than he let on.

  ‘So tell me, what is it you are chasing?’ Reinhold asked.

  ‘There are secrets buried by the old world. Secrets that could be valuable to the right person, as long as they know how to make use of them.’

  ‘We live in the new Dawn, Blanc. The old world is long dead, buried beneath our feet. We are the masters of the future now. Let the past lie, that’s my advice. There is nothing good that can come of digging up history.’

  ‘We will have to disagree then,’ Blanc said. ‘How can we avoid repeating mistakes if we don’t learn from our history?’

  ‘Well there is that,’ Reinhold said, finishing his drink. ‘I think this path will only bring you misery though.’

  ‘Not mine,’ Blanc said, her eyes glinting.

  Adam appeared in the doorway, interrupting their conversation. He was flanked by three police officers, who he barely registered. He caught sight of Blanc and strode over to her.

  ‘I take it this must be Adam,’ Reinhold said, his eyebrows raised. ‘My, he’s a large chap, isn’t he? I could use a few men like him.’

  ‘I don’t see the good in people, Reinhold,’ Blanc said, staring intensely at the bloated man. ‘I only see the bad. The malice. The vindictiveness. The greed.’ She paused, looking him up and down. ‘I see nothing worth saving. But Adam here? Well, what do you call a man with no thoughts of his own? Some might say stupid. A simpleton. But me? I would argue gifted. A blank slate, uninfluenced by the basest of human motives.’

  ‘Well I can certainly see why you trust him with more delicate matters,’ Reinhold said, studying Adam. ‘Will this… gifted problem solver be joining us for dinner?’

  ‘I’m afraid dinner will have to wait, like I said, we have work to take care of,’ Blanc said, rising from her seat. She whispered aside to Adam, then turned back to Reinhold. ‘Can one of your men show us to the cell where Aiden is being kept?’

  ‘Eager to get started? Of course, I understand.’ Reinhold gestured towards the officers who were still casting wary glances at Adam. ‘One of my men will fetch the Captain who will escort you to the basement cells.’

  ‘Thank you for your hospitality,’ Blanc said, nodding.

  ‘Well, if you’ll excuse me, I’m famished,’ Reinhold said, rising from his seat and waddling towards the door. ‘The invitation stands if you change your minds and wish to dine, of course.’ He glanced at Adam, then back to Blanc with a twinkle in his eye. ‘I imagine Aiden will be having quite the night ahead of him. I can’t say I envy the poor man.’

  AIDEN COUGHED AND spat the warm, metallic blood to the floor. From the chair he was strapped into, he squinted up at the figure standing over him, barely recognising his old colleague Adam. Once they had served in the Seekers together, but now he was nothing more than Blanc’s personal henchman.

  ‘Ready to talk yet?’ Blanc asked, leaning against the iron bars of the cell, casually adjusting the strap of the satchel slung over her shoulder. ‘Or shall I tell our mutual friend here to start getting creative with his favourite bat?’

  Aiden eyed the cricket bat tucked into Adam’s belt. ‘If he starts swinging that bat, I doubt I’ll be alive long enough to say much of anything.’

  Blanc picked up a chair and carried it across the cell. She put it down in front of Aiden and straddled it, sitting with the wooden backrest between them.

  ‘You still remember that one then,’ Aiden said, noting the movement.

  ‘Saved my life at least once. Not sure if I ever thanked you for teaching me that back in the day.’

  ‘Gratitude never was your style.’

  ‘Well, I’m here now to thank you for this little gift,’ she said, touching the bandage on her head and glaring at Aiden. ‘The doctor tells me I’ll have a nice scar when it heals.’

  ‘I didn’t realise you were so precious about your appearance.’

  Blanc ignored him and pulled out a small bottle from her jacke
t, popping the cap off. She palmed a small blue pill and swallowed it. ‘Just something for the pain,’ she said. ‘Don’t worry though, it’s nothing compared to the pain you’ll be feeling later.’ She smiled without humour. ‘I used to be such a useless, naive idiot, didn’t I? Back when I was forced into the Seekers, I thought I’d be dead within a week.’

  Aiden closed his eyes, fighting the dizziness as his head still spun from Adam’s beating. The last thing he needed was a trip down memory lane with this psychopath.

  ‘Hey, you still with me?’ Blanc asked, clicking her fingers aggressively in front of his face.

  ‘I think so,’ Aiden said, his eyes opening. ‘Our mutual friend here hits like a bulldozer, but I’m sure the brain damage is only minor.’

  ‘So far.’

  Adam now stood behind Blanc, his expression seemingly faraway. ‘What happened to you, Adam?’ Aiden asked. ‘There was a time you wouldn’t hurt a fly. Can you even remember who I am?’

  The giant looked at Aiden, but there was no recognition. ‘I taught him not to listen to bad people,’ Blanc explained.

  ‘I hope I don’t need to point out the irony there,’ Aiden said, his lip almost curling into a smile.

  ‘Irony?’ Blanc repeated with a frown which quickly turned to an amused smile. ‘Oh I get it. You think I’m the bad guy! Oh Aiden, if only you knew how backwards you had it.’

  Aiden hawked and spat again as the blood continued to pool under his tongue. He glanced past Blanc, through the other side of the bars where Captain Ellington stood watching the scene. He flashed a gleaming smile at Aiden, showing too many teeth.

  ‘Ellington,’ Blanc said, raising her voice, ‘if I turn around and see you still stood there grinning like a chimp, then I’m going to tell Adam here to crack your head open and make an omelette with your brains.’

  ‘Hey, you can’t talk to-’

  Adam stepped towards the Captain, cutting the protest short. Ellington backed away, leaving without another word, his footsteps echoing up the stairs.

  ‘Now then, Aiden, we’re just getting started here. You’re going to answer my questions, or I’m going to do all manner of unspeakable things to you. Can you imagine being locked in a box underground and forgotten? Because I can do that to you. I’ll leave you there to suffer for years. You’ll slowly go insane as the world forgets you exist.

  ‘Will it mean I won’t have to listen to you anymore?’

  Blanc stuck her tongue into her cheek, her face thunderous. ‘You give me what I want,’ she said, her tone sharp, ‘and maybe I’ll show mercy and just blow your brains out, make it quick for you. So let’s start with an easy one, shall we? Where’s your little friend?’

  ‘I don’t have friends these days. I find they tend to stab you in the back.’

  Blanc pressed her lips together and looked to Adam, who stepped forward and hooked his balled fist straight across the side of Aiden’s head.

  Aiden’s world flashed white and his ears surged with noise. As he came to, his head stopped wobbling on his neck and he saw Blanc still staring at him.

  ‘I hope you won’t feel the need to make any more insulting comments,’ Blanc said.

  ‘What… What do you want, Blanc?’ Aiden asked, struggling as his head throbbed with pain. ‘I thought we were finished with each other a long time ago.’

  ‘That sweet little girlfriend that you’re sticking it to. The one you stole out of my brothel.’

  ‘Her name’s Leigh, and I’m not-’

  ‘It’s no business of mine where you like to put it, Aiden. And don’t interrupt me again,’ Blanc warned, pointing a finger.

  Aiden obeyed, knowing that keeping his mouth shut was the smart move for now. Blanc wanted something from him, and as long as he didn’t give it to her then she wouldn’t kill him.

  ‘The girl, whatever her name is. When we brought her in, she was wearing a jacket.’ Blanc opened her satchel and held up the jacket Aiden had found in the bunker. ‘This jacket to be exact. See this here?’ Blanc fingered the broken shield stitched in to the chest. ‘A military symbol, but I’m sure you already knew that. Now, considering your affinity for solitude and the fact you went to such great lengths to pull the girl out of my brothel, she’s obviously important to you. I would even wager that you gave her this jacket yourself. Stop me if I’m getting close to the truth.’

  ‘I’ve never seen it before,’ Aiden lied. ‘I don’t know what you’re talking about.’

  Blanc ignored him and continued. ‘After finding the jacket, I was racking my brain trying to remember where I had seen the shield before. Then it hit me. There was an old world facility not far from Kiln Commons. Sealed up tight, despite my best efforts. And painted across the door?’ She tapped the symbol on the jacket.

  ‘Well, being a curious type, I took a little trip to the bunker and, would you know it, the door was unsealed. I had a good look around the place. Lots of interesting toys down there. Unfortunately, someone had already taken the most important one.’ Blanc tilted her head as she studied Aiden. ‘So, the question is this: where’s the decoder, Aiden?’

  Aiden stared, keeping his face neutral and his mouth shut.

  Blanc sighed. ‘We can play this game if you want, or you can just answer and save yourself the broken bones.’

  Aiden swallowed. His options were limited, either be tortured until he talked, or tell her and risk her killing him right then and there. ‘I don’t have it anymore,’ he said, deciding that giving her some element of the truth was his best shot at buying time.

  ‘Well, where is it then?’

  ‘Why do you want it?’

  ‘You have no idea what you’re doing, do you?’ Blanc snapped. ‘You just picked up the shiny thing like an excited monkey.’ She rose from her chair and paced back and forth. ‘That decoder is the key to Project Solace. A gift from the old world. Something that would give the wielder the power to decide the future of this decaying world. The power to change its fate, to bring order to the people instead of seeing them constantly kill and rape each other.

  ‘I saw the text you left on the terminal in the bunker, you know,’ Blanc continued, her voice coming fast as she threw her head back and swallowed another blue pill. ‘Asking if there was any civilisation left out there. Well let me answer for you. There isn’t. It’s just the dregs of humanity now, fighting each other for scraps. Project Solace has the power to change that though.’

  ‘So you’re just another power hungry dictator?’ Aiden said. ‘You want to rule this city instead of Reinhold, is that it?’

  Blanc stopped pacing and put her face close to Aiden’s, her bloodshot gaze flicking from one eye to the other. ‘I want that decoder, Aiden. Where is it?’

  Aiden met her stare, seeing a desperate madness behind her blue eyes. ‘I dropped it,’ he said with a shrug.

  Blanc’s eyes widened, and she punched Aiden with a closed fist. ‘Don’t mess with me, Aiden! I’m going to get my hands on that decoder, and you’re going to help me. Whether you like it or not.’ She stepped back, glaring down at him intently, her chest rising and falling quickly.

  After a tense moment, her face softened slightly and she turned to Adam. ‘Come on, Adam. I’m tired from the journey. Let’s go get some rest. There’ll be plenty of time for us to get Aiden into a cooperative state once we get him back home to Kiln Commons.’

  Blanc turned and left the cell with Adam trailing after her like a young boy shuffling after his parent. The cell door rattled shut, and the light flicked off leaving Aiden alone in total darkness. He took a deep breath, and sighed before spitting more blood onto the floor.

  CHAPTER 18

  A KLAXON WAILED, THE harsh sound jolting Aiden awake. He leapt to his feet in alarm, but immediately rebounded back into the chair as the restraints on his arms and legs yanked him back. The ache of the recent beating exploded through his now conscious body, and he groaned as a wave of nausea rose in his stomach. Outside the cell, the prison guard on duty hur
ried past the bars with a concerned expression and headed for the stairs up to the main residence.

  ‘What’s going on?’ Aiden called out.

  The guard glanced at him but ignored the question as he jogged past.

  Aiden struggled with the restraints which tied his hands to the chair, but couldn’t squeeze out of the metal bindings. Even the chair itself was bolted to the floor. He had no options except to wait. As he slumped back, swallowing another wave of nausea, he saw a metal vent fall to the stone floor with a clatter.

  His heart raced as the klaxon continued to wail. Was the city under attack? He continued wrestling with his bindings, desperation taking over as he saw two shadows drop from the ceiling.

  ‘Aha, found you!’ a voice said.

  A figure stepped into the light outside the cell, and Aiden breathed a sigh of relief as he saw Leigh’s face. She approached the cell, her hands grasping the bars. She was dressed differently since he had last seen her. No longer in ripped jeans, she wore the clothes he had bought for her in the market the day prior. They made her look older, less childish. Hitch padded up and sat beside her, his tongue lolling.

  Aiden opened his mouth to speak, but no words came out. How had they managed to get inside the town hall, let alone down here into the basement without being caught?

  ‘I’ll explain later,’ she said, noticing his confused expression. She pulled ineffectually on the iron bars. ‘First though, how do I get you out?’

  Aiden shook his head to compose himself. ‘Check the guard’s desk over there for the keys,’ he said, raising his voice to be heard over the alarm.

  Leigh ran to the desk and he heard her rummaging through the drawers. She soon reappeared holding a large bundle of assorted keys. ‘I don’t know which one it is,’ she said, looking at him dejectedly.

  ‘Try them all then.’ Aiden knew if Blanc turned up now they would be in serious trouble. She would happily use Leigh to get what she wanted, and Aiden would be powerless to stop her. ‘Quickly,’ he said, fear surging through him as he watched the stairs intently.