Buried in the Sky

by Ryan Mullaney

  Lincoln checked the time. "The last high-speed train to Leshan departs in twenty minutes."

  "I'll get the tickets," Simone said. "They shouldn't suspect anything of a woman on crutches."

  She made her way into the station while Lincoln and Vincent waited outside. The crowd was sparse due to the late hour. She saw few workers still lingering about apart from the cleaning crew.

  Simone purchased three tickets from a kiosk with a credit card she had opened under a false alias. There would be no way to track her should anyone be keeping an eye on her whereabouts. As far as anyone knew, someone named Camille McCrae had just bought the tickets.

  She returned to Lincoln and Vincent and distributed the tickets to each of them. "We should be in Leshan in just under two hours."

  Lincoln looked to Simone and Vincent, ticket in his hand. "With this information leaked, we could be walking into a trap up on that mountain. Solomon and his SWANN buddies might already be there. We have to be ready for that."

  Vincent patted the spot where his pistol was strapped beneath his shoulder. "You bet I am."

  Lincoln shifted to Simone. "You find that fragment. But if it comes down to the fragment or April, we're leaving with April."

  Simone leaned back almost imperceptibly. "That's not what she would want."

  "The fragment can be taken back, but a life can't be replaced," Lincoln said. "If Clark doesn't like it, I'll accept full responsibility. Ideally, we leave with both. But we don't leave without April."

  Simone drew a heavy breath. The idea of letting the enemy get a hold of the meteor fragment didn't sit well with her, not any more than leaving China without April, in spite of the differences the two of them had. April was still a member of the team, and as soon as her usefulness wore out, Solomon would dispose of her.

  With another breath and a deeper determination to find the fragment and make sure it got on board the rescue chopper, she nodded. "I'll find it."

  The doors then opened for passengers of the last high-speed train to Leshan to board.

  21.

  Train to Leshan, China

  Simone sat by the window listening to the whir of the high-speed train, gently rocking back and forth in her seat as they drew closer to Leshan.

  She tied her hair back in a simple ponytail -- an effort that brought a searing pain to her injured shoulder. Any style more complex was out of the question.

  As Simone tilted her head back and closed her eyes, waiting for the pain to go away, she felt a presence sit in the seat next to hers. She opened her eyes to find Lincoln beside her.

  He fixed her with a look. "Why did you come?" he said, getting straight to the point.

  "What are you talking about?" Simone turned slightly in her seat to better face him. "If you think I can't do this with a bum foot and a -- "

  "That's not it. I know you can do it."

  "Then why the interrogation?"

  Lincoln let out a slow breath. "It wasn't too long ago that you refused to leave Saipan because you had a sore shoulder. Not muscle tears, Simone. And now you're practically begging to go." Lincoln shook his head in confusion. "What changed?"

  Simone averted her gaze to stare out the window at the dark landscape rushing by. Trying to think of an answer had her head spinning. A better question would have been to ask what hadn't changed.

  She turned back to Lincoln. "I can't sit back and wait, knowing what's out there, what it has the potential to do, and how dangerous the other people looking for it can be. If I'm breathing, you can count me in, no matter what."

  Lincoln lowered his head, shaking it side to side. "No matter what?" he scoffed, raising his eyes to meet hers. "What about what the staff psychiatrist says? Hell, you aren't even medically cleared to be here, Simone."

  "I'm aware."

  "Are you aware of how – " He paused, as if to avoid saying a word he didn't want to say. "Of how dangerous that is?"

  "Are you aware that you can't do this by yourself?"

  "Yes!"

  Lincoln's one-word answer echoed throughout the train compartment, drawing the attention of what few passengers were on board.

  "Yes," he said in a lower tone of voice with more control over his emotions. "I can't do this without you, and I can't do the next mission without you, either. If you beat yourself up enough, that's what's going to happen. I don't want to see that or anything worse than that happen. Not again."

  Simone felt a rush of energy slowly dissolving, like the simmering heat of an argument going still. She knew his concerns were valid. Her injuries from Peru stood as a testament to the dangers of the mission -- of any mission. She knew she was reckless. She knew she could be hurt even more. She even knew she could die again.

  But she didn't want to sit down in the face of adversity on the chance that something "might" happen.

  "I have a better idea of what's going on now," she said calmly. "I didn't know that before. I didn't know how important this work was."

  She felt her phone buzzing silently in her pocket – an incoming call. She ignored it.

  "It can get a whole lot worse than this," Lincoln said. "We all need to be at the top of our game. I just want you to know that if there's ever another time when you aren't cleared to be in the field ... I can't be on your side. I can't fight for you, Simone. I'm sorry, but I just can't get behind that."

  "Lincoln – "

  "It's reckless, Simone." The word came out sounding like the one he'd been trying to hold back but no longer could.

  Simone took a breath, feeling her phone still buzzing. She pulled it out of her pocket and declined the call without even checking to see who it was. Only about three people worldwide had that number. Not even telemarketers had it. One of those three people was sitting next to her, saying things she never thought she'd hear him say.

  "Let me ask you something," she said, the still waters of the argument began to simmer once more. "What we do, going out to retrieve these otherworldly objects, these one-of-a-kind artifacts, call them what you want. Would you give your life for that? Are they not more important than we are, you and I?"

  Her phone buzzed again. She ignored it again.

  She continued, "Can we let these fragments fall into Solomon's hands just because my foot and arm hurt? No. No, we can't. We need to do everything we possibly can to make sure that doesn't happen. I know that now. That's what changed."

  She picked up her phone to answer, but another thought crossed her mind.

  "In order to make sure these relics are in the right hands and unable to do anyone harm, yes, I am willing to die," Simone said. "I won't be the first and I won't be the last."

  She raised her phone, but Lincoln stopped her by putting a hand gently on her arm. He looked into her eyes. "And you won't be the next."

  Simone met his stare. She nodded in recognition of his words, his promise that he would give his own life to save hers if it ever came down to that.

  She put her free hand on top of his and gave a gentle squeeze, a silent thank-you.

  Finally, Simone answered the incessantly ringing phone. "Simone."

  "Stay on the line," Clark said with a barely-restrained urgency. "I'm going to transfer you now. Are you safe?"

  "Yes." Simone glanced to Lincoln and mouthed the name Clark.

  With no time wasted, the line went silent and Clark was gone. Simone looked to her phone to make sure she was still on the call. She brought the phone back to her ear and waited.

  "What is it?" Lincoln asked.

  Simone just shrugged.

  A voice came through suddenly. Not Clark. Not a voice Simone was expecting.

  Her heart skipped a beat when she heard Solomon say, "Simone Winifred Cassidy. We meet again."

  Simone froze, not sure what to expect from getting a phone call from Solomon, of all people. She broke from her momentary stupor and motioned for Lincoln to move so she could get up from her seat.

  He stood and Simone scooted into the aisle, working her way toward
the back of the train on her one crutch, phone pressed to her ear with her free hand. "How did you get this number?" Her voice was low and conspiratorial so as to not attract any unwanted attention.

  "Your pal Clark was kind enough to transfer me," Solomon said, and even through the phone, Simone could tell he was smiling the wry smile that graced his features when things started working his way.

  "How did you -- " Before Simone could finish the question, she realized how he could have got in contact with Clark -- through April.

  Crap.

  Whatever kind of torture SWANN had to inflict to get her to divulge anything at all was something Simone didn't want to think about.

  "I have friends who can be, let's say, rather convincing," Solomon said.

  Simone pressed on through to the next compartment, this one with even fewer passengers. "What's the purpose of this call?" she asked, careful not to use words or phrases that hinted that something might be wrong.

  "You know the purpose," Solomon said. "I suspect Vincent was clear in delivering the message."

  "He was." Simone eyed each passenger as she spotted them. No one paid her any attention beyond noticing she was using a crutch to pass by.

  "Then you understand the terms of the exchange. April Farren for the third meteor fragment, no exceptions."

  Simone waited until she was in the next compartment -- thankfully empty -- to respond. "How do I know she's alive?"

  "She is."

  "I need to be certain," Simone said. "Alive and unharmed."

  "Your friend is quite well, I promise. I'd put her on the line, but she's already on the way to Mount Emei."

  The reply made Simone pause. She stood in the middle of the aisle, wondering if she should ask if he wasn't with April, where was he going? She decided the question was best left unasked. The less Solomon knew about her position, the better.

  "You know, Simone," Solomon said, "I rather enjoyed us working together the last time. I thought we made a great team."

  "You're pretty capable when you want something," Simone said. "What do you want the meteor fragment for?"

  "It's an asset, plain and simple. And so are you."

  "I'm plain and simple, huh?"

  "You're much more than that, Simone. You have a value like any other asset, and I don't believe your value is being appreciated."

  At the door to the next and final compartment on the high-speed train, Simone stopped. "You probably think you know all about me because we spent a few days together and you read my parents’ journal, is that it? You can't crack April, so you think you can get to me? I'm not joining your club, if that's what you want."

  Solomon laughed on the other end of the line. "You know as much about me as I know about you, Simone, which is not nearly enough."

  "I want that journal back," Simone said to shift the subject away from herself.

  "Then let's make another deal."

  "What do you want, the pleasure of my company?"

  "To talk. In person, face to face. All I want is for you to listen, that's all."

  Simone swallowed, her mind racing to figure out what the catch was.

  "Simone?"

  "I'm still here," she said, not realizing she had let so much time elapse as she thought about how to reply.

  “All I want is for you to listen to my point of view," Solomon said.

  “We get April back alive and unharmed, I'll listen.”

  “You help me get the meteor fragment, I'll get your journal back to you. It's a fair deal, Simone. We make two trades, no one gets harmed, and everyone gets what they want in the end.”

  Simone's head spun. She wanted to do everything she could to get April back, but giving up the meteor fragment was something she couldn't envision. Not even April would want to make that trade.

  She pounded her fist against the door to the last train compartment. What mattered most was getting to the meteor fragment – before Solomon and SWANN. Figuring out the details beyond that could wait. If need be, she'd make everything up on the fly.

  “How do I even know you'll be there to make the trade?” she asked. “This could all be a set-up.”

  “It could be,” Solomon said. “But it isn't. In fact, I've made arrangements already.”

  “Arrangements?”

  “To make sure you get to the mountain safely.”

  No sooner did Solomon finish his sentence than the door before Simone opened.

  She backpedaled, staring down the barrel of a handgun.

  Three SWANN agents in tactical gear pressed through into the area where Simone stood.

  The last one through, Simone recognized from the British team that accompanied her in Peru.

  Warren Robinson smiled a devious smile when he met eyes with Simone.

  She gripped her phone in a trembling hand. To Solomon, she said, “I think I just met your arrangement.”

  22.

  Leshan, China

  "Put the phone away," the merc at the front of the pack ordered with his firearm raised to Simone's face.

  Slowly lowering the phone away from her ear, Simone heard the faint words of Solomon just before the call was ended: "See you soon, Simone!"

  Carefully, Simone slipped the phone into her pocket and raised both hands in surrender.

  Warren stepped up to the front and placed a hand on the merc's gun, gently lowering it so it was no longer aimed at Simone. "No need for that," he said. "She isn't a threat to us."

  The second merc spun a bewildered look to Warren. "Not a threat?"

  "On the trip through Peru, she got stung by a bee, almost drowned by a snake, nearly died by falling rocks, and spilled over the edge of a waterfall," Warren said with a smile. "I'm dying to see what slapstick routine she has planned next!"

  Fury smoldered behind Simone's harsh stare.

  The first merc yanked his arm away from Warren's hand. "She still got the second meteor fragment, genius."

  "And now she's going to lead us to the third and hand it over." Warren patted the merc on the back. "Two fragments to their one sounds like a fair deal to me."

  Simone stood her ground firmly. "You're not getting a damn thing if April isn't alive and unharmed."

  Warren laughed out loud. "Do you really think you're in a position to be making demands?" He motioned for Simone to turn around and go back the way she came. "Let's go. And try not to hurt yourself any more, okay?" He laughed again at his own joke.

  As badly as Simone wanted to swing the crutch against Warren's head and listen to the satisfying crack of metal striking bone, she bit her lip and did as she was instructed, moving back through each train car with Warren and the mercs at her back.

  Entering the compartment with Lincoln and Vincent, Simone paused to exchange a look with Lincoln.

  He straightened, senses on alert, knowing something was wrong based on the look in her eyes. He tapped Vincent on the shoulder, who was napping two seats away.

  Vincent awoke, glancing about, eyes falling on the three armed men escorting Simone back to her seat.

  "What's all this about?" Vincent said as his gaze fell upon his former colleague, Warren Robinson. "What the hell is the matter with you?"

  Vincent made a move to get up but Lincoln held out an arm to hold him back, knowing all three men were more heavily armed than they were. With reluctance, Vincent eased back into his seat.

  Warren eased down into a seat across from his three adversaries. “What we're going to do is sit quietly and wait until we get to Leshan.”

  “Then what?” Lincoln asked.

  Warren scowled. “What part of sitting quietly do you find confusing?”

  Lincoln sat back, exchanging a look of uncertainty with Simone.

  _____

  “Move calmly and don't make a scene.”

  Warren butted his elbow into Simone's back to urge her forward as she exited the train with Lincoln and Vincent.

  Flanked by the two SWANN mercs, Lincoln and Vincent had little choice but to do as the
y were commanded and march off in the direction presumed to be the location of the third and final meteor fragment.

  “Move quietly.” Warren held a handgun at his side discreetly.

  “I must say, Warren,” Vincent said, “why the need for firearms if we're all going to the same place?”

  The thought registered with Simone just then – it appeared that Warren was sent to make sure SWANN maintained an advantage en route to the meeting point on Mount Emei, or a more sinister possibility.

  They weren't all going to the same place.

  If Solomon was already on the mountain and already found the third fragment, he would have no need for Simone and company any longer. And when Solomon had no more need for someone, he made a quick effort to eliminate that individual.

  In this case, three individuals.

  She could envision the whole scenario in her mind. Warren or one of the mercs gets a call from Solomon saying he found the last fragment. Then he gives the kill order, Warren uses the gun that seems omnipresent in his grip, and SWANN leaves with what they came to China to find, but not before tossing April Farren off the mountain as she, too, would serve no further purpose.

  Warren and the mercs weren't sent as escorts.

  They were sent as executioners.

  As the group of six made their way toward a horse-drawn carriage, Simone felt as if the time she had left alive could most easily be measured in minutes, each one ticking away toward a terrible certainty.

  The mercs waited for Vincent to climb into the carriage. Warren then motioned for Lincoln to get in.

  “Lincoln, wait,” Simone said.

  Lincoln hesitated. He glanced back to Simone.

  “Wait for what?” Warren demanded to know.

  Simone leaned her weight off the crutch. “I'm next.”

  Confused, Warren said, “You're what?”

  Simone stared into Lincoln eyes. “I'm the next.”

  She noticed his look of recognition – of remembering their prior conversation.

  “Enough of this,” Warren said. “Just get in the damn carriage!”