by Nate Phelps
“Good evening,” he said, walking in and taking a seat next to Ricky.
My eyes widened as I looked between him and Leon, who was still sporting his bright orange jumpsuit. Dr Henry sighed and rubbed his face, looking exhausted. He noticed Ricky’s plate of cookies and took one.
“Help yourself,” said Ricky, looking extremely uncomfortable.
He took a bite and leaned back in his chair, motioning towards Leon and looking at Sarah. “Plan didn’t go well?”
“Nope,” she said. “We had to improvise.”
He nodded knowingly. “Better get him out of those clothes.”
“Sir,” I said weakly. “We had nothing to do with the riot and the breakout.”
He waved a hand at me and chuckled. “That was inevitable. With most of my force gone, things are going to get ugly. They knew that my men were occupied. We’re stretched so thin, it wouldn’t take much to make us snap.”
“Sorry,” said Leon. “Who are you?”
“I lead the Agency.”
“Oh.” Leon winced. “Sorry about the whole grenades thing.”
Dr. Henry finished off his cookie and grabbed another. “You know what’s going on in my city?”
We all turned to Leon. He took a deep breath and nodded. “It’s a takeover. Lutosa means to strip you of your defenses and take possession of Midhaven. Thirteen has been directing it behind the scenes for months. He established a tight web of connections and he’s been stealing information and weapons ever since.”
“How much does he know?”
“Everything. One of the first things he did was crack your online network. He knows about the weapon and the weaknesses of the city.”
“Can someone please tell me what it is?” I begged.
“Why not?” said Dr. Henry. “What the heck, we’ll tell Ricky too.”
Ricky’s eyes widened. “Dude, how’d you know my name?”
Dr. Henry ignored the question. “We’ve spent years researching a way to pierce the thick skin of the Crawlers. Swords are basically useless, and nothing short of a hailstorm of bullets seems to do. If we’re ever going to make progress in the settlements, we had to find something more efficient. We also needed something to keep the city safe when Johnny was away.”
I nodded quickly, wishing he would just get to the point. “What’d you find?”
“Using some of the remnant technology found in the city, we were able to develop a laser. They used to use it for mining, up in the mountains. We reverse-engineered and repurposed it. The results have been encouraging.”
“That’s awesome,” I said. “Why haven’t we announced it? The city's in a panic.”
“Because of people like Thirteen,” said Leon. “Lutosa was never going to be happy about the new technology. Our livelihood revolves around providing weapons to fight the Crawlers.”
“What did they do?” asked Dr. Henry.
“They went looking where no one should. Some scientist in your city used Edward's Journals to engineer a human-Crawler hybrid. There was no other way to get Johnny out of the picture. Every move so far was carefully crafted to bring you and the President down. They’ll be coming for you next. You and the weapon.”
Dr. Henry stared at him, his expression blank. “How do you know all this? What was your part in his plan?”
“I’m an engineer. I repair weapons mainly, but when I first got to Midhaven, I helped Thirteen set up his work stations at the various hideouts. That’s how I learned his plans. We’re taught from a young age to never question orders, but we’re not all heartless. It didn’t sit right with me.”
“So, you defected and came to our aide?”
Leon nodded.
“Why were you so cryptic? Surely you could have gotten our attention in a different way with a direct message or just by showing up at the Agency.”
“I couldn’t trust anyone. The scientist isn’t the only ally the Lutosians have in Midhaven. There’ve been many Mids who came to our side and provided a lot of the stolen information. I had no idea who to tell, so I decided to go to Johnny directly.”
“But he wouldn’t listen,” I said, realization dawning.
Leon shrugged. “You weren’t my first-choice, kid. If Johnny hadn’t had a stick up his butt, he might still be alive.”
“Shut it,” said Sarah. “I still don’t see why we should trust you.”
“Look, I didn’t know what to do! I was just doing my job, and all of a sudden, I find out that people are going to die and it would be partially my fault? Why would I sit back and do nothing? There are other Lutosians who feel the same way.”
“So, how do we stop Thirteen?” Dr. Henry asked.
“You have to break his network.” Leon strode over to the map. We stood and followed him. “Thirteen isn’t his real name. There are twelve others spread throughout his network who have men beneath them.” He gestured to different sections of the map. “Each of them has certain jobs. Even if we found Thirteen right now, his network would still be in place, and I can guarantee you they have strict instructions to keep going even if he goes down.”
“How do we break the network?”
“Start with the lower-hanging fruit and work your way up. That would give you a better chance of stopping his plan before he has time to react. If you go too hard at first, they’ll just scatter.”
“This is perfect!” I said. “If you helped set up the hideouts, then you can lead us right to them.”
“No, probably not,” said Sarah, shaking her head. “You and Johnny confronted him, remember? If he’s half as careful as he seems to be, I guarantee he moved all the locations that very night.”
Leon nodded. “If you found him, I’d have to agree. They are transient for that very reason. Still, though, I know their signs. I can figure it out if we get close enough.”
“What we need is some sort of bait to lure them into the open,” Dr. Henry said. “Give them a taste of what they’re looking for.”
“Exactly.” Leon’s voice gained an eager edge to it. “Get them out of their holes.”
“Mi familia is everywhere,” said Ricky. “If you tell me what to look for, we’ll spot them as soon as they poke their fat heads out.”
“Have you had any luck freeing my team?” Sarah asked Henry.
He shook his head. “Not yet.”
“Who’s going to spring the trap then?” I asked. “You said all your agents are tied up. I doubt Gruber and his men are going to be interested.”
He looked at me. “Why do you think I got you off the wall? I can manage creating the bait, but you and Sarah will have to catch them yourselves.”
My mouth fell open. We were supposed to take down a well-formed infrastructure of criminals by ourselves? I’d been writing citations for bent street signs last week.
He turned to talk to Sarah about the types of bait they would use, and I remembered that there was one last loose end. I rushed over to where I had dumped my clothes earlier. The sword was there, leaning against the wall. I grabbed it and brought it back to the others.
“What’s that?” asked Ricky.
They stopped and turned to look at me.
I quickly told them everything I knew about the blade, how it had almost killed Johnny and almost saved him.
“You’re right,” said Leon, staring at the sword. “I saw Thirteen wearing that on his belt. He’s going to want it back.”
I handed it to Dr. Henry. “I figured you would know what to do with this.”
He nodded. “Yup.” Then he turned and handed it to Sarah. “If anyone has a shot at killing that thing, it’s you.”
She took it reverently, a determined look on her face. My heart sank into the bottom of my shoes. Sarah kill the monster? What chance did she have if Johnny had failed? I found myself wanting to take back the last minute or two and ditch the sword somewhere far away. Why her?
“We have a plan,” said Dr. Henry. “We draw them out and catch them one at a time. While you work o
n that I’ll get the weapon up and running.”
“I’ll keep an eye open for our friend,” said Sarah.
The doctor looked over the four of us. “Not exactly what I had in mind..." He shrugged. "We know what to do. Let’s begin.”
Afterword
Book 2 of the Midhaven Chronicles comes out Summer 2020!
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Acknowledgements
First and foremost, I have to thank my beautiful wife Jessica for all her help. Not only did she watch the kiddos, but she was a sound board for all my ideas, gave me encouragement when it got rough, and told me when I was speaking nonsense. Thanks babe.
I also want to thank my mom and dad who provided advice and reactions and to my sisters Jessica, Anna, Elizabeth, and Jennifer who helped with everything. Their advice has been invaluable, their reactions hilarious, and they've motivated me from the beginning.
Shoutout to my editor, Olivia Castetter.
Other acknowledgements are as follows: Sarah Phelps, Ms. Pappas 9th Grade English Class in Rigby Idaho, my scribophile friends, helpers on Twitter and Facebook, and anyone else who contributed to this work.
About The Author
Nate Phelps
Nate Phelps is a weaver of words and caster of pods. His novel, “The Sentinel’s Intern” is his publishing debut. He loves books that have ingenious plots and fast paced storytelling and has fashioned his craft after that model. Having graduated with a degree in Education, he lives with his wife Jessica and two sons, Brent and Jude, in Northern California. You can find book chapters, artwork, and a link to his podcast at www.natephelps88.com