Reddened Wasteland (13 page)

“It’s a control room, though. Why can’t you just
highjack the signal from inside and broadcast?”

“They have locks, passwords and fail safes in place.
The deflected scientists told us that without using that device, it would take
hours to crack their codes. The device does it in a matter of seconds, but
needs to be on the actual tower to work.”

“I don’t know if you should trust me with something
this big, Thorin…” her stomach knotted.

“Nonsense. I have faith in you. When the time comes, I
will give you the device, and I’ll need you to do this for us. Can you do it?”
He asked.

“Okay. Alright. Yes… I’ll do it,” she nodded, wishing
she felt as confident as she sounded. But, somebody had to do it, and she was
just as dedicated to liberating the settlement as the rest of Liberty’s Hammer.
She wouldn’t allow The Union to win this, no matter what.

The last few weeks had been particularly hard for
Alerik. The disappearance of Velar had torn his heart out. He began drinking a
lot more, much to The Union’s dismay. Everything seemed lost and hopeless to
him, but a person would never know that from looking at a television screen.

Despite his newfound depression and self-destructive
drinking habits, Alerik had brought countless people from Liberty’s Hammer to
justice. He was beginning to be something of a celebrity, a legend. He didn’t
care about the fame — or notoriety— if that’s what it was. All he cared about
was taking down those responsible for taking Velar. It was all he had to live
for anymore, just a fiery desire for vengeance. He had finally accepted that
Velar was likely dead, and he was going to make everyone involved suffer. He
stopped caring about what was right and wrong, as long as he got results, and
that’s what The Union was all about. He started to actually work with The
Union, helping them whenever he could, without prompting. He started to
understand the need for them, and started aligning with their views. If the
world had a bit more order, perhaps Velar would still be alive.

Alerik sat in his same bar that he used to frequent
with her — the one where he got his ass kicked the night she went missing — and
soaked his sorrows in alcohol. The patrons of the bar yielded to him whenever
he walked in, it seemed that everyone had a newfound respect for him. Or fear,
maybe. How could they not? His image was plastered across every TV set in the settlement.
The Union had done exactly what they said they would do. He was their poster
boy.

He sat on his stool and contemplated something that
confused him. No matter how many times he thought on it, he could not shake the
uneasy feeling it brought him. Back at the farm, Eden had slashed a giant wound
in Lucius’s chest. It should have killed him. But the guy just got up,
completely unaffected, and kept on going as if nothing had happened. That had
stumped him at first, but when the wound revealed wiring and circuitry, he
understood why the man felt no pain.

So that wasn’t too crazy, there were robots in The
Union building, but they
looked like robots
. Lucius looked and acted
human. Why would The Union create something like that? Why would a robot need
to appear human? Alerik thought on this a lot, and he tried to come to his own
conclusions, but he always hit a dead-end. Lucius, himself, didn’t even have
the answers… apparently, he wasn’t programmed to.

After a few drinks, the door to the bar slid open and
Saskia stepped in with a frown already firmly in place across her face. She was
wearing her normal elite-style black armor that hugged her body and revealed
her athletic and curvy frame. The men in the bar knew that she was Alerik’s
partner so they didn’t attempt to hit on her. Surely if he wasn’t there, she’d
be hit with a barrage of men propositioning her. She was a pretty girl, Alerik
knew that, but he had lost interest in such things. It didn’t really work out
for him the last time he got involved.

She approached the bar with her hand resting on her
gun as she was trained to always do. “Really, Alerik? Again?”

“It is what it is,” he said, as he tossed back another
shot.

“We have to work in the morning, The Union have been
watching us closely and the only reason we haven’t been taken off of this and
thrown in prison is because we keep producing results,” she reminded him as she
sat on the stool next to him.

“So, what’s the fucking problem? I get shit done,
don’t I?” he looked over at her. His eyes were glossy and bloodshot.

“Yes, but everyone we have captured has been
small-time. These guys don’t know anything. It’s just one less foot soldier for
Liberty’s Hammer. We need to land something bigger. Something that can give us
answers or lead us to their doorstep. The Union won’t be satisfied with
know-nothing captures for very long.”

“No shit. What do you think I am trying to do? We want
the same thing, Saskia,” he laid his head on the bar.

“Well, how do we expect to get anywhere if you spend
the first half of every day just trying to adjust to the light outside?” she
asked, then sighed. “Alerik, I’m not trying to be a nag. I’m just worried about
you.”

“You may be not
trying
to be a nag, but you’re
being a nag,” he looked at her with a halfhearted smile.

“Just get your shit together, Jacobs. We have a big
day ahead of us tomorrow. Aldain, himself, has requested to see us. Apparently,
he is so pleased with your work that he would like to physically shake your
hand.”

“Seriously? You just said that we have only been
bringing in small-timers though… Why would he want to meet me?”

“I don’t know, maybe it has something to do with you
being the face of the campaign. It could also have to do with the fact that
even though we are only bringing in nobodies, we have captured more than any of
the other elite teams. Alerik, this is a great honor… You need to sober up and
make yourself presentable before tomorrow morning. Why don’t you head back home
and get a good night’s rest? I’ll be at your place in the morning so we can
head out,” she gently rubbed his upper arm.

“Okay. This is the last drink for the night,” he said
with a smile before tossing back another shot. “By the way, where is Lucius?”

“I uh… Sent him to your apartment,” she said.

“Why would you do that?!?!” he shouted.

“Don’t get upset. I just… Didn’t want to take him back
to The Union building. Not just yet. I want to learn more about who he is and
why he is here,” her smile was apologetic.

“Don’t you think that they might notice him missing?
And pretty quickly, at that,” he frowned as he scratched his head. “What if
that is the reason they are wanting to meet with us?”

“It’s possible, but why would they have us meet
Aldain, himself? If they wanted to imprison us, they wouldn’t ask. They would
have followed me here and dragged us both out of the bar. It’s not like you’re
difficult to find.”

Alerik mulled it over. She was probably right. The
Union didn’t really have to
ask
for anything, they just did it. “I hope
you’re right,” he sighed as he stood up from his stool. “I think I need to get
home and try to get a head start on this sobriety thing…” He said with a
chuckle before heading out the front door.

***

The ride back to his apartment seemed to drag on
forever as he stared out the tinted windows at the brightly lit city of
Liberty. To Alerik, it seemed like the city was alive. A living organism, and
humans were the individual cells. It was usually buzzing with noise and
traffic, especially when it was almost curfew, with everyone racing to get home
before The Union guards began patrolling the streets. 

The vehicle pulled up to his apartment dock and Alerik
stepped out and slammed the door behind him. He walked over the balcony in a
careful way, trying not to stumble. When he reached the doorway, he noticed
that the driver had not left yet. It must’ve been obvious, even his driver knew
he was wasted. Oh well.

He fumbled to slide the door open, then stepped inside
his apartment. He sluggishly noticed a shadowy figure standing in the middle of
his living room. He quickly flipped on the lights to see Lucius standing there
with that ever-present smile across his face.

“Lucius, what the fuck… Could you be weirder?”

“Oh, well I’m sure I could,” Lucius giggled. Creepier
and creepier.

“I do not doubt that,” Alerik said with a sigh as he
collapsed onto his couch. “Just… I don’t know, please make an attempt to be
normal. People don’t just lurk in the darkness, staring at walls, unless they
are serial killers.”

“Well, apparently I am not a person by your standards,
anyway. So I’d better play the part,” Lucius said before starting to move in a
very rigid manner, while making beeping sounds.

“I get it, knock it off,” Alerik laughed for the first
time in a while. He snatched a pillow off of the couch and threw it at Lucius.

“Sorry,” Lucius said with a smile as he extended his
hand out to reveal a small piece of metal scrap in his hand.

“What’s this?” Alerik asked as he sat up.

“This was left for you earlier today. A man came here
looking for you, but found me, instead.”

“What did he look like?” he took the piece from
Lucius.

“He was a skinny man, dark hair, and dark skin. He
didn’t say a name, just said to give this to you.”

“Well, what is it?” 

“It’s a map of course. A map of the entire settlement
with a couple places highlighted. I assume he wants you to go to them,” Lucius
shrugged.

“No one knows that I live here except The Union and
Velar…” Alerik said as he inspected the etchings. That wasn’t entirely
accurate, though. Liberty’s Hammer knew. They took Velar. Unless they
specifically targeted her. That possibility had crossed his mind when no
ransom, no orders or list of demands, surfaced.

“Well, this skinny guy knew…” Lucius said in a matter
of fact tone.

“Yeah Lucius, I have gathered that much. I am trying
to decide if this is some kind of trap, or if someone is trying to help me.”

“Perhaps we should go have a look?” he sat down next
to Alerik.

“Maybe we should. Someone is trying to tell me
something. I don’t know who, but this is the second clue that was left for me
by some unknown stranger. Someone is watching me,” Alerik said with concern on
his face. “The last clue was helpful; I can only hope this one will be as
well.”

“The last clue showed you how to build something,
perhaps this map is where to find the components?” Lucius wondered out loud.

“You might be right. Whatever it is, we’ll find out
sooner or later. But first things first, we have a meeting with Aldain
tomorrow. So get some sleep, or whatever it is that androids do… When we are
done with the meeting, we will head out to these places. Off the record, of
course,” Alerik said with a wink as he rose from the couch and headed towards
his bedroom.

***

The next morning Saskia arrived as promised, much to
the displeasure of Alerik. He had a pounding headache due to his activities
from the night before, and Saskia’s demanding tone and Lucius’ cheerful
attitude were almost too much to handle that early in the morning. Saskia had
woken him up by pulling his blankets off and throwing clothes onto him as
Lucius walked through the living room, humming like a lunatic.

“Guys, really?” Alerik groaned as he begrudgingly
dragged himself out of bed.

“Yes really. We need to be out of here in the next ten
minutes. Dress quickly,” Saskia wrinkled her nose, “You smell like a bar.”

He used his dresser to hold himself steady as he
tugged his clothes on, stealthily opening one of the drawers to retrieve a
flask as soon as Saskia’s back was turned. He stuffed it into his pocket with a
swiftness only the truly desperate could achieve. He then walked to the other
side of the room where he had put Velar’s backpack for safe-keeping, and
decided to take it with. It had always worked for her, maybe it would come in
handy for him as well. Deep down he knew the action was more sentimental than
practical, carrying the backpack made him feel like a part of her was with
him. 

“Okay, I’m ready to go,” he said as he scooped up the
bag.

The trio exited the apartment and hopped into the
vehicle. The car took off towards The Union building while Alerik stared out of
his window, thinking about Velar and wondering if she could somehow see him, or
somehow knew what he was doing. Nobody in Liberty really had a concept of the
afterlife — not openly, anyhow — since religion of any kind had been abolished.
So, most were left to speculate internally about what would happen when they
died. Alerik was as clueless as everyone else in that regard, but he hoped
there was something after. He just wanted to see Velar one last time. The
Children of Old believed that when people died, they were reunited with loved
ones in a paradise on Earth, not visible to the living. Alerik wanted to
believe that, but Earth kicked them out for a reason. Something told him that
Earth didn’t want them back.

Everyone in the vehicle was quiet as they pulled up to
The Union docks. Alerik stepped out onto the platform where he was greeted by
several guards, all of which were even more heavily armed than the last guards
he encountered at the building. Alerik assumed they were Aldain’s personal
batch.

“Aldain is waiting,” a guard said as he stepped out
into the front. He looked to be the one in charge.

“Let’s go, then. Don’t want to keep the head honcho
waiting,” Alerik said. It was painful to keep the sarcasm from his tone. Lucius
and Saskia followed closely and there were several guards behind them.

The group walked into the building and onto the
circular platform over the cylinder shaped abyss, just as before. Lights from
tiny rooms and offices dotted the infinity under their feet. It looked like a
city. The guard had directed them onto one of the platforms that usually
descended into the lower sections, but this time it rose upwards.