Reddened Wasteland (3 page)

The man waved his hand for the guards to step out of
the way, “As you wish. Oh, and Alerik… My name is Bragog. If you need to speak
to me, say my name to a guard and they will send me a transmission. Just don’t
get spotted, last thing we need is the workers catching onto you,” the words
floated into the hallway just as the door slammed shut.

***

Once Alerik was back in the mine, his mind began
racing as he processed all that he had been told. Why would they choose him to
stop some terrorist attack, anyway? It wasn’t like he had any sort of training
or expertise in the field. Maybe it was just that he was a reliable worker that
hadn’t ever caused them problems. Who knew?

Nevertheless, he would keep his eyes open and an ear
to the ground. He may not have agreed with everything The Union stood for, but
he had to agree that terrorist attacks were a bad thing.

Immediately he began looking for signs within the
tunnels, discreetly eying his fellow miners with scrutiny as they passed. He
listened for quiet whispers or muffled footsteps, but things seemed to be just
as they always had always been.

He thought to check out the employee lockers, but
wanted to find Velar first. She probably was curious about his meeting and she
was also the only one who would give it to him straight. If he tried talking to
the other workers, they would likely just kiss his ass and throw someone else
under the bus to try to get ahead in the world.

He made his way to the lower level, where the women
brushed bucket loads of soft, red dirt off of the precious metals before they
were transported to the surface. That job required precision and delicate
hands, so the level was staffed by a majority of women while men did the hard
labor on the other levels.

He spotted Velar scrubbing away at her usual table
with a metal bristle pad in her hand. The sweat beads and flecks of dust that
peppered her face somehow made her even more stunning. It was difficult to
stand out amongst the settlers – almost everyone had the same tan skin and
brown eyes – but she was definitely special. He wasn’t the only one who noticed
it, the girl had no shortage of admirers.

He thought maybe part of it was her pin-straight hair.
That wasn’t the only thing that made her attractive, but it did give her a
unique appearance that sparked the interest of many of the settlers. Almost
everyone in the settlement had curly or wavy hair due to the years and years of
breeding. Humanity was in a bottleneck phase. Straight hair was an oddity.

Alerik was actually a very rare
breed himself, almost no one in the settlement had blue eyes. Just a handful of
people in the several thousand that remained. Maybe that was why he and Velar
got along so well. Just two oddballs in the sea of brown and curly.

Velar felt eyes on her and looked up from her task.
Her eyes landed on Alerik standing by the doorway and her stomach did a flip.
She tried not to act excited, though she had trouble hiding it. She was
deliberate in her movements, walking slowly so as not to seem too eager to talk
to him.

“Glad to see you are still amongst the living,” she
smiled, lightly biting her bottom lip before she caught herself and quickly
corrected it. She hoped he hadn’t noticed.

“Got a minute?” he asked before gently grabbing her
shoulder and guiding her out of the room, not waiting for a response.

“
Okay then
,” she thought.

As soon as they were out of earshot from the others,
Alerik leaned against the wall. He was trying to appear casual, though worry
was apparent on his face.

“Velar, I was called into the office because there has
been suspicious activity in the mines. I need your help. Have you overheard of
any strange whispers? Seen any bizarre behavior? Anything abnormal or
suspicious?” he arched a brow.

“Uh, n—no,” she shook her head, “Of course not.
Alerik, I would tell you if something weird was going on. Honestly, I haven’t
seen anything.”

“Well, just keep a look out for me, will you?” He
asked with a half-smile.

She nodded, “If I hear anything, you will be the first
to know.”

“Okay, you should get back. Meet with me after work. I
need to talk to you about a few things… Away from here,” He said cautiously.
Footsteps could be heard heading towards them from deeper in the tunnel.

They exchanged silent nods before heading back to
work.

***

Later that night, Alerik was pacing in his apartment
as he thought over the day and waited for Velar. A knock on his door
interrupted his thoughts. As he strode past the reflective, polished aluminum
siding on his wall he paused to run his fingers through his hair and check out
his appearance. He laughed at himself and shook his head – Why was he so
nervous? It was just Velar.

When he finished scolding himself, he opened the door.
Velar was on the other side, wearing a short skirt and a tight purple shirt.
She was over-encumbered as usual by her book bag. 

“Uh, hey, Velar,” he said with a goofy smile.

He felt stupid. What had gotten into him? Here he was,
fumbling over his words, and worrying at his appearance over a girl he talked
to every damn day. Maybe it was just having her in his apartment again without
an alcohol buffer that had his nerves shot. He smiled uncomfortably.

She returned a confused half-smile and raised her
eyebrows.

“You alright there?” She asked as she stepped inside
and dropped her bag on the floor.

“Yeah, I’m fine, just haven’t eaten yet today, think
it’s making me loopy,” he said.

“What? Loopy? Nice save, dipshit,”
he
thought.

She didn’t seem convinced, but she moved on, “Alright,
so what really happened today? You were acting so strange at the site. I was a
little worried about you. It freaked me the fuck out when those men took you.
And then you returned and I was so happy to see that you were okay that my
nervousness washed away,” she sat on the ground, “That is, until you started
acting weird as shit,” she giggled at the last part.

“I know. I can explain that,” he frowned as he
recalled the day, “So, this guy, Bragog calls me into his office. Apparently,
he works for The Union and oversees this whole operation. I usually just get my
orders delivered through a slot in the morning, then deliver them to all of
you. So I’d never seen this guy before, not in my entire life,” he shook his
head, “Today was just… Surreal.”

“Okay, well go on, don’t leave me hanging,” she urged,
sitting up on her knees.

“Easy there! Give me time for fuck sakes, I’m trying
to build suspense!” he chuckled as he sat down next to her, “So, I get to his
office and he tells me about etchings being left around the mine. Apparently,
it’s a symbol that closely resembles another from a long time ago. Before you
or I were even born.”

“Before you were born? Oh, so back on Earth?” she
winked.

“I’m not that old, you dick,” he feigned offense, “Be
serious, now. This
is
very serious. The symbol matched the one from the
terrorist attacks back in the day. The group of people responsible were called
Liberty’s Flame, and this new group calls themselves Liberty’s Hammer. If this
group is resurfacing… well, it’s a big fucking deal,” he frowned.

“Oh yeah, then why did they send you?” she was still
teasing, “Okay, okay, okay… I’ll be serious,” she forced her smile away,
“Honestly, it does sound like it could be bad. The radio station never talks
about it, but I heard stories of that from my parents before their accident. I
always thought it was weird that The Union would avoid talking about something
so big. It only reinforces my belief that they are hiding something,” she
looked into his eyes, “Which only confirms my belief that they are hiding
something.”

Velar held his gaze for and extended moment. She
always thought he had beautiful eyes, they were so unique. Just another weapon
in his arsenal of good looks. He could probably talk anyone into anything with
eyes like that.

Alerik broke the eye contact and stared forward,
“Well, I am inclined to agree that the government might be hiding things.
Regardless, if there is a terrorist organization forming in our mines, we may
need to put this government conspiracy talk on the back burner. There are a lot
of good people down in those mines. Innocent people.”

Velar deflated, “Yeah, I know. Sorry, I’ve just had
these thoughts for so long, it’s hard to even think about working
with
Union lackeys. But, you’re right. Liberty’s Hammer is more of an immediate
threat,” she sighed loudly, “What do you need me to do?”

“Meet me in the employee locker room tomorrow. Before
shifts start. And bring a screwdriver,” he said with a grin, “We’re going to do
some top-secret investigating.”

***

The
next morning, Alerik arrived at the jobsite and went through the normal
procedures to get inside. After his daily violation from the guards, he
continued into the mine and found Velar waiting for him in the locker room
holding a screwdriver and looking panicked. The room only had one way in and
one way out, so it was easy to know if someone was coming, but it was also easy
to get caged in, so he understood why she was on high alert.

“Okay,
watch the door and give me a heads up if you hear anyone coming,” he said as he
began prying open the lockers one by one with the screwdriver.

In
the first few he didn’t find anything noteworthy, and he smiled to himself at
the possibility that his superiors were just paranoid. But then, he popped open
the fourth locker.

In
the back of the locker, hidden away under a heap of clothing, he found a small piece
of metal with shavings and dust around the sharpened edges. There were carvings
in the metal that matched those he had seen in the meeting with Bragog.

“Shit,”
he muttered under his breath, “I’ve got something.”

What
he had feared the most had actually happened, The Union was right all along.
There may not be some huge conspiracy behind it all, but at least one person
was doing the carving. Possibly more. He hated that he would have to report
this to Bragog.

“Okay,
you got what you needed. Let’s get out of here,” Velar hissed impatiently as
she tugged on his sleeve like she always did, “This whole thing is creeping me
the fuck out.”

“Let’s
go.”

He
let her take the lead. They headed out of the locker room and proceeded back
towards the surface. Alerik spotted a guard as they were walking and flagged
him down.

“Velar,
I have to go now. I’ll meet you at the bar right after work. While they do
their investigation, I say we should probably conduct our own. Something tells
me this is bigger than The Union is letting on,” He said.

She
nodded silently and left his side as the guard drew closer.

“I
need to speak to Bragog,” Alerik moved close enough to the guard that he
wouldn’t have to shout it across the jobsite. The man immediately radioed up
and a few moments later he was given the okay to send Alerik through.

Alerik
returned to the office, in much the same manner as the day before. He found
himself sitting at the same table looking across at the same hefty man through
the same cloud of smoke. This time he noticed how stuffy the room was, the air
heavy with a musky kind of smell like old mildew-ridden shoes.

It
made his stomach churn, but that might have been more about what he had found
at the jobsite and less about the smell of the room.

The
man was slumped in his chair and he appeared haggard, as if he had been up for
several nights.

“Alerik,”
Bragog leaned back in his chair and clasped his hands over his chest, “What do
you have for me?”

Alerik
jumped right in, not wanting to spend more time in the musty office than was
necessary, “I searched some lockers and found some etchings, the same as the
one you showed me before. I think you may be on to something after all…” his
voice trailed off as he fidgeted nervously in his seat. Tattling on his coworkers
to The Union didn’t sit well with him. He tried reminding himself that he was
doing the right thing. If this group did successfully organize an attack,
innocent lives were at risk.

“So
now you know that this situation is real,” Bragog let out a sad sigh, “I feared
this were the case. We weren’t entirely sure. Honestly I still had hopes that
it was just a fluke, the etchings we found before. Some rebellious teenager
looking for attention, or something. But now it seems we were right in our
decision to follow up,” He brought his hand up to his chin and thoughtfully
rubbed his goatee. “Now, I have to report this up the chain. Alerik, you head
home, I will contact you in the morning. I fear this may be a bigger
infestation than we originally predicted. This is now a legitimate threat to us
and the people in those mines,” he shook his head as he gestured for Alerik to
leave.

Alerik
gladly complied, he had a lot to think about. If Bragog was right, it could
mean that everyone’s safety had been compromised. The saddened look on Bragog’s
face had been a bit of a surprise, the man seemed genuinely upset. Maybe the
people in The Union were just misunderstood. Maybe they weren’t bad and they
were what they claimed to be – protectors of the people.