Day 30
We followed twisting back streets for several tense but ultimately uneventful minutes. I felt somewhat relieved that our hostage was feeling more nervous than the rest of us. Finally he stepped up to an abandoned house and glanced back at us.
“There's two people in here,” he warned under his breath. “They'll hear us enter.”
“No they won't.” Val replied.
Damien hesitated, not sure what to make of this information. Then he shrugged and opened the door. It was a lightly furnished house; what little was there had only been because it had been designated a temporary outpost. A card table featured a game already in progress. The players were slumped at the table or on the floor. Apparently knocking people out or worse had become so routine for Val she wasn't bothering to tell us.
I grinned ruefully as I realized that now Damien believed us. He kept sneaking glances at Val and Morana and making plans for a quick escape. Then the fact that she'd killed these two without even seeing them first crossed his mind, and he gave up. Instead of darting away in a hopeless mad dash, he led us to a door in the wall, quickly revealed to be a stairwell.
He stood aside. “This leads down to the base. I don't know if they're expecting you down there.”
“Can you lead us?” Val asked her. Her voice was cold, and I wasn't altogether sure she hadn't intended to kill Damien once he was no longer useful to us all along.
Damien froze, stammered. “I- I could. But I got shipped in from Carson yesterday, I've never been down there.”
Val's eyes narrowed, and Damien took a step back. Morana was the one to speak, however. “Go. Run away. Do not alert your superiors.”
Damien didn't stick around to ask questions, he was out the door in very little time at all. The sisters peered down the stairs, frowning.
“He is there.” Morana said. “Orin is alive.”
“He is there.” Val said more darkly. “Bowers is hiding from us, but we will find him.”
The two of them began walking down the stairs, and the rest of us followed at a respectful distance. I alone could sense the split between Val and Morana; clearly Valdis was becoming more violent than her sister, more willing to embrace the death which had become their lost third. Morana had thoughts of what she would do afterwards, and while she still ached her first priority was rescuing Orin.
The hallway at the end of the stairs was poorly lit, to say the least. Unlike Haven's century-old design, these hallways had been made much more recently. Also unlike Haven, there were not video cameras everywhere. Given the paranoia which had led to an underground base being constructed in the first place, their absence was odd. It seemed more than likely that Bowers had himself influenced its design. He likely claimed he would act as security, thus further cementing his influence over the city.
That influence was beginning to fade, I could tell. The farther we walked along the hallway, the closer we came to the center of the city and the more he withdrew his power, fearing to come into contact with the sisters. Above me there were Troopers trying to go throughout their duties without the usual sense of well-being that had accompanied them. Bowers' takeover had been very gradual, but by now it was a daily, nearly non-stop influence. Without it, the Troopers were splintered.
The hallway ended, having intersected another one. Val turned left and Morana moved right before they both stopped and turned to face each other.
“We must hurry, Bowers may escape before we can arrive!” Val said.
Morana was frowning. “And Orin may be executed before we can get to him!”
They stood there. They weren't, so far as I could tell, having a telepathic discussion. They were simply staring.
“Will we then split apart?” Val said bitterly. “Will we die alone?”
“Everyone dies alone.” Morana replied.
Val nodded. “If you will. I seek Bowers.”
“I will seek Orin.” Morana turned to us. “Come with who you will.”
Dana alone decided to follow Val; Jamie and I went with Morana. We split up wordlessly – there wasn't anything to say. Dana and Val had revenge on their minds, and I for one didn't have the stomach for it.
Morana led us without saying anything. Away from her sister, I could tell she was far more nervous. She was worried for Orin, yes, but she also worried for Val. They were both getting used to being individuals, and Morana was coping somewhat better than Val for reasons I couldn't imagine.
Somewhere distant, an alarm sounded.
Guards ran around the corner, but clearly they hadn't been expecting to find us here, and there was a moment of pause while they tried to figure out if we were also guards. Then they just continued to stand there.
“Come on.” Morana insisted. She was already walking ahead past the guards, who continued to stare blankly ahead. Apparently there were less than lethal weapons at the sisters' disposal that they hadn't felt like using. I was glad to know I was with the sister who was willing to use them.
We walked farther, Morana choosing which hallway to follow apparently at random, but it wasn't long before we came to a large guarded metal door. The guards here stood, standing and staring straight ahead. I wasn't about to approach before Morana did, and I didn't have to wait long. She picked up the Ident card of one of the stunned guards and slipped it through the card reader. The door obligingly slid opened, revealing three people slumped over their stations and a number of cells.
“Robin?” Orin's voice came from the fourth cell back; he was looking out at us and seeming puzzled. While he'd obviously hoped for a rescue, he certainly hadn't expected Morana.
Morana nearly broke down right there. Her face dissolved into tears, and she ran to him, leaving Jamie and I to figure out how to actually open the cells. Eventually we discovered a master release lever and freed Haven's leader. Morana was embracing him even beforehand.
“Orin, Robin's gone, it's just me and Val and I don't know her, I don't even know my own sister any more.” she said between sobs.
“Come on, Robin, we can fix this.” Orin said, looking confusedly toward us. “Let's get going.”
“You're right.” Morana replied. “You're right.” She shuddered. “We need to find Val. They're going to do something horrible if we don't find her.”
“There's two people in here,” he warned under his breath. “They'll hear us enter.”
“No they won't.” Val replied.
Damien hesitated, not sure what to make of this information. Then he shrugged and opened the door. It was a lightly furnished house; what little was there had only been because it had been designated a temporary outpost. A card table featured a game already in progress. The players were slumped at the table or on the floor. Apparently knocking people out or worse had become so routine for Val she wasn't bothering to tell us.
I grinned ruefully as I realized that now Damien believed us. He kept sneaking glances at Val and Morana and making plans for a quick escape. Then the fact that she'd killed these two without even seeing them first crossed his mind, and he gave up. Instead of darting away in a hopeless mad dash, he led us to a door in the wall, quickly revealed to be a stairwell.
He stood aside. “This leads down to the base. I don't know if they're expecting you down there.”
“Can you lead us?” Val asked her. Her voice was cold, and I wasn't altogether sure she hadn't intended to kill Damien once he was no longer useful to us all along.
Damien froze, stammered. “I- I could. But I got shipped in from Carson yesterday, I've never been down there.”
Val's eyes narrowed, and Damien took a step back. Morana was the one to speak, however. “Go. Run away. Do not alert your superiors.”
Damien didn't stick around to ask questions, he was out the door in very little time at all. The sisters peered down the stairs, frowning.
“He is there.” Morana said. “Orin is alive.”
“He is there.” Val said more darkly. “Bowers is hiding from us, but we will find him.”
The two of them began walking down the stairs, and the rest of us followed at a respectful distance. I alone could sense the split between Val and Morana; clearly Valdis was becoming more violent than her sister, more willing to embrace the death which had become their lost third. Morana had thoughts of what she would do afterwards, and while she still ached her first priority was rescuing Orin.
The hallway at the end of the stairs was poorly lit, to say the least. Unlike Haven's century-old design, these hallways had been made much more recently. Also unlike Haven, there were not video cameras everywhere. Given the paranoia which had led to an underground base being constructed in the first place, their absence was odd. It seemed more than likely that Bowers had himself influenced its design. He likely claimed he would act as security, thus further cementing his influence over the city.
That influence was beginning to fade, I could tell. The farther we walked along the hallway, the closer we came to the center of the city and the more he withdrew his power, fearing to come into contact with the sisters. Above me there were Troopers trying to go throughout their duties without the usual sense of well-being that had accompanied them. Bowers' takeover had been very gradual, but by now it was a daily, nearly non-stop influence. Without it, the Troopers were splintered.
The hallway ended, having intersected another one. Val turned left and Morana moved right before they both stopped and turned to face each other.
“We must hurry, Bowers may escape before we can arrive!” Val said.
Morana was frowning. “And Orin may be executed before we can get to him!”
They stood there. They weren't, so far as I could tell, having a telepathic discussion. They were simply staring.
“Will we then split apart?” Val said bitterly. “Will we die alone?”
“Everyone dies alone.” Morana replied.
Val nodded. “If you will. I seek Bowers.”
“I will seek Orin.” Morana turned to us. “Come with who you will.”
Dana alone decided to follow Val; Jamie and I went with Morana. We split up wordlessly – there wasn't anything to say. Dana and Val had revenge on their minds, and I for one didn't have the stomach for it.
Morana led us without saying anything. Away from her sister, I could tell she was far more nervous. She was worried for Orin, yes, but she also worried for Val. They were both getting used to being individuals, and Morana was coping somewhat better than Val for reasons I couldn't imagine.
Somewhere distant, an alarm sounded.
Guards ran around the corner, but clearly they hadn't been expecting to find us here, and there was a moment of pause while they tried to figure out if we were also guards. Then they just continued to stand there.
“Come on.” Morana insisted. She was already walking ahead past the guards, who continued to stare blankly ahead. Apparently there were less than lethal weapons at the sisters' disposal that they hadn't felt like using. I was glad to know I was with the sister who was willing to use them.
We walked farther, Morana choosing which hallway to follow apparently at random, but it wasn't long before we came to a large guarded metal door. The guards here stood, standing and staring straight ahead. I wasn't about to approach before Morana did, and I didn't have to wait long. She picked up the Ident card of one of the stunned guards and slipped it through the card reader. The door obligingly slid opened, revealing three people slumped over their stations and a number of cells.
“Robin?” Orin's voice came from the fourth cell back; he was looking out at us and seeming puzzled. While he'd obviously hoped for a rescue, he certainly hadn't expected Morana.
Morana nearly broke down right there. Her face dissolved into tears, and she ran to him, leaving Jamie and I to figure out how to actually open the cells. Eventually we discovered a master release lever and freed Haven's leader. Morana was embracing him even beforehand.
“Orin, Robin's gone, it's just me and Val and I don't know her, I don't even know my own sister any more.” she said between sobs.
“Come on, Robin, we can fix this.” Orin said, looking confusedly toward us. “Let's get going.”
“You're right.” Morana replied. “You're right.” She shuddered. “We need to find Val. They're going to do something horrible if we don't find her.”
posted by Roger Ostrander at 11:59 PM
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