by Nathan Pedde
Des rushed out of the school and jumped onto the scooter. His mind raced with many different thoughts as it powered up and he drove off.
Chapter 11
Des rode the hover-scooter down the road as his mind raced with what he had heard. He wanted to know what Elsie was talking about. He weaved his hover-scooter around the different vehicles as he drove through the Teal Sector.
“Cryslis,” Des said, “Are you there?”
“Yes, I am,” Cryslis said, “The device is attached to me.”
Des explained to Cryslis what he overheard from Elsie.
“You need to get into a disguise,” Cryslis said, “Cooley will be at the corner of Blue One and Sanderson. Get there now. He’ll have a different scooter and a change of clothes.”
Des turned around a corner heading toward the location.
“Okay. Headed there now. Why do I need to change?”
“Cause this is the best lead we have. They were talking about you, and it’s worrisome if they know you’re an agent. I need you to tail her and find out who her handler is. If we find it, we can find out who’s attacking the station.”
“What do I do about my job?”
“I’ll cover for you,” Cryslis paused for a moment, “How long till you get there?”
“Three minutes.”
“Okay. Cooley will be there.”
Des weaved through traffic and was soon at the street corner. A large white cargo hover-van sat nearby. As Des approached, the door slid open, Cooley stood in the doorway.
Des revved the engine, and the hover-pads lifted it up off the ground. Des maneuvered the scooter to slide easily into the van. Cooley closed the door behind him.
Des got off the scooter. The van was empty, except for a white scooter.
Cooley threw him a change of clothes.
“Where’s Cryslis?” Des asked.
“Handling the computers,” Cooley said, “We need to recruit someone else who can legally drive a full sized vehicle…”
Des didn’t say any anything as he changed out of his work uniform and into a set of street clothes. Cooley handed him a necklace. The device made his disguise possible. Cooley held up a small mirror. Des quickly checked to make sure his disguise was good.
Des hopped onto the scooter and turned it on. It buzzed to life with the silent noise which all electrical machines made. Cooley peeked out of a window and then put his thumb up.
“Good luck,” Cooley said.
Des flew out of the van into the busy street. A few seconds later and Des was weaving his way through the crowds of people.
“Do you know where Elsie is now?” Des asked Cryslis.
“I’ve her on camera walking down Horizon Ave,” Cryslis said, “Catch up with her before she gets to 10th Street, I have no cameras over there.”
“Seven blocks,” Des said, “I’ll catch her.”
Des sped down the street. He took care to drive fast, but not enough to catch the eye of a station guard.
“You need to go faster,” Cryslis said, “You’re going to miss her.”
“I just passed the fourth guard car,” Des said, “If I go faster I’ll have to explain why I was speeding. And why I have no license for this face.”
Des heard an indistinct grumble from Cryslis.
“What was that?” Des asked.
On the street corner, standing in his school uniform was Veer. He was waiting for the light to change and let him cross the road. Veer looked straight at Des as he approached the intersection. Des’s eyes caught Veer’s.
Des panicked when he noticed Veer’s face follow him.
He saw the light in front of him change from a green to a yellow. He sped up as the light shift from yellow to red, and he sped across the lights.
Des checked his rearview mirror as he passed a guard. The guard didn’t notice him as he soared past. Veer, however, ran down the street and followed Des.
“I have a tail,” Des said, “I need a new disguise.”
“What?”
“Veer from spy class recognized me as I passed.”
“That’s a problem.”
“He’s a nosy one. And persistent. I’ll give him that.”
Des turned a corner at high speed. He felt the back end of the scooter slide along the street. The high speed made it hard to maneuver the scooter.
“Cooley is moving to see if he can intercept him,” Cryslis said, “Don’t worry about Veer. I need to know who Elsie is working for.”
“Roger,” Des said.
After a few minutes, Des saw Elsie. She was walking across a pedestrian overpass towards the train station. She was walking at a brisk pace and talking on her personal phone.
Des pulled up to the sidewalk and screeched to a halt.
“Target spotted entering the train station. When’s the next train?
“Three minutes,” Cryslis said, “Get on it.”
Des parked his scooter and ran off towards the stairs. He dodged people as he ran up the stairs three at a time. At the top of the stairs, he bowled over an older lady.
“Hey, watch it,” the Lady said.
“Sorry,” Des yelled as he ran down the walkway, “I’m late.”
Des heard the lady say something about stupid kids, but he didn’t pay too much attention to it.
He could see Elsie standing on the platform. The train screeched and slid into the station.
Des ran across the platform towards the train. It’s doors opened slowly, and Des could see Elsie step into the middle of the long train. Des ran into the first car. The train was half-full of people. Des walked down the train car and looked for Elsie amongst the people.
He saw Elsie back on the platform. His eyes caught hers as the doors closed. She smiled at Des and waved at him. The train sped off down the tracks.
“Jupiter,” Des said to Cryslis quietly, “I lost her.”
“What?” Cryslis said.
“She must have known I was after her for some reason. She got off the train right before the doors closed.”
“She’s good,” Cryslis said.
Des sat on an empty seat.
“That’s the truth,” Des said.
“Of course it is,” A Male Voice said from beside Des.
Des turned to look at the man who spoke.
Veer sat on a chair next to him.
“Good to see you, Ryder,” Veer said.
“What are you doing here,” Des said.
“Why, cause you saw me earlier?”
“Well…” Des said.
“You were making so much noise, any spy with a single braincell could tell something was going down.” Veer said, “Oh. By the way, night, night.”
Des felt a small prick on his neck. He turned to look and thought he saw Diplin standing in the train car. The world shifted as everything went black.
***
Des woke up, and it was dark out, but not black. Des had a cloth bag on his head. The scratchy fabric itched behind his ear. Des could see little pieces of light through the cloth.
“Ryder, Ryder,” Veer said from somewhere in the room, “Is that your real name Ryder?”
“Bite me,” Des said.
“I told you he isn’t going to talk,” A Second Voice said from the room, “We should just space the brat. This isn’t Des. I want Des.”
It took a moment. However, Des recognized the second voice in the room as Diplin’s.
“Shut it,” Veer said, “We do this my way.”
“Whatever,” Diplin said, “until the boss tells me to take over from the lack of results.”
“Where’s Des?” Veer said.
“Des who,” Des said.
A fist came and slammed into Des’s jaw.
“Des O’Neal,” Diplin yelled, “I know you know him. I know you two are friends. Where is he?”
“Don’t start with the head,” Des said blood dripped down his chin, “All it does is make the victim fuzzy and disorientated. Doesn’t do anything to get informa
tion from him. You would know this if you paid any attention in class.”
Another fist hit Des in the gut, and he bowled over gasping for breath.
“See,” Des said, “I felt nothing.”
“You idiot.” Veer said, “You aren’t supposed to hit him.”
“Whatever,” Diplin said, “The boss will forgive me.”
“Silver spoon,” Veer muttered.
Those two words echoed in Des’s head. He had heard them before, but where. He knew it was a clue on who Veer really was. If he could place it, he could figure out his identity.
“You kidnap me, hit me, for what?” Des asked, “To figure out if I know one stupid boy? What do you really want?”
Then a buzzing sound echoed from across the room.
“That’s the perimeter,” Veer said, “They got here fast.”
“They probably bugged him,” Diplin said, “Let’s bail. See you at the rendezvous point.”
A door slammed open, and Des heard footsteps echoed away.
Des grumbled to himself, he was only getting started. He wanted to see what information he could get from them.
A few moments later, Des heard two new sets of footsteps enter the room.
“Cryslis, Cooley,” Des said into his earpiece before the two got a chance to speak, “call me Ryder.”
He hoped the device still worked. He guessed the room was bugged and was hoping they would catch him or his rescuers slipping something important.
“There you are, Ryder,” Cryslis said, “And how did you know it was us?”
“Rosemary and axle grease.”
“What?” Cooley said.
“That’s what you two smell like. Rosemary and axle grease.” Des said.
The bag was still over his head.
“I could live with axle grease,” Cooley said.
“No,” Des said, “You’re rosemary, she’s axle grease.”
Cooley laughed and pulled the bag off of his head.
“Damn,” Cryslis said, “You look bad.”
“They hit me once,” Des said, “I shouldn’t be that bad.”
“No,” Cryslis said, “The punch has screwed up your holo-disguise. You look broken.”
“Cameras,” Des said, “Can they tell…”
“Not a chance. You look like the elephant man,” Cooley said.
“Let’s get you out of here,” Cryslis said.
Chapter 12
Des laid in his bed, however, he was unsure how he got there. After Cryslis and Cooley got him away from Veer and Diplin, things got a little fuzzy. He had passed out soon after they got to the hover-van.
In the darkness, his alarm clock rang out. Its noise split the air like a knife.
Des got up off of his bed and stared at the wall clock. He pushed a button on the clock. It was six in the morning. The clock said it was Saturday. Des stared at the clock for a couple seconds.
There was something he was supposed to do today. He was sure of it, but he couldn’t remember what it was. He looked down at himself. He was standing in his boxer shorts. He wondered how he got undressed.
“Des,” A Female Voice called from outside of his bedroom, “You awake yet?”
Des snapped out of his stupor, Susan was outside of his room at this early in the morning.
“Yes, but I’m not dressed,” Des said.
The door opened, and Susan walked into the room.
“Get dressed,” Susan said.
“Susan,” Des said as he tried to hide his boxer shorts with the shirt.
“Smiley faces?” Susan said, “Really?”
“Susan,” Des said.
“Fine,” Susan said as she turned around.
When she had almost turned around, she stopped.
“What in Jupiter did you do to yourself?” Susan said as she rushed over to him.
She grabbed his chin and turned his head.
“What do you mean what did I do?” Des said.
“You’ve a bruise the size of a fist on your cheek,” Susan said, “What did you do, tell me now, or I swear I will call your uncle right now.”
“I fell getting off my work scooter,” Des lied.
Susan gave him an unbelieving look. He couldn’t tell her the truth, that he was a spy and another spy drugged him, captured him, and punched him in the face before help arrived.
“Did you notify your boss?” Susan asked.
“No,” Des said, “Cause it was my own stupidity that I fell.”
“Oh?” Susan said.
“I didn’t turn it off, and it moved forward when I tried to get off of it,” Des said, “I’d be the laughing stock of the company.”
Susan shook her head.
“I was going to take you out shopping this morning,” Susan said, “Allow you to choose some of the groceries for a change.”
“Oh no,” Des said, “With my face this hurt, I guess I’ll have to stay home and you’ll have to take Sheemo shopping, like usual.”
Susan smiled.
“I’m not going grocery shopping by myself,” She said, “Sheemo has some project about communication signals and can’t come. So you are.”
Susan looked down at Des’s boxers, and Des blushed out of self-consciousness.
“Get dressed,” Susan said, “Breakfast will be ready in ten minutes, and then we’re going out.”
Susan left the room with a twirl.
Des got dressed in simple street clothes and left his bedroom. Standing in the darkened hallway, Des stopped in front of Sheemo’s bedroom door.
The door was ajar, and light from the hallway illuminated the room. The room was in its usual state of disarray. But on the far wall of the room was a peg board filled with pieces of string and pictures.
Des entered the bedroom. He walked over to the pegboard. In big bold letters was the name ‘Detecting different communication signals on the station and understanding them.’ Des saw a picture of Cryslis’s safehouse and of Courier One. There was a few other houses and a picture of the Undercroft.
“Des,” Susan’s voice echoed from the kitchen, “Breakfast is ready.”
Des left the room, making sure to close the door behind him.
A few moments later, Des found himself in the kitchen. A plate of dark brown hash was waiting for him at the table. It was a concoction of potatoes, honey, and milk. This version of it had blackened edges where it had been burnt while being cooked.
“Where’s Sheemo?” Des asked.
“He isn’t coming.”
“I know,” Des said, “I’ve resigned myself to my fate. I’m just wondering where he is?”
“He’s at the school working on his project,” Susan said, “He sent me a message at two this morning letting me know he had to do something at the school. He was very vague and didn’t respond to my reply when I asked him what could be so important to have to go to the school at two in the morning.”
Des picked at his burnt mash. It tasted like burnt and moldy dirt.
“When did you need me to be your sampling slave?” Des asked.
“That’s next weekend,” Susan said.
“Right,” Des said.
After he finished half of his breakfast, he pushed his food away.
“Let’s go,” Des said, “I do have to study today.”
***
Des and Susan piled into Susan’s hover-car and drove the short distance to the shopping center. The electric engine made no noise as it started up and drove down the road. The streets were empty of people and cars as it was still very early in the morning.
They pulled into a parking lot, and Des groaned when he saw where they had gone.
Des walked through the shopping center following Susan through the shopping center. He pushed the shopping cart down the isles, but he was bored stiff. Susan had said they were going for groceries, but they ended up shopping for other things. The store they went to was one of those gigantic behemoths. It had half the store filled with groceries, and the other have with clothe
s, electronics, and other random things.
“Why did we have to come to Jovamart?” Des asked.
“Cause Ioger is closed for another hour and it’s always packed with people.” Susan said, “This store is open earlier and usually doesn’t pick up until the afternoon. Plus, the clothes here are cheap.”
“Great,” Des said, “Do you normally go shopping like this with Sheemo?”
“Yes,” Susan said, “He doesn’t mind when I go clothes shopping.”
“Wonderful.”
“Can you imagine once the war ends and shopping goes back to normal?” Susan said.
Des looked around at the shopping center, the shelves looked a little bare of the popular items. The blockades and fighting kept goods from reaching the station at times.
“What’s normal?” Des said.
“I’m not talking philosophy with you today,” Susan said.
A while later and Susan had filled the shopping cart half-full of foods which Des didn’t like eating and clothes he had no interest in wearing. Of course, it was clothes he had either grown out of or worn out.
Des walked down the isles of the shopping center behind Susan while she grabbed a can of food from the shelves.
“Do you have to look so thrilled?” Susan asked.
“Yes,” Des said, “Yes I do.”
“Well,” Susan said, “We’re done.”
Des followed Susan through the checkout and then outside towards the car.
“Did you spend the entire food budget?” Des asked.
“No,” Susan said, “About half.”
Des helped Susan load the groceries into the car.
His phone rang. Des pulled it out of his pocket and looked at the display. The display said it was Elsie. Fear welled up in his stomach like a lead balloon.
His phone rang again.
“Are you going to answer it?” Susan asked.
Des answered his phone.
“Hello,” Des answered his phone.
“Hi, Des,” Elsie said, “Are you busy?”
“I’m grocery shopping with Susan,” Des said.
“This early?”
“Yes,” Des said, “I think the Earthian saying is early bird gets the worm.”
“Can you come over and help me with my homework?” Elsie asked.
“I’m grocery shopping with Susan,” Des repeated.
