17
Damien crawls into the concrete pipe and places the gold sensor on his arm. The green glow illuminates the dirt and broken glass as well as the spiders. Why are there spiders? He hates spiders. He tries to ignore them and he taps on the sensor. "Seth, it's me. Can you hear me? My signal isn't very stable in here."
"Damn it, Montgomery. You need to be more reliable." Seth says, sounding just as angry as the last time they talked. "We have been trying to get you for hours. Where are you?"
"In a concrete pipe."
"Why?" Seth asks.
"Because Byron keeps wanting to talk to me. Don't get me wrong. I enjoy being around him and I truly do care about him, but it's every single night with that man."
"What happens at night?" Seth laughs.
"Not what you think." Damien says. "Get over that, will you? He's like my brother. Now, I saw your signal on my sensor. What is so important?"
"What was the spacecraft? We saw it over here."
"A T.I.M.E. transport." Damien says.
"Interesting. Who was in it?"
"Isidore's grandmother of all people. Surprise, surprise. I did overhear their conversation and now I know why all of the available operating systems don't work with Isidore. He's seventy-five percent computer."
"I see." Seth says. "Well, that certainly explains it. Um, let me run some data right quick and see if there is any way to make a new operating system with those specifications. How much data did you say his microchip can hold?"
"Five hundred terabytes."
The sound of Seth's quick typing fills the air. "Well, this doesn't look promising. Only the Inquisition has an operating system that can work with that much data. Even then, Isidore would need an external memory just to have enough memory to launch it. The Inquisition must be working on some sort of human supercomputer. Even Isidore isn't this powerful. It's still in development, but this is definitely concerning and something we need to keep an eye on."
Damien thinks for a second then an idea comes to him. "What about a conversion?"
"What do you mean?"
"What if we were able to convert Isidore into a supercomputer?"
"At that point, he would need to have an external power source." Seth says. "The human body can't generate enough energy to power something like that on its own. If we tried, he would go into cardiac arrest immediately."
"I guess keep working on developing something for right now. I will continue to report my findings. I'm worried about Isidore."
"I know. You care about him, don't you?"
"I care about all of them." Damien says. "They're all I have left out here. If I never get to see Maria and my kids again, those men are all I have left."
"Is there anything else? I don't like hearing you like this." Seth says, actually sounding genuinely concerned for a change.
"Don't worry about me, Seth. I'll be okay. There is one more thing. Why would the T.I.M.E. woman address Blice McSage as Master Director? What kind of title is that? Which faction would Blice be tied to?"
"Stop trying to incriminate McSage. I already told you that he is clear." Seth says.
"You know me, Seth. I can't ignore my intuition. Mark my words. Blice McSage is going to try something. I don't know what and I don't know when, but I can't trust him."
"What did the Rubble Rebels say about him? And yes, I know you joined them. Stupid move, Damien."
"Leave me alone. It was Byron's idea." Damien says. "They wanted to bring Blice in and interrogate him, but Isidore stood up for him and told them that Blice is a good guy. Who knows? Isidore and Blice are good friends now. They stay up all night talking to each other and passing notes. I have no idea what they are talking about."
"Then you know what you have to do, right?"
"What? No. I'm not going to hack Isidore." Damien says.
"If you are so concerned about Blice McSage, then you need to access Isidore's files and see if there is anything recorded there. If they are as close as you say, then he will have dedicated some partition to just McSage. It shouldn't be that difficult to attach a connector to his brain and then to a computer."
"And what if Isidore has learned how to put a firewall up?"
"Then you'd better have another sensor. It will blow up." Seth says as he laughs his nasally laugh again.
"You're not very encouraging."
"Then stop worrying about Blice McSage."
"Have you found out anything else about my family?" Damien asks.
"I'll wait until you get back to headquarters for that piece of information, Damien."
That doesn't sound good. "Did something happen? It's okay. I can take it. You can tell me. I have to know."
"I don't know how to tell you this after getting you so excited about them being alive. They've gone missing. The Inquisition took them into hiding in an undisclosed location and all reports and sightings of them have gone quiet."
Damien sighs. "Why did I expect anything different? I haven't seen Maria in eight years. My boys are eleven and nine. They are almost men and I missed being in their lives for so long."
"That wasn't your fault."
"Was it not? If I hadn't saved Isidore-"
"If you hadn't saved Isidore, then all we have been working on wouldn't even have been started." Seth says. "You know that. Even back then, you made the right decision for our project. We didn't know it back when we were members of the Inquisition, but their testing with Isidore only helped us."
"I hope it's worth it to you." Damien says.
"W.A.N.D. is worth it and it will be. Just wait and see."
Of course. "So, after we get Isidore upgraded and maybe find some sort of external power source, all you need is my DNA and my pass codes to launch W.A.N.D., right?"
Seth sounds panicked when he speaks. "Oh my God. Please tell me you haven't told anyone the pass codes."
"I haven't." Damien says. "What's wrong?"
"You're sure that Xavier and Zach are your biological children?"
Then it hits him. His DNA. "Damn it all. The Inquisition is always one step ahead of us. I still have the pass codes, so they can't do anything yet."
"Then don't get involved with any Inquisition forces. Don't fight against them, don't go into any buildings you think might be safe houses for them. We can't risk you being taken and tortured."
"Even if they torture me, I won't say anything." Damien says and he means it.
"That's what everyone says until they can't take it anymore."
"I'm not talking about this anymore. I'll be careful."
"Just like you were careful in Styx?" Seth asks. He sounds hurt still.
"I'm sorry about that. I never wanted to hurt you." Damien says. "I loved you like a brother, Seth."
"I know. But that's in the past. Now get off of here and get back to Byron."
"Seth?"
"What is it?" Seth asks.
"I dreamt about you last night." Damien says.
"Stop. I don't want to hear it. What we had was a fleeting thing and you said it yourself. You're not interested in men." Seth says.
Damien sighs and sinks down to the bottom of the concrete pipe. The cold rough surface scratches against his arms. "Okay. You're right."
"It was awkward and we never kissed again. It was nothing. Don't get all depressed on me now, Montgomery. You still have a job to do."
"You were my best friend. We did everything together. I didn't want to hurt you, Seth."
"You already said that." Seth says.
"Well, I mean it."
"Talking about that isn't going to make it better right now."
Damien holds up his communication sensor close to his mouth. "Please don't hate me forever. I need you."
"Then you should have thought about that before you put that knife in my back." Seth snaps. "I trusted you. We all trusted you. But you had to go and be a hero. How did your electricity hold up against that dark matter? Did you do enough damage to the Inquisition's computers to make your
self feel good? Was it worth losing those twelve men? Do you still carry that guilt with you? I'll tell you right now. It wasn't worth it and it never will be worth it. You were going to let me die."
"I only wanted to do the right thing. I truly am sorry. If I could go back and change it, I would."
"Well, you can't." Seth says. "You better be glad that President Evan's Secret Service men were nearby and heard the explosions. We could have lost many more men that day. I wouldn't be talking to you right now. You owe everything you have to President Evans."
"I know." Damien says as the memories push back into his mind. "Why do you think I'm still here? I may not agree with the actions of the other branches of the government, but I will never go against the president."
"You know that the only reason he has included you in the reports for the escaped prisoners is to protect your identity as one of his spies."
"Of course I know that, Seth. That was probably your bright idea in the first place." Damien holds his face in his hands and tries to hold back the tears that are creeping into his eyes. "Congratulations. Maybe you'll get the transfer to mechanics like you wanted. I'll just be here, Chief Outlander Investigator. All by myself. Without a partner. For the rest of my miserable life."
"You brought it on yourself. I'm surprised they didn't kill you for what you did."
"They thought I was a hero." Damien says.
"Yah. I know. The great Agent Damien Montgomery, returning from his exile in the wasteland to be with the greater people again. Destroyer of the rebel M.A.G.E.s, savior of the common people. Chosen of the president. I remember watching the celebrations from my hospital bed while the widows of the fallen men you abandoned wept in the rooms next to me. Were the accolades enough for you? Or do you still need more approval to wipe your guilt-ridden conscious clean?"
"Seth, don't."
"What's wrong, hero?" Seth asks. "Not proud of who you became? I don't blame you. If I were you, I would have killed myself long ago. And now, the memory of your kisses leaves a bitter taste in my mouth."
That one hits Damien hard. "Don't say that. Please don't say that."
"You didn't like it either."
Even though there was never a sexual component to their relationship, it's that brotherly closeness that Damien truly misses. "That's true, but we were drunk and you wanted to see . . ."
"And we found out I was wrong." Seth says. "Then we forgot about it, fell asleep, then had a good laugh about it the next morning. I swear I am never drinking your vodka again."
"Me either." Damien says. "But really, I never wanted to lose you as a friend. You were the best partner I could have had out here. I might sound really needy and clingy to you and that's because I am alone. You were the one person I had for years. It hurts to know that I ruined that."
"Whose side are you on?"
"I swore my allegiance years ago to the president and to the Outlander Forces." Damien says. "I pledged my life to fight against the Inquisition. You know that. And once President Evans gathers enough intelligence and enough men to lead his rebellion, you know I'll be right there to slaughter every last inquisitor in Paradise. Then I will do everything in my power to free the president's son from the magic that is corroding his mind every day. That's what we're really working towards, isn't it? Find the president's son, take out the corrupted factions of the Inquisition, and finish developing W.A.N.D. That is what side I am on and only you, the head of the Inquisition, whoever he is now, and President Evans himself can have any say in my actions and that's only because of rank."
"You acquired your rank through sacrificing the men who trusted in you." Seth says as the anger flares up in his voice.
"You were promoted too. We're the exact same. Don't forget that."
"That's where you are sadly mistaken, Damien. You and I were never the same. You are a selfish, glorified traitor. I may have tried to flirt with you in a drunken stupor, but it was nothing else than that. Besides, it was only some quick kisses in the dark and nothing more. Nothing to get overly attached to. Neither of us wanted to go further."
He's right. Even now, Damien isn't proud of those few tense moments in the dark of the technology lab when they had kissed. He wonders if that is part of the long list of mistakes that lead to them parting ways. To this day, he doesn't know what came over him. Still, he does care for Seth dearly. "Where are you now, Seth?"
He sounds calmer now. "Sitting here in my room, flipping through some old photographs of us before everything got muddled up and confusing."
"How is Paradise?" Damien asks.
"You'd love it. Forgive me for being so rough with you. It's just that remembering that day and all the lives that were lost for no reason . . ."
"I know. Just calm down. Maybe once things within the Inquisition calm down, I will be allowed back in Paradise. The second time I left was harder than the first."
"You know why you had to leave again. You weren't safe there. Inquisitor Allen wanted his revenge for you saving Isidore. He didn't care that you were the new hero." Seth says.
"Please stop calling me that. I get it, okay? You don't have to keep mocking me about it. I never was a hero and I never will be a hero."
"Is your guilt finally getting to you?"
"More like the truth of my life is finally dawning on me." Damien says as he kicks away a cobweb. "Where do we go from here?"
"I go back to our agents and tell them that I have been in contact with you. They'll be overjoyed. They truly adore you, even though a lot of them haven't even met you. And you go back to your assignment. We'll stay in touch and when I get the customized operating system for Isidore finished and the Inquisition stops poking around where they're not wanted, I will get it to you."
A minute passes and they listen to each other breathing in the silence. "I want to be partners with you again. We were meant to work together on all of this."
"You know you have to stay in the wasteland." Seth says.
"What if you came out here so we could talk in person?" Damien asks. "I haven't seen you in two years."
"I know. Perhaps it's for the best."
He has a point. "You're right. Well, if anything else happens, I'll report back in. I'll talk to you later, Seth."
"Bye. Oh, and be careful. We don't need to lose a good agent like you."
18
Byron, Damien, and Isidore jump out of the van. Byron and Isidore grab their guns. Damien doesn't use a weapon. He prefers to use his electricity without anything to distract him or get in the way. They go up to the decrepit building that is supposed to be an armory, but Byron senses that something is off about it. He can't place his finger on it, but there is something about this place that he doesn't like. The Rubble Rebels voted on this place to look for some discarded weapons or technology to scavenge and Byron's little group got the nomination to check it out. So here they are, against Byron's better judgment and risking who knows what for these people. He can't stay mad. He swore to himself that he would do whatever they needed him to do in order to make Leena happy. He is doing all of this for her. All of them are.
"Isidore, you stay out here and stand guard." Byron says. "If we're not back in thirty minutes, come look for us. We are under strict orders to engage any hostiles. If anyone comes near this building, you are to eliminate them, okay?"
"Gotcha."
As soon as they step inside and bolt the door behind them, Byron knows something is terribly wrong. The room is filled with boxes under white sheets and the lights are already on. "Damien, go see what's under those sheets. Check what's inside the boxes. Something doesn't feel right. This doesn't look like Inquisition equipment. It would be locked away or at least more highly guarded." Byron walks around the edge of the room and looks for any sign of recent activity here. He stops when Damien shouts out. He looks back to Damien who is holding his chest and falls to his knees.
"It was . . . a trap." Damien says.
"Damien!" Byron runs to him and takes him in his arms. "N
o. Oh God, what do I do?"
"Get Isidore. Oh God . . ." Damien is writing in pain. His dark blood is pooling below him and spreading out on the concrete.
Byron looks up to see Blice holding a bloody knife in his hand. "Blice?"
Blice shuts the door and bolts it closed. He turns to Byron and pushes his greasy black bangs out of his face.
Byron stands and backs away as he watches the dark glint ignite in Blice's violet eyes. He wipes Damien's blood on his pants. "Blice, what are you doing? You stabbed him. Why?"
"You're welcome." Blice grins and he slides the knife into his belt. "I have remained silent for too long."
He spoke? Since when can he speak? Byron recognizes that unique voice. The slight metallic sound on the end of the words, the airiness. It is the voice of the man on the Inquisition radio transmissions he had heard in prison from a few years ago. That's why he hasn't been talking. He has been hiding this from everyone. Is he . . . ? "Calm down, man. I don't know what you have against Damien, but we can't let him die. Let me get him some help and we can sit down and talk this over. There's no need to make mistakes that can't be undone. We need to get Damien to a medic."
"You aren't going anywhere."
"But Damien is dying." Byron says as he tries not to listen to Damien's low moaning.
"I don't give a fuck. Damien Montgomery had it coming for what he did to me in Styx a few years ago. He even betrayed his partner. It's sad, really. Now, back to you. You took something very important from me and I want it back."
"What are you talking about?" Byron asks. "I haven't taken anything from you."
"Is that so? What about my wife? You took my wife from me. Yeah, I know everything. How long are you going to pretend that your past didn't happen? The longer you deny me my right, the longer Damien gets to bleed to death. Give up and lay down your gun before I disintegrate you without another word." Blice reaches into his shirt and pulls out a necklace. He holds it up and the golden symbol of the flower inside the triangle glitters in the fluorescent light.
An Inquisition insignia. Blice has been working with them? "Blice . . . how long? How long have you been an inquisitor?"
Paradise of Lead Trilogy Page 13
