Secrets of Silverwind

by Sanders, Richard L.

  “It’s okay,” the red stranger said. “He’s with me.” He then took off his mask, revealing a young face about Caythis’ same age, and some furious red hair. “At ease.”

  “Yes, sir, Lt. Prefect,” the men-at-arms said and they lowered their weapons.

  “Caythis Ceteris… I know some people who will be really happy to see you.”

  7

  He felt distant, like an echo. It was very dark and hazy, and he couldn’t open his eyes.

  He was on his back, arms and legs bound. His swollen head felt like a giant melon and there was a pulsating pain, like a knife stabbing into his temples over and over. A lot of pressure had built up in his ears, making it difficult to hear. One of them popped.

  “I’m not sure if it will set, but the damage is done,” an anxious voice said.

  “Is there any risk?”

  “There's always a risk. But either it will set or he'll die. Now what I need is... wait, shh!"

  Some time passed.

  "Okay, she's gone."

  “Don't you think she has a right to know the truth?”

  “I have to protect her. That’s the promise I made. The promise we all made. She’s suffered enough, let her believe one white, pleasant lie. Besides, if this works, who’s to say what the truth is? The truth will have changed.”

  Caythis made a colossal effort to open his eyes and his eyelids peeled apart, just a hair. A flood of white light spilled in. He could barely make out the face of a woman in a surgical mask above him.

  “He’s conscious, quick!”

  There was movement, and then all sensation dissipated.

  ***

  Strange. He didn’t remembered going to sleep. But as he peeled open his groggy eyes, squinting against the bright lamp above him, he knew he was waking.

  Around him some machines were beeping and he could smell the dank odor of a poorly ventilated basement. The air was stale. Above him a gray-tiled ceiling seemed to be rushing down. Or was he falling upwards?

  He tried to sit up but felt restraints pinning him down. He grunted.

  “3 milliliters midazolam, STAT!”

  He struggled for a moment, wanting to figure out what the hell was going on. But suddenly he became limp and relaxed. Happy even. Not caring at all.

  ***

  The light above was intense, but it wasn’t white, more of a blinding yellow. “Turn it off,” he tried to say but a ball of gauze was in his mouth. He blinked several times, adjusting slowly to his environment.

  A young woman looked down at him. She had rich chocolate hair and dark, penetrating eyes. It was impossible to miss the intelligence shining within them.

  “Raven!” he tried to shout. The word was barely understandable through the thick cotton.

  The young woman raised a curious eyebrow, her gaze a blend of sympathy and frustration. She looked away. “He’s awake.”

  Caythis realized this beautiful young woman was not Raven. She seemed about nineteen, Raven had been older. Raven had also been a little taller, more intimidating, and wore her hair another way. Their other features were different too. Raven could stun a whole room just by entering. Not this woman. Her beauty was quieter, simpler, and more minimalist. Yet still elegant and wonderful. And, though others might disagree, Caythis found her no less beautiful than Raven had been. Much like a pearl compared to a diamond. Elegant and secure. Subtle. She had an almost regal confidence.

  His memory was hazy but he recalled Raven’s death. It wasn’t just a picture anymore. It was a scene he could play over and over in his mind. Re-experience the frustration, pain, and utter horror. It made him wonder if some things weren’t better off forgotten.

  “I thought he wasn’t supposed to wake up yet,” the young woman said. Her voice was higher pitched than Raven’s had been, but just as firm and commanding. Caythis couldn’t take his eyes off her.

  “I didn't give him the whole dosage,” said a rough male voice, now entering the room. Caythis couldn’t see him but he sounded middle-aged. “Thank you, Kira,” the man said, fighting a cough. “You’re free to go.”

  Kira... Caythis would remember that name. She had reminded him of Raven and he finally realized why. It was because she gave him that feeling. Just as Raven had. He didn’t know the word for it, but he knew how it felt. Thrilling as a free fall, dangerous as a poison, and addictive as a drug.

  The door closed.

  Caythis sat up a little more, there were no restraints holding him down. He looked the room over. It seemed like a simple makeshift bedroom with some additional medical equipment. A small privacy wall separated what was probably a bathroom. He had no idea how he’d arrived here. He felt momentarily dizzy, and a bit nauseous.

  “Easy there, friend,” the bearded man said, standing nearby. He was now the only other person in the room. He held a black bag, wore a white coat, and looked in every way like a stereotypical doctor.

  Caythis felt alert and defensive. He ripped the gauze out of his mouth and stood up. “Where the hell am I? Who the hell are you? And how the hell did I get here?”

  The last thing he remembered was meeting with the stranger in red, who’d fought alongside him at the Prefect’s estate. That stranger had turned out to be the Lt. Prefect himself. A young man about his same age with bright red hair, plenty of freckles, and the name Jaden. He’d recognized Caythis, and spoke about their group. As if Caythis had been a part of their organization. After Caythis had cleaned up, Jaden had taken him to meet with some people over dinner. They’d eaten quite well. That was the last thing he remembered.

  “Don’t worry, Caythis, everything is all right.” The man smiled. Caythis didn’t.

  “Answer my questions.” He noted that he still wore the black, full-body undersuit of his armor but the armor itself was nowhere to be seen. Nor was his sword. But that didn’t intimidate him, he could still defend himself—they couldn’t take his magic away.

  “Very well. My name is Dr. Erikson. You’re in the Hiding Place of the District of Protection, and you came here of your own free will.”

  “Then why don’t I remember?”

  “Because you were drugged when we brought you here,” Dr. Erikson folded his arms, as if this was not a surprising revelation.

  “That doesn’t sound like my free will at all.”

  “We had to make sure it was really you, those were your own instructions.” Dr. Erikson’s eyes looked him over carefully. Scrutinizingly. As if not convinced of something. “Tell me. Who do you think you are?”

  “I’m Caythis Ceteris.”

  Dr. Erikson nodded. “And what is the last thing you remember?”

  “I went with Jaden to meet up with some people for dinner. There was a woman in a military uniform there, I think she wore Citadel colors. There was another woman too. She had graying hair and wore a pantsuit.”

  “Did you recognize them?”

  “No.”

  “And Jaden. Did you recognize him?”

  “No.”

  “Is that all you remember about the evening?”

  “We ate at a diner called ‘The Setting Sun.’ It was a good meal. It was the food that was drugged wasn’t it?”

  “Just yours,” Dr. Erikson unfolded his arms and began pacing. “Tell me, what makes you think you’re Caythis?”

  Caythis was surprised by the question. “Who else would I be?”

  “It’s not that you would be anybody else,” said Dr. Erikson. “I know you are Caythis. I worked with you before. It’s just that, Lucida has a way of deceiving people, and manipulating them. And, it would be helpful if we could see things how you see them. Make certain that you’re still our man, after all this time. And not loyal to her.”

  “I’ve only been with the enforcers a few days,” said Caythis. “I was captured by them and they tried to reeducate me. They told me I’d been working for them all along, that my involvement with… another group of people, was an infiltration mission. They wanted me to assassinate the Prefect’s
family and take my place in their ranks. I refused. I fought against Lucida. I fought against her enforcers. And I killed her right hand man. Trust me, I am not working for them.”

  Dr. Erikson nodded. “That’s good. And do you remember slaying Antares?”

  Caythis remembered the night it happened. The ring of fire. The silhouetted man coming towards him. But he didn’t remember the fight itself, or its outcome. “Yes and no. I know that I fought him. I can even see him in my mind… I think. But I don’t actually remember killing him. In fact, I don’t really remember anything after that. The last five years is a serious blur. Lucida told me that I’d taken Antares’ armor back to Silverwind. That I delivered it to her and have worked for her ever since. I know that can’t be true. Because I know that I’m Caythis. And I know that working for her is something I would never do.”

  Dr. Erikson smiled. “That’s reassuring. We’ve put a lot of trust in you. Now, allow me to fill in the remaining gaps. I am part of the District of Protection. We’re a small group of people, all from Citadel, who were charged by the late king of Citadel with the safekeeping of his daughter and son. Until the day that proper order is restored in Citadel and they can reclaim the throne.”

  “What about Jaden? He’s not from Citadel.”

  “Jaden isn’t a part of the District. He works alongside us but he wasn’t with us in the beginning. He can’t ever be one of us because he’s part of Silverwind’s government. The District is operating in this city with King Talonis’s blessing, but we are autonomous. He gave us sanctuary and resources, because he too hopes Citadel will be ripped free from Rigil’s clutches someday. But we have to be free of any local political pressures.”

  “What about me? I know that I was overseer of Citadel. Am I part of this District?”

  “Not officially. You technically lost your position when you abandoned Citadel to fight Antares. I know why you did it. We all know why you did it. But the city did fall after you left us, and the king was slain. There’s no getting around that.”

  “So what is my role here?”

  “The night you fought Antares, you killed him but were injured. Your tiny force routed the rebels but left you for dead. Our group wasn’t far away when it happened. We waited out the fighting and, once it was over, searched the scene for survivors. We found only you. We rushed you to Silverwind for medical attention and you survived. Ever since then, you’ve been working with us, helping us prepare for the day when Citadel can be liberated.”

  “All right,” said Caythis. He wasn’t sure if he believed Dr. Erikson or not. He did seem to recall wanting to find somebody, and quite urgently. Perhaps it was this District. And the cause Dr. Erikson was advocating, what the District was fighting for, was something he believed in. But there were still holes. “If I was working with you, then how did I get mixed up with the CTC and the Enforcer Combine?”

  “This is not our original Hiding Place. That one was compromised by a double agent who leaked information about us to Lucida and the Silverwind Enforcer Combine. They attacked us and raided our hideout. Stealing artifacts—including Antares’ armor and yours, various records, information, and pretty much everything they could get their filthy hands on. But what Lucida really wanted, she didn’t get.”

  “The prince and princess,” Caythis guessed. It would make sense for Lucida to be most interested in what was most valuable to the District. Perhaps to ransom them back?

  “That’s right. Thank God we were able to protect them. And you helped us with that. Helped us fight them. Unfortunately, you were separated from us in the battle. We escaped and set up a new clandestine Hiding Place, but there was no way to tell you where it was. We had a contact in the civilian underground looking for you, but when no news of you came, I’m ashamed to say we all assumed the worst.”

  “Who was your contact?”

  “Max Steward.”

  “I know him,” said Caythis, thinking back on his time with the CTC. He was able to think of Max’s face and remembered that Max had been his informant as well. Max had promised to help him find something, but never did. Suddenly the words Scarlet had said right before she died made sense. Max had expressed regret to Scarlet about Caythis. About not giving him certain information. About not telling him where the District of Protection was.

  “We haven’t heard from Max in over a year. But it wouldn’t surprise me to learn that he became involved in one of those vigilante cells popping up in the city,” said Dr. Erikson.

  “He did. He was a member of the CTC. He found me and brought me into his organization. Told me he had information about the District of Protection,” Caythis was surprised how much was coming back to him. “That he would help me find them, find you, in exchange for my services in the CTC. He gave me a few false leads and dead ends, and in the end he died before ever telling me how to contact you.”

  Dr. Erikson nodded. “I think I know why he gave you the run-around for so long. About fourteen months ago, the Rigilians hit a civilian target. A really messy bombing of a subway. Max’s wife and children happened to be there and were killed.”

  “So Max had a revenge motive. And he decided that using me as a soldier in his personal war was more important than helping me find you, or fulfilling any deal he had with you.”

  Dr. Erikson nodded. “I believe so. I knew Max. He was a good person. And I think that, probably, in his head, he planned on helping you find us eventually. But, considering what happened, how he’d lost everything, I’m not surprised that he forgot about the big picture and became consumed with his desire for revenge.”

  “If that is what happened.”

  “Of course, we’ll never know for sure. Has any of this jogged your memory at all?”

  “Yeah, a little,” said Caythis. “But you still don’t look familiar to me.”

  Dr. Erikson nodded. “If you don’t remember our past good memories we’ll just have to make some new ones. The fact that you’re alive, and that you’re you, and that we found you, all of it is cause for celebration.”

  “Don’t bust out the cake and party hats just yet, Doctor,” said Caythis. “Even if that’s all true—and it probably is—none of that explains my current condition.” He pointed to the gauze he’d spat out, a bandage on his arm—where the sleeve of the undersuit had been rolled back, and the medical equipment in the room. “What were you doing to me? And where is my equipment?”

  “When we drugged you, we had to check your identity. We did that with fingerprints easily enough, but there was a more serious concern. One that required us to scan your brain. We put you under and prepped you for surgery just in case—we had to be ready to act quickly.”

  “Surgery? Scan my brain? What for?”

  “We knew you’d been with Lucida. We didn’t know for how long and we didn’t know if you were working for her. Some of the enforcers aren’t helping her voluntarily, they’ve been coerced by a device called The Leech.”

  Caythis nodded. Thinking back on the white enforcer who’d dropped dead right in front him, directly after helping him escape. “The Leech wouldn’t happen to be a tiny bomb they put inside your head would it?”

  “That’s right. It’s a micro-explosive planted on the cerebellum. It has a transponder and can be remotely detonated by any signal that sends the correct command code. It’s one of Lucida’s many... improvements to the local Combine. I imagine it ensures obedience quite effectively. We had to make certain she hadn’t planted The Leech inside you. And, if she had, we had to be ready to remove it delicately.”

  “Did she?” He couldn’t help but think of the blood pouring out from around the old man’s eyes and out of his nose. He imagined that happening to him. Caythis had seen plenty of death in his time but something about this kind of killing affected him deeply. A new twist in an already sick game of violence and control.

  “You were lucky. There was no Leech planted inside your head. She either didn’t have time to implant you or else chose not to put you at risk
. Either way, you were clean.”

  “And the gauze?”

  “That was your own fault. You bit your tongue in the CT Scanner earlier.”

  “I see. And why is there a hospital’s worth of equipment underground where nobody can access it?”

  “How did you know we’re underground?”

  “Something about the air, I can just tell,” said Caythis. “That and it would make sense for any Hiding Place to be in the underground. Whole families have disappeared down here.”

  “Very astute. To answer your question, we do have a lot of expensive equipment down here in the various rooms, including the aforementioned CT scanner. But it’s far less than a hospital’s worth. And why it’s here instead of on the surface where people can find it is because it’s a resistance hospital. It’s a place for people loyal to the king’s interests to receive treatment without being at risk of criminal reprisals or terrorist attacks. Expensive, yes. But worth the investment.”

  Caythis was surprised to find that most of his questions had been answered to his satisfaction. And that Dr. Erikson was incredibly forthcoming. There were no games with him, he just said things how he saw them. It was a refreshing change. Caythis still felt like a fish out of water, but there was something about this place, this situation, that felt right. Like he was a fish remembering he’d once had non-aquatic ancestors. That he could adapt and survive here. Evolve.

  “So what’s next?” asked Caythis. “What do we do from here?”

  “That’s the billion credit question. There is nothing we can do to oppose Rigil directly without military support from Silverwind. And even then, Silverwind alone would not be enough. We would need the support of Skyhaven.”

  Skyhaven… Caythis closed his eyes. Saw a majestic but quaint city, much smaller than Silverwind, perched in the mountains. He recalled the fresh air, bitter cold, and stunning view. Looking out over the tiny world, what was left of humanity, and the endless dark oceans all around. A reminder that their small continent, all any of them had ever known, was just a fraction of what humanity used to possess.