The Lifeline Signal

by RoAnna Sylver

  Without another word, he turned to stride out the door again.

  “Where are you going?” The question was out of her mouth before she knew it. She just couldn’t let him disappear again, taking all the answers to this bizarre day with him.

  “Parole.”

  The answer was plain, abrupt, and the last one Brianna expected. Her mouth hung open. Then she shut it, and forced her spinning brain back into enough operation to form words. “I was under the impression that Parole was—lost. Sir.”

  “It was. But not in the way you’ve been told.”

  “Then the conspiracy theories are correct—Sir?” She barely remembered to tack the last word on, or to mask her surprised reaction. “I never believed them. Or I would have mentioned—”

  Turret stopped and she fell immediately silent. When he turned, it wasn’t all the way. But when he looked at her, it was with his undivided attention. Once again he carefully studied the way all the color drained from Brianna’s face, her wide eyes, her clenched jaw that couldn’t hide her shivers. “Parole wasn’t destroyed in the Tartarus Blast. Parole caused it.”

  “What? I… I thought—”

  “You were supposed to. You focused on the immediate problem, Tartarus. There was nothing anyone could do for Parole, or needed to. The problem was designed to correct itself. You didn’t need to know.” The words almost sounded comforting.

  “Sir?” Behind her back, her palms began to sweat. She balled them into fists. “Are you saying that—that there are still people in Parole? Could Mom and Liam still be alive? And Aunt Cass—”

  “No.” His low voice cut her off as easily as if he’d shouted. “I’m not saying that at all. There are no people left in Parole.”

  Brianna couldn't answer but she nodded, eyes stinging and teeth and lips pressed tight together. Her fingernails dug into her palms and fists shook behind her back.

  “The priority remains the same,” he continued, never deviating from his calm but unwavering tone or course. “Contain Tartarus. Neutralize it. By going back to the source and ensuring Parole does no more damage.”

  This time, when he turned to leave, Brianna was ready.

  “Wait! I want to go with you.”

  “Why?” he asked immediately, as if he’d been waiting as well.

  “To stop Tartarus from spreading, like always,” she said, throat and lips suddenly very dry. “But if Parole’s really there, and it’s making things worse… if it’ll hurt anyone, I just—even if they think it’s—I just don’t want anyone to get hurt. Please.”

  He considered her for a few seconds, a sensible evaluation period, but the wait felt interminable on her end. At last, he gave a slow, deliberate nod. When he left, she followed.

  The four of them rematerialized a few feet off the ground and dropped. Maureen landed smoothly on her feet, Shiloh clung to her to keep from falling, Annie dropped into a half-crouch, and Chance face-planted directly into the dry grass.

  “What was that? What the hell was that?” Chance sputtered, spitting out dead leaves.

  “Portable transport device,” Maureen said much more calmly. “One of my handier little toys.”

  They stood a few yards away from where Meridian's barrier arced into the sky. Barriers like it protected major cities and isolated outposts, insulating them from most of the Tartarus Blast’s effects. Unlike Parole’s, these weren’t meant to imprison everyone inside. Instead, they kept toxic storms and ghostly pests out.

  Parole was a world unto itself. But while everyone inside hoped and dreamed for escape, the world outside was changed for good. And not necessarily for the better.

  The ground was hard and powdery from long weeks of drought, and the air was unseasonably warm and dry for November in Maryland, where humidity usually lingered long into the fall.. It was the day after Halloween and it felt like summer. Clouds hung low like heavy smog. There was no wind, no cars or people left on the visible stretch of highway leading back into Meridian. The stillness was unnatural, as if everyone had vanished or run away in a hurry. Seeing a dragon (or SkEye police) would do that.

  Annie eyed the transport device as she grabbed onto the handlebar of her huge motorcycle, which had reappeared beside them. “Sure could have used one of those in Parole.”

  “Parole’s got a few, they’re just in SkEye’s hands. That’ll change,” Maureen resolved. “I’ve been out of the game a long time, but I haven’t given everything up yet.”

  “What’s that?” Chance looked down at a black backpack on the ground near Shiloh’s feet. Like the motorcycle, and all of them, it hadn’t been there a moment ago.

  “Bug-out bag.” Shiloh said as xie unzipped and started to dig through it. It was packed for what appeared to be a long road trip—spare sunglasses, several changes of clothes, toothbrush. Some canned food, can opener. Maybe most importantly, a spare sketchpad and xir the medication that would lessen xir head pain and the likeliness of blackouts.“Good, looks like everything made it. We are good to go.”

  “Finally,” Maureen whispered. Shiloh looked up to see an intense expression xie rarely saw on xir mother’s face. “Been waiting for this moment for ten years. Can’t believe it’s finally here.”

  “I know the feeling.” Shiloh smiled up at her. “But it was just a matter of time. I knew we’d bust out of here someday, get out from under Turret’s thumb, and go home. We were always going to end up heading back to Parole.”

  “Yeah we were,” Maureen sighed, but she didn’t look disapproving or even sad. The look on her face was pensive, but oddly hopeful.

  “Great!” Chance clapped his hands; he sounded genuinely excited instead of sarcastic. “Always wanted to go on a breakneck motorcycle road trip across an apocalyptic wasteland.”

  Annie blinked, giving him a confused look. “I don’t think I’ve ever met anyone who actually wanted to go to Parole before.”

  He shot her a winning smile. “Well…hey.”

  “You know, you never did tell us exactly why.”

  “Same reason as you,” Chance shrugged. “Just because I haven’t lived in Parole for a while doesn’t mean the love is gone. And it must be a pretty great place if so many people are ready to give everything to save it. I just gotta see for myself.”

  “Yeah… people really did give a lot,” Annie said slowly, turning to look up at Maureen. She suddenly seemed very young, and obviously scared. “I know you can’t tell me what’s on that disk. But just tell me, will it be worth it?”

  Maureen took in the mingled hope and pain in her face, the question that was more like a plea. “A lot of people died to give Parole a fighting chance. We don’t know all their names. We know one of them, though. Ash Price.”

  Annie couldn’t answer but she nodded. Her hand went to the chain she wore around her neck; the shark tooth was under her shirt but she held onto it anyway.

  “It was worth it,” Maureen said without a trace of doubt. “Even if all he died for was to get you here safe and get us out of Meridian, it was worth it. But it doesn’t end there at all.”

  “This will really help Parole?” Annie asked, voice more tentative than ever before since she’d rode into Shiloh’s life.

  “I’d say this would help bring Parole back to life, but it’s already alive and well.” There was a passion in Maureen’s eyes now that usually lay just beneath the surface, like fire raging under a city’s streets. “It’s surviving, even after the collapse, even…” She stopped, closing her mouth before her voice broke. Took a breath. “I’ve done my best to make everything worth it too. Now it’s up to you.”

  “Wait,” Shiloh’s stomach dropped as something behind her words clicked, and xir stomach dropped. “Kind of making it sound like you’re not coming with us.”

  Maureen bit her lip. She said the next words quickly, like ripping off a band-aid. “I’ll catch up with you as soon as I can. But you just have to keep moving no matter what. Get to Jay’s ship, that’s the safest place in the world right now.” />
  “But why can’t you come with us?” A note of desperation entered Shiloh’s voice.

  “I have to find your dad,” she said quietly. “There is so much he and I have to do. And Garrett and Parole aren’t quite in the same direction.”

  “You know where he is,” xie realized, eyes widening. “He told you where he’s hiding. Why didn’t you tell me?”

  “Sometimes the less you know, the safer you are.”

  “I won’t tell anyone,” xir voice dropped. “Please.”

  “Garrett?” Annie said, sounding baffled but alarmed. “Your father is Garrett Cole?”

  Shiloh hesitated, shooting a questioning glance up to xir mom. When she nodded, xie turned back to Annie with a smile. “That’s right.”

  “But he’s dead!” Annie blurted. “Everyone knows he’s dead!”

  Instead of looking stricken or any kind of upset at all, Maureen let out a snort of laughter. “Do they? Does everyone really know he’s dead?”

  “Not everyone. Brianna thinks he’s a music producer in London,” Shiloh supplied, not laughing but not at all troubled either.

  “Oh good! He likes that one.”

  “My dad’s fine, he escaped from Parole,” Shiloh explained before Annie got any more confused or frantic. “About a week before the collapse. We only just lost contact with him a couple days ago.”

  “That’s not a good sign,” Maureen said a bit more seriously. “But it’s not a horribly bad one either. He’s gone dark before and always come back all right. Still, it’s about time we caught up with him. About ten years past time.”

  Annie stared at them. “Garrett Cole’s not dead?”

  “Nope,” Shiloh said; xie couldn’t stop smiling. “Faking his own death is kind of one of his favorite moves. It’s worked really well before.”

  “He escaped from Parole,” Annie murmured, as if the words would somehow make more sense if she said them. “How?”

  “Sorry,” Maureen shrugged. “Even I’m not sure. Like I said, sometimes the less you know, the safer you are.”

  “But he’s not dead.” Annie couldn’t seem to get past that point. But now, her own eyes were lighting up with slow-building excitement. “That means nobody killed him. That means R—” she cut herself off and shut her lips tight but her eyes stayed wide and awed.

  “It means he’s out there somewhere,” Maureen said when Annie didn’t continue. “And he’s got a plan. Those are the only two things I know for sure.”

  “And he’s waiting for us to come find him!” Shiloh’s excited smile faded as xie looked up at Maureen. “Or… you. I guess he’s waiting for you.”

  Maureen hesitated as if she didn’t want to say the next words, trying to make the moment last. “Do you remember what I told you, if you ever had to find me?”

  “Keep watching the stars,” Shiloh said in a soft voice.

  “Right.” She put both her hands on xir shoulders and gave them a squeeze. “They’re still up there. Right where they’ve always been. That hasn’t changed, I promise.”

  “So,” Shiloh said, voice thick. “Just look for the lifeline?”

  “Yes.” She nodded firmly. “Find it and you’ll find the answers. Or we’ll find you. Whichever comes first. But you just worry about getting that disk to Jay first. That’s the next step. Everything else will fall into place.”

  “Okay,” Shiloh whispered. “I’m scared.”

  “I know, baby. But you are never alone.” Maureen pulled Shiloh close and held xir very tightly. When they parted, xir mother pressed a kiss against xir forehead and didn’t pull away for several long seconds.

  “Okay. I can do this,” Shiloh whispered, though tears finally spilled out of xir eyes. Xie didn’t know who xie was trying to reassure, Maureen or xirself. “This is what we’ve been waiting for. Blowing out of Meridian, no walls, no barriers, nothing holding us back. We find Dad, we get to Parole, we find the truth. We live.” Shiloh looked down at xir hands, which were not glowing, but so easily could be.

  “You’re going to shine so bright.” Maureen shook her head, smiling. “We’ll be able to see it no matter where we are.” Blinking rapidly, Maureen stepped backwards, holding up the small cylinder with the button on the end. “Shiloh! Remember what I told you!”

  “I will! I’ll find you!” Shiloh didn’t know how it could be true. But like the truth about burning cities on the horizon, some things you just had to take on faith.

  “Not if we find you first, kiddo. Now I better get out of here fast,” Maureen half-laughed, half-cried. “Before I change my mind.” She pressed the button as Shiloh forced xir stinging eyes to stay open and on her until the last second. When she was gone, xie squeezed them tightly shut.

  * ☆ *

  The motion and bumps in the road made Shiloh’s head hurt. But then, almost everything did. Except, oddly, for the helmet. It was light and comfortable and fit perfectly, almost like it was molded to Shiloh’s tender head. They blocked out all but the loudest outside sound and they were linked by a radio channel, speakers sensitive enough that everyone could hear each other whisper. The visor diffused harsh sunlight into soft, purplish twilight; it was the kind of subtle but advanced technology Maureen would have given her left arm to study for five minutes. Annie rarely took hers off even when they stopped and Shiloh wondered if she liked the way she felt behind the darkened lens. Maybe it insulated her from a too-bright, too-loud world like xir sunglasses.

  The motorcycle itself was far from uncomfortable. It was huge. With two sidecars and wide rows of trunks and storage compartments between them, Chance and Shiloh each had their own seat and space and could spread out as they wanted.

  Even empty, the sky was one of the most beautiful sights xie'd ever seen. Xie couldn't remember the last time xie'd seen the open sky at all, much less a lovely fuscia sunset fading to indigo-blue as pale, small stars appeared all around.

  When they stopped for the night in a sparse clearing surrounded by bare, unhealthy-looking trees, Annie jumped off and started unpacking without a word, instantly launching into what looked like an automatic routine by now. Shiloh moved to help, but quickly stopped dead as she pulled something out of her motorcycle’s trunk.

  She held a large, sealed jar filled with transparent greenish fluid, with an indistinct, soft shape floating inside. As Shiloh stepped closer, xie could see that it held some kind of organ. Large enough to be human. Carefully, Annie turned the jar around in her hands, studying it from all angles like she was inspecting it for damage.

  “Annie,” Shiloh called at last, after exchanging a worried glance with Chance. Suddenly xie had the strange impression they were interrupting a private moment between her and the anatomical object. “What’s—”

  “Right,” she said abruptly with a slight jump, as if she’d forgotten the other two were there, where she was, or that anything else even existed. “Time to set up camp.”

  “Are you going to explain any of that?” Chance asked, echoing his previous question about the disappearing motorcycle.

  “No,” she said, not looking up as she carefully replaced the jar.

  “Well, I’d kinda like to know why you’re smuggling body parts before we go much further.”

  Annie tipped her head back and sighed, as if the whole thing was too annoying for words. That, or she was having trouble finding them. “I’m just… holding it for a friend.”

  Chance stared. “That’s a spleen or something—”

  “Pancreas,” she corrected automatically.

  “That’s a pancreas. And you’re holding it for a friend? Are we on our way to or away from them? Because that makes a difference.”

  Annie let out an aggravated groan, almost a growl. “I didn’t hurt anyone and I didn’t steal it. Sharpe stole it from us. It belongs to—somebody I care about and Sharpe could have really hurt them with it, so Ash and I went…” She stopped, holding very still. She had the same thousand-yard stare from back in Meridian, when she’d told them about
Parole, Ash, and what came after. Then she seemed to snap out of it, shaking her head and moving on. “We got it back safe, that’s all. Setting up camp now.”

  Shiloh looked over at Chance, who nodded at Annie, eyes still wide and obviously concerned. Shiloh shrugged and shook xir head. She hadn’t given nearly enough of an answer, or explained just who Sharpe was, but it didn’t seem like pushing more would yield any results. Xie moved to help her unpack and, after a moment of incredulous hesitation, Chance did the same.

  Annie didn’t seem to need much help. She was clearly a more experienced and efficient camper than both of them put together. If Shiloh couldn't remember the night sky, xie definitely couldn't remember ever spending time outside like this. Annie had a substantial cache of preserved food and bottled water, along with tents, flares, emergency medical equipment, and several large sleeping bags, more than one person would use on a trip like this, even with backups. A sad reminder that even though Annie had run into them on her own, she hadn’t started out that way.

  “Preparing for a zombie apocalypse?” Chance raised his eyebrows. “Guess it makes sense, considering the creepy…” He paused, smiling nervously when she gave him a warning glare. “The, uh, item. That you have. For a good reason, I’m sure.”

  Annie didn’t smile back. “Might be the apocalypse. Get prepared or get dead. Sometimes you still get dead. If Ash…” She shook her head as if to dismiss the thought. “Four people would be a squeeze on one bike anyway. And I’m already running low on food. Here, put one of these on the ground every few feet around the perimeter,” she said, handing him several small objects, shiny and round like quarters, but thicker. “In a big circle. Try not to leave any gaps.”

  “You got it,” Chance said, holding one of the discs up and starting to deftly flip it end over end across his knuckles. "What are they?”

  “Proximity alarms,” Annie answered, glaring at his hand until he stopped playing with it. “They’ll make a big noise if somebody tries to sneak up on us. Be careful if you go to take a leak in the middle of the night.”