Insolation

by Bradlyn Wilson

  “Care to dance?” he whispered.

  “Sure,” Hadley said half begrudgingly, but even Kane wasn’t going to bring down her mood.

  Kane grabbed her hand and helped Hadley to her feet. They were the first ones into the other ballroom. The full blues band started to play music reminiscent of the 1940s.

  Before long the dance floor was filled with people and Hadley was twirling around with Kane without a care in the world. It felt right to be with him in that moment under the twinkling lights.

  The song ended and they paused for a breath looking at each other.

  “I still love you.” Kane said simply.

  “Kane, please.” Hadley strained to get the words out.

  “I know I hurt you.”

  “You can’t even begin to imagine.”

  Hadley stepped away from him slightly.

  “Let’s try again.”

  “No,” Hadley replied simply, “You broke me. I can’t come back from that.”

  From out of nowhere, breaking the sharp air between them, Pax came up and politely asked Kane, “May I cut in?”

  “I don’t think so.” Kane said smoothly pulling Hadley closer to him. She took a step back getting away from his grasp.

  “You two had some time!” Pax whined.

  Hadley just shook her head at Pax; she thought he was going to be above this.

  “You two children figure this out and continue to treat me as though I have no say or opinions of my own. I’m going to get a drink.” Hadley stormed off. She knew the moment away from them would only last so long. They would be running after her once they finished having a go at each other.

  The bartender was enjoying his lull in business. Hadley walked up and put her clutch forcefully on the bar. She sighed and rolled her eyes.

  “Bad night?” he said with a smile fit for a toothpaste commercial. His teeth literally gleamed.

  “It wasn’t—” Hadley trailed off, it had been perfect, well except for Kane’s chatter in her right ear.

  “Let me make you something to fix it.” With that he started to work.

  Hadley watched as he poured liquor into a shaker along with juice and some fresh fruit. He was captivating and she was over everything else.

  “What are you getting?” someone asked beside her.

  “Whatever he is making,” Hadley laughed and looked over to see the man with tattoos and his hair in a bun who had been across from her at the table. He stood menacingly tall above her, even in her heels

  “I’m Saul,” he said casually.

  “Hadley Evans,” she disclosed.

  He studied her while he looked her up and down. “Well Miss Winner, you’re much shorter in person.”

  “Hey!” she laughed through feigned annoyance.

  “So what? You win three awards and are leaving your night in the hands of a bartender?” Saul laughed.

  “At this point it’s my only option.” The champagne had slowly melted her brain over the course of the evening.

  “Why is that?”

  “Do you remember the man sitting beside me at the table?” Hadley murmured with a casual wave behind her, where Kane and Pax were arguing.

  “You two seemed cozy,” he said sarcastically.

  Hadley laughed out loud. “Was it that obvious?”

  “How uncomfortable he made you?”

  Hadley nodded as she bit her lip.

  “Evans, you ordered an entire bottle of champagne to yourself.”

  “You saw that hey?”

  “You were slurring your words on stage.”

  Hadley’s eyes widened and the colour drained from her face. She whispered, “oh god, please tell me it wasn’t that bad.”

  Saul laughed, “I’m kidding, you were perfect.”

  Hadley let out a sigh of relief. “Stupid men.”

  “I will give you that, our kind is the inferior breed. But we all aren’t bad.”

  “I know—” She let out an exasperated sigh.

  “Let’s go then?”

  “I can’t just leave.” Hadley persisted.

  “Come on, take a risk. You can do whatever you want. You cleaned up tonight. It’s your night.” He had a childish gleam in his eyes. The sense of adventure intrigued Hadley as he held out a hand for her to grab.

  “I don’t even know you.” Hadley blushed.

  He winked at me. “You will. And you’ll like me.”

  Hadley took his hand and they were off. They were weaving through the crowd of people who were dancing through the ballroom.

  “What about your drink?” the bartender called but Hadley didn’t even look back.

  Saul whisked them out of the ballroom and out the door as quickly as magic. They ran down the stairs as though Hadley was Cinderella and the clock was about to strike midnight.

  Cabs were lined up on the street waiting for the event to finish. Saul held the door open and they both slid into the back seat.

  “Where to?” the cabbie asked.

  “The pier, and quick!” Saul said in his best suave English accent.

  They were off in the blink of an eye. Racing down the snow covered streets, which sparkled in the moonlight. They got to the pier. Saul paid the cab driver and jumped out of the cab. He opened her door and helped Hadley out.

  The cab drove away, eager to find other customers. Hadley and Saul however walked along the pier looking at the glassy water. The snow starting to fall harder and harder. Large, dense surreal snowflakes fell around them.

  “Congratulations by the way. I hadn’t told you that yet,” Saul said as he took Hadley’s hand gently in his.

  “Thank you.”

  “You were the talk of the town tonight.” Saul said genuinely.

  “No, I wasn’t—” Hadley replied quietly, quite embarrassed. She didn’t like the attention normally, but she liked the way he was talking to her. It was different than she normally was talked to by the men in her life.

  “Yes, you were, believe me.” They kept walking up the snow-covered pier. Further and further over the water. The snow was slowly piling up around them and they were leaving small footprints. “You’re freezing Evans!”

  “I forgot my shawl.”

  “Take my jacket.” He took his suit jacket off immediately and hung it over Hadley’s shoulders. She pulled it tight around her shoulders.

  “Thanks.”

  They kept walking, neither knew what to say. It had been a whirlwind, a spur of the moment decision and now they were standing seemingly the only ones on the dock.

  “I just realized that I whisked you away in the middle of the ball Cinderella.”

  “I was happy to get away—”

  “Even so I took you away from the dancing—” He jested turning on his Prince Charming.

  He made Hadley blush and he knew it. He had the same twinkle in his eye. “I don’t mind really—”

  Saul took a step away from Hadley and bowed so low his nose almost touched the ground. “May I have this dance?”

  “There’s no music.”

  “Oh my dear lady, lest not be deterred by the lack of fair music,” he said in a prim and proper English accent.

  Hadley giggled as he took her hand. They started a waltz that he led with extreme grace and perfection.

  “Where did you—?”

  “I did all my schooling at a top finishing and boarding school in the UK.” He said with a wink.

  They continued to dance, lost in each other’s arms. The snow flurrying around. The lights twinkling on the perfectly formed snowflakes. A moment of pure bliss.

  Maybe this was what love at first sight looked like, she couldn’t help but wonder.

  Chapter Forty

  The sky was bright blue and there were no clouds in sight. Hadley could hear the super stallion helicopters with their propellers running before she was near enough to see them. They were military grade and were the newer version of the originals of the ones introduced in 1981. The military used the same plans to reco
nstruct three-hundred more a hundred and fifty years later. Each door was open. The dark metal of each glowed in the sunshine, a titanium alloy.

  Why did we have to make a show of flying all of a few blocks in these things?! The RFE’s lived under us, Hadley thought, we could easily have done this mission with one person. She sighed and rolled her eyes. She had to assume that it was Hemmer trying to show his power. She was starting to think he was compensating for something.

  Hadley and everyone else had a gun in the holster on their hip. The leather jacket she was wearing was zipped tight in the cold air. She stretched out her legs, getting a feel of the tight pants she was wearing that at least were sheltering her from the cold harsh wind. From behind her she heard the order to move and immediately everyone was jogging towards the helicopters. Hadley was with her team, which thankfully included Vanya along with Jeremiah and Stephen. They hopped in the helicopter. Hadley felt weightless as it took off. The wind blew through the open doors and she felt her hair in her face.

  “Scared?” Jeremiah hissed in Hadley’s ear. She felt his hand on her lower back and flashed back to him threatening her, the cold knife on her neck was all she saw when she looked at him. His hand caressed the small of her back, there to remind her of his warning.

  “Should I be?” Hadley retorted elbowing his arm away, hoping to give him a good bruise or at least hurt his ego a bit.

  This was a simple peace keeping mission. They were going to talk to the RFE’s, going to give them the information and they were going to do what the GOVs wanted. Hadley reassured herself.

  Hadley felt the helicopter touch down and they piled out into an old parking lot. She could see the faded yellow lines under her boots as she followed Jeremiah towards the alley. Who had contacted the RFEs with this meeting, Hadley had no idea. All she could imagine was Hemmer sending a message to Saul who had replied with a big F-U.

  As they moved through the alley they stayed in a tight formation, only holding their guns in the holsters. They had strict orders to keep this a peaceful meeting. They wanted to talk to the RFEs, to give them options and information. Hadley patted the thumb drive in her pocket that she had un-ceremonially been dedicated to give to them.

  Jeremiah stopped in front of her so suddenly she almost ran into his back.

  “Watch out,” he hissed at her.

  The entrance to the building they were going to approached and Hadley recognized it from the pictures of the mission plan. There was a red earth drawn on the door. Jeremiah nodded everyone forward. They walked towards the door with their hands in the air.

  Even though the RFE’s knew they were coming, they couldn’t help but wonder if it all was a bit of a set up. Hemmer had always had it out for their organization.

  “We are here to talk,” Jeremiah said loudly.

  The door remained closed and there was no sign of movement. The GOVs stopped in the middle of the street facing the building. They were about to move forward when Saul came out of the door followed by another two men.

  Hadley inhaled so sharply she hoped no one in the group heard.

  “What do you want?” he yelled at them, though his eyes flashed slightly to Hadley then away again. His long hair was down today and the wind was blowing it in all directions. He also wasn’t wearing a shirt. For the first time Hadley saw his tattoo, it went over half his chest and down his arm. It looked like a lion or something from the distance they were standing.

  “We want to give you some information, that’s all,” Jeremiah said.

  “Why should we trust you?” the man beside Saul said.

  “We told you that we were coming!” Jeremiah yelled completely annoyed.

  “Go to hell Jeremiah!” Saul yelled at him.

  “I’ve only ever tried to be your friend Saul.”

  “That’s a load of crap.”

  Hadley watched the door open and seven other men and a woman walked out. The men stood in front of Saul. They formed a human barrier.

  “We just want to give you a drive,” Jeremiah’s voice was deepening with a hatred even Hadley couldn’t understand. Then suddenly he gave Hadley a shove with the butt of his gun.

  “Fine,” Saul muttered in the distance.

  Hadley took her gun out of her holster, which prompted the men to raise their weapons at her. She carefully set down the gun on the ground and put her hands up in the air. Then she unzipped her pocket and pulled out the drive. She put her hand in the air holding the drive between her thumb and forefinger.

  She started to walk forward. She could feel her heart quickening with every single step, both from anxiety and from excitement and anticipation. She walked keeping her eyes set on Saul. She started to get closer and could make out the features on his face. As she looked at him more memories flashed in her head.

  She got to face him and could see by the look on his face that he had a lot of questions for her. They made eye contact that drew them both in.

  “Did you see it?” he whispered.

  “Yes.” Hadley whispered back utterly desperate for more answers. She dropped the flash drive on the ground and they both scrambled to pick it up. Hadley finally was able to grab it and put it in his hand.

  “What’s happening over there?” Jeremiah yelled somewhere in the distance. He raised his gun and so did the RFEs surrounding Saul and Hadley.

  “You are supposed to watch this—” Hadley said loudly, albeit unconvinced. She needed Jeremiah to hear her say it.

  “I want to explain everything,” Saul whispered, then said loudly, “I guess I’ll decide if I want to. I’m still not sure this isn’t a trap!”

  “I need answers—” Hadley whispered desperately.

  Saul grabbed her wrist and placed a biodegradable message token into it. She knew the message would disappear if she didn’t save it on a tablet. Hadley held it tightly as she walked back. She looked Jeremiah straight in the eyes as she did; he just scowled at her. The team’s guns were up and pointed at the RFE’s, cautious of any movement.

  “How’d it go?” Jeremiah sneered. Hadley just shrugged.

  “You watched me— it was fine. They said they’d watch it— we were just delivering a drive. In the end, it was almost as though we did nothing.”

  Jeremiah paused, “What?!” He stepped towards her and put his nose just centimeters from hers.

  “This was the most useless, waste of time, energy and precious fuel. Why don’t we do something that will actually help?!” Hadley rolled her eyes and began walking towards the helicopter.

  “You stupid little bitch. You think you know everything. But you have no memories. You have nothing. You’ve always been the same Hadley.” He was fuming.

  “Jesus Jeremiah. You’re an ass; I don’t know what I did to you. Just get away from me. I did everything you said today. If there is something you remember that I don’t know then you’d best tell me.”

  “You will continue to obey my directions, as your team captain I have the right, and privilege, to decide what happens to my team members, including termination.” Jeremiah grabbed Hadley’s arm forcefully, and they walked back to the helicopter. Hadley slipped the message token into her pocket and looked into the sky. Jeremiah pushed her into the helicopter.

  Hadley pondered what was on the message, but she was too scared to even touch it in her pocket, but she could far from forget it was there.

  They disembarked the helicopters back at the complex and saw the other two teams, who had just been running drills were already disassembling their guns back into the secure lockers. Two of the UNAG’s were keeping a thoroughly brutal list of all the pieces on their tablets.

  Hadley disassembled her gun quickly and handed them back to them with a nod. She turned away rolling her eyes at the bureaucratic system, that was completely outdated, though somehow remained rooted after a few centuries. Checklists and ranks, and then punishments were in store for disobeying the rules.

  Humanity throughout history had flourished in this time of organizatio
n structure. Being a team, having leaders and knowing what to do without thinking was how wars were won in the early 20th century. A class system relying on ranks and superiority was what the world was built on, and somehow was the fallback every time something went truly wrong.

  The thing with bureaucracy though is that it creates rebellion and chaos. Especially as many people end up ranked without earning their place and it also leads to abuse of power. Power that in life or death situations can turn ugly on a dime.

  Rebellion was Hadley’s strong suit, so every time they ended up organized like cattle she felt an urge to push back and do the opposite. The pinger program was brought in to fight every social stigma and thought that human kind had ever created. Somehow though they managed to fall right back to where they started and Hadley was really starting to get sick of it.

  She saw Pax out of the corner of her eye; he had changed and was heading back to the dorm. He hadn’t even looked at her since their escapades a few days earlier. Without thinking Hadley followed him, he noticed but ignored her and started into almost a jog.

  It took him a few seconds to get into the dorm and so by the time they got to his room he had no chance of closing the door and locking her out. He immediately went to his bed and sat staring at the floor. Hadley clicked the lock in place and turned to him.

  “Are you ever going to tell me what I fucking did to you?” Hadley said as she stood leaning against the inside of Paxton’s door as he sat in bed.

  “Nothing,” he said. He was rubbing his sheets between his hands. He was avoiding eye contact with her.

  “Really? You’re going to tell me you’ve been acting the same all along?”

  “I—I—” He couldn’t even look up. Hadley was starting to feel the rage inside of her. She was red hot with anger. It had been an emotional tolling twelve hours. Hadley, without thinking, grabbed a book off of Pax’s dresser and threw it at him. She barely missed his thick scull, and instead the hard cover book hit his bed frame and fell to the ground with a thump.

  “I’m sorry—” He said hanging his head even lower, completely ignoring that she had just thrown a priceless and significantly sized book at his head, “Come here please?”