The Last Builder

by Simeon Graves

  “He knows,” Cutler said.

  “Of course he knows,” said Wick, holding out the duffel for him.

  “Thank you. I’m sorry, I have to go.”

  “I have an opportunity for you, Cutler. Something that might help you navigate this situation.”

  Cutler’s impatience was like lava in his veins. He wanted – needed - to go. To get off the planet. To keep his daughter close. To keep her safe.

  “CORUS has a privately-funded mission they’ve put together to go to the outer limits and scout for mining opportunities. I know the head of the corporation. He asked me who would be best for the job. The first person I thought of was you.”

  “Why me?”

  “Because you’re not a cowboy.”

  “A what?”

  “It’s an old phrase. It means you’re not a hothead who goes charging into situations without thinking first. A lot of scouts these days are young, thinking they’re going on a grand adventure. With all their technology, they’ve forgotten how dangerous space can be.” Wick put a hand on Cutler’s shoulder to calm him. “Plus, the pay is, frankly, astronomical. Katherine could live in luxury for the rest of her life.”

  “What’s the catch?”

  Wick grinned. “You’d be responsible for a small crew, which means you’d actually have to talk to other people more than just every couple of years when you come visit Earth.” His smile dropped from his face. “Katherine would also have to stay behind.”

  “No,” Cutler said.

  “I know you’re worried about her—and for good reason—but I can keep an eye on her while you’re gone. We’ll set her up somewhere safe.”

  “Nowhere will be safe, professor. You know as well as I do what’s about to happen. I won’t leave my daughter behind to witness it.”

  “I’ve seen far more history being made in my time than I care to admit. One thing always remains certain: there are those who survive to carry on another day. Your daughter is young, smart, and immune. With the right contacts and enough money, she’ll come out on top no matter what happens. Earth may be on the brink of revolution, Cutler, but space is always hungry for fresh victims. How can you be sure she’ll be safer up there than she is down here, in this world she’s so familiar with?”

  Cutler rubbed at his chin, feeling his rough whiskers beneath his hand. “How long is the mission?”

  “Five years.”

  Cutler groaned. “She’ll be a grown woman. I won’t even recognize her.”

  “Don’t be silly.”

  True, thought Cutler, in the grand scheme of things, five years was not a long time. Katherine could finish her studies, pick up some new skills, and stay safe until Cutler was ready to come back for her. Wick was not one for hyperbole, so there was no question that the pay was as high as Wick was implying it was.

  “A crew?” he said, his palms growing sweaty. Flashes of his botched mission pushed their way to the front of his mind. Could he be responsible for other people like that again? Could he risk more deaths on his conscience, all for a paycheck?

  Shouting and a peal of laughter from the courtyard brought him crashing back to Earth. The safest place for his daughter was by his side. No mission, no matter the pay, was worth risking her safety.

  Wick must’ve seen the change in his eyes, because he clapped Cutler on the shoulder again and smiled sadly. “It was worth a try,” he said.

  “I’m sorry.”

  “Don’t be,” the old man said with a wave of his hand. “They’ll find someone else, and you’ll be much happier knowing exactly where Kit is.”

  “Why is everyone calling her Kit? What’s wrong with Katherine?”

  “Absolutely nothing, and everything all at once. She’s a teenager. Sometimes you just have to give in to their logic.”

  Cutler smiled, grasped the older man’s hand. It was warm and dry and soft. Without another word, he left the room.

  “That took forever,” said Katherine. She had given up on standing and was now sitting on her suitcase, her chin in her hands.

  “There was a… complication.”

  “The creepy dude?”

  Cutler couldn’t help but smile. At least his daughter was a good judge of character.

  “He knows, doesn’t he? That we’re trying to leave?”

  “Yes, which is why we need to go. Now.”

  6

  Cutler

  “Shit.” The red notification in the middle of the Omnis screen had made his stomach drop.

  “What now?” she asked breathily.

  “My contact got cold feet. Our flight's been cancelled." He swiped the notification away and shoved the Omnis back in his pocket.

  He stopped to let a homeless man with a cart pass in front of him, holding Katherine back with one arm. As soon as the path was clear, they both surged ahead. Katherine had seemed resigned to the idea of getting off-planet. She was terrified, Cutler realized, but he’d rather she be scared of what they were up against than ignorant of it.

  “What now?” she asked.

  “We find another way onto the ship. There are cargo compartments with plenty of room for two stowaways. As long as we stay out of sight getting on and off, we shouldn’t have any problems.”

  “The cargo compartment?”

  “Not ideal, but at this point, we don’t have a choice.”

  “And how are we going to get on and off without anyone noticing us?”

  Cutler paused, and then took a sharp turn to the left, cutting down a side street, through an alley, and out the other side onto a much more deserted road.

  “We need to find some of the kids who know the tunnels underneath the city well enough to sneak up to the ship’s storage facilities and steal some of the goods without getting caught.”

  “And how are we going to find someone who will do that?”

  Katherine nearly toppled over with her suitcase as it hit a particularly large hole in the sidewalk.

  Cutler was just about to say something about luck when a tiny body with a mop of blond hair came running out of an alley entrance and barreled right into him. Cutler caught the kid in one arm and held him in place until the frightened boy stopped struggling and looked up at him, a shining scar running down the side of his face. As soon as the boy recognized Cutler, he sagged against him.

  “Just the person I was looking for. We have to stop meeting like this.”

  “Help me,” Benji said, breaking free of Cutler’s arm and hiding behind him.

  He heard shouting from the other end of the alley. Looking up, he saw four boys a few years older than Benji running toward them. They skidded to a halt a few feet away.

  “Come on, Benji,” the biggest boy said. “We just want to play a game of tag.”

  “Game’s over, boys,” said Cutler. “You can go home now.”

  “And who are you?” the largest boy asked. His gaze swept over Katherine and lingered there longer than Cutler was comfortable with.

  “Someone who’s in a hurry and doesn’t have time to deal with your shit,” Cutler said, taking a menacing step forward and reaching slowly into his pocket. He wrapped his hand around his Omnis, observing the way the kids followed his movements.

  “Come on,” the kid said, punching one of his friends playfully in the shoulder. “We’ll pick up our game with Benji tomorrow.”

  The other kids laughed and howled, making a show of holding up their hands and backing away.

  “Thanks,” Benji said.

  “Anytime,” Cutler said. He pointed to his daughter, who looked bewildered. “This is my daughter, Katherine.”

  “Kit,” Katherine said, holding out her hand.

  Benji shook it enthusiastically. “Hi, Kit, I’m Benji. I tried to steal from your dad earlier today. He caught me. Gave me a shock that could kill a horse. Then gave me money to help my sister get her medicine. Not a bad guy all around, I’d say.”

  Cutler shifted on his feet and looked down at the boy. “How is your sister?”
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  “Still sick,” Benji said. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small vial of clear liquid. “But I got this at the store today. It’ll help her. She’ll be better soon.”

  “Is that why the boys were chasing you?” Katherine asked.

  “Yeah, but they don’t need an excuse to chase me. They hate my guts for some reason.”

  Cutler knelt down to the boy’s level and put a hand on his shoulder. “Those kids don’t matter, Benji. You’re keeping an eye out for your family. You don’t have to answer to anybody for that.”

  The boy, wise beyond his years, nodded.

  “I’m going to need a favor, Benji. Something only you can help me with. But it’s a lot to ask.”

  “What is it?”

  “I need to get through the tunnels under the city and up into the storage facilities on one of the ships leading off-planet. Ever been there before?”

  “Loads of times. We steal fruit off the ships before it gets sent off to rich people’s homes.”

  “I’ll double what I gave you this morning if you can get us there without being caught.”

  The boy didn’t need to be told twice. He nodded his head, waved for them to follow him, and took off running back down the alley.

  Cutler and Katherine had trouble keeping up with Benji, who wove in and out of crowds, took sharp turns down alleyways, and doubled back more than once in order to avoid a patrolling officer.

  It didn’t help that the father-daughter duo was slowed down by their luggage, but Cutler knew how important the next moments were. If they didn’t get on a ship today, it was likely they never would.

  Katherine, keeping up valiantly, was beginning to look harried. Cutler kept finding himself turning to her, wanting to offer something – either encouragement or an apology, but Katherine kept her eyes low and her brow furrowed. And his words died on his lips.

  “Here,” said Benji, stopping so suddenly that Cutler had to leap to one side so as not to bowl him over. The boy was pointing to a small maintenance hatch in the side of a steel building. He swiped his Omnis in front of the display reader and the door slid open.

  After scanning the street around him, seeing more than Cutler ever could in one view, the boy motioned for them to follow him through the door. He let Katherine go first, sliding her suitcase in after her and letting it drop with a clang. He threw his duffel in and heard Benji’s muffled surprise as it caught him in the face.

  Across the street, an officer clad in shining white was speaking into her Omnis, her gaze locked directly on him. With a curse, he crawled through the doorway, locking it behind him, and leapt down to Katherine’s side.

  “What is it?”

  “We’ve been spotted.” He turned to Benji. “If you just want to point us in the right direction, I’ll transfer your credits now and you can run.”

  The boy looked up at the closed door above them and then back down to Cutler. He took a moment, of which Cutler felt every second, shook his head, then ran off ahead of them, following the dim lights along the tunnel walls.

  “Dad,” Katherine said, her harsh whisper reverberating in the tight space.

  Cutler turned toward her, taking in her wide eyes and trembling hands. “You’re scared?”

  Katherine nodded.

  “It’ll be okay,” he said, reaching out for her. She took his hands and he reveled in the idea that he could hold his daughter, hug her, reassure her.

  He squeezed her tightly then, and then handed her his lighter duffel and took up the handle on her suitcase. They had to sprint to catch up with Benji, and by the time they found him, he was standing at a fork in the tunnels, playing on his Omnis. He looked up once they reached him and, without giving them a moment’s rest, took off down the tunnel to the right.

  The crackle of a radio sounded behind them, and the rhythm of boots hitting the ground at a steady pace propelled the group forward. The tunnels weren’t unfamiliar to Cutler, but it was too easy to get lost down here. Nearly every stretch looked identical, and just like on the surface, there were good parts and bad parts of town. As long as nobody messed with the structural integrity of the tunnels, the police stayed away. That allowed gangs to flourish, battling over territory to often fatal ends.

  The tunnels Benji took them down were mostly quiet, though there were some shanties set up along the way. Life down here was sparse, but it was cool in the summer and warm in the winter, and you didn’t have to deal with the weather. For many, that was worth the risk of living amongst the gangs.

  Katherine breathed heavily behind him. His own lungs burned in response to the unexpected cardio workout. They were keeping a quick, steady jog, and his hand was cramping from the tight grip he'd been keeping on Katherine’s suitcase. They wouldn’t be able to outrun an officer forever.

  Just as they passed the opening to another tunnel, Cutler leaned forward and grabbed the collar of Benji’s shirt. The boy yelped in surprise as Cutler dragged him around the corner, with Katherine following close behind. Cutler pressed a finger to his lips as he slipped his Omnis out of his pocket. Benji gave it a wary look.

  They only had to wait a moment before the female officer appeared. Cutler leapt out behind her as she ran by, causing her to skid to a halt and try to radio in their location. Knocking her arm aside, Cutler tossed her his Omnis, which she caught out of reflex. It was only a matter of seconds before she was writhing on the floor before them.

  “How much further?” Cutler called out, stowing his Omnis as they continued down the hall. The boy was a pale beacon of light ahead of him.

  “Almost there,” he said, pointing toward a hatch high on the wall to his right. A ladder with half its rungs missing led up to it.

  “What?” Katherine said, peering up at the door.

  “The numbers correlate with the districts,” Cutler said, pausing to take a couple deep breaths. “We’re probably three sections away from where the ships are situated.”

  “Two,” said Benji, pointing up at the next hatch they ran by.

  “Two,” Cutler corrected himself, smiling down at Katherine. She didn’t return the look.

  Cutler’s gaze returned to the back of Benji’s head just as the pang of guilt hit. He was uprooting Katherine from everything she had ever known, altering the course of her life forever. She wouldn’t even have a Juniper Academy degree under her belt now.

  But at least she’ll be alive, he thought. They can’t get her. Not on my watch.

  The tunnels had now transformed; looking, as if it were possible, even more industrial. There were more offshoots the further they went, and Benji soon gave up on running straight and began to choose tunnels leading left. They kept up with him for a solid ten minutes as Cutler mapped the streets above in his head. As it soon became too complicated for him to follow, he resigned himself to following the boy’s lead.

  When Benji slowed, Cutler and Katherine took a moment to lean against the wall, hands on their knees. The air was hot and stifling. For his part, Benji seemed barely winded, though his face was flushed pink, and there was a coat of sweat on the nape of his neck.

  “What’s next?” Cutler asked, once he had caught his breath. He listened for any sound of being followed, but the echoes of other people moving underground made it hard to distinguish their pursuer from anyone else. If they were lucky, the officer had gotten lost and given up the chase.

  “Two more tunnels and then we’re there.” The low light made his scar stand out in shocking relief on his face. “There’s a hatch that comes out behind some crates across from one of the launch pads. If the crates are there, we can go up. If they’re not, the guards will spot us.”

  “Well, let’s hope the crates are there,” said Katherine.

  Benji nodded and started walking at a casual pace down the tunnel in front of them, his hands in his pockets. It dawned on Cutler that, as dangerous as this was, the boy had probably done it a hundred times.

  Cutler and Katherine exchanged glances. She was holding h
er hair off her neck and fanning her face. Cutler tried to ignore the sweat dripping down his back. “Ready?” he asked her.

  “I guess,” she said. There was no enthusiasm in her voice, but there was less fear, at least. He would take it.

  The two of them trudged behind Benji, only stopping when they reached the hatch that would lead them to their destination. The boy held a finger to his lips and signaled for them to wait there until he checked that the coast was clear. At least the ladder here was fully intact, though Benji had to jump a little to get up onto the first rung.

  When he reached the top, he paused at the door, putting his ear against the expanse of metal. Apparently satisfied that there was no one making noise on the other side, he used his Omnis to slide open the hatch. From down below, Cutler could see a huge shipping container holding at least a hundred crates. He let out the breath he hadn’t realized he’d been holding. Katherine did the same.

  Benji crawled out through the opening, paused for a moment, then disappeared from view. Katherine opened her mouth to say something, but Cutler put out his hand to stop her. A few seconds later, the boy popped back into view and waved them forward.

  Cutler had Katherine climb up first, the duffel slung over her shoulder. She paused only momentarily at the hatch’s opening before scrambling through. Benji gave Cutler the go-ahead soon after, and he began to make his way up the ladder, one hand hauling Katherine’s suitcase up after him.

  When he reached the top, he used his remaining strength to pull the suitcase up to his chest, and then push it up and through the opening, where Katherine grabbed it and pulled it the rest of the way out. Benji stuck his head back into view with a grin on his face, but was suddenly yanked out of view with a grunt.

  “What are you two up to?” a deep voice asked, and a shriek from Katherine sent Cutler through the hatch, arms swinging.