Fire Soldiers

by David J Normoyle

  “Dude, should we ring the number?” Pete asked me.

  “Turn off the TV, Pete.”

  “Please do,” Noah said. “I can’t look at that picture. My mother told me that if I pulled a funny face and the wind changed, I’d be stuck like that forever.” He shook his head at the picture on the screen. “She didn’t know that her words would prove prophetic. Digital photos are forever, man.”

  Pete switched off the TV and reached for his bow on the couch beside him. I slapped his hand away. “Who are you and what are you doing here?” I asked.

  “Are you the Lusteer fire sentinel?” Persia Hastings asked. “Red Rover or something.”

  Pete giggled. “Red Rover, that could be your code name.”

  “I don’t need a code name,” I said. “I’m Rune Russell. What are you two doing here? Should be, I don’t know, taking your hostage to a secure location.”

  “We didn’t really kidnap him,” Persia said.

  “So there’s nothing to that story just reported on the news.”

  “Nothing in the slightest,” Noah said. “Evidence does look bad to the untrained eye though. Seeing as how the mayor is currently in the trunk.”

  I shifted across to stand by the window and saw a black sedan parked outside the house. “And to the trained eye?”

  “To the trained eye, it probably looks worse,” Persia said. “As a reliable witness saw us stuff him inside the trunk.”

  “Hardly reliable, Purrs. Did you see how that woman’s top clashed with her dress. People who can’t be trusted to dress themselves in a reasonable fashion can’t be trusted, full stop.”

  “Not everyone cares about their appearance as much as you.” Persia glared at him. “You’re wearing eye shadow again, aren’t you?”

  “You’re just jealous of my luscious lashes.” Noah turned toward Pete and fluttered his eyelids at him. “What’s your verdict?”

  “Dude.” Pete backed away.

  “Dudebro understands, don’t you, man,” Noah said. “People see long hair and they think ‘badass’; they don’t realize the hundred strokes with the hairbrush required each night.”

  Pete lifted his own hair, dank and tangled. “I wouldn’t know.”

  “Are you two brother and sister?” I asked dubiously. They were a rather mismatched pair. Noah, all boyish charm, was big and muscular, with shoulder length hair and tanned skin, a regular Greek god. Persia, with a mousy fierceness, was pretty, but really short, barely five foot tall. “You don’t look similar.”

  “Husband and wife,” Noah said.

  “You don’t act much like you are husband and wife,” I said.

  “I told you we were doing it wrong,” Persia said to Noah.

  He gave her a wink. “We’re doing good, Purrs. You know I always have your back. Excepting federal crimes, kidnapping and the like.”

  She punched him in the shoulder.

  “So about the mayor being in the trunk. That was a joke, right?” I asked. It was hard to tell when Noah and Persia were being serious.

  “It was the only way to do our job,” Persia said. “The only way to keep him safe.”

  “Should we let him out?” Noah asked.

  Persia grimaced. “He’ll be angry.”

  Noah nodded. “Better if a strange face frees him. Maybe dudebro here can do it.” He looked at Pete. “Would you do that for us?”

  “What if he hits me over the head with a tyre lever and runs away. I’m not good at hand to hand combat.”

  Noah nodded sagely. “Good point, well made. Perhaps the sentinel here would be a better choice.”

  “I’m not a strange face,” I said. “Mayor Maxwell has met me before.”

  “Even better. A familiar face who wasn’t involved in his kidnapping.” Noah put his arm around my shoulders and guided me toward the front door. “Explain the situation to him.”

  “What situation? That to both an untrained and trained eye, he was kidnapped?”

  “Exactly. Bring him in once his anger levels have reduced to non-critical levels.” Noah closed the doors, leaving me standing on the doorstep, wondering what exactly had just happened. Who were these people?

  Noah opened the door again. I raised my eyebrows, waiting for him to explain how everything that had happened since he and his girlfriend entered was some form of practical joke, but he just threw me a set of car keys. “ You’ll need these.” He nodded at the black car. “The Lincoln. It’s the mayor’s personal car.” He shut the door again.

  I cautiously moved to the car. It glinted with shiny newness; the rear windows were tinted. I looked up and down the street, but everything looked normal. Everything except for the government issue sedan parked by the curb with the kidnapped city mayor inside it. I reached for the trunk, then stopped when my mobile vibrated. I pulled it from my pocket, delighted to see a message from Jo, and even more delighted when I read it and found out that both she and Ally were safe.

  That made me feel much better, though I was still nervous as I pressed the button to unlock the trunk. It opened a crack. I hesitated a moment, then reached forward and pulled it open. Even though I’d been told what to expect, it was still a surprise to see a grey-haired man curled up in the bottom of the trunk. He groaned and raised his hand to block the light streaming down on top of him.

  “Mayor Maxwell,” I said hesitantly.

  “I’m going to kill those crazy bastards.” He coughed away dust and pushed himself up onto one elbow. “Where are they?”

  “The Hastings? They’re… I had nothing to do with what they did.”

  “Help me out,” the mayor said.

  I held him around the waist, supporting him, as the mayor rolled out of the trunk. He staggered as he tried to straighten, so I kept hold of him until he finally slapped my hands away. “Get off me, I can stand by my damn self.” He brushed dirt off his suit. “I recognize you. You’re another of Harriet Ashley’s sentinels. Are you sure you weren’t involved?”

  “Another? What other sentinels does Harriet have working for her?” I asked. “And, by the way, I don’t work for her. Not anymore, at least.”

  “Why? I agreed to everything Ashley wanted. I was about to transfer the JC back to her control, and this is how I get repaid.”

  “You mean that Noah and Persia are sentinels?” All their nonsense about eye shadow, and they hadn’t thought to mention that fact. “What type of sentinel?”

  He arched his back. “I swear that car journey took years out of my life. And I don’t have a huge reservoir of those left.”

  “You’re still taking the situation better than I expected.”

  “Inside, my anger is frothing over,” the mayor said. “But my body is too battered and bruised to express that right now.”

  “About handing the JC back to Harriet Ashley,” I said. “What about Lowndes and the L-SED?” I found it hard to imagine Lowndes giving up all those shades I’d just watched her capture. “What if they don’t agree?”

  “Lowndes is as ruthless as they come, but she’s a good soldier. She’ll do what she’s told.”

  That doesn’t mean she’ll do what you tell her, I thought. I’d a feeling she would consider the leader of the Sentinel Order to far outrank a city mayor.

  Chapter 9

  Tuesday 18:15

  I led the mayor back into Ten-two. He walked with a slight limp, and the anger began to return. “Where are they?”

  “In here.” I directed him into the living room.

  “How dare you—” He stopped when he realized neither Persia or Noah were present.

  “They were here a few minute ago,” I said. “This is a big old house. They are likely hiding somewhere.” Perhaps they had left completely, though I doubted I would be that lucky. Were they fire or smoke sentinels?

  Pete stood and addressed Mayor Maxwell. “I’m not sure how I feel about having you in here.”

  The mayor looked around at the messy and dirty living room. “Don’t worry, kid. I’ve been in
worse places.”

  “I’m sure you have.” Pete shook his head. “You don’t understand. It’s you that is the problem, not the state of this place. You bring down the tone of the place by who you are and what you’ve done.”

  The mayor turned toward me. “Is he for real?”

  “Unfortunately. But in a harmless way.” I moved some cartons off the couch and directed the mayor to sit. “Relax. I’ll find the fire sentinels for you.”

  “Just get me some water first, please. I’m parched.”

  “Sorry. Of course, I imagine you must be. You’ve just been…” I trailed off, no point in reminding him he’d just been locked in a trunk. Wasn’t like he was going to forget any time soon. “Pete, go easy on him.”

  I found a glass in the kitchen and after washing it out several times, I decided it was as clean as it was going to get. I filled it, then crossing the hall, I came to a stop.

  Harriet Ashley stood in the doorway. As usual, she wore a pinstriped dark business suit, though her black hair was streaked with more grey than I remembered and her face had gained a few wrinkles. She gave me a slight twist of her head to indicate that I was to follow her, then backed out of the house.

  As I started after her, cold water splashed over my hand, and I came to a stop, staring stupidly at the glass in my hand. I hesitated a moment, then returned to the living room and handed him the water. “Here. I have to… I’ll be right back.” I exited before he had a chance to say anything.

  Harriet was facing away from me when I approached, her hands on the roof of the mayor’s sedan. “How is he?” she asked.

  “The mayor? Shook up. But dealing with it.”

  “What were those idiots doing? Kidnapping him?”

  “What were you doing sending this mess to me?”

  She turned around. “They were based at Hotel Tiberius, but that had just been taken. Nathan told me you were back on a semi-even keel. And we need all the help we can get right now.”

  “I told Nathan that I was just doing a favor for Jo, that I wasn’t getting involved in your battle. And what do you mean a semi-even keel? I’m fine.”

  “My battle,” she said softly, turning away. With the sun low in the sky, the nearby skyscrapers of the central business district were darkening. “I’ve fought a long time, often with little support. But it’s not my battle. It’s Lusteer’s battle, and soon, the rest of the world. There won’t be any escaping.” She turned back toward me. “You said you’re fine. But is that really true? You tried to bury your head in work, but you couldn’t do that forever. Eventually the demons you were running from were going to catch up with you.”

  “I wasn’t running from anything.” Did she have to dredge this up? The memory of Sash lying dead on the ground before me filled my mind, and my heart started racing,

  “Alex Collier was the same as you. Both badly affected by what happened in Gorlam’s Orphanage that day, but unable to even admit it. It ruined you both.”

  “Ruined how? Ruined as tools? That’s how you see everyone, isn’t it? Tools that you can use to achieve your agenda?”

  She smiled. “Is it me you are angry with or someone else?”

  “I’m not angry.”

  “Well, calm down and tell me what I need to know. Mayor Maxwell—how traumatized was he by what the Hastings did? Is he still on our side?”

  “No.”

  She tilted her head. “No, he’s no longer on our side, or no you won’t tell me what I need to know?”

  “First, I have some questions.”

  “You say that like I’m always holding out on you. When have I ever refused to tell you anything?”

  From the first time I met her, I had been in the dark about her, never sure where she stood. Perhaps she hadn’t held out, but she had never been forthcoming. She was the businesswoman who ran Transkey Incorporated, but also the underworld figure who controlled the shades of the crime gang called the Reds. “Who are you?”

  “Who am I? That’s your question. That’s what you’ve been burning to know?”

  “And why did you let Richard Sulle just take over the JC and hand the reins to the L-SED. You built it.”

  “That was a mistake.” Harriet leaned back against the car behind her. “Trusting Sulle. But I couldn’t have known. He had as much to lose by the L-SED being set loose in the city as I did.”

  “So, Sulle is…?”

  “A shade. A smoke sorcerer, to be more specific. Just as I am.”

  “You are a shade?”

  “Of course. It’s not a secret within the shade community. I presumed you knew. Do you think Nathan and the others would trust me otherwise?”

  “I guess not.”

  “So Richard Sulle and you are both shades. He financed a prison capable of holding shades, and you built it.”

  “It is in both our interests to lock up any shades who are out of control or dangerous. I never foresaw a situation where an organization such as L-SED would imprison every single shade they can get their hands on.”

  “They know Sulle’s a shade, right? Has the L-SED gone after him?”

  “Not yet. Sulle doesn’t leave Verge Tower anymore though. Lowndes will come for him before too long. He must know that. That’s why it makes no sense that he handed over control of the JC. Additionally, nationwide, Walker is running a campaign—you know, hobnobbing with Congress and all that—to get shades kicked out of positions of power. I’ve already relinquished control of Transkey, and I doubt Sulle can maintain his position for long. For me, Transkey was a means to an end. The companies that Richard Sulle built up, his position of influence among the elite of Lusteer, that means everything to him. I’m not sure—”

  Shouts coming from inside Ten-Two caused us both to turn around. Through the window we could see that the Noah and Persia had returned to the living room and were being confronted by the mayor. “A referee may be required,” I suggested.

  We both hurried back into the house. As we reached the hall, I momentarily pulled Harriet aside. “About what you were asking me earlier. Mayor Maxwell wasn’t too badly upset by the kidnapping. I don’t think he’ll let it influence his decisions.”

  Harriet nodded. “Thanks.”

  Seeing Persia Hastings and Mayor Maxwell roaring in each other’s faces, I added. “As long as he’s not too badly aggravated after, perhaps.”

  Harriet stepped into the living room, and she immediately inserted herself between Persia and Mayor Maxwell. Both of them immediately switched from shouting at each other to screaming at Harriet.

  “Persia, sit down,” Harriet ordered. Persia opened her mouth to object, then, under Harriet’s fierce glare, thought better of it and sat on the couch.

  “Mayor,” Harriet continued, turning to address him, “I’d like to offer my sincerest apologies for what happened to you. It is inexcusable.”

  “I don’t see why it’s you who—” the mayor began.

  “I’ve nothing to apologize about!” Persia shouted, standing up again. “You should be thanking me.”

  “For throwing me in the trunk like an old tyre!” the mayor shouted. “And rattling my old bones to pieces.”

  “Persia,” Harriet said sharply.

  “He would have been kidnapped and probably killed if I hadn’t acted,” Persia said. “It was the firedrakes; they were about to attack, I’m almost certain of it. I tried to tell Mayor Max Bullheaded, but it wouldn’t listen.”

  “I can’t just drop everything because one of my security team gets the twitches.”

  “No fool like an old fool,” she muttered.

  “Persia, we have enough enemies without fighting with our friends,” Harriet said. “Sit.”

  Persia sat.

  “Mayor, I take full responsibility for what happened,” Harriet said.

  “Are you saying you ordered—” the mayor began.

  “I’m saying I take full responsibility. I put Persia and Noah on your security detail. However—”

  “Guys, t
hey are talking about you again,” Pete said. Until that moment, I hadn’t noticed that Pete was in the room, nor that the TV was on but muted. As Pete drew our attention to the screen, it showed, once more, Persia and Noah.

  “That goddamn picture,” Noah said in disgust. “I’ve a good mind to personally deliver a better headshot to the news station.”

  The picture showed Noah having a strange expression on his face, but I couldn’t see what was so bad about it.

  “Shut up about the photo,” Persia said. “If I wanted someone who cared more about their appearance than me, I would have become a lesbian.”

  Noah flexed his biceps. “Come on, girl. No matter how butch you go, no dyke will provide you with muscles like these.”

  “Turn it up,” the mayor said, and Pete pointed the remote at the TV and unmuted it.

  “…go now to the news studio where Caroline Black has the latest.”

  Caroline Black appeared behind a desk. “We just have had word that a news conference has been arranged for twelve o’clock tomorrow in front of City Hall, and the mayor is due to speak there.”

  “A what?” The mayor turned to glare to Harriet.

  “I’ll explain after.” Harriet didn’t take her eyes of the screen.

  “It’s unclear who organized the news conference and whether the mayor is still held by kidnappers. To discuss the issue, we have Colonel Lowndes of the L-SED. I’m glad to be speaking to you again, Colonel, only I wish it was in better circumstances.” The camera pulled back to show Lowndes sitting across from Caroline Black. “When I talked to you yesterday, you warned things would get worse, but I don’t think anyone could have predicted how fast this crisis would hit us. I understand that Mayor Maxwell refused your offer of twenty-four hour L-SED protection.”

  “This isn’t the time to get into why this happened and what to do in the future to prevent a similar occurrence,” Lowndes said. “We first have to concentrate on freeing our city mayor.”

  “What do you make of tomorrow’s news conference?”