“That wasn’t how it worked for Frodo. And even if it was, certainly no one anointed Samwise Gamgee. He chose to do what was right and went to the ends of the world to save the world.”
“He went to save a friend, not the world. And…” I was getting nowhere. I turned to Jo. “Because Pete is stupid enough to volunteer, don’t expect me to leap lemming-like after him.”
“Dude! I’m okay with you calling me stupid behind my back, just not in front of my face,” Pete said.
I put the smartwatch in Pete’s hand and guided him toward the door. “Can you give me a minute? I need some privacy so I can shout at Jo.”
“I’ll show you how the watch works in a bit,” Jo said over my shoulder at him just before I shoved the door shut in Pete’s face.
Once the door was closed, I took a moment to calm down. “It’s fine,” I said. “Protecting the mayor at this news conference isn’t going to be a big deal. No one will dare attack the mayor in public.”
“You’re probably right,” Jo agreed.
“And even if they do, Pete will just be driving the car. He won’t be in any danger.”
“True,” Jo said.
“If anything does happen, it won’t be my fault.”
“There is that.”
“Damn you.” I growled in the back of my throat. The thought of Pete being helplessly trapped in the middle of a supernatural battle made my insides feel tight. “You planned this, didn’t you?”
Jo shook her head. “I was as surprised as you are. Pete had already volunteered before I even mentioned Sauron.”
“I don’t mean Pete. At least, I don’t just mean Pete. I mean everything that has happened since you visited me yesterday morning.” I stopped, wondering what I was accusing her of. She couldn’t have masterminded Lowndes attacking the hotel and the mayor being kidnapped by Noah and Persia. “Everything that has gone down since then can’t just be coincidence.”
Jo shut her laptop. “What are you asking?”
“Why did you really visit me yesterday morning?”
“To help Ally—”
“You can’t seriously expect me to bel—”
“Hear me out,” Jo said. “I did believe you uniquely would be able to help Ally. You have experience with elemental possessions and with using fire magic for non-destructive purposes. I didn’t know that Director Wells talked to you about the difference between Ally and Dennis, but I feel what he said will help the girl immensely. But I admit it wasn’t just about Ally. As I said before, it’s in your nature to be a protector, and I thought that by helping Ally you’d be helping yourself. I knew you were in a funk, more than a funk, and I figured a bit of action could give you the kick up the backside you needed.”
“A bit of action,” I said. “We had more than that. I could have been killed. Or imprisoned. Similarly for you and Ally.”
“I had no idea the hotel would be raided or that the mayor would be kidnapped. But between the L-SED successes against Harriet and the arrival of the firedrakes, trouble was bubbling under the surface, and the expected decision by the mayor to put the prison back in the control of Harriet was going to bring the whole cook-pot to a boil.”
“All the more reason for me to stay in my funk and out of trouble.” So I couldn’t make things worse.
“I’m sorry, Rune, I did what I thought I had to.” She tried to take my hand, but I shook her off. “It’s clear you’re a big part of what’s to come. Pete and I have a choice perhaps, but not you. Isn’t it better that you are acting rather than waiting for the storm to come along and send you hurling into the maelstrom?”
Chapter 13
Wednesday 10:05
I spent the rest of the morning sitting on a couch in the living room while Harriet, Nathan, Jo, Noah and Persia busied around the place. When I wasn’t lost in my own thoughts, I scowled at anyone who entered my line of sight.
When Pete came in and gave me a “Dude”, I ignored him. He wore Jo’s smartwatch and carried the bow and arrow. His thumb flicked nervously against the shaft of the bow.
Nathan entered a short time later. “We’re still going. But we’ll have to leave early.”
I stood. “What do you mean still? What happened?”
“A number of traffic lights have gone down in the city center,” Nathan said.
“So likely a trap of some sort,” I said. “Why are we still going again?”
Nathan shrugged. “We aren’t going to get this prison without some kind of fight. Might as well be here and now.” I looked out the window. Three black Lincolns were parked outside, and Noah was joking with Persia in front of the first. “You didn’t bring many reinforcements. If you are expecting trouble—”
“We’re shorthanded at the moment.” Nathan lowered his voice. “We can’t be certain the mayor won’t change his mind if we don’t act. It’s now or never.”
“Now, dude.” Pete bounced to his feet. “I’m ready.”
“May I see that?” Nathan nodded at the bow.
Pete handed it across. “It’s—” Before Pete could finish, Nathan crashed the bow down on his knee, smashing it in two. He handed the two parts back to Pete, who looked at it with a crestfallen expression.
Nathan gestured him outside. “For today, just drive.”
Pete let the two pieces of the bow fall to the floor, dropped his quiver of arrows, and wandered outside. I grabbed Nathan’s arm. “Listen, I know you recruited Pete just to get me on board. I’m with you now. You don’t need him. Leave him behind.”
“We didn’t recruit him. He volunteered. And it had nothing to do with you. As you noticed, we don’t exactly have much of an army right now—we need all the help we can get. And if you’re still coming with us, now’s the time.” Nathan didn’t wait for an answer.
What do you think, Jerome?
No answer.
Is Sash still alive in some form?
My fists clenched. Whatever was going to happen out there, it beat wasting the day away fruitlessly wondering what the stupid dream meant.
When I got outside, the mayor, Nathan, Pete, Noah and Persia were all waiting by the cars, and I turned to see Harriet following me out.
“What are you wearing?” I asked her. I had never seen Harriet Ashley in anything except a business suit. Now she wore a belted silver-colored kimono over loose white trousers.
She shut the front door. “Times are changing, and for the foreseeable future, I believe most of my fighting will happen outside the boardroom. I figured I might as well dress for my new role.”
“It suits you.” She didn’t look as weary as she had the night before. Although I had never seen her as anything else, perhaps the business woman was a role that had been forced upon her by necessity.
A smile flashed. “Good,” she said.
I had rarely seen her smile either. I grinned back. “Lowndes has no idea what she’s up against.”
“A menopausal woman in a kimono. She’d be quaking in her boots if she knew.” She nodded toward the Lincolns. “Shall we?”
“I’m taking this one.” Pete slapped the middle car, then sprinted around and took the driver’s seat. Nathan, glanced at Harriet, then moved forward to take the lead car.
“Mayor, would you like to join me?” Harriet stepped around to the driver side of the rear car.
“I’ll take my Lincoln,” the mayor said. “The middle one.”
“I wouldn’t do that,” I warned him. “Pete is a terrible driver.” In actuality, I had never seen him in a car, though I was mildly surprised he knew how to drive at all.
The mayor ignored me, opened the back door of the middle car and disappeared inside.
“Who do you want to ride shotgun with, Purrs?” Noah asked. “The cranky bear, the dudebro, or the silver kimono lady?”
I didn’t wait for them to decide; I jumped into the seat beside Pete. Noah took the car in front with Nathan, and Persia joined Harriet behind. I watched carefully as Pete put the car into drive and started
following Nathan and Noah. To my surprise, Pete seemed competent behind the wheel.
The three black Lincolns drove in formation down Fenster street. They indicated one after the other, and, nose to nose, they turned left.
And promptly got ensnarled in a traffic jam.
Chapter 14
Wednesday 10:45
Bumper to bumper, cars sat stewing in their own exhaust. Harsh bright sunlight glinted off windscreens. When the cars ahead began to move, we had a brief moment of hope that the traffic would flow, but after inching forward a few car-lengths, everything ground to a halt. Around us, the expressions of other commuters were equally swamped by frustration.
Pete thumped the steering wheel. “I haven’t been behind the wheel in three years, and within three seconds, I’m driven to despair. How do the sheeple put up with this every day?” He glanced around. “Look at all the bovine expressions as they wait patiently for their daily chance to become a cog in the machine.”
I turned to address the mayor in the seat behind. “When’s the news conference again?”
“High noon,” he said. “When else?”
“What’s causing the jam?” I had never seen traffic this bad.
The mayor shrugged.
Pete turned. “Dude, take some responsibility. You’re the mayor of this city.”
“As mayor, I wasn’t given a magic wand to fix problems. If I hadn’t been kidnapped, I’d in my office, receiving updates on the situation, but I can’t always do much for bad traffic.”
“Hiding in your office from the problems of the real people just like the rest of your ilk.”
“My ilk? What exactly does that mean?”
“Dude, you’re a politician. The only race of creatures worse than lawyers.”
“Ignore him,” I told the mayor. “He’s always like this. Just usually doesn’t have anyone reacting to him except trolls on the YouTube comments section.”
“It’s okay, I enjoy talking to my constituents when I get a chance,” the mayor said.
“No need for insults, dude. I ain’t nobody’s constituent. I never voted for any of you.”
“Then you’re spurning your right to vote. Which is the bedrock of western civilization and a right that many have died for.”
Pete snorted. “My choices are either Mayor Does-Nothing or Mayor Is-Exactly-The-Same. Give me a vote to get rid of the whole lot of ye, then you’ll see me queuing all night outside the polling stations for the chance to exercise my franchise.”
“The world needs good government.”
“Good government is an oxymoron. I’m a free man. Taxes are just a way of stealing at gunpoint under threat of imprisonment.”
“What about roads and hospitals and security?”
“Private medical insurance can pay for hospitals. And why would I want to help fund police who would arrest me just for imbibing nature’s goodness in the privacy of my own home. As for roads,” Pete gestured at the stationary cars in front of him, “I’d normally suggest tolls could pay for roads, but today, I’ll say walking would be quicker. Heck, I’d feel like I was making more progress if I decided to sit on a tortoise and, I don’t know, waited for it to decompose.” A gap opened up ahead, and Pete eased the car forward for a few short seconds, then jerked to a stop with a heavy foot on the brake.
“What about protection against a threat that’s bigger than you?” The mayor was showing a strange amount of patience with Pete’s rant. “Rogue supernatural elements, for instance.”
“The government hasn’t done a whole lot to help us in the latest crisis. In contrast, I’m personally taking up arms to defend myself and my fellow man. Well, I would be armed if my bow hadn’t been broken in two.” He glowered into the middle distance. “I still don’t know why.”
Through the back windscreen, I saw Persia’s head and torso above the roof of the car behind. Looking for any excuse to escape Pete’s diatribe, I opened my door and stepped outside. Several other people were also outside their cars in the stopped traffic, trying to get a better view of what was happening up ahead. I walked back toward Persia. Harriet Ashley was sitting in the driver’s seat, her head tilted back on the headrest. Strangely, she was the only one on the whole street who appeared relaxed.
“We’re sitting ducks,” Persia said. “We should have abandoned this dumb news conference plan this morning. Too public.”
“I thought you all agreed the only choice was to continue.”
“Only the idiots wanted that.” Persia mouth slanted downward. “Which meant the decision was unanimous except for me.”
“I see.” That put a different slant on what Nathan had said.
“We’re probably all over instagram and twitter and snapchat by now.” Persia gestured toward the sidewalks. Although the majority of people were hurrying by, oblivious of anything around them, a few were pausing to snap a photo with their mobile at the three governments cars stuck in traffic.
“I wouldn’t have thought that we’d be worth taking a photo of, never mind being put on twitter.” On the other hand, the upcoming news conference was probably receiving twenty-four hour coverage on the news, and people would connect the dots. “I guess it isn’t a big deal. We didn’t plan to remain secret.”
“I gue—” Persia’s head jerked to her left.
I followed her gaze to toward a series of low rooftops. “What is it?”
“Did you see that?”
I raised my hand to shield my eyes from the sun, scanning first on one side of the road, then the other. “I can’t see anyone on the roofs.”
“It’s gone now. It was a movement or a shadow.” Persia looked around in frustration. “We’re sitting ducks.”
“All we can do is remain vigilant, I guess.” In front of us, the mayor’s car inched away from me. I started after it and when I caught up with it, I pulled on the backseat door handle instead of the front. It was locked. I rapped on the window, then waited, walking alongside the slow moving car. Through the tinted windows, I couldn’t see what was happening inside the car, but when I got an answering rap on the window, I tried again and this time it was unlocked. “Move over,” I said.
“What’s going on?” The mayor scrunched over to the other side.
“Nothing yet. Could you open the sunroof?”
“Sure.” He reached across to some controls in front of his seat, and pressed and held a button. The sunroof whirred open.
Just as I was twisting my body up through the sunroof, the car slammed to a stop and my elbow whacked off the car ceiling. “Careful!” I shouted, then straightened so my torso was outside the car and I could address Persia. “Any further sightings?” I asked.
“Not on the rooftops. But we have a new arrival.” She pointed directly up into the sky where the black dot was visible.
I lowered myself back into the car, then raised my watch to my mouth. It was time to see if this app that Jo had rigged worked and whether she could offer any solutions. “Ok Google. Talk. Jo, we’re stuck in traffic and have various unknown parties closing on us. What do you know? EndTalk.”
A pause. Then: “Talk message. I’ve been monitoring traffic websites looking for a better route, but everywhere is equally clogged. Traffic lights throughout the city have gone down. What about going on foot? You’d be quicker. Also, you are on TV.”
“Ok Google. Talk. I don’t like the idea of going on foot. At least inside the cars we have some protection, and it’s easier to keep everyone together. What was that about TV? EndTalk.”
“Talk message: An overhead view on the news is showing the three government Lincolns stuck in traffic.”
That explained the helicopter, and the good news that it, at least, wasn’t an enemy. Perhaps Persia’s rooftop watchers were equally benign.
“Talk message: Any chance those cars of yours have a siren?”
I glanced across at the mayor, who shook his head. “We usually have a police escort when we need a siren,” he said.
“Talk m
essage: No, they wouldn’t, would they? I have an idea. Who’s in the lead car?”
“Ok Google. Talk. Nathan and Noah Hastings. EndTalk.”
“Talk message. I have a mobile number for Nathan. I’ll ring him. I’ve an idea which might work.”
The mayor reached forward and fiddled with the controls in front of his seat. A panel in the rear of the passenger seat slid down to reveal a TV screen. He pressed a button and the screen flickered to life, showing an aerial view of city, zoomed in on a section of stopped traffic.
The loud thrump-thrump of rotating helicopter blades came through the car speakers, and over that came the voice of Caroline Black. “One of the suspected kidnappers is still visible in the rear car.” The camera zoomed in further, briefly blurring, before shakily centering on Persia who was looking upward with a scowl on her face. “We still have no word whether the mayor is actually in one of the cars. We know that the L-SED are aware of the situation, but they are having as much difficulty with the traffic situation as the rest of the city.”
The camera blurred again, and this time it came into focus on the side of the helicopter. The view shifted slightly to the side, and there was Caroline Black hanging out the side of the helicopter, the skin of her face wobbling from the effects of the wind and long black strands of hair whipping out behind her. She wore a helmet and large headphones, and the bottom half of her face was covered by a mouthpiece.
“She’s actually up there,” the mayor said incredulously. “What’s the news anchorwoman doing being actually in the helicopter?”
“She’ll do anything for a story.”
“She could commentate on the situation from the ground.”
“Not as dramatically.”
“To those of you just joining us,” Caroline Black said. “Let me summarize the breaking situation.” Her voice was coming through over the roar of the helicopter, so clearly a microphone was part of her mouthpiece. “We are counting down to the news conference, which is due to start at twelve noon.” The view switched to a giant clock showing 57:31, then 57:30, then 57:29, then it switched back to Caroline. “We still have no confirmation that the mayor was not kidnapped or that he is giving this conference of his own free well. Leader of the L-SED, Elizabeth Lowndes, has assured the Lusteer News Network that they will do everything in their power to ensure the mayor, providing he is not under any duress, gets to speak at the conference.”
Fire Soldiers Page 9
