Skyland (21 page)
"You are helping the Union?"
Harper shrugged. "I don't like them. But I
will help them take away the weapons of the Sky Reverends. Maybe
then there will be some peace."
Whose side are you on, old
man?
he wondered, knowing it didn't matter.
"Maybe... You just turned away from your
family?"
Harper grimaced. He had thought the same
thing over and over as his father's voice rung in his head.
Abomination... abomination...
"I don't know..." he said. "I
didn't see it as turning away from
them
. It was more like
turning away from what they were doing... what they wanted me to
do."
"So you were involved?"
"Yes. I mean, I was... "
Careful.
He
sighed. He shook his head absently.
How do you explain?
"I
was raised to believe that defending the Sky was the highest honor.
I was raised to revere those that fought for Her, and to see the
city folk as enemy."
"And do you... believe?"
"No."
"But did... did your family drew you back
here."
"The Union brought me back here. Not my
family." Harper heard the bitterness in his own voice.
"But surely your family... Now that you are
back...
surely
they draw you back."
Harper shrugged. "Not really."
"But you want to do what's right... You
believe... You have to do what's right..."
Harper laughed. "I'm not that moral."
"What?"
"I'm selfish. Everything I do..." He shook
his head in disgust. "Everything. When I went on the first ship, it
was only partly because it was...
right.
The Sky Reverends
are a hateful bunch, and breaking away was the right thing to do,
yes. But mostly, I just wanted...
better
. I wanted a better
life for myself and my wife. Selfishness."
"Yes... yes, I see."
"It's why I do everything," he continued.
And then the words were tumbling out. "It's why I came back here,
too. They would have locked me up otherwise. But this way they'll
let Zara... they'll let my wife go on to Den, make a life there.
They'll take care of her. It's still not the
moral
decision... just the one that leads to... better. It doesn't matter
what I believe or what is right. Family be damned. Belief be
damned." He clenched his teeth and swallowed against the truth that
tightened his throat.
"You'll go back..."
"No. The Sky Reverends will never have me
again."
"But can you leave? Can you really?" The old
man leaned forward so that his limp hair dangled in strings from
his head over his face. His eyes bulged slightly. "They have not
yet destroyed all the ships. They are zealots, they won't rest.
They will try again. You will abandon them again?"
Harper recoiled.
Abandoner!
Abomination!
"I-I will have no part in it."
"They are your family."
"My wife is my family now."
"But the Sky Reverends are your
people.
"
"The Sky Reverends are Skylanders. So is
Zara. So am I. So are the city folk and the refugees on the ship. I
will defend
us
."
"Are you curious about what the Reverends
will do?"
"I am... anxious about it.."
"Surely you knew something of their plans
before you left?"
"I don't know anything about their plans.
Not anymore."
The chair maker shivered violently under the
thick blanket. "My wife... my wife was killed – burned! – I don't
want... I don't want that to happen t-to anyone..." Tears dripped
off his chin as his head shook. "I don't want them t-to do it
again. They c-cant..."
"I know. I know." Harper's lips moved
automatically. "I– know." But he did not know how to comfort the
old man.
"You are here to help, then? You are here to
spy on the Sky Reverends?"
Spy.
Harper cringed at the word. "No.
Well... not spy. Not exactly. But I am here to help."
"But then you
do
know
something
?"
"No. I don't. Only that they will try again.
And that is just logic."
"But–"
The old man went silent.
A voice came from the open door. "Are you
sure about that?"
Harper's head whipped around so fast his
neck cricked. He got to his feet and faced the tall, bearded figure
standing in the doorway.
So this is... "He." The man.
Harper's heart thudded in his chest. But
this time it was not fear that pushed the blood through his veins,
throbbing in his temples, pushing against his neck. It was anger.
He glared at the man in the doorway, his fists clenched at his
sides.
The man stared silently back.
"Yes, Eavesdropper?" Harper's voice came out
muffled through his clenched teeth. "What do you want?"
"If you have no further information, farmer,
you may go."
The man's lips barely moved when he talked.
The voice that came from between them was smooth. Calm. As if
nothing in this silent hall could worry it. Distinguished. As if
it'd been groomed to match the combed beard and ironed uniform.
Quiet. As if it didn't need volume to claim authority over a
room.
It infuriated Harper.
His throat was tight. Not from the cold this
time, but from the anger. His jaw clenched so hard it felt like it
would snap. But he choked out one word,
"Go?"
"Go back to your guide. You will have your
chance to help us, too."
"Back to my... So you tricked us," he said,
stating the obvious. "The open door, that was a trap.
Obviously."
No surprise could work its way past the
anger. Harper
couldn't
be surprised. He'd been wondering
when someone would step out. The rage at having his suspicions
confirmed, at looking the eavesdropper in the eye was hard to
contain.
He looked away, back at the chair maker. The
old man had drawn up his knees to his chest and was covering his
face with his old, knobbly hands.
Of course. He knew. Poor man.
Harper turned back to the bearded man "Well,
you tricked
me,
anyway
.
But why? I was already asked
about the Sky Reverends. I told you... well, I told that other guy
I would help. That's why I'm here. But no one's been too interested
in anything I have to say lately."
"On the contrary," the bearded man said. "We
are very interested."
"Well, you've got a funny way of showing
it."
"Go back to your guide, farmer," he said
again. "You will have your chance to help. You are not needed
here."
"You don't need me. You need a grandpa in a
freezer!" Harper's teeth ground against each other. His head shook
in angry disbelief. "You cowards! An
old man
. What do you
think you're–"
"Go back to your guide, Harper Fields."
"What do you think you're doing here!"
"Go back to your guide."
The bearded soldier stepped into the room.
Harper reflexively stepped away, circling around to the door, and
the man swiveled with him, keeping them face-to-face. The bearded
man took a step closer and put out a hand. With what seemed like no
effort he shoved Harper hard in the chest. Harper backpedaled a few
paces and barely managed to keep from falling. The soldier pushed
him again. Then again. Then Harper was out in the dark hallway.
Then the soldier stepped back into the
cell.
The obsidian door closed.
The almost seamless black wall faced out
again.
Harper pounded on the door, but there was no
noise from inside it. No motion. No answer. Nothing. He hung his
head in frustration.
There was nothing to do but turn around and
walk back down the hallway of cells.
This time, out in the open hallways, Harper
did not wander. He did not meander slowly through the halls,
looking here and there, exploring. He did not make a show of
looking casual. He did not look carefully around the corners before
turning them or eye the guards he passed.
This time, he walked with a purpose.
Almost running, his footsteps slapped
heavily against the floor.
A few moments later, he was back at the tiny
closet of a room he'd vacated that morning.
Wills was waiting there, slouched on the
bed, leaning against the wall, a book propped on his knees,
reading. The door was open, but only ajar. He'd taken to hiding
there in the mornings while Harper went wandering, rather than risk
running into superiors who might notice him.
Not that that would matter.
Harper realized this, and another wave of
anger rushed over him. He'd actually been
worried
about
Wills! He'd actually been worried that Wills would be the one in
serious trouble if Harper were found walking around the base alone.
Worried!
Wills looked up when Harper opened the door
the rest of the way. The familiar broad smile spread over the thin
face. Harper stopped in his tracks. He opened his mouth, but no
words came out. For a second he just stared.
You were part of the trap. You had to be.
You stupid idiot!
The last thought was hurled at himself.
Harper leaned against the door frame. He felt his face going red.
Anger boiled in him, but also shame.
How could you be so stupid?
Trusting a Union soldier!
His face was frozen. Anger and embarrassment
and disgust glued him in place as he stared at this betrayer. His
lips couldn't move to form the accusations he wanted to hurl at
Wills. And the soldier kept smiling, oblivious, staring around
blandly, bored. He stood up and stretched. Harper moved back to let
him step out into the hall.
"Hey. Good wanderings?" Wills asked, as he
did every day.
Before he knew what he was doing, Harper had
flung his hands out and shoved the skinny soldier hard in the
chest. Wills fell back, teetered for a moment. Harper pushed him
again, and he fell to the ground.
"Wha–"
"You set me up."
"No, what?"
"They
told
you to let me wander
around by myself, didn't they? They
wanted
to see what I
would do and they were watching. This whole time."
"Wh-what?"
"Not that I'm surprised of course.
Obviously. I'm just a dumb local and they need my information.
Really, really not surprised." He snorted and laughed, a completely
unamused grunt.
It was so obvious. Of course he was in on it. No
surprise at all.
But that was a lie.
Harper
was
surprised.
He'd been getting to like the young soldier,
thought he was a bit different. Curious. Interested. Open. That
didn't make sense, and Harper knew it. Wills was a soldier. He was
just doing a job. But for a few days Harper
almost
begun to
think of Wills as a friend. They were two friends, killing time,
sneaking around avoiding the authorities. He'd started to see Wills
as an equal, rather than a captor.
Harper shook the thought out of head.
He balled his hands into fists and pressed
them over his eyes and tried to keep himself from ramming them into
the stammering soldier, still sitting on the floor, making no move
to get up. His eyes were wide. And he stared up at Harper. Harper
turned away and shook his head. He ground his teeth in anger. He
couldn't even look at Wills.
For a silent moment, he tried to reign in
the anger and stamp down the disappointment. Then Wills's voice
broke the quiet.
"Who... what do you mean?" he asked.
Harper turned back and stared mutely at him.
Wills pushed against the floor, and got cautiously to his feet,
eyeing Harper. Harper stepped back, and shook his head again.
Friend or not, he wasn't going to fight.
Of course he was just doing what he was
told.
He threw the derisive thought silently about
in his mind like an insult. He looked away again because the sight
of that open, curious face that had betrayed him made the anger
rise dangerously close to the surface. But as he looked at the
black walls and met his own eyes in their reflections, a smaller
voice, less angry, whispered in his head.
But you were no better.
Harper closed his eyes for a moment,
avoiding his own gaze. Then he opened them again and looked Wills
straight in the eye.
"I just thought... I just thought we were
getting along. I thought you were being nice letting me wander
around like that. I just..."
He shook his head again.
Being nice?
It just sounded
so
stupid coming out of his mouth. Friends
with a soldier! And an invading one at that.
Harper pressed his fists into his eyes again
and waited. He waited for some sort of explanation, waited for an
admission, waited for an attack, waited for the laughter at the
joke of his foolish trust. He waited.
"Wh-what? What happened?" asked Wills.
"Don't be stupid." Harper lowered his fists
and glared.
"Look, I don't know what you're taking
about! We
were
getting along. What happened?"
"They were watching me." Harper laughed
again at his own stupidity. "Like you don't know. Like you don't...
When I was wandering the ship, they were watching me. I knew it. I
should have
known it. But–"
"Who? Who was watching you?"
"You know! You
told
me that I didn't
need a guard. That they told
you
I didn't need a guard."
"They told me you didn't need to be guarded,
but... But... I didn't... I don't know anything about..." Wills
stammered. "I
really
don't know what you're talking about.
Who was following you?"
"They told you to let me wander around
didn't they?"