The Lightcap (28 page)

Aria didn’t need to tell Adam, because as the words left her mouth there was a telltale double ping sound, then more such sounds, suggesting bullets were peppering the helicopter.  Adam then saw Blues at the door of the stairwell, their guns blazing at the chopper body.  Aria grabbed something that looked to Adam like a throttle and pulled it toward her.  The chopper shuddered and started to lift from the pad. 

Adam also saw movement from above.  The roof began to close against the cloudy streaks in the sky, the metal teeth of the skyscraper like those of a giant threatening to crush them.  Aria saw it too and yelled, “Hold on.”  She pulled back and to the left on the stick as her feet worked the pedals in the footwell.  The chopper pitched against the sky in the same direction and lifted higher, faster.  Adam thought he heard the sound of metal against metal, but the teeth of the roof rushed past their view.  They were free.

Aria pushed forward on the controls and took them southwest from New Metra City, issuing commands at Adam on the headset, providing him an impromptu lesson in basic navigation.  She took the chopper to what Adam assumed was its top speed. After twenty minutes of the noisiest silence he had ever experienced, Adam asked, “Where are we going?”

“D.C.”  She replied.  “I know a guy.”

“Who?”

She gave no response.

Adam wanted more information, but her stony gaze did not invite further inquiry.  He gave up and looked out the window, watching as several towns and cities of varying size passed underneath.  They didn’t speak again until Aria began to bark more orders at him to help her find a specific structure.  He recognized the District of Columbia from pictures, but several of its buildings were different from what he remembered.  Some were in a state of disrepair and some were fixed up, conveying a hodgepodge of modernity and dilapidation. 

As if reading his mind, Aria said, “Some of these places haven’t been touched in decades.  Government got out in a hurry, whole place turned into a ghost town for a bit.  But people came back.  We always come back.”

Adam could not believe the large steel fence and familiar façade, the semi-circle overhang surrounded and supported by a half-dozen stark bright columns.  It wasn’t until they’d passed over the building and he saw the large lawn that he knew.  Adam turned to Aria, though it wasn’t necessary since his voice passed through the mic to her headphones, and asked, “The White House?” He almost laughed at the absurdity of the situation.

Aria looked at him for an instant, then returned her attention to the craft, which she deftly landed on the South Lawn about ten meters from the stairs.  Several men rushed from the building to the chopper.  Adam was relieved to see they were unarmed.  Once the craft had settled, Aria flipped several switches and Adam felt the thrum of the engines start to pulse with less urgency, its frequency dropping with each beat of the rotors against air. 

Adam could not help gawking at the large house in his field of view.  It stood, austere and imposing, but also marked with the scars of battle.  The side to his right was charred, missing a large section of wall.

Aria shed her headset and got up.  Adam followed.  She stopped to kneel in front of Dej, who gave her a weak smile and mouthed the word, “Go.”  Sera sat unconscious beside him.  At least her eyes were closed, Adam noticed.  She looked peaceful, and color had begun to return to her cheeks.

Aria heaved against the door, which slid open with a grind and locked into position with a clunk.  A smiling man stood on the other side, tall and mischievous, two unhappier-looking men on either side beyond him.  Aria caught Adam off guard when she jumped into the man’s arms and cried, “Nemo!” The man stumbled but caught her after his back leg anchored him on the grass.  She hugged him for a long time, but eventually let go and looked to Adam, who waited uncomfortably.  Aria said, “This is my baby brother, Nemo Hines.”  She turned back to her brother and continued, “Nemo, this is Adam Redmon.  He’s clumsy sometimes, but he’s useful enough.”

Nemo grasped Adam's entire forearm, placing his own against it.  Adam felt obliged to reciprocate, and once he clasped Nemo's forearm, he found his own arm pumped with abandon.
 

“I am glad you could join us,” Nemo said. He looked at his sister inquisitively to ask, “Pavel?” Aria gently shook her head no.  

Adam said, “He didn’t make it.  He sacrificed himself to take down LaMont and save me and Sera.”  Nemo turned to look at Adam, who felt his face flush with shame for not carrying both Sera and Pavel to safety. 

“It’s fine,” Nemo said.  “I’m just glad you got Aria and Dej out safely.”  Adam wanted to tell him it had happened exactly the opposite way, that Aria had been the one to help them get out, but Nemo had already turned to her and continued.  “And how is Dej?  Let’s go get him and this Sera person.”  It seemed to Adam that Nemo had said Sera’s name with thinly veiled distrust, but he lifted himself into the helicopter before Adam had a chance to question it further.

Dej was in better shape than Sera, who was still unresponsive.  Aria helped him up, his left arm slung across her shoulder and neck, and they exited the passenger compartment.  Nemo moved toward Sera, and Adam helped him pick her up, thankful to have someone to help.  Nemo jumped down to the ground and took Sera from Adam so he could climb down to join them.  Adam then grabbed Sera’s unsupported side.  They walked together in silence, behind Dej and Aria, into the White House. 

The two other men took Dej and Sera to the infirmary, where a doctor would examine them, leaving Adam, Aria, and Nemo alone.  After several turns and a trip through a long hallway, they went through a door into an oddly shaped room. 

Adam had seen the Oval Office in pictures, and he now found himself standing in a similar room in shambles.  He remembered images of different desks, but folding chairs now sat in their place, cheap sheet metal resting on a blue carpet several feet away from an emblazoned eagle of Freedom.  The eagle was covered in dark stains that were the color of dried mud.  Four other men stood in the room.  No one made introductions.

Aria and Adam spent the next several hours briefing Nemo on their time in the Lightcap project.  Adam let Aria do most of the talking.  He wasn’t sure what he could add, given he barely remembered anything, and what he could recall was dream-like, disjointed, as if he had been an observer and not an active participant.  Adam recounted everything he remembered, but he left out the nightmares and events he still couldn’t discern as real or imagined. 

Adam tried to look interested while Aria spoke, but had difficulty stopping his mind from wandering.  Would Sera recover?  Had Troyka survived?  What about LaMont?  Jon had let them out of LaMont’s trap.  Would they be able to find him, or would he fade back into the shadows he had called his home for more than a dozen years?  What would happen to Adaptech and Metra Corp now that LaMont was gone?  A part of Adam was afraid to learn the answers to these questions.

A sudden awareness that silence had settled over the room interrupted Adam’s thoughts.  Two sets of eyes studied him, wide and expectant.  “I’m . . . I’m sorry, can you say that again?” he asked, his tongue stumbling on his words.

Adam was fairly certain Nemo rolled his eyes before he said, “I asked if you had anything else to add to what you and Aria have already said.”

“No.  Aria was pretty comprehensive,” Adam said, relieved the briefing appeared to be coming to an end.  Curt handshakes were given, and Nemo excused them.  Nemo and Aria left together, followed by the men who had stood silently by Nemo during their meeting.  Adam was left alone in the Oval Office, quiet and oppressive with its centuries of history.  He sat for what felt like hours, looking out the window and reflecting on the combination of luck, coincidence, and stubbornness that had got them to this point.  He was amazed they weren’t all dead.

The exhaustion of the day began to catch up with him, and Adam found himself nodding off as he gazed beyond the window.  He then mustered the strength to rise from the chair, fighting gravity itself, and walk out of the room, back through the hallways and up a set of stairs.  Adam found himself next to Sera’s bed in the infirmary.  She looked peaceful, as if she were dreaming pleasant dreams.  He pulled a chair next to her bed, sat there, and lay his head next to her hand.  He fell asleep within minutes.

Adam stood atop a large hill.  In the distance, he could see New Metra City, his home for most of his life.  The city was burning, large columns of smoke holding the sky above the foundation of the earth.  Adam was struck by the thought that he was responsible for this, that he was to blame.  Life there had been irrevocably changed, and it was his fault.  He was convinced cries of pain and anguish played against his ears, the almost-echoes of lost souls cursing him from afar.

Adam was startled by a high-pitched whine from behind him as two jets soared into his field of vision, headed toward the already decimated city.  Four small flashes were followed by larger ones as their delivered missiles crashed into the sides of several buildings.  Adam flinched against the bursts of light, his hand raising reflexively and his body turning to the side to shield himself from the terrible brightness.  The hot heat of the explosions pulsed against his body, his hair blown by the wind of their fury.  Adam turned to face the city and saw almost nothing left.  Acrid air, the rush and stench of death carried by the breeze, pushed against his face and up his hairline.

He awoke to the feeling of movement across his scalp.  Sera’s hand lightly brushed against his hair.  His head shot up to meet her eyes.  She yawned as if waking from a nap, then opened her eyes fully and looked directly at him. 

“Hello, Adam,” She said.  “I’m Sera.  It’s good to finally meet you.”

The months that followed were full of activity for many people in Washington.  Nemo, Dej, and Aria were constantly busy, either in meetings or working on special projects.  Sera and Adam were provided neighboring apartments in Georgetown, an area of Washington relatively untouched by past battles.  Their connected balconies overlooked the Potomac River.  They spent their days talking about their lives, discussing technology, philosophy, and the meaning of existence. 

Adam already felt an attraction toward Sera, but after spending the past several months with her, aiding in her recovery and listening to her mind and heart, he found himself thinking of her constantly.  She seemed to have feelings for him too, but Adam also understood Sera was on a long road to recovery. 

Sera had known who Adam was from the moment she awoke.  She told them that after several years she had learned to be an observer while wearing the Lightcap and remembered a great deal more than Adam did from his time under the control of the device.  This proved to be a source of both information and consternation, as Sera felt great self-loathing for the things she had done while under LaMont’s control.  She had begun seeing a therapist and making progress.

Adam made progress as well.  His focus had returned, and he could use a dome without issue.  Dej had an entire team of engineers and coders go through each piece of hardware and each line of code to assure Adam his dome was only functional for controlling other devices.  He couldn’t help but feel an intense distrust of the technology, even with the assurances of a team of people who specialized in reverse engineering and neuron interfaces.  Adam’s first attempt at using a dome again had ended in a panic attack, but now he could use it for hours at a time with little effort.

The events of his tenure at Adaptech and rescue from Metra Corp headquarters seemed from a different lifetime, more so with each passing day.  That’s why Adam was surprised to hear a knock on his front door one Saturday morning, and even more surprised when he opened his door to find Nemo, Aria, and Dej standing on the other side of it wearing worried expressions.  Nemo spoke first and asked, “May we come in?”

Adam stepped back and bowed slightly.  They all took his unspoken cue and entered.  Aria went to the balcony and retrieved Sera, who had been outside enjoying an iced tea and the warm day.  As Aria brought her into the room, Adam noted Sera looked as confused as he felt as she took a seat next to him.  Aria sat between Nemo and Dej, opposite Adam.  Both Aria and Nemo looked at Dej, who cleared his throat and spoke.  “So I know you guys haven’t been very involved in discussions about plans.  I don’t know how attached you’ve been to the news, but things in Metra Region are a complete mess right now. 

Adam and Sera shook their heads with helpless expressions to indicate their ignorance of current events.  It had been difficult for Adam, but he had put aside his addiction to information while focusing on his recovery.

“Rupert Calloway took LaMont’s place. He lasted about a month before being assassinated by a sniper while golfing at a private course.  His replacement, Liv Daley, has been in office for two months, but who knows how long she’ll last before someone takes her out.  The entire Region is in disarray.  Company stock value is the lowest it’s ever been and there have been a substantial number of voting shares traded in the system.  The votes will now be more consolidated than ever before.  Those in power are amassing even more, and the proles are restless.  To make matters worse, the Cascadia Region has gone dark.”