The Lightcap (29 page)

“Dark?” Adam asked.

Dej looked at Nemo, who responded to Adam’s question. 

“Almost two weeks ago, our western outposts noticed there were no signals coming out of Cascadia.  No public broadcasts, no mesh traffic, nothing.  We’re not sure if there has been some kind of catastrophe, maybe a natural disaster or coup, since their borders have been closed.  We’ve also found evidence to suggest Jonathan Bays is in the Cascadia Region.  We’re not sure if he was there when he helped you escape the trap in Metra Corp headquarters, but we strongly suspect he’s there now, possibly in Seattle or Portland.  We also think he may know about or be involved with the production and distribution of Cloud.  Of course, we don’t have any way to reach him, so we’ve been working out the logistics of sending a team to Cascadia.”

Adam looked at Nemo, then Aria.  He said, “I want to go.  I’m assuming Aria is leading the team?”

Aria shook her head.  “No, but I’ll be going,” She said.  “Nemo has put together a group, called Project Shadowcloud, and has someone who will be leading the team.  We want you to join us.  We still haven’t decided if we should give you a weapon, but we definitely could use your smarts.  We’re leaving two weeks from Monday.”

The meeting ended shortly after, with instructions given on where to be and what to bring on the day of departure.  Adam and Sera sat in silence for several minutes after the others left, until she finally got up and walked to the balcony.  Adam followed.  She stood and looked out across the river, her hair blown back by a breeze.  Eventually, she said, “I’m coming too.  It’s better than sitting here and wasting away.  No offense.  I love our conversations and the peacefulness here, but I feel I’m doing nothing while the closest things I have to friends are out doing important work trying to make a difference.  I’d rather do that than stay here, even though I know I’m still not healed.”  She looked at him searchingly.  “I can be useful, right?”

Adam didn’t say anything for several seconds.  He had never seen her so vulnerable.  At the same time, he knew she would not be dissuaded.  Finally, he said, “You’re right, of course.  I want you to come.  We could use you.  And even though it’s selfish, I don’t want to be away from you.”  As Adam said these last words, he slipped his hand into hers.  Sera looked at him and blushed, but squeezed his hand in response.  He had been afraid she would recoil.

Adam experienced a moment of panic as the look on her face changed to frustration and pain.  Before he could ask her what was wrong, she said, “Adam, look.”

Adam followed Sera’s gaze out across the Potomac and beyond to see several floating ad zeps dotting the skies.  Adam had long before learned to ignore them, and he could even imagine them missing when looking at a particularly beautiful sunset or blue sky.  This time, however, the usual flashing ads on hundred-meter long screens had been replaced by a black background and large, capital block letters in a sharp green.  Adam gasped as he read the words:

TROYKA LIVES

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Dan Marshall resides in Portland, OR, with his girlfriend, Great Dane/Dachshund mix dog, and two long-haired black cats.  This is his first novel.

For more information, visit IAmDanMarshall.com.

NOTE FROM THE AUTHOR

Thank you for reading this book. I hope you enjoyed it. Please consider leaving a review on Amazon, Goodreads, or the review site of your choice. As a self-published and new author, I have no marketing department or professional assistance, so your feedback helps immensely. I enjoyed writing this book and hope to have more available soon, including a sequel to
The Lightcap
. I hope you find this story enjoyable enough to keep up with the doings of Adam Redmon and company. The next book will have a much broader scope and will show more of the other three Regions that make up the former United States.

Every effort was made to produce a work free of spelling, grammatical, and continuity errors. That said, there are 60,000+ words in this book, so it's possible some mistakes made it through the editing process. If you find any errors, please email me ([email protected]) and let me know. Thank you again for reading!

Woman in Lightcap
, by Robert Peate