Torchworld: Akha (4 page)

"You're too hard, Aquila. Cold like ice."

What Serena meant by that, I didn't know at the time. I gave her everything she could ever ask for. It seems like I always figured it out too late, what she really needed from me. My best friend turned into worst enemy. Julius Caesar probably trusted Gaius before he got a knife in the back, though. Months later, I fell for the same type of girl. This one was young though, and how could a child betray me? I gave her everything and got a kick in the teeth. I won't make the same mistake again.

Jane did have a point though. I needed to get my shit together. Stop sulking and find out where Lilith and Kharl were going before they gave away everything I had to the Akha. I'd thought of moving the compound, but it'd take weeks. Too long, to late. My best bet was to find them and stop whatever stupid plan Kharl had planted in her head.

Tablet in hand, I ducked back outside. It was getting dark, and everyone had moved on to the mess hall. I could see the lights and shapes moving around through the windows, across the yard. I looked up at the pallid sky and saw the moon rising. How far had Lilith gone? I assume they'd need shelter and supplies eventually. She wouldn't go back to the city, so Opalesk was out. My guess is that Kharl has some bone to pick as well, more specific than mine. I know the Akha are up to something but what, I have no idea. Kharl would know more than me. I'll ask around the new recruits for updates. As I approached the hall, a couple of teenage boys burst out the door, laughing and shoving each other.

"I told you Jane was too old for him." The other shook his head.

"I think she was too obvious. Man like that doesn't like that type of woman."

I winced and snarled. Evidently they couldn't see me in the darkness of the courtyard. They pulled out some joints and began to smoke, the wispy clouds drifting over the courtyard. Hemp. Easy enough to find around here, it grew rampant. I stopped in front of them and cleared my throat.

One noticed me before the other, he had his back turned to me. His eyes widened and he saluted me, nearly hitting his friend in the face. He ducked back and cried out while the other pointed over his should. He whirled around and fell over his feet to stand at attention.

"Recruits."

"Hail, Leader."

"What brings you outside on this fine evening, gentleman?"

The first kid eyed his friend with caution. "Just having a smoke, sir."

"And gossipping. You know how I feel about that, don't you?"

"Yes sir. Apologies, sir."

I gave him a stern look and gestured at the doors. "Back inside, I need to talk to the group."

I watched them both stub out the cigarettes and hurry inside. A deep breath steadied my nerves for the inevitable stares, and with that, I pushed open the double doors. At least these ones couldn't get stuck. Just plain old fashioned swing doors.

The harried return of the two boys had warned the group of my presence, as everyone was already looking at me. Saves me time. The mess hall could get very noisy. Personally, I preferred eating in my own bunker, but one had to make an appearance now and then. Tonight, it was graveyard quiet. The rumours were true, they had noticed my absence. I wondered what other points they'd noticed, but that could wait. The ranked Outsiders sat at the back of the room, watching me with great curiosity. The new recruits were closer to the front, with the few children we had.

"Well then. I suppose you've noted my recent detachment. As you are no doubt aware, Outsider Lilith has absconded with a recent recruit, taking with her, our only form of long distance transport." The crowd murmured during my pause. "This in itself is not the issue. I believe she has been compromised by the new recruit. His name is Kharl, he was a high ranking Commander in Mil-Sec. In fact, he was the District Commander. Ego Phoenix was his only superior." Gasps emerged, and they began to clamour. I held my hands up for silence. "I need to know anything you may have heard about him, to better track down our fellow Outsider."

I scanned the room, looking for any sign of interest. The new recruits glanced at each other, shaking heads.

"I know a couple of you were in Mil-Sec. Some as recently as last week. You must know something useful."

One young soldier raised his hand. "I worked under him for a short time, Sir."

"And?"

"He's a good man sir," he said, looking around for support. "I heard that he came across something bad, and was gonna spill it, so the Akha tried to make his unit disappear."

Something bad? That was vague, but it was a thread I could follow. Without further comment, I walked back outside, running through the yard to my bunker.

For a moment I looked back over my shoulder into the black night, wondering where Lilith was.

"I picked them up near Cinisesk. Actually, I picked them up when they flew past Opalesk, but I wasn't really worried until they didn't try to re-enter, which is what I thought they might do. It would be logical to assume Kharl would want revenge on Ego, but they've instead stayed just outside range." Serena paced in front of the holo-projected map. "I honestly have no idea what they're thinking."

Alere rapped the table with his cane, snarling as it passed right through. "If it were me, and I didn't trust you people, and I don't, I'd want to hole up somewhere with supplies and shelter until I could gather resources."

"I agree," I replied, "But that is a vague plan." I shuffled my feet, staring at the wooden floor for a moment. "People don't just run off like that, not now. There must be more to it than just revenge."

Alere was contemplating the map around Cinisesk. "You'd be surprised at how far natural curiosity gets you."

Serena raised a hand for attention. She'd been so quiet I'd almost forgotten her presence. "I disagree. Curiosity is one thing, but abandoning civilization is a serious endeavour."

"There are a few places they could hole up, around there, that I know of." Alere marked a few points around Cinisesk. One was deep in the mountains, tucked away in a dense forest. A few natural cave systems, which would take weeks to explore. But they'd be a pain to settle in, and I doubt an ex-soldier would be that stupid as to hamstring himself on purpose, just for a mild defense advantage."

"I was thinking the same. Look for artificial structures, in a 200km radius around Cinisesk."

Serena stared into space for a few seconds, filtering results in her own head. She waved her hand and a list of coordinates came up. "There's not much. I excluded the dozen or so utility buildings the Akha have scattered around. They're all under surveillance, Kharl would know this." She brought up a map of the remaining three results. "But these three, one was a grandfathered site, kept through the Restore by Alere's request. It doesn't have any real resources though, so we'll skip that one."

I glanced at Alere, who remained strangely silent.

Serena pointed to another. "This one, it's a known meeting place for wall jumpers. Or it was, until Aquila came along and moved them to a central location, closer to Opalesk. No human activity detected since then."

I gestured to the last one, a clearing in the forest. Serena nodded, bringing up a live picture. "I had a drone check this place out. It was, from my understanding, Aquila's practice run for a base. Before he left Opalesk, he'd been sneaking equipment out here. He then moved, abandoning the structure to the elements. It's still functional though, with an independent power source and water access."

I folded my arms and straightened up. "I'm impressed. He's not quite as crazy as I thought."

Serena's arms dropped to her sides, and the colour drained from her face. "Don't underestimate what he'll do for his beliefs, Alastair."

Alere moved his arm around Serena's waist, pulling her close. She leaned her head on his shoulder. He smiled and gazed down at her, then back to me.

"We learnt that the hard way, but you don't have to."

"I'm hoping so, yes."

"Aquila is a very stubborn man. He's convinced that the Akha are keeping something from humans, which is true, in a certain respect. But he doesn't know it's for their own good." Serena looked uncomfortable, wringing her delicate hands. In spite of my natural confusion of human affection, I felt the need to hug her. I couldn't, of course. She didn't have a corporeal form anymore.

"Who do we go after first, then? Lilith is an unknown factor. I don't feel comfortable letting her roam around, but I'm not sure she' immediately dangerous. I do want her in custody though. Aquila is far more volatile though, and needs to be taken out. Kharl, he seems like the more cautious sort."

Alere's face lit up. "You don't have to choose. Wait until Aquila goes after Lilith. He will, I know it. Just like he came after Serena. He can't let it go, it's not like him."

Serena was shuffling through a few pages of streaming data, too many for me to read. She let out a quiet sigh, and started wringing her hands again. I was starting to worry about the effect Aquila had on her.

"He's already moved to do so."

I saw a camera from an Opalesk patrol drone replay the small ground vehicle whizz past. He must be desperate, it's going to take him awhile to catch up, assuming he even knows where they're going."

Raucous laughter erupted from Alere. "That man doesn't make a damn peanut butter sandwich without planning it first. He knows where he's going. Aquila figured the same thing we did."

My neck tensed. "I can't let them meet, that's for sure. Serena, does the site still have any remote Core access?"

She nodded. "Some basic functionality. Give me awhile, I can get it working again. I'll have to send a repair drone. Hopefully it'll be done before any of them get there."

Alere frowned. "I'm coming too."

Serena shook her head, curly hair bouncing around her face. "The last time you met Aquila, he tried to blow you up."

"I'm not letting him terrorize you again! I'll stay in command mode, if it makes you feel better."

She sighed and rolled her eyes. "Not much, but I don't have a say in this do I?"

I shrugged at her. I didn't know Alere well enough to command him against his wishes, and preferred not to, in the first place. He'd most likely disobey anyway, being a former Guideflame made him answerable to nobody.

"Alere, go ahead and scout. And by scout, I mean keep your head down. Help lay a path for your wife, as you do have a better access anyway." Before he dissipated, I held my hand up. "Wait. If you see Lilith and Kharl, report back immediately. No contact."

The old man nodded, and disappeared with a sly grin on his face. I'm sure he'll do more than scout, but what can I do to stop him? Serena glanced at the spot he'd stood in, then turned back to her work.

"I, on the other hand, will have to jump around the Core until you open up access."

Serena gave me a sidelong look. "I already have. It won't be a smooth landing, but that's what you get when I'm rushed."

Grinning, I stood still as she prepared to reintegrate me.

Her narrow shoulders dropped. "Ok, you'll land around the perimeter gates. Probably."

"Probably?"

"Hopefully?" Serena smiled, and I felt myself being pulled back into the Core layer. Everything went a blinding white for a few seconds, and then blurred colours appeared. I prepared myself to land on my feet, and nearly succeeded, if it wasn't for the narrow wall top I appeared on.

"Aaaah!"

I wobbled and fell backward, landing on the hard dirt underneath. I coughed as dust clouds rose around me. Stealthy.

Serena's face popped into my head. "Er, sorry. I did say 'around' the gate. It should be nearby."

"I landed on the wall and fell off."

"I saw," Serena replied with a giggle.

"It hurt."

"Rapid deceleration will do that."

My uniform was smeared with dust from collar to feet. I made a vain attempt at removing it with my hands, to no avail. At least I would blend in with the landscape, as everything was covered in a thick layer of clay dust. Serena had mentioned the area was prone to dust storms - something to look out for.

"Where is Alere?"

"I have no idea. Poking around where he shouldn't be, I'm guessing. He's gone into holoform, though."

I growled under my breath. I'm not sure the former Guideflame knew the meaning of subtlety. Being a Guideflame, he had more access to the ground network than any of us. It was rare that tower guides like myself actually went outside before our client arrived. It was Thea's responsibility to find my girl and bring her to the tower; I hadn't heard anything from her yet. If she was anything like her grandfather, I'd better get used to being disobeyed.

The gates slid open at my approach, with less noise than I'd expected. Serena's drone must have touched it up on the way in. The courtyard inside was a flat expanse of dusty concrete, tinted an odd orange-pink from years of elemental assault. Four walls rose up around the solitary building in the centre. It was small and plain, concrete like everything else. The only point of interest was the tall aerial tower planted on top. In the distance, I could hear the hum of a flying vehicle. Kharl and Lilith must have been right behind us. I scanned the yard for a place to hide, but there was nothing.

Serena's face popped into my mind.

"The hut it just a surface entrance. It should be unlocked, that's what my husband says. Quickly, run!"

I bolted to the hut and banged on the metal doors. The thumping sound echoed behind it and it started to creak open with a loud squeal. I don't think I've ever seen a door open so slowly in my life. It stopped halfway and I glanced behind me to see the Mercury kicking up a cloud of dust, less than a kilometre away. They couldn't see me yet, I hoped. Grabbing the door, I wrenched it up another half metre and ducked underneath it.

"Close it, close it!" I yelled, and it slammed back down. I heard the Mercury touch down outside a minute later. The sound of boots hitting the ground, once, twice. Crackling gravel scattered over the courtyard crunched underfoot. Someone approached the door, heavy foot steps.