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Chapter 13
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“Romance and love are luxuries most of us can’t afford. In a world where life and death struggles become every day phenomenon, most of us accept the lot we’re given. And even those who find others – those lucky, doomed souls – contend with the lies and deception that come secondhand to any adept Radical.” Radical Archive – excerpt from the Life as a Radical commentaries For the better part of a month Veronica managed to successfully avoid being alone in a room with Chad for any extended length of time. While the cozy nature of the underground facility lent its help at keeping other people in throwing distance most of the time, simple white lies or (as Veronica called them) “confidential protocols” helped keep Chad at a distance. She had to work alone – the “her eyes only” demands of the work required it! (Not that she could ever prove a lick of it.) In that month Veronica not only learned her way around the facility, but also began piecing together a regular schedule. While she rotated from group to group steadily, learning every facet of the cell’s structure, Veronica had a set of regular duties in what would become her own trade within six weeks of her arrival at Blithe Spirit. While most of the duties seemed very bottom of the totem pole, she felt thankful just to be able to work with what she knew best – technology. On this particular afternoon, Veronica found herself entrenched in one of the most mundane activities her department handles: Central Government communications surveillance. Sitting in the mess hall pouring her attention over four tablets spread across a table, Veronica could barely keep her eyes open. Most of the time intercepted communication provided nothing more than lunch menus at government buildings and personal video messages to spouses. Occasionally though, every one out of a couple hundred pieces of wireless communication yielded pieces of information they could use for strategic planning. Just the previous week she’d uncovered an encrypted message between two CJ Guild offices concerning weapons shipments. They took advantage of the information and successfully raided the shipment at the unloading point, taking away precious Central Government resources while bolstering their own weapons cache. Today didn’t seem to be as grand though. In the four hours she’d been looking at countless streams of information, the most exciting thing Veronica saw was a risqué video message between a random guy in the downtown area and his mistress planning some kind of lunch hour tryst. Veronica took a sip of the lukewarm coffee she’d been refilling all day. “You look about as bored as I feel,” Chad said from behind her. Startled, Veronica bolted up in her seat. “Oh! I didn’t realize anyone was in here. I figured everyone was out of the facility until this evening,” she said. “I called it a day early. New Chicago seems to be quiet today,” Chad said. “No doubt,” Veronica responded. “Where’s the rest of your team?” “I gave them the afternoon off. It’s a beautiful day out there, you should go out and enjoy some of it before it’s gone,” he said. “I still have another couple hours worth of work to get through before I can think of that,” Veronica said. She turned and acted as if she was reading correspondence on the tablets so she didn’t have to look him in the eyes. “So? You don’t always have to be perfect Veronica,” Chad said. “Come on, we’re going for fresh coffee.” He grabbed Veronica’s elbow and tried to guide her up from her seat. “Wait, what about Molly?” she asked. She’d been dreading this moment. “What about her? She’s working a double doing a stake-out with Todd. It’s something to do with upgrades to the Archives and the profiles they keep on everyone. If the new tech isn’t installed until tomorrow, I’m certain they’ll both still be sitting there tomorrow waiting for it,” Chad said. “So it’ll just be us then?” Veronica asked quietly. Chad smiled. “Is that a problem?” “No, of course not,” she said dismissively. “I just didn’t want to interfere with your dinner is all.” Veronica felt like everything she said came out wrong or stupid. “Come on, we’ll drop off these tablets in your room and head out top side.” Soon they found themselves in a quaint independent coffee shop a few blocks from the Blithe Spirit catching up on the ten years they’d spent apart. It was really the first time they were able to go into any depth on the subject since Molly tended to bounce from topic to topic like a Chihuahua after three cups of espresso. “I still can’t believe you blew the facility up. I remember the day we met,” Chad said. “I stared at you pretend-sleeping more than I care to admit.” Veronica laughed nervously. “Well at least you and Molly were able to escape. Whatever happened to Benjamin?” “He went back to the Texas territories to reconnect with what was left of his family. We parted ways within a year of escaping the facility, and haven’t heard from him since,” Chad said. “I hope he made it okay, now that I think about it.” “Well that doesn’t mean anything,” Veronica said. “I searched for you two for years after I made it out of the Seattle facility, and here you were the entire time, locked away in your home city.” “You searched for me?” Chad said. A sly smile slid across his already bright face. “For both of you,” Veronica replied. “So… you and Molly, huh?” Veronica needed to steer the conversation back to safe waters. “Yeah, we’ve dated on and off for a while. I guess we’re currently on…” Veronica raised an eyebrow. “Aren’t you two engaged?” “That’s Molly’s doing,” Chad said. “She got tired of me being hot and cold with her, so the last time we were in the hot phase, she cornered me and said we should stop playing around with our lives.” Veronica chuckled. “Sounds like you’re loving the engaged life,” she said. “Marriage is such a mainstream idea, you know?” Chad said. “It’s not like the Central Government would even recognize us, being Radicals and all.” “Isn’t marriage supposed to be more than just a list of benefits and privileges though?” Veronica asked. “I mean, when you get married to someone, it’s supposed to be because you love them and can’t imagine spending the rest of your life without them.” Chad paused, trying to form his next sentence carefully. “That’s why I’m hesitant.” Veronica’s eyes widened every-so-slightly at Chad’s admission. She didn’t know how to respond… hell, she didn’t know if she had any right knowing this information to begin with, let alone making some kind of response or judgment on it. “It’s alright, I know you two are friends, so you don’t have to say anything,” Chad finally said. Veronica smiled nervously. “Come on, we still have a little bit of daylight left. Let’s walk around a bit and find somewhere to grab dinner,” Chad said. Chad stood first and pulled Veronica’s chair out for her, assisting her despite her awkward resistance to chivalry. As they walked around the central commercial district downtown, they fell back into a comfortable conversation routine focusing mainly on the past. Veronica found that discussing things that have already come to pass made things immensely easier than thinking about the possibilities of what could be – especially with Chad discussing his waning interest in Molly. After a half hour of walking around, they finally settled on a small bistro with seating by open shutter-style windows. After being seated, they peered out into the sky watching the sunset through the New Chicago high rise. Discussion began veering back to their childhoods – and how Veronica knew she’d be a resistance fighter for as long as she could remember. Chad began painting a similar story. He looked out the window at the sunset and spoke from another place, almost as if he was seeing it through his waking eyes rather than remembering the details. “When I was little, my parents used to take me on road trips across the countryside every summer. I remember seeing the tourist traps, the roadside diners… everything you’re supposed to experience when you’re a kid seeing the world outside your hometown for the first time.” Chad shifted positions in his seat so he could see out the window better. “I’ll tell you though, the one thing I do remember more so than anything else is sunset.” Veronica wrinkled her nose. “Sunset?” she asked. “My biological mother would always let me sit in the front seat when he was driving. My other mother would be asleep in the back seat with my sister curled into a blanket, and we’d drive from sunset to sunrise in nearly complete silence listening to the radio. Had I been older, those times would’ve been the closest thing to a religious experience I could’ve had.” Chad stared out the window beside them, peering into the starless New Chicago sky. “I had this game I’d play. My mother would tune out well before sunset, focusing on the music and the road ahead. I’d start looking at the shadows on the ground in front of the car. I’d imagine the shadows were the scouts from an opposing army encroaching on my empire.” Veronica smiled. “That’s cute. Who was in your empire?” she asked. “The light was my empire. I know, it sounds stupid…” “Not at all,” she said. She unconsciously reached over and placed a hand on his knee. By the time she realized what she was doing, Veronica knew she couldn’t pull back without seeming even more awkward. Chad smiled at Veronica. “Well I belonged to the light empire, riding in our car. I’d imagine myself running in front of the car jumping over all of the foot soldiers, shadow after shadow, fighting their evil army. The darker it became outside, the harder it was to see the light and distinguish it from the shadows. It felt like my empire was disappearing before my eyes.” Veronica’s smile faded into a concerned look. “That’s an awfully morbid thought for a child,” she said. “Well my parents were pragmatists. They didn’t spare my feelings or cushion my childhood; they believed in telling me how the world really was. Every time the sun set on one of those trips, it reminded me of the world I was growing up into. I was the light fighting back against the coming darkness…” Veronica interrupted, “the Central Government.” “Exactly; for as long as I can remember, it has been and always will be the enemy. My parents knew I’d have to be strong if I was to survive, so I fought back against the night, willing it away. I stayed awake as long as I could, trying to make it to sunrise. I figured, if I could stay up all night and make it to sunrise, I’d beat back the dark armies and restore the empire. Sunrise would be my victory.” “Were you ever able to?” she asked softly. Chad turned from the window and looked into Veronica’s eyes. His glassy, fragile eyes seemed childlike… almost as if he was that same boy who fell asleep every night during the battle against the darkness. “Not once… ever. I always woke up sometime after sunrise. The defeat felt palpable.” “You were just a child Chad,” she said. She realized belatedly that Chad’s right hand now rested on the hand she’d placed on his knee a moment earlier. A warm tingling sensation shot up her spine and rested firmly on the nape of her neck. “I know, but it still felt like I failed. By midday I’d forget the entire charade… but the next time sunset arrived, I would try even harder to fight back. That’s why I do what I do now with the Radical resistance movement.” “You’re fighting back against the darkness,” she said. “With every fiber of my being,” he said. Chad’s watch transmitter began buzzing and vibrating, interrupting their conversation. “Sorry, I need to take this.” Veronica slid her hand away from Chad’s knee, suddenly coming to her senses. “Yes…yes. I’m out but I can be there within the hour. Yes sir.” Chad disconnected the transmission and looked up at Veronica. “That was Todd. He and Molly need assistance. I know it’s not your job, but could you come too? I don’t want to call anyone else in after giving them the evening off.” Veronica nodded. “No problem. What’s going on with them?” “The details are sketchy; he had to be brief. I know he needs me for look out and you for tech,” Chad said. “What kind of tech? Will I need anything?” Veronica asked. A sense of calm began returning as she shifted her focus to familiar ground. “I’m not sure. He said my person should be ready for anything from door entry to system hacking,” Chad said. “You up to the challenge or should I call Hal back in?” Veronica smirked. “Of course I’m up to it.” She pulled her shoulder bag up from the seat next to her and began rifling through it to be sure she had everything she’d need on hand. When she couldn’t find a couple of key items, she grimaced and looked up at Chad. “I need to swing by Blithe Spirit for a few things. Do we have the time?” “We have an hour to be in position, so we do if we hurry,” he said. They left dinner immediately, leaving behind enough for the bill as well as the interrupted conversation they’d both stumbled into unintentionally. Once back at headquarters, Chad and Veronica parted ways to get the necessary items they’d need for the evening’s mission. Veronica hurried to the cell’s control center – the hub of all things communication and technical in the underground labyrinth. With computer terminals covering every imaginable surface – from the walls to the island stations situated throughout the enormous room – the climate control always seemed to be pumping in cool air year round. It gave the room an oddly cool metallic smell Veronica would come to associate with home since she spent so many hours locked away looking at various monitors there. Since she knew where everything was she’d need, the task took no time at all. With her shoulder bag fully stocked, Veronica reversed course and went to find Chad. After nearly ten minutes of searching, she finally found him in Todd’s command office in one of the remote corners of the cell. “What are you doing in here?” she asked. “Todd asked me to bring him something,” Chad responded. “Are you ready?” Veronica asked. “Just give me one more moment, I’m waiting on this to finish loading.” He kept his eyes focused on Todd’s terminal screen, waiting on something to upload to a tablet he’d connected to it. “You have access to Todd’s drive?” Veronica asked curiously. “Well, for now. I’m certain he’ll change the encryption once he gets back in. He gave me the password information earlier. Why do you ask?” “He left his tablet for me to inspect when we first met, and I lied when he asked if it answered all my questions. It actually raised more questions at the time,” she said. “Why’s that?” Chad asked. “He has a shadow drive hiding something. At the time it seemed pretty straight forward, and then it seemed a little complicated when I thought he worked for the Central Government. Now though, I just don’t know.” Chad laughed. “I think you’re being paranoid. Even if he did have a…what was it? A shadow drive? “Yes, a shadow drive; it’s a second hidden drive running on a totally separate operating system running alongside the surface system. It’s almost undetectable.” “But you found it?” Chad asked skeptically. “I found pretty conclusive evidence of it,” she responded. “So what are you going to do about it then?” Chad asked. “We don’t have time for you to sit here digging through his terminal for answers to some paranoid delusion. We need to get out to the site.” “Just let me put something on the inside of his terminal, and we can go.” “I don’t know…” Veronica ignored Chad’s apprehension and dug her right hand into her shoulder bag looking for something. A relieved look came over her face once she found it. She pulled a small, pin-sized piece of electronics out of a small plastic sleeve. “What is that?” Chad asked. “A tracer key. It’ll record everything he does and transmit it to me anytime I connect to the key remotely,” Veronica said. “So I basically have remote access to his terminal as long as it’s active.” “I’m not sure you should…” Chad knew arguing would prove futile with Veronica. “If he has nothing to hide, then this is just for nothing. Okay?” She said. “Let me be curious.” “If he finds out about this we’ll both be kicked out,” Chad said. “Then I guess we’d better keep our mouths shut then, eh?” Veronica said. Rather than waiting on another disapproving reply, Veronica bent down, crawled under Todd’s desk and began fiddling with the terminal cover while Chad looked the other direction. “Not seeing it won’t mean you didn’t know it happened, Chad.” “I know, but I just don’t want to see it. It’s bad enough I know you’re doing it,” he said. “I’m sorry,” she said. “This has just been bugging me since I met him…and now I can get it out of the back of my head so I can focus on more important things.” Chad nodded. “Are you finished? We need to go.” Veronica stuck her head out from under the desk and looked across the room at Chad. He was looking in her direction now, but didn’t look happy. “Yeah, let’s head out. Where are we going?” “It’s an office building on the outskirts of the government offices district, near the weapons building we raided a few weeks ago,” Chad said. “Speaking of which, you’re armed, right?” Veronica stared silently, giving a silent yet direct response. “I’ll grab an extra blaster for you on the way out. Let’s head to the surface.” |
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The Radical Chronicles is Copyright © 2009 by Tim Peacock.
