The Radical Chronicles

Chapter 22

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“Most of that night is a blur. I had one thought that stayed with me though, even years later. Why? I suppose the answer lies in what happened after that evening. Even knowing what we know now, we couldn’t have predicted what would come next.”

Radical Archive – excerpt from Veronica Quibs personal commentaries on the history of the Blithe Spirit

“Have you made up your mind yet?” Todd asked. He drummed his fingers on the desk at his train car office awaiting an answer.

Veronica looked at him from across the train car, still shaken from something she couldn’t quite recall. “What?”

“Come sit down, we’ll have a nice chat.”

“Thanks, but I think I’ll just take a seat and wait for the train to leave the station,” Veronica nodded politely and looked around for an empty seat. To the right, she saw one empty window seat. In the aisle seat next to it, a passenger seemed to be busy reading some kind of communication or story on a small tablet.

“You’ll have to make a decision sooner or later, or one will be made for you Veronica,” Todd said.

“I doubt that’s the case. Don’t you have friends to betray?” Veronica sneered as she passed Todd’s desk en route to the empty seat in the middle of the train car. “Is that seat taken?”

Lorelei looked up from the tablet. “Oh hey there! Nope, it’s all yours.”

Veronica waited as Lorelei moved her legs to the side, and then she inched her way over to the window seat. The fact that she was sitting by the window on the train yet again didn’t escape her notice. Veronica had little time to dwell on it though as conversation began almost immediately.

“Lovely evening for a train ride, don’t you think?” Lorelei said.

Veronica cocked her head sideways. “It’s blustery and wet out there and threatening to pour. How is that lovely?”

“Reminds me of home.”

“England?” Veronica asked.

“No silly,” Lorelei said with the wave of a hand dismissing Veronica’s comment. “I was just born there, remember?”

Veronica shrugged her shoulders. “Whatever.” She turned and looked out the window. “Why are you even on this train anyway?”

“Todd asked me to join him,” she said.

“I know. He’s always asking you to join him,” Veronica said. “He always asks me now, too.”

“It’s all going to be okay,” Lorelei said soothingly. She placed her hand on Veronica’s.

Veronica looked up from the window, not quite catching what she said. As she turned her head, she opened her eyes and found Chad staring down at her. “Can you hear me?” he asked.

“What?” Veronica’s vision felt strained.

“You passed out mid-rescue.”

“You’re okay?” she asked.

“Thanks to those two,” he said pointing behind him.

“Hey there,” Lorelei said.

“We couldn’t leave you two behind,” Molly said. “I can’t leave the fate of my fiancée in your injured arms, after all.” She chuckled lightly.

Veronica could hear the hesitation in her voice. Had they talked? What day was it anyway? Nothing made sense. It seemed like she’d been on this mission for weeks rather than hours. “We need to get out of here.”

“We’re already on it. We cleared a path to the door we entered through. Lorelei is going to help carry you while Chad and I cover you two,” Molly said.

“Can you stand up?” Chad asked. He held out his hand to Veronica.

Veronica took his hand and slowly stood up, waiting on the room to stop spinning. “How long was I out?”

“Just a couple of minutes once the seizure passed,” Chad said. “We need to get you back to Blithe Spirit. You need some serious medical attention immediately.” He propped Veronica onto Lorelei’s shoulder and they began the slow journey out of the room and down the hallway toward the open area just inside the building entrance.

“Shh, try to be quiet,” Molly said from the front. “They’re bound to have more people on the way.”

Veronica could feel her eyes getting heavy again, but she refused to pass out. She moved sluggishly along, trying not to make too much noise. They reached the dock area and pushed one-by-one through the small door they’d entered through earlier. Everything appeared quiet and safe for the group, so they continued out through the open darkness toward the exit door.

Even in her delusional mindset, Veronica sensed something wasn’t adding up. “Stop,” she whispered. “Something’s wrong.”

“We have to keep moving Veronica,” Lorelei said. “Come on.”

“No, wait.” Veronica struggled to form cogent thoughts. “It’s too easy.” She couldn’t push the words out of her mouth that dangled around her frazzled brain.

“Come on, we have to get out now,” Chad said. “Keep moving Molly.”

“This isn’t right,” Veronica said aloud. “Not right.”

“Hush!” Lorelei jiggled Veronica slightly, trying to get her to calm down. “We’ll be in the sewers in just a few minutes. Then you can rant all you want.”

As they reached the outer door, the group paused to position themselves for an onslaught. Chad nodded, Molly kicked the door open, and they both aimed their assault blasters into the alley. A cold, damp silence stared back at them.

“Could be a trap,” Molly said.

“We have to go regardless; it’s the only way out.” Chad poked his head out into the alley and looked both directions. “It’s clear, come on.”

They began moving again toward the building’s rear. Molly and Lorelei found a sewer entrance there on their first trip outside, and made their way back after loosening the manhole cover. A quick trip down the alley placed them safely above that same cover once more – now pried out from their earlier visit awaiting an easy entry. Behind them, footsteps echoed from the alley mere paces away.

“They’re here,” Chad said. “Veronica, Lorelei, get down there. Molly and I will cover you.” He didn’t wait for a response. He rushed up to the side of the building, blaster drawn, and began firing steady rounds of energy blasts down the alley. The darkness dissipated as return fire further illuminated the passageway.

Molly held the manhole cover open as Lorelei helped Veronica down. Once she made it to the bottom of the ladder, Veronica looked up at Lorelei beginning her descent. That was about the time blasts began coming down from the roof, hitting the ground around the manhole.

“They’re sniping us from the roof!” Molly yelled. She held the bulky manhole cover over her head using every ounce of energy she could muster. “Get over here Chad!”

“Are they down?” he yelled back.

“Far enough to close it off, yeah.”

“Lock it down, we’ll find another way down. We’ll never all make it if we try to get down there now.”

Molly nodded. She looked down into the sewer and shouted. “We’re taking another route. Be safe. We’ll meet you soon.” She flung the manhole cover over the hole and fired three shots in rapid succession to begin melting the manhole cover into the road. It would give Lorelei and Veronica time to escape.

“I guess that means it’s just us,” Lorelei said. “How are you holding up?”

“Better now that I got some air…up there, that is.” She tried to smile, but the pain pulsing through her body like a heartbeat wouldn’t have any of it.

“Come on, time to get moving.” She pulled Veronica’s right arm over her shoulder and began walking again.

Some time later, after walking through endless tunnels and turns, they took a much-needed rest break. Unsure of where they were along the tunnel system in relation to the surface, Lorelei had to climb a ladder to perform a quick inspection while Veronica sat leaning against the grimy wall.

“I’m sorry you got dragged into this,” Veronica said. “Your first day out is supposed to be boring and educational.”

“No worries, I’m dealing just fine!” Lorelei beamed back.

“I’ve been dreaming about you, by the way,” Veronica interjected. “Not like that, though.” She laughed, heartily this time.

“How so?”

“It’s hard to explain. We’re all on a train together, and you’re sitting at Todd’s desk refusing his offer to join Blithe Spirit.”

“Sounds weird.”

“Where did you grow up?” Veronica asked, recalling the conversation from her dream.

“Well I was born across the pond, as you know. I moved here when I was extremely young, and was raised on Cali Island. My parents thought it was the best way to keep me hidden from the Central Government.”

“So you’ve never been inoculated then? At all?”

“As natural born as they come,” she said with a smile. “I take it you’re part of the immune-class Radicals then.”

“You don’t know the half of it,” Veronica said. “They’ve tried so hard to make me one of them you’d think I was a patient zero of some kind.”

“What do you mean?” She paused to lift the manhole cover an inch, looked out, and then immediately closed it again. “We’re on the right path, but still quite a ways away.”

“I was actually naturally born like you. But I was one of the Seattle Project kids. They pumped me so full of chemicals it’s a wonder I’m standing…well, sitting here today.”

“Did they work?” Lorelei asked.

“Not at all. I was immune to everything. They tried a combination of nature and nurture though. They figured covering both fronts would double their chances of success. While they fed us chemicals, they put us through rigorous gender training on how to behave in normal society.”

“That sounds barbaric.”

“It was…right up until I blew the place to bits.” Veronica smiled at the memory. “What about you? What’s your story?”

“Nothing much to tell in comparison to you. I grew up on Cali Island with my family until I hit my teens. Once I figured out I like other girls instead of boys, I happily informed my folks. They were the Radical activists that wanted a child free of government intervention, after all.” Lorelei’s face seemed darker to Veronica.

“What happened?”

“They threw me out. They said they didn’t go to all the trouble of eluding the government for a normal child just to have me be a lesbian.” Tears began forming in the corners of her eyes. “I just wanted them to love me. Damn it, I’m not going to cry over this.”

“I’m so sorry,” Veronica said.

“I’m fine. It’s been a while since that happened. After seeing most of the west coast, I decided to strike out as far as I could go with no resources, and here I landed.”

“New Chicago?”

“Exactly.”

“But you turned down Todd initially, right?”

Lorelei nodded. “Right; I accepted a position with another cell on the south side of the city.”

“Please let me know if I’m stepping out of line, but what made you leave them?”

“Oh no, it’s fine. I just didn’t see eye to eye with the cell leader is all. It was all political and philosophical differences.”

“That’s not exciting in the least bit,” Veronica said sarcastically. “You have to have something that’s at least a little scandalous to share!”

“I suppose I could tell you about the time Ruby and I met.”

Veronica leaned forward. “Now we’re talking…”

“Well you already know she and I met in a bar,” Lorelei said. “She was the one who convinced me to come see Blithe Spirit. My first time here was a little incognito.”

“She snuck you in!” Veronica said.

“Yeah, so the big reveal with Todd wasn’t so surprising when I walked in,” she said sheepishly. “Ruby made me promise to act dumbfounded and to take forever walking through the door though.”

“Sounds like Ruby. Well, except for the whole rule-breaking part.” Veronica laughed.

“She was drunk, I was lonely from living here and not knowing too many people…it felt like we were meant to meet that night. Like it was fate.”

“I can relate to that feeling,” Veronica said. Images of Chad in a bed near hers flashed through her head.

“You rested up enough to continue on? We have quite a ways to go yet,” Lorelei said.

“I suppose.” She pointed to her shoulder bag a few paces away. “Could you grab that for me? I didn’t even realize I took it off. I can’t let it get wet.”

“Tablet inside?”

Veronica nodded in affirmation. “It has important information on it too.”

“What information is that?” Lorelei asked.

“I don’t know the details, but it looks like more is going on than just a network installation. I’ll read up on it when I’ve recuperated a little back home.”

“Well you’ll have to keep me in the loop when you read it,” Lorelei said. “Consider it payment for saving your butt tonight.”

“I’ll think about it,” Veronica said.

Veronica pulled the shoulder strap from her bag around her neck and uninjured shoulder, and resumed her position draped over Lorelei. They began walking again, hoping they’d reach Blithe Spirit before dawn.

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