It would be perilous to go back. The odds were stacked against them, and they needed to make their escape. Always be prudent, he told himself. Don’t let your emotions rule the day.
“Get out of there,” Owen said. “If you backtrack three buildings and then head west off of Oak Boulevard you can distance yourselves from the main conflict. I can guide you back from there.” A twinge of guilt coursed through him as he said the words. They could be leaving Mehta to die.
Cecile and the rest of the group did as he suggested. Owen noticed Essentialist militia pointing rifles or crossbows at the retreating group from covered positions. They might have witnessed the butchery of the other Essentialists, but none of them were confident enough to actually pull the trigger.
The group made it to the next block carrying Talon’s slinking body, and then the next. No one followed. Why would they? The fighting was still raging a few blocks away. They had more pressing matters to attend to.
Owen guided them west again and finally back up the incline toward the building he was in.
He reckoned it would be best to meet them outside so they could make a quick getaway. He did one more scan of the battle before retiring from his perch. The Essentialists had advanced another two blocks in the last few minutes. The Spokes were abandoning many of their forward positions. On the eastern end of town, streams of infantry were pushing back toward the hill leading up to Skyline, forcing the Spokes into a full retreat.
For today, at least, the Spoke army had been repelled.
OVEREXTENDED
“The board has questioned the real estate purchases in Virginia,” Grant said, talking at his computer. “They saw a document citing over a hundred lots in Hot Springs and Mitchell Town. Putting them together, that’s over a billion dollars. They say it’s like we’re trying buy up the whole town.”
“No pulling one over on our esteemed board of directors,” Axel said sarcastically. “Tell them we have a lead on a quick flip to a large developer. We plan to sell the land as a package at a thirty-percent profit. Tell them public knowledge of the purchases would scupper the deal so we need to keep them under wraps through shell companies.”
Grant nodded and then unglued his eyes from his screen to look his way. “Is that where you’re planning to put the sanctuary?”
“Yes. Everything we need is there, and it’s sufficiently remote from major population centers. Core samples reveal that we should be able to drill deep. There’s also enough water, and even a source of geothermal energy if we need it. They have already begun work.”
Axel opened his computer and showed Grant pictures of the massive tunnels boring through the earth at the site. “They are working twenty-four hours a day, and will get a twenty-percent bonus if they meet deadlines.”
Grant frowned. “And when will that expense hit?”
“Yeah, it’ll be fun to explain that to the board. We should be able to mask the spend for a few months with some creative financing. I’ll send you the docs. Let’s see if you can push it out further.”
“Okay,” Grant said, scratching his temple. “Have you checked with the Sentinel Project on this?”
“Yes, in oracle mode. The site was actually one of the options it suggested.”
Grant nodded carefully. Neither of them entirely trusted the output of the Sentinel Project. It was always a leap of faith any time it churned out recommendations.
Grant pressed on his ear. “Axel, you’re getting a call from your wife.”
Being a thousand feet underground meant there was no cell signal. Calls had to be screened and routed via VOIP from the surface.
“Is she using the phone I gave her?”
“Yes, the device is verified and should be secure. Should I patch it through?”
“Yes, please.” Axel picked up his phone and began walking out of the room, but instead Grant put his hand up, picked up his laptop and left to give him privacy.
“Hi Pauline, how are you?” Axel asked.
“How do you think I am, Axel?” she yelled. Axel held the phone slightly away from his ear. “We’re stuck in some backward rural nowhere land. The kids are confused and scared. They miss their friends. They’re falling behind in school. We’re just great, actually.”
“I’m sorry about this. It’s just too dangerous out there right now. You have to trust me.”
“Axel, to be honest, I’m only doing this for the kids, so they don’t realize their father has gone mad. It’s been weeks now. You keep saying it’s dangerous, but every news channel, everyone you meet, every internet site tells me things are fine here in the US.”
“We’ve spoken about this,” Axel said calmly. “Everything is being controlled. It’s all fake—”
“It’s this computer program, I know, you’ve told me. But Axel, I just don’t believe you anymore. It’s doesn’t make sense, and I don’t want to hear your excuses.”
He had tried every argument, backward and forward. There was no new angle, no new information that would change her mind.
Pauline’s tone became quieter, more earnest. “I just want to know, when can I take the kids back to Long Island?”
The answer was never, of course. But if he told her that, she might do something rash, like run away with the kids. She’d already told him she was leaving him, so it was probably already on her mind. She might even report him to the authorities, which could alert Gail to him being a risk.
“I’m sorry, Pauline, but I’m not sure when we can go to Long Island,” Axel said. “There’s a new place we’re building, a safe place. You should be able to go there with the kids in a few weeks. When everything is better again, we can go back to Long Island.” He gritted his teeth after the lie.
“A few weeks!” she yelled into the phone. Then her tone became more docile, calmer. “Axel, please, you need help. You’re imagining things, hallucinations, or something. Maybe it’s this job. Maybe it triggered something in you. It might be PTSD. Have you seen a therapist, like I asked?”
“No, not yet.”
“I need to know you’re getting help, and right away. When will you get help?”
Axel paused. He was losing her. He needed to do something to appease her, at least for a while. “You’re right. I’ll see someone soon, this week.”
“Thank you, Axel,” Pauline said, sounding somewhat relieved. “I… I just don’t know how much longer I can do this.”
“Thank you for understanding Pauline. Please believe in me. I’m doing this for you and the kids. I really am.”
There was silence for a while, some deliberation on her behalf.
“I love you,” Axel said.
“Bye Axel,” she said and hung up the phone.
It stung to not hear her reciprocate. The love was gone, suffocated by the oppressive threat of Gail, by a threat too difficult for Pauline to imagine.
For most of his adult life, Axel had been focused on defending his country or neutralizing global threats. It was why he got up in the morning, his reason for being. But it was in the faces of his wife and children that these threats held the most meaning. In every life he saved, he could see their faces, some physical similarity, or some subtle quality that reminded him of them. They were the pillars of his resolve, because they showed him what he stood to lose.
And now it seemed as if one of those pillars was crumbling. Pauline was distancing herself, severing her connection.
He walked over to the door slowly, as if his feet were manacled. Grant was immediately outside, busy punching away on his laptop computer keys in the corridor. “Thanks Grant. You can come in now.”