Sky of Dust: The Last Weapon (13 page)

The halls barely had enough room for two normal size
d
people to walk side by side.

Everything was made of shiny metal
,
and the lights were a bright blue. In a way
,
it made me feel cleaner.

My pace was fast compared to my dad’s leisurely stroll. His legs were so long. It made me wonder if I would be as big as him one day. It did not seem like I would.

“
Let’s stop and grab you some clothes
,
”
m
y dad said.
“
After that
,
we can head to my place and catch up over dinner.
”

My stomach made a sucking noise at the word
“
dinner
.
”

My dad turned his head and smiled.

“
The food here is amazing
,
”
h
e said, trying to make small talk.

“
I heard
,
”
I replied.

“
When I first came here,
”
Dad began,
“
I was overwhelmed by the size of this place. Even after being in the Guards and seeing bases across the
E
ast
, t
his place is massive.
”

“
This is a base?
”
I asked.

“
This is a base, research center,
residence
, and shops. It is pretty much a city. It is a city
actually
,
”
m
y dad responded.
“
It is a permanent work in progress. When the US fled here
,
they began to build this base. About ninety percent is underground. Above ground are mostly civilian families.
”

We turned the corner and exited into a huge shopping area. There were hundreds of shops and booths
selling everything from clothing to electronic equipment
. Food stands were cooking things that looked strange yet delicious.
The
ceiling was made of
glass, revealing the evening sky. If it was not for the metallic tinge of everything, it would almost feel like we were outside.

“
So, what kind of clothes do you want?
”
Dad asked.

I looked down at my clothes. I never really had a choice of what I could wear.

Dad must have sensed
my hesitation.

“
Don’t worry
;
we can just walk around
,
and you can pick up what you want
,
”
Dad suggested.
“
I will grab you a teriyaki chicken. They’re my favorite.
”

We stopped at a little stand
,
and he ordered two sticks that had brown colored chicken chunks skewered on them.

He handed me one and took a bite of his own.

I inhaled the sweet aroma
of the chicken
,
and my stomach began to yell.

I took a small bite
,
and the sweet and salty flavor burst through my mouth. I had never tasted anything like it. My stomach begged for more
,
so I pulled a chunk off
,
and before I swallowed it I had already pulled
off
the last bit of meat.

My dad smiled at me.

“
This was my first taste of western food too
,
”
h
e said.
“
Chinese food is my favorite. We will grab some to bring back to the apartment later.
”

We walked around for about ten minutes. I felt my dad watch
ing
me
,
but I was too interested in all of the things that were on display. I studied what other kids my age were wearing.

We reached a stand that had an assortment of clothes. I figured the sooner I could pick something out
,
the sooner we could eat. I picked up
a dark blue and black striped button up shirt with long sleeves and held it to my chest.

“
You have style
,
kid. I suppose you take that from your mother.
”
D
ad gleamed.
“
The girls will be all over you if you dress like that.
”

I must have had a face that was like
“
Really?
”
because his smile widened.

“
So
,
you already have a girlfriend?
”
h
e asked with a grin.

“
No, not really. I mean no, I don’t
,
”
I replied. My face was hot.

“
Oh, but you are interested in someone
,
”
h
e said
tapping his chin. Then he
smiled.
“
It’s that girl who went and go
t you
,
isn’t it?
Abigail, right? She is a strong one. In more ways than one if you know what I mean.
”

“
I don’t want to talk about it
,
”
I said in a low voice. Just thinking about Abigail with Jason was getting me depressed. I had no shot.

Besides, I did not want advice from a man who
m
I barely knew.

My dad frowned.

I picked out a few more shirts, two pairs of sho
rts, long pants, boxers, and socks.

“
It gets cold down here sometimes. I would get light jacket if I were you
,
”
Dad suggested.

I looked around and spotted a dark green hoodie. I had been wearing dark green for most of my life
,
so I guess it made me feel safe.

I grabbed that too
,
and the merchant put them in a large plastic bag. Dad handed the merchant a card
,
and he swiped it through a machine.

The merchant thanked us
,
and dad started to walk away.

“
That’s it?
”
I whispered.
“
You paid him?
”

My dad looked at me kind of funny then realized that I had never been out of our little town.

He held up a little card.

“
This is what we use as currency here. You work
,
and credits are placed on these
,
”
h
e told me
. H
e dug in his pocket and handed me a card
.
“
Here, this is connected to my account
,
just in case you need something. I don’
t spend much
,
so it has been building up for the past five years. Now let’s eat!
”

We entered a restaurant that only had one table, which was occupied
. The walls were covered with
pictures of some of the weirdest food I have ever
seen
.

“
Anything look good?
”
D
ad asked with a smile on his face.

My eyes said no
,
but my stomach told me otherwise.

My dad laughed and told me he would order for both of us.

Ten minutes later
,
he was carry two bags full of food
, and I was carrying a third.

“
Did you get one of everything?
”
I asked.

“
Almost
,
”
Dad responded with a laugh.

My hands were burning from carrying the food and my clothing by the time we got to his apartment door.

There was nothing different between his door and all the other ones in this underground maze. I was starting to feel a little bit cramped actually.

“
One-One-Zero-Six
,
”
Dad said using his head to point at the apartment number.
“
You can use the panels that are setup around the complex to get directions if you get lost. The chip in your hand will be able to unlock the door once we reprogram it.
”

He turned the knob and pushed the door open with his foot and propped it open
.

“
After you
,
”
h
e told me.

I too
k a step in and marveled about how large of a place he had for being alone. I counted three rooms, a large living space, a large dining room, a kitchen, and
,
to my surprise
,
a balcony.

I placed the food and clothes on the dining table as we entered and walked to the balcony.

“
It overlooks the training fields
,
”
Dad said.
“
It helps me keep an eye out for new recruits for the team.
”

“
For the
Cell team?
”
I guessed
, recalling my dad’s persistence on us joining this team.

Dad looked up and smiled as he began to open up each box of Chinese food and carefully place them on the table.

“
That’s right. That was part of the deal for my help
,
”
h
e told me.

“
What are you helping with?
”
I asked as I stepped out onto the balcony.
“
And what is the Cell team?
”

The view from the balcony took my breath away. It looked like a huge arena that had every terrain you could think of
,
except it was condensed down into the area of a small town and
didn’t have
a real sky. There was a forest, a small mountain, snow, lakes, beaches, fields, deserts, and what appear
ed
to be a recreation of a ruined city.

Directly in front of us were a few people
performing
some exercises.

“
I will tell you everything you want to know, but now we eat
,
”
h
e said.

I turned
,
and the table was full of open containers of food.

My hunger won over my curiosity. I walked
in
and sat at the table across from my dad.

“
Soda?
”
he asked
,
raising a bottle of brown liquid.

“
Uhh…sure
,
”
I responded.

He tipped the bottle
,
and the liquid start
ed to make
a sizzling noise
as
bubbles started to form.

He handed me the glass and watched me with a smile on his face.

“
Go ahead
,
”
h
e said.
“
Try it.
”

I put the glass to my lips and tilted it back. The cold liquid slid past my tongue and bubbled up my nose.

I coughed and burped at the same time.

“
Yeah, it does that the first few time
s you drink it. After that, it’
s quite addicting
,
”
h
e
claimed.

Between the mouth fulls of lo mein, general tso chicken, mushu pork, roast duck, fried rice, orange beef, crab ragoon, egg rolls, dumplings, and egg drop soup
,
I managed to ask,
“
So what is the Cell team? Why do you want us on it?
”

By this time
,
he was already done eating and leaning back in his chair as
I
devoured anything I could lay my hands on.

“
Mary told you that I had you brought here to take the heat off of our family right?
”
h
e asked.

“
Mm-hmm
,
”
I replied with a mouth
full
of partially chewed noodles.

“
Wel
l, that was one part of it. The
most important reason. The other reason I wanted you to
come
is that I need someone I can trust
,
”
Dad explained.
“
I was told I would be given privacy and no interference with the Cell team, but
members
drop as fast as I can recruit
them
. I found out that some of the recruits have been paid off to
leave
or to spy on us. I understand the President
’
s worry of a refugee putting together a military unit, but at this rate we will never be structured enough to be of any use. I am sure that is what she wants. She still thinks raw man power can do the job. I tried to explain to her that there is much more than she wants to admit. It requires…special people to break their defenses.
”

“
Defenses?
”
I asked.
“
You mean you want to invade a base?
”

“
Not just a base
—
the Central HQ of Renatus
,
”
h
e explained.
“
I was a
G
uard there for a few years. I know their defenses.
”

“
Why would you want to invade the Renatus HQ?
”
I questioned.
“
And by
‘
special,
’
you mean people who have abilities
,
right?
”

“
The answer to your second question is ‘yes
,
’
”
h
e responded.
“
The reason we want to target the
Renatus HQ is because
,
about fifteen year
s
ago
,
the US planted a mole in the government. Six years ago
,
he became president of the Renatus government.
”

“
Then why didn’t he change things?
”
I asked.

“
The president is more of a figure head. He has no real power, just a face of the government. At first
,
he tried to build a bond with the
W
est and wanted to do more things for the people, but The Lost Sons
were against it.
They had one of their most trusted men keep an eye on him, Aaric. The US has not heard from the Renatus President since
,
”
Dad continued.
“
But there is still power in a face. If there is a way to break The Lost Sons
’
grip on the president
,
then maybe we can use him to start a rebel
lion. The people
need to see that they are being used just so some arms dealers can cash in.
”

I sat back in my chair, stuffed and ready to explode.

“
What makes you think he will want to help?
”
I asked.

“
Like I said, I was a Guard
there
on
the weapons research division,
so I got to see a lot of him.
He was always talking about building a relationship with the
W
est, better education, better living conditions, and things like that. He was passionate about it.
The Lost Sons
went along with it for a little while,
but
then
they turned against him.
They brought Aaric over as his personal advisor
,
and everything changed.
”
My dad paused then added something else.
“
That’s when I found out the truth about what was really happening with the Guards. How they were being sold, and those who had abilities were sold at a premium. I learned about the children factories and the experiments on the
people who were infected by
CC1586. I could not let my
family
—
my kids
—
grow up in a place like that, so I found a way to get to the
W
est.
”

“
So for five years you have been here doing what?
”
I asked. It came out a bit harsher than I
had
meant.

“
When I arrived
,
they were very suspicious. They had caught spies before
,
so I could not blame them. I explained to them what I saw. They already knew most of it
,
”
h
e recalled.
“
But what they did not know was the locations of Renatus
’
bases, their defenses,
and their skills. I offered them the locations of all the bases I was aware of,
in trade for permission
to train US soldiers on how Renatus Guards operate, and to assist them any way I could with weapons development. In exchange
,
I would form my own team and arrange for my family to be extracted.
”

I took a gulp of soda.

“
Does this have to do with the
Intel
that you mentioned when we first arrived?
”
I asked.

My dad leaned forward.

“
This year has been very hectic. We found out that the Renatus government was getting close to decoding the CC1586 virus, giving them the ability to determine who was infected. Then we found out that The Lost Sons
were sponsoring
an
invasion of the US and the Renatus government
,
”
h
e said
,
running his hands through his hair.

“
What? That makes no sense. If The Lost Sons
are making so much money off of selling the Guards
,
then why stop and destroy it?
”
I wondered.

“
That’
s what we are worried about. If they no longer need people to make money in the amount that they are currently pulling in, then they must have created something pretty powerful
,
”
m
y dad said with worry in his voice.
“
The point is, if the US and Renatus stay divided
,
then there will be no way that we can survive an invasion. The US has the knowledge
,
while Renatus holds the man power.
”

“
So for us to survive the invasion
,
we have to work together
,
”
I summarized.

My dad nodded.

“
And Dalyn, since Aaric knows you have escaped and that you are related to me, I am certain he will be keeping our family close to him
,
”
m
y dad hinted.

“
You mean they may be at the Renatus HQ?
”
I guessed.

“
I believe so
,
”
h
e replied.
“
I don'
t want you or anyone else to feel like you are forced to join
me. It is your choice. You don'
t have to make a decision now.
”

He looked at his watch and whistled.

“
Why don’t you go clean up and get ready for bed while I clean this up
,
”
h
e suggested, pointing to a room next to the kitchen.
“
I will be busy tomorrow in the Armory. You can wander around a bit and try to get to know the place if you want.
”