Sky of Dust: The Last Weapon (22 page)

This could not be legal or safe.

She waved for me to come and started to climb the
ladder
. I hesitated
,
starting
to feel dizzy. I looked up
,
and Annie was waiting about ten feet up
,
trying to get my attention.

She waved for me to hurry, then tucked her dress between her legs and waved her finger at me with a dirty look as if to say,
“
No peeking!
”

She smiled and continued to climb.

She was bad
;
I knew it. Not in a bad way, she just was adventurous.

The climb up was the easy part. I never looked up
;
I just stared forward into the cement wall.

“
Hey!
”
Annie’s voice finally got my attention. I looked up and saw her standing on a narrow cat walk about two feet wide. I could see it swaying. She waved for me to come up.

Then I looked down. Everything was so tiny. The
ladder
I was climbing was not that straight either. It curved in and out and left and right. My hands and legs froze. I was going to die. I
could
survive helicopters and crazy people with guns, but I
was finally going to be
done in by a ladder
.

Annie must have
seen
my panic because she tapped on the crosswalk to get my attention
. I slowly looked up to her
,
and she smiled and held out her hand.

If she
could
do it, so
could
I. I took a few more steps. I looked up again
,
and this time she pointed at me then to the catwalk then to herself and she puckered her lips.

What?
I couldn’t understand what she was pantomiming, but she was obviously trying to motivate me
.

I pulled myself on to the catwalk
,
which began to shake back and forth. I looked up at Annie
,
who clapped her
hands and kissed me on the cheek
.

I
had
almost died to get my first kiss. Yeah, I would
definitely
remember this one as my first kiss.

Annie turned and began to walk casually towards the center of the training area, as we dangled hundreds of feet above the ground. I preferred to stay on my hands and
knees; however
,
I could see right through the catwalk to the ground below
,
which did not help my stomach. Luckily
,
I had not eaten this morning.

Annie stopped at a large square of solid metal that was about five by five feet wide.

Before she could turn around
,
I pushed myself to my feet and began to walk fast with my eyes partially close.

“
Eek
,
”
Annie cried as I almost ran into her. She grabbed both of my arms and laughed.

She walked over to the edge and sat down, let
ting her legs hand over the side
. She patted the ground next to her. I lowered myself down and scooted towards the edge.

Annie took out her pad and wrote,
“
I come here to think.
”

I nodded my head.

She started to write again then handed me the pad.

“
The letter was from my parents. They said that they loved me and that they hoped they would see me again. They told me they were sorry
,
but they did it to keep me safe. They want me to always stay happy.
”

I looked up and watched her look towards the manmade mountains and lakes. Her eyes reflected everything she looked at. She just smiled.

Being around her gave me hope. She had been through a lot
,
yet she stay
ed
so positive.

For the n
ext three days, from about seven in the morning until about five in the afternoon
,
Annie and
I
hung out together.

She took me ice skating, we played the game she used to play with her father (I let her win), and
we
told each other stories and jokes.

I even told Annie what we were planning on doing
and
how I would be leaving in a few days.
At first she was horrified about the whole idea of me going out to fight. She even cried.
T
hen she started insisting that she should go t
o
o, that she had the right to protect her home and avenge her parents.

I told her we would handle it and that it was more important for her to stay safe. Finally, she gave up on the subject once I told her we would need people here in case we were attacked again.

Annie began to teach me some sign language since she
spent
most of her time correcting what I wrote. I picked up on simple things like hello,
goodbye, hungry, crazy, numbers, and a few bad words I
did
not intend to use.

Time went by so
fast;
it almost felt like I had nothing to worry about.

The day before we were to be deployed, Annie was running late as I stood beside our tree.

Her parents had been asking questions about what she was doing all day, so I imagine she was being held up by them.

I was leaning against the tree, listening to the birds singing when an argument broke through the peacefulness.

I am not a nosey person, and I do not get in other people’s business, but I recognized one of the voices. I rounded the tree and faced towards the field where I saw Casey and a larger guy arguing while they were pressing their chests against each other, daring each other to do something.

I ran towards them
, but just before I was able to reach them, Casey swung his fist into the other guys face. The guy staggered but recove
red quickly and drew his arm back
, preparing to strike.

Even though Casey was big for his age and even for a normal man, this guy would make quick work of Casey.

I pressed my watch and time began to slow as I tackled Casey to the ground just before the punch had landed.

Time returned and the man’s fist hit air and losing his balance. He looked around confused and looked down at us.

“
You better tell your pussy voiced friend here to wa
tch his back,” t
he man shouted angrily. “Refugees like him ruin Oasis.”

The man hesitated like he wanted to pummel both of us but turned and walked away instead.

I Got to my feet and stretched my hand out to help Casey up, but Casey ignored my hand.

“What happened?” I asked Casey.

“It’
s none of your business,
”
Casey said under his
breath without
looking at me.

“It is my business if a part of the team is picking fights,” I replied forcefully.

Casey got to his feet and brushed off his clothes.

I reached out to grab his shoulder, and as I did Casey turned on his heels and swung at me.

I just had just enough time to react, but he still managed to hit my arm. An eruption of pain shot through my arm, followed by rage. This time, time did not slow down. The weeks of training had done wonders for my reflexes, but sometimes my hands react before my head does.

As Casey drew back for another swing, I launched myself forward, sinking my elbow deep in Casey’s gut. I could feel the muscle in his stomach give and the air being forced out.

I pulled back and watch Casey fall to his knees.

I hesitated what to do next, but my legs had already begun to walk away towards the exit of the training area.

“You better leave,” Casey sputtered as he gulped for breath.

I ran into Annie just as I exited.

Her wide smile faded when she saw how shaken I was.

“What’s wong?” She asked, her eyes studying me.

I forced on a smile and replied slow and softly, “I tried to climb a tree. I fell.”

She stared at me, trying to determine if I was telling the truth, then replied, “That’s stupid.”

Those two words she could say perfectly.

I nodded.

I rubbed my stomach.

Annie rolled her eyes and said, “Piggy.”

Another word she uses a lot, usually to describe my eating habits.

I enjoyed the rest of the day with her until she had to head home before her parents called a search for her.

That night
, I arrived home only to be greeted by the rest of Cell team
, minus Casey
which was fine with me
.

This was the last time we could go through everything before we departed for Renatus in the morning.

Dad filled
us
in
that our uniforms were bulletproof
,
to an extent, and that we would all be equipped with pistols, knives, an electric baton, and a stun gun. Our new watches held twice as much of the CC1586 components and also served as a communicator.

Another neat feature
was that
we could view a tiny map with each of our
locations on the color display, but I was completely lost on how to use that function.

Before we headed off to get a few hours of sleep,
D
ad went over the plan again.

“
Remember
,
”
m
y dad told us.
“
Our goal is to get in as quietly
as possible and speak with
P
resident
Richards
.
We will leave here at three in the morning by high speed aircraft and transfer at the border into a cargo plane. We will land near the Renatus HQ. Once we arrive
,
there will
be a truck with seven
badges that will get us by the gate clearance and into the receiving dock beneath the Renatus
HQ.
”

“
From
there
,
we will head up to the parking garage and wait for the
P
resident to be dropped off
,
”
Dad continued.
“
W
e will secure him and bring him into a small room that our contact has acquired for us. He has already scheduled the surveillance and alarms to be disabled for ‘testing’ at seven a.m. for about ten minutes.
”

We all paused and nodded.

“
What do we do after that?
”
Peter asked.

“
It just depends on wha
t
P
resident
Richards
wants to do with us
,
I guess
,
”
Dad admitted.
“
He was on our side
;
there must be a reason he has shut us out
—
we just have to find it.
”

“
What about our families?
”
I asked, concerned that it was never mentioned.

“
We will have to see when we get there
,
”
Dad said looking down at the table.
“
We have no information on them being there. Our first priorit
y is the
P
resident
,
or it won't
matter if we find them or not.
”

I kn
e
w he did not mean for it to sound harsh, and he was right, but I still felt a little angry. The real reason Peter
, Casey,
and I s
igned up for this was our families
.

Quietly
,
everyone started to leave.

Dad turned to me.

“
Try and get som
e sleep
,
”
h
e said wearily.
“
We'
re going to need our strength.
”

I faded in and out of sleep. The anticipation made the night go by so slow
ly
, but in a way too fast.

I thought about how the past month had made me stronger, not only physically but emotionally. For the first time
,
I really believed that I could protect the ones I cared about. Now I only had to get them back.

I guess
D
ad did not sleep that well either because I heard him pacing in the living room and mumbling to himself throughout the night. I could not imagine what he
had
been through. To leave your family to fight in wars that were never your own.
To then shut out your family
to seek help from those who you thought were
your enemy.

The alarm
clock
began to ring. I could
hear
the one in
D
ad's room go off too. He opened
his
door almost immediately. I reached over and turned off my
alarm
.

In an instant, I felt my eyes get heavy, and my body began to
beg
for more time to rest.
It was like my body thought this may be the last time I would be able to sleep again.

I pushed myself up onto the edge of the bed. My arms and legs were tingling
,
and my head started to spin. I reached over and grabbed the uniform
,
pulling
it over to my side. I began checking the pockets to make sure that I had everything I needed then began to get dressed.

It was the first time I had worn the uniform, so I hoped it fit well. It was too late anyways.

I secured the communicator watch around my wrist and made sure that I had stored a few extra CC1586 component capsules in my arm pocket.

When I was ready
,
I stepped out into the living area. Dad was sitting at the table with a pile of teriyaki chicken.

“
Eat up
,
”
h
e told me.
“
We'll be able to get another hour or so of sleep once we get on the cargo plane.
”

I guess he saw how tired I looked. He didn't look that awake himself either.

We both forced down a stick each
,
but neither of us had much of an appetite. He placed the rest in the refrigerator
,
and we both filled our canteens with water.

Once we were ready
,
we turned off all the lights and stepped out into the hallway. The lights were dimmed
,
and not a sound could be heard. Normal people would be sleeping right now.

Neither one of us talked until we approached the
hangar
.

“
I don’t trust Casey,”
I finally
told
him.

Dad was silent for a minute then responded,
“
The truth is that we need more people. If someone is willing to help and has a cause, then I see no problem in the extra head count.
I understand how it must feel for you to lose your best friend, but give it time and he will come around. Besides, he needs us to get his family back, and he will need us alive to do it, so he will have our backs.
”

He was right, but I s
till felt uncomfortable having Casey around, especially after yesterday.
It was unfortunate, but I did not trust him
anymore
.

“
I will keep an eye on him
,”
Dad added as if he was reading my mind.

We arrived at the
hangar
, which was a lot more active than the halls. Jason, Abigail, Peter, and Casey were already there
,
suited up and ready to go.

President Reeves and her
aides
started towards us once they noticed our presence.

“
There you are Bret
,”
President Reeves called.
“
Here is the data disc that contains the intelligence we have proving that foreign power
s
intend
to invade. Also included is footage of the attack on the fourth. President Richards was a man of reason and compassion
;
let's hope that this wakes him up.
”

President Reeves handed my dad a small disc encased in glass.

“
Good luck
,”
President Reeves told us.
“
We will have everyone on high alert in case anything happens here.
L
et us pray there is no retaliation for what we are about to do.
”

President Reeves turned and headed towards the set of stairs we had climbed when we first arrived.

Dad placed the dis
c
in his breast pocket
,
and we
joined the others.

Casey was wearing a similar uniform as ours,
but
his seemed a little large him despite his size. I do
not
know if he had lost weight or
if the military
just did not have anything that fit him. He avoided eye contact by staring at the ground.

“
This is your last chance to back out before we leave
,”
Dad told everyone.
“
I
will
understand.
”

None of us made a sound.

“
Good
,”
Dad acknowledged.
“
Let's go ahead and get in the jet. It will be tight with seven of us crammed in.
”

The jet was pretty small for seven of us and the pilot for sure. We sat on tiny little benches
,
and we practicall
y
had to sit on our feet
. There was no headspace either, and I
was already getting
claustrophobic
before the door was even shut.

“
Sir!
”
t
he pilot called back.
“
There is someone here to see Dalyn. Should we let them through?
”

Dad looked over to me.

“
Let them in
,”
Dad told the pilot then whispered to me,
“
Make it fast.
”

I slid out the tiny door
,
and
,
to my astonishment
,
I saw Annie sprinting across the tarmac.

I opened my arms as if to say,
“
What are you doing here?
”
but Annie ignored me and wrapped her harms around my chest and squeezed.

I could feel eyes burn into the back of my head.

I
p
ut my hands on her shoulders and gently pushed her
back
so she could see my face.

Her eyes showed signs of crying
—
her cheeks were red and dry from the salt.

Before I had the chance to say anything
,
she grabbed my hand and lowered her mom
’
s necklace into it.

“
You come bock
,”
Annie cho
ked.

Just as fast as she had showed up, she turned and ran off.

I returned to the jet and slid into my seat. No one said anything, but I
knew
they were watching. I slipped the necklace in
to
a leg pocket, taking care that it was fully zipped.

The door shut
,
and I could hear the engines begin to roar.

After what seemed like an hour, we finally took off. It was pointless to try and talk or even sleep over the scream of the engines rocketing us through the sky.

A few times
,
I looked up and noticed Abigail looking at the pocket
where
I had placed Annie's necklace. I felt a tinge of guilt, but I told myself that Abigail and I were never together
;
we were just friends.
T
he same for Annie too
—
just friends.

We landed about an hour later on a deserted run strip where we then boarded a cargo plane full of food and weapons. Dad told us this plane would be
delivering
some
supplies
—a
nd us
—
to the Renatus HQ.

The ride was a bit
smoother
than the jet and a whole lot
quieter
.

Abigail fell asleep on Jason's arm, while Peter and my dad both found a spot on sacks of potatoes to rest. Casey just sat in the corner
,
staring at the ground.

I contemplated trying to speak with him, but I had nothing really to say. He knew I did not want him there, and he was still upset about his family
,
I knew.

I closed my eyes and must have
fallen
asleep because
,
when I opened them, I saw sunlight slipping through the back hatch.

Everyone was still sleeping, but I noticed Casey was missing.

I got to my feet
,
and my head got dizzy. I closed my eyes until my head was fine then slipped between
two
crates. I heard Casey's voice, but could not make out what he was saying or who he was talking
to
. I slipped between another set of crates when Casey
appeared on the other side.

His face showed signs of shock, like he had just been caught doing something he wasn't supposed to.

“
What are you doing?
”
I asked accusingly.

Casey's face got red
,
and he narrowed his eyes.

“
I was just grabbing an apple.
”
Casey raised his hand that contained an apple.

“
I heard you talking
,
”
I pushed the subject.

“
There is no one else for me to talk to
,
”
Casey snapped.
“
I was talking to mysel
f, trying to get the plan straight
in my head. Now mind your own business.
”

“
We are approaching the Renatus HQ runway
,
”
t
he
pilot’s
voice rang over the intercom.
“
I recommended you head towards the front of the
plane,
just in case they decide to have a peek inside.
”

I heard the others begin to get to their feet and make their way towards us.

Casey turned and went back the way he had
come,
and I continued to squeeze through the crates. The rest had just made it when we began a steep descent.

The crates began to shift back and forth, and a few times they got dangerously close to us. Finally we touched down
,
and the engines slowed.

We heard the back hatch open as well as some chatter. We saw lights being
shone
through the cracks of the crates. My heart beat in
to
my ears
as the light came closer.

“
Come on out
,
”
t
he
p
ilot
’
s voice called to us after a while of waiting.

We slowly made our way towards the back of the plane.

The sun was
just breaking through the sky of dust
, giving us enough light to spot an enormous building that I recognized as the Renatus HQ. It reminded me of an eighty story tall pregnant lady standing side ways. It was covered with glass from top to bottom, so the reflection of the sun made it seem yellow.

Once we all gathered at the exit
,
the pilot told us our ride was waiting on the other side of the runway in front of the cargo plane.

We exited the plane and made our
way towards
the front of the cargo plane.