Josh looked at each other, each knowing what the other was thinking. It had been a long time. Not long enough, and too long, all at once.
Before long, they could touch bottom, and began to have to weave around sharp rocks. The hydra’s teeth, Wallace thought. Ahead of them, Maeve moved silently, uncomfortably quickly, and purposefully. She did not look back.
As they approached the shore, they could see a large house, perhaps eight to ten hundred meters away. A single light shone from one of the windows; the rest were dark. Josh frowned and pulled out the binos they’d brought. He scanned the entire perimeter, and around the house. There was not a living soul to be seen. He whispered as much to Wallace and Leif. Maeve seemed to have sorted it out for herself.
She stood and began to walk, ignoring their frantic attempts to stop her. After a hundred meters or so, she stopped and turned. A wave outward of both arms seemed to imply that there was, in fact, no one. She turned again and continued to walk.
“I guess we follow. Shit, shit, shit.” Leif scrambled to his feet and did so as quickly as possible. Josh and Wallace cursed and brought up the rear. No shots rang out. Nothing happened.
The house came up on them more quickly than they’d anticipated, and suddenly they found themselves standing outside a thick plastered wall. Leif was trying to sort out how to determine if there were any guards on the other side of it when Maeve scrambled up and heaved herself over.
“Will she stop doing that???” To his surprise, she reappeared several dozen feet down, through a gate.
“Unlocked.” They ran down to join her.
“Look, Maeve, I know you…her…whoever, that you were sure this guy was here. It’s not looking so good right now.”
“He is here.”
“How the hell do you know that?”
“Wallace obtained a recording of his voice. I can hear him singing right now.” She pointed up to the lit window. They all looked at it, straining to listen.
“I can hear him.” Wallace said with some surprise. “What’s he singing?”
“Unknown. Irrelevant.” She slipped off to a back door. It too was unlocked, and led into a large, old-fashioned kitchen. A fire was nearly to embers in the hearth. They had no idea of the layout of the building, but Maeve continued on, as though she knew precisely where to go. They all sighed in exasperation and followed her.
She had found a large central staircase, and moved up it unerringly. Not for the first time, they found themselves questioning who or what was guiding her actions. They could only hope it wasn’t leading them into an ambush. Probably they should have thought of that several days ago.
The singing gradually became clearer. They could hear a healthy baritone, as it carried a mournful tune. Wallace tried to make out the words, but could only hear the same dirge-like tune, at least until they were within a few feet of an open door. The light that they had seen through the window must have been from this room.
“I want to wear a crown of glory
When I get home to that good land
I want to shout salvation's story
In concert with the blood-washed band”
The voice abruptly halted its singing as they finished their approach. Maeve held up a hand to halt them as she sneaked a quick look past the doorframe. She then stepped into the space, pistol raised. Leif cast a look back at the other two before shouldering his own weapon. He walked behind Maeve. If it was Robert Warden, he had his back to them as he smoked a cigar.
“I had nearly, very nearly, sworn these off. The wife, you know? But she’s not here.” He continued to face away from them. “You’re a bit later than I’d expected, but then I realized that no sane sailor would approach this place. And now you’re stuck here, aren’t you?”
“Bargaining with us will not procure your safety.” Maeve kept the pistol raised and steady. The figure across the room began to laugh.
“You think I’m all alone out here, do you?”
“This island is devoid of any other life forms.”
“Short sighted as ever, Maeve.” He turned around finally, and leaned forward against his desk. “Ah, Leif, I see you are still glued to her side. Who else did you bring?”
Leif felt his heart drop into his boots. He looked at Maeve. Would she react? Could what was left of her true self see the man who stood before them? She was not outwardly changed, not perceptibly, but he could see her breathing alter. There was a struggle beneath the surface.
“What’s the matter, don’t recognize your own brother? No?” He laughed hollowly. “I suppose I’m not surprised. I’ve been up and kicking for, what, a decade now? No, longer than that…I keep losing track of time. Fifteen years, that’s how long it’s been.”
Maeve had been fighting the landscape for what seemed like days or months. She could only manage a few steps before being knocked down by some unseen force. It was like climbing a rock face upside down. She’d listened to everything, had screamed herself hoarse at every fresh indignity brought on by this other entity. Now, she stood against the opposing strength, and stared off at the distant waters.
“Niall?”
“They told us you were killed in a training accident.” Leif struggled to keep a poker face. Josh and Wallace both watched him with nervous anticipation. Besides Leif, only Wallace had ever met Maeve’s brother, shortly before he’d shipped off to basic training. Leif looked over at them, mouthing, “It’s him.”
“I would think that you’d have learned to stop trusting that sort of thing by now.” Niall, or whoever he was, continued to chuckle in that infuriatingly condescending way. “Even funnier, that none of you ever pieced anything together.”
“What are we talking about?” Leif looked back to Maeve. Trickles of perspiration ran down her temple.
“Ah, come now, Leif, you still haven’t gotten a clue? How tiresome. I was recruited, just as you were…oh, but not by the simpering government spooks who snatched you all up. No. Can’t guess yet?”
“Screw this. You’re the guy walking around as Robert Warden these days…that’s good enough for me.” Leif raised his rifle again, ready to fire. In one swift movement, both Maeve and Warden reacted. She moved to push Leif aside, as Warden pulled his own weapon from behind the desk. Gunfire erupted into chaos, and the single light was extinguished. Darkness and deafening quiet followed in its wake.
“Leif? Maeve?” Josh felt around in the blackness. A pained grunt was his reply.
“I’m hit. Maeve is gone. I think Warden, or Niall, he took off, and she followed.”
Wallace produced chem lights, popping them so they cast a red illumination over the scene. Leif lay on the floor, holding his solar plexus. Maeve was indeed no longer with them. Josh moved into action, his days as a corpsman coming back to guide him.
“Good lord, what the hell is he using for rounds?” Josh was staring at a ragged hole in his friend’s midsection.
“Felt like a frigging bowling ball.” Leif let his head fall back. This was not how he’d foreseen things going, not by a long shot.
“Stay with me, man. We’re not going out like this.” Josh looked up at Wallace. “You’d better try to figure out where they went. I’m going to get him down to the beach and put on the beacon.”
“They might not be here for hours. You think he’ll hold?”
“Yeah. He’ll be fine.” They both knew this was a lie.
“I’m going to try to disengage her. If I read what he was saying correctly, he’s probably got somebody incoming.”
“We’re pretty well hosed if that’s the case.”
“Yeah, well, I’d rather try to ride it out with her out of the equation. She’ll only keep going until we’re all dead, otherwise.”
“I thought that was the point of all this.” Josh laughed hoarsely.
“Maybe it’s time to change the parameters.” Wallace put a hand on Leif’s shoulder. “Don’t go anywhere, man.” He picked up his own rifle, and nodded as Josh handed him a preloaded hypodermic. It was a health
y dose of tranquilizer, enough to take down someone fifty pounds heavier than Maeve.
Hopefully, it would be enough.
۞
Bijul had left the others behind. She was en route to the island, about twenty minutes out. Hopefully, it was not too late. She switched on the autopilot and pulled the heavy rounds out of the storage lockers. They were large, and she had a difficult time loading them into the upper chambers on her own. It was meant to be a two-person job.
She had never deliberately killed without orders before. It was a weird sensation. Not a welcome one, either. Her heart pounded as she flew around flight paths, avoiding detecting as she’d been trained to do. The plan was simple. Blow the house to pieces if they were still in it. That was easy to claim as collateral damage.
Other than that, she wasn’t sure what the hell she’d do.
The minutes slipped away, until she found herself staring at a beach. She frowned. Two life signs were out there. The house was empty. She could see one figure standing, waving arms in the low light. Damn…how had she been spotted? Swallowing hard, she scoped out a landing site, and picked up her sidearm.
Acknowledgements:
This if for all the people who have encouraged me directly or not so directly through the years:
My husband, who always thinks I’m talented and pretty, even when I don’t.
My parents, who put up with a lot of youthful nonsense from me (but I was never that much trouble, let’s be clear!), and let me fall on my face now and then.
My kids, who simultaneously saved my sanity and demolished it. Writing with purpose is purely because of them. They remind me to see the world through others’ eyes, that we don’t all think alike, and to keep fighting, even when it seems a losing battle.
Friends, both near and far, who have read my writing. Even though I suspect some of you might be a bit biased, I truly appreciate all the encouragement. And yes, you keep me working, because I can expect anticipatory inquiries as to when I’ll be done with the next thing.
Other writers who have amazed my senses and influenced me to be a better writer. Most of them have no idea who I am (or they have gone from this world), but I can certainly thank Susan Henderson for all her kind words, and for her excellent debut novel. It was a breath of fresh contemplation to read Up From the Blue so close to finishing this.
And to my tia and tio, who took me on a voyage to another world when I was young and foolish. The journey that year started me on this one…into the stars and beyond.
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