Reddened Wasteland (8 page)

His mind raced with possibilities as he stepped into
the office to find Aemon sitting behind his desk, looking dapper as always.

“Alerik, good to see you. Would you mind having a
seat?” he gestured towards a chair.

“Yeah sure… So, why was I called in?” he asked as he
sat in front of the man, “Is this about what is going on outside?”

“In a way, yes,” Aemon leaned back in his chair, “I
just have a couple of questions for you, first. Then we can proceed with any
you might have for me, does that sound like a fair deal?”

His condescending tone was almost too much for Alerik
to stomach, but he bit his tongue, “Yes, sounds fair.”

“Great!” he clapped his hands together. “So, our
driver informs us that you took a bit of detour yesterday, over amongst the
trash heaps outside the mines. Care to explain the nature of that detour?”

Alerik had a moment of internal panic and he hoped it
didn’t register on his face. “Yeah, back when I was younger, we used to
scavenge in those trash heaps. Just part-time work for extra credits. Some days
we would find great stuff to sell, other days we wouldn’t find anything. I
thought maybe those attackers had done the same and found the flask there. If I
were able to find where she found it, I might find other identifying garbage in
the same area,” he shrugged, “It was just a shot in the dark.”

Aemon scratched his chin for a moment before
responding. “Well, did you find anything?”

“Unfortunately, no. That’s why I didn’t bother
mentioning it. There is just too much trash to really link anyone to it,” he
sighed, hoping Aemon bought the lie.

“Very well. It was a good try,” he said, his eyes
constantly studying Alerik’s face. After a moment, he must’ve been satisfied
because he finally spoke. “I suppose you have questions?”

Alerik barked a laugh and leaned forward onto the
desk. “Of course I do. What is going on outside? Why were the mines shut down?
This is the way these people feed their families!”

“Oh, that? Let me explain. I have devised a brilliant
plan, if I do say so myself. We will only shut the mines down for a few days,
but we will let everyone think they are closed down for good. Then our best
guards, yourself included, will follow these people and see what they do with
their time off,” Aemon said with a wicked smile.

“What? Follow them? You’re punishing a lot of people
for the actions of a few… how do you even justify that?” Alerik asked, anger
etched into his features.

“Yes. Without the hope of a way to feed their
families, we will see how strong their resolve is. If they are easily persuaded
by a terroristic organization… well, are those the kind of people we want in
the settlement, causing trouble for the everyman just trying to live
peacefully?”

Alerik indulged a daydream where he swung his pickaxe
across the desk and took off Aemon’s head, but it stayed that way. Just a dream.
If he actually attempted something like that, the guards would execute him
within seconds. He shook his head, “I suppose not, but you are creating
dissidence yourself. Of course people will rebel when they can’t feed their
families. That is the sign of a failing government.”

“We only want the strongest in our settlement. The
people that show they are in this with us, for better or for worse. To be a
part of the machine that is rebuilding humanity. Any thoughts or opinions that
variate from our ultimate goal, only serves to distract. We can’t have pieces
that do not fit in a machine. All it takes is one to make it malfunction,”
Aemon said with a certain seriousness in his voice. “They do not deserve to
exist.”

Alerik wasn’t buying what the man was selling, but he
knew that arguing would do no good. Not with this guy. All he could do was
pretend to agree while he formed his own opinion. He also reminded himself that
even though The Union seemed completely evil, they weren’t the ones plotting to
kill droves of innocent people. Liberty’s Hammer was.

He resolved himself to continuing his work. Not for
The Union, but for the people in the settlement. The same people who absolutely
hated him at that moment. He hoped that one day they might understand.

“Right… So, what do you need from me exactly?” he
asked.

“I want you to return home and think on our
conversation. Tomorrow, I will be sending another guard, one of my elites to
assist you in the investigation. You will both scour the city to find any information
that you can. She will give you the details in the morning when she arrives at
your new home,” Aemon stretched and rested his hands behind his head.

“A partner? I don’t need a partner, I have been doing
great on my own,” he scoffed. Trying to investigate with a Union lackey up his
ass was the last thing he needed.

“The partner is more for us than she is for you. She
will report your progress to us,” Aemon said with a smile.

“Oh, so keep tabs on me. Am I now under
investigation?”

“None of us are above investigation, even me,” Aemon
said as he handed Alerik a keycard. “This will be your pass into any part of
the city. You have shown us great promise, so do not let me down. We expect
results,” he locked his eyes on Alerik.

Alerik bit his tongue. “I’ll do what I can.”

He got up from his chair and walked out of the office
before Aemon could say anything else to piss him off. He was having a hard time
controlling his temper as it was.

***

On the return trip home, Alerik stared daggers at the
driver. The lousy snitch. He didn’t bother saying a single word outside of
instructing the man where to drive. When they arrived at the apartment, he
hopped out and slammed the door behind him without looking back. He had a lot
on his mind and things were not getting better. Something big was brewing and
in some ways he felt no closer to answers than when he first started.

He sighed heavily as he opened the door to his place.
The lights were off, and the room was oddly quiet. Maybe she was taking a nap?
Too
bad,
he thought. He needed someone to talk to, and she had signed up to be
his person to talk to. She didn’t need any beauty sleep, anyway. 

“Velar! Get your lazy ass up. I’ve got an update,” he
called out.

No response.

He frowned and moved towards the light switch,
stumbling when his foot caught something on the floor. He wanted to excuse it
as an unfamiliarity with the apartment, but deep down he knew it wasn’t that.
The hair on the back of his neck stood on end. “Velar!” he called, less teasing
and more firm this time, “This isn’t funny!”

Finally, he reached the light switch and flipped it
on. He scanned the room with his eyes and shook his head in disbelief. It took
a moment to process what he was looking at. The apartment had been raided. All
the furniture had been overturned, several of the paintings had been torn from
the walls, and various household objects were scattered on the floor. His
adrenaline spiked and fear gripped his chest. He tried to calm himself before
he lost it. There had to be a perfectly reasonable explanation for all of this.
Velar would explain. He just needed to talk to her.

He stormed towards the bedroom and a soft melody
registered as he neared the doorway. Glancing inside, he realized it was an old
record that was playing on a loop.

“Velar!” he shouted this time, growing more panicked
by the minute.

Again, no answer.

He began racing through the house, thoroughly
searching one room at a time. The bedroom was tossed and the record player was on
the floor. The mirror in front of the bed had been shattered. The other rooms
were ransacked in a similar fashion. It did not look good.

Alerik started to freak out and he walked back out to
the balcony to get some fresh air before the walls closed in on him. He began
pacing, millions of terrible images flashing through his mind in an instant.
Who did this? Who would take Velar and why? She never hurt anybody. She was
only guilty of being associated with him.

He stopped pacing when he noticed Velar’s backpack.
She never left anywhere without it. Maybe she dropped it as a way to warn him.

He furiously marched back inside and started punching
the walls and smashing things as he moved through the apartment. It wasn’t
productive, but he needed to get his anger out somehow.

He kept asking himself how something like this could
have happened. Only The Union knew that he wasn’t home at the time, but Velar
was working with him and he was working for them. It didn’t make any sense. The
shady driver would have been the last one who saw her. Unless, of course,
Liberty’s Hammer had been watching them all along, waiting for this opportunity
to make a move. Alerik would do anything to get her back. She had just become
his priority over everything else.

“
Fuck The Union, and Fuck Liberty’s Hammer!
” he
thought to himself as he paced wildly in the living room. He needed to get out
of there, needed to talk to the driver. And after that… he needed a drink.

Liquor loosens lips. He had a thought that maybe
someone at their old bar would know something. If that didn’t get him anywhere…
well, he’d need to figure something out. He had no idea who to trust and he
could hardly ask for anyone’s help when they all were suspects. Regardless, he
would get his vengeance, one way or another.

“
She’d better be alive,”
he thought as he
dialed the driver.

After a quick conversation explaining where he wanted
to go, Alerik started to make his way out to the balcony, he was still brimming
with anger. He noticed a small, haphazard etching in the frame of the door. It
was the same symbol he had seen on the flask.

“Clever girl…” He said under his breath. She had let
him know where to start looking. The small flicker of hope he felt when he saw
the symbol soothed his nerves… slightly.

The driver pulled up moments later to collect Alerik,
and then they were off. He tapped the driver on the shoulder and asked if he
had seen anything suspicious when he dropped Velar off.

“No sir, she was dropped off at approximately 1:09pm.
There was not anything notable about the trip. The only verbal exchange was the
discussion of her destination,” he said with a creepy, plastic smile.

“Thanks… You’ve been a huge help,” Alerik grunted. He
was put off by the man’s demeanor. He seemed devoid of emotion, and lifeless.
He wondered what sort of spell The Union had put him under.

The remainder of the ride was silent, and Alerik was
thankful for it. He decided that he would follow through with his plan at the
bar and try to collect more information, then follow up on the symbol in the
morning. He couldn’t risk having the driver take him around looking when he
didn’t know who to trust.

And if the bar was a dead end, he could just get
blackout drunk.

Because, fuck The Union
.

***

The bar was packed with local miners and tensions were
perceptibly high when Alerik stepped through the door. A hush fell over the
room like a blanket snuffing out a flame. He continued towards the bar at a
deliberately slow walk, scanning the patrons as he passed. The air was smoky
from their pipes and there was a certain heaviness to the air. He approached
the counter and sat on a stool between two men. They turned their backs to him
immediately.

“Hey buddy… no offense but, this probably isn’t the
safest place for you right now,” anxiety painted the bartender’s face.

“Yeah? Can you tell me where a safe place is in this
colony?” Alerik snapped. “Just pour me a shot of that piss you call alcohol.
And keep them coming.”

The bartender gave Alerik a dirty look and poured his
drink, “Don’t say you weren’t warned asshole,” he mumbled as he set the glass
on the bar.

He snatched up the drink and poured it down his throat
before tapping the bar for more. “Just open a tab,” he said before swiping some
credits for the drinks. It was clear that nobody was going to talk to him. This
was pointless.

He needed to think, but his mind was so clouded from
the last few days. He was all kinds of fucked up from the anger and shock
building inside of him over Velar’s kidnapping. The only way he was going to
get a new perspective was to clear his mind entirely. Alcohol was usually good
for that. He ordered another shot.

The bar was still quiet aside from a small amount of
chatter while he tossed back shot after shot. His vision blurred when he rose
from his seat and started lumbering around, mean-mugging everyone. He was no
longer concerned for his own health, he couldn’t care less. He just wanted
Velar back. He
needed
her back.

In his increasingly drunken stupor, he decided that it
was the best time ever to start asking the locals what they knew – completely
disregarding the fact that he had no back up, no weapon, and everybody hated
him. He shuffled through the dingy bar and people spit on the floor in front of
him, or turned their backs to him as soon as he’d near them. He tried asking
about Velar, but they all clammed up. He felt eyes on him the entire time, but
thought maybe it was just the liquor.