After Days - Chapter 5

Dark clouds rolled under the metal zeppelin as the General looked out from the top-mounted gondola. He was fortunate enough, unlike Leon and his family, to be able to raise above the dark blanket and enjoy the sun’s warm touch on his face. Heat from the engines had made the glass pod swelteringly warm, though he wore his white uniform tightly, a high collar cuddling against his neck. Sweat lathered his palms as he choked a gold tipped cane behind his back.

Rows of rare foliage lined the path to the front of the gondola which filled his nose with exotic, pleasant scents, though other members of the crew found them to be overpowering, General Trent Halsey strived to make every aspect of himself just that, powerful. Small vents, concealed amongst the growth breathed artificial wind, giving the illusion of open space and freedom. It had been an age since the General had felt the dirt beneath his boots. Since his promotion, he always seemed to find himself either on the deck of his flying fortress or on the monsoon battered platforms of the fleet docks.

“Enjoying the view?” Dexter said as he made his way through the unbearable borders of yellow flowers and panama queens to name a few, his nose twitching at their odour.

Halsey bowed his head, the shade of his kepi stretching to his trimmed upper lip. “Your time on this ship has made you far too comfortable, Lieutenant. I do not take well to ignorance and in future you will address me properly. And no, I am not enjoying the view.” His stare was still as the man approached, five paces from the rear. To a point, he was telling the truth, about the view, he did not enjoy it. It was black and dead and diseased, everything he had hoped to avoid. Equally, the crisp sky above gave him the will to continue on his assignment, even when it had reached such a frustrating point.

“Ah, come on now, you’re just sore ‘cause Tin-man has giving you the slip again. I guess you still haven’t found where he’s hiding. Just send some Whispers to go hunting, the men could do with the fresh air.” His sentence heightened at the end with irony. Fresh air, below the clouds? Not very likely.

He stopped to his General’s flank, hands cupped behind his back, posture straight, kepi snug, the pair would have looked like twins if it had not been for Dexter’s loose collar and Halsey’s combed beard.

“What good are the Whispers, if they are no good to me? I should drop them at the next port and report them all for treason. It would be nothing less than they deserve.”

“Whoa, that’s a bit extreme.” Dexter coiled as he held his hands up, seeming innocent. “Just cause you have no use for them doesn’t mean they can’t be useful somewhere else. You know, utilise your forces and all that.”

Halsey turned, a suspicious eye peaking under his cap. “You’ve come with news.”

“Now that’s just putting words in my mouth. I never said that.” The cheeky edge to his voice was more than enough to give the game away, but the General dealt in facts, not suggestions.

“You don’t have to. You would never come up here unless you needed to talk with me urgently, you’re far too chatty and far too happy to have come to inform me of any summons. Now tell me, what is your message.” The General turned his back completely on the view, giving his full focus to his second in command, eagerly awaiting his answer.

“Well…” He paused, fumbling in his own mouth to find words. “…okay, you’re right, I have news.”

A shred of satisfaction lifted Halsey’s chest as anticipation squeezed his stick tighter.

“Good and bad actually, which would you rather have first?”

“Whichever will help the other make the most sense.” He was a logical man, calculated, he didn’t care much for games.

“Alright then, good it is. Well, we had a report transmitted from a squad of useless Whispers out in sector 4B, London, England.” He clarified for reference since keeping track of sectors was a nightmare for any man, regardless of rank. “They found a young man there and they’re transporting him to the dock in Berlin.”

The General seemed to grow along with his grin, his arms lowering as the cane slipped through his fingers, though it was seized again before its golden tip could hit the grey, tiled floor. “They found him?” He felt the excitement slip through his words, but he did not care, years had separated him from his news and he was dying to hear the details.

“Yessir, they found him, well, a him. Not the Tin-man, though. Sorry.” Dexter shrugged. Before the apology could leave his lips he felt the narrow tip of Halsey’s cane jabbing into his Adam’s apple. He was still relax, still just as casual as he had been the moment he walked onto the platform. Stress and worry were things that Dexter could live without, and since he didn’t need them, he didn’t carry them. Though he had known he was teasing his General, perhaps he had taken it a little too far. This was almost like promising a hound some fresh steak, and then quickly switching it out for a plank of wood.

“I need. That. Boy. Lieutenant.” His tongue was sharp as he held his arm steady, eyes locked on his second’s smug face. His glove creaked while his hand tensed, the tightness spreading into his arm. He would give his friend one chance to redeem his words, and if he failed, he would be put down for honour’s sake.

“I know, General.” He was sure to put emphasis on his boss’s title, hoping it would please him. It did a little. “But maybe he can wait. What if he isn’t the only chance we have? Just saying?”

“He is our objective. He is our salvation. Only a fool would think to stop now, when we have gotten so close.”

“He isn’t ours, this other boy is. In our custody and on his way to Germany, why do you think that is?” Dexter finally dropped the right question, just enough of a push that he didn’t need to explain the situation.

The cane dropped away, though still at the ready. “This other boy, is he really an alternative?”

“The scanners were built ready calibrated to Tinny’s readings, right?” Dexter said rhetorically.

“Correct.” Of course they were, what other use would they have?

“Well this kid smashed those readings. As far as I can tell from the report, we have no idea how far he exceeds the limits by, the scanner gave out at its peak.” His playful, jolly tone had become serious, the news was out, the games were done for today.

 “Sounds like the prisoner is an elite, perhaps he will do.” The scheming was written across his face as he stroked his beard, resting his elbow upon the back of his cane hand..

“Ideally but not likely. He was unconscious when they found him, and two others. It didn’t seem like he had been in combat.”

“There were others?” His high expectations rose higher at the possibility.

“They aren’t important, just kids, very young from the descriptions.” A pause fell between the two as Halsey leant against the waist-high railing that lined the glass dome and Dexter was quick to join him. “I hate to put a shadow on all this, but I’ve seen the Tin-man in battle before, against our men and our battleships. I’ve seen what he can do. If this other kid is even stronger, maybe Berlin isn’t the right facility to contain him, let alone harness him. Icarus has never been tested before, so maybe we should transfer him until the preparations can be completed. This kid, he can’t be a warrior, not yet anyway, if he were, I mean, if there were two of them, we wouldn’t be having this talk. Just because he isn’t one yet doesn’t mean he will never be. If he releases all that tension inside of him, well, I know I’d want to be on a different continent.”

“I have to agree with you. He could be dormant, and worse untrained, if we know about him, chances are our enemy does as well, we cannot afford any delays. The thought of someone, anyone, being greater than…than him, it is frightening. But we need to try.” His face went purple as the comprehension trod on his mind.

“It is a risk, sir. Celestia has spent time on Berlin, a lot of time. If you give the order and it comes crashing down, it will be the end for you.”

“If it is, any damage will be collateral, including my own life. What’s the point in owning the world if we’ve killed it? We cannot let this opportunity pass us by. Alert the pilot. Set a course for Germany. I want to meet this…boy.”