40 by Alan Heathcock

Author:Alan Heathcock
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux

* * *

THE VOICE of a woman once poetic and philosophical now spoke as a bookkeeper tallying a ledger. The valley’s defenses proved impenetrable. The military failed to break through the shield. But if the valley’s defense system was compromised, the military could take the New Los Angeles Valley and end the war in a matter of days. Disabling the shield was imperative.

“Jo Sam’s methods are immoral,” Meera said. “Yet his forces grow stronger by the day. Over fifty thousand of our countrymen have already died, many people we loved, including your mother. Our homeland is imperiled, as are all the ideals men and women have fought to uphold for centuries. Which is why we’ve launched a special mission. A mission suited for a soldier with wings.”

She never asked if I wanted the mission. Never asked if I’d comply. This was clearly an order. The valley’s eighteen dams were alternately shut off, one each night. Each evening, I’d come to the restaurant, where Dewey would have a box of Pain d’Alethea that wasn’t really bread. We’d go to his quarters under the guise of spending time together. He’d take me to a point of access into the tunnel system beneath the city streets. From there, I’d go alone.

I’d travel through an underground tunnel that would end in a stairwell. I’d take the stairs to the roof of a building. On the roof, a bird would be waiting.

The bird was a drone equipped with a scrambler. The bird and I would fly, undetected by surveillance, to that night’s dam. At the dam, I’d plant the “bread” in the spillway weep hole, a spot so high, the necessary placement so precise, it was nothing that could be executed via drone, and required the facility of hands, a set of actions Meera detailed with exacting specificity.

Once all eighteen packages were in place, my mission would be complete. Meera said we must never be seen together again, and I must continue in my role of Seraphine as if our meeting had never occurred, no matter what the Novae Terrae asked of me.

I was overwhelmed, my nerves frazzled. As deep in the muck as I’d already waded, I was now being ordered to burrow beneath the swamp. “The bread?” I asked. “What’s it really?”

“A knock on the door. A way in.”

Meera apologized, but said she couldn’t say more than she already had. This was how it must work, for if we each only knew our part, and no one knew the whole, then no one person could compromise the mission.

“The Pearl must suspect nothing,” she added. “If any of us are unmasked, our roles could be recommissioned. However, if you’re discovered, the mission would be impossible, and everyone would be in jeopardy—you, me, your sister, and many others.”

Meera made me repeat back the steps of my mission. My mind churning, I’d get partway through when she’d correct me and make me start again. After several tries, my recitation was flawless.

Then Meera untied the box on the table and lifted out the Pain d’Alethea.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.