DUALITY /#Wattys 2021

Chapter 41

A hovercraft took Reb and Ridley over miles of rolling countryside, over towns and cities, and into the District the next morning. Ridley pressed her nose against the window, staring down at the Bowl. Buildings tall enough to rival downtown Midgarde rose like a fairy ring around a square of lower structures, so that monuments and state houses centuries old could be preserved. From the air, it did look like a bowl, with the oldest white buildings at the bottom like cubes of sugar.

Reb tapped her on the shoulder. "Your weapon." He handed her a laser pistol, which she immediately put through the function and safety inspection he had taught her.

She tucked it into her belt at the small of her back the way he'd shown her, and Reb gave her a satisfied nod. "We'll be flying to a government landing pad on the riverbank," he said. "I want you to see where you'll be arriving after the raid."

They flew over parkland next to the river, dotted with marinas and crisscrossed with trails. Then high fences cordoned off a section of land, with armed patrols walking dogs around the perimeter. A bunker stretched its flat roof in front of them, and the hovercraft set down. Ridley shivered, waiting for the doors to open. The gray-green metal bunker depressed her, the huge black dogs the men walked looked threatening, and the crisscrossing diagonal white strips of fencing reminded her of teeth.

When the doors opened, Ridley unbuckled her restraints and followed Reb out of the vehicle. He'd dressed in camouflage with insignia on the shoulder and wore an official-looking ID around his neck. Soldiers saluted him as he entered the bunker. Ridley followed close behind. After a check-in procedure at the door, he escorted her down a long, bare, white hallway and into a locker room.

Unmarked camo jackets hung on pegs on the wall. Reb pulled one down, exchanged his coat with the insignia for it, and gestured at the others. "One of these should fit you. Take your coat off and try these on. They're heat-shielded, so if we're overflown we won't show up on their sensors."

The smallest one fit. Ridley put her hands in the pockets and found thin, fleece-lined leather gloves and a fleece-lined camo hat. She put those on. He'd already made her put two sweaters on this morning, but she figured they had a two-mile hike through cold weather ahead; it'd be important to be warm. Reb stood waiting and held the door open for her.

An armed officer awaited them outside. Reb put his hand on her shoulder and steered her down the corridor. "This is where you'll arrive after the raid," he said. "This building connects directly with the escape route." He reached the end of the corridor and waved his ID in front of a sensor on the wall. He followed that by pressing his palm against the sensor, then keyed a code into a keypad mounted below. "Put your hand here."

Ridley put her own palm on the sensor. A thick steel door slid aside, revealing a flight of stairs next to a conveyor that was not in motion.

Reb took the stairs. "This stops under Chi's luge shed on the other side of the river. When he takes you there, you'll notice a trapdoor in the floor under the rug. Open that, and I'll be there waiting for you in this."

They reached the bottom of the stairs. A tiny hovercraft vehicle, metal gray and shaped like a bullet with windows, sat there. It had windshields and steering controls mounted at each end. Reb opened the door, and Ridley bent down and crawled in. Four seats surrounded one fifth seat right in the middle. For the King and the Princess, she supposed. Ridley picked a far seat and sat down. The seats swiveled all the way around. She turned hers, and kicked something hard that made a wet buzz, like someone blowing a raspberry.

Ridley peered down. "Bug! I wondered where you were!" Two eyes extended on their antenna stalks, and Bug inspected her from top to toe, making a low whooping sound. Reb spoke briefly with their escort, then climbed into the other side and took the controls.