Hydra Heart

Chapter Twenty-Eight

Chapter 28: Cobalt Cannon!

The second largest city in Hirudinea, Bard, was only one million in population behind the capital. It was settled beneath some rocky mountains, whose snow caps had partially melted since being moved across the equator in the continental shift. This was the northernmost urban area in the country, and it was sprawling. Wide suburban swaths with no agrarian growth formed a ring around a somewhat polluted urban center, with skyscrapers and multi-story apartment buildings. They paid a fee to get on some public transportation.

Priscilla asked, "Can you guys do this one solo? I want to go sit and soak in the je ne sais quoi of this place."

"You mean the zeitgeist?" Shay asked.

"Yeah, yeah, dead languages. Vesta, go stick a fork in an outlet and get me when you're done."

The women parted, leaving him. He found a Caff Shack and sat down. He was going to order the grossest drink on the menu, when he had no Hirudinean cash.

People were all around him, engaged in their various conversations. One boy was studying for either secondary school or a university class. Priscilla asked him for a piece of paper and a pencil, and began to take notes.

--

The jailors hauled a writhing Molly back to her cell. They slammed the iron bars behind her, after casting her onto the floor. She got up and dusted herself off.

Violet asked, "How'd you do it this time?"

"The chainsaw, again," she replied.

"Good," Violet nodded. "We have to keep going. Vesta's getting close, she must be. We have to convince this building that the threat is inside, not out there."

"And, they have to not know that I can make a laser cutter." Molly whispered.

Violet nodded. "You should be strong enough to use it for more than a few seconds, now, too."

Seemingly in response to Molly's latest escape attempt, an announcement came over the jail intercom.

"The execution of prisoner 6483 is scheduled for this Wednesday, at noon."

A long, solemn pause passed between them. "I guess," Molly commented. "We won't be able to keep this a secret forever. If she doesn't make it, I'm going to break out and die free."

"Take me with you," Violet concurred.

--

"So, Vesta, how's the wife? The kids?"

Vesta shrugged. "Fictional."

"Cool," Shay commented. "Are you having fun?"

"Am I-" The question caught her off guard. "Am I having fun? On a dangerous mission behind enemy lines, where if someone recognizes my face we'll all die?"

"Yeah."

"... A little."

Shay nodded. The silence was comfortable for the first time.

--

Before the ladies could tell Priscilla what had happened with the next battery test, Priscilla unloaded his findings.

"These people are so odd," he began, aloud in the cafe. "Everyone has this general unimportance about them. Whenever they talk, they describe the world and their arrangements as if they are temporary. They live in this world of certainty, and it is so odd to me. They are talented in the art of skirting around issues without even the use of a clever euphemism. Most of all, for example," Priscilla gestured at a woman sitting on the other side of the room. "They have this sense of inevitability. That lady was talking about the President of Leonastan and she said that he would 'get what's coming to him.' In what world is that guaranteed? Why would anyone say that?"