Lanna's War

24

The gas giant set at dawn the morning of Lanna's fourth day of absence-without-leave. No one spoke during the previous hour. The only noise heard was the sound of a shovel thrusting into the ground followed by dirt being tossed. Lanna supervised.

​"Work faster. I don't want to be here all day." She commanded while sitting on a log. Her arms were draped over her knees as she held her pistol in her intact hand. Narcene shot her a nasty look. Lanna smiled.

​Narcene's white shirt was splattered in wet mud and blood, her hands were blistered from shoveling all morning, too, and her back looked like it might seize.

​Bryce stood to the side and kept the old man occupied.

​"Deep enough?" Prizada asked. Lanna thought for a moment then said,

​"...No. Deeper."

​"It's deep enough!" Narcene spat.

Crack!

Everyone ducked for cover except Lanna. Narcene cowered into her shovel. A small impact crater formed near the back of the hole.

​"I missed." Lanna said calmly. Smoke rose from her pistol. "Deeper." She repeated.

​It took Narcene a half hour, but she eventually dug to a depth that satisfied Lanna.

​"Alright that's enough, dipshit." She said. Then she turned to Bryce. "Okay, I think it's time."

Bryce, with help from Prizada, lifted a bulky object on a wooden stretcher. The object was wrapped in sheets. Lanna felt a lump in her throat as they walked past her. She got to her feet as if to show respect.

​They lowered the object into the hole. Lanna became emotional, but tried to hide it. She wiped a tear onto her right hand while she held her pistol. She quickly composed herself and looked at Narcene who stood next to the object in the hole. Prizada and Bryce got out of the way.

​"You did this. You murdered my father, your husband's father. I want you to say 'I'm sorry'". Narcene looked at Lanna and then looked at Otis' body.

​"I'm sorry." She forced.

​"You didn't deserve this."
​"You didn't deserve this."

​"I should be lying in this hole instead of you as retribution for my many heinous crimes."

Narcene showed hesitation but quickly complied.

​"I should be lying in this hole instead of you as retribution for my many heinous crimes."

​"But I'm not because your daughter has decided to show me mercy and compassion, something I wasn't going to show her."
​"But I'm not because your daughter has decided to show me mercy and compassion, something I wasn't going to shown her."

​"May you rest in peace."
​"May you rest in peace."

​"Now get out, asshole." Narcene got out quickly, as if standing in the grave was making her feel uncomfortable. Lanna looked over at Bryce who was somber. Then she looked at Prizada.

​"Lieutenant, place the Captain under arrest. Hold her in the house for now. Bryce, take your- friend, and go with them. I want some time alone."

Prizada escorted Narcene away. Bryce took a quick moment for himself. Then he inhaled and turned away, guiding the old man along with him. Lanna watched them walk away.

​Lanna spent the entire previous night supervising Narcene as she exhumed her father. She watched Narcene wrap his body and then watched as she and Bryce painstakingly moved him from the roadside all the way to the stream at the far end of the property. She then ordered Narcene to dig a proper grave by a large boulder near the stream.

​she collected her thoughts and took a deep, slow breath. When she exhaled she felt like a slow-working poison finally seeped out of her.

​"Bye for now, Dad." She whispered. Then she buried him herself.

​An hour later Lanna returned to the house. Prizada moved Tegan's cruiser and parked it nearby. He already had Narcene, Bryce and the old man bound and blindfolded in the back seats.
​
"I took a hike to find the land cruiser. It was right where you said it was." Said Prizada.

"Good. Let's get out of here." Lanna replied as she stowed a stack of papers inside her tunic.

Earlier in the morning Lanna returned to Narcene's office. There, she found ten sheets of paper spread out on the desk. Most appeared to be notes, but one contained something shocking. She skimmed it and discovered it was an account of an interrogation of her father. Narcene asked him multiple times about anomalies in The Tors. Lanna also found her father's letter addressed to her, which she didn't realize was missing from her tunic. She figured the Langs had her searched while she was unconscious. She was puzzled and bit her lip. Then she gathered Narcene's paperwork.

In the cruiser, Prizada sat in the driver's seat and powered it up. Lanna sat next to him and soon he began to drive.

As they drove, Lanna reached into her pant pocket and clutched a small, cool object. It was her father's medallion, which she decided to take with her. Holding on to something that was important to her eased the pain, and gave her strength.

She felt the cool metal against her palm and thought of her father. As she did she looked over her shoulder at the vanishing farmhouse. Then she looked at Narcene and took a small victory in knowing she was one step closer to finding her young siblings. She would turn her over to Lunar intelligence and hope they could dig up information on them. But one mystery remained, what was Narcene searching for on the property?

Lanna turned her head back around and looked forward. The dusty road ahead looked quiet and lonely. It lead to the mountains and eventually the port city of Last Fjord where they would rejoin the Lunar Army. Lanna was relieved to be heading back to friendly territory, but wanted to sleep more than anything. Prizada glanced at her five minutes later and saw she was fast asleep against the car door.

Lanna fell into a deep slumber. This time, the demon on the back seat didn't haunt her dreams.