Our Time Bomb

Chapter Ten ~ The Inside War

Jefferson's pov ~

I sit in my office trying to file papers, but I am finding it hard to concentrate. My hands run on autopilot, while my mind is elsewhere. Last night worries me. What if Erika lied to me, she said she was fine after what my men did to her. I called a midwife to come and see her soon, but I'm still troubled. What if the baby is injured somehow or not normal. I rub my forehead with my palm, dropping the stack of papers in my hand with a clap on my desk.

I need to get my mind on something else, but all that I can think of these days is my wife, and Shadow Nation. Just because she can't be physically harmed, doesn't mean we can't try and get some answers out of Erika. I need to know the location of the Shadow Nation. I also need to know how many of them there are. Can we overtake them easily? Is that why they hide from us?

A knock on my door startles me. I sigh and open it. In front of me is a face I wasn't exactly expecting to see. "Umm... Luna, hi."

Mitchell is behind her, he must have showed her here. "Captain, are you busy at the moment? This young lady would like to speak with you."

I shake my head, "Not very, I suppose I can talk; come in Luna."

She scans my face, as if searching to see what sort of mood I am in. She looks beautiful, her golden orange hair flowing down her back and her green eyes sparkling slightly in the light that comes in through the windows. "Hi." she says, "Sorry to bother you."

I shut the door behind her, "You're not bothering me. Do you want something?"

She does not sit in the chair that is across from my desk, but stands behind it. "Well I thought it might be obvious, why else would I come here?"

"You want to see your mother don't you?" I swallow at the thought.

She nods, "Yes, is she alright?"

I bite my lip, should I tell her the truth? About what happened last night? No probably not a very good idea.

"Look, I know this is hard to understand, but she isn't really in great shape for visitors at the moment. I'm sorry."

She wrinkles her nose, "What do you mean? What did you do to her?"

I avoid her inquiring eyes,  "just trust me okay? You can see her soon, how about I let you know when?"

She nods slowly, "Oh."

Suddenly an idea comes to me, it's not a very nice one, but it just might work. No... I can't do that! I can't bring Luna into this mess. But what else is there that I can do? I could use Luna, I could make her see the Shadow Nation the way that I do, make her see the truth. She is vulnerable, she doesn't even know what to think about her heritage. What if I could use as a tool against her mother? It might break their relationship, but it's worth a try isn't it?

"Say Luna..."

She looks up, "What?"

"Can I ask you something?"

"Yeah."

"What do you know of Shadow Nation? For some reason your mother never told you about it did she?"

She hesitates for a moment,  "Uh, I'm not sure what they are. I just know some people don't like them."

I nod, this is good, I can see that I can easily sway her, "Yes, well perhaps you might like me to explain their true nature to you. They live somewhere hidden in the forest we believe, yet no one can find them. They make a living off of poaching animals that don't belong to them, stealing from factories, and they even kill to get what they want on a regular basis. I'm sorry to say that your mother is part of all that, but it's true. They also lie to everyone, Erika lied to me all the time when we were married, she lied to you growing up. I guess she didn't want you to know her criminal lifestyle."

"She... Killed people?" a look of petrified shock twists Luna's face.

"Before my very eyes. I didn't know who she was of course at the time, but I knew it was the leader. Three men and I were tracking a party of them in the forest a year or two ago. They outnumbered us, so when we turned to run, they caught one of us and brought him to their... Heira as they call her. She walked right up to me, a hood covering her face, and she slit the throat of my friend and left his body at my feet. I still can't believe that was Erika."

Luna covers her mouth with her hand, "Are you serious?"

"Why would I kid about that?" I say, "And that was only one of the times. She has murdered many people, mostly Gyardicans."

I feel a little guilty for revealing this side of Erika to her, but if I am gonna get her on my side, I have to break her loyalty to her own mother.

She closes her eyes and hangs her head, "I had no idea this whole time..."

I sigh, "I know... I understand how you feel."

Her eyes lift up and meet mine, "You make her sound... Like the Bad Guy from the fairytale."

I raise an eyebrow, "I suppose she is, but Luna, there's something I need you to help me with something. Can you do that?"

"What? How could I possibly be of use to you?"

I make sure to carefully word my objective, "It's nothing much, but I've got a little problem. I have got the leader of Shadow Nation in my hands now. She has the answers to everything I need to destroy them, or at least silence them. It would mean saving the district from fear of the Shadow Nation once and for all. So the issue lies in the fact that your mother is one... Stubborn-ass woman. I know she wouldn't give me answers that would mean betraying her people."

"So you need to help you." she sighs, "Of course you do."

I nod, "Well, we wouldn't be able to sway her at all by forcing her in any way. But that could change when someone that she loves comes into the picture."

"Oh?" she interrupts, "And what are you planning to do with me? Torture me before her eyes until she surrenders? I mean, that would totally work."

I spit in disgust, "Of course not, that's the last thing I would want to do."

She challenges me, "And what if worst comes to worst, you have no options left? Would you?"

I am speechless... I don't know what to say to her, honestly I probably could, and it would work. But I don't say that out loud.

She bites her lip and looks me straight in the eye, "I will help you. I want this to stop, and I really don't have anything else much to live for, so I don't care anymore."

I stand at the troubling thing she just said, "Luna, I am not going to hurt you. I just want you to talk to her, make her regret all these years that she's lied to us. Use emotion to... Break her."

"Oh I'll break her alright. I am ashamed to even call her my mother. When shall I come back here?"

I think for a moment, "give it a couple days. I'll let you know."

She doesn't seem to want to talk anymore and she leaves. I wonder if I've done the right thing. There doesn't seem to be any other way to beat the Shadow Nation however, unless we know about them first. How many there are, where they are, and how to beat them. I don't even know their weaknesses.

This will be an interesting next few weeks.