Chapter Six:
Aquila Shumway
Memories of the night before flooded his mind. The base in flames. The Sun Mask. Ban wearing the samurai’s armor. Tammy on the helicopter, grasping his hand as he looked into her eyes one final time. Aquila ran his hands through his hair, his chest heavy and his heart aching. It had all been his fault, just like every time before. Why hadn’t he just gotten himself out sooner?
Aquila gritted his teeth. He clenched the roots surrounding him and pulled himself out. He appeared to be on a heavily wooded mountainside. Aquila had run for hours the night before, and hadn’t really paid attention to where he was going. Now he wished he had. The air was crisp and humid, with some slight mist creeping between the trees. There wasn’t anything like that near Corinth, he knew that for sure.
He climbed up to a small rocky outcropping to get his bearings. Everywhere he looked, he saw nothing but trees for miles, except for a small city to the South, tucked up against the edge of a large lake.
Was that Briarwood? he thought. It looked like it. But it couldn’t be. Briarwood was halfway across the continent from Corinth. There was no way he could have run that far overnight.
Aquila returned to the small hollow and gathered up his bag and cowboy hat, both of which had survived the night, unlike the guitar he’d had to leave behind. He pulled out a clean shirt so he wasn’t walking around shirtless with a bright red back, and took off running toward the city.
A few minutes later, he slowed to a normal pace as he passed a sign that read “Welcome to Briarwood.”
So he actually had crossed that much distance in a night, he thought to himself. Another minute or two later, he walked into a small diner connected to an inn. A younger blonde woman smiled at him as he came in. “Welcome to Clare’s,” she said. “How can I help you?”
“I wanted to know if I could get a room for the night,” Aquila said, stepping up to the counter. “And some food.”
“Of course,” the young woman said. “Why don’t you look over this menu while I get you checked in. How long will you be staying?”
“Just the one night,” Aquila said.
“Gotcha. Alright, we’ll put you up in Room 42.”
Aquila flipped through the menu for a second. “Let’s do biscuits and gravy,” he said, finding the first thing that look good. “Is it possible to have that brought up to the room?”
“Of course,” the girl said, her smile never changing. “We’ll have it up to you in about fifteen minutes.” She handed over a key, and Aquila paid with the stash of cash he kept in his bag.
“Thank you,” he said. “Is there a computer?”
“Of course. All of our rooms come with one. The wifi password’s on your keycard. Will that be all, sir?”
“Yes, thank you,” Aquila said, reaching up to tip his hat before remembering he wasn’t wearing one.
Aquila quickly found his room and shut the door tightly. He dumped his bag on one of the beds and crossed to the small computer. He booted it up, logging in and bringing up a private chat server only he and one other person had access to. A bright yellow message waited for him, from someone simply named “JOKER.”
I GOT THE FLOWERS, it started, using a phrase they used to signify they weren’t being forced to send the message. ARE YOU ALRIGHT? I’VE BEEN HEARING TERRIBLE RUMORS ABOUT CORINTH ALL MORNING.
I’M FINE, he said, writing under the name “RIDER.”
A few seconds later, JOKER wrote back. HAVE WE BEEN COMPROMISED?
NO. I GOT AWAY SAFELY, AND YOUR LOCATION IS NOT KNOWN.
The chat was silent for a few seconds. Then, WHAT DO YOU WANT TO DO NOW? I CAN HAVE YOUR IDENTITY CHANGED AGAIN. GET YOU SET UP AT A NEW BASE, IF YOU WANT.
Aquila sat back, staring at the message for a while. He knew what he wanted to do. He wanted to go home. He wanted to see his family. He wanted to be Sean Cassidy, to be a normal soldier, who wasn’t on the run. He wanted to ask out Tammy Hayes and not have to worry about avoiding personal connections. But he couldn’t have any of that.
Aquila got up and crossed to the mirror outside the bathroom, pulling off his shirt and looking at his back. Much like his hand, it was red and raw, but healing. He turned on the sink and washed both his back and his hand with cold water, then pulled some ointment out of his bag and rubbed it on. It wasn’t much, but it gave him a little bit of relief.
He sat down on the bed and pulled on a fresh set of clothing, making himself look normal again. Well, as normal as he could be.
A wave of loneliness washed over Aquila as he sat alone in the tiny room. He set his bag on the floor and laid back to stare at the ceiling, remembering a time before all this, back when he was just Sean Cassidy, an ordinary recruit from Texas, a farmboy who had signed up right out of high school, eager for action and adventure. He remembered his first assignment at a small base out in Reefside under his training commander, Rita Repellato. Or Rita Repulsive, as he and the other recruits had taken to calling her. She had been a harsh, cruel trainer, who liked to bully and push around those who were struggling. She was also Black Cross, as Aquila now knew. The Witch Mask of all things. Honestly, it should have been obvious in retrospect.
He remembered the day Rita Repulsive had pulled him aside, telling him about a secret EAGLE project he’d been selected for, a project hoping to create genetically engineered super soldiers to fight the Black Cross. He’d been naive and eager for excitement back then, so he’d signed up without hesitation.
Soon he was introduced to Doctor Daniel Kuchar, the man behind the super soldier serum currently running through his veins. Doctor Kuchar was a big man, with a bigger mustache and an even bigger smile underneath that lit up every single room he entered. He and Aquila had become fast friends, sharing an interest in the guitar, which Aquila was happy to play for him while they worked together.
“Here it is,” he remembered the doctor telling him one day, holding up a tiny vial of what looked like silvery liquid. “This is what’s going to make you a super soldier.”
Aquila squinted at it. “What is it exactly?”
The doctor grinned, shaking up the vial so that Aquila could see tiny little particles moving around inside. “These are nanites. Tiny little microscopic pieces of technology that we will inject directly into your bloodstream. From there they will travel throughout your entire body, converting everything they touch into a cybernetic mesh of organic material and technology.”
Aquila looked up at him, raising an eyebrow. “That sounds painful,” he said.
Doctor Kuchar smiled behind his mustache. “It will be,” he said. “Very painful. But worth it.” He pulled up diagrams on the screen beside him, showing a figure punching with incredible strength, running at inhuman speeds, and deflecting blows that would have killed a lesser man.
“With this serum, you will become the hope of EAGLE,” he said. “We’ll be able to take down the Black Cross and put an end to this bloody war.”
Aquila stared at the diagrams, thinking of the terrible bombings he had witnessed ever since this war had begun. For that alone, he thought, it was worth it. “Let’s do it,” he said.
Two days later, Aquila found himself strapped to a hospital bed, tied down so he wouldn’t hurt himself during the procedure. Doctor Kuchar sat beside him, holding a large syringe filled with the silvery nanites, as Rita Repulsive and a few other supervisors stood around watching. “Are you sure you’re up for this, my boy?” the doctor asked. “I can’t stress enough how much this will hurt.”
“I’m ready,” Aquila said, keeping his eyes on the light above him and definitely not on the needle. “Let’s do it.”
Doctor Kuchar nodded, taking a deep breath and stabbing the syringe into the crook of his elbow. The pain was instantaneous. Aquila clamped down on the piece of rubber the doctor inserted into his mouth, his wrist straining against the strap holding him down. Stabbing pain forced its way up his arm, making everything it passed scream out in pain. A second later, the nanites reached his heart and then everything went black.
A full day later, Aquila came to, the intense pain subsiding and his head finally clearing. He looked around at the empty room, everything feeling strange and heavy. He raised his hand. It looked the same, but now it felt like a vice. He clenched it, feeling incredible strength in his grip.
The door opened and Doctor Kuchar stepped inside. “Ah, You’re awake,” he said, his face lighting up with relief. He hurried over to him. “How do you feel?” he asked.
“I feel great,” Aquila said, sitting up and staring at his hand. “Did it work.”
Doctor Kuchar checked over his vitals and the computer he was hooked up to. His smile became as bright as it always was. “You better believe it did.”
After that, they started training. The formula worked better than they could have hoped for, and Aquila enjoyed the newfound abilities at his disposal. He started to feel excited at the prospect of leading an army of his fellows, all equipped with this power, to take down the Black Cross once and for all.
A few nights later, however, Aquila found himself awoken in the middle of the night by Doctor Kuchar.
“Sean, wake up,” he whispered.
“What’s going on?” Aquila asked. The lights were out and he could only just barely make out Doctor Kuchar’s large shape.
“Keep quiet for now,” the doctor said. “We don’t want them to hear us.”
“Who’s them,” Aquila said, still half-asleep.
“The people we’re working for.” The doctor looked around as he spoke, his eyes wide. “They’re not EAGLE. They’re the Black Cross.”
“What?” Aquila sat, sitting up quickly.
Doctor Kuchar quickly shushed him. “Keep it down,” he said. “We’ve got to get out of here, now.”
“How do you know?” Aquila asked as the doctor undid the straps tying him to the bed.
“I’ve been putting it together over the last few days. I didn’t want to act until I knew for sure. But now I do.” He undid the final strap. “Come on. Let’s go.”
Doctor Kuchar turned just as the light flipped on and a figure dressed in a Halloween store witch’s mask, complete with a cloak and staff stood in the doorway. “Going somewhere?” she asked. Aquila would recognize that voice anywhere. Rita Repulsive.
Rita lowered her staff and several secret doors opened all around the room, dozens of Black Cross soldiers pouring into the room. “Seems you’ve discovered our little secret here,” she said. She gestured to her soldiers. “Put our friends here back to bed, if you please.”
The soldiers rushed in on Aquila and the doctor without giving them a second to react. Acting purely on instinct, Aquila threw up his hands and pushed back against the horde. To his surprise, they flew back easily, some hitting the wall behind them. Aquila paused for only a second to stare at his hands before grabbing Doctor Kuchar, hoisting him onto his back, and charging straight through the crowd toward the Witch Mask. She raised her staff to defend herself, but he barreled straight into her and threw her like a rag doll through the air. Leaving her slumped on the ground, he charged down the hall to the high security door nearby. Thrusting his shoulder forward, he slammed into the door at full force, crumpling it like it was nothing and sending it flying out into the night.
A knock at the door woke him from his thoughts. Aquila sat up, quickly shutting off the computer’s monitor. “Who is it?” he called out.
“Room service.”
Aquila crept to the door and peeked out, seeing the blonde woman from the diner smiling and holding a tray of biscuits and gravy. Breathing a sigh of relief, he opened the door and accepted the meal. The glorious smell of the rich sausage gravy filled his nose, making his mouth water. “Thank you,” he said, handing her a generous tip and closing the door.
Aquila set the tray on his bed and switched on the monitor again, seeing Doctor Kuchar’s last message, asking him what he wanted to do. Aquila sat on the bed and dug into his meal, trying his best to ignore that question for now. It didn’t help though, as the second the food entered his mouth, it filled him with a nostalgic feeling and made him yearn for the biscuits his mama would make back home.
Aquila shook his head, trying to think of something else. His mind landed on the meals back at Corinth base. He looked at the time. Right about this time last week, he would have been sitting across the table from Tammy Hayes, sharing a meal with her rather than eating alone as he was now.
Stop it, Sean, he thought to himself.
He stopped chewing for a second. Thinking about Tammy reminded him of the card she’d given him before they’d parted. “Come find me in Silver City,” she’d said. He got up and grabbed his discarded pants from the night before, digging in the pockets and pulling out the small card. “Gon Snack Shop,” it read, directly above an address. Probably a secret EAGLE base entrance, he thought, remembering that Tammy had been a representative for EAGLE high command.
He flipped the card over to see handwritten instructions for the weirdest menu order he’d ever seen. Three large bowls of curry, a cup of coffee, and a bowl of ice cream. Most likely, the secret passphrase to gain access to the secret base.
Aquila felt a strong yearning to follow up on this card. Not just because he wanted to see Tammy again, but also because of something she’d said. “We can help you.”
Help.
What Aquila wouldn’t give to be able to rely on someone else besides just himself and Doctor Kuchar. To be able to know for a fact that he and the doctor were one-hundred-percent safe from the Black Cross and that they wouldn’t have to run anymore. But he knew better than that. He’d blindly trusted he was safe once before, and look at how that turned out.
Another message popped up on the screen. THOUGHT YOU OUGHT TO KNOW, ICARUS MIGHT BE LANDING SOON.
Aquila perked up. Doctor Kuchar had told him a few months back that he’d been looking for a way to remove the enhancements from his body. Aquila didn’t dare believe it could be possible.
WOULD YOU LIKE TO MEET? another message asked.
Aquila crossed to his computer. He hesitated for just a second. WHERE ARE YOU?
SHTF.
Silver Hills. Aquila recognized that code word. The suburbs surrounding Silver City. He glanced at Tammy’s card for a second. Several pieces of a possible plan started to fall into place in his head. If Doctor Kuchar really had found a way to remove the enhancements, he could be regular old Sean Cassidy again. And if Tammy and those she worked for proved true, he could ensure safety for both himself, the doctor, and both of their families.
But did he dare take that chance? He supposed if it turned out to all be a trap, he could simply fight his way out and they’d go on the run again, just like they had so many times before. But if it wasn’t, this could all be over.
Aquila held the card in his hand for a second. He made his decision. He’d go to this shop, find Tammy, and then talk to her alone first. He would proceed from there based on what happened.
CAN YOU ARRANGE TRANSPORT? He wrote. I’M IN BWMF. I THINK I HAVE AN IDEA.
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