Director Evans let me leave free from his office, but I know that I was being followed at a distance. I thought it best to avoid contact with Rae since I just exposed the director’s plan and that it was known. I decided to walk back to my apartment so that I could gather some things before I left. I knew that the directors’ security robots could get into the building to follow me if they wanted to, but I don’t think they would risk going into my apartment behind me or being there when I arrived. Once I got to my building and inside my apartment, I felt like I could breathe for a moment. The stress of this situation was taxing and I wasn’t sure when it was going to be over with. I grabbed my backpack off the couch and went through it to make sure I had everything with me. I went into the bedroom and looked at the pictures on the wall of my family, I knew I was jeopardizing them by exposing who Wraith is, but I knew he would have A plan for me. I grabbed my pistol from the nightstand and tucked it into my back, rubber bands wrapped around the grip, just like I was taught. I walked back into the living room when there was a knock on the door. I walked up and looked through the peephole, it was my father. I opened the door and ushered him inside. Before he spoke I closed the door and looked him over to make sure he wasn’t hurt.
“What did you do Taz?”
I could see the concern on my father’s face but I didn’t have time to explain it to him.
“I got you out of lockup, just start with that.”
I walked back into my bedroom and went to the closet, grabbing a second backpack.
“We are leaving now, take this, we don’t have time to stop back at your lab to get your things.”
I handed him the backpack and pulled him to walk with me.
“Wait just a minute, where are we going? We arent going to be able to leave, Director Evans will have us stopped.”
I stopped just before opening the door and turned around to look at him.
“Director Evans is the one allowing us to leave. Now stop asking questions dad, we need to leave.”
I opened the door and let him go first, closing it behind me as I walked out. We headed downstairs and to the street.
“Where are we going?”
I looked around us and then began heading towards the hanger.
“Hanger One, there is a scepter waiting for us.”
He tried to say something again but I just turned and looked at him with a scowl, he got the point to stop asking questions.
When we arrived at Hanger One the two security robots stood by the scepter waiting for us. The pilot was already strapped in and ready for take-off.
“Good to see you boys again, lets get going so we can get back to Director Evans.”
The robots didn’t respond to my humor, I was trying to figure out their responsive programming to see if I could get something out of them other than orders. My father and I climbed in and the two robots followed behind. The pilot turned around and looked at my father and then at me.
“Either of you care to give me a place to go?”
I pulled open my datapad and flipped to the coordinates of my grandmother’s house.
“I just sent them to your heads-up display”
He turned around and then looked at the window and adjusted some of the flight paths.
“Oregon I see, well get comfy guys, this is going to be a long flight.”
My father’s head snapped towards me and his eyes got wide. I slowly shook my head just a little bit so he wouldn’t speak. I could see the fear in his eyes about what was going on and he started to rub his hands one over the other. The scepter engines began to rumble as the platform started to rise, the hanger doors above cracked open, and the light from the sun began to illuminate the hanger. I looked at the walls of the hanger and noticed something for the first time, there were small holes in the walls. They were just large enough for someone to crawl through from the looks of it. We started to take off from the platform as the doors got wide enough, the pilot took us straight up above the trees.
“Flight time from here to destination is going to be three hours and seventeen minutes.”
The pilot turned on the auto pilot and opened a book he had sitting between his legs. I looked out the window to see us speeding up and the ground becoming more of a blur as we gained altitude. I opened my datapad again and set an alarm for the flight so that I could get some sleep.
“Get some sleep dad, we both need it.”
I closed my eyes and leaned back in the seat. He didn’t respond to me so I opened one eye to see him staring out the window.
“Dad, get some rest please.”
He looked at me and just smiled.
“It has been six years since I have seen your grandmother, that was when your grandfather passed away.”
I smiled back at him and mouthed the word sleep back at him. He leaned back and closed his eyes. I know my father went out for the funeral but I had my suspicions after this happened. I needed to find out what my grandmother had left of my grandfather, he might just lead us to the source.
I kept my eyes closed for the entire ride but stayed awake, as much as I wanted to sleep I couldn’t. I didn’t trust the security robots or even the pilot. My data pad began to buzz as the alarm went off to get the next part of this plan going.
“Wake up dad.”
I reached across and shook his leg to get him up. He opened his eyes and stretched his arms.
“Are we there already?”
I looked out the window and saw the ocean below us still. The pilot was taking a route that was more over the water than land. I looked at the security robots that seemed in a state of low power. I tapped my dad on the leg and then nodded at the robots. He went to speak up but I put both hands up low to stop him. He paused his thoughts and watched my hands. I moved both hands sideways and then forward. His eyes got wide and he nodded in the pilot’s direction. I put up two fingers, meaning we will deal with him after. He nodded his head in agreement and then waited for me to move. I bent down to tie my shoes tighter, I wanted to see if they connected their harness. To my liking, they failed basic flight safety in their programming. I sat back up and stretched my arms, one going behind the robot next to me.
“Oh man, it’s starting to get stuffy in here.”
The robot began to twitch and power up again. I pulled the door release and the air pressure slammed it open. It immediately became louder around us.
“HOPE YOU BOYS CAN SWIM!”
I turned and brought my legs up, kicking the one next to me out of the door. The other robot reached to grab it but the weight pulled him out as well.
“WHOAH! WHAT’S HAPPENING BACK THERE!”
The pilot must have fallen asleep mid-flight while reading. My dad got up to stick his head into the cockpit.
“Each flight suit comes with a parachute and life vest. Hope you remember your training kid!”
The pilot fumbled to get his pistol from the dash. Just as he reached it my dad pulled the ejection lever on the side. The top blew open and the pilot with his seat shot out of the scepter. My dad twisted his body through the small opening into the now open and seatless cockpit.
“I’m going to take us down low and slow it down. This air pressure will kill us soon.”
I held onto the handles above my head and looked down at the water as the pilot landed softly.
“The pilot is in the water, I can see his strobe. Take us away dad.”
He pointed the nose down and hugged the cliffs as we got closer to my grandmother’s house. She hasn’t seen me since I was a child. She was the stern hand of reason in my father’s family, but she liked to be alone.
The heads-up display went when the top of the cockpit blew off so I wasn’t sure how close we were.
“Taz, see that off in the distance?”
I climbed forward and looked out at what he was pointing to.
“Is that a castle?”
He laughed and shrugged his shoulders.
“More of a manor, castles are more of a Merlin thing.”
He noticed me turn my head and look at him as he started laughing harder.
“Merlin? Like the Wizard from stories?”
He nodded his head vigorously as he continued to laugh. I forgot how much of a nerd my father was for that fantasy stuff, I was more of a science person.
“Hang on, I’m going to take us up to land.”
I grabbed the bar beside me and kept looking out the front of the scepter. He turned the nose up and went straight toward the sky until we passed over the landing pad. He brought it to a hover and leveled us to the landing pad, taking us down with a soft touch down.
“Now I know what you’ve been told and I’m going to be the first one to apologize to you for it.”
My dad stood up and climbed out of the cockpit, I exited through the side onto the ground.
“What do you mean?”
He fixed his shirt and then motioned for me to walk down the gangway towards the manor.
“Just don’t hate me for this Otaza.”
The doors opened and my grandmother was standing just inside.
“Mitchell, the last time someone landed on that pad looking like you two, your father and I were on the run.”
I felt my stomach turn, my grandmother was not the woman I remembered as a child. Her voice was commanding and it shook me to the core.
“Hello mother, it’s nice to see you too.”
He walked up to hug her but she put her hand out and motioned him to the side.
“Otaza, dear child, what has your father roped you into?”
I went forward to hug her and she was receptive to it.
“Actually, it was my plan and idea to come here.”
She took a step back and crossed her arms with wide eyes.
“And what is it that I could possibly do for you?”
I looked around the entryway and at my dad, after all this is where he grew up.
“Actually Grandma, it’s not your help I need, it’s grandpa that I need.”
I watched her eyes dart at my father and just beam at him, I knew I was right. My father turned to me and started to talk.
“Otaza I told you, he passed away when-“
He was cut off by a much louder voice coming from above on the staircase.
“It is time Mitchell, the boy must know the truth.”
I looked up to see an older man in a silver robe standing with a cane. Before I could get anything out he stepped down one step and reached his hand out toward me.
“Come Otaza, I think it’s time you heard the truth, the story of Wraith.”
Around the block and on the bus. 