Down in the Underworld

Chapter 32 - This ain’t no hunt for the Red October

As Lady walked back towards Cal’s fortress, now technically her fortress, she was deep in thought and not really looking where she was going. She could feel the eyes on her as she passed the people of Royale, who were still cleaning up after Demise’s surprise attack. She also though she imagined some of them might be making ready to join her. After all, there were several subs down at the dock, and Demise had left most of them alone. At least he was focused, Lady silently thanked Bowie, things could have been a lot worse and she knew it. This might have become simply a tale of an unprepared town incomprehensibly hacked to bits by non-friendlies. As it was on digging deeper most of the damage was superficial. Lady sighed long and hard before picking up her pace. This was no time for silent reflection.

Reaching the fortress, she trudged through the open gates and into the belly of the beast, pausing only to single out someone she knew she could trust. Cal’s sister and right-hand gal, Carpathia. If Lady was surprised she hadn’t seen her earlier, she didn’t show it, and neither did Carpathia. And now they simply nodded towards each other across a room still crowded with Cal’s wounded staff. It was obvious Carpathia knew Cal was dead. Lady could see it in her face, and the way she squared her shoulders, ready to face another difficult conversation.

Striding towards each other, they met in the middle of the room. For a moment there was an awkward pause. The stood looking at each other, not sure what to say, which given the circumstances was perfectly normal. Who knows what to say at a funeral? As the moment strung out, Lady made the first move, pulling Carpathia into a quick hug before roughly pushing her pack and looking intently into her face.

‘We need to talk, let’s go upstairs.’

Carpathia nodded and followed her out of the room, and up the small set of stairs that led to the next floor. Not bothering to go into a room, Lady simply started talking.

 ‘I guess you know Cal wanted me to take over from him, but it’s not a good idea sister,’ she started.  

Carpathia frowned and opened her mouth to speak.

‘Even if you didn’t know that was his plan, it doesn’t matter now,’ Lady pushed on, ‘we both know this place belongs to you just as much as it did Cal, it should be yours to take over now he’s gone, and I have no intention of fighting you on this – Royale is your home, it’s not been mine for a long time.’

‘I’m glad to hear you say it, even if that is what he wanted, handing everything over to you would only cause … more problems,’ Carpathia agreed.

‘Don’t I know it, and I don’t want this responsibility either, I’m on a different path now, locked and loaded and locked in.’

‘So I hear, word is already getting around this small town, but do you have to do this Lady? I know about the Overworlders and the Ghost… when it comes down to it, will you have enough people to back you up?’

‘Well, this ain’t no hunt for the red October but I have to try, Fury believes that if they get all the pieces of that machine together and get the damn thing to work then it could kill all of us, the Deadies and Barrens folks included, not to mention the Arbour, which of course Demise will show them … and we don’t even know the power of this thing. I don’t think they do either. It could destroy a city block or the whole planet, who freakin’ knows! I have to try and do something,’ Lady finished quietly.

‘What do you need from me?’

‘Weapons, whatever Cal had that he was secretly hiding in that war room of his, don’t look at me like that, yeah I know about it, and we need to stock up on food and water, I’ve no idea how long this will take or when I can get supplies again, so whatever you can spare. We’re rounding up anyone who wants to come with us at the moment and …’ but Carpathia cut Lady off.

‘I can help, let me come with you, with my sub and my crew,’ she asked, staring into Lady’s eyes with anxious hope and fear.

‘I can’t take you Carpathia, if all this goes to shit Royale will be the only place that survives, you know that, this place would survive a nuclear winter, so we need it to be running, and ready for when the wounded come back …’ Lady added pointedly.

Carpathia simply nodded sadly. She knew Lady was right.

‘Now no one needs to know Cal’s dying wishes for you or me OK? That’ll be our little secret, you know this place as well as I do anyway and you have all the clearance codes, so let’s leave sleeping dogs lie, but I gotta run, I’ll see you on the flip side, Bowie be damned!’

Lady gave Carpathia another quick hug and sprinted off down the hallway, leaving Carpathia to take all this in. With a sigh of her own she moved finally, in the same direction as Lady had taken, but when she got to a large black door on her right she pushed it open and went inside.

‘This is the real war room,’ she mumbled to herself as she took in the large desk covered in stacks of books and papers in front of her. It was time to get the family business in order.