The Gardener of Nahi

Chapter 17

Cassidian

Gazing at the beige sterility of level seven thirty-one, I desperately tried to think of a plan.  It was not a good situation – the office floor was only partially populated by workers this early in the day and I realized that it would be impossible for me to blend in.  The walls were the nonspecific color of putty, the floor was light gray, and the ceiling was brilliant white – a serene backdrop, but I looked up and could see dark pinpoint cameras every ten feet or so where the ceiling tiles converged.  The handful of workers around me probably didn’t even realize how much they were being watched day to day, but I did.  The hundreds of eyes on me at that moment were like a silent audience behind a curtain, and on that bright stage there was nowhere I could go.

     I turned around again towards the lifts.  The entire area was covered in Green’s blood, a few droplets and streaks extending implausible distances from the lift doors, one drop even resting on the plump cheek of a woman standing next to me, immobilized by fear.  Walking closer to the ruined doors I could see gray sky through the circle I had created moments earlier.  For the briefest of seconds I pondered crawling through that circle again and climbing my way up one level from the outside before quickly abandoning the idea.  I simply didn’t have the proper equipment for such an undertaking and the risk of falling was too great.

     Turning in the opposite direction, I found the red stairwell exit sign in the distance and started walking towards it, planning on using simple brute force to get to the level above me.  Of course I knew that the heavy door would lock behind me as soon as I passed through it (security would try to trap me between floors), but I reasoned that I could cut through them in a similar manner as before.  It was not being trapped which bothered me.

What worried me most was drawing attention to Myria and Parted Hair as I progressed, who by now I assumed were safely above me.  Their cover was most certainly not blown yet – if anything, Green and I had created the perfect diversion for them.  Now it was my very presence which threatened the entire operation.  Wherever I followed, the cameras and therefore hundreds of eyes followed.  Yet with every passing second, the chances of Myria slipping away increased.

“Blue?”  Suddenly it was Parted Hair talking in my commpatch.  After a few seconds he repeated himself.  “Blue, you there?”

I stopped as I approached the stairwell exit door, my hand hovering near its handle sensor, waiting for more.

A muffled voice finally spoke up.  “Green is gone.  They brought a body out of the lift and I think it was his.  Listen, I don’t know what happened but there are at least a dozen blacksuits on their way up.  You don’t have much time.  Is the innership there yet?”

“No.  But I’m going to blow this level now anyway.  It’s going to be tight.”  There was a lengthy pause.  “What about the God eater?”

“They only took one body out of the lift,” said Blue finally.  “I thought I heard him ask what level he was on.  I think he’s up there with you somewhere.”

Grimacing, I silently listened to their sparse dialog, weighing my options.  I could either pursue Myria and Parted Hair above me and draw the blacksuits to them, or stay here and draw them away.  Neither option was perfect, but then something happened which created a third option, and this one I took.