Final Fantasy VII: Lifestream - Book 1: Arrival

FORTY-THREE

"There must be some way we can stop this," I said.

Domino shook his head. "I'm afraid it's too late for that, Reeve. I've been monitoring the situation from here. The battle's already begun. It won't be long now. The Turks are on their way, and once they get their orders confirmed by Heidegger, they'll move in."

I looked away. "The local watch won't stand a chance."

"They're putting up a brave fight," he agreed, "but it's one they can't win. They can't keep them from the platform forever. And all the trains have been diverted away from Sector 7."

"They're being cut off..." I understood. "But there's got to be a way to reach them, help as many escape as possible."

Domino stroked his pointed gray beard. "Possibly, but I don't think there's much we can do for the people of the slums. Those on the plate, however, are another matter."

I allowed myself a small smirk. "The president said there would be no announcement, but he never actually prohibited me from ordering an evacuation. I think we can work with that."

"Splitting the hair mighty fine, my friend," he chuckled. "But I like it. There's a certain devious ring to it, you know."

"Indeed. Now then, we need to send as many troops as we can into Sector 7 to move people out. We don't have much time, Domino. Have the men tell them it isn't safe there. It's the truth, but vague enough that it shouldn't cause them to panic. And with any luck, Heidegger will be paying more attention to the slums and won't notice our activities here on the plate. I just wish I could do more."

He leaned forward. "You'll be saving a lot of lives tonight, Director. Don't go selling yourself short."

"I've sent my little agent on ahead to see about finding a way down to the slums. If he can get into the pillar in time and reach the console, he may be able to input the emergency override code and deactivate it. As I'm sure you know, every Shinra executive director has such a code. It grants full command access to any system on our network. I've made sure Cait knows mine, just in case."

"He'd better get down there fast," Domino said. "We're running out of time, my friend. Was that all?"

I thought of Jessica, in so much danger now. "No, there's one more thing. A personal matter. I need you to send a certain SOLDIER to my office immediately. I have a mission for him. I don't have the authority to make it an order, but he'll want to do this."

Domino raised an eyebrow. "Who is he? And what's the job?"

"Kunsel, SOLDIER Second Class," I answered at once. "I need him to save my goddaughter."

— — — — — — —

I swallowed heavily as I stood with Cloud and Aerith and looked at the Train Graveyard. It was an eerie place, unnaturally cold and lit by a strange, pale blue glow. Empty tracks crisscrossed all through the place amidst long rows of rotting train cars. I thought then of what Biggs and Lena had told us earlier in the week, how they'd gotten lost here as kids and had only barely escaped. And how something strange lurked in the deep gloom and murky shadows.

"Talk about spooky..." Aerith murmured.

Cloud gazed at the ruined trains. "We could easily get lost here, so be careful. Better hurry, though. The others need us."

I nodded. "Yeah. There's still time."

"Aerith..." he turned to her.

She shook her head. "I'm not going home."