Ouroboros

Wrong Again

     Tegan stage-whispered into her phone. "Dr. Faustus, Roman has been captured."

     Stunned silence, then screaming. "Get my son back. Do whatever it takes! I mean it!" He hung up, leaving her stunned in turn. Roman's father wasn't one to lose his temper easily. She wondered if telling him had been wise, given their situation.

     Tegan crawled to the edge of the ridge and shouted to her petrified comrades. "Run! Go!"

     They scattered, leaving the dead dolphin where she lay. Tegan choked back tears, grabbed her crutches, and made her way to the gravel lot as fast as she could on the uneven ground. When she made it to the lot, the ICA thugs were already gone. Her comrades were gone too, all except Ice Five – the real one – standing by their motorcycle.

     Without a word, she hopped up to them and swung a crutch at their head. It bounced off their helmet with a dull thunk. Fiver recoiled. "What the hell, Tegan?"

     "You let them take him!" she sobbed. "Why?"

     "We tried to go after them, but they were armed. We weren't. Do you really think Roman would want us to die?" Fiver demanded.

     "We have to get him back," she insisted. "We have to."

     Fiver put a hand on her shoulder. "We will, Tegan. I promise. We'll do everything we can." Without another word, they handed her a helmet. She put it on, collapsed her crutches small enough to stuff in Fiver's backpack, and hopped on the bike with them. She wrapped her arms around them and held on tight. Though it wasn't her first time, she still wondered how Fiver did it so easily.

     "Remember," they said. "One tap to slow down, two taps to stop. Lean with me on turns. Don't take your feet...your foot off the footrest. No sudden movements. Understand?"

     "Roger," she said.

     "Who the hell is Roger, anyway?" Fiver asked. They grabbed something out of their pocket and turned away from her to slip it under the mask. Probably black licorice.

     She chuckled. Even in the heat of undeniable tension, some things never changed. Before they could start the motor, she held her hand out. "You owe me one for this whole fiasco."

     Fiver obliged. She popped the candy into her mouth and put her arms back around them. The engine roared to life, and without further hesitation, they hit the road. As she rode along, clinging to Fiver, her thoughts drifted back to Roman. Why had he done what he had done?

     She had always known that he trusted people too easily, and that his desire to help people frequently landed him in trouble. He was altruistic, but also self-destructing, and too naïve to understand that some people were out to exploit him. She wondered what would happen to him once they realized he wasn't Ice Five, but a teenage boy with fetal alcohol syndrome. Every fiber of her being wanted to protect him from whatever would happen.

     The knowledge that she couldn't reach him only made it worse. For the whole ride back to the city, tears ran down her windburned face. Fiver drove on, seemingly oblivious to her misery.

.........

     Roman glanced nervously out the window as the car ground to a halt. Just outside the dreary-looking building was a sign.

INSTITUTE FOR CETACEAN ADVANCEMENT SPECIAL SECURITY FORCE

CITY OF HULL DETAINMENT FACILITY

     He swallowed hard. He didn't have to understand half those words to know that this was the bluejackets' headquarters. Against his will, he started to cry. Dr. Sullman turned around and yelled at him. "Quit sobbing, Ice Five. I already know you're a coward."