The drive was a few miles down a back road along the side of a river.
The vehicle was mostly silent; Ember was driving, and the air was thick with their attitude and Kaleo's dismay over leaving his crying toddler.
Alethea sat by the window, her mind racing. Who could she possibly know who was a Pyro? She couldn't imagine any colleges, old teachers, anyone from her life defecting. Maybe there had been a mistake? Maybe it was just an acquaintance from a long time ago.
"Where are we going?" Alex asked.
"The General wants to see you ladies," Kaleo replied.
Thea blinked, startled.
"General? I wasn't aware you Pyros had such structure."
Ember sneered audibly.
Ezi jetted forward and smacked them upside the head.
"Dejarlo!"
Ember grumbled curses under their breath.
Ezi turned in her seat, leaning over Alex to explain.
"In regards to your inquiry, there are several ranks within our forces. General is the highest, but all the high-ranks create a council."
Alethea arched a brow.
"And I'm supposed to know this person?"
"Wait what?" Alex exclaimed, nearly smacking Thea in the face out of surprise.
Thea grasped her sister's hand and placed it gently on the seat.
Ezi sighed and beat her head on the drivers' seat in front of her muttering something in her language.
Hitoshi chuckled from the back where he sat among the secured crates and emergency supply packs.
The road came to a dead-end at a sheer cliff and they came to a stop.
Alethea scanned the landscape finding nothing but hills and the river. But then, the cliff wall started to move to reveal a once hidden door and an amber-lit tunnel.
"Whoa..." Alex muttered.
Thea leaned forward to assess the tech of the door as they passed through.
The tunnel sloped downward until it opened into a vast cave and they parked on a wide ledge among other vehicles and clambered out to find a team of Pyros was awaiting them.
"Master Atlas," a woman greeted.
She immediately felt small, and a little childish in this stranger's presence; the officer was tall with squared shoulders and a jawline, and she wore the black combat uniform like she was born for it.
"That's me!" Alex greeted reaching out her hand.
The officer smirked and shook Alex's hand but addressed Alethea.
"The general has requested to meet with you privately."
Alex's posture sank.
"Wait... I thought...."
"She will see you soon," the officer assured. "I will come for you. In the meanwhile, I'm sure Esmeralda will show you to the dining hall. Are you hungry?"
Alex shrugged and sauntered off to Ezi who wrapped an arm around her shoulders to lead her away.
Thea hesitated before following. Should she go alone? What if....
"Master Atlas...."
Curiosity bested her and she followed the officer and her company down a ledge path that zig zagged to the bottom of the vast cave. Her eyes wandered on the vastness of the underground world. It seemed to be an old mining shaft that had been expanded and developed. Pillars of stone stabilized the ceiling which appeared to be a hollow hill above. Unwittingly, she slowed as she stared upward, and one of the Pyros clipped her heel.
"Oh, sorry!" The girl exclaimed.
Alethea cast her curious glance. It seemed these people were scared of her considering they put six guards on her.
"Really? Six of you? I'm a nuero-engineer, not an assassin."
"It's for your protection, Master Atlas. Not the other way around," the officer called from ahead.
She scanned their faces for signs of dishonesty but found none.
They passed through a secluded tunnel to a metal door.
"The general will be here at any moment. Your escorts will wait for you here. Your team will be briefed on tonight's mission in an hour."
Thea bowed in her head in gratitude and stepped through the door as it opened with an alarming beep.
It clunked shut behind her and scanned the chamber to ensure she hadn't been tricked into a prison cell. There were computer systems cradled in the molding of the cave walls and a digital table at the heart of the room with chairs where it appeared higher-ups gathered.
She circled the table discovering the controls in his metal framework and turned it on. It lit up blue and revealed a three-dimensional map of the greater area with labels. She touched the control pad and zoomed in on a location labeled: Inferno. What appeared in the holographic imagery was a vast silver facility with high gates at the base of a dam. It was the NESP Facility. Or as Ezi had called it, the death camp. She pulled up the file on the location and read through what the Pyros knew about the camp's defenses.
She jolted as the door beeped.
The woman who entered wore the black combat wears of any other Pyro, but oddly, she also wore a scarf up to her nose.
"I see you've helped yourself to our database."
Thea watched closely, breaking her into details. She knew that voice- it was rich and gruff and full of memories that hid just below the surface.
"You must be the general..."
"I am."
Thea crossed her arms and leaned against the table. They shared similar skin tone and textured hair through the General's hair was short and graying. And those eyes- nearly black- like her own. Her heart started to race in her chest and her blood ran cold.
"I... do know you."
The woman met her gaze with sincere eyes, then yanked down her scarf.
Alethea froze. Childhood memories reeled through her mind landing on one. She was rocking her and singing, not like the operas, but a little out of key and whispery so no one would hear.
"Grandma Agatha?"
Her Grandma grimaced.
"God, you've grown Thea."
She wavered, feeling dizzy, and Agatha rushed to pull out a chair.
"Aww. I see your suppressor is disengaged."
She stared at the floor as she remembered the day Mother told her Grandma was dead. She remembered her monitor had flashed and she'd rushed to her room to lay in bed and stare vacantly at the ceiling for hours.
"You were dead."
Agatha pulled out a chair and sat before her, reaching for her hand.
She yanked away and glared at her.
"You left us!"
Agatha grimaced, a tear escaping past the soft wrinkles around her eyes.
"Thea, I'm... sorry. I know I owe you an explanation." Her voice was breaking. "I couldn't suppress anymore. It was leave or be terminated and... well, I left."
She studied the fine details of her expression.
"You were going to be terminated because you were lending information to the Pyros."
Her Grandmother's eyes widened.
"It was silly of me to forget how smart you are."
Thea's arched a brow.
"Well, I knew you were up to something illegal."
Agatha laughed, glancing her over with a wounded look- a look Alexius often gave.
"I knew you'd find your way out."
Thea sat back and crossed her arms, taking in every detail that had changed since she'd last seen her Grandmother. She'd aged, obviously, but the soft winkles in her face weren't just from age but from smiles and frowns and laughter and weeping. She remembered her Grandmother's sera smile which was too tame to create wrinkles, but a smile all the same.
Agatha sat and mimicked her posture: crossing her arms and scowling, in an attempt at humor.
Alethea wasn't amused.
Agatha sighed.
"I could not have imagined how lovely you'd become," she admitted. "I'm afraid to see little Alex. Do you think she'll remember me?"
Thea clenched her jaw tightly. She wanted to scream and throw things and stomp around like a defective toddler, but she sat in silence for a moment to tame the flame rising inside her. What was wrong with her? Shouldn't she be relieved to reunite with someone she... well, cared about? Why was she angry?
"She asked about you all the time, for years...." She stopped before admitting that it took shock therapy to get her to stop asking. The dead were not to be spoken of, not to be remembered. Her throat swelled with the need to cry, but she dammed back the tears, letting the pressure build so much that it ached too much to speak. Things had been so much worse for Alex after Grandma "died." And she- even in her Sera state- had missed those secret nighttime lullabies.
Agatha reached for her hand, but she pulled away and cut her a wicked glance.
Agatha grimaced but spoke as if the tension between them didn't exist.
"I understand if you're angry with me. I... I shouldn't have abandoned you and Alex."
Thea hugged her middle and stared vacantly at the hologram of the death camp as a memory resurrected in her mind. She'd only eight years old when she sat stiff in that chair and watched through the glass as her Aunt Agnes was terminated. Once Agnes's body had gone limp, Agatha started to weep which had inspired three-year-old Alexius to do the same, and Father had forced them all into the car in haste. Grandmother hadn't been the same after that, and six months later, she'd died mysteriously in the night.
She cleared her throat.
"I understand why you left."
Agatha sat back and eyed her with an analytical manner.
"You'll come to realize feelings can't always be tamed by logic. Trust me, it's infinitely frustrating."
Thea barely nodded, then jolted herself from her daze.
"As lovely as this reunion has been, I'm not here for family drama. Now, about breaking into the NESP Facility. I mean- the death camp...."
Agatha pinched the bridge of her nose and chuckled.
"Always the pragmatic one, aren't you?"
Thea shrugged and glanced over the holographic table, awaiting an explanation of the plan.
"I'm not the expert in espionage. That's your friends'- Esmeralda's and Hitoshi's union. Those two run their plans by me and I decline or give the go-ahead."
"Did you give the go-ahead for my rescue?"
Agatha cut her a bemused glance.
"You're a real pain. You know that?"
Thea suppressed a smiled.
"Come on," Agatha said, stretching as she stood. "I'd like to see the more agreeable of the Atlas girls now."
Thea's smile broke free. She'd forgotten that she and Grandma shared a distinct brand of humor.
🌼🔥
THANK YOU for reading!
VOTE if you think books/movies need more bad*ss Grandma characters. I do. If you don't, vote anyway- thanks! Share your thoughts/feelings in the comments. I will 100% read and respond!
Lots of love!
- Em
(E.E. Hayes)