[CHAPTER 5] — The Hunt Begins
I woke up the next morning feeling more invigorated than I had my entire adult life. The obligations to the Council to delve out the sentences for the members of the Cult of Seedbearers were complete, and it was finally time for the Council to hold up their end of the bargain; to dedicate ample resources to finding her daughter. When this had all started, I’d had absolutely no interest in being a part of any kind of society. Even at fourteen I had planned on setting out into the wilderness on my own and facing whatever wild animals were out there. Still now I find the threat of a ravenous wild animal less scary than facing an unknown man.
The Council had learned of my ability from Lana and Mark, and had begged me to stay and help hunt down and bring the members of the Cult to justice. Lana and Mark were both members of the council, and had shared my ordeal and advocated for my proper care and treatment while courting me towards taking the position. It had taken several years for me to fully trust Lana and Mark, during which time I stayed in the woods and lived in relative solitude. A solitude that was broken up once every week when Lana and Mark would bring supplies and stay for whatever meal I had caught that day. After I had turned sixteen, I started visiting them on base; coming after dark or before sunrise so as not to run into many people and sneaking into their quarters. On my eighteenth Birthday I had shown up in their quarters with everything I valued and accepted the Council’s offer.
I dressed in my undergarments, then looked in the mirror to tie up my curly black hair. There was so much of it; layers upon layers of thick black curls cascading down my back, it always took so long to get it tied up properly. I tested my contacts to make sure the neurolink had not degraded over the last six months and found them to still be working perfectly. I crossed the small living area to the closet that held my uniforms and gear and laid them out on my bed. In the small bathroom I brushed and flossed my teeth and washed my face before heading back to don my uniform.
I stopped by the mess hall to get coffee and a muffin, just so I wouldn’t be lying to Lana when she asked if I’d eaten yet today. It was always one of the first things she asked, so I knew it was just easier to make sure to take care of myself so I wouldn’t worry Lana any more than necessary. I ate and drank as I walked, being careful when going around corners so as not to run into anyone and cause a mess. By the time I got to the Command Center I had finished my breakfast, taking the last sips of my coffee as I walked up to my adoptive parents and dangling the empty cup and muffin wrapper for Lana to see before disposing of them in the waste basket a few feet away from where they were standing.
“I’m glad you’ve learned the value of having a meal in you,” Mark said with a small smile on his face.
“Yeah, well, I knew Mom would ask and it’s easier not being on her shit list.” I chuckled as Lana threw me a quick exasperated look. “How has everything been since I’ve been gone?”
“Much the same in most areas, your brother is a handful, as always. The latest field reports detailing the conversions of the low-ranking members of the Cult show a drastic increase now that Bruce and James have served their sentences. Eighty-seven percent of the known members have converted and there have been no new recruiting efforts by the Cult.” Lana said as she passed copies of the report to me. “It hasn’t been long enough to show how Bruce’s sentence will impact these numbers, but so far they show that our efforts have not gone unrewarded.”
“Have we looked into this Meg person? Where are we on that?” I asked, pushing the rest of the information to the back of my mind and making clear where my focus lay.
“Out of the literal thousands of Megs and Megans of every spelling, we initially found over a thousand women who could be the Meg we were looking for. Our sources have allowed us to eliminate prospects by age, race, country of origin and vocation. Once those women were eliminated, we found only six of them who had left with various separatist groups in those early days. Our next step will be tracking down and locating which group was the one that left that night, and where they settled. We have regular contact with these groups but not with any communication; these are other off-grid counties like where you have been recently, but they have been on our side from the jump. These are communities that respect the need for people to work together for survival but who don’t necessarily trust anyone; they believe that anyone is capable of becoming an enemy so they keep their communities isolated away from those that haven’t earned their trust. They exchange their goods and services to Us in exchange for supplies they are unable to make or obtain in their counties, and for the understanding of peace and the ability to live within the confines of our laws while isolating away from those they feel they can no longer trust.” Lana explained all this while displaying intel on one of the screens in the command center that allowed everyone to see at once. “There’s no written record of when exactly each group separated, so the only way we can narrow down the right person is to scout each county, earn the trust of the residents and ask the questions we need to ask. If we go straight in asking questions, we’ll just get stonewalled and learn nothing; so, diplomacy will be everything in these situations.”
I looked over the intel on the screens, trying to remember the face of the woman who had helped me bring Everlea into the world. It was something I had tried to do a hundred times before, to no avail. The only thing I could picture of the woman who held the key to what happened to my daughter was a large ponytail of red hair. Some of the files were complete, with their driver license or some form of photo identification on file which allowed me to rule out a couple of the women immediately. The rest of the files must have been corrupted in one of the cascade failures the servers had had over the years. The world’s governments had the forethought to ensure that the identification of every human who boarded the Arks were accounted for, but as the equipment aged or were damaged the ability to properly maintain them waned and there had been several servers that had been lost along with all its information. Having never had photo identification on Earth, the only thing that existed in my file was a birth certificate that had been poorly scanned in. I knew who my biological parents were, but as they were dead and their names weren’t legible, I took Mark and Lana’s last name when I came to live with them.
“The woman that we’re looking for has red hair. We can eliminate anyone with other hair colors.” I spoke softly as I said this, still partially caught up in the memory of that day. I’d tried everything available to us in an effort to remember; meditation, hypnosis, scans and tests and the list went on. Anything anyone suggested to try to remember, I tried; nothing had worked. The only thing that I had been able to get out of it was the color of her hair, which was something. I clenched my teeth as I remembered my conversation with Bruce. I had been able to get Meg’s first name out of him, but the spirits he was so fond of had completely erased the memory of her surname from his mind. I could have done anything I wanted to him; it wouldn’t have made a difference.
“That leaves four possibilities. That’s a lot more than one, but it’s less than we started with.” I muttered, mostly to myself. Mark and Lana heard, me, though, and each placed a reassuring hand on my shoulders.
“Our first stop will be Elbrus County, a volcanic region in the Northeast hemisphere of the continent. This is the largest county on the list, and where a lot of our mined resources and livestock products originate from. Its size will make it easier to find people willing to help us and over time, they will get more people to help us until we’ve been able to completely rule out that county as a possibility. Katerina, you will lead a team of five others and meet up with a contact we have in the area. She has a mining company and will give you all jobs to do, which will allow you to establish yourselves in the community. With the size of the county, you will all be spread out at various locations in the company. This will give us the most area coverage to network the people and gather intel.” Mark was running through the plan as five individuals walked into the Command Center and straight up to us. As we greeted the members of my team, Mark handed us each a map of Elbrus County with sections drawn out on each. “Each of you have a section of the map that will be your area to work within, each of these sections are color-coded on each map and a key of who goes where. Every Sunday at four am you will turn on your radios and check in with each other and with the Command Center. Should one of you fail to check in, the two closest people to that person’s section will go in search of the missing member. As simple as this mission sounds, we don’t know what happened to the girl we’re looking for. You could be facing violent individuals involved, so always be on your guard. You’ll have the day to prepare, your transport leaves tomorrow at dawn. Any questions?”
Each of us nodded, and we were dismissed to prepare to head out in the morning. Cal and I exited the Command Center last and everyone had shot a quick look to Cal before dispersing and going about their business. When he put his hand on my arm to stop me, I knew what was coming and I was mildly annoyed. Having people who cared enough about me to be annoying may make me the richest person in the world, but it also made me the most irritated at times.
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“Hey KitKat, you doing okay?” Cal said in a gentle voice. Cal was a handsome man, tall and muscular with washboard abs and tattoos covering his arms and back. Being in the field with no sanitation services meant we often bathed together as a group in whatever clean water we could find. It had given us all the opportunity to see every inch of each other, which also meant that any one of us could identify any part of our team’s body. While it was rare, this was a helpful advantage when receiving body parts from the Cult.
“I hate it when you call me that, Cal.” I didn’t, but lying about it was far less painful for me than admitting that I loved it. “I’m fine, as I’ve already said a dozen times since Bruce died. Even better now that we are actually dedicating all available resources to our unit’s search for Everlea. This mission is almost identical to the others, only instead of searching for the bad guys we’re finally going to get me some answers. I do not understand how I could be better.”
“Maybe if you would open up a bit, let us know what you’re thinking, we could all rest assured that you are really okay. All any of us cares about is that you come through everything in one piece.” Cal was still being gentle with his words, and that drove me crazy.
Cal was a great soldier, and a good man. He did not see gender lines, and believed as normal people did that aside from the obvious reproductive abilities of each gender there was no difference between them. He was the first to lend a helping hand; the last person to leave a dangerous situation, and only once he had ensured that everyone else had made it to safety. The knowledge of these facts did not ease my dismay at the physical response my body gave whenever he was near; or whenever he was extra gentle with me like he was being now. The fact that my body yearned to be closer to him during those moments made me want to run far away and hide. I remembered what acts came from those kinds of feelings, and it was not something I ever wanted to experience again.
“Like I said, couldn’t be better. Now, stop being so squishy or you’re going to get killed this mission for sure.” Cal made a face of mock-hurt as I turned to walk away towards my quarters.
“Katerina Hammond, that was hurtful.” He said, pretending to wipe a tear from his eye.
“Like I said. Squishy.” I giggled as I turned a corridor and he was out of view. I took a deep, steadying breath and hustled to my room. What is wrong with you, Hammond?
#
Cal watched as Katerina turned the corner. He sighed and rubbed the back of his neck, wishing that he could just tell her how he felt. It had taken him so long to gain her trust, and the last thing he wanted to do was make her feel unsafe after everything she’d been through. I wish I could tell you how amazing you are. He thought, as he turned down the opposite corridor towards his own quarters. There’s no way that a woman that amazing would need him in her life, and he knew it; but it didn’t stop him from wishing she would want him.
Over the years Cal had watched Katerina transform from an angry and independent girl who wanted nobody; to a strong and independent woman with a strong sense of justice, ambition, and a kindness and tenderness she tried to hide behind the mask of a woman who needed no one. Many men were put off by her no-nonsense demeanor, saying that a woman that cold would be no fun to live with; but Cal knew that it was a front she put up so she didn’t have to be caught feeling vulnerable. He had spent years observing Katerina during their missions; what he found was an incredibly intelligent, fully capable soldier that could take on any challenge that came their way.
Katerina’s ability had been an urban legend on Earth; a family lineage that resulted in the ability to control the minds and actions of others. The legend had said that most of the family members had gotten power hungry, and used their ability to establish huge corporations that made them incredibly rich. Only one family member, a man named Eli, had estranged himself from his family and refused to use his power; claiming that power that great had to be used with great responsibility and until that was learned he and his descendants would not use their ability. Naturally Cal had wondered if there was any relation to Katerina and her hesitance to use her ability; but when he asked her father’s name, he learned it was Henry.
As they often are, this Urban Legend was discussed frequently. Many people were of the mind that they would not want to be associated with someone with that ability, saying that they would not be able to trust that they weren’t under the influence of their abilities when they’re around them. It was a fair point to be scared, but trust and fear goes both ways; Cal could understand that a person with that ability could easily influence someone out of fear just as readily as people could react violently when faced with someone with the ability. This understanding made Cal feel like he was on equal ground with the world; everyone was equally capable of violence when fear was the driving force.
When Cal reached his quarters, he went inside and sat down on the loveseat in the living area. He took out the copy of his latest field report and flipped to the photographs and looked through them until he found the photo he was searching for. In the photo, Katerina had been on a break from her undercover job; She had hiked to a nearby field of flowers and lay watching the clouds. The drone that had captured the photo snapped it as it was directly over her body, so it was an aerial view of her full body lying among the flowers. Her curly black hair spread out around her, hands tucked behind her head and legs crossed at the ankles. They weren’t always able to capture great photos of Katerina; he took this one to give to her parents knowing that they wouldn’t take it from the file that held it. Being his personal copy, he could simply photocopy this for his record of the report.
Sighing, Cal stood up and began packing his gear for the next mission. He knew that what Katerina had been through had made her highly distrustful of people. At first, he’d thought it was just men; but observing her he realized that she distrusted women just as much as men. As he learned more about her, he found out this was because Katerina had begged the women who tended to her prison cell for help and they had turned away from her. Men may have been the ones to hurt her physically, but the women involved had broken her trust just as fully. Any adult would have a difficult time processing that those other women may have been in the same amount of danger, but Katerina was only fourteen. No fourteen-year-old should have to process that kind of violence and isolation.
When he was finished prepping for the next mission, Cal took the photo of Katerina to make a copy. He placed the photo into an envelope and placed it in the Generals’ mailbox before heading to the mess hall to eat. Seeing his squad mates when he walked in with his tray, he went over and sat at their table. He was just about to take his first bite when he noticed everyone staring expectantly at him.
“Well?” Laura, the Lieutenant said as everyone else nodded their heads.
“She says she’s fine. She says the only thing she cares about is finding Everlea. As long as the Council holds up their end of the bargain it seems like all’s well.” Cal replied calmly before taking a huge bite of the chicken Caesar salad he had gotten himself.
“You cannot honestly believe that,” Rain, another member of the squad, chimed in. “You are the closest to her, and you have that… thing… for her. Have you talked to her about that yet? Maybe if she knew how you felt she’d be able to open up more.”
“What thing?” Cal asked as everyone at the table groaned and rolled their eyes or put their faces in their hands in frustration. Apparently, he was not as bottled up with those feelings as he’d thought. “No, I haven’t said anything. She’s been through too much; I’m not going to be responsible for any other difficulties for her.”
“Yeah, because you love her and you’re a good guy. That doesn’t mean she doesn’t need to hear it. It also doesn’t mean that we all need her to hear it so we can stop watching you look like a wounded puppy.” Jackie, yet another squad mate, interjected.
“Hey!” Cal said, clutching his heart as if he were wounded. “I don’t look like a wounded puppy.”
The others looked at each other and laughed. “Yes, you do.” They said in unison.
“Well, where’s Greg? Why isn’t he eating?” Cal was trying to change the subject, poorly. Luckily for him the ladies had seemed to have satiated their humors and didn’t call him out on it.
“He just got back from one mission and is immediately going out to another. Where do you think he is?” Laura said lazily, taking a bite of her steak bomb. Cal knew this meant he was in his quarters with his husband making up for lost time.
“Fair enough,” Cal replied before continuing his own meal.
They spent the rest of the meal in relative silence, making a joke here or there about one thing or another. Cal kept thinking about Katerina and his feelings for her. He wasn’t afraid of them being unrequited, but it terrified him to think that he could upset her with his feelings. He knew how hard it was for her to trust people; he had seen her struggles over the years and the last thing he wanted was to cause her any kind of emotional turmoil because he couldn’t keep his feelings in check.
He knew that the night before a mission was definitely not the time to bring it up with her, so he put it out of his mind as he went about the rest of his day. It was an uneventful day spent mostly in his quarters brooding about Katerina’s missing child. A child he had never met but felt a deep sense of protection over; a deep sense of fatherly love. He had not been much older than Katerina had been when they’d first reached the new planet, but his parents had been in the government his whole life and were both high ranking members of the Council; this kept him protected to a degree but powerless. The only thing he knew to do as a sixteen-year-old boy was to try to learn as much as he could about as many people as he could.
He’d remembered Bruce and James and even though when they served James’ sentence, he had looked a bit different than he remembered, the memory of meeting them and interacting with them when they tried to recruit him into The Cult of Seedbearers left a foul taste in his mouth. He ran through as many memories as he could from that time while he brooded. Most were just normal people, people who wanted nothing more than a decent life; there was one couple, however, that were standing out in his mind. He could not remember the woman’s name, but after a while the husband’s name came to him.
He dressed himself to meet with the Generals, and rustled through his boxes until he found the journal he was searching for. It was late and they were most likely in their quarters sleeping; this was intel that couldn’t wait.