He leans back as he tries to find a way around this.
“The commander is on silent stalk. I can’t release you into the field without telling him first.”
“Actually-” I take the papers from his hand and flip them over to show the second section of the article “-you have to. If the Culligan Parchment is knowingly voided by the commander, the hybrid plaintiff can evoke the right to call the council and have the commander dishonorably discharged from the United for breaking the vows he took before entering into office. Since I’m not looking to impeach the phantom commander, I’ll just say he owes me one. I’m going out into the field, and I’m going tonight. I’ve got a lead on some United prisoners. There are thirty there, and it’s not far from an Unaligned camp.”
“Aria, that’s very high profile. You’d need a general for that, and there aren’t any-”
“General Marks is here. I saw him earlier. He’s here just in case a high profile case pops up. Well, pop goes the weasel, Captain.”
I should have been a lawyer or something. This feels good.
“Damn it, Aria. Don’t put me in this position. Just give me a few days to check in with the commander, please. He’ll want a general he can entrust with your safety.”
“If the commander doesn’t trust General Marks, then he shouldn’t be a general. As for the commander’s concern for my well being, tell him my mother will get the hell over it.”
He rolls his eyes and grips his head again. “You’re so damn exhausting.”
“Hale Banner and Araya Crush had a child… how the hell did you think I’d be?” I joke while turning to walk out. “I’ll be leaving in two hours. Tell General Marks to be ready.”
“Aria, I’m a captain. I can’t tell a General when to ready.”
I turn back just in time to catch the sheer dread in his eyes for the predicament he’s in.
“Then tell him the commander said so. I’m sure he won’t disapprove, since it’s his hide you’ll be saving. Otherwise, I’ll take this abuse of power to the council.”
He sighs out again, and I smile as the door slaps shut behind me. I very proudly dust my hands off in front of me as though I’ve just built a city by myself. My secret phone buzzes, and I look down to see the text.
Judging by that triumphant grin, I’ll assume you had success. Just make sure you get them out as soon as you free the prisoners. I’ll need to run through their data. They could have information pertaining to emergents, and you don’t want that getting out.
I look up and around, but my masked hero is as good at hiding as the phantom commander. I’ll let his stalking tendencies slide since he got me out of this cage and back into the action.
The trail is a little cold right now, but I’m good enough to stay with it. We slowly drive in stealth mode, our silent cars creeping beside an oblivious group. I swear everyone is almost holding their breath as we pass through the range a hybrid’s ears can reach.
Everyone exhales in relief once we're clear, and I glance down at my phone that shouldn’t be buzzing. I know the phone is designed to avoid pinging a tower and alerting the others to a presence, but the others can’t know that. Such divulged Intel could be used against us later if the Unaligned ever succeeded in planting a spy and stole the knowledge for themselves.
I’m alone in my car, so it’s not like anyone can see me as long as I keep my hands low. I pull it out, and I smile when I see the message.
Very good. Stay straight. The trail will appear to take a right, but it’s a fake.
“Doubting me?” I whisper to myself, though I’m sure he has my damn car bugged.
It buzzes again, and I smirk lightly, knowing he really does have it bugged.
I forget how good you are. My apologies.
I let an accidental giggle free, and then I roll my eyes. I’m being stalked and I think it’s funny. Perfect. I’m following a trail to a supposed nest of prisoners with a threat big enough to make a guy who has an incredible power feel the need to call in for help. I’d question my sanity, but I don’t feel like finding out how crazy I am just yet.
Then I see it - the false trail he promised. It’s subtle. They had several cars with the same treaded tires take a turn, while the true vehicles stayed straight and tried to cover their tracks with a very sophisticated sweeper.
It’s too good, though. The sweeper smoothed the dirt far too well, leaving a trail much too clean to not be suspicious. They messed up on the weights of the other vehicles as well. The cars they sent in their place had fewer people, totaling lesser weights. The indentions don’t go as deep as they should, further proving they went straight and covered their trail.
“For the record, I would have made that trail,” I murmur to the listening ears.
He doesn’t text anything else, but I swear I can feel him smiling from somewhere.
I see road showing signs of wear and tear once again as the smooth trail comes to an end, letting me know they stopped and disappeared.
The grass to the right of us doesn’t look to be disturbed in the least, which means they turned into the wooded area on my left. The problem is, it doesn’t look to be disturbed either.
