Industry & Intrigue (33 page)

It smashed onto the bench behind her,
spilling everywhere and sending up wisps of white smoke. One glass
shard hit the mixture Michael had been working on. The carefully
positioned beaker rattled slightly, but stayed in place. The woman
took a quick glance at the noise before turning her attention to
Reese.

She had a cold-looking
face,
coated
with a trace of annoyance. She obviously hadn’t been expecting to
encounter anyone. As her eyes met his, she stopped and stared. Now
that he could see her eyes, Reese was certain he knew her; if only
he could remember how. Those deep blue eyes were so familiar.
Thoughts and memories buried deep in his mind were racing to the
surface. But when he thought he had a solid hold of them, they
floated away.

They were snapped out of their staring
contest by Michael. “Oh shit. It’s unstable,” he said.

Reese looked over at
his friend’s
experiment. It was giving off dark red smoke and bubbling near the
top of the beaker.

Mi
chael ran the opposite way and threw
himself behind a lab bench. Reese jumped over the nearby bench and
ducked down. He heard the intruder scrambling to get away from the
boiling beaker, she believed Michael’s panic. A few seconds later a
tremendous blast went off and Reese put his hands over his ears to
dampen the sound. Bits of rubber bench rained down on
him.

He slowly stood up and looked
over to where Michael had hidden.
“Michael. Are you alright?”

T
he chemistry student pulled himself up and
shook dust off his sleeves. The explosion had caused damage to the
ceiling. Michael gave him a thumbs-up gesture to indicate he was
fine.

Reese then looked at the woman. She had
been much closer than either of them and had been thrown onto a
nearby lab bench. She was slowly trying to pick herself up. Reese
grabbed a nearby empty beaker and held it tightly in his hand. He
grabbed her roughly by her collar and shouted, “Who are you? Are
you involved in the shooting?” He was ready to smash her over the
head with the glassware.

She looked into his eyes
and whispered in a
reverent tone, “Rius. Rius is it truly you?”

He dropped
his arm. Rius was his birth
name. His adopted family had Alkonised his name when they took him
in. He looked into the woman’s eyes again and then suddenly the
memories flooded to the forefront of his mind. He remembered the
way she had teased him, the smile on her face when they played
together. This was his older sister, Lucina Galius. His sister who
he had long believed to be dead with the rest of his
family.

It was as if his memories had
been locked away all these years and
now they were released. Reese fell down as
he was hit with everything at once. He was no longer paying
attention to anything in the lab. He was bombarded with a full
spectrum of repressed memories and he fell forward, his eyes
closing as his mind played one memory in particular.

Chapter 30

The memory spilled
through Reese’s
mind. Suddenly he was four years old again and in his parent’s
house. He was at the edge of the kitchen playing with his wooden
toys, while his mother cooked. He giggled and his mother, Servia,
looked over from her cooking and smiled at him. Suddenly a pair of
hands covered his eyes. “Guess who?” said a playful
voice.

“
Lu-lu
,” he said while laughing. It was the
nickname he used for his older sister.

“
Damn, you got me.” She lifted
her hands off his eyes.

“
Lucina
, watch your language,” said their
mother in a warning tone.

His sister cast her head down. “Sorry,
mother.”

“
Can
you help Rius put his toys away?
Dinner will be ready soon.”

She
nodded and started picking up the
nearby toys. Reese crossed his arms in defiance, he wanted to keep
playing. “Come on Rius, you know the rules. You have to tidy up
before dinner.” Lucina opened the straw box near the wall that held
his toys and dropped them in.

Then the main door to the
hou
se opened
and his father, Aurelio, walked in.

“
Hey kids, your father’s home.”
His father bent down and extended his arms out wide. Both Reese and
Lucina ran over and hugged him vigorously. “Wow, be careful. The
two of you are getting so big and strong, you’ll soon be knocking
me over when you do that.”

Servia put the pot to simmer
and walked ov
er to her husband. “Is there news?” she asked.

“
Nothing new
,” he replied. “The rebels are
still moving west. The third army has yet to engage
them.”

Only six months ago,
anti
-monarchist rebels had started a rebellion and they had
slowly been gaining ground. The couple’s eldest child, Erebus, had
gone off to war with the Third Royal Army of Estara last month. The
rebels were west of Tercium and the royal army was positioned to
prevent them from seizing the city.

“
When’s Erebus coming
back
daddy?”
asked Reese.

His father looked at
him
. “I
don’t know son. He’s away protecting us. But I know he’s thinking
about us as much as we are thinking of him.”

T
he memory faded and was replaced by
another.

Reese was huddled with his
mother and sister in their house
. The sounds of battle could be heard
outside. Reese was shaking and his mother tried to comfort him.
“Don’t worry, my sweet boy. It won’t last long. Your older brother
and the other soldiers are out there fighting to defend us. They’ll
drive back the rebels and we’ll all be celebrating later, you’ll
see.”

The door burst open and
Aurelio
came
running in. “Servia. Oh thank the Creator,” he said. He ran over
and pulled his wife into a hug. Then put his hands on her shoulders
and looked her in the eyes. His face was deadly serious. “You and
the children need to leave, right now.”

“
Why? Have
they broken through? How can we
get out?” She started panicking.

“
No
,” he replied. “The fighting is still
in the eastern fields, but from what I heard the rebels are
winning. General Cassius was struck down by cannon fire. There’s
something else though. I…,” he struggled to find the words. “I was
working with someone and I found out what he wanted. He’ll be
coming to get it.”

Servia still looked
confused
. “I
don’t know what you mean. Who are you talking about?”

“
It doesn’t matter.
T
ake the
children and get out of here. Take them to the city hall. There’s a
refuge there,” he said.

“
What about you?
You
’re
coming as well.”

“
I’ll be right behind
you.
I have
to take care of something.”

“
I’m not leaving with you,
there’
s no
way,” she protested.

Aurelio
didn’t reply and bent down to
look Lucina in the face. “Ok Lucina. I need you to be strong. You
have to help your mother and Rius get to the city hall,
alright?”

The girl nodded.

“
Good
,” said Aurelio. “Take hold of your
brother’s hand and no matter what happens don’t let go. I love
you.” He hugged her tight and kissed the top of her
head.

He looked over at
Rius. “Rius, you
have to go as well. Be a good a boy.” He hugged and kissed him
too.

There was a growing noise of
panicked screams
from outside. Aurelio opened the door to have a quick look.
He closed it again “You have to go now my love. The rebels have
entered the city. Take the children and go.” The boom of multiple
cannons could be heard and his father’s fear was obvious on his
face. “Servia please! Take them now.”

There was a crashing sound from the roof
and Servia instinctually pushed her children out of the way. The
ceiling crumbled and plaster and wood fell on her, a long section
of timber pinned her legs.

Aurelio
ran over to his wife. Lucina
approached her parents but her father said, “Stay back Lucina.” He
looked between his children and his wife, torn.

“
Lucina,” he said, “I’m going to
help your mother, but I want you to take your brother to city hall.
Can you do that for me?”

The girl had tears streaming down her
face but she nodded.

Aurelio
looked at his wife, her eyes
were fluttering open and shut, but she was still breathing
steadily. He put his hands on the wood and tried pulling. It only
shifted slightly and his wife moaned in pain.

Lucina had backed up and taken
Reese’s hand
, holding it tightly. Their father looked back at
them.

“
Lucina
, go now!” he shouted.

Lucina pushed the door and pulled
Reese along with her. He kept looking back and crying for his
parents, but his sister didn’t stop.

The streets were in chaos.
There were other people trying to get to city hall and soldiers
were directing them. But wit
h cannon fire hitting the city, few were listening
to them. Lucina and Reese dodged aside from several adults barging
past. The followed them as best as they could.

A man
shouted in terror and pointed.
Everyone tried to scatter but it was too late. Several cannonballs
hit the buildings nearby and the resulting explosions blinded
Reese. He coughed and sat up. Smoke drifted past his eyes. He could
hear loud crying. Then he noticed his sister was no longer holding
his hand.

He turned his head everywhere,
but he couldn’
t see her. There was too much smoke and the adults were
moving around in confusion. He felt the air behind him start
getting uncomfortably hot. The building behind him was on fire and
it was rapidly spreading. He stepped back a few paces; the heat
slowly increased and made him feel dizzy.

Then he was
grabbed by the shoulder and
spun around.

“
Rius Galius. What in the hells
are you doing out here?” It was the next-door neighbor, a middle
aged woman.
“This is no place for children,” she said. “Come on. Let’s
get you over to the refuge.”

She started pulling him by the
hand
, but he
resisted, “No. Not without Lu.”

“
Your sister’s here too?” The
woman took
a
quick look around the area. “I can’t see her anywhere.”

The sound of more cannon fire could be
heard and the woman picked him up and ran. “I’ll tell the guards
about your sister, but it’s not safe for us to stay here. We need
to get to the refuge center.”

“
Lucina
,” he cried as the woman took him
away from the blasted scene. He shouted her name all the way to the
city hall. The woman put him down and sat with him inside the
packed refuge and he softly cried. No one was talking, they were
all waiting in tense silence for the battle to run its
course.

He fell asleep before the
battle ended and by the time he
awoke, the civilians were being allowed to
leave. The rebel army had captured Tercium. They were allowing
everyone back to their homes.

Reese was in shock
as the neighbor
carried him outside and saw what had become of the city. Smoke rose
above the buildings and in front of city hall, rebel soldiers stood
guard over a group of defeated royalist soldiers. Reese put his
face into the woman’s shoulder and started crying again. He wanted
to go back to sleep in the hopes that he would wake up to find that
this had all been a nightmare.

Chapter 31

Her brother opened his eyes and
Lucina felt her emotions stir
. She thought all of her training had rid her of
them, but they had returned at the sight of her long-lost
brother.

“
Rius
,” she said. “You’re awake.” She
pulled him into a tight hug, not wanting to let go. She eventually
did and watched as he shook his head and stood up.

He looked over at his friend,
Michael and then back at her.
The chemistry student was keeping his distance. He
was smart enough not to ask her questions about her unorthodox
entrance to the lab.

“
Lucina you…you’re alive.” He
was still having trouble accepting it. Not that she was any less
shocked to see him. She thought he had been killed in Tercium along
with her parents.

“
Believe me Rius, I’m as
surprised as you are. When I returned to our home, it was too late.
I was told everyone had died.” She was deliberately ambiguous about
her return. She didn’t have time right now to go into detail about
her abduction, her journey to Longhaven or the fact that she had
not been able to return to Tercium until she had graduated as an
assassin, many years after the war.