D. MacHale - Storm

“SYLO,” I said.

A light shone from within, and the side door slid open. A soldier wearing red fatigues stepped out carrying a powerful flashlight. He was in silhouette, so it was hard to see who he was.

“If it ends here,” I said to the others, “we have to know we did everything we could.”

We all tightened our hold on each other, for whatever support it would offer.

The soldier strode toward us. He was a tall guy who had the bearing of a disciplined military man. I knew who it was. I didn’t need to see his face.

“Granger,” I muttered.

“No way,” Kent gasped.

Captain Granger marched up and stood facing us.

“Is anyone injured?” he asked, all business.

“I took a bullet in the leg,” Tori replied.

She lifted her leg to show how blood had soaked the entire upper portion of her jeans.

“We’ll take care of you,” he said. “What exactly happened here?”

“We destroyed the Retro fleet,” I said, matter of fact. “What does it look like?”

Granger looked toward the burning rubble… and chuckled. He actually chuckled.

None of us knew how to react to that.

“Incredible,” he finally said. “Absolutely incredible.”

“What do you want?” I asked.

“We’ve got an ark on Catalina Island,” he replied. “We’ll take you there.”

“Aren’t you worried that we might be Retros?” I asked.

“Not after this,” he answered.

“He thinks we’re Retros?” Kent asked, incredulous. “That’s nuts.”

“I’m not going with you,” I said to Granger.

“Whoa, you’re not?” Kent asked, surprised. “I don’t like these guys any more than you do, but what else can we do?”

“You go, Kent,” I said. “Tori, you should too. I don’t want any part of them.”

“I’m not going without you,” Tori declared. “We’re not splitting up now.”

Kent was torn. He looked at Tori and I, hunting for a clue to help him decide what to do.

“If we don’t go,” he asked Granger, “will you shoot us?”

“No,” was Granger’s simple answer.

“Then I’ll stay with my friends. Jeez, I can’t believe I’m doing this.”

“I appreciate your reluctance,” Granger said. “There’s so much you don’t understand.”

“Then why don’t you explain it to us?” I said. “Start by telling us what you’re doing here.”

“We were observing your operation from the air,” he said. “The Retros aren’t the only ones with infiltration capabilities. We’ve been inside the group in Las Vegas from day one.”

Another soldier jumped from the plane. He was a stocky guy who was as wide as Granger was tall. I knew who he was too.

“Cutter,” Tori declared.

The Special Ops marine approached and stood next to Granger. It suddenly became clear how Cutter was able to come up with all of those explosive charges.

“I stand by what I said,” Cutter announced. “It’s an honor to serve with you guys.”

“You used those people,” I said to Cutter. “You had them do your dirty work.”

“This is war, son,” Cutter replied. “We don’t have the same firepower as the Retros. We’ve had some success with large-scale operations, like the one at Fenway, but eventually they’ll wear us down. It’s inevitable. Our only hope has been to incorporate less conventional methods. The survivors who gathered in Las Vegas weren’t coerced. They did exactly what they wanted to do. We just gave them some help.”

“Just one question,” Kent said. “Are you the good guys?”

Cutter chuckled. Granger didn’t.

“Yeah,” Cutter said. “I’d like to think we are.”

“That wasn’t a solid yes,” I pointed out.

Granger said, “Then maybe someone else can convince you.”

He turned to the chopper and made a motion for someone to join us.

Another person stepped out of the helicopter, a smaller person who didn’t appear to be a soldier. It looked like a woman. She approached tentatively.

“If you don’t want to take my advice,” Granger said, “you should really start taking hers.”

“Tucker?” the woman called.

My knees buckled.

It was my mother.

She ran to me and threw her arms around me. She was crying. Once I got over the shock, I cried too. The last time I had seen her was from the opposite side of a prison fence on Pemberwick Island. So many conflicting emotions were hammering at me, but the bottom line was that I suddenly felt like myself again: a fourteenyear-old kid. We hugged for a good long time as I did my best to pretend that everything was going to be okay.

“What are you doing here?” I asked.

“I thought I’d lost you,” she cried. “Then I got word you all were out here and… I had to come. I’m so sorry, Tucker. It wasn’t supposed to happen like this.”

That brought me back to reality.

“Really?” I asked, pulling away. “How was it supposed to happen?”

“We wanted to protect you,” she said, wiping her eyes. “That’s all it was ever about.”

“Yeah, well, it didn’t work out that way, did it?”

She shook her head.

“Where’s Dad?” I asked.

“Still on Pemberwick. He’s fine. Your mother is too, Kent. They’re safe.”

She looked at Tori but had no comforting words for her.

“I’m so sorry about your father.”

Tori shot a steely look at Granger.

“How do you feel about that, Captain?” she asked coldly.

Granger stiffened. “It’s a tragedy when innocent civilians become victims of war. Make no mistake: We are at war, and I am deeply sorry for your father’s death and for whatever role I played in that.”

“What about all the other innocent civilians you killed?” she asked. “Are you sorry about them too?”

“No, because they weren’t innocent,” Granger replied. “My mission was to root out the Retro infiltrators on Pemberwick Island in order to protect the remaining population. I have no regrets about that. Your father was being used by them, Miss Sleeper, as were several of his friends. I’m sorry to have to say that, because he was fighting for what he thought was a noble cause. You should be proud of him.”

“You don’t have to tell me that,” Tori said bitterly.

“You sorry for trying to kill us too?” Kent asked accusingly. “If we hadn’t gotten away from you, the Retros would still be in business.”

“They are still very much in business, young man,” Granger said coldly.

“They are?” Kent said, sounding less cocky.

“Please come with us,” Mom said. “I know you have trouble believing me after all you’ve been through, and I don’t know how else to say it, but we really are the good guys.”

I glanced at Tori and Kent. They looked as confused as I felt.

“You told me not to trust anybody,” I said to my mom. “Turned out to be good advice. But you haven’t been telling me the truth for a long time. Why should I put my trust in you?”

My mother winced, as if the words stung her. I didn’t mean to hurt her, but it was how I felt.

“Because your father and I have been working with SYLO for a very long time, and we know that they are our only hope for the future. And because I’m your mother.”

I wanted to believe her, maybe more than anything I’ve ever wanted in my life.

“You kids have seen a lot,” Granger added. “More than most. You know what we’re up against.”

“But we just blew away the entire Air Force,” Kent argued with a hint of desperation. “It’s over, right?”

“This was an impressive operation,” Cutter said. “There’s no denying that. But wars aren’t determined by a single battle. The Retros aren’t done. Not even close.”