Erik Otto - Detonation

“Mommy, Mommy, there was a fireball in the sky!” Skye exclaimed as she was enveloped into Flora’s embrace. Clover was nodding emphatically beside her.

“They said it was a sat-Light , and it may have landed, ” Clover said.

“A what?” Flora asked. “I’m sorry, I missed the beginning.” She looked to Talon for help.

Talon glanced up from the ground momentarily, catching her eye. “It’s true. Some kind of fireball flew through the sky two nights ago, when I was on the pilgrimage. I saw it myself. They said it was Old World, pre-Detonation. May have burned up completely, but they’re looking into it. Thisslewood said it’s nothing to worry about.”

No wonder there was so much excitement. “Why don’t you tell me all about it,” Flora said, while guiding Skye and Clover back toward the tables.

The girls did their best to describe other aspects of the speech. There wasn’t much to know. Mostly it sounded like another excuse to rail against the Old World and their scourge of the earth. The curator was probably ecstatic. What better way to rally all the diverse Essentialist peoples than to point to fireballs falling from the sky?

When they arrived at the table Flora brought out some paper and they practiced their letters and numbers together.

Skye said, “Um Mommy, can I ask you something?”

“Of course, Skye. What is it?”

She leaned over and whispered in her ear, “Can we do the drawings again—the talisman drawings?”

It was so hard to say no to her, and there was no one else around. “Sure, my little water lily.”

Skye clapped her hands quietly, and then whispered in Clover’s ear. Clover clapped her hands in turn but much louder. “Shhh, it’s a secret,” Skye chided.

Flora laid out more paper for Clover and Skye, and then she began outlining the shapes of Granger’s talisman for them. It had been weeks since she last drew it, but the memory never faded. She drew the setting sun, the pillared Old World house with the tower next to it, and the foreign-looking cat with the strange beard. When she was done the drawing, she stopped short of writing his name and birthday, although the memory of it was still imprinted in her mind in every detail, right down to the stoic font used for the letters.

“Mommy, can I make mine just like yours?” Skye asked.

“You can use parts of mine. That’s how you know where you came from. But your talisman has to be unique, just like you are.” Skye frowned in confusion. Flora pushed away a bank of red, curly locks draping over her face, and Skye began drawing again.

Flora stretched her back and took a moment to watch her daughters draw. Talon was sitting across from them, his eyebrows furrowed and lips pursed. She knew it was one of his looks that masked some form of disappointment.

“It’s harmless, Talon.”

“Harmless? You know it’s only a matter of time until somebody finds out—only a matter of time until he finds out. I’m enough of a reminder. He doesn’t need to see the talisman as well.”

“Who is Talon talking about, Mommy?” Clover asked without looking up from her doodles.

“No one, water lily,” Flora said. “Talon, please try not to worry.”

Talon looked down at the table again. He’d grown taller than her, and was filling out. She had to keep reminding herself that he was a man now, despite his sulky disposition.

She tried to say something positive. “Thank you for taking the kids out again, Talon.”

Talon only said, “I know you have to get going. I can take care of Clover and Skye.”

“I know you can, Talon.”

He continued to look down.

“Everything okay at the Whitewater farm?” Flora asked. “They’re paying you?”

“Yes. The work is hard, but they pay us enough and give us a hearty lunch. I’m trying to teach Clover and Skye about leather-making when we’re harvesting, when they come by after school.”

“Good,” she said. Still, he wouldn’t meet her eyes.

How long had it been since Talon had smiled? How long had it been since he had really spoken with her? And now, at seventeen, he was beginning to look so much like Granger, with his flattish nose and wispy hair. His hair was more crimson than Granger’s, but otherwise he was a near-perfect doppelganger. The talisman brought back some memories, but right here, in front of her, was her most endearing memory of Granger. It made Talon’s rejection of her feel more acute every day.

There wasn’t much she could do. She could only hope Talon would understand someday. She could only hope he would forgive her.

“Thanks again Talon,” she said, getting up slowly from the table.

He responded with a barely discernable nod.

“See you tonight, girls.” Flora said, hugging Clover and Skye.

She made off toward the infirmary, breaking into a half jog on the way up the hill. Glancing back momentarily, she could see Talon take the drawings from the girls and crumple them up. He threw them unceremoniously into the trash bin.

“Axel Kelemen?” The car asked in a calm, feminine voice.

“Yes,” Axel responded.

“Please apply your fingers to the pad in front of you.”

Axel applied his fingerprints to the pad on the car roof.

The door slid open. “Thank you Mr. Kelemen. Your estimated time of arrival at Nadar Tower is fourteen minutes.”

Axel hesitated. “What is your Nadar security code?”

The car displayed AZC8913B5 on the finger touchpad.

“Thank you.”

Axel ducked into the car and reclined in a plush leather seat, placing his briefcase down beside him. With a barely audible hum the electric car pulled out of his driveway and began its trip to the turnpike. Axel opened his eyes wide for a moment to let the car access his retina for final confirmation, then pulled his notes out of his briefcase to revisit the schedule.

His first meeting was with the outgoing security director, followed by meetings with his new staff and other departmental heads. For the fourth time he looked through the profiles and other official Nadar Corporation documents pertaining to policies and procedures. He didn’t learn anything new. The corporate wordsmithing seemed to be giving him a feeling of nausea, unless it was the movement of the car.

Axel’s first day would be the most telling. Ryan had told him to not read into the bureaucracy, that Nadar Corporation wanted him for something more than these stodgy corporate documents suggested, something more fitting his skill set.

Yet his concern continued to plague him on his way into the city. Through the lavish recruiting courtship, the long move and the many perks, it had endured. When he saw his children first dress up for their new elite Long Island school, it was there, tickling at his conscience. Even in the hours of lovemaking with Pauline on their all-expense getaway to Santo Domingo, the concern ate at him.

Was he comfortable being the servant of a faceless corporation, even if just for a few months? Was he really just selling out?

If it hadn’t been for Ryan’s reassurance, he was quite certain he wouldn’t be on this ride into the city at all.

Soon enough Axel would find out. If this was just another corporate gig, he told himself he would give his notice within the first three months. Those few months of salary alone would be enough to keep him and his family comfortably afloat for a few years.

As he filed the dossier away in his briefcase, he noticed one of the calluses on his hands had become sharp and rough. He took a nail file out of a compartment of his bag and began to trim down the rough edges of skin on his palm. Sharp callouses wouldn’t do for handshakes with these corporate bureaucrats.