Vladimir Todorov - Archipelago N.Y. - Flynn

“Hey, hey! Stop!” yelled Clay, trying to break up the fight. He managed to pull the boys apart and stood between them, hoping that he could get them to calm down. Flynn and Pharrell glared at each other, breathing heavily, their bodies tense and ready to pounce at each other again.

Suddenly, the loud sound of a motor boat made them all turn their heads. Duncan Roth was speeding toward the Station, his boat cutting through the glassy waters of Midtown Bay. He wasn’t alone. There was someone sitting next to him. Flynn squinted and lifted up his hand to shade his eyes against the glare of the sun. He saw a boy sitting next to the Rottweiler and his heart skipped a beat. “Tony!” he cried. Duncan Roth had changed his mind, Flynn thought happily. But as the boat approached, Flynn realized he had made a terrible mistake. “Shit!” Flynn spat in the water with disgust… It wasn’t his friend sitting next to Duncan Roth… It was Madison Ray, her long hair cropped to within inches of her scalp.

Flynn couldn’t believe his eyes. What the hell did she want? As if hooking up with Leo wasn’t enough, Madison was now hanging round Duncan Roth! Raging inside, Flynn watched the boat as it slowed down and slid next to the boys’ rafts. Avoiding his gaze, Madison got up and followed Duncan Roth onto the docking platform. Flynn noticed the golden badge pinned above her breast and his face darkened.

“Perry!” Duncan Roth turned to address Flynn. “As you’re well aware, Anthony Romero can no longer serve as your Crew Mate!”

Flynn felt his whole body tense. He stared furiously back at Duncan Roth.

“Therefore…” the man continued, “having trained with you prior to the Trials, Madison Ray will take his place.”

“No, sir!” said Flynn, lifting up his chin. “She won’t!”

Pharrell and Clay’s jaws dropped when they heard Flynn’s words. They had never seen such open defiance of authority. Stunned, their eyes darted back and forth between Duncan Roth and Flynn. Madison also shot a worried look at Flynn… No one dared talk back to the Rottweiler, no one!

At first, there wasn’t an immediate reaction from Duncan Roth. His cold eyes remained fixed on Flynn for a painfully long moment. “Perry!” he finally spoke, “I’ll pretend I didn’t hear that! And I strongly suggest you don’t repeat it again!”

Too late, thought Flynn. Blood was rushing to his head now. He had crossed the line, he knew that, but he couldn’t stop himself… He was beyond caring about the consequences… “I don’t need her! I can work alone!” he said.

Duncan Roth ignored him and turned to Madison. “Go ahead! Board his raft.”

Without any hesitation, Madison jumped down from the platform and walked over to Flynn. He glared at her, and then at Duncan Roth. “Sir, I won’t work with…” Flynn began to say.

“One more word out of you Perry…” Duncan Roth began, pointing a warning finger at Flynn, “and you’ll be joining the Departure List! Winner of the Trials or not! Is that clear?”

Flynn opened his mouth to speak, but Madison grabbed his elbow and squeezed.

“Stop!” she hissed in his ear. “You’ll ruin everything!”

“Get away from me!” he hissed back and pulled his arm free.

“I know how to save them all!” she whispered through her teeth.

Although her words were barely audible, Flynn heard them well. He threw a quick questioning glance at her and saw Madison nod her head. He looked back at Duncan Roth. Had the man heard her? Flynn hoped not… The Rottweiler’s expression had not changed, his finger still pointing at Flynn, waiting for his response. “Is that clear, Perry?” he asked again.

“Yes, sir!” Flynn straightened up, throwing his shoulders back. “For the Greater Good, sir!” he yelled.

The corner of Duncan Roth’s mouth twitched as he lowered his arm. “Now, let’s get going. I have your first Scavenging task for the day,” he said, addressing everybody.

But Flynn wasn’t listening. His heart was still pounding hard against his chest. Madison had stopped him from getting into serious trouble with Duncan Roth, but the die had been cast… Flynn knew that sooner or later, he would clash with that man again. There was a time when Flynn had looked up to Duncan Roth, and he had wanted to be like him… But the last twenty-four hours had changed everything. Now, he hated the man with a vengeance! Duncan Roth had allowed poor Tony to go on the List… And his father had been right all along… Those rumors about Ann Baxter were most probably all true, Flynn thought… He was sure that the Rottweiler was responsible for her death… If only Flynn could make the man pay for all of this! And then a thought struck Flynn like a bolt of lightning… He was going to rescue his father and Tony… and then kill Duncan Roth! That would be his revenge.

The section of Twenty Third Canal, between Fifth and Sixth Avenue Canal had not yet been scavenged properly. The mountain of mangled, rusting vehicles still littered the submerged street. This was quite an unusual sight for this stretch of Midtown Bay, at the edge of the Lower Side, where most cars, buses and trucks had already been salvaged and lifted up to the surface. Flynn had swum deep into the bowels of the large hardware store and was filling up his mesh sack with cans of adhesive glue, tubs of epoxy cement, vacuum-packed screwdrivers, pliers and power tools.

The Free Scavengers were on their assignments, following orders… Duncan Roth had sent them to this specific location with a long list of items to be gathered, and the teams were checking them off that list at a good rate. Nothing unusual about that job, Flynn thought, except they were to deliver the scavenged goods not at the officially designated holding port, but to a far-out spot in the Hudson Bay… He couldn’t care less where Duncan Roth wanted his stuff. It didn’t matter… What mattered to Flynn was to lay low and not draw any attention on himself. For the first time in his life, Flynn had made an effort to listen and to obey. Flynn knew he had to hold back his anger and save it for later… He couldn’t afford to raise anybody’s suspicion and spoil the plan.

The Plan!

Yes, they did have a plan… It was Madison’s, of course… Clever Madison! Flynn had trouble accepting that… accepting her back on the Seeker , but he had to give her credit for being so ingenious. Madison had found out a valuable piece of information about the Departure Ceremony. According to her, Duncan Roth would take the Departure raft with all the people on the List out into open waters and set it adrift… and Duncan Roth would do that alone! He had been doing this for the last couple of years… No guards, no one else around… The opportunity was unique… All they had to do was wait for the Ceremony to finish then trail the Rottweiler… Once away from the Archipelago, they would strike him down, grab his father, Pharrell’s parents and Tony… then hide them in one of the underwater air-pocket shelters Flynn had found on one of his dives…

Nobody had ever dared to carry out such a rescue mission in the history of the Archipelago! It was a good plan, though. All thanks to Madison, Flynn thought again… Madison had details about the Departure Ceremony known only to a few select members of the Government. Flynn tried hard not to think about how Madison had extracted all this information, but he was sure it all came from the mouth of Leo Van Zandt… Again, he felt the stab of jealousy… He knew he was now picking at a scab that had grown over a recent cut… yet Flynn couldn’t stop himself… Why would he be jealous? There was never anything serious between him and Madison… Just that one little kiss! She wasn’t even his type! For a brief moment in time, he had been in love with the girl, but not any more… Flynn had to stop thinking about her that way… and focus on his work.