Jay Budgett - The Indigo Thief

Councilman Plumb was already seven minutes late to the meeting when a whimpering Gracie rubbed her muzzle against his checkered tweed jacket, as if she could smell the acrid scent of death that would soon coat its fabric.

Plumb patted Gracie a final time, chalked her whimpers up to nerves, and shut the door to his room behind him. He jabbed the elevator call button three times and waited for its steel doors to open wide like jaws and carry him to the sixth-floor conference room.

As he studied his reflection in the mirrored elevator doors, he imagined the look that would appear on his son’s face when the eleven-year-old saw Gracie’s soft chocolate coat for the first time. Shawn had been asking for a dog for years now, but his mom’s allergies had always made that impossible. It had been eight months since Abigail passed, however, and Plumb decided a dog would do the boy well.

He’d intended to surprise Shawn with the eight-week-old Lab last night, but the chancellor had scheduled an emergency meeting for this morning—something to do with the Lost Boys—and he’d been forced to stay an extra day away from home. The surprise would have to wait until tonight, when he returned home to Moku Lani.

Plumb glanced at his watch—it was 7:25. Right about now Shawn would be finishing an episode of “Captain Ultimatum’s Aquatic Adventures” and slurping milk from his bowl of cereal, corn flake remnants bobbing about like abandoned islands. In fifteen minutes, he’d leave for the station with his six-year-old sister, Sandra, and ride the Pacific Northwestern Tube to Kauai Central Station.

The two would arrive at the Kauai Private Children’s Academy at 8:30, and Shawn would start his day with thirty minutes of speech therapy. After four years, his stutter was almost entirely gone.

Thinking of his children soothed Plumb for a happy minute. The elevator’s chime interrupted his thoughts; he’d reached the sixth floor.

He hurried down the hall, knocking twice before slipping into the conference room; he prayed the chancellor wouldn’t reprimand him too harshly for his tardiness.

Chancellor Hackner, however, ignored his entrance entirely, requested a cup of his favorite Earl Grey, and calmly issued an order.

“Blow up the Pacific Northwestern Tube,” he said, patting a strand of his black hair into place. He was well built, with a broad chest and wide shoulders. Thick brows framed his eyes, and his jawline was as sharp as a razor.

He smoothed the edge of his pinstriped suit and glanced around the room, smiling politely at Plumb. Plumb tried to mask his horror, but immediately felt sick.

The other council members nodded in agreement—blowing up the Pacific Northwestern Tube was the only option. The Minister of Defense & Patriotism had already approved the order. The threat needed to be contained.

The Hawaiian Federation would not fall.

Hackner leaned back in his seat. “So, we’re in agreement, then? We’ll blow it up to stop the Lost Boys? Will someone make a motion?”

Councilman Plumb cleared his throat at the end of the table, drops of sweat forming on his brow. “Mr. Chancellor, with—with all due respect—and I do mean you respect, I assure you, sir—I’m not sure that’s such a, uh, good idea.” Plumb’s voice cracked with his final words.

The other council members spoke in hushed whispers. Disagreeing with the chancellor just wasn’t done, and when it was, the punishment was severe.

Hackner cracked his neck to the right, and his vertebrae echoed their satisfaction. “And why’s that, Councilman Plumb?”

Plumb’s face turned red. More drops of sweat gathered along his knitted brow, joined together, rolled down his cheeks, and landed among the hairs of his bushy mustache.

“M-Mr. Chancellor, I’m—I’m afraid I just don’t think it’s right. Th-thousands of people ride that Tube every morning. To get to Kauai or transfer to other islands… Maybe blowing it up would make sense if there were more Tubes, but it’s the only one from Moku Lani. It—it just wouldn’t be right. I wasn’t elected to approve something like this.”

Plumb held the Moku Lani seat on the council. Moku Lani was a rocky wasteland, bought centuries ago from a private family and renamed Moku Lani from Niihau. If the island didn’t hold the headquarters of the Ministry of Nuclear Affairs, it might’ve been forgotten altogether.

Hackner curled his lip in disgust as sweat coated Plumb’s mustache like frosting. “What would you have us do then, Minister Plumb? Let the Lost Boys get away? Again?”

Plumb shook his head. “We could’ve captured them in Kauai—it was the Ministry that let them get away.”

“The Ministry of Health and the Kauai police successfully stopped a raid with no loss of Indigo. If we fail to detonate the bombs, I’m afraid you won’t be able to say the same. We have a shipment of two thousand vaccines on that subway, my dear man. It’s in your province. It’s your responsibility to get it out.”

The others council members murmured their agreement. Plumb shoved a finger between his neck and collar, loosening his tie. “Mr. Chancellor, please! I—I just think there’s a better way—”

Hackner glanced at his watch—he had an appointment in thirty minutes. Was it Margaret or Savannah this morning? Perhaps April. He scratched his head. Maybe Stacy.

“I’m afraid, Councilman Plumb,” his lips curled into a smile, “there is no other option. We’ll issue the order and the bombs will go off at 8:15 precisely. Our sources have informed us that the Lost Boys will be on the Tube en route to Kauai Central Station at that time.”

Plumb’s lip quivered. His breath came in spurts. “We can’t do it! You’re wrong! There MUST be another way! Something, ANYTHING—”

“There is no other way. These are not regular criminals. They are Lost Boys, Councilman. Terrorists. Enemies of the state.”

“But, Mr. Chancellor, there will be THOUSANDS of people on the Tube at that time! Kids, too! Think of the children!”

Hackner was unmoved. “If left unchecked, the Lost Boys will become absolutely lethal. You remember what happened to the United States, don’t you? And the rest of the world?”

“I wasn’t elected to kill innocent people.”

“You were elected to serve your country , Plumb. Protect the world’s last sovereign nation from any and all threats. The Lost Boys have the potential to tear this country apart—”

“They’re just kids ! Are they even old enough to be vaccinated?”

Hackner smirked. “You’d know about kids, wouldn’t you? What was your boy’s name again? Sh-Sh-Sh-Shawn was it? With the stutter?”

“You’re sick,” Plumb whispered. “You’re so sick.”

Hackner thumbed absentmindedly through a stack of papers. “Don’t your kids go to school on Kauai? Which I assume requires them to ride the Tube every morning?”

Plumb squeezed his eyes shut. “PLEASE, Mr. Chancellor! Please just let me tell them not to get on the Tube—”

“I’m afraid that won’t be possible. We cannot afford to let the plan slip. The Lost Boys might find out. They have eyes everywhere.”

Tears mixed with sweat and rolled down Plumb’s cheeks. “Please, Mr. Chancellor. I’m begging you.”

Hackner’s throat was parched. He turned to the other council members. “Could someone see about my tea? I’m terribly thirsty—”

Plumb slammed his fists on the table. “THE PUBLIC WILL FIND OUT ABOUT THIS!”

Hackner turned slowly back to Plumb, a slight lift of his eyebrows the only indication that he’d even noticed the outburst. “You don’t know what the Lost Boys are capable of. They’ll bring this entire country down. We must find them at any and all costs. The public will not find out the truth about the Tube.”