Song of the Red-Legged Birds: Chapter 42, Part 1: The old man fell
Arthur confronts Careen
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With gratitude, Bill
Last week, in chapter 41, Part2, The crew heard a final message from Wake
Chapter 42, Part 1: The old man fell
Arthur walked the long hallway to the elevator, pushed the button, and listened as the gears engaged, lowering his ride to the surface. He looked at his phone and didn’t turn around when he heard the footsteps behind him.
“Hey, Careen.”
“Uh, hi, Arthur. Eyes in the back of your head?”
“Somethin’ like that, sista. Headed up top?”
The elevator slammed to a noisy stop and opened.
“Not exactly, just wanted to talk to you for a minute. That okay?”
He put his phone away, looked at her, and smiled. “Of course, mind ridin’ up with me?”
“Cool, thank you.” They both got inside, and the elevator began its aching grind to the daylight.
“What’s on your mind?” Arthur said, leaning against the steel cage.
“Oh, I planned on stopping by Luke’s place on my way home tonight. You’re probably rushing to get to Pe’ahi, so you don’t have to.” She rubbed her cheek absentmindedly.
Arthur chuckled. “I’ve got no need to stop by Luke’s!”
She stammered, “You… don’t?”
He turned to face her and put a hand on her shoulder, a smile stretching across his broad face. “Him no home, is he now?”
The elevator stopped, and the doors creaked open.
Her eyes widened, and Arthur nodded, then put a finger to his lips. “Come with me.” When they reached the outer door, he turned to face the kiosk and entered a code. His personal cell phone dropped into the catch bin, and he pocketed it. They stepped outside into the blinding sunshine. His substantial, deep blue pickup truck with massive knobby tires was idling. They walked to the back and sat on the tailgate.
“Takes the AC a while to get kickin’ in this beast.” He touched her shoulder. “So... Luke took off; I mean literally. He gone now. “
“How could you…?” Careen’s mouth opened and froze that way for a moment.
The big man kicked off his flip-flops and rested his feet in the warm gravel with a sigh. “Sista, I know what happen here, most every ting. Got a strong feelin’ you gonna bounce too. Gotta help the boy.” He fished in his pocket for a rubber band and tied back his wild mane.
She leaned forward with her head in her hands. “Art, I…”
“Hush now, listen, okay?”
She nodded.
“I been workin’ here for a long time but been livin’ on this island my whole life. There are a few things I know. One, this job ain’t for everyone. It’s for some people for a little while. Maui ain’t for everyone either, same same. For me, my family and this land are my life. That’s what matters most. I grew up here, raised my family here, and with any luck, I’ll spend my final moments watching a Maui sunset.” He pointed to where the sun was drifting towards the horizon, then turned his head to the sound of tourists laughing and smiled.
“I should have been running the show here for a long time now, but I didn’t want that. I use this job and don’t let it use me. You and I both know that you can be used up here.”
He motioned throwing dust in the wind.
“You good people, you da’ kine,” he patted her leg, “Lukes good people too. Heck, ’em all good, well-meaning folks workin’ down in the heart of mother Maui. But mission number one, the one you need to prioritize, is looking out for you. I ain’t never gonna stop a person who’s takin care of their own business, that’s mo’ bettah than anything else you can do.”
Careen turned from staring at her boots to look into his eyes. “Thanks, Art. Also, I love it when your Hawaiian Pidgin accent sneaks in.”
He leaned back on both hands and laughed.
“But, how did you know about Luke?”
“I got em’ spies everywhere.” His expression turned serious, and he glanced left and right.
“You do?” her eyes widened.
Arthur shook with laughter. “No, but I got a buddy who works sling em’ bags at the airport. Happened to be talkin to him when he mention a blue-haired haole girl with eyes tattooed on her calves passed by. Sounded like too much of a coincidence, so I asked him for a photo. And there you both were, having a chat.”
“Oh.”
“You a good friend, Careen, but a bad spy!” He patted her on the back.
“Are you going to tell Desmond and Christo?”
“About Luke? No way. In fact, I’ll tell them he was sleeping it off when I saw him at home. That should buy you some time.”
“Buy me some time?”
“Come on, sista! You goin’, too, I can feel it. Go take care of that boy. He’s brilliant but a little naive–you know that. Your secret is safe with me and always will be. That might be hard to believe, but it’s true.” He thumped his chest. “Now, put out your hand.”
“What?”
“Trust me.”
She put out her left hand. Arthur dug a pen from his shorts pocket and took the cap off with his teeth.
“This is my home phone number. Call it anytime if you need help, advice or want to talk. Don’t care if it’s in ten minutes or ten years. I’m not messin’ with you, may mother Maui strike me down.” After writing the number, he closed her hand and patted it.
“I, I don’t know what to say. Thank you. Thank you so much, Arthur.” She put a hand on his shoulder, then leaned in for a hug.
“We good. Be safe out there. Christo is going to be pissed; losing two people in two days. He’ll send folks looking for you, although I have it on good authority that resources are a little thin there at the moment.”
Holly scavenged a few bits of gear she’d left in her mother’s basement. She found an old pair of hiking boots, two backpacks, four water bottles, gloves, a pullover, a waterproof jacket, and other odds and ends. They tossed it all in the trunk of Sheila’s car before saying goodbye. Diane gave them several sandwiches and a thermos of hot coffee. Holly didn’t know if they’d need to use any of the gear, but she never went to the mountains unprepared. They planned to stop on the way to pick up a jacket for Takeda and a change of clothes. Holly had changed into some that she kept at her mother’s, lightweight black hiking pants and a long-sleeved charcoal zip-up shirt with Take a Hike stitched in inch-high white block letters. She kept on the Mount Washington 6288 hat.
They drove in silence for a little while with Takeda at the wheel. “How’s she doing back there?” He motioned to the back seat.
Holly turned to check on Triscuit. “Buckled in and on the verge of sleeping.”
“Good.” He was driving with his left hand and suddenly thumped the steering wheel with his right. “Oh, shit. Shit shit shit.”
“What’s wrong?”
He glanced at her and then back to the road. “I’m so stupid. In all of this mess, I didn’t think to check on my mom! What’s wrong with me!”
“Fuck. Tak, I’m so sorry. I meant to tell you.” She shifted in her seat.
“Tell me? Tell me what?”
“I asked Wake to check on your mom before we left Boston. He texted me on our way up that she was safe. He has someone keeping an eye on her. I’m sorry, I’m a shit. I was so worried about my mother that I spaced on telling you.”
“Oh…” His shoulders relaxed, and he put both hands back on the wheel.
“Shit. That’s partially true; I didn’t want you to worry and tried to take care of it alone. I shouldn’t have done that; I’m really sorry,” she said.
“It’s okay, H. I know you meant well–it’s been crazy. And, you still thought about my mom, shit..., more than I did. Thank you.” He took her hand and kissed it. She slid close to him across the bench seat of the GTO and put her head on his shoulder.
“Fuck that, thank you for sticking with me through all this, especially with my Mom.” She paused, looking out the window. “I don’t know what I would’ve done if I lost her. It might be hard to tell, but we’re very close.”
“I could tell. I like your Mom. She’s nice.”
He flicked the blinker on and merged onto Route 16 North.
“Mom likes you too, Mulder.”
“That’s a relief, Scully.”
Holly pressed the vintage push buttons on the car radio that Sheila had modified to connect to a streaming music service. She touched the first one labeled Oldies, and Lunatic Fringe by Red Rider started playing its haunting opening.
Takeda hit the gas, and the GTO’s big engine growled as they passed a Speed Limit 80 sign.
Neither noticed the red-footed bird that sat atop it and took off after them. Triscuit’s eyes opened, her ears snapped to attention, and she whimpered.
Luke checked his cell phone for the fourth time to see if Careen called yet; she hadn't.
I better start making a plan.
First, he decided to visit The Prudential Building to view the aftermath and pay his respects. "I need to see the repercussions of my actions," he said out loud. It startled a young woman wearing a headscarf and pushing a Hover-Carriage with a sleeping child. "Sorry," he mumbled. She quickened her pace towards baggage claim.
The battery to his tablet had drained on the flight to Boston. Luke found a Flash Power-Up kiosk and was back to 100% in less than a minute. He was about to search Flyer schedules for transportation downtown when a notification appeared on the screen:
RFN SLEEPER APP:
RED FOOT NETWORK
REINSTALL COMPLETED
Holy shit, someone still has access to the code. Maybe it's Wake. Could he still be alive?
When he found the network while working at the PDCO, Luke uploaded what he called a sleeper into the core code. Its sole purpose was to give the system's location if it moved or was reinstalled. Otherwise, it was dormant and undetectable.
He opened the application he'd written, and a map appeared on the screen. It showed two sites. One was an address in Olympia, Washington, the server's location where the code had been deployed. The other was from where the installation request originated.
It was a house in Portsmouth, New Hampshire.
Next week in Chapter 42, Part 2 “The old man fell” Takeda runs into Chimera in the mountains
Great twist on Arthur being an ally. I didn't see that coming.