Silhouette (3 page)

“It would be the least I could do for you. Yes, you have my word.”

“Thank you.”

“Leave now and prepare for your journey, Sue. You will be gone from this world for quite some time.”

“What about my stuff and my place?”

“They’ll be taken care of. Do not worry about your things. Be at the safehouse by dusk on Sunday. I’ll see you then.”

* * *

Sue flipped over the sushi restaurant’s menu, unable to make a choice. Her eyes were unfocused, distant.

“Would you pick something already?” said Linn. “The waiter’s going to be pissed if he comes back and you’re still not ready.”

“I just don’t have much of an appetite,” said Sue.

“Well, I’ll order for you then. Here he comes.”

“You two ready now?” asked the waiter.

“Yeah,” said Linn. “I’ll have the grilled soba. Get my girl here the Frostarc assorted nigiri plate and we’ll both have a double vodka with a splash of plum juice.”

“Linn! I…”

“That’s all for now,” said Linn. The waiter nodded and walked away. “You’re feeling down and I’m going to bring you back up. All drinks are on me until you start smiling again. What’s up anyway?”

“I, uh… it’s work,” said Sue as she brushed back the hair from her face. “I’ve had a big project dumped on to me all of a sudden. It’s a lot to think about, lots of stress.”

“Work is work. Don’t let it ruin your social life. Leave it at the desk.”

“If only it were that easy. Look, I’m going to be gone for awhile.”

“Awhile?

“Yeah, a long awhile. They’re sending me to another planet to do some research. It’s out in uh…it’s in a remote place. I won’t be back in the bay area for a long time and I won’t have any way to call you either.”

“Well that blows,” said Linn. “How long is it? Can you turn it down?”

“I don’t know how long, not for sure. Six months if it all works as planned, much, much longer if it doesn’t. Much longer. And no, they’ve got me pretty much locked in.”

“Government stuff?”

“Yeah, government stuff. I can’t really turn them down or I’d be in big trouble.”

“Is this because the Archon is dead?”

The vodka arrived just in time. Sue gulped some of it down, winced, and then took another swig. “Yeah, pretty much. Kinda sorta all about that.”

“Damn,” said Linn. “Well, it’s not like you haven’t disappeared on me before.”

“A little bit different this time, but yeah.”

“Ok. Well, finish that drink and let’s get another round. We’re hitting the town tonight.” Linn raised her glass and Sue did the same a moment later, clinking them together. “To tonight, because nothing matters more than the here and now!” Linn worked her way down her drink. Sue finished hers shortly after.

“I don’t feel better yet,” said Sue. “We better order a couple more.”

* * *

Thank God the Presider said to meet at sunset.
Sue did not wake up until noon, and she struggled to remember how she had made it home. Flashing memories of last night’s wild party lights pained her aching head while her sore thighs and ass reminded her of the hours she had spent on the dance floor. She and Linn spent most of the night together, but there was one man who had grabbed her attention by the night’s end. She had fun with him, that was for sure. They danced together and later found a quiet place. She was alone with the dude for a couple of hours, but at some point Linn had called her and came to pick her up from wherever she was. She remembered getting into the car, both women laughing over something while the driver took them…somewhere. They got more drinks at a casino or someplace, and then….

She made it home, and that was all that mattered. Linn had left her a wakeup text. “Be safe on your trip,” it said. Sue was inclined to check her bank account to survey the night’s damage, but what did it matter? She would either be dead or have everything taken care of by the Presider. Nothing on Erde mattered anymore, but that was not true; she knew she was just being dramatic. It’s just that freeing her family was all she could think about now. Uniting humanity was a bonus, sure, but even that paled in comparison to finding her father and brother.

“Oh yeah,” Sue said to herself, grabbing her homehub tablet and flicking through the presets. “I almost forgot how smart I was.” She activated the hangover mode she had put together. All of the lights in her home dimmed to their lowest setting, her windows shaded themselves, coffee brewed, breakfast meats sizzled on their own, and on low volume a morning talk radio station started to play. The only thing she had to do for herself was reach over to her armchair and grab another pillow to put over her head. The crisp, cool pillowcase on her cheek was refreshing.

* * *

“Where is she?” asked Toruk.

“She will be here,” replied Folami.

Silhouette stepped forward from an adjoining room, fully covered in her shadowsuit.

“You’re late,” said the Presider.

“I was waiting to see how many people would show up,” said Silhouette. “You didn’t tell me that the pilot was going to be here. Will anyone else be stopping by? How much does he know about the mission?”

“You knew that Toruk would be your pilot for this assignment. He has been informed of nothing beyond his role to play, and no one else is here. Only us.”

“Good to see you again as well, Silhouette.” Toruk stood tall and was dressed in his formal pilot’s outfit, helmet and all. “Still spooks me every time you pop out of the shadows like that.” Susan knew the man; he had acted something like an uncle to her when she was still a child in Folami’s care, but he did not know who Silhouette was, and she had to keep it that way.

“Sorry,” said Silhouette. “Your presence surprised me is all. Can’t be too cautious.” She looked into the man’s dark brown eyes and wanted to say more. Sue did care for him, but Silhouette did not. It was business. Silhouette turned back to the Presider. “So nothing has changed, then?”

“Nothing,” replied Folami. Only the Presider knew who Sue was both with and without the mask. The lives of Sue and Silhouette remained separate, the Presider being the only link between the two.

“Toruk,” spoke the Presider, “I have no more directions for you. Will you please go prepare the ship for departure.”

“Yes, Madam Vice Archon.” Toruk left the safehouse and Folami stepped closer to Sue. “Toruk has been by my side for decades, and you’ve known him since you were a child. You do not need to be so discourteous toward him.”

“I know,” said Silhouette. “But I don’t want to reveal who I am. I’m afraid that if I talk with him I’ll give myself away.”

“A good Enforcer is diplomatic,” said Folami. “It is a skill you must improve upon. We will work on it when you return from your mission.”

“I have a couple of weeks cooped up in that ship with him to look forward to,” said Silhouette. “I’ll have to have some sort of conversation with him, I suppose.”

“Consider it more training, and a chance to get to know a man from another perspective. You will soon be longing for conversation, no doubt. This will be a long, lonely mission for you.”

“Yeah, unless I find my family.”

“You know that will be unlikely. Remember that freeing the planet will bring freedom to your father and brother. Do not endanger your mission by jumping off track and searching for them. Stick to the plan, Sue. It’s the only way we can ensure your family’s safety.”

“Yes, Presider.”

“Be safe. Be cautious,” said Folami. “Above all else, come home.”

“I am going home, Leslie.” Silhouette’s eyes welled up and her lips quivered. She scanned the area, saw no cause for alarm, then pulled off her headpiece and looked with affection into Leslie’s eyes. “But I will come back. I promise.” They hugged and whispered goodbyes to one another in a long embrace. “Thank you,” said Sue, “for everything.”

Sue pulled her headpiece back on and left the safehouse. The ship’s engines hummed a pleasant buzz and the moon was a full, bright beacon in the sky. She felt the humidity in the air, smelled the sweet flowers of the garden, tasted the salty tears which had dripped down to her mouth; Sue focused on her senses, wanting to fully experience what might be her final moments on Erde. Toruk waited in the cockpit, letting Silhouette take all the time she needed. She looked over to the nearby skyscraper skyline and followed the buildings up to the dark sky above.
After all of these years
, she thought,
I’m going home.
 

It was a quiet journey. Silhouette did not put much effort into the small talk the Presider had hoped for. The modest ship was equipped with an exercise room where Silhouette spent most of her time, though she did join Toruk in the cockpit every evening to look out at the stars. It was a time they both enjoyed. Silhouette found it difficult to make discreet conversation with a person who knew her only as Susan, but it was easy to talk about the stars.

“How far out there have you flown, Toruk?” asked Silhouette.

“Feels like everywhere,” he replied. “Many, many parsecs. I’ve been to all of the human worlds, and once out to the Senate. I only docked there, though— waited in the ship. I’ve never set foot on an alien world.”

“Me neither,” she said. “But I think Nye will be pretty close.”

“Yeah. I mean there’s gonna be people there, at least. I’ve heard of people being kidnapped and taken to strange alien places where no human’s ever been before. Who knows what kinda crazy shit they’ve seen.”

“They never make it back to tell, do they?”

Time came when they neared their destination. Toruk positioned the ship while Silhouette situated herself in the dropcraft. For the sake of furtiveness, her dropcraft was being let loose quite a long distance from Nye.

“Approaching drop point,” said Toruk. “Are you ready?”

“Of course not,” replied Silhouette. “Let’s do it anyway.”

“If you say so. Good luck.”

“Make that wish more than once; I’ll need it.”

“Will do. Drop rockets firing in three… two… one.”

Silhouette’s body jolted backward, but she was held stiffly in her seat by the firm, rubbery cushion which had enveloped her. She could not move much else aside from her eyes and fingers.

Hoses were attached to her body for nutrition intake and waste disposal, the craft was designed to keep her alive and well nourished for the days it would take to reach her destination. The buttons within her reach controlled various displays, but one released an intravenous fluid which would put her to sleep. Some may consider using the drug as a sign of weakness, but Silhouette did not care. She had nothing to gain from being awake, staring at numbers and meters that she had no control over, so she tapped the button and slept. When she woke up and saw that everything remained functional, she hit the button again. She slept right through the entire flight.

* * *

“Yaaahhh!!!” hollered Silhouette as she woke to her body being injected full of epinephrine. The landing sequence had been initiated, which included ensuring the passenger was alert and ready for action. The craft was hurtling through Nye’s atmosphere.

Panting and eyes wide, she watched as the altimeter displayed an increasing rate of descent. Silhouette braced herself for a jarring impact, though she knew better than to expect the thing to crash. The altimeter plummeted toward zero, but a boost of force halted the dive in the moments before collision. Several feet of altitude were gained prior to the craft gently lowering itself to the surface.

The craft landed with a thud, but the suspension kept most of the impact from hitting Silhouette. The door slid open and the interior padding expanded, pushing her forward and out of the ship. She found herself in an abandoned quarry, as was planned, and she took her first steps in several days, slowly accelerating as she started up the dirt road which led to the top of the quarry.

At the crest of her climb she turned back to see her craft glowing a bright orange, collapsing in on itself as it went through its destructive sequence. The smell of burning metal, plastic, and dirt stuck with her as she left the quarry.

It was night. Wispy clouds were illuminated by the bright, red moon.

Silhouette loaded data from her Ocu and accessed the directions to find the man the Presider called X. She flipped the mental switch to activate her visuals, launching a semitransparent topographic map which was displayed across her vision. She found herself in the
Drägg Desert, a place for bugs, rocks, and not much else. Accessing the global positioning system would get her noticed by the Burmin, so instead she plotted her course manually, which felt odd. The GRID ID for X placed the man’s farm a few degrees north of true west, adjacent to a set of tall cliffs and a creek.

She ran. The night was quiet— empty— without a living soul around to be seen, but that did not ensure that no one was watching. Silhouette used the shadows of rocks and the shading of hills to connect the dots of her path, always staying close to the comfort of darkness. The farm was miles away, but she did not lack endurance.

Sweaty, but not exhausted, Silhouette approached the outer wire fence of the property with caution. She rolled under the lowest strand and moved along the inside of the fence. Acres of green things were lined up in rows and a small house with a barn stood at the far end of the field beneath a stone cliff. She made her way toward the house.

Silhouette came to a stop at the edge of the planted field nearest to the house and concentrated on her senses, hiding in the vegetation. An array of insects besieged the solitary porch light. A light breeze blew, making waves in the tall wheat. Fertilizer was used recently. The odor was pungent. Nothing seemed to stir in the barn across the way, and chickens slept in a pen next to the house, sheltered from the breeze and softly clucking to one another.

The shades of every window were drawn, but Silhouette activated the thermal sensor in her Ocu and peered inside, seeing a single man sitting in an armchair next to a lamp. The water heater was the only other source of heat inside the home.