Finches

Chapter 22 - Assurances

Colt stood in awe staring at the thing that most pirates tried very hard to avoid at all costs. The building was ginormous. It was similar to the outpost in that it was a new-looking building that was blue and white and was likely swarmed with Authority officers. Other than that it was completely different. Rather than being overly tall like the outpost, the base building was long and wide. It covered as far as his eye could see and was likely filled with rooms upon rooms of information, training stations, and holding cells. So basically it was boring, scary, and not at all a place that Colt was excited to enter. But he'd been through hell—more specifically Gold Forest—to get here, so there was no turning back now.

In the distance he could hear faint shouting. He imagined there were probably officers in training outside toward the back of the base, but the building was so large that he'd have to walk a mile to confirm that.

"We're here," Shelly said beside him.

She had also been taking in this fact, and now turned to him with a grin on her face. "We actually made it," she said.

"We sure did," Colt replied in agreement.

Together they took a breath and marched up into the doors of the base.

The inside of the Authority base looked just like the inside of the outpost. It was large and mostly empty, with every surface shining with cleanliness. There were many doors around the lobby that led to all the other rooms in the giant building. And then there was a desk in the corner, manned by a lady that looked similar to the one at the outpost. Half moon glasses, hair curled, and pounds upon pounds of makeup and lipstick.

Colt and Shelly walked over to the desk and the lady peered up at them. Colt sat down his fish barrel, glad to finally be free from the weight. The desk lady didn't seem too happy about it, though.

"Hello dears," said the desk lady. "My name is Nita. What can I do you for?"

"We need to speak to the Lieutenant," Colt and Shelly said simultaneously.

Nita smiled deeply. "I'm afraid I can't authorize that. The Lieutenant is a busy man. But I assure you, anything you two have to say to him you can say to me."

"Ugh," Colt said in frustration, "I've had it with you people. You—"

Shelly placed a hand on his shoulder to stop him. Then she stepped forward and leaned in toward the desk lady.

"Get Ronny over here immediately, or I'll be sure you go back to filing paperwork all day."

The smile faded from Nita's face, which gave Colt a feeling of immense satisfaction.

"I'll buzz him over immediately," said the desk lady. "You must be Shelly."

Colt looked between Shelly and the desk lady, confused. This was a weird interaction. Why was Nita so intimidated by Shelly? Did she have some sort of reputation in Goldtown that he didn't know about?

He shot Shelly a confused glance and she turned to him to explain.

"Oh yeah," she said. "I'm sort of..."

She didn't get to finish, however, because just then a man emerged from out one of the doors. He was older than Colt but still relatively young, with short blond hair and a strict face that was already beginning to be plagued by wrinkle lines. He had familiar-looking hazel eyes and stood rather tall. He wore a standard white authoritarian uniform but had a blue epaulette across his shoulders as an insignia of his rank as Lieutenant.

Finally, Colt thought. He could get down to business.

Then the Lieutenant walked over and wrapped his arms around Shelly in a hug.