The Fringe Wars

1.9

Shadowed Secrets

Heid

Gabriela and Sebin spent a picture-perfect day strolling around their home town of First City and concluding with a dinner cruise on the Great Sea. Everything worked out exactly as she'd planned. She wanted Sebin to remember every detail of his life-changing day.

She knew to passersby that they looked like a couple. But, as long as she was Sebin's commanding officer, it was a line she didn't dare cross. She had worked tirelessly her entire life to make Commandant. She'd never risk it for something as selfish as love.

She guided him off the busy sidewalk and into the dark alley.

Sebin threw a furtive glance over his shoulder at the commotion of the city they were leaving behind. "Where are we going?"

Her smile grew wider. "You'll see soon enough."

They had to walk around a dumpster before the door came into view.

Very few Alluvians knew of the pub with no name at the end of the alley. Even fewer knew the role it played in shaping the Collective—both past and future. Heid hadn't yet joined the CUF when her father brought her here for the first time, a girl of barely fifteen years. Up until that moment, her father had overseen her training to become a Founder, like his father had done before him. She remembered every vivid detail of the alley and the pub, just as Sebin was taking it all in now.

She led Sebin into the dingy establishment. The pub smelled of fermented sea reeds and long since outlawed cigars. Any proper citizen would turn around at the door and leave, which made the pub all the safer for the Founders' activities. Inside, the tables and barstools sat empty like lonely customers to the jukebox as it crooned a soulful song. The only person in the bar was the barkeep, who glanced up from washing glasses. The man, a Founder known simply as Bartender, gave the smallest nod to Heid, and she returned the gesture with the slightest smile.

"This way." She motioned Sebin to follow her past the bar and down a dark hallway, where she continued past the bathrooms until they reached the end. On the wall hung an oil painting. It was classic Alluvian artwork, portraying a schooner caught on a wave in a torrential storm.

Giving the painting little notice, she slid her hand behind the frame and felt the wall until she brushed the fingerprint scanner hidden within it. The technology was ancient but foolproof. When the lock clicked, she stepped back and let go of the painting.

She pressed her hands against the wall and pushed. The wall moved inward, revealing a staircase leading down into darkness. She glanced back at Sebin to see his eyes wide and jaw lax. She reached over and squeezed his hand. "Don't worry. We're nearly there."

He didn't let go for a long moment. When he did, he took a tentative first step through the wall space, and she followed. She pushed the wall back into its original arrangement, not moving until the locks clicked back into place.

Dim lights came on with each step to illuminate their way. There were one-hundred-forty-five steps. She'd counted them once. They were so far below the water table that they were deep into the planet's bedrock. A battle could be waged down here, and no sensors on the surface would pick up any hint of a sound or vibration.

The original Founders had built this facility for secrecy and seclusion not long after First City was colonized and Myr made it clear they owned the new settlement. The leader of the Alluvian settlement, Jacob Mason, believed that more colonies would be formed in the future and rejected the idea of a Myrad empire. At a time when Alluvia was still in its infancy, the visionary pulled together a group of powerful, like-minded individuals to help shape a "collective" of worlds. Mason's group eventually came to be called the Founders.