The Gemini Age: Book One

[12-2] Under the Spotlights - Part Two

    Considering its reincarnation as a holding prison and correctional centre, the facility's labyrinthine sublevels invited fugitive behaviour. The restrictions on power usage forbade the hallways from being lit more than a glimmer above pitch-blackness, and legions of slender offshoots trailed away from the main walkways into unlit and unguarded corners. Skye waved her flame-lit hand just within view of the low-hanging shell of a security camera and waited for it to turn to face her. The black box refused to stir for her. There was, it seemed, a good chance the cameras did not receive any back-up power.

    "Five minutes 'til the hour. If yer meant to be changin' over, best get to it!" It was typical that the one system that got all the power it needed was the one Skye could most live without. Trigger's fondness for the facility's PA system nurtured a habit of frequent announcements intended, in her opinion, to bellow through the tunnels right as exhaustion placed an imaginary pillow under her head. Even this far under the ground, she could not prevent people's idle chatter imprisoning her in the waking world.

    Sam was a heavy sleeper on the rare days he was free from work. Skye admired and envied him in equal measures for that.

    "I mean it! No lollygaggin'!" The PA speakers nestled themselves in the corners of corridor ceilings. As they crackled in the wake of Trigger's voice, Skye winced at the piercing wail of feedback. She wondered how she shared a vehicle with him on multiple occasions, as well as how she would survive an extended stay in the mess hall around the guttural cackles of his underlings.

    As soon as she pushed through the mess hall doors, her preconceptions shattered. No cackles, not even a snicker broke the air. The stifled hum of muted conversation filled the hall, quiet enough for the thud of her heavy footsteps to drown out even as she walked through the centre of the room. Most of the tables seated at least a pair of occupants, many of them wearing the piercings and tattoos of Nomads, yet nobody spoke in any voice louder than a hushed whisper. Though the flickering candles planted on every table endeavoured to project an aura of calm, Skye could not shrug off the unease that cloaked her back.

    A sharp hiss snatched her attention. "Chief, over here!" Julian waved through the flame-flecked gloom from another row of seating, and Nora held out a palm beside him. The warm glow of the candle on their table did little to alleviate the paleness reigning on both their faces.

    Skye sidled her way between the benches in front of her. "What's with the library atmosphere?" she asked as she fell onto the bench across the table, having to keep her voice low to preserve the delicate peace around them. A bunch of grapes sat on a small metal tray in front of Julian and, in the darkness, he did not notice her take one and pop it in her mouth. "It's...unexpected. I think I prefer the deafening din of the Nomads' dive bar, somehow."

    Swirling her drink around her plastic cup, Nora snickered to herself. "Wouldn't we all? At least there, people just start brawls, instead of eyeballing across the room as they imagine knocking each other's teeth out."

    To the flash of surprise on Skye's face, Julian leaned forward in his seat. "Relations between the Nomads and those working directly under your dad haven't warmed. At all. In fact, they're crashing and burning. It turns out you aren't the only one who can't stand Trigger and his lot."

    "Of course not. The dog's an imbecile, and his runts are worse." Skye scanned the room for any hostile reaction to her words, cracking a soft smile of glee when nobody moved. "How bad is it getting?"

    Her lieutenants shared a look, then shrugged at each other. Nora pushed her cup over to Julian, who took it and pressed his fingertips against the plastic. "Well, there's not been any fighting as far as we know, but there's definitely heat in the air." Julian held his hand over the liquid and nodded in satisfaction before pushing it back to his partner. "The raging kind, I mean. Though Nora did spot two Nomads making out in one of the unlit passages earlier, so I guess that kind of heat is around too."