Bridger: a Dystopian Serial

I'll lead the team

"Venn," Char said as she stood by the door of his cell, ready to lock him in. "Be honest with me."

Venn nodded and raised his eyebrows.

"What do you expect will happen if we pass through that portal?" Char folded her arms and glanced back at Linc.

Venn exhaled gently. "We'll have to travel along the top of the mountain ridge to avoid the Kaa. They are dangerous."

"If we travel down the ridge, we can avoid these Kaa creatures?"

Venn nodded.

"What about your people?" Char asked. "How will they feel about visitors?"

Venn tilted his head. "My people are a peaceful people."

Char glanced at Linc. "All right then." She swung the door shut and locked it.

<>

"How peaceful can they possibly be?" Seth straightened with a handful of trimming from the sage plants. "Their civilization seems to depend on conquering and colonizing other worlds."

"Yeah, exactly." Char ran her fingers through a short clump of lavender and sniffed her fingertips to catchy the spicy, woody scent.

"Erwell's on it like a shark on blood," Leander said behind her. "I'm not sure she'll see it that way."

Seth leaned against the metal garden bed and met her gaze. "Do you think she'll get clearance to go through?"

"Yeah," Leander said.

Char nodded. Caution was becoming more and more expensive as the years wore on. They'd thrown two million soldiers at the Russo-Chinese federation, after all, and what had that got them?

"I'd bet that if she does get clearance, using private security soldiers would help erase the paper trail if things didn't go well," Seth muttered. He tossed the leaves into a compost bin in the corner. "You do want to go through that portal, don't you?"

"Hell yes!" Char burst out. She raked her lavender-scented hand through her hair. "Of course I do. I just don't want to drag all my guys into a death trap."

Seth glanced between them and nodded slowly.

Leander jutted out her jaw and crossed her arms. "Well, you can take me with you. I don't care if I'm walking into a death trap. I've done that before."

"And you're not tired of it by now?" Seth asked. He crossed his arms over his chest and smiled wearily. "For what it's worth, I'm not keen on you walking into a death trap either, Char."

"Oh fuck you," Leander turned to him. "What do you care? You haven't checked in on Char in five years."

"Leander, you—" Char began.

Seth held up his hands. "That's not true. I sent her ten letters, two per year. I sent them to every place I could think of and you never answered."

Leander turned to her. "Did you get them?"

"Yeah," Char said softly. "I got one. My mom gave it to me."

"That was the second one I sent," Seth said softly. "But perhaps it arrived too soon."

Char licked her lips and recalled a scene that involved drinking half a bottle of cheap synthetic whisky and pinning it to the wall with a chef's knife. She looked down at her feet.

"Okay, fine." Leander snorted and spun around to go. "Not sure that qualifies you to make bedroom eyes at Char."

Seth made a little choking noise.