Chapter 4 See the Light
FEMALE VOICE: “Hey Nacho,
this is Light checking in.”
MALE VOICE: “What’s the
situation like over there?”
FEMALE
VOICE: “We’re good. No one saw, and to the best of my knowledge no one
suspects a thing.”
MALE VOICE: “Wow, after
all this time we are finally going to infiltrate the Valks.”
FEMALE VOICE: “We will,
you’re welcome by the way.”
MALE VOICE: “Thank you,
Light. This won’t be forgotten.”
Dan’s eyes lit up. “Light?” Dan meant to think this to
himself, but he said it out loud instead, a little louder than he expected to
or wanted to. Thankfully he was not heard, although the glow from his wide eyes
were big enough to give away his position at this point. Dan got himself
together as Light and Nacho wrapped up their conversation and he prepared for
what was next. Would Light come his way? Would Dan be in for a fight? Or would
the young woman who garnered all the attention of every Valkyrie in the Land of
Bartow simply fade away into the darkness? Dan wouldn’t have to wait long for
his answer as Light hung up the phone and scurried away in the opposite
direction towards the Valkyries Compound.
Dan, after standing their frozen for what felt like forever,
gathered himself and hurried inside. Dan knew he had to call Poke and tell him
exactly what he had overheard so he barged into his home, turned on the lamp
next to his big leather recliner and took his cellphone out of his pocket.
RING. RING. RING.
Dan called Poke but, as per usual, all he got was a
voicemail. Poke never answered his phone, it was like he was stuck in the era
where screening your phone calls was still necessary even though caller ID had
been around for decades now. Poke usually called Dan back immediately though,
so Dan left a brief and “business as usual” type voicemail for Poke. “Hey Poke,
it’s Dan. Give me a call when you get a minute, I forgot to tell you something
at work today and it is kind of important. It is about…” Dan hesitated as he
thought of a lie that wouldn’t raise suspicion if anyone else was on the
non-secured line listening. Dan thought quickly and continued, “my vacation
next week with the kiddos. I may need some more time off than I initially
planned. Call me back, thanks.” Dan hung up the phone and wondered if he was
being too obvious with his reasoning on the phone. Dan hadn’t taken a vacation
since joining the Valkyries Council. Actually, Dan could never think of a true
vacation that he ever took in his life thanks to the resistance fighters,
money, and the fact that he was truly just a workaholic. See, Dan was born into
the resistance, many had tried, and many had failed to take down the Valkyries
regime in the Land of Bartow after they took down Scopely, the previous regime
to run Bartow, so while he had never seen any fighting firsthand he and his
parents always thought it best to stay away from the hot zones. That meant
staying inside those walls that had been breached just a few hours earlier. Anyone
who knew Dan knew that he wasn’t taking a vacation, especially when someone
just came over the wall and especially with the Valkyries on high alert, but
Dan quickly put that thought out of his head. He immediately dismissed the
notion and knew that no one who knew Dan would be listening in on his
conversation, so he picked up the phone and called Jessica, Poke’s assistant,
to try and tell her what he had just heard outside his home.
RING, RING, RING.
No answer. Now, unlike Poke it was weird for Jessica to not
answer her phone, so Dan hung up without leaving a message. He didn’t want to
take a chance on leaving a message on her phone for anyone else to intercept,
plus he didn’t really want to bother her. She was just an assistant after all,
what could she even do with the information that he had anyway? Dan thought
about calling Poke back, but he knew had to call Shane to ask about his kids first.
They all had to be worried, about the alarms and about Dan getting home so late
from work because of them. Dan pulled his phone and began looking up Shane’s
number but before he could get the number dialed Evan and Hayden came barging
in the door, surprising Dan.
“Hey Dad!” said Hayden as he entered the door while Evan,
the “teenager before his time” just smiled and immediately went into his
bedroom. Evan was the older brother, much taller than Hayden, who had dark
brown hair that lay flat on his forehead with deep, brown eyes and a dark
complexion. Evan was stout in nature and he never knew his own strength while
Hayden was more like a string bean, tall, skinny and lanky. Hayden also had
deep brown eyes, but he had more of a reddish tint to his hair, not quite a
ginger but not a blonde or brunette either. “Hey boys, how was your day?” Dan
said, not that he really had to ask. Everyone heard the alarms, and everyone
was personally told about the curfew, so the kids knew something was up, but in
true teenager fashion Evan responded with the generic “it was fine, Dad” response
before entering his room and slamming the door behind him. Hayden, on the other
hand, was more curious and asked his father what had happened today in Bartow
to cause such a stir. Dan simply responded as “business as usual” as he could
by saying “Oh it’s nothing, son. There was a bird that tripped one of the
sensors they think as it came flying over the wall, so they were just being
cautious. You know how they are around here.” Dan tried to sound as reassuring
and dismissive of Hayden’s worries as he could, and it seemingly worked as
Hayden simply responded “Okay, Dad” and went on about his business playing with
his toys in the living room.
Dan was ready to relax so he sat down in his big leather
recliner and tried to watch some television. Nothing was on, nothing was ever
on according to Dan, so instead Dan opened up his laptop and did what he
intended to do at work today before all hell broke loose on the Land of Bartow,
spy and gather intelligence on Defiance. Dan had no idea where to begin, there
were literally thousands of messages to sift through, so he began with the only
bit of information that he had. The only two names that ever came out of
Defiance that he had ever heard, Nacho and Light.
Dan did a general search for the name “Light” and was
bombarded with instances of the word “light” as well as her name “Light” used
in the chats. “This is going to take me all night” thought Dan as he looked
through the first few to see if he could quickly differentiate the use of the
word “light” from the name “Light.” He had little success. Dan, possibly coming
down from the adrenaline rush and the subsequent caffeine binge that followed
that day, started to feel his eyes get heavy as he stared into his computer
screen. Dan tried to fight his bodies cries for sleep and continued looking at
the various ways this pocket of resistance used such a simple word before
losing his battle within himself, finding sleep. Dan found sleep right there in
his recliner in his living room, his laptop in his lap and all the answers he
seeks possibly staring him right in the face. The answers he seeks, but the
answers that he may never find.
After what feels like a blink of an eye Dan wakes up to what
he believes to be a rustling at his window. Dan jumps up but quickly remembers
the laptop he fell asleep with in his lap. As he reaches down to grab the
laptop before it hits the ground and before running to investigate he realizes
that the laptop is gone! “Where is my laptop?” Dan thinks to himself out loud,
now perplexed at the situation and wondering if this is a dream. Evan comes out
of his room, presumably to use the bathroom or eat because that is the only
reason any teenager comes out of their room and stops at the sight of his
father just standing there in the middle of their living room. “Dad are you
ok?” Evan asks his father. “I… I don’t know” answers Dan, still confused and
admittedly half asleep. “Did you borrow my laptop again?” asked Dan to which
Evan replied with a simple shake of the head, no. “What the hell is going on
here?” Dan thought to himself, once again, out loud and to no one in
particular. “I’m not dreaming, someone stole my damn laptop!” Dan screamed as
he finally came to the realization that this was really happening. Dan knew he
had to call Poke and report the abduction of his laptop, so they could wipe it
clean, but before reaching into his pocket for his cell phone he remembered the
noise at his window. Dan quickly ran outside to see if the assailant was still
around and to see if he or she could be followed but he was not in luck. The
thief was gone and so was the laptop. So was the entrance into the Death Room
and so was the information that he had worked months to acquire. Gone, poof….
Just like that, in the blink of an eye. In the course of a fifteen-minute nap.
Gone.
Dan slowly reached down into his pocket hoping that his
cellphone had not been stolen as well. Thankfully it hadn’t, and he began to
dial Poke’s number again, but quickly before Poke could answer Dan hung up. Dan
was one to always doubt himself and he was doing so again when he hung up the
phone. Had he been too obvious in his voicemail to Poke? Had the wrong person
been listening and it tipped them off that Dan was onto something? Why hadn’t
Poke called him back? Or Jessica even? She ALWAYS answered her phone and when
she didn’t she ALWAYS called you back. Something was up, something was fishy,
and Dan knew it had to do with Light and her rappelling over the wall and into
the Valkyries compound. Dan no longer knew who to trust, where he was safe and
what he could do so he came back inside his house and began to devise a plan
that only he could. Dan was going to disappear, and he knew just where he was
going to disappear to. Dan, running quickly into his room, yelled at his boys
to head over to Shane’s house and that they would be spending the night over
there. “Boys I need you to go back over to Shane’s tonight. Work stuff. Tell
him I am sorry and that I will make it up to him.” Dan thought he heard
affirmation from his boys and continued to pack his things so that he could
disappear. Dan was heading to the Valkyries underground compound that was
located in the basement of the main compound building, a place he knew he could
be safe and a place where he knew he could speak securely until everyone
figured out just what the hell was going on. Dan packed the last of his things
and went out into his living room to find that his boys had not gone to Shane’s
house like he requested. No, they were sitting in his living room tied up by
three unknown and unwelcomed militants who had knives to their throats.
“Sit down Dan” one of the militants said in a snide voice “We
have a lot to talk about.”
I just have one more teaser chapter for you all, I don’t
want to bore you guys and girls too much, so if the book has your attention
head to the link below and pick up a copy. Thank you to you all for reading,
whether you purchase or not.
https://www.amazon.com/Rise-Fall-Valkyries-events-Daniel/dp/1719011427/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1528983664&sr=8-1&keywords=rise+and+fall+of+the+valkyries
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