They walk through a narrow, rusted hall, meandering into the vast wasteland of destruction. For now, the landscape has changed. There are no highways. No roads to drive on.
A green mist hangs in the air, illuminating the darkness.
“The fallout from the New Republic’s detonation?” Lucas asks.
Here, Lucas stands, facing the inevitable. He hasn’t pissed himself, yet. That’s something to be proud of, maybe.
It isn’t, and it’s not enough. Calvin awakened a fire in Lucas. A question he hadn’t thought of but now needs an answer to.
At the end of the industrial road, a group of alpha brutes open a large gate where their rover sits, parked.
Lucas asks his partner, “What if she’s not there?”
Aiden doesn’t wait to check out the vehicle. “There better not be one mark on this thing. I just got it serviced...”
Lucas raises his voice until he’s practically shouting. “What if she’s not in the city past the Iron Eye? What if ever
yone’s right? What if she’s dead?”
The alphas around them start to pay attention. Aiden glances over and turns the ignition. “She’s there,” he says. “Now, let’s get a move on. We don’t have long ‘til we hit the desert. Then it’s to the Iron Eye from there.”
Lucas walks around the rover and cuts the ignition. “But how do you know?” he asks.
A small detonation goes off in the north behind them. Some birds fly from the blast. Alphas are raiding each other’s camps. They will not ease up on those operations. They have to get a move on, but Lucas demands a response.
He takes another breath and corners Aiden. “Why were you following me on the shore? How did you know I’d be there?”
“I...”
Lucas paces. “We didn’t tell anyone our meetup point was the Dagon shore. Suddenly, you walk around the corner with the most desperate face in the world. You tell me you can take me to the Iron Eye, no problem? And for what? Some gold temple or some other bullshit? I can see right through you, Aiden.”
Aiden turns pale. He doesn’t know what to say, so Lucas has to spell it out for him.
He draws his gun, presses it to Aiden’s solar plexus.
“Show me the bounty chip,” he says. “Not the one you showed me days ago. The other one I saw you looking at when you were draining your cock earlier.”
The alphas around them laugh.
Reluctantly, Aiden reaches into his pocket. He tosses the puck over to Lucas.
Lucas twists it on and tosses it to the ground, illuminating the misty air with a hologram of information.
In the center is a picture of an omega. Young, just 16 years old. Her I.D. tag is below, along with other statistical information.
Lucas takes a step back. “This bounty chip is for an omega,” he says. “But the omegas are all dead. Everyone knows that. There hasn’t been a birth since my children.”
“How does anyone know if they’re all dead?” he asks. “How do you know there aren’t families in hiding, waiting this thing out?”
“Who is she?” Lucas demands. “Another omega you can sell off to horny alphas? Another soul to own, another shiny watch to wear?”
For the last time, Aiden starts the engine thrusters. His expression is cold as he looks out at the open road of apocalyptic ruin. “She was my daughter,” Aiden says, gruffly.
Lucas’ anger fades. “Spawned from a clone?” Lucas asks.
“No, from my first mate. She died in one of Cassian’s surges,” he says. “My daughter fled for safety. After the detonation, I couldn’t find her. Got a feeling she got through the Iron Eye. Don’t as me how. I just feel it.”
Taken aback, Lucas quickly closes the puck. He places it in his partner’s hands. “I never knew you had a daughter,” he says.