Blake Nortan turned off his computer and took off his coat. It was seven o'clock in the evening and he was ready to go back to the barracks and collapse in his bed. He flicked off the lights to his office and walked out into the metal walled corridor of C3MC.

He could feel the day's fatigue grating at his nerves, making his shoulders slouch and his eyes droop. He arrived at the assigned barracks in the residential wing of the meteorological center. He unlocked the door to his room and stepped inside. The standard furniture of his living quarters greeted him with the usual monotony and lifeless silence that he'd gotten used to in the past few months.

He poured himself a cup of hot water and stirred in some green tea leaves and settled on the small single cot in the narrow closet he called his bedroom. Emilia smiled at him from the picture on the nightstand. He felt his own lips curling up as he raised the cup to his mouth. Emilia must be having her own cup of tea right now in Kraunberg. "Cheers, darling," he said softly as he took his first sip.

The drink left a pleasantly warm trail at the back of his throat as it went down. He looked at the small calendar on the nightstand next to Emilia's picture, looked at the red circle he'd marked around a particular date two weeks from now. His smile faded only a little. What was going to happen two weeks from now was indeed grim but not something that was going to regret now. Not after working on it for so long after everything that had happened in the preceding months.

No, he wasn't looking at the past anymore. All he cared about was what came after that red circle on the calendar. He looked at Emilia's smiling face again. Everything felt a lot easier when he saw her smile. He was about to take another sip when his cellphone rang.

Nortan froze. This was his other cell phone. The one that the government had granted him to stay in touch with family. And the only family he had was Emilia. And they'd decided not to talk until they were past the date with the red circle. Not until...something really urgent happened.

Nortan put his cup of green tea on the nightstand and made haste into the living room. He'd dumped his coat on the couch. The phone was still in its hip pocket as it rang. He took it out and indeed, it was the only saved number that was calling him. He answered immediately. "Hello, Emmy?"

"Dr. Blake Nortan?" The voice belonged to a man and he sounded cold and calm as a tree on a windless mountain.

Nortan felt a stab of fear in his chest. "Y-Yes, I'm Dr. Nortan. It is my wife's number that you are calling from. What happened to Emi–"

"Indeed, this is about your wife, Dr. Nortan," said the man on the other side.

"Well, what happened to her?!"

"I'm afraid I can't tell you on the phone. You'll have to come here."

Nortan quickly glanced at his wrist watch. It was closing in half past seven. Emilia was all the way back in Kraunberg. It would be a two day sail if he decided to take a boat. But he thought of this again. He was bound by a contract to the C3MC right now. That meant both parties had to abide by some rules. And one of the rules for his benefactor was to provide protection to him and family. He could just ask his chief to–

"You wouldn't wanna involve the government in this, Dr. Nortan," the man from the other side said. "You may not like the consequences that will follow."

Nortan rubbed the perspiration off his brow. "I wasn't considering any such alternative.The thing is, I will have to take the ferry back to the unsectorized states and the sail may take two days–"

"Why do you worry about such trivial things, doctor?" the man said. "We'll take care of your transport. Just be prepared to do as we instruct and your wife will be safe."

Nortan's heart sank deep in his chest. "Wh-Why are you doing this to me?"

"Don't act so pathetic, doctor. We haven't done anything yet. But we'll be forced to if you double-cross us."

"I won't! I promise! I swear on my title as a scientist."

"Good, that's the least I expect from someone of your academic standing." The man sounded amused by Nortan's desperation. "Pack your bags and be ready, doctor. You'll receive another call in exactly two hours from now. And as I warned, don't involve the government in this in any capacity. You'll regret the consequences."

"I said I won't!"

"Good."

"H-Hey, can I at least talk to Emilia for once?"

He got no answer. The man had already hung up.

#

The phone rang again after exactly two hours. The same voice spoke in the same cold monotonous inflection. "Now listen carefully. Here's what you have to do next, doctor..."

Nortan felt his finger twitching from anxiety but he swallowed all his fear after the call was done. He'd grabbed his hold-all from the small cabinet under the bed. He'd packed the sweater Emilia had knit for him and all the letters she'd sent. Next he'd put the frame with her picture and put it on top of a few shirts and trousers and shut the hold-all. He hurried into his oil-skin coat and rushed out of the barracks.

Heavy, nervous footsteps echoed down the metallic hallway as he made haste for the main entrance of the C3MC. He passed a few operatives on their night patrol. One of them asked where he was headed so late. Nortan gave an evasive reply about checking out some systems in the main office he'd left unattended. He'd kept walking.

"It doesn't matter what you tell the operatives if they stop you. Your goal is to make it past them without looking suspicious enough to get followed by them," the man on the call had said. "Your work is more or less done once you make it out of the main entrance. That's all you need to focus on for now. Making it out of C3MC without grabbing attention."

Nortan made it out of the residential building. His breath under his gas mask was hoarse and heavy. He stepped out into the cold night air. A few more operatives were roaming the Center premises, heavy bunker boots crunching the ashen grass underfoot. To Nortan it sounded like jackals stalking around for prey. His gas mask hissed louder as he breathed more heavily. Straightening his back and with as calm of a gait as he could use, he made his way to the big wrought iron gates of the facility.

Two operatives sat at the guard house by the gates. "Dr. Nortan?" one of them called out as the doctor's silhouette appeared out of the darkness. "Where are you headed so late?"

Nortan waved dismissively. "Another geologist is coming from the capital. I have to pick some papers regarding the current operation. I'll be back in a while."

"Would you mind if someone drives you?" the other operative asked.

"Oh no, it's okay." Nortan waved his hand again. "I'll be taking one of the bikes in the outer parking lot. Will get me some much needed exercise." He chuckled, hoping he didn't sound nervous.

"Do you have a firearm with you in case you run into an infected?"

"Um, no. I didn't consider that."

One of the operatives pulled out a spare service revolver from the drawer in the guard house and handed it over to them. "The safety is on for now but I hope you know how to use it?"

"Indeed. I have fired a gun before," he lied.

#

Nortan pedaled the bicycle down the dark empty streets, his breath was even heavier under his mask now. Though he'd always tried to get as much exercise as he could in his tight schedule, his worry for Emilia and anxiety to make it there in time almost made his limbs feel inexperienced at agility.

After driving the bicycle for another fifteen minutes he was two blocks away from C3MC. At the bend in the road down the street, a man stood leaning against the hood of a car with his hands in his pockets. Nortan hit the brakes as he got closer to the man. He got off the bike.

The man by the car took his hands out of his pocket. He stepped up to Nortan. The visor of his gas mask was dark, obscuring his face. "You're Dr. Nortan?" he asked.

Nortan nodded.

The man stepped up to him and patted him down. He found the gun the operatives had given to Nortan. He took it away. After he was done checking Nortan for more weapons, he nudged him towards the car. Nortan got in the passenger seat. The man got behind the wheel. From the glove box, he pulled out a syringe and uncapped it, the point of the needle glinted in the dark. Nortan swallowed hard.

"That will be a sedative to make you fall asleep. You'll be then driven down to a plane waiting for you. By the time you'll wake up, you'll be in Kraunberg," the man on the phone had said.

"This sounds suspicious. The thing in that syringe might very well be a poison of some sort to kill me on the spot and take away my documents. This feels like a trap!"

The voice on the other end had sighed. "I think I should let her convince you instead."

"Blake?" a familiar voice came on the phone.

"Emilia! Are you okay? They didn't hurt you, did they?"

"I'm completely fine, Blake. J-Just do what they say, please. This isn't just about you or me. It's gotten much bigger now."

Nortan was puzzled by her last statement but he was still more relieved to hear Emilia's voice. Then the man from earlier came back on the phone. "Let's not drag this any longer than it needs to, doctor. Do what you are told."

Nortan took a deep breath and raised his right sleeve and held out his arm. The man stuck the needle into his arm and pushed down on the plunger. Soon, Nortan's head grew foggy, his eyelids heavy and his body lost all its tension. Then everything went dark.

#

When Nortan opened his eyes, he was in the passenger cabin of what seemed to be a private jet. With his unsteady feet, still wobbly from his state of half-drowsiness, he made his way out of the cabin. The jet had landed in a private hangar of some kind. He looked around, there was barely anything except a long airstrip flanked by yellowing grass. In the distance, a city skyline was slowly illuminating as the morning grew brighter. "How're you feeling now, doc?" A man said behind him.

Nortan almost jumped and looked at the man sitting in a foldable canvas chair. "Where are we?" he asked, his tongue feeling heavy in his mouth. The sedative probably wasn't all worn off.

"Kraunberg," the man said. As the haze was lifted from Nortan's vision, he noticed, saw the man was still wearing a gas mask with a dark visor. He glanced at his wrist watch. "Your ride must be arriving soon. Don't forget to look sharp before you see your wife."

Nortan wasn't quite amused, but as his senses were slowly coming back to him he felt a line of drool on his chin. He wiped it off.

After waiting for another fifteen minutes, a sedan arrived at the hangar. A man in a sharp black business suit got out and bowed graciously to Nortan. "I apologize for any inconvenience, Dr. Nortan. Allow me to properly introduce myself. I'm Gyn Rozwell."

"Your voice...you were the one who called me on my phone."

"You are right."

"What is going on? Where's Emilia?"

"Lady Emilia is in perfect health, you shouldn't worry."

"Shouldn't worry?! You kidnapped me and threatened me with whatever consequences you were talking about!"

"That was merely a tactic to draw you away from the Sector 22, doctor."

"Are you crazy?!"

Rozwell's face remained stoic and calm. "I think we should get going now, doctor. Your wife and my employer are eager to meet you."

Nortan frowned. He still wasn't sure what was going on but he was certainly awake now. The man in the dark gas mask brought Nortan's hold-all and handed it back to him. The man named Rozwell led him to the sedan and they drove off to the apartment Nortan was assigned by the government.

#

Blake Nortan almost sobbed with relief when he saw Emilia standing completely safe in their living room. He held her close and kept mumbling how worried he'd been and how happy he was that he could see her. The husband and wife held each other, almost on the verge of tears before Dr. Nortan finally acknowledged the presence of the intruders.

He let go of Emilia and turned to the woman with short hair, glaring. It wasn't the man on the phone he felt mad at anymore. It was this woman. She was the one who had pulled the strings to make this happen. "You," he said, his voice laced with malice, "who do you think you are, threatening me and my wife like that–"

"We wanted to talk to you about the Silver Lining Initiative."

That made Nortan pause. He frowned at her, his anger was soon replaced with uncertainty. "H-How do you know about it?"

"That's a long story, Dr. Nortan." Gemma shrugged. "Instead of that let me tell you why I'm here and why I had to stoop to such cheap threats to get you to come here."

#

Dr. Nortan was scoffing by the end of it. "You really think you can just ask the International Peace Forum to interfere the war at this point?" he said. "You are a powerful woman, Ms. Germaine. You belong to a powerful family but I think you'll need a different kind of power to get access to the IPF."

"Allow me to worry about that matter. Getting access to the IPF is completely my responsibility." She crossed her arms. "But can I rely on you to officially testify on the matter when the need arrives."

Nortan rubbed his forehead, hesitating. He made his way over to the window and looked out at the sprawling capital. In the far distance, the outline of a large silver dome illuminated in the moonlight. That was the Seat of Authority. Something about it's very sight made Nortan pause. He swallowed hard before speaking. "If I was alone, I would've said yes. But I care too much about my wife. And I care too much about spending my remaining life with her."

Brendan had been standing next to Rozwell by the door. He decided to step in after just quietly listening to the conversation. "That's it?" he said. "So you'll give up the chance of stopping this terrible war for your own sake?"

"Yes," Nortan said resolutely. "And if you want to call me a coward for that, be my guest. I won't even try arguing." He paused, looked down at his hands. "There was someone I knew not too long ago. He tried to change things on his own and ran off, sacrificing everything he held dear. He probably died without anyone knowing, probably got washed off in that rain. I won't make the mistake he did. I won't risk my chance of being with Emilia just for...for some false sense of self-righteousness."

Brendan scoffed. "At least, you are well aware you are a coward."

"Brendan, wait." Gemma raised her hand. The man went quiet, though not without a frown. She turned back to Nortan. "I know you are talking about Richard Neville."

Nortan was struck by surprise again. "How do you–"

"Another long story, Dr. Nortan." Gemma shrugged. "But let me tell you something. Dr. Neville's death wasn't in vain. His wife still survived everything that happened in Sector 22. She still gave birth to a beautiful baby girl. And Neville's actions have already sparked a series of events that are in one way or another responsible for me finding you and us being here, having this conversation."

Nortan scoffed. "I'm sure Neville's ghost must be proud. He was into heroics like that. But I think you forgot, Ms. Germaine--unlike Neville, I'm not a hero."

"Fine." Germaine shrugged. "Then I'll treat you like a coward. I don't care whether or not you believe I have the power to get in touch with IPF. But I surely have the power, the resources, the connections to make sure you and your wife remain safe and comfortable regardless of your involvement in my cause."

Nortan raised an eye brow. He was certainly intrigued. Gemma decided to push the hook deeper into his curiosity. "I'll make sure you both get a new life and new identities away from the hells of this war. I'll make sure no one related to the Ardvenian government ever reaches you again. What do you say now, doctor?"

"Yes!" someone blurted out. It was Emilia Nortan.

Blake looked at her, flabbergasted. "Emilia, do you really wanna get involved with–"

"It is more than a fair deal, Blake. Fairer than anything the government would offer us in a time of war like this." She nodded. "I don't wanna be in the constant fear of what happened to Neville happening to you. The golden opportunity has come knocking at our doorstep. How many people do you think get a chance like this?"

Gemma smirked. "Your wife is a smart woman, Dr. Nortan. You should really take her advice."

#

As the three of them left Nortan's apartment, Germaine was squeezing the bridge of her nose. Brendan frowned at her. "What's wrong?" he asked. "We convinced Nortan to get on board with our plan. You don't seem satisfied."

"Lady Germaine is stressed at the thought of the next visit she needs to make," Rozwel said as he held the car door open for them.

Gemma groaned. "You know me and my family too well, Rozwel."

"Certainly, lady Germaine." The man nodded. "I've been serving the Koehlwins for the past twenty years after all."

"Okay, I feel very out of the loop, now." Brendan was frowning deeper now. "Gemma, what's bugging you?"

"The fact that I obviously can't arrange the things I promised in return for Nortan's testimony." The car started to move. Gemma leaned her forehead against the window and let out a sigh.

"But you told him you have the resources and the connections. That was a lie?" Brendan said.

"Of course, Brendan! Erik and I pretty much cut our ties with our family when the war began. And that meant, we also lost touch with the contacts we had through them."

"Why did you lie?"

"What else was I supposed to do? Give up?"

Brendan pursed his lips. "So what are we gonna do now?"

Germaine seemed too rattled to actually say it out loud. So Rozwel did it for her. "Lady Germaine will have to ask her family for help. That's why we are now headed for the Koehlwin estate just outside of Kraunberg. Isn't that right, lady Germaine?"

Germaine groaned again. "Ugh, you really know me too well." 

(to be continued...)