Flight Read Online Free Page B

crumpled paper again. A7. End of the hall. I start walking. At the end of the blue hall, the corridor curves until I can see the entrance to a restaurant. Dinner. He wants to have dinner.
    I see him before he sees me. He’s planted at a table for two—a window seat— looking out into the vast, dead city. He wears a smart suit with a black tie, still as simple as always. His blond hair’s a little longer, his jaw a little sturdier, but beneath the fuzz of facial hair and the expensive watch is the same little boy I’ve known since I was eight. I can see us playing in sandboxes in the small underground parks with fake trees and not an ant or worm in sight.
    I almost smile at this, but then my adult brain takes over and I’m rushed back to some of our last moments, when our friendship changed us into lovers, how David hated it even though they were colleagues. Nights out dancing, early morning breakfasts in bed, the pale light of dawn shining in. And then when it all ended.
    It’s been a long time, but my stomach still gnaws at me, those dreaded past emotions bubbling up. I’m about to turn around and leave when he notices me. We make eye contact and his mouth bursts into a wide grin. I walk over to the table, sunglasses still perched on my nose, and he stands to greet me. Then he stares me, hands in his pockets, and his smile slowly fades, his gaze dropping to the floor. I swear to myself. This is going to be awkward. Sadness lines his eyes and he chews his lip forcefully. An unspoken word lingers between us. David.
    “I’m sorry,” I whisper. I want to whirl around and run away. I don’t want to relive those fatal moments every time even a tiny memory is provoked. But Tor doesn’t let me run; instead he takes my hand and pulls me closer to him.
    “Don’t be. It shouldn’t be like this. Please?” I look at him, his pleading face, feel the almost desperate grip of his hand, and I wish so much that things could go back to the way they were before, but I know they can’t. Still, I squeeze his hand back, still sit down across from him, exploring those eyes I once knew so well but are now like a stranger’s.
    “How’d you find me?” I ask quietly. He sighs, but his lips tug a little at the corners, like he’s sharing a joke with himself. A tall, slim waitress brings us both goblets filled with clear, purified water.
    “I won’t say it wasn’t hard. At first, I thought Ichton was the last place you’d be, but then I just thought about you, figured you’d keep moving and changing. So I waited. For six months. Then I saw you going into Shelley’s, and here we are.”
    Here we are .If that isn’t a statement.
    “So what now?” I ask, bringing it all up front. There’s no point in rehashing old shit now. The Corp’s got me back in its lap now, sitting pretty like a dog, and there’s nothing I can do about it.
    “I need you,” he replies.
    My eyebrows rise in surprise.
    He stops himself, then clarifies, “ We need you. Rupert needs you. A lot of shit has been going on. Attacks everywhere, above and below ground. We think they might be planning a massive revolt. We need all the manpower we can get, and let’s face it, you’re one of the best,” he says.
    I sigh deeply, first at the mention of the President of Elder Corp, Rupert Elder. His image comes to me crystalline, tall and foreboding, thick moustache, shiny, bald head, and ears littered with piercings. Rupert used to be a friend and mentor. Being one of the only Elders with actual experience on the field, he was valuable as a president and ally. After David, he wanted me to take a break, thinking my trauma would cause me to make bad decisions on the field. He was right, and now he wants me back. I almost want to laugh, or cry, I don’t know. I face Tor, but I can’t bring myself to look him in the eye.
    “It’s been a long time, Tor. Elder Corp is something I wanted to keep in the past. You know that I don’t want to come back, and yet you