Page 54 of The Outcast
CHAPTER 18
No Trace
Banni
By the time we were half an hour away from Goldencreek, Raven informed us that they had a lead for another stolen drone.
“Does that mean we’re going in the right direction?” Indiana asked.
“It looks that way. We haven’t had reports of stolen drones where the other two drones landed. Our theory is that he used them as distractions. Problem is that we’re at a dead end because the last drone he stole was untraceable.”
“What do you mean?” Aubri exclaimed. “All drones must be traceable, it’s the law.”
Raven snorted. “We’re talking about Alaska. For the most part, the people who live there don’t want to be found. They’re the people who are convinced the Motherlands are listening in on their conversations and conspiring to overthrow the Northlands and force all men to wear make-up.”
My head felt like a bomb about to explode. “Are you telling us that the trace ends in Goldencreek?”
“I’m afraid so. Khan, Magni, and some of the others are already there, strategizing about what to do. You’ll find them at a place called the Chopped-up Gnome. Should be easy to find. Just look for all their drones.”
“Understood, Raven. We’ll talk to you later,” Aubri said in a stern tone.
The Chopped-up Gnome was a dingy bar in a small town. The name was self-explanatory when we found a large, mutilated garden gnome by the entrance.
Inside the bar, the light was dimmed, and the air was heavy, smelling of old dust, alcohol, and years of sweat.
Khan was talking to a group of people who turned their heads and nodded in greeting when we entered. Among the men stood a woman; Laura, Aubri’s mother.
I recognized all of the large men with solemn faces. There were Aubri’s brothers Mason and Solomon, her cousin Thor, her father Magni, and Indiana’s dad Boulder and his brother Jones. Sparrow’s father Archer and her two brothers Ryder and Aspen were here too. The youngest would be twenty-four soon but like the rest of this group of men he was tall, muscled, and had broad shoulders.
“Do you have any news for us?” Khan asked us as we walked into the room.
Indiana answered, “I’m afraid not. Raven updated us that Keith escaped from here in an untraceable drone.”
“That’s right.” Khan stood in front of a table with his feet firmly planted. He wasn’t wearing the formal-looking clothing I’d seen him in before. Today, he was dressed as a hiker prepared to go search the wilderness. I wasn’t sure how old Khan was, but I guessed him to be in his early sixties. His trimmed beard and hairstyle were gray, but he stood strong and spoke like a man with an abundance of vitality and authority. “We’ll have to spread out from here. He could have taken her in any direction.”
Aubri walked over to stand next to her father and asked, “What about Keith’s house? Raven said a team of Huntsmen would go there. Did you learn anything?”
Magni answered. “They didn’t find much, except for a broken sex-bot and fishing and hunting gear. There was no trace of Sparrow.”
“So, we have nothing?” Aubri asked with the same pain in her voice that I felt inside me.
Khan, who stood next to Magni, shook his head. “We’re not giving up. We have the Huntsmen visiting neighbors in all directions, hoping to learn of something that might help us.”
“What neighbors? Keith said he lived in a remote area.”
“Aubri, he still would have gotten provisions from somewhere,” Khan said.
I turned to Indiana. “Then what do we do now?”
Mason and Solomon, who had to be the two largest men I’d ever seen, looked in my direction and then Solomon muttered. “We wait. It’s the hardest part of tracking, but sometimes the wisest thing is to stop running in circles and put your ear to the ground.”
I gaped at him. “What ground?”
“We’ll continue researching and tracking down people who knew him,” Mason said.
“Knew him? Why are you talking about Keith in the past tense? He’s not dead.”
Solomon looked at me deadpan. “He will be soon.”
