06:34 a.m. — School Roof
"Ah, there you are."
I turned from my spot at the railing to the voice behind me. She was standing at the doorway to the stairs, hands in her pockets, a rueful grin across her face. Her chin-length black hair swayed in the early morning breeze, only briefly obscuring her grey eyes. "I was wondering where you'd scampered off to this time," she said.
I smiled, holding up the cardboard coffee cup holder in my left hand. One white cup was left in the carton, steam rising into the cool air; the other cup was in my right hand, on the railing. "Mornin', Holly," I said. "The usual, I presume?"
Holly walked over to me, accepting the coffee from the carton. She then leaned on the railing next to me, taking a sip. "Mmm… that hit the spot. Thanks, Tom."
"Don't mention it, sis." Somewhat satisfied, I turned back to the view of the city before us. It was an urban sea of houses and shops, brown and beige. Patches of yellow-leafed trees dotted the area like kelp patches. Glass skyscrapers reached up from the static waves of buildings here and there. The view reminded me of San Francisco, and it somehow made me feel a little homesick.
I exhaled, muttering, "Geez, what a yesterday…"
Holly turned to look at me. She could tell right off the bat that something was bothering me. "Did something happen to you?"
I hesitated somewhat before answering, seriously: "To me? No. Still, saying that 'something' happened yesterday is a serious understatement."
"Why?"
"Well… You know about Addington and Harrison? Their recent assignment to Sule?"
She nodded, her expression darkening. She'd worked with Cyrus once before, and that was enough for her. "Yeah, the Pen mentioned that earlier. What about it?"
I paused, and not for dramatic effect—I was still digesting it myself. Then I spoke. "…The Brightons set off an ICBM. Addington realized that it was a true nuke, and ordered me to pull them out before the blast caught them."
Holly's eyes widened a little. Then she composed herself before asking, "Are they…okay?"
I took another sip of coffee, looking at the city again. "Yeah, they're both alive. Still suffering from nuclear radiation, though; and I'm not sure what else they are beyond that. As for Sule itself…" I sighed. "It's been destroyed. Completely."
The silence that followed twisted my gut in knots, so to speak. Then Holly, to my surprise, said: "…Well, that's one dysfunctional system down and out."
Considering what I'd just told her, I was expecting a more horrified response. I turned to look at her in genuine amazement; she had a semi-symathetic expression on her face. "We're still a pair of dysphemistic siblings, aren't we?" she said.
I had to smile—it was true; we were both used to recieving the cold, hard truth. "Guess we are."
At that point, my cell phone vibrated.
"Shit…" I took the device out and flipped it open. I glanced at the message on the grubby touch screen:
COBURNS, THOMAS. PLEASE REPORT TO DEBRIEFING A.S.A.P.
I sighed. Closing the phone, I looked up at Holly. "Hol, I have to head in for Debrief. See you at the usual spot?"
Holly nodded. "Yeah. Give my regards to Winter for me, will you?"
"Sure thing." With one last wave, I headed through the doorway and down the stairs. For better or worse, I was back in School—back on duty.
