Chapter 35 – Road Trip

Rude snapped his phone shut and turned his attention back to the road. He and Reno were driving towards Mideel, where his informant told him a large airship had just arrived.

"It's got to be Hightower's ship," he said. "Take your fucking feet off my dashboard," he said, slapping Reno's feet down.

Reno glanced with irritation at Rude and sat up straight in the seat. "God you are an old woman," he said. They had been driving for the past 24 hours on and off looking for Tifa and he was stiff and bored.

"Are you sure this time?" Reno asked.

"As sure as I can be from this distance," Rude answered.

Reno had been in a particularly bad mood since leaving Rufus's office and he refused to talk about what had happened, except to say that he couldn't care less what Rufus did with Tifa. He just wanted to get the job done and collect his fee, or so he said. Rude didn't believe him. He knew Reno well enough to know when the younger man was hiding something. He wasn't very good at disguising his emotions.

Rude had finally given up trying to pump Reno for information and settled in for the long ride. Reno fiddled with the map in the seat next to him, trying to get the thing refolded back to its original size and gave up in disgust.

As they drove through the desert, Kadj and his brothers watched them from atop a ledge overlooking the valley floor. He pushed his phone back into his pocket and smiled. Rude was too easily fooled. They continued to watch until the car was almost out of view before they gunned their bikes down the rock face and raced off after them.

Rude approached the town and slowed to the speed limit. It was difficult to see much from ground-level but his informant had told him where to look. He drove around the outskirts of the town to where he was told an old abandoned airfield would be. He saw the huge hangers off in the distance set back from the runway. The place looked deserted. He smacked Reno awake and slowly approached the field and parked the car.

"What's this place?" asked Reno, rubbing the sleep from his eyes.

"What does it look like? Hightower's ship is supposed to be in one of those hangers. Let's go find out, shall we?"

The two Turks approached the group of hanger buildings silently, making sure they were not seen, and searched each one. They found the Sierra in the last hanger. She was a huge ship, at least two stories tall, with a large bridge section slung beneath two enormous gravity drive engines. The bridge had a large window that gave a clear view inside. The air around it crackled with static electricity and it hummed quietly as the gravity drives pulled gently against the thick cables tying it to the ground inside the hanger.

The craft looked as deserted as the airfield. They circled silently around her, looking for a way in. Reno felt a damping field as he passed the back of the hull and ran his hands over what looked like a door in the side of the ship. He heard a faint whirring sound coming from somewhere inside. He stepped back and watched the door drop silently to the floor. He looked back at Rude, shruggedand slowly stepped inside.

Red and Cid talked for a while after Cloud and the others left. They reminisced together about their exploits during the war, each trying to out-lie the other about the various acts of heroism they had each performed. They talked more seriously for a while about Tifa and what might happen if she were not able to get the help she needed and who the Others might be.

"I believe the Others she speaks of may be voices of long dead victims of Jenova's," said Red quietly. "Her description of the visions they showed her lead me to believe Jenova has been traveling through the galaxies, destroying whole worlds as she goes."

"But why? What's the purpose of leaving all that destruction in her wake?" asked Cid.

"I think she's looking for something . . . perhaps a perfect place, her version of Nirvana," answered Red.

They were talking like this as the two Turks pulled up to the airfield in Rude's car. The sensors Cid installed in the area around the hanger buzzed quietly on the bridge, alerting them to the intruders. Cid rushed to the panel and switched on a monitor. The screen flashed to life and showed them a view of the area around the building they occupied. Each camera showed a different angle and he switched from one view to the other until he found the one pointing in Rude and Reno's direction.

"Shit, how did they find us?" breathed Cid under his breath. He snapped open his phone and was about to dial Cloud's number when Red stopped him.

"He'll want to come here and if he does, they'll find Tifa. We're on our own with this, Cid," warned Red.

Cid nodded slowly and put his phone back in his pocked.

"Ok, here's what we do . . ."

Rude and Reno stood just inside the door, looking around. They strained to hear any sign of life and heard nothing but the low hum of the ship around them. They walked slowly forward towards the bridge and stepped onto a lift. As they did, they felt an electric field spring to life around them, holding them captive in a bubble of static electricity.

Cid and Red stepped out from their hiding place and stood before the suspended and trapped Reno and Rude. Cid chuckled at the two Turks, struggling against their electric chains and said "Well, well, we have visitors, Red."

"What do you two want here?" asked Red with a growl.

"Let me the fuck out of here," growled Rude, struggling against his bonds.

Reno stopped struggling and watched as Red circled them. "Rufus wants Tifa's child," he said.

Rude looked over at him with surprise. "Shut the fuck up you idiot!" he growled.

Reno ignored his partner and spoke directly at Red who had stopped circling them and sat down in front of Reno. "He wants to control the child. He said that he could stop her from going insane," he said.

"Did he say how he could do this?" asked Red, ignoring Rude.

"No . . . but I have a good idea how"

"What?" said Rude in shock.

"How?" asked Red and Cid in unison. They both approached Reno with renewed interest in their eyes.

Reno paused for a moment before answering, his eyes narrowing as he spoke. "He has a drug that he's used on others before. It's a drug that Dr. Hiro created after Sephiroth was born."

"Why are you here, Reno?" asked Red. He suspected he knew why but he wanted to hear it from Reno's own lips. The young man said nothing at first. He stood suspended in the static field, floating two inches off the ground, and stared at the big dog sitting in front of him. Red and Cid could see the struggle going on in his mind. Next to him Rude still fought against his bonds.

Finally Reno spoke. "I'm here to stop Rufus from getting what he wants," he said simply. Upon hearing his words, Rude stopped struggling and whirled to look at his partner.

"What!" he yelled at Reno.

Reno glanced at Rude standing next to him. He was glad the static field they were both trapped in prevented the big man from breaking his neck.

"Why?" asked Red quietly. He waited, giving the man time to answer.

"Because, I've seen the results of his work. Seen it up close. It's not something I ever want to see again." Reno's shoulders slumped. He felt like he had just shedthe 300lb weight that he had picked up in Rufus's office.

"And because I know that if Rufus gets his hands on that child, he will use it to try and control Jenova. I've had enough of war . . ." he said, his voice trailing off.

"Tell me about this drug and what it does," said Red.

Outside, just beyond the reach of Cid's sensors, Kadj and his two brothers sat on their bikes, looking at the hanger. Kadj absentmindedly tapped his fingers on the small hard case he carried on his chest inside his coat.