Chapter 15: Meeting the Underground, Part 3

"Pleased to meet you." The man's voice was a light tenor, with a hint of an odd accent. His hand gripped Trey's with as much restrained strength as Dan's. "You might as well call me Chief. Everyone else does. To answer your question about my legs, since everyone is too polite to ask, no I didn't lose them fighting the government, but losing them and...other things is what led me here." He looked at Red. "Someone has activated a search through the dogbots, so could you work your magic and see if you can trace it?" She sat at one of the other stations and began tapping and whispering away. "Please, come sit down." The Chief wheeled himself over the table. Trey flung himself into a chair with a sigh. Red winked at him then went back to work.

"So, what do you think of us so far?"

"I hardly know what to say, sir. If I had known there was a set up like this, I would have run away years ago.'

"One of the reasons we don't let ourselves be better known out there. You aren't the youngest person to arrive here, but we don't like bringing recruits in too early. Whoever is running the country, children are still children, and shouldn't be put in a position of keeping deadly secrets. We're careful about who and when we recruit though we have people in most of the youth reserves. Mostly we create a file for active recruiting later. You're something of a special case, Trey." He slipped a file from a pocket behind his seat, and passed it to Trey. "You know who this is?"

Trey looked at a picture of his father, looking not a day older than the last time he had seen him. The police, accompanied by an old man with cold eyes they addressed as Methuselah Grant, had escorted him from the apartment Trey had shared with his mother. His father had visited occasionally. Trey always knew something wasn't quite right, because other children had fathers who lived with them and were much younger.

The police explained his father had broken the law and Trey would have to go live somewhere else. Trey remembered complaining it wasn't fair. If his father had broken the rules, then he should move. That was the only time the cold-eyed Methuselah had spoken. 'Life isn't fair,' he'd said.

It had stayed with Trey since. Life wasn't fair, and Trey didn't expect it to be. Yet there was a part of him deep inside protesting it should be.

"Your disappearance from the Reserve has had no media coverage." The Chief interrupted Trey's memories. "Usually they play up the runaways as dangerous delinquents, complete with tracking dogs and posses of local police. With you, it's like you don't exist. I suspect it has a lot to do with him." The Chief turned the page in the file in front of Trey. The cold-eyed old man stared up at him. "Methuselah Grant. He's one of an elite group who polices the retirees. Unusual for him to be involved in the raid on your home; even more unusual that just weeks after you were taken away to the Reserve your father was made Deputy Chancellor. We think some people are using your existence to control your father. We also think it has heated up in the last few weeks."

"Hey Chief, you'll want to see this." Red called over.

Trey turned and looked at her. She pointed at the big screen. It went blank then a confusing group of pictures sprayed across it. In each one Trey stared intently at something directly in front of him. "These are the pictures we have of Trey through the dogbots. As we thought, someone was tracking him, but with no order to apprehend."

"That's why we left you waiting for so long. We wanted to see who was following you. Unfortunately, it was just a regular police patrol." The Chief rolled himself over the computer screen.

"I think we know who was tracking him now." Red tapped a couple keys, and Trey saw his face replaced by a file picture. "You have friends in low places."

"I've never seen him before."

"I am not surprised. People who see this man find their lives changed, usually not for the better. All I have on him is that he is a Methuselah. His name's Joe. If he's looking for you, then your life is going to get very interesting. I'd really like to know what has two Methuselahs hunting you. The rumors say Grant and Joe don't like each other, but it won't help you if you're caught." The Chief looked hard at Trey. "We weren't planning to put you out on contract anyway since your face is very recognizable to people who know what to look for, but now I think we'll put you with one of the teams. That gives you a reason to stay out of general population. I would be happier if only a few people knew about you."

"I could use him on my team, Chief," Red spun away from the computer to look at Trey. "We're short."

"Are you sure?"

"He's cool. I explained the rules to him, and I'll talk with her."

"OK then, he's all yours." The Chief looked at Trey, his eyes still concerned.