He’d tried to contact fellow spies but none were willing to talk to him. He could tell that all of them had either been taken, or had heard of others being taken, and didn’t want the same to happen to them. Bao also knew that there was no way the Asher regime would let him leave Blue Creek for any reason, fearing that he’d try to contact his bosses. No, Bao reasoned. He may have been trapped geographically, but he decided he wasn’t going to be trapped psychologically anymore.
Suddenly, something dawned on Bao—a way to contact Patton without arousing suspicion. Since his abduction, Bao sent an employee to service Patton’s offices. He didn’t want Asher’s goons to suspect that he was trying to slip him information. Bao now had a way to contact him. He took a small notepad and started writing.
The breeze off the lake was brisk at two in the morning. Patton had never been out here at this time of night, but, then again, he’d never had a reason to do so. A light mist clung to the banks and hung out over the middle of the lake. The scenery reminded Patton of some bad horror movies he’d seen as a kid. If he weren’t here for such a serious reason, he might have laughed at that thought. He checked his watch.
Patton was out at the fishing shop that he’d purchased. He now owned the boat, and for this little meeting, he was going to use it to get out into the middle of the lake. To remind himself of why he was out at such an ungodly hour, Patton pulled the slip of paper from his pocket and read it by the shop’s security light.
“Patton. Important. We need to meet. Bao.”
Patton found the note underneath the label of the bottle of Diet Pepsi he bought from the vending machine. He was the only person in the building who drank that particular drink, and Bao must have somehow known that. The two continued this ruse, sticking notes in places where other people wouldn’t look, in order to arrange this meeting.
It finally struck Patton, though. Here he was, supposedly living in a free society, having to meet another supposedly free citizen in the dead of night out in the middle of nowhere. He contrasted the town’s current situation with what the city’s original charter was supposed to be—complete freedom. The contrast was striking. He suddenly understood how the Founding Fathers would feel were they able to see modern America.
Patton was beginning to wonder if an outside government would intervene now that things were bad and getting worse. He had no way of knowing that the organizers of the experiment had essentially gotten a jurisdictional waiver from all levels of government. They assured government officials that everything would be fine. If anything went wrong, they would notify the government. Somehow there had been a breakdown. Maybe that’s why Bao was so hell-bent on meeting him out here now, and just as he thought that, Patton could hear the crunch of gravel under a car’s tires. Bao was only using his fog lamps, obviously trying to be discrete. When he opened the door, however, the dome light blazed through the darkness.
“So much for being inconspicuous,” Patton said to Bao after he reached him.
Bao looked at him sheepishly. “Sorry,” he said. “I forgot to turn off the light.”
Patton shrugged and started walking towards the dock where his fishing boat was moored. Bao followed behind him quietly. They both boarded without a word. Patton started the motor, untied the lines, and cast off. Patton steered the boat north and they traveled for five minutes before Patton killed the engine and brought the boat to a coasting stop. He unwound his anchor and threw it out, shut off all lights, and then sat down in the padded seat across the Bao.
Bao was waiting for Patton to say something, but Patton gestured for him to speak.
“You wanted this meeting. What’s up?”
Bao looked around cautiously and then hunched over, drawing Patton in close.
“Bao. We’re out in the middle of nowhere. You can just talk to me,” Patton said, trying to assure him.
“Okay, man. I’m just nervous,” he said.
Patton finally noticed how frightened his young friend seemed.
“They know about us,” Bao started, but then realized Patton wouldn’t necessarily know what he was talking about. “Asher knows about the Insight spies,” he clarified.
Patton straightened in his seat, never taking his eyes off of Bao’s.
“How?” he asked, his voice a little tense.
Bao shook his head. “I don’t know.” All the sudden one of the reports that goes to the bosses at Insight says that two agents are missing. Then poof! They reappear,” Bao said, making an elaborate gesture with his hands.
Patton chewed on this information for a moment and then Bao said something even more disturbing.
“They picked me up too,” he said, subconsciously wincing at the memory.
“Who?” Patton asked, his eyes narrowing with anger.
Bao shrugged. “They had me in a dark room the whole time. Whenever they took me out I had a hood on my head.”
Patton let out a loud breath of air and stood up. He paced around the boat for a moment and then asked, “Why do you think they did it?”
Bao cleared his throat, surprised how difficult it was for him to talk about his experience.
“They told me not to report anything negative. I’m still supposed to report, but they know that the company is taking the reports and if anything gets too bad they might bring in the authorities.”
“Is that your bosses’ plan? To bring in the authorities if things get out of hand?”
Bao shrugged again, frustrating Patton. The kid was a spy but he really didn’t know anything about what was going on above him in his company. Patton sighed and sat back down in his seat. He looked at Bao then away from him then across the water at nothing in particular.
Finally he said, “What do you want me to do then?”
Bao arched his back and reached into his pants pocket. He removed something and handed it towards Patton.
“What’s this?” Patton asked, confused.
“It’s a thumb drive. It’s got all the contact information for people at Insight. It’s got the names and contact info for the network in town.” Then Bao looked at him earnestly. “You need to get in touch with them. You need to let them know what’s happening here, or what you think is going to happen. They all think everything is fine and dandy because all of our reports are telling them so.”
Patton looked at the drive as he twirled it around in his hands, deep in thought.
“They’re watching me too, Bao,” Patton said, swallowing hard. “I know that they watch me and whatever I do.”
Bao became even more nervous, but he thought it through.
“Look,” he said, perhaps more confidently than he actually felt, “they’re watching you but you can leave Blue Creek. You’re too prominent a figure for them to do anything. They know you’re against Asher and if anything weird happened the whole town would know who did it.”
Patton nodded but said, “Yeah, but what if they decided to make their move while I was outside of Blue Creek? How would anyone ever know about it?”
Bao sat back in his seat, deflated. He hadn’t thought of that.
“But I’ll do it,” Patton said. “I’ve had a vacation on the books for a while now. It’s coming up in a couple weeks. I’ll just take this,” he said, looking at the drive and then putting it into his pocket, “and I’ll take it to them.”
Bao exhaled loudly in relief.
“But remember, we tried this before and they didn’t do anything about it remember?” Patton said. Bao nodded. Patton continued. “Who’s to say that they’ll do anything now? Who’s to say that any police will come in here and try to stop Asher? I’m just saying… just because we get this to them doesn’t mean anything will come of it.”