“Err, okay.”
Jane really confused me some days. Well, every day really. I had to give the girl credit, though, blending in to become a typical teenager. Like a good soldier, Jane did what she had to do to complete her mission: keeping me alive. So far she’d been successful at it, but every shred of hope I felt for the future was ripped away when the New Hope Assassins took another life in their search.
Jane’s former squad mates were looking for me. This we knew. They hadn’t found me yet, though. In fact, there was always the slim chance they weren’t going to. It was a big country, after all, and they had little to go on other than my looks. But that alone was enough to make my life miserable. They reminded me that no matter how fast I ran from my destiny, it was running faster. And sooner or later, fate was going to catch up.
CHAPTER TEN
That night, I dreamed I was the Scorpion, but I shouldn’t have been surprised. I’d spent weeks reading about him and studying every little detail of the man I was supposed to become. My obsession was bound to eventually bleed into my unconscious. However, when the dream began, it felt like something much worse than a mere nightmare. It felt, instead, right. Like this was the way history was supposed to go. That terrified me more than anything else.
It was 11:00 in the morning on a Thursday, yet it was pitch black with the sky full of a dark, hideous storm of ash and lightning. The nanotech weapons deployed by the government during the last years of the war had made much of the United States uninhabitable, or so they’d hoped. The Scorpion had insisted people continue to inhabit the Dark Zone and learn to live off the food which could be grown without sunlight.
The Scorpion was riding in a jeep, driven by Jane of all people, taking a tour of the bombed-out ruins of New Detroit. The city was a place the Scorpion had promised would be rebuilt to its former glory, but five years after sending millions of people to labor there, it was still a series of skeletal skyscrapers and wrecked houses.
I was older then, middle-aged, with a body that ached from numerous, mostly-healed injuries which still required a veritable cocktail of regular transfusions as well as injections to keep the pain under control. It hurt to move, really, but my older self forced himself to walk through sheer willpower in order to project the authority he felt was the only way he was still keeping the New Hope Army under control.
I was wearing a weather-beaten gray camouflage military uniform with a black beret, a silver Scorpion pin on my left breast above an elaborate rank display. The Scorpion didn’t wear any medals and did his best to look like a soldier of the people, even as every one of his soldiers worshiped him as a god.
He was a man who had fought with them and had the vision to keep them going through the worst war in human history. Each of them trusted him and believed the Scorpion knew the secret of how to restore the Earth now that much of humanity was dead. That he would build a peaceful new world where war like the kind which had just been waged against Butterfly would never happen again. Too bad the Scorpion knew that trust was based on a lie.
“Tell me, Jane,” the Scorpion spoke in a low, guttural voice. “What do you think is the cause of all this?”
Jane, a little younger than she was now, didn’t look back. “This is the result of the traitors.”
“Traitors?” the Scorpion asked, amused. “Are you referring to those who have betrayed me or those who betrayed their government?”
Despite how dangerous it was, the Scorpion liked to play with his soldiers. He tested them with questions designed to have no real right answer to watch them squirm. Their fanaticism annoyed him, really, and he missed the days when he had lieutenants who were more than mere Yes men. He especially missed his wife who was the one person who was able to argue with him about individual details. Jane was different, though. Eventually, God help her, she would be the one to inherit his mess.
“Traitors to Mother Earth,” Jane said, automatically. “The corporations twisted the governments into their puppets and when the war went against them, they proceeded to dissolve those governments to rule directly. They refused to submit to your rule and for that, we have all suffered. One just has to look to the sky to see the fruits of that labor.”
The answer was one he’d given in speeches before and it disappointed the Scorpion she hadn’t given the subject more thought. Of course, that was by design. Jane had been reared in the communal pool of recruits taken as adolescents. All the world’s children were to be raised in the Way of the Scorpion. That, more than the millions he’d killed, was probably his worst crime. He couldn’t let the next generation be indoctrinated into the way of the old world, though. That would just set off centuries of future war.
Assuming humanity had centuries left.
The Scorpion drove those thoughts from his mind. “How long until we reach Checkpoint 17?”
He already knew the answer to that. As badly as New Detroit had been damaged, he knew every street and corner. Checkpoint 17 was still important to him, despite the fact he’d done his best to obliterate all records of its association with him. Now he was going to eliminate the last tie to his old life. It filled him with equal parts dread and anticipation.
“We’re here, sir,” Jane said, her voice briefly quivering over the “sir” part. The jeep pulled into the parking lot of New Detroit High School.
His school.
The place had seen better days with the gymnasium having completely collapsed and most of the windows boarded over. Still, there were tents pitched around the parking lot and rows of tanks guarding the perimeter. Two antiaircraft guns were prominently on display along with a stolen Butterfly Swallowtail-272 Stealth Helicopter. Even so, it was a relatively small part of the military force occupying New Detroit. The Scorpion didn’t want to clue any of the rebels in that their leader was present here.
Or other members of the New Hope Army.
The older ones especially.
Pulling the car to a stop and parking it, Jane asked, “Is there anything else you need?”
“No,” the Scorpion said, stepping out. “Stay here. This shouldn’t take long.”
“Yessir,” Jane said.
There was a pregnant pause between them and the Scorpion wondered if he should say something. The Last War had consumed the entirety of his adult life and prevented him from being able to be there for those who meant the world to him. It was too late now, really, to begin acting like the person he should have been to her.
So he didn’t bother.
Turning around, the Scorpion marched into the bullet-ridden filthy school which had been turned into a place for prisoners to be interrogated. As he passed through the halls, he saw prisoners being electrocuted or subjected to water-boarding, among other forms of torture. He didn’t expect it to reveal any useful information, but the few who would be returned would serve as a lesson to those who defied the New Order.
The guards and recruits, most of whom were barely twenty, all shot him adoring or fearful glances as he passed. Thankfully, none of them were foolish enough to try to approach him directly. He wasn’t in the mood to shake hands or reassure his men today. His only concern was Prisoner #2510 and whether she really was the person the base Commandant had told him she was. He made a mental note to have the Commandant executed.
Finally, he arrived at the former Principal’s Office. The door was broken in two with a single guard standing between the halves. It was Solomon, the same soldier who tried to kill him in the parking garage. He had been with the Hope Army since early childhood and looked a bit younger than when previously seen. He wore an all-black version of the New Hope Army’s standard uniform, marking him as a member of the Scorpion’s Elite Guard.
Jane will join his group someday, the Scorpion thought. It’ll be good training for her ascension to First Citizen.
“Sir,” Solomon reported. “The prisoner is secured. We’ve eliminated everyone who could identify her but the Commandant. He thinks his soldiers are out on patrol.”
; “Good,” the Scorpion said. “I want to speak with her now. Keep everyone else out.”
“Yessir,” Solomon said.
The Scorpion opened the half-broken door and shut it behind him. The interior of the room was completely empty except for a chair, the prisoner tied to the chair, and the bucket underneath her. The prisoner had a leather hood over her head in order to disguise her features. Light was provided by the single failing fluorescent bulb hanging from the ceiling.
The Scorpion briefly entertained the kind of havoc it would cause were it to be found out she was still alive. “Hello, Christine.”
The figure didn’t respond but her body shifted in acknowledgement. The Scorpion walked over and unzipped the hood before pulling it off, revealing the middle-aged woman beneath. Age and stress had removed some of her beauty, but the Scorpion could still see the woman he’d fallen in love with. Had he chosen her rather than his wife, the world might have been a very different place indeed.
“Robert,” Christine said, staring at him. “I see you’re still alive.”
“My work isn’t done yet,” the Scorpion said. “As for Robert, no one calls me that anymore.”
“Yes, you prefer to be the Scorpion all the time, don’t you,” Christine said, staring at him with disbelief. “What happened to you?”
The Scorpion narrowed his eyes. “You know what happened to me. You know what happened to the world.”
“You happened to the world,” Christine said. “I swear, if I’d known what you were going to become, I never would have founded H.O.P.E.”
“The Last War would have happened anyway,” the Scorpion said, shrugging. “The megacorporations built for themselves a house of cards. They thought they could keep pushing humanity around forever and when the people fought back, they burned the world rather than let anyone else have it.”
“Is that what you tell yourself?” Christine said, looking almost full of pity. “That you had to do all this?”
“Yes,” the Scorpion said. “It was necessary. All of it.”
“It was revenge,” Christine said. “Revenge for your wife and your friends. Even if what you say is true, and it’s not, you could have stopped after the corporations fell. You haven’t, though. You’ve started rebuilding humanity in your own image. You’ve created a worse tyranny than the corporations ever were.”
The Scorpion started circling around her. “That’s the only way humanity is going to survive. The air, the water, and the ground are all polluted by the war’s aftermath. It’ll be centuries before it’s all fixed and the only way anyone will survive is if we have a strong guiding hand for this. The only way any of these deaths will be justified is if there’s no war afterward. That requires one single voice—”
“That’ll never happen,” Christine interrupted him. “You’re fooling yourself and your men. All of your measures aren’t going to make a damn bit of difference in the end. The worst part is I think you know this too.”
The Scorpion was silent.
Christine grit her teeth. “The world is doomed and humanity isn’t going to be able to survive in this new world, at least for any appreciable amount of time.”
“They will,” the Scorpion said.
“Maybe if they leave the Dark Zone and flee to the equator. Maybe if they tried to use science instead of running away from it like you’re advocating. That would require you to give up your power and let all the remaining scientists out of their prison camps, but you’re not going to allow that.”
“You’re right, I’m not.”
Christine closed her eyes. “Please, Robert, if there’s anything left of the good man I knew, then I need you to stop this madness. We can still save this planet and its people.”
The Scorpion laughed. “I’m not going to save the world, but I have someone who can.”
“Does Anna even know about what you have planned for her?” Christine asked, surprising the Scorpion.
She knew.
“Who else have you told?” the Scorpion asked, his voice low and menacing.
“I wouldn’t betray her like that,” Christine said. “I’m not like you.”
The Scorpion had considered asking Anna to return, even knowing she was a traitor. He’d also considered locking her up in a bunker for the rest of her life. Certainly, he needed her advice and it would have been good to preserve some fragment of his soul by giving her a “mere” life-sentence, but if she knew about Jane, there was no saving her.
Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out the hypodermic needle he had stored there along with the vial of neuro-toxin. Christine’s eyes widened as she saw the objects, but she didn’t scream, shout, or beg for mercy like so many other people had done under similar circumstances. Instead, she simply muttered a prayer.
And was dead a few moments later.
That was when I woke up, covered in sweat and staring up at the ceiling. It was about ten minutes until seven according to my alarm clock and through my window I could see the sun rising. Much to my surprise, I saw Jane was sleeping in the chair beside my bed. I wasn’t the Scorpion anymore, just Robbie Stone, ordinary high schooler. It was a relief but not as much of one as I’d like because the knowledge that the future I’d seen could happen at any time was like a noose hanging around my neck, waiting to tighten until I was strangled. I reached over and shook Jane’s shoulder, resulting in her jolting awake and pulling out a gun. Jane aimed it strategically forward, scanning her surroundings with a panicked expression on her face.
“Ah!” I said, almost falling off the mattress.
Jane immediately relaxed, seeing nothing was wrong. “Sorry, I usually don’t doze off like that. I think this easy living is making me lose my edge.”
I stared at her. “What are you doing in my room?”
Jane paused. “I’m always in your room when you’re asleep.”
“What?”
“Don’t worry, I sneak out before you wake and before your dad comes by.”
I tried to think of a rebuttal, then shook my head. “Okay, that’s terrifying.”
“Did you have a bad dream?” Jane asked, smirking.
“That’s none of your business.”
Jane snorted. “What are you? Five?”
I really regretted waking her up now. “I dreamed I was the Scorpion.”
Jane blinked. “Oh. Never mind then.”
“It was after the fall of the corporations and you were driving me around New Detroit. I had Christine prisoner and executed her. We were talking about Anna and how I had plans for her.” It was horrifying to know I was capable of something like that, even knowing my future self was responsible for the deaths of millions.
“It was just a dream,” Jane said. “If Christine was that important to the Scorpion, I would’ve known about it. She’s not in the history books, remember?”
“And Anna?” I asked as a follow-up.
Jane ignored the question by tucking her gun away and getting comfortable in the chair. “It meant nothing. Just go back to sleep.”
I shrugged my shoulders and rolled back into bed. “Yeah. I guess you’re right.”
In my head I knew that was the truth but knowing and believing were two separate things. So I said it anyway because it was what Jane wanted to hear. Besides, what other choice did I have?
CHAPTER ELEVEN
The next evening, lying in my bed and thinking about my week of Scorpion-themed nightmares, I received a text on my cellphone from Anna:
H.O.P.E. MEETING
10:00
THE USUAL SPOT.
SHOW UP OR DON’T BOTHER COMING TO ANY FUTURE ONES.
I grimaced as I noticed the hostility in Anna’s words. I’d been avoiding her since our last awkward encounter and the fact I refused to talk about anything relating to H.O.P.E., Butterfly, or similar topics, which left us precious little to discuss.
We’d gotten together by our shared love of trying to change the world and only the fact her uncle was in need of her help at ho
me, suffering from lung disease he’d contracted working at one of Butterfly’s factories, had kept her away from the Chicago march.
Briefly, I thought about just deleting it and going to sleep. I didn’t want to believe it, but I knew things would be significantly easier if I just broke up with Anna like Jane suggested. As much as I cared for her and missed our time together, the fact was our lives had diverged too much. It was dangerous hanging around me unless you were a super soldier from the future. Plus, well, I couldn’t tell her the truth.
I hated that.
I also couldn’t rejoin H.O.P.E. because of the possibility of becoming the Scorpion. I also couldn’t betray Jane by going out into public and putting us at risk. I couldn’t… I stopped thinking at that point about reasons why I couldn’t do what I wanted, then started thinking about reasons why I should. Yes, I had a lot of reasons why I shouldn’t, but the simple fact was I couldn’t stand to be here locked up in my room for another minute. I’d spent the past month running away from my problems and I was getting sick of it.
Was I in control of my own destiny or not?
I actually didn’t have an answer for that.
“Screw it,” I said, wishing I was more like Jane. I used to think of myself as a pretty brave person, but I had none of her courage.
Tonight, I would. Sitting up on my bed, I proceeded to text back Anna:
I’LL BE THERE.
She didn’t respond. I didn’t blame her. Of course, agreeing to go to the meeting was easier said than done. Jane watched my room like a hawk and the only time she was gone was when she was investigating some lead on the other time-travelers and never for more than a day. I might get lucky and catch her off guard, but that wasn’t a good thing to rely on when dealing with special operations ninja teens from the future.
Getting dressed and keeping the lights off in my room, I listened closely for the sound of Jane moving by keeping my ear to the door. When I heard the sound of the bathroom faucet going, I went to my room’s window and snuck out. It was a one-story drop, but I’d survived mercenaries trying to kill me, so I wasn’t afraid of a broken leg. I knew Dad kept a spare set of keys to his car in the garage and used them.
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