Tainted Rescue

by Jenn Vakey

  She let out a wistful sigh that made me smile. “Tell me about pretty boy,” she said. That only made it grow. I was glad she couldn’t see me, because I was pretty sure I was also blushing. Then her tone turned almost accusatory. “Why are you smiling?”

  I was surprised she had known for a moment, then thought about the fact that she would have seen my cheeks rise in that way they did when you smiled. She’d caught me. I wanted to tell her all about him. She was always the person I shared everything with. But how could I tell her that I’d had my first kiss, my first time being intimate with a man? How could I tell her that I’d fallen in love?

  “It’s a very long story,” I simply said. “But Rhydian’s someone you can trust. He’ll help me teach you how to fight when you get here.”

  “You can fight?”

  I nodded and grabbed my bastons from where I had left them on the counter next to me, then held them out for her to see. “It’s incredible, Lillith. You’re going to love it. All of it.”

  “It’s horrible here,” she said, sadder now. It made me feel so guilty for having things that made me happy while my sister was going through what she was. Even more than I already had. “They make me use my powers. They’ll hook me up to machines, take my blood, and do terrible things just to see what will happen. I don’t want to be here anymore. I’d rather be dead.”

  I clenched down my jaw, fighting to keep from being sick just hearing it. Thinking that there might be a time where she decided that really would be better than waiting for us to get her out. Losing her when I was so close to getting her back. I couldn’t. I wouldn’t survive it.

  “I promise I’m going to get you out of there,” I said, hoping that she believed me. “Just hold on, Lillith. It’s not going to be much longer.” She nodded, although it didn’t instill any confidence. “Have you seen any others?”

  “There are so many of us,” she answered. “Sometimes they make us use our powers on each other. You wouldn’t believe the things some of them can do.”

  I could.

  “Have you met a woman named Stazie?”

  Lillith thought for a moment, then nodded again. My heart started to race with excitement. “Actually, yes. She can make plants move and start fires with her hands. Why?”

  “Because if she’s there, that means we gain an ally that we need.”

  Lamont might have already been offering to help us with just the hope that she could still be there after all this time, but if I could actually give him proof, there was no doubt he would do everything he could to get her back.

  “Pretty boy is looking at you,” Lillith said, interrupting my thoughts. “Maybe it’s time to say goodnight.”

  “I love you, Lil,” I told her.

  And she smiled herself. “I love you too.”

  Sure enough, Rhydian was sitting up looking at me when the connection broke and the room came to me again. He had a curious look in his eyes that I met with a faint smile.

  Pushing up, he walked quietly over and leaned against the counter next to me.

  “You should be sleeping,” I said softly, then looked down at my watch. “Your duty doesn’t start for another hour.”

  He shrugged. “Where’d you go there?”

  I smiled. Not because of where I’d been, but because he had been able to see it.

  “I was with Lillith. We found out we can just think what we want to say instead of talking. She calls you pretty boy, by the way.”

  He folded his arms and smirked, giving me a sideways glance. Then it faded away into a more serious look. “You need to be careful just how much you tell her,” he said, almost cautiously. Worried how I would take it. “If they’re hurting her, it might reach the point that she’ll say anything to make them stop.”

  I wanted to argue, to assure him that Lillith would never betray me like that. But I knew he was right. I had been able to see how much they had broken her already. She’d told me herself that she would rather be dead than have to keep suffering through it. “I know. I didn’t tell her anything more than you did about the rescue, and nothing about Alkwin was anything they could actually use against us.” Then I smiled and looked him in the eye. “Lamont’s girl is still there. Lillith’s met her.”

  Like me, I could see that he knew just what that meant for us. He might not trust Lamont the way I did, but he knew when someone could be valuable.

  “Why don’t you go get some sleep,” he said, motioning toward where my empty mat was. “I’ll cover the last of your shift before mine starts.”

  “I’m okay. I doubt I could sleep right now anyway.”

  Rhydian leaned back and ran his fingers through his hair. Despite the fact that he’d been lying down, it still looked the way it always did. Golden and soft. Much longer than he had kept it in the city from what I could remember. It was a good look on him.

  “So, what did you tell her about me?”

  I bit down on my lip, trying hard not to smile. His eyes shifted down to it. It made my heart race, remembering the way his lips felt against mine. Wanting to feel it again, while also wondering if I ever would.

  Okay, I had to stop thinking about this. “Only that it was a very long story and you were someone she could trust. You’re right; there are details she doesn’t need to know right now. Not in the state she’s in.”

  His eyes, which had been watching my mouth as I talked, shifted up to meet mine again. I was glad, because it was making it really hard not to just say screw it and lean toward him, seeing if he would kiss me back if I tried. This definitely wasn’t the place. The fact that he had looked for so long, though, made me wonder if he was thinking about it himself.

  With my words, though, his expression change to one of understanding. I hadn’t just been talking about telling her who he was. It had been about us. About everything that had happened between us.

  “We’ve been talking about getting them back, but we haven’t talked about what they’re actually going to be like when we do,” I said. “She’s only been there for a few weeks, but she seems so broken. She said they make them use their abilities against each other. That they do tests on them. What if they’re really messed up when we get them out?”

  Rhydian’s look turned heavy, and he put his arm around me and pulled me against him.

  “We’ll cross that bridge when we get there,” he answered. “Talking to Lillith will help her keep it together.”

  CHAPTER TWENTY

  RHYDIAN

  After eating a quick breakfast, we packed up our stuff and took to the streets. The Maker camp was a three hour walk from the apartment. Not knowing how long it would actually take us to deal with them, we got an early start. While we could stay the night there if needed, it was never my top choice.

  The term I had used with the others was eccentric. There were those who fit into that category, but there were also those who were downright crazy. I didn't know if it was a product of being secluded like they were or if it was just who they were. I'd heard an old saying about a chicken and an egg. Sometimes I wondered if people actually needed to have a little crazy in them to come up with the things that Makers did.

  Leeya was being quiet this morning. It had taken her a while to go to sleep after she finally relented and laid down. I tried not to watch, but it was hard. I could tell while she was talking to Lillith just how hard it actually was on her. She told the others some when it came to the shape she was in, but I knew even before our talk last night that it was worse than that. We needed to get her out of there as quickly as we could.

  Whether it was the threat of physical danger or sensing her emotional distress, Kip was sticking close to Leeya. Even more so than he had yesterday. I knew without asking that she wasn't planning on getting rid of him before we went home. Orson was going to hate it. He'd never allowed animals in camp. Even the chickens we raised for eggs were housed away from the main area. So much so that a lot of people didn't even know they were there at all. He was going to have a fight on hi
s hands when he told her to get rid of him, though. One that I already knew I wouldn’t take his side on.

  Like they always did, a scout was sent out to meet us before we actually reached the wards for the Maker camp. They called it a welcome party, but we all knew what it was. Someone to warn the others if there was going to be a problem. I actually thought we might have an issue when I saw the man waiting for us turn his gaze to the dog. He watched him, a cautious curiosity visible, but didn't actually mention it before leading us in.

  “Greetings, Rhydian,” Deklyn, the leader of the camp said as he approached with a friendly smile. I knew him to be around Orson’s age, but his shoulder length grey hair and thick beard gave him an older look. He also had a fondness for wearing long robes, which I had discovered long ago was because he hated the cold. I had asked him once why he didn’t choose to live in Alkwin if that was the case, as it was a little warmer than Denver in general. His response was only a laugh. “Zaydan. Always a pleasure.”

  And also like always, he completely ignored Joury's presence. She just smirked, rolling her eyes. The two had never gotten along, although neither could give me a reason why. So they had just settled on pretending the other wasn't there whenever possible.

  “Deklyn, this is Leeya from Alkwin, and Verity and Jaythan from Hafan,” I stated.

  Deklyn nodded respectfully, then turned his attention to the dog standing just inches from Leeya's leg. “And who might you be?”

  “Kip,” Leeya answered, patting the animal on the head.

  Deklyn stared at him for a moment, then nodded and looked to Leeya. “Strange creature. Do you think he tastes more like a deer or a glodalo?”

  Leeya's eyes widened, and I could tell by the way her fingers were twitching that she was moments away from pulling out her bastons.

  “Don't tease the girl,” I said, trying to diffuse the situation. “She's quickly turning into one of the best fighters we have, and she's rather fond of her pet.”

  I made it sound like nothing more than an ill-humored joke, although I honestly couldn't be sure if it was or not. If I had to guess, I'd say it was more likely a true curiosity of his. Sensing that he might have overstepped, though, Deklyn was quick to play it off.

  “Right, well come along,” he said, clamping his hands eagerly. “We have some exciting things to show you. Something that should help greatly with your problems at the archway.”

  I considered the best time to tell them what we needed to. I wasn't looking forward to the conversation, but I didn't want to put it off too long and end up stuck here until tomorrow morning. And it wasn't something I could just avoid. They deserved to know, and we couldn’t risk our relationship with them by keeping them in the dark.

  “We have a matter to discuss,” I said, deciding to just get it over with. “Can you gather the whole group? It's something they will all need to hear.”

  Deklyn looked concerned, but he nodded and pulled something out of his pocket. It was small with a few buttons in different colors on it. I watched as he pressed the green one. When he did, a loud whistling sound filled the air. It wasn't like the alarms we had in Alkwin. It was subtler, and I soon realized as people started moving toward us that it was an alert for them to come together.

  Handy.

  Deklyn lead our group to the front of the sitting area. It was set up between the houses that had been built. There were half a dozen of them set up in a circle around the clearing, each a little larger than the typical home in Alkwin. That was because there were closer to twenty people living in the six structures.

  When they had finished gathering, Deklyn made quick introductions and gave me the floor. I stood, facing this crowd of people I'd gotten to know in my years outside of Eden. Many I had brought here myself. People who had wanted more than the camp life in Alkwin. They wanted to create, to build. That's what they did here, even if it did mean living in a much smaller community.

  “We are planning an attack against Eden,” I stated, which earned quite a few startled looks. “Three weeks ago, Adler Behrer informed us that the Tainted captured in Eden were being held in the city and experimented on. Something Leeya was able to confirm last night when her siren ability let her create a mental connection with her twin sister, who is one of those being held. We already have a plan in place and teams ready to move in as soon as we have a location for where they are being held.”

  I stood there, giving them time to process what I was saying. I could see the same things in them that I'd seen on our people the morning I told them. Shock, anger. A need to do something.

  “We plan on creating a distraction in the city, then moving in and rescuing our people with as little confrontation as possible. It's not going to be possible to make it in and out without being detected at all, so we need whatever we can to give us an advantage. Orson said you had created some new weapons for us.”

  At that, the mention of things they crafted, I could see them focusing again. Nodding as they thought over anything they had that could help.

  “We'll get a test range set up to show you what they can do,” Deklyn started. “We have a dozen completed and ready for you to take today.”

  I nodded, relieved there were as many as there were.

  “Liara,” he said, turning to a woman sitting in the middle of the group. “You have those communicators.”

  “Yes,” she nodded eagerly. “I have twenty operational. They will have the ability to work over several channels, which is beneficial when dealing with multiple groups. The range right now is about three miles.”

  I looked over to Leeya and she smiled. That was even better than the weapons. We had been planning on using Hallers to communicate as needed, but there had been a lot of talk about the risk with that. Especially if someone with us was taken down or captured. That could put the whole mission at risk, our people vulnerable to being tracked.

  After spending some time diffusing the suggestions that they launch an additional strike against Eden to make sure they knew it wasn't a wise choice to go after Tainted, Deklyn set up a demonstration for us. We didn't have living targets to aim at, but the dummy he provided showed enough.

  Unlike the guns used in Eden, these didn't use projectiles. In fact, you couldn't actually see anything at all. Well, anything aside from the dummy being knocked back and toppling to the ground. Apparently the guns, which were near a foot long with a barrel that was four inches in diameter, emitted a focused energy blast. One that left the air feeling charged in the several feet surrounding the person holding it. They would be bulky and difficult to conceal easily, but they were effective. Perfect for what we were planning.

  “They will provide a solid stun, even going as far as incapacitating your target if the aim is right,” he told us proudly. “Do try not to aim for the head if it can be avoided. You might scramble their brains beyond repair.”

  With us satisfied with the weapons, we packed them up and Liara came over to walk us through how to use the communicators. Not only would this assist us in Eden, but they would help in Alkwin. Especially if she was able to amplify the signal so that they could be used to communicate between the archway and camp. Even then, all we needed to do to make up for that with these current ones was to have someone using one stationed between the two for the signal to pass through. As she explained it, the devices didn’t exactly need to be within three miles of the one they wanted to reach. If they were all lined up and positioned three miles apart, one end would be able to talk to the other without problem.

  “Will you be staying for dinner?” Deklyn asked when the last of our business was done.

  I looked down at my watch, grateful it was still relatively early.

  “Not this time, my friend. We need to get an early start in the morning so we can make it back to Alkwin without needing to stop and camp.”

  He nodded understandingly.

  “Let us know when you get our people out of there,” he said. “And if there are any good minds in the bunch.”r />
  I agreed, then we turned and started back the way we had come.

  Overall, the trip had been more successful than I could have hoped. It wasn't unheard of for us to come out here and find that they only had a single working item for us. That was the downside to them hesitating to actually give details over the Haller.

  “He really wanted to eat my dog, didn't he?” Leeya asked when we were far enough away from their camp.

  I gave her a sideways look, knowing it was pointless to give her an answer. It wasn't like I could lie to her.

  She just sighed and shook her head.

  Our convoy didn't talk much on the way back. There usually wasn't much chatter during the latter part of the day while in the city. The animals might be known for coming out after dark, but that didn't mean there wouldn't be some who saw us as a reason to emerge early. That left people more alert, watching every opening and cross street for signs of danger.

  In fact, we were nearly back to the apartment before things started to lighten some. That might have been helped by the heard of deer that ran across the street just yards in front of us.

  “It's a shame it would be too difficult to actually get a haul back to Alkwin,” Zaydan said, watching them disappear behind a building. “Our hunters could spend a day out here and get enough meat to last us a month. Maybe two.”

  Leeya watched where the deer had disappeared quietly. I could tell just by looking at her that she was trying to process something. That curious mind of hers that always wanted to understand everything.

  I looked over at her, waiting for her to ask. She must have realized I'd caught her when she glanced over, because she gave me a small smirk.

  “I was just wondering how enough animals can be raised within Eden to provide meat for the entire city.”

  I really was surprised by some of the things she popped off with at times. Like the paths, that was something that people didn't really think about unless it was their job to.

  “There can't be,” I answered, watching her reaction. That shocked little look she would get. It was cute. “Even with the genetic modification they do on them. Let's just say we aren't the only things the Sentry are tasked with hunting outside of the wall.”