by Drew Cordell
“I wish you wouldn’t say stuff like that,” Violet said. “But we’ll be long gone in a few minutes when my dad shows up.”
I met her eyes. “Violet, if he doesn’t we need to be prepared to get back to the Undercity and back to your base or the Champion’s Guild Hall.”
“He’ll be here. Give him time,” she shot.
Christopher kept his weapons rested across his lap, although the rocket launcher was more of a liability in the close confines of the tunnel system. “Sure, we need to get out of this armor anyway. Violet, I’m not worried about yours.”
It made sense. If we accidentally fell in the river, it was deep enough in most parts that we wouldn’t be able to stand on the bottom. Coupled with the fact that I wasn’t the best swimmer and we wouldn’t be able to get the armor off if we fell in, it made a lot of sense to get out of most of it for the time being.
“Do these plates come off? Maybe we could keep the chain armor on underneath,” I suggested, not really happy with the idea of being without any armor even if things seemed quiet now.
Christopher shook his head. “The chain is just to disperse impact and stop shrapnel; it wouldn’t protect you from much else. Not worth it if you fall in. It would just drag you down.”
We took the next few minutes to strip out of our bulky armor, setting it against the sides of the boat in neat bundles. After our armor was off, we remained quiet, listening closely. Aside from the gentle flow of the river at the edges of each of the tunnels there was nothing. After another five minutes, a boat started moving through one of the tunnels to our left slowly. Christopher shouldered his rifle, aiming at the boat as we waited for it to enter the hub fully.
Grez stood and waved as they came into the light and pulled up beside us. From a quick glance, it looked like they were all unharmed. Bob and Jasper tethered the two boats together so we could talk and work out a plan.
“That was a nightmare,” Grez said, pulling his daughter into a hug and kissing the top of her head. “There’s no choice now. We go to the weapons lab and see what we find.”
“Dad,” Violet said, but Grez cut her off.
“I still have the map, and we’ll give Gerald and Agatha the chance to plot our course before we leave.”
“Dad,” Violet repeated.
“What?” he asked sharply.
“We need to work with the Champions. We have to destroy the Omniscience Engine.”
“This changes nothing,” Grez snapped. “The Scavenger Guild were fools for building tunnels accessible to dropships. We don’t have anything like that, and I assure you we’re quite secure in the Undercity. We won’t be trading with the Scavenger Guild, but our vision for the future of our people hasn’t changed. The Omniscience Engine isn’t our enemy.”
“How can you be so blind?” Violet cried. “What makes you think we’re safe? Eventually it will come after us, and if we don’t do something now while we have the means to, we’ll lose everything.”
“This is not the time nor the place to discuss this,” Grez said coldly, dropping the subject.
I sighed internally. We needed a chance to talk to Violet in private to get her to side against her father before we reached the weapons lab.
Marwin shook his head, not ready to give up the conversation. “Grez, think about what just happened. Someone on the inside made this possible. How do you know you don’t have an Omniscience Engine sycophant amongst your people? One person with enough access to your infrastructure is all it takes and then it’s all over for you.”
Grez bared his teeth at Marwin. “Ask yourself the same question, Marwin. How do you know someone in your own ranks didn’t sell you out to the Omniscience Engine before your little field trip to the Docks?” he seethed. “Do you know who you can trust? Because even the Champions don’t screw up as badly as you did. You and your little Council sent most of your best people to die.”
Marwin’s face twisted in anger and he lunged forward, rocking the boat. I caught him and pulled him back at the last second before he could hit Grez.
“Oh, yes. Please give me a reason to put a bullet in your brain, by all means,” Grez offered, raising both his arms at his side and giving Marwin the chance to take the swing.
I heaved with all my might and lifted Marwin into the air, putting him behind me and pushing him down into a seat before he could do something stupid. He was still struggling, trying to pry himself from my grasp and lunge at Grez while the boat rocked.
“Stop!” Mary yelled. “This isn’t going to solve anything, and we need to get as far away as we can from River’s Port.”
“She’s right,” Christopher said. Tense silence followed as Marwin and Grez glared at one another from across boats.
“I’m calm,” Marwin said coolly, exhaling deeply as I released my grasp on him.
“If you two are finished, we need to get out of here. The map please, Mr. Adrihel,” Agatha said. She was in her forties and had long, graying hair that was tied back above a hardened, slender face. She pulled a large folding computer from her backpack, and Grez handed her the data card. The other Operator, Gerald, began mounting sensors to the outside of both tugboats. Green LED lights on the tops flickered to life, indicating a secure connection to Agatha’s computer. Grez and the rest of his group spent the next few minutes getting out of the majority of their armor as well, not wanting to risk falling in with it.
“Ready to go?” Grez asked.
“Almost. Calibrating the sensors with the map. I don’t suppose your boats can run on autopilot?” she asked Jasper and Bob.
They both shook their heads.
“It shouldn’t be a problem, but we don’t have room for mistakes. As per Grez’s instructions, I’m limiting access to the map, but it will always display the next two travel executions and alert the lead boat driver well ahead of when it needs to happen so they’ll be ready. We need to account for some errors, but we shouldn’t encounter any problems or challenges until we reach the Maze as we’re calling it.”
Jasper grimaced. “I should have thought to ask about the Maze, but it didn’t really cross my mind. I didn’t know anyone was crazy enough to try to travel through it.”
Thankfully, Violet was in the dark too and it wasn’t just me. “What’s the Maze?”
Agatha dropped another sensor into the water, tying its tether to the front rail of Bob’s boat. “It’s what’s going to make or break this trip. I can’t figure out the practical application of creating such a thing in the first place, but it’s several square miles of maze-like tunnels where there is no river current.”
“You didn’t think that would be useful for me to know?” Violet asked Grez.
“Everything is on a need to know basis,” Grez replied.
“Let’s talk logistics,” Christopher said. “How much fuel do we have between both boats, and how far do you think we’ll be able to travel?”
Jasper checked the fuel gauge on his boat’s control panel while Bob did the same, reporting their tanks were almost completely full. “Over one hundred gallons between both boats. We’ll get roughly three hundred miles of travel on what we have. We didn’t have time to grab more as we were trying to escape.”
“We’ll be heading downriver until we reach the Maze, so we can save on fuel until then and rely on the river itself to carry us to our destination, but that’s going to cost time,” Christopher said.
“Always a trade-off,” Gerald commented.
“How much time are we talking?” Grez asked.
“We have almost three hundred miles, and the current is only moving a couple ticks over two miles per hour. So we’re looking at four days of travel if the current remains the same until we reach the Maze,” Christopher said.
“What about food? We have eleven including Bob. He doesn’t eat does he?” Grez asked Jasper.
“No, but I do need my beauty sleep,” Bob responded. There was silence throughout the group as no one could tell if the small robot was serious or not.
Jasper chuckled quietly to himself. “No, he doesn’t eat. Bob will suck some power from the converters, but he doesn’t need sleep either. It was a joke. Bob’s sense of humor is a little dry for my taste, but maybe you’ll grow to appreciate it despite his bad timing.”
Grez raised his eyebrows, looking intrigued by Bob. “Huh. Well let’s see what we have then. Jennifer can ration it out for the trip. Ideally, we’ll want to preserve some rations for the way back, as it’s not likely we’ll be able to resupply at this weapons lab, especially if it’s been dormant for over a hundred years,” Grez said before the group started busting open the crates we had hastily thrown onto the boats before we left.
A few of the crates were packed with metal scrap that was utterly useless. The junk was dumped overboard, and everything else was redistributed between both boats. After everything was counted, including the contents of our backpacks, Jennifer began rationing out the food. Both boats were equipped with water filters to purify the river water for drinking, and with the fishing supplies we’d scrounged before leaving, Jasper was hopeful we’d be able to catch a lot to keep everyone fed throughout the trip without dipping into preserved rations.
With such a long journey, it was good the tugboats we were on were equipped with features to make it more comfortable. Each boat featured several seats, a large open area for storing loot, and stations for crafting, cooking, and a functioning private restroom which basically just equated to a toilet seat over water with a tent-like structure that could raise on all sides to give a little bit of privacy. When everything was tallied, we had just over ten days’ worth of food for the group excluding any fish we might catch. It was cutting it close, and if we didn’t fish or find edible food in the weapons lab, it wouldn’t be good.
“Everything should be good to go, boss,” Agatha said to Grez as she mounted the computer on the dashboard of Bob’s tugboat above the simplistic control panel.
“Good. Let’s get out of here. I want to get a few more miles away from River’s Port before we coast with the current,” Grez said, taking his seat while the others from his group moved to the other boat. “Christopher, I’d like to talk to my daughter. If you would be so kind to keep an eye on our guests, that would be appreciated.”
The engineer nodded and remained on our boat while Gerald hopped in as well. Violet moved to the other boat, and Bob untied the tethers binding the two.
Jasper thumbed the key on the ignition, twisting it and activating the engine again before following Bob’s tugboat down the river.
“Sorry about that,” Marwin said. “It’s a sore subject, and I lost my cool for a moment. And yes, Jake, I know I just did what I lectured you not to.”
“I’d suggest you remain calm with Grez,” Gerald offered.
Christopher nodded in agreement. “I think we’re all leaning toward your side on this one. It’s not reasonable to think we’re safe from the Omniscience Engine after what just happened. Unfortunately, we have more pressing matters to worry about. We need to catch a bunch of fish if we’re going to make it to the weapons lab and back. I’m not too worried about getting there, but without our cargo from the turbo truck, we’re going to be cutting it close. Grez isn’t one to back down, especially when he is wrong.”
“Clearly,” Marwin grumbled.
Gerald pulled off his combat helmet to reveal short, black hair with accents of gray. He was probably in his late thirties, and seemed like the calm, quiet type. “Look, my job is to get us to the weapons lab, but Grez realistically isn’t going to consult us on anything other than tech. If you want Grez’s help you need Violet, but you also need to wait.”
“You don’t think it will be an issue when Grez finds something valuable to him at the lab? Why would he even listen to us then?” I asked.
Gerald leaned back in his chair, pulling a stick of chewing gum from a fold in his armor, ripping off the foil and tossing it into his mouth. “Now’s not a good time to press this. Later might not be either, but nothing is going to get done unless you have Violet, which might not be too far out of reach.”
Marwin narrowed his eyes. “You sure Grez would appreciate you two talking like this?”
Christopher shrugged. “We’re entitled to our opinions, and we’ll voice them. This is probably our only shot at making it to the weapons lab. I’m just saying we’re not well-positioned to pull this off anymore.”
Jasper spoke up from behind the boat’s bulky control panel. “Bob and I happen to be adept fishermen. We’ve gone out on the river for days at a time with no food, fishing all we need from the river. With any luck, we won’t need to worry about food once you get acquainted with the local cuisine.”
“Thanks, Jasper. Let’s just hope Violet talks some reason into Grez,” Mary said.
I scooted closer to her and put my arm around her shoulder, wishing we could take the clunky armor off but we weren’t out of danger yet.
There hadn’t been any more boats in the tunnel with us. Ours were the only two in River’s Port to make it out in this direction, unless there were boats farther ahead of us. We were lucky to get out alive, and even more lucky that Bob and Jasper were so good at maneuvering the large, powerful boats. There were a lot of things that were strange about the invasion. I noted the distinct lack of human, Ascendant, or HK forces. There hadn’t been any on the streets, and the Enforcers attacking didn’t look newly manufactured by any means. That meant Ascendants weren’t mass produced yet, or Evelyn Aeoxous didn’t deploy them as soldiers. It also suggested HKs were in short supply after the Slums invasion, or they weren’t the tool for the job which seemed to be mostly crowd control.
With bombers like the ones they had taking out key locations, River’s Port didn’t stand a chance.
The Omniscience Engine appeared to want the people of River’s Port alive, and I shivered as I speculated why. Perhaps there was a new version of Mindshift to test, and the people of River’s Port were the ideal test candidates. Eventually, I was able to relax and slow my thoughts, dozing off with Mary after the commotion of the past few hours settled and our boats cut their engines, leaving only the noise of light conversation and gently flowing water.
The next few days passed uneventfully. The trip so far had been a straight shot, but when we hit the Maze, everything would change. Fishing duty was split among all the passengers, and we managed to catch a plentiful variety of fish and eel, allowing us to maintain almost all of our preserved ration supplies. Bob turned out to be quite the chef, but everyone was growing tired of the trip and moods were souring.
Jennifer, in an effort to bolster our supplies for the return trip, started to ration even the fish we caught, subjecting most of it to the abject horrors of Jasper’s fish preserving machine. Everyone soon came to miss Bob’s cooking and learn to despise Jasper’s. It was so bad that Jennifer kept all the preserved rations we carried locked away in one of the steel supply containers welded to the interior of Bob’s boat.
Marwin, Mary, and I had avoided Grez as much as possible to try to prevent another fight or outburst, especially after Violet told us she wasn’t able to get through to him and he had no intention of working with the Champions to destroy the Omniscience Engine, no matter what we found at the weapons lab.
“This is the worst thing I have ever tasted in my life,” Grez growled, spitting a mouthful of Jasper’s preserved fish over the side of the boat and into the water with a sickening plop.
“Once you’re through the adjustment period it’s not too bad,” Jasper exclaimed, taking a bite out of his own preserved fish and chewing thoughtfully. Grez’s mood seemed directly correlated with the amount of preserved fish Jennifer forced him to eat in our strict rationing schedule. The monotonous surroundings, the bad company, and the wretched food were taking their toll on me as well, even as I did my best to fight it.
I suddenly wished I had a basket of fish and chips from the market. Thoughts of the delicious fried food made the stale piece of fish I was gnawing
on even worse, and I stuffed the remainder of my meal into my pocket for later, knowing it couldn’t get any worse than it already was.
I didn’t know what to expect of the Maze, and from what Jasper and Bob had described, it sounded intimidating.
The river current dipped, and our boats slowed to a grueling speed. “One more day until we reach the Maze if we opt to conserve fuel,” Agatha reported, checking her map display on the other boat. “Do you want to burn fuel the rest of the way to the Maze?” she asked Grez.
He shook his head. “Let’s save it. We can wait, even if that means eating more of this horrible fish.”
Unable to sleep, Christopher optimized the best equipment for each of us to carry when we finished our trip through the Maze. Unfortunately, during the process Grez discovered the tea I purchased from the market and confiscated it for immediate preparation despite how hot it was in the river tunnel. Tea was made and distributed to everyone except Bob who said he wasn’t thirsty.
I sipped my tea in anger, unable to bring myself to tell Mary it was supposed to be a gift. By my foul mood, it was clear she had her suspicions. At least Grez hadn’t taken any interest in the paperweight I bought for her. I still planned on giving it to her later.
With slight adjustments to make sure everyone had some food and water, we’d be able to carry almost everything with us for the last stretch of land travel before arriving at the weapons lab, although Grez wasn’t letting us see the full map.
After another hour, we arrived at the entrance of the Maze, denoted by haphazardly tacked signs on the edge of the tunnel which narrowed to only about ten feet across. The water was still deep, but we were considerably more crammed in the tugboats which were just over five feet wide and 10 feet long as the tunnel narrowed. Jasper and Bob assured us the turns in the Maze would accommodate the size of the boats, but it wasn’t my main concern.
We hadn’t asked anyone in River’s Port about the Maze in order to remain discreet, but Jasper and Bob seemed physically unsettled now that we were here. I had pressed Jasper into telling me as much as he knew about the maze during our journey. It wasn’t just that I wanted to learn new things about New York, I wanted to know more about what I had gotten myself into and what we might face.
