Fighting Back (Battle Ground YA UK Dystopia Series Book 4)

by Rachel Churcher

  Dan and I exchange a glance.

  Amy looks up.

  “What if he’s gone? What if they’ve sent him away?”

  Trouble

  KETTY

  I’m heading to Belmarsh Prison for an early interrogation. The car drops me at the gate, and I take my access card and ID from my pocket as I walk to the door. The guard on duty checks the cards and waves me through.

  I’m typing my code into the card reader at the entrance to the interrogation suite when Brigadier Lee opens the door in front of me from the inside. He stops, mid-stride, and stares at me, and at the card reader. I complete my code and the lights on the reader flash from red to green. I look up, tucking the card back into my pocket, and give him a smile.

  “Good morning, Sir.”

  “Good morning, Corporal.” He nods at the card reader. “I see someone’s upgraded your access.”

  “Yes, Sir.”

  I realise that he’s never seen me use the card. He’s either been here with me to open the door, or he’s assumed that Bracken let me in.

  He didn’t know I had this level of access.

  I hide my smile, and stand back to let him out into the corridor. There’s a scowl on his face as he walks away.

  Was it something I said, Sir?

  Conrad is in the waiting room, pouring himself a coffee. He flashes me his usual gorgeous smile.

  “Ketty. What are you here for?”

  Concentrate.

  “I’ve got a session booked with Elizabeth Ellman.” I check my watch. “She should be ready for questions in about fifteen minutes.”

  He nods. “That explains why Lee can’t set up his interrogation.” He tips his head towards the door. “He’s gone to shout at someone until they send some prison guards to help.”

  “Who’s he trying to talk to?”

  “William Richards. It’s a bit of an emergency.”

  So much for talking to Elizabeth.

  I shrug. “I can wait.”

  He steps away from the table, and I pour a cup of coffee for myself.

  Conrad sits down, and when I turn round, he’s looking at me. “Where’s Bracken?”

  “Early meeting. He’ll be along in time for Elizabeth’s session.” I lean back against the table, sipping my drink.

  Conrad stares. “If Bracken’s not here – who let you in? Lee?”

  I shake my head, and I don’t try to hide my smile.

  I finally know something you don’t.

  “Did Bracken call ahead?” I shake my head again.

  “You can’t have an access card. There’s no way …” He stops as I pull the card from my pocket and hold it up, smiling.

  “No way!” He looks surprised, but then his face falls. “Who gave you that, Ketty?” He sounds serious.

  He sounds frightened.

  I shrug, and put the card back in my pocket.

  “You know I don’t have one of those.” His voice is defensive, as if I’ve done something wrong.

  Competing again, David?

  “Really?” I try to sound unconcerned, but there’s something odd about his reaction. He stands up and takes a step towards me.

  “Seriously, Ketty. Who gave you the access card?”

  Watch out, Ketty. This isn’t a friendly chat.

  I put my coffee down on the table and stand up.

  “What’s the problem here, David?”

  “Does Lee know?”

  “He does now. He saw me using it when he went to fetch the guards.”

  “So it wasn’t Lee.” Conrad puts his cup down on the table and runs his hands through his hair. “Who is messing with us, Ketty?”

  I give him a hard stare. I’ve never seen him like this.

  “Franks gave it to me. Weeks ago. Major General Franks wanted to give me access to Elizabeth Ellman and Margaret Watson.” I pick up my coffee again, and lean back against the table. “Is that OK with you, Corporal?”

  He shakes his head. “Franks is using you, Ketty. She’s using you to get at Lee.”

  I stare at him. “What are you talking about?”

  “Lee runs the Terrorism Committee so Franks doesn’t have to.”

  “OK, but what’s that got to do with …”

  “Franks gives Lee free reign to do what he needs to do. Lee keeps the Committee stuff off Franks’ desk, and Franks can deny all knowledge of whatever Lee does.”

  “So Lee’s working for himself?”

  “Mostly. But Franks likes to remind him who’s in command.” I raise my eyebrows. “She pulls stunts like this to remind Lee that he doesn’t know everything. And it really gets under Lee’s skin.” He takes another step towards me. “Be careful, Ketty. Franks might seem friendly, but she’s playing her own games.” He points at me as he steps away and picks up his coffee. “She’s using you.”

  And she’s scaring you.

  I think this through. Franks came to my office to congratulate me for putting Elizabeth on TV. For using her to keep Bex and the other recruits under control. And she brought me the access card to make interrogating them easier. She didn’t tell me to keep it a secret, and she didn’t place restrictions on its use.

  But Conrad doesn’t have a card. And neither he, nor Lee, knew that I had access.

  So was Franks really helping me? Or was she playing games with the Terrorism Committee? Giving Lee something to be upset about?

  “David – is this what you meant when you said Bracken couldn’t handle it? Being on the committee?”

  He looks at me, and he’s about to answer when the door opens, and Lee walks in with two prison guards. Conrad turns away, puts his cup down and follows Lee to the cells. I’m left on my own, coffee in my hand, wondering what he was going to say.

  Just what I need right now. More hints and half-truths from the brigadier’s gorgeous assistant.

  *****

  I’m still waiting for Lee and Conrad to finish talking to William when Bracken arrives. I asked to watch the interrogation, but Lee refused, so I’m sitting in the waiting room, reading through my questions for Elizabeth.

  “Ketty.”

  I stand up as the door opens. “Sir.”

  He looks around the room. “Elizabeth not ready yet?”

  “No, Sir. Brigadier Lee has the interrogation room at the moment.” He raises an eyebrow. “He’s talking to William Richards, Sir.”

  Bracken nods, as if I’ve said something important. “We should probably stay out of his way.”

  He walks to the table and pours himself a coffee.

  I sit down, and check my watch. If Lee doesn’t finish soon, I won’t have a chance to talk to Elizabeth today.

  Bracken sits down next to me. “Did the Brigadier say what he was talking to William about?”

  Not to me, Sir.

  I shake my head. “He didn’t. But Conrad said it was an emergency.” Bracken nods again, and takes a sip of coffee.

  *****

  We don’t get to talk to Elizabeth. Bracken has to get to a meeting with Franks, and after an hour of waiting we phone for a car and head back to the office.

  Bracken sits with his head propped on his hand, his elbow on the arm rest between us. I pull the bottle of painkillers from my pocket and hand him two. He takes them, and doesn’t say a word.

  “Can I ask a question, Sir?”

  Bracken grunts.

  “What was so important? What did Lee need to talk to William about?”

  He looks up. “You know I can’t give you that information, Ketty. William Richards is a Top Secret prisoner. Committee business.”

  “Yes, Sir. So he’s cooperating with you? Keeping his daughter safe?”

  This time he sits up, his voice angry. “I cannot comment, Ketty. You do not have clearance for that information.”

  “Sorry Sir. It’s just that I was at his first interview, and the one where you threatened his daughter. I’m just curious …”

  “Perhaps you should forget what you saw, Corporal,” he snaps. “
Some things are best left alone.” He rests his head back on his hand. “Some people are best left alone.”

  I sit back in my seat and watch the traffic through the window, thinking about the morning’s conversations.

  Brigadier Lee? Franks? Conrad? Or you?

  “Yes, Sir. Sorry, Sir.”

  Arrested

  BEX

  It’s worse than that. Jake hasn’t been sent away. He’s broken out of the OIE.

  He’s broken the terms of his refugee visa.

  And the Scottish government arrested him.

  We’re watching one of the news channels in the common room. Dan’s dressed, but the rest of us are still in pyjamas. Gail knocked on my door this morning to make sure I heard the news from her, and we’ve been following the story on TV ever since.

  There’s a statement from the OIE, explaining who we are, and why Jake is supposed to stay on site. There’s CCTV footage of him walking up to the enquiries desk at the airport. And there’s film of him being helped into a police car, his hands in handcuffs again, black hair falling forwards over his face as he ducks his head.

  The first time we see that, Amy sobs. Charlie takes her hand, and we watch as the reporters piece the story together.

  When they explain that he’s likely to be deported, we all start shouting. It’s a reminder of how fragile our safety here is.

  We’ve been watching for an hour when Gail comes back. She takes a look at the four of us, sitting on the sofas where she left us.

  “I’m assuming there won’t be any training today?”

  Amy looks round at her. “Not until we know what’s happening with Jake.”

  “OK.” She pulls a dining chair over to the sofas, and sits down. “I have an update, if you want to hear it.”

  Amy nods. Dan mutes the sound on the TV.

  “So. It seems that last night, Jake managed to distract his guard, and take his gun. He used the gun to threaten the guard, who had no choice but to let Jake leave the building before raising the alarm. Jake took one of the cars you’ve been using for driving practice, and drove out of the gate. We think the gate guard recognised the car, and let it leave. We’re still checking that, and we’ll be amending our procedures to make sure it can’t happen again.

  “Jake drove to the airport, in a car he’s neither licenced, nor insured, to drive. He parked, and walked into the terminal, where he went to the enquiry desk and asked to claim asylum as an unaccompanied child. He’d done his research online. He knew what to ask for.

  “The problem is that he’s already claimed asylum, through the OIE. He can’t override that by claiming again on his own.”

  “So they arrested him.” Amy’s nodding.

  “They arrested him. And they called us.”

  “So what’s happening? What are they going to do?” I point at the TV, “and what’s this about deporting him?”

  “They can’t do that. Surely.” Dan shakes his head.

  Gail leans forward in the chair. “Not for making the extra asylum claim, no. Normally, they’d take into account the danger he’d be in if they sent him home.”

  “But?”

  “But … he’s broken the terms of his refugee visa. The government doesn’t normally allow second chances. They let him in, and they let him stay, and he deliberately broke the rules.”

  “But you’ve told them? You’ve told them what will happen if you send him home?” There’s a pleading tone in Amy’s voice.

  Gail nods. “We’ve told them. But there are other factors. He drove the car illegally. As far as they’re concerned, he stole the car before driving it.” Gail looks around at all of us. “And then there’s the gun. The police found it in the car.”

  Amy gasps.

  “That’s a lot of illegal actions. He’s broken Scottish laws – several of them – as well as disobeying the rules for his right to remain. Under normal circumstances, he’d be on a plane already.”

  I sit back in my seat. If they deport him, there will be soldiers waiting when he arrives. They’ll hand him over at the border, or put him on a plane to London, and he’ll be in handcuffs and a prison van before the end of the day. His face is on wanted posters all over the UK. They won’t waste any time putting one of my friends in an orange jumpsuit and putting him on TV.

  “So what can we do?”

  Gail looks at me. “We’re working on it, Bex. We’re trying to make them see that it won’t help anyone if we send Jake back to a trial and a firing squad.”

  Amy puts her face in her hands.

  I shake my head. “I thought they were on our side.”

  “The Scottish Government?” Gail shrugs. “They tolerate us. They don’t want us here, but they don’t want to send us away. They know how dangerous it was for us to get here, and it wouldn’t look good if they threw us out. They want to look as if they’re doing the right thing, but they don’t want us causing trouble. They’ll be happy when we can go back to London.”

  I look around the room. “Is there anything we can do to help Jake?”

  She shakes her head. “Not now. Not yet.” Amy starts to sob. “We’ll let you know if that changes. We’re just trying to delay their decision at the moment. Give ourselves some time to come up with another option.”

  “And are there other options?” Charlie asks.

  “We hope so.” She looks at Amy. “We’re hopeful at this stage.”

  “Thanks, Gail.” I manage a quick smile. “We appreciate the update. If there’s anything – anything at all – we can help with, you’ll let us know?”

  “Of course.” She stands up and looks around at us. “I know this isn’t your fault, and I know you didn’t have anything to do with Jake’s behaviour. If you decide to do any training today, the instructors are on site. You just need to come and find us.”

  “Thanks.”

  Dan’s turned the sound up before she leaves the room, and we settle in for another update on today’s top story.

  *****

  “We should get dressed. There’s been nothing new for a hour.” Charlie stands up and stretches.

  She’s right. We can’t sit here all day. Jake’s locked up, the liaisons are busy trying to keep him in the country, and the best thing we can do is follow our visa rules – and that means compulsory education for me and Amy and Dan. I stand up, and hold my hand out to Amy.

  She uncurls herself from the end of the sofa, and stands up, nodding. I put my arm round her shoulder, and she rests her head against me. We walk out into the corridor and back to her room.

  “See you back in the common room?”

  “Yeah. Thanks, Bex.” She gives me a quick hug. “They’re going to fix this, aren’t they? They can’t send him back.”

  I shake my head. “Let’s just be ready when they need us.”

  She nods, and opens her door.

  *****

  We’re back at the firing range, shooting at silhouettes. And this time there’s a new target in my mind as I shoot. A new focus for my anger.

  The Scottish government. The people who are supposed to be protecting us.

  The people who need to leave Jake alone.

  He’s angry, and he’s hurt, and he’s made some stupid decisions – I understand that. But he shouldn’t be facing a death penalty for trying to take control of his life. No one should. I’m angry that anyone is considering sending him home. I’m angry that no one seems to be helping him. And I’m angry with him for being so stupid.

  We need to stick together, here. We can’t afford to fall apart now. We need each other, and we need to look after each other. And Jake needs help and understanding, not threats. He’s sixteen.

  I fire my bullets at the target, as fast and as accurately as I can, channelling my anger. The silhouette, when it comes back, has a ragged, devastating hole at its heart.

  News

  KETTY

  “So they’ve lost a recruit?” Lee lounges in the chair in front of Bracken’s desk. “Any chance we can pi
ck him up?”

  I shake my head. “I’m not sure, Sir. It depends what the Scottish government decides to do with him.”

  “He’s in custody?”

  “We don’t know, Sir. It’s just rumours at this stage.”

  Lee raises his eyebrows. “I think you can do better than that, Corporal.” He waves his hand towards the door. “See what you can come up with as a trade for our Scottish friends. I’m sure there’s something we can offer them, in exchange for one of our most wanted.”

  “Yes, Sir.”

  “And talk to Conrad. He can get you access to the Scottish news channels. That might tell us what’s happening.”

  I turn to Bracken, but he waves me away. “See what you can do. Dismissed.”

  “Yes, Sir.”

  *****

  I hurry to Conrad’s office, taking the stairs two at a time and ignoring the pain in my knee. If there’s a chance I can bring Jake Taylor back to London, I need to do everything I can to make that happen.

  “Corporal Smith! What can I do for you?” Conrad leans back in his chair, an unfriendly smile on his face.

  Still bothered about my access card, David?

  “Scottish news channels. I’m told you can get me access?”

  He shakes his head and makes a tutting noise. “Now, that’s above your pay grade, Corporal. Officially, I have no idea what you’re talking about.” He folds his arms across his chest.

  Making me compete, again?

  I roll my eyes. “The brigadier sent me. Can you help me, or do I have to take this to Franks?”

  He sits forward in his chair. “Fine. Fine. I’ll get you access.” He reaches into a desk drawer and pulls out a file.

  “Here? Or in Bracken’s office?”

  He gives me another cold smile. “Here, Ketty. I watch what you watch, and I have my finger on the button. Anything comes on that you’re not cleared to see, I switch off the feed.” I start to protest, but he holds up his hands. “I don’t make the rules. That’s the deal. Do you want my help, or not?”