by T. C. Edge
He already knows it. I don’t need to tell him that.
“They were good soldiers,” he says, as if to himself.
“They shouldn’t have had to die for me,” I say.
He frowns.
“This is war, Brie,” he says. “They didn’t die for you. They died for our cause.” His eyes turn to the deep woods. “We need to leave this place…”
“But what about their bodies? You don’t mean to bury them?”
He shakes his head, his eyes narrow behind his mask.
“The jungle will make use of their bodies. Now what of the other guards?” he asks. “I was told you’d be escorted by two City Guards as well as two Stalkers.”
“They’re in the van,” I tell him.
He turns his attention through the woods in the direction of the track, and lifts his weapon. Then, with a swift step, he starts marching through the mud as I trail after him, stumbling through the mist on shaky legs.
Arriving at the back, he quickly aims the barrel of the gun inside. The two Hawks merely sit there, still under my command, one shorn of his jacket and rifle.
I reach out and pull down Zander’s gun.
“You don’t need to. I have them under control.”
“Like I told you, Brie,” he says, lifting the gun again. “This is war, and these men are our enemy.”
I grip the gun and pull it away.
“No, they’re not. We’re trying to save everyone, Zander.”
“Not everyone,” he growls. “Men like this are beyond saving. They are too loyal to their masters. Turn the tables, and they’d shoot us both dead. They’d probably enjoy it too…”
There’s an intensity to his words, a ferocity inside him, fuelled by the adrenaline of the firefight and seeing his soldiers die. It’s revenge that he craves. I know that. I can feel that.
“You can’t, Zander,” I say. “They’re prisoners. It’s not right.”
He snarls at the two men, who cower in the darkness of the van’s interior. I can sense their desire to attack, so quickly give them a verbal command to step out of the van and discard any weapons they carry.
They do so, Zander watching them closely as they go. Guns and knives are tossed into the rear of the truck.
“You see,” I tell him. “They’re mine, brother. They don’t need to die…”
Slowly, he lowers his gun.
“Fine, have it your way,” he growls, still eyeballing the two City Guards. Then he turns to me. “Are you well enough protected,” he asks, scanning my body. “We have a long trek ahead.”
I nod, but there’s something else on my mind now, something I can barely bring myself to ask. Not after this, not after saving me, not after everything else he’s done.
But still, now that he’s here, maybe there’s hope.
Hope for my husband…
“Adryan,” I whisper.
His eyebrows descend. He knows what’s coming.
“No, Brie, don’t even say it….”
“I have to!” I call. “He’s going to be killed, Zander…in only a few hours he’ll be dead. I can’t let that happen.”
“You have no choice!” he returns, spewing hot words. “I came to save YOU, Brie, and no one else. My men are dead, and I can accept that for you, but no one else. Adryan played his part, and he knew the risks. You have to forget about him now…”
He sounds like Lady Orlando. He sounds like Commander Burns.
“I can’t just forget about him. He put his life on the line, and you wouldn’t even negotiate his release! If you won’t do it, I’m going alone!”
“Release? What are you talking about?”
“Like you don’t know, Zander! Cromwell was willing to swap Adryan for Agent Woolf. He could have been saved, but instead he’s being tortured and is about to have his damn head chopped off! I can’t let that happen.”
He goes quiet for a moment, and I slip into his thoughts.
He really doesn’t know. Lady Orlando never told him…
“If that was Lady Orlando’s choice, then so be it,” he says after a few moments of reflection.
“You don’t believe that, surely?!” I glare. “After all he’s done for your cause, you’re just happy to let him die in the REEF?!”
“Brie, this is…”
“DON’T SAY ‘THIS IS WAR’” I roar. “He is my HUSBAND, Zander. You think I’m going to let him die without a fight? Go ahead, read my thoughts…you’ll see there’s nothing that’s going to stop me from going there and helping him.”
I speak without really thinking. Only ten or so minutes ago, I was considering suicide, giving up completely on the idea of saving Adryan from a terrible fate. Now, with my all-powerful brother alongside me, I’m suddenly desperate to attempt a daring escape.
It’s so inconsistent, but I can’t help it. My emotions are all over the place, one minute making me completely disconsolate, the next giving me the fire and determination I need to try the impossible.
And in that state, I’m refusing to listen to reason, refusing to see the logic that, only minutes ago, I was wishing I could employ.
But now things have changed. The two Stalkers are dead, and Zander is right here with me, and I have two City Guards under my total control. Now, maybe, it might just work.
Zander stares at me for a few moments, and then a few words drip from his mouth.
“He’s not your husband, Brie,” he says. “Your marriage isn’t real…”
“It’s real to me,” I counter as a tear hovers in the corner of my left eye. “I care about him, Zander. I can’t just let him die. I…I…can’t do it.”
With our eyes locked together, I sense him entering my mind and reading my thoughts as I requested. And in there, he’ll see the truth. He’ll see that I’ll do anything to save him. He’ll see that I could have made my escape in Outer Haven, but chose to continue to the REEF instead, knowing it would mean certain death or reconditioning.
And he’ll see, too, that my feelings for Adryan are deeper than he knows. He’ll see that I love the man.
But as he examines my mind, he doesn’t just look. I feel him attempting something, trying to subtly manipulate my thoughts and feelings, to set an order in me to forget about Adryan, to leave this place right now.
I feel him doing it all somewhere in the depths of me, so quietly and secretly altering my desires, hoping I don’t notice.
But I do.
I feel it, and immediately begin to counter him, driving him backwards, blocking my mind from his intrusions.
And as I do so, I try something of my own, try to turn his own thoughts against him, to order him to agree to what I’m saying. He recoils and I see him stepping back and frowning at me.
“You won’t change my mind, Zander,” I tell him. “You have to help me.”
He shakes his head, and I scan his thoughts, and see that he’s completely against it all. And so, without thinking, I quickly flash my eyes on the two Hawks standing to the side, and as I do so, whisper: “Restrain him.”
Before Zander can react, the two men rush forward and take one of his arms each. He begins to struggle in their grasp for a moment, but is unable to escape them.
Settling, he looks at me again.
“You owe him, Zander,” I whisper. “What does it say about us if we won’t help one of our own? What exactly are we fighting for if not the lives of those we care about? Maybe you don’t care what happens to him, but I do. Please. Please help me.”
His resolve begins to weaken, my appeal to his good nature, to his good heart, having the effect I desire. And as his shaking head begins to turn to a nod, I also feel a ripple of guilt passing through me.
This isn’t the first time I’ve asked him to save someone I care about…
But then, I’ve done plenty for them as well. OK, so my mission failed, but I did all I could to complete it. I was rushed into all of this, forced to adapt to survive, kept in the dark about so many things.
And no
w, it’s back to him, his turn to repay the favour.
And letting out a long breath, he merely says: “OK.”
126
I order the two Hawks to release my brother. He shrugs them away as they step back towards the van, creeping out of the toxic mist.
Zander starts to pace, turning his eyes down the track in either direction. Then he moves to the Hawks and begins a short interrogation.
“When is the next convoy expected through these woods?” he asks.
They refuse to answer until I order them to do so.
“Not until early evening,” says one.
“And has backup been called for?” Zander looks to the Hawk’s forearm interface, which doesn’t show any signs of an imminent surge of reinforcements.
The same Hawk shakes his head.
“Not by us.”
“Check the feed. See if either of the Stalkers have sent out an alarm,” he orders.
The Hawk does so, before informing us that no backup has been requested.
Now it’s my turn to speak.
“You think they would have heard the firefight from here?” I ask Zander.
He shakes his head.
“Hopefully not. We picked this spot to intercept you precisely because it’s far enough away from both the city and the REEF to be out of audible range. It’s possible that a Bat manning the city gates or the gates of the REEF may have heard, but I can’t be sure. We’re not seeing any incoming reinforcements. I’m hoping we’re in the clear.”
“Well, that’s good. We can use the van to get inside, right? The Hawks can take the wheel…”
“Brie, they’re expecting two Stalkers and two Hawks to be escorting you. They’ll know something’s wrong if no Stalkers appear.”
He’s got a point.
“OK, then you dress up as one,” I propose. “As soon as you get in front of the guards at the gate, you can just manipulate them into thinking there was only meant to be one Stalker. Would that work?”
He considers the suggestion for a moment.
“It might. But we have bigger problems than that…”
“Such as?” I query.
He walks around to the front of the van, urging me to follow.
“Such as that,” he says, pointing at the broken windows and bullet-ridden flanks of the vehicle. “They’ll know we were in a fight as soon as we drive up.”
“So…we tell the truth,” I say, another of my bright ideas flashing in my head. “You can tell them that we were attacked on the road, and that’s how the other Stalker was killed. It works perfectly, actually…”
“Right. That’ll work,” says Zander, nodding with more resolve now. “And it’ll cover our tracks in case a Bat was listening.”
He surges back around to the rear of the van, and tells me to give the City Guard his jacket and weapon back. Then he creeps into both of their heads, performing some of his own mental manipulations in order to make sure we both have control over them.
“Just to make sure,” he says to me.
As he does so, the two City Guards move around to the front and climb in behind the wheel. Zander, meanwhile, tells me to get into the back, before rushing off into the woods. Moments later, he’s returning with the jacket of one of the dead Stalkers, as well as the helmet and visor they use to cover their faces.
He pulls on the enemy outfit, concealing his own features.
“How do I look?” he asks.
“Like a Stalker,” I answer. “It’ll work…this will work.”
“Good. Then let’s get it done.”
He gets into the van and shuts the rear door. Ahead, the City Guard in the passenger seat has opened up the small window, allowing us to communicate with them.
“OK, drive us to the REEF,” he orders. “Remember your roles. You will explain that we were attacked on the road and that one of the Stalkers was killed, but you managed to get away. Understood?”
They both answer in the affirmative, and the van begins to grind off again in the direction of the REEF.
Sitting in the back, I listen as my brother sets about doing what he does best, searching the Hawk’s mind for further details about the exact layout of the REEF, its security personnel, and Adryan’s likely location.
I stay quiet, leaving him to slip into the role he’s grown accustomed to over these many years fighting in the shadows. When I get a chance, I ask him about his own knowledge of the facility, which appears to be lacking.
“I’ve heard only a few things,” he informs me.
“You’ve never been there?”
He shakes his head.
“No, but I’ve heard accounts from people who have.”
He spares me only a few words before continuing his interrogation and mental exploration of the City Guard’s knowledge of the REEF. While he hasn’t been there, it’s quite clear that both of these men have been involved in transporting prisoners to the facility for some time, and as such their knowledge of the place is now very much my brother’s too.
Because, unlike merely asking for an explanation of the layout, he’s actually able to see the place within his subject’s mind. Within a few short minutes, he’s confident that he knows where Adryan is, and exactly how to get to him.
To give us time to plan and prepare, we maintain a relatively slow driving speed as we crunch along the track and creep along the half dozen miles to our destination. Yet, before I know it, the woods are beginning to thin out ahead of us, and the shape of grand structures are starting to appear as distant silhouettes in the fog.
Time has dashed past too quickly.
Are we ready?
We have to be…
“OK, we’re coming up on the front gate,” says Zander, gripping his pulse rifle a little tighter. “Brie, remember that you’re my prisoner, so don’t let those Hawk-eyes shine too brightly. Keep your head down and let me do the rest. Getting in should be easy enough. It’s getting out I’m worried about.”
In order to maintain the illusion, a fresh set of cuffs are attached back to my wrists, one of the Hawks at the front having a spare set. The little window is then closed, leaving only a little gap for us to listen through in the back as the van begins to slow as it cruises up towards the front gate.
When it stops entirely, I hear the grinding of gears as the gate opens, and then the voice of a sentry guard confirming the identity of the Hawks. As expected, he immediately brings up the state of the vehicle, his voice tense as it booms from a body that can only be a Brute.
The Hawks, now under my brother’s control as well as my own, do as they were ordered, explaining that we were attacked en route, and that one of the Stalkers was killed, leaving only a single remaining Stalker to escort me in the back of the van.
A few more words boom from the Brute’s body, and then the sound of several sets of feet come shuffling around to the rear of the van. The doors are hastily opened up, and several gigantic men stand before us. As instructed by Zander, I keep my eyes low, but am still able to peep through my peripheral vision at the hulking men.
“Your partner was killed?” comes the main Brute’s voice.
Zander, now playing the part of the only remaining Stalker, sets about answering. He does so with a scratchier, monotone voice that appears to be his impression of how a Stalker might sound. I suppose he’s encountered enough of them to know.
“Correct,” he replies. “We were ambushed on the road. Several hybrids. We dealt with them…but my partner was killed in the fight. I suggest you send out a retrieval team immediately to fetch his body before the beasts get to it.”
The Brute nods, happy with the explanation. Moments later, the van door is shut and it continues on through the main gate, the surface of the ground beneath the tyres changing from crunching dirt to the flat form of a concrete path.
We continue on for a little while, perhaps fifty or so metres, before reaching another gate. It opens immediately, allowing passage through the inner layer of security, leading us
into a wide courtyard that gives entry into the various buildings of the REEF.
There are several of them, all utilised for a different purpose. Here, it’s not only the execution of hybrids and difficult and unruly characters that takes place, nor the reconditioning of criminals into Con-Cops, and the other mental recalibrations that occurs here, but various other scientific and medical experiments too.
Rumour has it, purer forms of easily controllable hybrids are being designed that would put even the Stalkers in the dark. More powerful adversaries that, if developed to completion, might just be Cromwell’s ace in the hole, his trump card used to destroy anyone who stands in his way.
Once more, the van crawls to an abrupt stop, and the rear doors are opened. A fresh troop of guards await, two Brutes at the front, armed with huge guns and covered in thick armour.
They stand on either side, creating a short tunnel for us to move through, their shadows blocking out the light filtering down through the hazy skies. Zander, hidden behind his Stalker mask and cloak, takes a grip of my cuffs and drags me down to the front of the van. With my head low, I stumble along, hitting the tarmac as I’m led into the main courtyard.
At the front of the van, I hear the Hawks leaving the van as well. As we move past the cordon of guards, they come around towards us. Apparently, since they’ve brought me this far, they’ll be taking me onward, along with Zander, towards my final destination.
Without giving myself away, I try to get a good look at my surroundings. From here, there isn’t much to see but for the slate grey structures ahead, built like large warehouses and intentionally intimidating. There are three, lined up side by side, all surrounded by the tall walls that block the facility off from the woodlands beyond.
And tall the walls are. At least 20 feet, the tops reachable at certain points by ladders that rise up into small watch positions, manned by Hawks.
My immediate concern upon seeing the place is that there’s no way out. The front is too secure, populated by a significant security force and blocked by the double gates and the walls either side of them.
The rest of the perimeter also looks to be impassable from the inside. We could get to the top, but could we jump down safely to the other side?
