by P. T. Hylton
Alex laughed. “Um, excuse me, that is not how it was.”
Owl nodded. “If we weren’t on a mission, we wished we were, with the training CB put us through.”
“And yes,” Alex added, “this is mandatory.”
The Ground Mission Team was gathered in Alex’s quarters. She’d rounded them up after the mission that day and told them to come to her place for dinner. Now she was serving up plates of a casserole dish her mom had often made, one of the few recipes Alex knew. Only, when her mom had made it, it hadn’t been black on the bottom and tasted vaguely like ash.
Patrick took a bite, slowly chewed it, and swallowed hard. “Are we being punished?”
“Not yet,” Alex said. “But keep complaining about my cooking and that could change.”
He sullenly took another bite.
Alex took a deep breath. She’d been considering doing this for days, but after Patrick and Ed had stood up for her in the prison yard the previous day, she’d decided it was time. They were protecting her; she needed to give them her trust in return.
“This is sort of a GMT tradition,” she began. “Back when CB was captain, we used to do this before every mission. We’d gather for dinner, chat, and be together in an environment where our lives weren’t on the line.”
“Wait,” Chuck said, “are you saying we have to do this every night?”
“No.”
“Oh, thank God,” Ed muttered.
“But tonight’s sort of a special occasion. I wanted to talk to you about something. I haven’t been entirely honest with you.”
The GMT members exchanged nervous glances, suddenly less interested in complaining about their mediocre food.
“I did it because I wanted to protect you,” she continued. “I wanted you one hundred percent focused on the mission. I didn’t want your heads clouded with politics. That was wrong of me, and I apologize. But it’s time to rectify that situation.” She took a deep breath. There was no turning back now. “CB, Owl, Jessica, Brian, and I are all involved in a plot to take Fleming down. And we are working to make sure it happens before Resettlement starts.”
She went on to tell them everything. About the bombing of the Council and her suspicions of Firefly’s role in it. About how CB was working behind the scenes with Kurtz to gather evidence and to get the badges on their side. About how they planned to free General Craig and place him temporarily in charge until elections could be held.
Most of all, she explained why they were doing this. How she was absolutely certain that anyone who spent the night on the surface in Fort Stearns would die.
When she finished, there was a long silence. She let it hang there, then she said, “What you do with this information is up to you. If you want off the team, that’s your call. But I thought you had to know. Because if Fleming finds out what we’re up to, he’ll come after me, and that means he’ll probably come after you, too.”
There was another long silence. Then something peculiar happened: Chuck started eating.
Patrick looked at him like he was crazy. “Did you hear what she just said?”
Chuck shrugged. “I don’t know about you guys, but I trust Alex. If Fleming comes after her, he’s going to have to get through me first.” He took another bite, then said through his food, “Besides, he’s always seemed like a massive son of a bitch.”
Ed scratched his chin. “I voted for Resettlement, but it was just so I could go down there and fight vampires. I already get to do that, so, yeah, sure.”
“You’re not overthrowing the government without me,” Patrick quickly added.
“I’m a little offended I wasn’t in on this plan from the jump,” Wesley remarked. “But you know I’m into it. I’ve seen vampires at night, and I’d rather not see them again.”
Alex felt a lump rising in her throat at her team’s loyalty. She’d expected at least some of them to protest, maybe argue about the merits of what they were doing. She wouldn’t have been surprised if one or two of them had walked.
But instead they’d immediately bought in.
“All right then,” she said. “Anyone want a second helping of casserole?”
Patrick’s face screwed up in disgust. “Um, no.”
For the second time in his life, Garrett was on the surface of the Earth when the sun went down. The first time had been a botched mission that he hadn’t thought he would live through. This time he was here on purpose, sent here by Fleming, who apparently didn’t have the balls to stand toe to toe with a vampire in the middle of the night.
He’d been waiting alone in this little room in Agartha for over an hour, and it was starting to wear on him. After weeks of being on the go almost constantly, he felt antsy sitting still with nothing but his thoughts to occupy his mind. Thoughts of the impending Resettlement and all the work that still had to be done to make it possible. Thoughts of Alex and her tireless efforts to plant doubt in his mind. He hated it. He hated the fact that there was a small kernel of truth to her words.
But his faith in Fleming outweighed her flawed logic. He had his moments of weakness, sure, but didn’t everyone? He’d do the right thing for humanity when the time came.
The door opened and Jaden strode in, a smile on his face. “Firefly! Good to see you, my friend.”
Garrett paused, caught off guard by the warm welcome. “Thank you. Good to see you too. And it’s Captain Eldred now. I got a promotion.”
“Congratulations.” The vampire slid into the chair across from Garrett. “I’ll be honest, I was really hoping to meet Fleming.”
“He’s a little busy at the moment. I’m here as his representative. You can say anything to me that you were going to say to him.”
“Ah, scared of vampires, is he?” Jaden asked, a mischievous twinkle in his eyes.
Garrett pushed down the annoyance building within him. “No. Just busy, like I said the first time. So, what’s this important thing you wanted to discuss?”
“The continued existence of the human race. That’s fairly important, wouldn’t you agree? But maybe a little small talk before we begin. That’s how we used to do it back in civilized times.” He stared at Garrett for a long moment. “So, you’re having a hard time dealing with something you did?”
Garrett frowned. This was not going at all like he’d expected. “First of all, you have a funny definition of small talk. Secondly, I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“I’ve seen it a lot. It’s a specific combination of terror and remorse that sits up around the eyes. You’ve killed someone, and you’re struggling with it.”
Garrett didn’t even dare breathe. How the hell could this vampire possibly know about that?
Jaden held up a hand. “I’m not judging. I’ve killed hundreds. Sometimes with good reason, sometimes not so much. Just an observation.”
"I don't know who you've been talking to, but that is bullshit. I didn't kill anyone."
“The only person I needed to talk to figure it out was you. You’re fractured by it. Hell, you even changed your name. Did you notice the way you tensed up when I called you Firefly?"
Garrett took a long breath before responding. "The only things I kill are foul-smelling vampires. And I take them out every chance I get. Is this really what you called me down to talk about?"
Jaden shrugged. “Okay, then. On to business.” He leaned forward and looked Garrett in the eye. “I called you down here to offer you my help.”
Garrett raised an eyebrow. “Help with what?”
“Resettlement.”
There were many possible things he’d thought Jaden might say tonight, but that wasn’t one of them. He had absolutely no idea how to respond. The vampires of Agartha shouldn’t even know about Resettlement. And he wanted to offer help?
Jaden waited him out, that small, knowing smile still glued onto his face.
Finally, Garrett answered. “Look, I don’t know what you’ve heard, but—”
“I’ve heard that Fleming want
s to set up a settlement on the surface, and that you are, in fact, helping him do so. And, honestly, I think it’s a great idea.”
“You do?” Garrett asked, the skepticism clear in his voice.
“Of course. New Haven was never meant to be permanent. We knew it would have to come back to Earth someday. And I’d like to help make that happen. I have knowledge, resources, experience, and I’m willing to provide them all. Free of charge, as we used to say.”
“Then why do I sense a ‘but’ coming?”
“No ‘but.’ Only this. You have to do it at my pace.”
“There it is. I knew this was too good to be true.”
“It’s not,” Jaden said. “It’s what you need to hear. To do this right will take many years. Even selecting the site for the settlement is something we should research.”
Garrett stopped trying to suppress his anger. This vampire’s arrogance had pushed him to the limit. “I’m not saying we are resettling, but if we were, we’d have all that covered. We’d have weapons to defend ourselves. An ideal location. A plan. You and your kind were the reason we had to leave Earth’s surface in the first place. So, when it comes to your offer of help, thanks, but no, thanks. You can take your help and shove it up your ass.”
Jaden laughed, true delight in his eyes. “This is a great conversation. I forgot that phrase even existed. This is why I love talking to foreigners.” His face grew a bit more serious. “But I’m not making the offer to you, Firefly. I’m making it to Fleming.”
“I’ll take your offer to him, but I know his answer will be the same.”
Jaden nodded. “Fine. That’s all I can ask. I can see you’re not having as much fun with this conversation as I am, so I’ll just bring up one more point for you to pass along. When a human is turned to a vampire, it must obey its creator. He or she will not be able to disobey their master. It’s involuntary. This obedience diminishes over time, but it takes about a hundred years or so before a new vamp has full control over their own actions."
“Why are you telling me this?"
Jaden smiled again. "I thought you might want to consider that every human you send down to the surface could become a slave to a vampire. A slave who knows the layout, defenses, and inner workings of both New Haven and your new settlement. If the people you send to Earth fail, it could be much worse than just a loss of life for the settlers. It might create an adversary who could destroy you all."
With that, he stood up from the table.
“I’ve taken up enough of your time. We have a suite prepared for you, if you’d like to get some rest. I understand a ship will be here to take you back to New Haven in the morning.”
“Yes,” Garrett said, his own voice distant in his ears.
“Good. Thank you for passing along my message to Fleming. It was nice talking with you, Firefly.”
24
Three days had passed since Alex’s dinner with the team and Firefly’s meeting with Jaden. The past few days had been a blur of constant trips back and forth between New Haven and Fort Stearns. While their progress had been impressive, it had required them to spend nearly all of their waking hours on the surface.
And now they were headed back there for another day of preparations.
As wonderful as the team had been about her revelations, Alex did need the occasional break from them, so today, she was sitting in the cockpit of the away ship with Owl.
“So how long do we have?” Owl asked. “Before Fleming decides to pull the trigger on Resettlement?”
Alex shook her head. “Not long. A few weeks, maybe. Firefly’s encouraging Fleming to extend the testing phase a little. We’ll see how that goes.”
Owl raised an eyebrow. “That’s how far we’ve fallen? We’re trusting that rat Firefly to buy us more time?”
“Looks like. I don’t trust him, but he’s not a complete idiot. He sees the danger, and he wants Resettlement to succeed.”
“Yeah, he wouldn’t want hundreds of people to die,” Owl said dryly. “It would be a real black mark on his record.”
“Let’s just hope CB and Kurtz can pull off a miracle before Fleming pulls the trigger.”
After the ship landed, Alex gathered the team in the yard and split them up into teams of two. As was their routine, their first order of business was checking the buildings on the grounds, to make sure the lights were still on and that they were clear of Ferals.
“Barton brothers, you can partner up. Wesley and Chuck. And me and Owl.”
Patrick shook his head. “The GMT is a real girls’ club. When will the men get equal opportunity for facetime with the boss?”
“Today you’ll have to be content admiring me from afar,” Alex said. “Everyone, stay sharp out there. Just because the buildings have been clear the last three days doesn’t mean we can assume they will be today. Let’s move out.”
Alex and Owl headed toward Buildings Six, Seven, and Eight. She glanced up at the wall where Firefly’s team was working on installing more railguns. The majority of the area outside the wall would be protected by the pole-mounted daylights, but there were still a few blind spots. Hence the railguns. Firefly said he wanted every inch of the exterior within range of both daylights and railguns, but if Fleming kept pushing, it looked like that might not happen before the first group of three hundred Resettlers moved into Fort Stearns.
Firefly didn’t always come on these missions; he often stayed on New Haven to help with the training of the Resettlers. Today, however, he was atop the wall, directing his team. Alex had to admit he’d grown into more of a leader than she would have thought possible back when he’d been a withdrawn loner on the GMT.
Alex checked the exterior lights on Building Six and everything was in working order. Then they went inside.
Owl and Alex moved cautiously through the building. Like every day since the lights had been installed, it was clear. As they reached the basement level, Owl said, “Looks like we’re vampire-free.”
“Indeed, it does.”
Owl glanced at the generator and the backup batteries next to it. “You know, this is actually a pretty horrible redundancy system. If something takes out the generator, the batteries are just a few feet away.”
“Why is that a problem?”
“Well, say there was an explosion down here. Both the batteries and the generator would be destroyed, right? Boom, no lights.”
Alex nodded. “That’s a good point. I’ll bring it up to Firefly. Along with the mile-long list of concerns I’ve already mentioned to him.”
Owl glanced toward the steps to make sure they were alone. “Have you talked to CB? Any progress?”
“Some, but he needs more time.”
“We might not have it. Fleming’s going to move the Resettlers down here soon.”
“I’ll set something up for tonight. Just the core group.”
Owl seemed satisfied with that, and she headed toward the exit.
After searching the other buildings, Owl and Alex rejoined the other groups in the yard and confirmed that their searches had had similar results.
Firefly descended the steps leading down from the wall and joined them. “How we looking today, Captain Goddard?”
“Clear as a bell, Captain Eldred.”
“Excellent. The daylights are working. Brian McElroy really is a genius. We should name a building after him, or something.”
Alex had to admit that the results had been impressive. The daylights had been working as a better deterrent than she had expected. Still, she couldn’t help but wonder if that would hold true once the buildings were occupied. A vampire might not be willing to risk burning to enter an empty building, but one filled with humans? That, she didn’t know.
“Let’s just make sure we test everything before we start moving people in,” Alex said.
Firefly clapped her on the back. “Don't worry so much, Alex. We’ll make sure that everything is working perfectly before anyone stays the night down here."
Alex, Brian, CB, and Owl sat around CB’s kitchen table, waiting in silence. Alex felt weary. She’d lost track of the number of missions they’d been on lately. Every day seemed to bleed into the next. And there was still so much work left to do.
Finally, Jessica walked through the front door, a large container under her arm. “Sorry I’m late, but I brought enough slop from Tankards to feed us three times over.”
“Hell yes,” Owl said. “I’m starved.”
CB waited until they all had plates of food in front of them to begin talking. “We’re running out of time.”
“You’re telling me,” Owl said, pausing to swallow a bite of slop. “Fort Stearns is just about ready to go. It won’t be more than a couple weeks before the Resettlers go down.”
“I wouldn’t be so sure,” Brian said. “We’ve only made about half the railguns he ordered, and we’re out of parts again.”
“Huh,” Alex said. “Won’t he just strip the parts from somewhere else on New Haven?”
Jessica frowned. “Not if he wants to keep this bird in the air. We are down to the bone. I’ve taken everything that won’t cause an immediate shutdown of vital systems. It’s wildly irresponsible how many backup systems we’ve dismantled. If something happens…”
She let the thought hang in the air, unspoken.
“Same in the lab.” Brian’s voice was a little hoarse. He looked even worse than the last time Alex had seen him. “We’ve got every tech making lights, but we’ve burned though most of what the GMT got in Las Vegas.”
CB turned to Alex. “Sounds like the defenses of Fort Stearns are coming together.”
“Surprisingly, yeah.” If there was one group she could be honest with, it was this one. “I thought the vampires would have that place torn apart by now, but that hasn’t been the case.”
CB nodded. “Okay then. That leaves my report.” He paused. Everyone had stopped eating. This was the report they’d been waiting for. “I spoke with Colonel Kurtz today, and he’s making great progress with the badges. A core group of their leaders are on board, and he’s convinced that the rank and file will follow their lead. Especially when they see the GMT is anti-Fleming.”
