by Zoey Indiana
“Good luck.”
“We can’t just stay here.” Cay protested.
“There’s no way out. Trust me, I’ve tried.”
“Look at you, you look like you’re barely alive.”
“Yeah, but I’ve lived here for more years than I can remember.” He looked down at one bruise and prodded it. Letting out a hiss, he let his hand fall. “There’s one thing you can always count on with them. They do anything but kill you.”
Uneasiness surged through him. If that’s what he looked like after trying to not kill him, he didn’t want to imagine what else they could do.
“How many others like us are here?” Cay wondered.
“Men? You’re the first I’ve seen.” There could still be others they didn’t know about.
“What should I call you? I can’t keep calling you ‘hey you.’”
“The women call me male.”
“That won’t work.” Cay racked his brain trying to think of a name for the man. Books of ancient mythology came to mind as he searched. “Alastor, I’ll call you Alastor.”
Alastor didn’t respond, he kept his eyes on the floor.
“Well, Alastor, here’s to hoping we can break out and show these women what we’re made of.”
“You won’t let this go, will you?”
“The name, or escaping?”
“Both.”
Cay grinned, this could be the start of an amazing friendship, or a really short one. Looking around the cell, he noticed they made the cot out of a thin piece of bedding on top of metal links and springs.
“Hey, keep an eye out for me.” Cay shimmied so he was facing Alastor at the end of the cot. Pulling the bedding up, he worked at pulling the metal links free.
“What are you doing?” Alastor appeared on the other side of the wall and watched him.
“I’m breaking us out.”
“Come on, there’s no way out. I have the scars to prove it. Do I need to show them to you?”
“Nah, I’m good. Just keep a lookout for An’Da or Shar’ana. Both of them can be nasty when they want to.” One link was loose. If he could get the edge of the restraints in-between them, he could use leverage to pry it out. The sound of metal scratching skittered through the room, it was so close.
Click. The edge of the restraint popped through.
Alastor coughed and Cay jerked his arms back, burning a line across his arm. He pushed the bedding over the metal and hid the bleeding cut on his arm as footsteps approached.
“I see you two have met, don’t get too comfortable. We’re almost ready to start your reversal treatments.”
Cay looked at Shar’ana, fury bleeding through him. Before he could retort, she left the room again.
“You better hurry.”
“I am, just keep watching.” Returning to his plan of escape, he threaded the broken link back through the chain. Once it was free, he stuck one end in the restraint and straightened the metal out. Remembering Nova picking his restraints before, he mimicked her, hoping it would be enough to free him. It took longer than he’d hoped, but the restraints fell off his wrists.
He went over to the door and inspected it. A small control pad was just outside the cell. Reaching for it, he couldn’t read the display. Grabbing the restraints, he smashed them into the display. After the third strike, electricity crackled, and the door clicked. He slid through the opening and repeated the process on Alastor’s door. After another three strikes they were both free.
“This way.” Alastor ran in the opposite direction Shar’ana had appeared from.
Running around a corner, Alastor stopped at a door, punched in a code, and disappeared through the opening. Cay followed, wondering what he had planned. Alastor’s fingers flew over the display, pulling up cameras of the area.
“They never change anything, even if I’ve figured it out before. They never expected me to actually succeed, it’s like a sadistic game we play.” Alastor focused on the screen as Cay worked on his restraints. “Always pride before a fall.”
21 Violet Five Remains: Nova
“You’re back.” Nova stood up from the rubble-covered floor. She’d expected Lyn’Da, not Freya. Now she knew Freya was Genevieve’s daughter; the resemblance was astonishing. Their features were exactly the same.
“I should kill you, hand you over to ARI, and complete my mission.”
“I’d rather you didn’t.”
“It would make my life easier, I’d even get a promotion.”
“Yeah, but it would end mine.”
Freya approached, and her features softened. “Did you really know her?”
Nova nodded and reached into her pocket to pull out the handheld with the video. Her arm froze while still in her pocket.
Freya was powerful. With mind reading, telepathy, and telekinesis, she would be the perfect Resistance spy. So many possibilities flooded Nova’s thoughts. After a few minutes and nothing said, the invisible force let Nova finish pulling the handheld out. She pressed a few buttons and then held it out for Frey as a familiar voice echoed through the room.
“My beautiful daughter. If you are seeing this, it means I failed. I was contacted by Nova to help right the injustices of the Sovereign. I lived my entire life blind to the horrors that were covered up in the name of science. Once I was enlightened, I made the decision to keep my government job to gain information for the cause. I’m here now because I want you to know I love you. No matter what happens to me or where you end up in life, I love you. I know you will find your own way in this life and I would be proud of you regardless of what you choose. Just remember, if I die for the Resistance, I made the decision knowing what could happen. I love you and wish you have the best life possible. Goodbye, my little miracle.”
Freya gave the handheld back and dropped to the ground. Nova crouched over her, watching Freya’s body jerk and flail while her eyes twitched back and forth. Not wanting Freya to injure herself, Nova attempted to restrain her as much as possible. After a few minutes, Freya’s body went limp and Nova crawled off her checking for a pulse. She was alive.
Freya moaned and crinkled her nose. Nova sighed in relief; she was okay. Freya rolled over onto her side and retched. Nova covered her own mouth as her gag reflex kicked in. She would not vomit right now.
Freya got up then cleaned herself up and held a hand out for Nova. “So, what do we do next?”
Nova pulled herself to her feet and looked down into Freya’s purple eyes. “Next? Does this mean you don’t want to kill me and hand my body over to ARI?”
“That would make my life easier, but now I know the truth.” Freya paced the room, avoiding the debris.
“Now what do you want?”
“To kill the person who killed Genevieve.” She kicked a chair leg out of her way.
“Easier said than done, I don’t know who that was. I wasn’t there.”
“That’s a shame, it would have made this much easier.”
“How so?”
“I’d see their faces from your memories. Then I could check the personnel database, hunt them down, and kill them.”
A chill shot down Nova’s spine at Freya’s ruthlessness.
“You’re from the program, you know how they treated us. What they trained us to be.”
Nova shook her head. “I have no memory, if Lyn’Da hadn’t told me, then I wouldn’t even know.”
Freya stopped and turned to look at Nova. A shadow appeared behind those vibrant purple eyes. She took a few steps towards Nova, then twisted around and resumed pacing.
“I can bring those memories back for you, but you don’t want them.” Freya ruffled her short black hair. “Trust me on that one.”
“You won’t hear me protesting. I’m okay with having amnesia where that’s concerned.”
“So, what’s your plan for vengeance?”
22 Gu'Rati Resistance Colony: Cay
“Now what? It’s just the two of us.” Alastor slammed his fist on the table. “There’s
no army of angry men lying in wait. It’s just us versus them, all 183 of them.”
To be honest, he hadn’t thought through this far. How could there only be two of them?
“Just because they haven’t noticed that we’re gone doesn’t mean we have all day to figure this out.”
“I’m thinking.”
“Think faster.”
Cay tapped his way through several screens, looking for inspiration. There had to be something he could do, some way for them to escape.
“I knew I should have stayed in my cell, but you had to play hero and try to break us out.”
“Look, I’m doing the best I can. At least I’m not lying on a cot moaning.”
Alastor shoved Cay’s shoulder. “Watch your fucking mouth.”
Cay shoved him back. “This can’t be what we are meant for… being bred for the sake of the Resistance, baby-making machines.”
“You’re an idiot if you think making babies will do anything but strain resources.”
“What are you talking about? Isn’t that why we are here?”
“It’s why we are here, but think about it. Babies are helpless. We’d spend years of resources on them. Maybe in a long-term plan it will help, but right now it’s a hindrance.”
Cay started to argue, but it made sense. According to Nova, the Resistance was fighting a losing battle with the Sovereign. Having a bunch of natural children instead of the artificially produced sperm they used now wouldn’t make a difference for twenty or thirty years, maybe even centuries.
Cay resumed searching menus and options on the display. Even if he was fertile, he needed to focus on actively helping the Resistance. He needed to learn skills and use them to strengthen their cause, not put strain on their resources. If he made it out alive, he would go to Nova, help her relocate Violet Five, and shatter the power of the Sovereign.
“You have a point.”
Alastor growled and pushed Cay out of his way and tapped his way through the menus. “Distraction or destruction?”
“Dealer’s choice?”
“You almost made me laugh, I hope you’re ready to run.” Alastor pressed a red light on the screen, then alarms blared and both doors slid open. Turning around, Alastor pointed behind Cay. “We’ll need those.”
Cay looked and saw a panel swinging open. Several blasters hung on pegs in a small hidden weapon safe in the wall. Alastor pushed past him, grabbed two and threw them to Cay. Then he grabbed two more. Alastor spun the cylinder and lifted it to Cay’s face. Before he could dodge the blast, Alastor pressed the fire button and electronics exploded behind him.
“Let’s see them deactivate it now.”
“Holy shit, man, you could’ve warned me.”
“We don’t have time for that. Run or stay here forever. I don’t give a shit.”
Alastor bolted through the open door, and Cay followed him. They made it through four corridors before they heard voices. Alastor pressed himself against the wall and peered around the corner. Pulling back, he turned to Cay. “There’s only three, we should be able to take them out no problem.”
Cay and Alastor rushed the women with blasters firing. All three women dropped to the ground, and the men continued on. Small pockets of women proved easy to neutralize until they came to a door with no window.
“Now what?”
“Hope like hell there is no one on the other side.”
“That’s not as reassuring as you think it is.” Cay patted his chest to distract himself from his pounding heart.
Alastor pressed the button, and the door slid open. Both of them jumped in the doorway with double blasters ready. No one, but before they lost their nerve, they sprinted for the garage door that opened to the outside. As they reached the doorway, the alarm changed to a different sound, causing the hair on the back of his neck to stand.
“I forgot to ask, what did you do back there?”
Before Alastor could respond, a voice came over the speakers.
“Please evacuate all personnel. Five minutes until self-destruct.”
23 Violet Five Remains: Nova
“We have to find Lyn’Da, it’s the only way to end all of this.” Nova tapped her fingers on the splintered wood.
“What are you going to do once you find her?”
“Shouldn’t you know that from my thoughts?”
“Thoughts are fleeting. Putting actions into words makes it real.” A chill ran down her spine as she realized Freya was right.
“I have to stop her.” Freya raised an eyebrow. “Okay, I more than likely have to kill her. It makes me feel sick inside because half of me says this is my sister. The other half of me says this is a heinous bitch who tried to kill me and destroy the Resistance.”
Nova and Freya sat on the remains of two chairs and a table. Freya leaned over and Nova felt a prick of pain in her neck. Instantly she jumped back and clapped a hand over her neck.
“What was that for?”
Freya held up the injector. “Pesticide.”
“What?”
“It contains a serum that shuts off the tracking devices inside of you.”
“You could’ve told me first.”
“People don’t welcome me with open arms when I meet them.” Freya set the device on the table, causing it to wobble. “It’s usually a fight to the death, and I’m not used to anything else.”
“Oh.” Nova thought about how hard her life was. No family, and more than likely no friends. Did Freya have a single person on the planet she could trust? “Won’t that make finding Lyn’Da harder? Now she can’t track me.”
“The opposite. You want Lyn’Da to come to you. Keeps the advantage. This is the last location you transmitted from. Eighty-five percent chance Lyn’Da will come here looking for clues. She’ll want to know what happened to the tracking nanites and where you’ll go next.” Freya placed her own chair at the table. “Let’s go.”
“I thought we were waiting here for her.”
“We are, but not out in the open.” Nova couldn’t follow Freya’s endgame. Freya threw Nova’s chair across the room and headed back to the remains of the office. Nova followed, watching as she grabbed a small device that hadn’t been there before and returned to the main room of the bar. “Help me clear this debris. Nothing should be between us and that table.”
They cleared a path, then Freya waved Nova over.
“This is a personal cloaking device. It will cloak only the person who wears it.” Freya fastened it onto Nova’s shirt. “I’ll tell you what to do.”
“What happens after all of this? Won’t they ask questions?”
Freya shrugged. “Probably, but it’s not unusual.”
“Are you sure you’ll be safe?”
“I’m never safe. Twenty percent chance they become suspicious. Sixty-five percent chance I’ll get a rank promotion upon graduating the training program.”
“What a life you must live.”
Freya looked into her eyes with a knowing look. If you practice, you can sense people as they get closer to you. That’s the aura haze you keep seeing.
“How do you know about that?”
“Same way I know that once we finish here, you will relocate Violet Five. You and Cay will run it and you are planning for it to be the meeting place for our rendezvous.”
Nova held back her reaction, but realized it wouldn’t matter. Freya could read her thoughts. She’d know all of Nova’s reactions even if she didn’t show them.
“Basically.”
“That’s a terrifying ability you have.”
“If you’re not my ally.”
“That’s also terrifying, but true.”
Shh, Lyn’Da’s here. And she’s not happy.
24 Resistance Safe House: Cay
Cay stopped and attempted to get his bearings. He’d paid careful attention to the path the transit took from the safe house Nova was at. But in the last few minutes he’d gotten them turned around. Looking back at Alastor, he was leaning
against a tree with his eyes closed. The man only wore pants. Huge bruises and long jagged scars still covered his chest. He wasn’t sure he wanted to know exactly how Alastor had gotten all the scars.
“Stay here. I’ll be right back.”
Alastor responded with a grunt but didn’t move. Cay walked large circles around Alastor, keeping sight of him. Something familiar had to show up sooner or later. Hopefully sooner because they both needed to rest. If he ever found Nova again, he was not letting her out of his sight. A realization struck him, despite her protests: she was the only one he could trust.
A splintered tree caught his attention. This was familiar. He traced his way back to Alastor. Soft snoring sounds emanated from the still-standing man. Being careful to keep his distance, Cay tried to wake him.
“Hey… Alastor.” He didn’t budge. Slowly, he moved closer to the sleeping man. The moment his hand touched Alastor’s shoulder, a fist whizzed past his head.
“Don’t ever do that.” Alastor shoved at Cay’s chest, then stomped off.
“You’re going the wrong way!”
Alastor turned around, a tick in his jaw. Cay gestured for him to follow and headed back to the splintered tree. Ten minutes later, they stumbled on the uncloaked safe house.
Now all he had to do was convince Nova to relocate V-Five. Stepping inside, Cay looked around at the damage to the safe house. It looked almost like it had when An’Da dragged him out. Remembering to cloak the safe house, he straightened the overturned furniture.
“There is a shower stall back there.” Cay pointed towards the back of the pod. “Do you know how to use a replicator?”
Alastor shook his head. Cay walked him to the bathroom cubicle and showed him how to work everything. Then he took him back out to the replicator and taught him how to make pants and bathing items. Once Alastor headed off for the shower, Cay grabbed the tab for the housing pod and looked it over. Everything looked as it should, but then again, he didn’t know what he was looking for.
The last few days were more than one human could handle. He couldn’t fathom everything Alastor had been through, or how he’d survived it all. This entire experience just proved that the Sovereign had too much power. No organization should instill enough fear that the group that wanted to overthrow it committed the same horrific acts. What had An’Da called them? The Patriots. A shudder racked his body.
