Stuck

by Samantha Durante

  They all let that sink in for a few moments. It seemed impossible, and yet, they’d come so far.

  Alessa put her fork down just long enough to squeeze Isaac’s hand.

  Janie took the opportunity to direct Alessa’s attention towards a plate of fresh strawberries. “Some fruit maybe?” She’d never lost her taste for fresh produce after learning to avoid the heavier, likely drug-laced entrees in Paragon’s cafeterias.

  Alessa put her hand up in refusal. “Ugh, no. I can’t.” She turned her head away in disgust.

  Janie looked confounded. “They’re just strawberries! You’re going to need some fiber after all that,” she argued, pointing at the nearly empty plate of creamy pasta.

  Alessa shook her head again and continued to avert her eyes. “Just the thought is making me want to spew.”

  Martha pursed her lips and narrowed her eyes, and Janie just shook her head incredulously.

  “Ohh-kay,” Isaac interjected, reaching over to move the plate of berries out of Alessa’s view. “No one wants to see that.”

  They all resumed eating and a contented silence fell over the table until one by one they dropped their forks. Isaac noticed that, as usual, the entire dining hall had gone much quieter than when they’d first entered – the rebels well remembered what it was like to go hungry, and they did not take mealtimes for granted.

  Finishing his last bite of meatloaf, Al turned to his wife. “And where are you tomorrow, my dear?”

  Martha swallowed her sip of iced tea. “In the lab, as usual.” Martha’s specialized medical skills usually meant that the rebels reserved her for research or healing work back at the base. She’d spent only limited time in the shared menial tasks or other training, learning mainly just to defend herself, as she would not be involved directly in their attack on Paragon.

  Janie, on the other hand, was being sculpted into a warrior. “I’ve got skills practice,” she announced, though with notably less enthusiasm than usual. Isaac wasn’t surprised Janie had pulled a skills assignment – she had become one of the rebels’ most valuable assets. If it wasn’t skills, she was likely to be found at weapons, or out in the field conducting hands-on training. But ever since the discovery of Nikhil’s body, she seemed to have lost some of her zeal for combat.

  Isaac and Alessa had been selected for a similar track, which worked out nicely since they all got to spend a lot of time together. But these meals were when he got to see the rest of his “family” and he always cherished them. It was just such a gift to be able to look around the table at all the faces he loved, and know that they were safe and happy and together. It’d been a very, very long time since that had last been true.

  As the meal concluded, they piled up their plates and trays and dropped them off at the return window. Josephine, who spent a lot of time helping in the kitchen due to her young age, made sure everything was stacked neatly and emptied of food scraps before allowing them to leave.

  They all headed down to the B2 rec room to hang out for an hour before bed. On the way out the door, they ran into Alicia and Sato, who were still holding hands and generally just looking happy to be together.

  “Alicia,” Martha called. “Good luck tomorrow. Remember to leave me the tablet with the papers on it, please.”

  “Of course,” Alicia smiled. “It will be in the lab.”

  “I’m jealous,” Sato moaned. “I’m stuck in the damn kitchen all day.”

  Jo huffed and crossed her arms, affronted. She didn’t take kindly to people insulting the kitchen.

  Noticing, Janie swooped in. “Sato, I’ve got skills tomorrow – you want to trade?”

  Sato held out a small, calloused, tattoo-laden hand to Janie. “Deal.”

  10. RETRIBUTION

  “‘Appreciate your input,’ she says. Right,” Lizzie seethed under her breath, practically kicking open the door from the stairwell. An errant soldier who’d been loitering in the hallway scurried away after one look at the expression on her face. Lizzie just scowled after him.

  She couldn’t stop replaying last night’s conversation with her mother in her head.

  “Mom, please, listen to me,” she’d pleaded. “You have to see reason. We are outmatched. You’ve convinced all these people that we have a chance at winning, but really all you’re doing is putting them in harm’s way – them and everyone else living in Paragon. I know things aren’t perfect there –”

  “You know that better than anyone, I would think,” Regina had retorted, but more gently than Lizzie would have expected of her.

  “– but I’ve spoken to the people who are in charge. They know they’ve made mistakes. They want to call a truce and work with us to fix it.”

  Regina just shook her head. “I don’t want to call you naïve, honey, you’ve been through too much for that. But your trust, in this instance, is misplaced. A man doesn’t seize power just to give it up. That’s not how the world works. If our people have any hope of ever living free, we must fight for it.”

  Lizzie had fixed her in a dogged stare. “And at what cost?”

  Regina’s gaze was just as hard. “Whatever it takes.”

  She wasn’t going to budge.

  Lizzie had stormed out, wishing she could slam the sliding door behind her, and spent the rest of the night and following morning fuming.

  Regina still thought Lizzie was a child, and it was infuriating.

  Lizzie had considered calling a meeting and coming clean to the rebels about the vaccine, leaving out the part about the algorithm and their immunity’s inability to pass to the next generation, of course. It would have been worth it just to see the look on her mother’s face when everyone packed their bags and peaced out.

  But she couldn’t do it – she couldn’t let everything they’d all sacrificed be in vain.

  She needed to get the girl to the Engineers so that they could figure out how to inoculate the babies and finally bring their vision to fruition, securing the future of the planet.

  So that’s what she was going to do. She was done wasting time on Regina and her play army. She had a plan.

  Striding with purpose into the gleaming stainless steel kitchen, Lizzie took a deep breath and tried to act casual. She scanned the room for her quarry – she knew she was here from the assignment logs – as she nonchalantly headed to one of the supply racks and started to load her bag with rations for the journey back to Paragon.

  “Lizzie! I didn’t know you had a shift today.”

  Bingo. Josephine had rounded the corner from the sinks, all boundless energy and innocence, as usual.

  A pang of guilt clutched at Lizzie’s heart, but she pushed it away. She knew what she had to do.

  Lizzie flashed her dazzling smile down at the little girl. “Just grabbing a snack.”

  “Oh!” Josephine straightened up, putting on her best grown-up voice. “Let me assist you.” She took Lizzie’s hand and dragged her around to a different shelf. “We’ve got potato chips, animal crackers, trail mix… Hmm, or there are fresh strawberries if you want something healthy? I had some at dinner last night, they were pretty yummy. For fruit.”

  Lizzie held in a laugh and tried to match Josephine’s level of seriousness. “Strawberries would be perfect.”

  “Okay!” Josephine squeaked. “I’ll go get them.”

  She sprinted away and Lizzie took the opportunity to adjust the concealed firearm tucked in the back of her waistband that had been wriggling its way loose. Just as she finished she heard footsteps approaching, and fixed her face back into a welcoming smiling.

  But it was Janie who rounded the corner of the storage racks, not Jo.

  “Oh, hi, Janie. What’s up?” Lizzie tossed the brimming bag behind her shoulder, hoping Janie wouldn’t notice.

  Janie smiled, a little coolly Lizzie thought. “Hey, Lizzie. Just about to start the prep for lunch.” She held up a couple large, stuffed garbage bags. “Was going to take the trash out first.”

  “Oh, I can grab thos
e for you,” Lizzie offered. This would actually serve as an excellent excuse if anyone caught her going outside.

  “Are you sure?” Janie asked.

  “Yeah, I was headed that way anyway.”

  Janie shrugged. “Okay then. Thanks for your help.”

  “No problem at all,” Lizzie crooned, and Janie dropped the bags, heading back into the depths of the kitchen.

  Lizzie grabbed the two heavy sacks and towed them behind her towards the walk-in fridge. She found Josephine inside perched on her tippy-toes on one of the lower shelves, stretching for the basket of berries high above her.

  “Oh! You should have called! I can grab them for you.” Lizzie stepped into the fridge and reached up, snatching a handful of strawberries off the top shelf. She extended one to Josephine as she jumped down to the floor. “Why don’t you join me for a little picnic? You’re working so hard here, you deserve a break.”

  Josephine hesitated. “It’s almost lunch… I should really go help Janie.”

  Lizzie motioned at the giant trashbags outside the door. “Janie was just about to take those out. How about if we bring them for her, and just have a little snack while we’re up there? It’s a beautiful day I hear. A little sunshine will do us good.”

  She held the berry out to Josephine again. “What do you say?”

  11. BOOM

  The voices rang out through the room, echoing slightly off the stark, bare conference table and the sleek, unadorned walls.

  “A little sunshine will do us good.” A pause. “What do you say?”

  A moment of hesitation, and then a smaller, higher-pitched voice, “Well, okay, just for a bit.”

  The first voice, brightly, “It will be fun.”

  Something dragging, footsteps, one set lighter than the other. Then different footfalls approaching, and a crackle of static. The dragging stops.

  A male voice, “Hey, do you know where Regina is by any chance?”

  “I haven’t seen her since last night. She wasn’t at breakfast?”

  A beep and a crackle. “That’s a negative.” Another bleep. “No, and she’s not in the commander’s office or her quarters,” the male voice replied.

  A pause. “Try the weapons arena, or maybe medical?”

  “Thanks. You need any help with that?”

  “We got it, thank you.”

  “Sure.” Another beep and burst of static. “Checking weapons and medical, one moment.” The voice fades and is punctuated by a quiet bleep, and the footsteps recede.

  The dragging and twin footfalls resume.

  The General glowered. “Why are we listening to this inanity?”

  The shuffling continued in the background, interspersed every few moments by an opening or closing door, or a labored grunt.

  “Quiet,” the Developer scolded. “We’re almost there.”

  More footfalls, more swish-swish-swishing of something heavy against the floor, more doors.

  And finally, a mechanical whir, a weighty clank, and then a series of far-off trills –

  “Is that… b-birds?” the Economist asked.

  The swishing morphed to a scrape, then stopped, along with the footsteps.

  The adult voice spoke. “Let’s just leave these here for now – we’ll dump them on the way back in, no?”

  “Okay. Where should we eat?”

  “I know a good spot – this way.”

  The Developer leaned over and paused the recording, then surveyed the room. “Does anyone know what we just heard?”

  “A bunch of nonsense,” the General huffed, then got to his feet. “Are we done here?”

  The Developer ignored him and looked to the other three.

  The Draftsman spoke up. “That was Phoenix, wasn’t it?”

  The Developer nodded. “Correct.”

  “And the child?” the Doctor asked. “Was it… the girl?”

  The Developer’s thin, shapeless lips curled into a supercilious smile. “Indeed.”

  “So what?” the General grumbled, still standing. “What do we care about their goddamn picnic?”

  The Developer wheezed a long, nasal sigh. “Must I spell everything out for you?”

  He motioned for the virtual keyboard to appear on the table and deftly tapped a series of keys. A tiny projector lowered from the ceiling and illuminated a map on the blank wall beside the table.

  A single red dot blinked across the screen, moving slowly in a northern direction.

  “That’s P-Paragon,” the Economist pointed at the top of the screen.

  “Is it?” the General rasped sardonically.

  “The red dot is Phoenix’s tracker,” the Draftsman elucidated.

  The Doctor nodded toward the bottom of the screen, the bright lights glinting off his neat, white hair. “And that’s Raptor Defense Systems.”

  “Yes,” the Developer oozed with obvious satisfaction. “But not for long.”

  The others shifted in their seats, and the General – interest finally piqued – sat back down.

  “N-not for long?” the Economist repeated.

  The Developer tapped a few more keys and tossed his lanky hair. A timestamp appeared on the screen.

  “That audio was transmitted twenty minutes ago. I believe our Phoenix has made her move. And now it’s time to make ours.”

  “What did you have in mind?” the Doctor asked, inquisitive.

  “If you remember, when Phoenix was ‘rescued’ from our facility, her extraction team also removed a nuclear power cell.”

  “They used it to power the retrofitted train,” said the Draftsman.

  “Yes. And before they were able to disconnect it from our systems, I did a little retrofitting of my own,” he teased.

  “What do you mean?” the Economist asked. “How?”

  The Developer shrugged his gangly shoulders. “I modified the internal software to enable remote variability of the unit’s rheostat control.”

  “In English?” the General barked.

  The Draftsman, understanding, nodded begrudgingly. “So you’re going for the train, then?”

  “Not the train, no.” The Developer leered. “I have audio that leads me to believe that, once arriving at their destination, the rebels repurposed the cell to bring the Raptor facility’s infrastructure back to full utility.”

  “And?” the General demanded.

  The Developer fingered a few more keys and the display was replaced with a live satellite feed of the Raptor complex.

  He smiled smugly, stretched his arms to crack the knuckles of his interlaced fingers, then reclined in his chair, one long, knobby digit poised over the “Enter” key.

  “And, this:”

  12. DEVASTATION

  “Isaac, come quickly,” Alessa called, the familiar waves of anguish and rage overtaking her. She steadied herself against a nearby tree, trying to focus, to pinpoint the source. Wherever they were, they were getting close.

  Isaac dropped his pack by the ruined stone wall and ran to her side, bracing her against the onslaught. “The creatures?”

  Alessa nodded, barely able to choke out a word. “Definitely.”

  The rest of the squad, on the property line of an old estate where they intended to test out the new guns Sato had unlocked, had by now noticed what was going on and started withdrawing their weapons – they might be getting their chance sooner than they thought.

  Carlos approached Isaac and Alessa. “What’s going on, you two? Everything all right here?”

  Isaac shook his head. “We might be under attack.” They had shared Alessa’s strange new empath abilities only with a few close allies, and Carlos was one of them.

  Carlos swung one of the massive firearms off his back. “Where?”

  She shook her head.

  “She’s not sure,” Isaac interpreted.

  “Close,” Alessa gasped. Still struggling to even stand, Alessa glanced gratefully at the heavy artillery.

  “Set up a perimeter!” Carlos called to the r
est of the team. “Alicia, take point.”

  Alicia quickly directed the squad to their positions.

  They dumped their gear and formed a ring around the clearing in front of the ancient ice house, their backs to the center where Carlos, Alessa, and Isaac stood.

  Carlos unhooked the comm device from his waistband and radioed back to Raptor with a bleep. “Alpha Squadron to Base, do you read me?”

  The device crackled and beeped, and a soldier picked up on the other end. “We read you, Alpha Squadron.”

  “It’s Carlos. I need you to locate the Commander, stat. We have a situation here. Hostiles incoming.”

  “One moment, please.” More crackling, then a long pause.

  Too long, Alessa thought. The feelings were getting stronger.

  She glanced over her shoulder in the direction of Raptor, wondering what the hold-up was. From their vantage point about ten miles away on top of a low hill, she could just barely see the complex peeking out from between the trees on the horizon.

  She turned back to face Isaac, who was still looking towards Raptor in the distance with concern.

  The device crackled again. “Commander is not in her office or quarters.”

  “Ask Lizzie,” Carlos ordered.

  “Saw her in the kitchen, hold tight.” Another pause, shorter this time, and a bleep. “That’s a negative.” Another brief pause and a burst of static. “Checking weapons and medical, one moment.”

  Alessa inhaled deeply and realized suddenly she was actually able to breathe again. She wrapped her hand around Isaac’s wrist. “They might have passed us by,” she announced. “It’s receding.”

  “Good,” Carlos said. “But let’s not take any chances until you’re sure.” He beeped the comm device again. “Update?”

  It crackled back, “Still negative.”

  “Try Janie,” Isaac suggested. “She might know. She should be in the kitchen, too.”

  Carlos radioed again, “Can you locate Janie Khole? She’s on mess duty.”

  “Affirmative, saw her there before. Heading back.”

  There was a brief pause, and a beep. “Oh, Janie’s –”