The Clash (The Permutation Archives Book 5)

by Kindra Sowder

  “Well,” Genevieve muttered with an eye roll, “that was smart.”

  I knew she didn’t mean anything by it, but rage flared to life in my belly anyway. Gaia looked down at her lap and didn’t say anything, fiddling with John’s fingers. When she looked up, our eyes met, and I grinned weakly at her. She returned the expression and took a deep breath as if to steady herself.

  “Did you hold onto anything? A thumb drive or something?” Gaia asked, turning to look at him with love and adoration in her eyes and tone.

  His eyes darted from her to me, and then to her again. He wasn’t expecting this line of questioning at all. That much was obvious. All attention was on him now, and I could also tell he didn’t like being in the limelight – much like myself. We had both been forcefully pushed into it, caught by circumstance and genetics. It made a part of me wish we could go back before all of this started, but then where would we be? Someone else less willing to do what was necessary would be standing in my position, waiting for the other shoe to drop instead of doing something about it.

  “I do have it, but it’s not on a thumb drive or anything external,” John explained.

  “What do you mean it’s not anything external?” Doctor Aserov asked after quietly observing most of the conversation.

  “Well, it’s in here,” John stated, using his index finger to point at his right temple. “It’s stored in my brain. Basically, the Nanos held onto the information and stored it in the most logical place. If that makes any sense.”

  “That’s weird as Hell. I’m still not sure I understand any of this,” Julius said, raising his hands into the air in a give-up gesture.

  “You and me both, kid,” Ruckus said.

  Ignoring them, I asked John, “So, if that’s the case, how do we retrieve it? I want to make sure we are ready before we launch any kind of attack, and whatever is locked in your brain could be vital to us winning this war and taking down King once and for all.”

  “Maybe Queen would know?” Gaia asked with an inquisitive lilt to her voice.

  “We don’t have the equipment to even attempt to get anything from him, Mila. We can’t just cut into his brain to get any Nanos that store the information. It would be too dangerous. Plus, I’m not even sure if they can cross through the blood-brain barrier once they’ve made their way in,” Doctor Aserov asserted. “I wouldn’t even know where to start. If we did a biopsy, it could kill him.”

  John cleared his throat uncomfortably to draw our attention, which worked perfectly. Each head swiveled n his direction.

  “I can’t die, Doc. Simple as that. My Nanos are too specialized. The only reason Mila can’t with a fatal blow is because the Nanos are mine. Engineered to my body and my chemistry. They can heal her when it comes to wounds and anything else, but nothing fatal. Like, if somehow a bullet struck her in the head right here and now, they couldn’t revive her. If you think a biopsy is the answer to get the Nanos with the information stored in them, by all means do it, but I don’t think it’s necessary.”

  “What makes you say that?” I questioned. “Does Queen have an answer?”

  “Queen?” Cecilia asked, brows furrowing.

  “Yeah, clue us in. Who is this Queen? And what does she know?” Caius probed.

  “He explained it to me, but I don’t think I could do it any justice,” I replied.

  Taking the reins, John explained, “Queen is exactly like her name implies. The Nanos function a lot like a hive of bees, with a Queen. She controls the hive itself. She was the reason I have been able to keep King and Fuji-O’Hara from regaining control over me since Charleston.”

  “Okay, so, does she know how we can get this information?” Fairbanks asked.

  John smiled and looked past Fairbanks altogether as if listening to something only he could hear.

  “Yes, she does,” he replied after a few heartbeats. “Because we’ve done it before when we got the files from Fuji-O’Hara right before I broke out.”

  My eyebrows shot up. I wasn’t expecting him to give away all of his secrets.

  “How the Hell did you manage that?” Genevieve asked, her voice rising in pitch.

  “Their security is top-notch, Baker. Are we supposed to buy this?” Fairbanks spat.

  “Are you sure they didn’t just let you walk out of there?” Julius continued.

  Ruckus’ face hardened, and he came to stand up, pointing at the three who questioned John’s motives as well as his statements. I never thought John was a liar. Far from it. But I had thought he was a pawn – an unwilling one.

  “Now, wait a minute. Are you calling my boy a liar? Because he brought back your sister,” he stopped, pointing at me, “and he didn’t have to do that. He didn’t have to come to you and offer to help at all if all he wanted was to kill you all or still take your scrawny ass in to King and his boys.”

  Gaia parted her lips to say something, but John stopped her with a glance and stood up – beseeching toward his friend.

  “It’s okay, Ruckus. Really. Just sit down. I expected a little skepticism. It’s fine,” John assured him.

  Ruckus scanned the room, everything in him wanting to fight for John. His posture was tense, his muscles bulged, and his lips were firmly pressed together as he huffed a breath through his nose. When he went to sit down in his chair, his muscles were still coiled and ready to strike at a moment’s notice. I knew I didn’t need to tell him that nothing would happen to John while he was with us. At least, not by our hands. I would make certain of it.

  I trusted him enough. He had opened up to me, and he loved Gaia. I could see it in the way he sat next to her, held her hand, and shot her comforting glances. It made me think of Ryder, who sat across the table from me – ready to pounce if Ruckus or John tried to harm anyone. Or vice versa. His stunning greens bore into me as he watched it all unfold, and I couldn’t help but feel the urge to ease him. There would be time for that later after Baker gave us what we needed. Then we could take a break and figure out a plan the next day.

  “This is some bullshit,” Ruckus muttered under his breath as settled down.

  Irritation flared within me at the childish behavior from the people that were supposed to be soldiers in a war – albeit, one they never asked to be in. Nonetheless, they were here, and I needed some adults on my side that could think with a level head and let the past remain where it belonged. Yes, John had been a pawn of King and Fuji-O’Hara. Was he still? No. Not as far as I could see, and that was what mattered. He had redeemed himself as far as I was concerned – putting himself in a precarious position saving my life in Washington D.C. and then again here in Dead End to heal me and bring my ability back. He had divulged information to me that even Gaia was unaware of at the time. That meant more to me than even Ruckus’ loyalty to him.

  “Just stop it. All of you. Since I am taking the leadership role passed down to me since I am leading a resistance in a war that possibly none of us will make it out of, I need you all to understand something,” I nearly shouted.

  The hush that fell over the room was unsettling, but my words had the desired effect. Everyone’s attention was on me, whether they wanted it to be or not. The best thing about it was that I didn’t have to slam my fist down on the tabletop or use my ability to grab their consideration. Steel, amber, green, brown, and sky-blue all peered at me with a mixture of emotions. I ignored them all. Egos needed to be set aside. Egos were what caused this whole mess to begin with – what started a war that we would have to fight because those same egos wouldn’t dwindle. It was all a fucked-up game of cat-and-mouse that I was tired of playing.

  “I may have had my reservations about Baker, to begin with. I had my reasons, but certain information has come to light that I wasn’t aware of before. All information that John gave to me even though he didn’t have to. Why would he do that? Because he wants to
fight with us, not against us, and being a part of this fight could save us all from a lifetime of running, loss, and agony beyond measure.” I took a deep breath, a slight buzz moving through my mind that I recognized instantly. It was a still-small voice, only begging for notice – pushing me to continue in the right direction. “Say what you will, don’t like him. Hell, don’t trust him if you don’t want to, but the simple fact is that I do, and for a good reason. Multiple good reasons. And that should be enough for the rest of you. So, if we’re done with this pissing contest, I’d like to know everything John does, so we can take my bastard of a father down and be done with this once and for all. What do you say?”

  The room remained silent, but nods abounded after a moment or two. All heads bobbed in understanding while Gaia beamed with pride, looking so much like our mother it made my heart ache.

  “So, John,” my head tilted toward him, brown meeting grassy green, “how did you and Queen store this information in your brain? And how do we get it out?”

  Sitting next to Baker, I saw Gaia mouth a quiet thank you. I answered with a playful wink. That was all the communication that needed to pass between myself and my sister for us to know we were all right.

  “I could always tell you, but I think it would actually make more sense if I show you,” John stated very matter-of-factly.

  “Okay,” I began, “what do you need?”

  He shifted in his seat, letting go of Gaia’s hand and resting his hands palms down on the tabletop. The question made him uncomfortable, which made me worried, but I decided to let him speak before I judged his reaction. After all, it could have had to do with everyone else’s opinion of him and not mine. I trusted him. Gaia trusted him. The latter meant more to me than my own trust in him.

  “I’ll need a computer with a USB port.”

  “You can’t use one of the crystal computers? The glass ones like we have in medical?” Doctor Aserov asked him.

  He shook his head. “No, that’s not necessary.”

  “So, you need something a little more basic?” Cecilia asked. “Like a desktop or something?”

  “Even just a run-of-the-mill laptop works just fine. Doesn’t have to be anything fancy.”

  “Yeah, so he can get into our systems,” Julius muttered.

  “Seriously, man?” Ryder responded.

  Ajax nodded, but everyone else’s expressions turned from entertained to frustrated in a matter of seconds.

  I glared at Julius. “I know he broke your hands back in Charleston, Julius, but get over it. You’re fine now, and the big bad Nano soldier isn’t going to hurt you. Jesus, can you stop acting like a damned child?”

  Julius huffed and crossed his arms, leaning back in the chair. Cecilia was fighting the urge to roll her eyes at him. I could tell very easily because she kept trying to stop them from going up to the ceiling. At first, there was a small pang of guilt in my chest at having chided him, but it quickly disappeared – replaced by complete and utter irritation that he couldn’t even half-way trust him because I did.

  “No, man, because I know I’m not the most trusted person here, so I am asking for a basic computer. Just so I could avoid that kind of attitude. Plus, if we want to win this, I think you kind of need the information I have at my disposal,” John bit back.

  He was right, completely, and he knew it. The smug look was plain on his face as him, and Julius sneered at one another.

  “Just for that, Julius, you can lead us all to wherever the old computers are hooked up,” I crooned snidely. “We need this information, and I want to see this just as bad as I believe everyone else does.”

  With an annoyed sigh, he pushed his chair back, stood up, and practically stomped toward the door – throwing it open so wide that the doorknob smacked into the wall. Everyone began to file out, following swiftly so he didn’t lose them in the halls. Gaia was smiling from ear-to-ear and passed me with a small giggle. Cecilia was the last to leave the room. She stopped in front of me and grinned.

  “I knew you were made for this,” she said.

  Heat rushed into my cheeks and I lightly, playfully, punched her in the shoulder.

  “Thank you,” I replied. “Now, let’s go before we lose them, huh?”

  Putting her hands out in front of her, motioning toward the open doorway, she sang, “After you, fearless leader.”

  If only I was as fearless as I looked.

  Julius moved quickly, but my new leg made it much easier to keep up than it would have with the older model. Having the actual prosthetic fused to the bones in my leg seemed to be as advantageous as ever, so far, which I didn’t mind. It made it a lot easier to move unhindered – the ankle joint moved much smoother. It was almost as if I still had my natural leg.

  It was only a few moments before we were in a room in the back of the old school, finding Jameson working away in what used to be a computer lab. It was obvious it was for beginners, old model desktop and laptop computers on every conceivable surface. Every classroom that I had been in in the last ten years geared for more seasoned computer users contained the same crystal glass ones Doctor Aserov had continued to use from the first moment I met her. The Fallen Paradigm had plenty of them. They were effective, had massive amounts of storage, and were relatively inexpensive considering the type the government offices typically used.

  Jameson plugged away on a laptop that had to be at least a year old, eyes intent on the screen with fierce concentration. When we opened the door, his attention shot to us, and his eyes settled on me quickly. Jumping up from his seat, causing the chair to spin in place, he shuffled quickly toward me and wrapped me in an embrace so tight all the air was forced from my lungs. The fabric of his black clothes was rough and scratchy, his jaw smooth as if he had just shaved that morning, and he smelled faintly of an aftershave I couldn’t place – which I found quite interesting.

  “Damn, it’s good to see you up and walking around. We almost lost you,” he said.

  “Can’t breathe, Jameson,” I choked out.

  “Oh, God,” Jameson stated, pulling away with a sheepish grin as he straightened, smoothing down his black t-shirt. “I’m sorry. I’m just happy to see you, is all.”

  I nodded, feeling his sentiments. “Me too, Jameson. It feels good to be standing on my own two feet again.”

  “Ha, good deal. So,” he clapped his hands together, looking from me to everyone else, “everyone is here so it must be important. What can I do for you?”

  His bald head gleamed in the fluorescent lights, reflecting back at me dimly with a hint of regrowth of coarse, thick hair. His dark skin was always smooth and pristine, even now as I watched him fidget nervously once he caught sight of John Baker. I didn’t blame him at all, but if I could get over everything that had been done to us in Charleston, he could too. Not that he hadn’t been injured more intensely than I had been, because he had. I saw it all plainly in his gaze as he watched him, which made John shuffle uncomfortably.

  “Well, John has some information locked in his brain that we need. I’m giving him permission to use one of our computers so we can access this information,” I explained, touching John on the shoulder in a comforting show of solidarity between the two of us.

  He eased slightly, but Jameson’s eyes grew skeptical and almost angered.

  “Are you sure about that?” he asked, scrutinizing me and Baker.

  “Yes, Jameson, we’re sure,” Gaia stepped forward and assured the man.

  Everyone else shifted their stance, and Julius practically rolled his eyes into the back of his head. I knew I’d have a lot more work to do with him, but I couldn’t worry about that. Trust would come with time fighting side-by-side, and it would come to that soon enough.

  “Yup, so lead the way to whichever you think will do the trick,” I said, motioning toward the multitude of computers.<
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  Jameson hid his disdain well, but I could see it perfectly in his eyes when he turned away and began to walk us in between the rows of electronics. He had his arms crossed over his chest, one hand up so his index finger tapped on his chin thoughtfully. The only sound in the room were our footsteps and the electric hum of the systems, the only silent mechanics in the room being the crystal glass computers lining the walls.

  “We have to get information out of his head? How exactly can we do that with a computer not in one of Doc’s labs?” he asked, motioning toward Doctor Aserov with a jerk of his head.

  “He has a way to do it without being invasive,” Doctor Aserov said.

  “He just needs a computer to get to it and give it to us,” Caius continued.

  “For high resolution and maximum storage, I recommend the crystal glass,” he pointed out. “But I have no idea how it would work with whatever he needs to do.”

  “Can we not talk about me like I’m not here? I can answer any questions you have as to what I’d need, but like I told Mila, I don’t need anything advanced to get the information out. I just need a computer with a USB port,” John clarified.

  Genevieve leaned toward Jameson slightly and didn’t try to hide what she said next.

  “He wants a basic so we’ll trust him more, J. Just give him one of the laptops in the back. Nothing fancy, okay?”

  Her brown eyes bore into him, and as he looked at her, he seemed even deeper in thought than he had been. Genevieve’s pink hair was beginning to grow out, her dark brown roots showing – at least four shades darker than her skin-tone. I hadn’t noticed it until that moment, which told me how out of the loop I still was. Of course, I didn’t have time to fix any of that. It was bad enough I felt like I needed to babysit Julius when around Baker.

  “Got ya,” Jameson said with a brisk nod. He motioned toward the back of the large room. “Right this way, ladies, and gentlemen.”