The Price of Paradise

by C. S. Johnson

  The General raised his eyebrows at her. “What’s wrong?”

  “He’s got Exton,” Aerie whimpered, her head falling into her hands. “And this is all my fault.”

  “If you were going to put yourself in danger, you should’ve at least considered that someone would come and get you,” the General told her. “Even your mother likely knows we’re coming for her.”

  “We can’t leave without him,” Aerie insisted. She felt her face flush over while she watched her husband as he suddenly stood before Dictator Osgood, with Brock still at his back.

  She leaned forward, already reaching for the concealed weapon at her side. “We have to—”

  “Don’t,” the General snapped. “Stay here with me. Right now is not the time to attack. Take a deep breath and steady yourself, Comrade.”

  Aerie tried to swallow the lump in her throat. She gave the General a barely perceivable nod as she tried to control herself.

  The General is right. This is not the time to lose it. Mom needs me, Exton needs me, and now Brock is a traitor. I have to do something. But I have to wait.

  She sighed to herself. That was exactly the reason she’d gotten into this mess in the first place. Her mind reeled as she realized that her combat classes had done little to prepare her for events such as this.

  But why would they? Aerie thought disdainfully. There was nothing in the URS that was supposed to have a hold on her heart more than her mission. She had been emotionally compromised­.

  “You need to keep it together,” the General whispered to her. “If you step out and try to save him, we could easily be signing Merra’s death warrant as much as his.”

  “But—”

  “But nothing.” The General turned his attention back to Osgood, who was obviously confused by Exton’s appearance. “This is for the best, despite what you might think. Once Osgood realizes who Brock’s captured, he’ll likely lead us straight to Merra in the prison ward.”

  “I think Osgood already knows who Exton is,” Aerie whispered back. She watched from here as Brock nudged Exton forward, with his gun pressing into Exton’s back. Brock handed Osgood the object he’d carried down from the shuttle.

  Even from where she was, Aerie recognized the pirate hat Exton had worn that first time she’d fought with him.

  “I hope he doesn’t do anything foolish.”

  At the dry amusement in his voice, Aerie frowned. “What do you think he can do at this point?” She watched Osgood as his face twisted into a pleasurable smile, while Exton was forced down onto his knees as Brock elbowed him in the ribs. “He’s trapped.”

  “You’re watching the wrong person,” the General told her. “Look at Exton’s face. He’s not worried about Brock. He’s barely able to stop himself from attacking Osgood.”

  Aerie turned her attention to Exton’s face. She had trouble watching him; her heart was screaming that this was all her fault, and there were a million things she would trade to have him safe. But despite her anxiety and despair, she saw that the General was right. He was composed, even if she could see he was seething with rage inside.

  “It’s only going to be a matter of time before something happens,” the General said. “We need to be ready for it.”

  “What should we do?” Aerie asked. Her hands were starting to shake; her mind was racing with a hundred different scenarios at once. The cruel voice inside of her just wanted to laugh at the absurdity of everything—how she had decided to take matters into her own hands, how she had caused all of this to happen, and how she would pay the ultimate price for her arrogant foolishness.

  As her inner voice grew louder, she looked to her father for direction.

  “Follow them,” the General said, flexing his fingers as they hovered close to the weapon hidden in the folds of his uniform. “If we’re lucky, they’ll lead us right to Merra.”

  ♦21♦

  In all his years of taunting Osgood from the Perdition, Exton wasn’t sure if he’d ever heard the dictator laugh. Even if he had, the communications between them had been from a distance, half way from the earth to the moon. There had been plenty of filters between them.

  In person, the experience was harrowing.

  Grant Osgood, for all he was a meticulous man, always so neat in his appearance, guffawed with laughter as he looked down his pert nose at Exton. His snickers were a strain of exacting syllables, sounding almost like a robot that had been pushed into a musical loop; it was almost as if, having been confronted with a situation in which he could not program himself for a proper reaction, his voice automatically tried to make up the difference.

  As Exton knelt on the ground, gritting his teeth at the pain from Brock’s blow, he was torn between which punishment was worse.

  I should have told Brock to take it easy on me, he thought. That punch in the stomach could have been avoided, or at least better executed. On the other hand, even Exton had to admit, if the situation had been reversed, he would have had trouble stopping himself from celebrating, too.

  Osgood’s laughter stopped as abruptly as it started. “Well, well, Captain Chainsword,” he rasped. “It’s good to finally see you unmasked.”

  Brock straightened. “His real name is Exton Shepherd,” he said. “He’s the leader of the defectors and their forces.”

  “I should’ve known,” Osgood said. “Silas Shepherd’s boy, am I right?”

  Exton felt his eyes narrow as he looked up at Osgood.

  Osgood nodded.

  Age had not been kind to the older man, as much as he knew Osgood had tried to hold off old age. He remained very similar to the man he remembered talking with his father over the monitors, and even the one he remembered seeing at his own graduation ceremony. The small wrinkles around his mouth and eyes hinted at cosmetic surgery, and from this close, Exton could see the roots of his graying hair, receded significantly from his forehead. His teeth were perfectly white and perfectly straight, sparkling in the dim sunlight.

  “You look too much like him to be otherwise,” Osgood continued, his smile fading somewhat as Exton refused to answer. “You even seem to have his attitude. He never said much to me, especially after the last dictator retired. He always thought he was too good for me, too good to talk to a political leader.”

  Exton said nothing. Osgood was looking for an excuse to have him punished further, and he wasn’t going to give it to him.

  “I should have remembered you,” he drawled on. “I remember searching through the records after the Paradise was taken. I didn’t find anything. But then, you’ve got some good hackers on your side, don’t you? I’ve noticed several other records have been altered or have gone missing in recent years.”

  Exton was once more thankful for Tyler’s recommendations on that course of action. He had been wondering if Osgood knew who he was. St. Cloud had remembered, but Exton knew he’d said nothing to Osgood about his identity. It gave him a small advantage, and he hoped he would get the chance to use it.

  Osgood huffed. He turned his attention to Brock. “Comrade Rearden,” he said. “Congratulations on your capture and completing your mission. I do believe a promotion with a nice-sized bonus is in store for you.”

  “Thank you, sir,” Brock replied.

  Exton almost rolled his eyes. Despite the fact Brock was on their side, his prompt response and his apparent pleasure at pleasing his boss were more than irritating. He wasn’t going to be able to deal with Brock changing sides again.

  I’ll have to talk to him about his wishy-washy attitude later, he thought to himself.

  “I’m glad to see you were able to come out of Petra largely unscathed,” Osgood continued. “Although your eye could use some medical attention by the looks of it.”

  “The pain is nothing,” Brock assured Osgood. “I am glad to have this filth taken care of.”

  “What happened to Comrade St. Cloud?” Osgood asked. “Did she end up fully defecting? Or did the Rothsburton manage to take a few defectors down with it
s demise?”

  “Oh, uh ... ” Brock faltered, and Exton breathed a sigh of relief. While they had not discussed Aerie’s role in their scheme, it was good to know Osgood had no idea of her plan to rescue her mother.

  Exton almost wondered if Aerie had turned around and went to Petra after all. It was not a simple plan, rummaging around a large military base. As he watched Brock and Osgood, he certainly hoped so, even though Emery had made it a point to tell him there was no sign of her, returning or otherwise. It would be nothing for him to escape with Merra, if only he knew she was safe.

  Brock cleared his throat. “Comrade St. Cloud did not defect at all, sir. Actually, she helped me take this defector down. She was playing along with them. It was pretty easy to do, really. A lot of them don’t seem to want to question who is really on their side. They seem to think it will help make them appear nicer or something silly like that.”

  “I know she was captured after the attack on New Hope.”

  “She deliberately planned it,” Brock asserted. “She told me that since she was not approved for entrance into the New Hope Military Academy, she wanted to get close enough to the defectors to take them down to show her worth as a soldier. Comrade Rearden, once she was captured, gained their trust and then used it to find out all about their plans. She even convinced them to let her stay there as one of them so she could gain more intel.”

  “Remarkable. She never seemed the type to succeed other than by blind luck.”

  Exton was glad he was looking at the ground, or Osgood would’ve seen his eyes widen in surprise. It was a good story, he thought. Brock’s plan had that eerie quality of sounding true, without really being true. If he didn’t trust Aerie, he might have believed it himself.

  After all, what better way to capture him than by lies and deceit, especially when he’d been so willing to give her the benefit of the doubt? It wasn’t hard to see the story fall into place; just like St. Cloud and Merra, Aerie could have been trained to lie as much as she had.

  He nearly smiled, discarding the idea almost immediately after its conception; Aerie might have been similar to her family at some points, but there were some very pronounced distinctions. For one, he trusted her. And he knew she had not lied to him since they’d struck their deal back in the Captain’s Lounge on the Perdition.

  Where are you, Aerie?

  Exton could only pray she was safe.

  “I can personally vouch for Comrade St. Cloud’s determination, sir,” Brock said. “We trained together for years. She was devastated when she did not get assigned to the military. She acted with desperation.”

  That’s where I can also vouch for her, Exton thought humorlessly.

  “I see. But her plans didn’t work, did they? I know she came back afterward by St. Cloud’s maneuverings,” Osgood said. “He was the traitor in all of this.”

  “He remains at large,” Brock said. “I wasn’t able to get to him. The defectors do not trust him, and plenty of them want him dead as well.”

  “Good, good.” Osgood smiled. “I am glad to hear it. Hopefully he won’t be much of a problem.”

  “I understand his first wife is here,” Brock continued. “That’s how I was able to get this scum to come with me. He wanted to try to rescue her, and I planned everything else.”

  “You’ve heard about Merra St. Cloud?” Osgood’s smile grew. “You’ve been a busy worker, Comrade. Excellent. And this is perfect timing. We’re about to finish off the defectors, once and for all, and once they’re gone, the rest of the world will soon follow.”

  Exton caught Brock’s hesitation as he paused for the slightest second. “Good,” he said.

  “It’s time you completed your training,” Osgood said. “I’m going to need more dedicated soldiers like you at my side as we launch the GPI.”

  “What’s the GPI?” Exton asked, unable to stop himself.

  As if to answer him, Brock slammed his weapon over Exton’s head. “Keep quiet,” he barked.

  As Exton struggled to keep his balance from the pain, Osgood laughed again. The mechanical quality of his mirth was even less humane than the previous time. “Nothing you need to know about, Captain,” he replied. “After all, you’ll be dead soon enough.”

  He turned and called up another comrade behind him. “Private, take this prisoner to his new quarters. We’ll need to have a special announcement for the rest of our troops to let them know of our captive.”

  “Yes, sir,” the man intoned, saluting the dictator before turning to face Brock and Exton.

  “Here,” Brock said, stepping forward and gripping Exton’s arm tightly. Exton wondered if he was trying, in some way, to reassure him their plan was working, or if Brock was getting in one last round of retaliation against him. “Move.”

  He shoved Exton forward, and Exton allowed himself to be led away. He glanced back at Osgood, watching him as his wrinkled mouth curled into a smirk. Beside him, Brock stood, clearly uncomfortable but trying to be brave.

  Brock had been at the top of his class. Time to prove it, Exton thought grimly. They hadn’t planned to be separated before getting to Merra. He knew he was going to run into trouble, too, because it was going to be harder to overpower any guards or obstacles on his own. Brock, too, would face his own set of problems.

  But, Exton thought, it was good that he was at least able to get some insight on Osgood’s plans.

  What was the GPI he was talking about? Exton wondered again. There was something familiar about that plan, too. Of course, the URS had always been planning on taking over the world, eventually; it wasn’t hard to see from the battles they’d engaged in, and the things they’d done to reorganize everything from communities to continents. But at the mention of the GPI, coupled with destroying the rest of their enemies ... Exton was pretty sure he had read about it somewhere before.

  He knew his first goal in being at the base was to free Merra, but if possible, he knew he should try to find more information.

  If only my head didn’t hurt so much, he thought. Brock’s bludgeon hadn’t drawn blood, but there was definitely a bump forming on the back of his head.

  “Keep moving,” the guard behind him ordered.

  Exton said nothing, but quickened his steps, realizing he had slowed down his pace as his thoughts had taken off.

  He was actually grateful for the guard’s interruption. He needed to pay attention if he was going to need to recall how to escape. He knew he also had to watch for guard changes and their routes, and any signals or codes that might be necessary along the way.

  Several floors and several steps later, Exton found himself directed down a dark hallway. It was full of doors, guarded by other sentries, as they were spaced out every couple of meters. He could hear some other people screaming on the other side, but there was no voice that he could clearly recognize.

  Keeping an ear out for Merra, he waited patiently while his guard handed him off to another, before he was thrown into his own cell.

  Before he could ask any questions, or get one last look around, the door was slammed in his face.

  Glancing around, he saw a small room, stripped of everything but a dim, flickering light. There was no bed, no running water, and nothing to suggest that he would be getting out anytime soon.

  “Great,” he muttered sarcastically to himself. “This is just great.”

  He leaned against the door, pressing his ear to the slippery metal. The sounds he heard earlier had faded, and part of him had to wonder if the screaming was real. He did this to each wall of the room, and the weeping and the shrieking were even more muffled.

  Exton sat down against the wall, tucking his knees under his chin as he thought. As he sat there, he almost smiled, thinking of the Captain’s Lounge. Aside from the missing window and its window seat, the cell was nearly the same dimension.

  If Osgood thinks this is going to break me, he’s in for a surprise.

  For the moment, Exton knew he had to play the waiting game and hop
e his aunt, Emery, and Kamalo were almost ready to take down the Panama base.

  ♦22♦

  “Are you sure this is going to work?” Aerie asked, as she pushed the cart back down the increasingly familiar hallways.

  “Either it will work, or we’ll make it work,” the General told her. “Now, stop talking. We’re almost back at the prison ward. There are ten guards in the hallway, and we’re going to have to play this smart. No stupid mistakes, Aerie.”

  “Okay,” Aerie murmured. “If you say so.”

  As her father shot her a frown, she sighed. She knew they had been extremely fortunate so far. Once Osgood had ordered Exton away, they had followed at a distance, enough to know where he was being held. They had backtracked their steps, doubling around the area, looking for other clues as to where Merra might be being held.

  Aerie had gotten used to walking around the base like she deserved to be there, like she had earned her way in. There had been a few glances in her direction, but she managed to stare them down. She was glad when the General told her they had to find a place to hide as the shifts changed.

  Once he saw the protocol, he knew it would be easier to rescue Exton, and possibly Merra, during the middle of the shift. There was less of a chance reinforcements would be ready, and there was a better chance at surprising them.

  “Ahem.” The General gave her the signal, and Aerie nodded.

  She took a deep, steadying breath one last time and then pushed the cart forward into the hallway of prisoners.

  “What are you doing?” another guard asked, stepping forward.

  “I, uh, must’ve gotten lost,” Aerie replied, the flush in her cheeks genuine as she looked around. She leaned in closer to him, trying to place herself at a good angle. He was much taller than her, and if she was going to knock him out, she needed to be closer. “Can you help me?”

  The guard fell right into her trap. The instant he was close enough, Aerie gave him a swift uppercut, aided by her hidden weapon. He fell over almost immediately, and she backed up enough that his body hit the floor flat.