by Jackie D
Chapter Thirty
Arrow watched as Kaelyn and Valor disappeared into the complex. She pushed herself off the transport and started toward the open door. Her mother put her hand on her arm, wanting her to stop.
“I don’t want to talk about this right now,” Arrow said. “We have a limited amount of time. Let’s just do what we came here for.”
Arrow thought there would be a protest from her mother, but there wasn’t. She pulled the gun from her back and fell in step behind her. The plan was a simple one; they’d come in from the residence side of the base, find the reservoirs on each side of the complex, and shut them down. The water supply would stop pumping into Eden. In just a few days, the sedatives would be completely worn off. There were only a handful of soldiers assigned to the complex, and they would be dealt with if needed. There was surveillance in the complex, but Valor and Kaelyn would see to that. Valor was going to clip a jamming wire into the mainframe, but it would take him about ten minutes to get there.
Arrow had memorized the maps of the interior of the base, just as Valor had. It wasn’t a complex layout, and Arrow was thankful. It would be easy to get turned around in a maze of underground tunnels that all looked identical. They had to remain in the residence area to avoid surveillance until the ten minutes had passed.
She checked around the first corner. There was a solitary soldier about one hundred feet away, coming in their direction. She checked her watch. Six minutes. Sure, there was the possibility Valor had gotten there early, but she couldn’t risk it based on a maybe. She signaled to her mom that someone was coming. Her mom ducked into a small alcove, just big enough for one person.
Arrow crouched down against the wall. It was possible that the soldier would walk past this tunnel and not notice them, but she pulled her knife from its sleeve, just to be sure. She closed her eyes, taking in the sounds around her. She could hear the hum of machinery echoing through the complex and the sound of the soldier’s footsteps. Each thump drew him closer to her location…only a few feet away.
Now, he was so close she could hear his soft humming. She tightened her grip around the knife she held in her right hand. She didn’t want to kill him, but she would if it came down to it. He walked in front of her, not looking down. He had almost made it past their tunnel opening when he stopped and turned.
There was only a split second to make these types of decisions, and Arrow was already prepared for hers. She got to her feet, moving toward him. There was a flash of panic on his face when he realized she wasn’t supposed to be here. She took the butt of her knife and hit him in the side of the head. He collapsed into a pile on the ground. She put her hands under his arms and dragged him into the tunnel.
“I thought you were going to kill him,” whispered her mother.
Arrow pushed the soldier’s body into the alcove. “I would’ve if he hadn’t gone down.”
“What if he wakes up before we’re done?”
Arrow pulled the transmitter from his belt and took his gun. She pulled a small vile from her pocket and pulled the top off with her teeth. She pushed his mouth open and dumped the contents into his mouth. “He’ll be out for at least three hours, and we only need one.”
She looked at her watch again. They needed to stay undetected for another two minutes. But in these circumstances, two minutes could be a lifetime. She decided it was best to use her time wisely. She opened the transmitter she’d taken from the soldier. Listed on the screen was the watch rotation and positions covered. There was a total of twenty-four people currently on duty, and of those people, there were four at each of the reservoir locations.
There was also an all-points bulletin for the capture of Kaelyn and the elimination of Valor, her mother, and herself. There was no mention of the other three Phoenixes, which was a good sign. At least a portion of their plan was still undiscovered. She checked her watch. Ten minutes.
Arrow peeked out around the corner again, and there was no one in sight. She motioned to her mother to follow close behind. The main tunnel was a half-dome shape, the insides of the mountain making up the walls and the ceiling. The industrial lighting did little to illuminate their path, but that was a good thing as well.
Arrow and her mother ducked behind one of the large transports when they heard two male soldiers talking and laughing a few yards away. Arrow moved behind one tire and her mother behind the other. Arrow flipped the switch on her gun from bullet to laser and waited.
The voices grew louder, the pair caught up in conversation about their latest sexual conquests. They were on the other side of the transport and Arrow pulled her gun close to her chest. They carried on, oblivious, and she watched as their banter continued well beyond their hiding spots.
Once they were gone, Arrow and her mom hurried along the back side of the long line of transports. When they finally reached the tunnel they’d been looking for, Arrow took the left turn and bent over, holding her knees. She only allowed herself a second to compose herself and take inventory of where they were. At the end of the tunnel was a large metal fence, and she could hear the water rushing just beyond it.
She checked her watch again. Assuming everything went according to plan, Kaelyn and Valor should be reaching the same spot on the other side of the complex about now as well. She only briefly thought of the consequences of their plan going sideways. If anything had happened to Kaelyn or Valor, the whole thing would be for nothing. She knew Kaelyn was safe with Valor, but she would’ve preferred to have been with her, to know she was okay. But being with Kaelyn now could’ve resulted in a mission failure. As mad as Kaelyn was at Arrow, she wasn’t sure Kaelyn would’ve followed her directions or kept her composure. She had a brief flash of Kaelyn being in danger, and she felt it burn the back of her throat.
Beyond what it would mean for the Resistance, it would be personally catastrophic as well. Kaelyn’s well-being, she realized, was more important than anything else in her life. Not just because of what she meant to their plan but what she meant to Arrow. She hated how things had transpired between them and how she’d left it. She’d wanted to take the time to explain everything to Kaelyn, but when given the opportunity, she’d stood there like a coward.
She stared down the expanse of the final tunnel and knew exactly where to find the machine room. She also knew where the soldiers would be…well, she knew where she would’ve placed them. She felt her mother behind her, tapping her shoulder to get her attention.
She pulled herself from her internal reflection. She had the rest of her life to hate herself for what she did. Right now, they needed to finish the mission and get back to the transport. She had to see for herself that Kaelyn was all right.
Arrow pulled out the transmitter she’d taken from the first soldier they’d encountered. Watch positions and assignments had stayed the same. So no one had found him in the tunnel they’d left him in. No one was on alert for any of them.
Arrow moved down the long tunnel as quickly and quietly as she could manage. When they reached the end, her mother moved to the other side. Arrow used her hands to indicate they would attack from each side. The reservoir was surrounded by a metal fence in a large circle. The room they needed to reach was on the opposite end of where they’d entered.
The loud rushing of the water being turned over to avoid algae and bacteria from accumulating drowned out anything else. It reminded Arrow of the video images she’d seen of Yosemite Valley before all the waterfalls had dried up because of climate change. The damp, cool air spraying her as she moved was a welcome relief for her heated body. The stress and intensity of the situation had been the culprit, and she was appreciative of both the relief and the cover it offered.
As she moved, she pulled her second gun from her waistband. The two soldiers on her end were both in sight now, and neither one of them seemed aware they were in any type of danger. Another few steps and she would have a perfect shot. But that opportunity didn’t come. A loud siren started to pulse throughout the complex.
Red lights started flashing, and the soldiers pulled their transmitters.
Arrow knew what the alarm was for; she felt it in every part of her body. She felt her heart start to crack with the realization. Even when she took her first shot at the soldier who was staring down at his transmitter, she felt it. The second shot hit the one trying to get his gun from the holster and dropped him. Kaelyn was in trouble.
She’d used the laser feature on both, and so did her mother. The soldiers would be out and paralyzed for at least an hour. She stepped over their bodies, and an image flashed of Kaelyn lying on the ground, helpless. She turned in the direction she thought Valor and Kaelyn would be in.
“It’s just through here,” her mother shouted over the rushing sounds of water.
Arrow hesitated. “They need our help.”
Her mother grabbed her arm and shoved her toward the room. “We need to take care of this first.”
Arrow pulled the door open. The mechanism controlling the reservoir was enormous. Large metal pumps moved up and down at a steady pace. The noise was so jarring, she had to cover her ears as she ran around to the other side of the room. She located the large basin of chemicals being intermittently delivered to the water supply. They’d had no way of knowing exactly how the chemicals were being delivered, but she wasn’t expecting it to be so large.
They wouldn’t be able to just stop the chemicals. They were going to have to destroy the whole thing. She pulled a small square of C4 from her pack and placed it on the control panel. She inserted the antenna in the top, along with a copper wire. She ran ten feet away and pushed the button.
The noise from the explosion was magnified in the large room. It bounced off the walls over and over. She touched her ears, surprised to find there was no blood on her fingertips from having her eardrums burst. She ran back over to make sure the panel had been destroyed. All that was left was a smoldering stump of metal. The large metal pumps that had been moving at a steady pace just moments before were now stationary.
“We have to go!” her mother yelled.
Arrow knew it was only a matter of a few seconds before soldiers were on top of them. She motioned for her mother to follow as she headed to the escape hatch, located at the back of the room. It would add a little bit of distance in making it back to their transport, but it was better than having to deal with a slew of armed soldiers.
She opened the hatch and started to climb down the ladder. If there were soldiers waiting for them at the bottom, she wanted to get there before her mother. Her mother closed the hatch, and they were left in almost complete darkness. Only the small amount of light seeping in from the bottom of the tube they were in offered them any assistance. Arrow took several rungs at a time, wanting to get out and armed as soon as possible.
Her feet finally hit the ground, and she unholstered her gun. She could hear yelling echoing in from the adjoining tunnel as she slid along the side of the ragged mountain wall. They made use of the dark, ducking into the shadows and remaining still as a few soldiers ran past. She was keeping a mental count in her head. With a total of twenty-four people guarding the complex, and assuming at least five were unconscious, only nineteen remained. They were all heading in the same direction, toward the other reservoir.
They were sitting against the wall in the dark. Everything in Arrow told her to follow the passing soldiers. The very worst versions of what could be happening were racing through her mind.
“We have to get back to the transport,” her mother said. She leaned against her, careful not to raise her voice too loud.
“They need our help.” She couldn’t fathom following their plan at this point.
“No. We don’t know if they’ve even been caught. We have to head back. Do you want them waiting there for us, putting Kaelyn in even more danger? We stick to the plan.” Her mother’s voice was forceful and determined.
Arrow knew she was right. They should follow the plan. Deviating could put people in danger, but she couldn’t shake the feeling that it wouldn’t matter. She felt an overwhelming need to follow her gut.
Her mother must have seen it on her face because she grabbed Arrow’s arm, forcing her to look at her. “It’s not a request, it’s an order. You do still take orders from me. I’m still the president.”
“What if they have her?” Arrow didn’t realize she’d asked the question out loud.
“One problem at a time. I know how you feel about her, but we don’t know what’s happened.”
Her mother was right. Arrow choked down the fear that seemed to be caught in her throat and pushed herself toward the opening of the tunnel. She looked around the large hollow half-dome, but there was no one left.
She made a right, continuing down, staying hidden behind crates of food. When they finally reached their exit, she picked up her speed, hoping her reward would be Kaelyn on the other side of the hatch. She swung it open and ushered her mother through. She locked it behind her and hurried down the spiral metal staircase.
Valor leaned against the transport, tying a rag around his upper arm with his free hand and teeth.
“What happened?” she shouted at him.
“We have to get out of here.” He winced as he climbed into the back seat.
Her mother ran around to the other side. “Get in, Arrow!”
Arrow climbed in and turned around, hoping she’d just overlooked Kaelyn. She wasn’t there. “What the fuck happened?”
Valor’s face was cut up and swelling. His mouth moved oddly when he spoke. “They took her.”
She wanted to grab him and shake out all the answers at once. “What do you mean they took her?”
“I’m sorry, Major. We got to the reservoir building, we blew up the control panel, and then…” He winced again. “I don’t know. There were gunshots, I got hit in the side of the face several times. I got several shots off, and they took off running, but they had Kaelyn.”
Arrow sat back down in her seat. Adrenaline coursed through her body, and rage took over her senses. Thinking about what they could be doing to Kaelyn, about what this meant for the Resistance, crushed the air from her chest. The fury she felt rushing through her body made it so she could barely breathe and then it seemed to grab her heart and squeeze. If it was the last thing she did in this life, she’d get Kaelyn back.
Chapter Thirty-one
Kaelyn sat in the empty, cold room. The walls were cement with poorly working lights. The table was made of metal, cold to the touch, and the chair was intentionally uncomfortable. She assumed they had her in the detention facility that had been about one hundred and fifty yards from the White House back in her time. Is it still the White House? Or has the MacLeod family given it some new, abhorrent name to suit their egos?
She knew they wouldn’t keep her waiting long. From everything she knew about MacLeod, he was too impatient and far too arrogant to let her simmer. No, he would want to know as much as possible as soon as possible. She tried to ignore the shivers that ran through her body, not from fear but the temperature in the room. Another tactic.
She prayed that Arrow, Valor, and Macy had made it out alive. She knew the Hand of God had no intention of sparing them. They only wanted her. MacLeod would want to make an example out of her, a way to prove his power. She imagined what they’d do to Arrow and the others. Of course, only the worst came to mind. She felt her heart ache at the possibilities. Her stomach started to turn as she imagined a world without Arrow in it. It wasn’t a world she wanted to be a part of, even under the circumstances they’d left things. The world needed people like Arrow. She needed her. She forced herself to believe that wasn’t even a possibility. Arrow, Valor, and Macy were okay. They had to be, or she would never be able to continue.
She willed herself not to cry. She wouldn’t let any of her captors see her anguish. It would be seen as a weakness, and weaknesses were used against you. If she had any chance of making it out of there, she needed to play their game. She needed to be smarter. She needed to pay
attention. She needed to be Phoenix One.
The door opened, and an older looking, gray haired man took a seat across from her. He was ordinary looking, and he could’ve been anyone. But the pure hatred in his eyes told her that he was someone in particular.
He tossed his hat on the table. “System activate.” A floating keyboard appeared in front of him, and he made several keystrokes before turning his attention back to her. “State your name.”
Kaelyn knew they were already aware of who she was, so there was no reason to lie at this point. “Kaelyn Dorothy Trapp.”
His jaw clenched. “When were you born?”
She didn’t want to sit through a hundred individual questions. Plus, she wanted to assert a bit of power over this man. “Look, I’ll save you some time. I’m the daughter of Daniel and Dorothy Trapp. I was cryogenically frozen in the year two thousand and twenty. My parents were trying to save me from the impending disaster our country faced. It was called the Phoenix Project.” She wasn’t sure what they knew or thought, and she didn’t want to give too much information away about the Phoenix Project. She would try this small lie about her parents trying to spare her to see what they knew.
He cracked the knuckles on his left hand with his thumb. “Tell me more about the Phoenix Project.”
She made sure to keep her voice steady and calm, wanting to be believable. “There’s nothing more to tell. They wanted me to survive, so they made sure I did.”
The door swung open again. One of the most beautiful women Kaelyn had ever seen sauntered in. Her eyes were a turquoise blue that reminded Kaelyn of the Caribbean Sea. Her blond hair was tied back in a simple ponytail. She seemed to exude power and dominance. Kaelyn wasn’t sure what to make of her.
