The Rise of the Resistance

by Jackie D

  “Get out,” the blonde told the man sitting across from her.

  His mouth twitched. “Ms. MacLeod, this is my job.”

  “It was, General, but it’s mine now,” she said.

  Kaelyn wasn’t sure if she should be impressed or terrified.

  He hesitated but stood up. “Your father—”

  “My father sent me in here.” She didn’t even bother to look at him and kept her intense scrutiny on Kaelyn.

  The man grabbed his hat and left the room, his annoyance apparent by his heavy footsteps and the eye roll he made sure she saw.

  The woman sat on the corner of the table closest to Kaelyn, her green skirt sliding up as she sat. “As I’m sure you’ve put together by now, I’m Nora MacLeod, First Daughter. You can cut the crap about your parents trying to save you. It’s bullshit. They wouldn’t have kept you frozen just to be woken up here, alone, without any family. Now, where are the Resistance forces?”

  Kaelyn sat farther back in her seat, wanting to put distance between them. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  Nora seemed amused by her defiance, a slight smile creeping across her face. “I’m only going to ask you one more time.”

  “You’re going to get the same answer. I can’t tell you something I don’t know.”

  Nora walked over the other side of the room and pushed a few buttons on a screen. A small door opened, and she pulled out two metal bands. She set them on the table. “Technology has come far since you were frozen. We have a multitude of options now when it comes to making people tell the truth.” She traced her finger over the top of one of the bands. “Sure, I could inject you with something and the information would just start flowing. But I’m old-fashioned.”

  Kaelyn focused on keeping her breathing controlled and rhythmic. “It won’t make a difference. My answers will be the same.”

  Nora picked up one of the bands and played with the wires that were attached. “If I put these around your arms, it will send an electric pulse through your body every time you lie to me.”

  Kaelyn wasn’t sure what the right answer was at this point, so she said nothing.

  Nora ran her fingertips over Kaelyn’s arm. “Eventually, I’ll grow bored and increase the electricity level. The pulses will, at a certain point, disrupt your sinus rhythm and your heart will stop.”

  “That would be unfortunate for you. Killing me won’t garner you any favor with my people. And you need that, don’t you? Their favor?” Kaelyn said with a calm she didn’t feel.

  Nora laughed. “Your people? Is that what they are now? Last I checked your people voted my grandfather into office. Your people have followed my family without question for almost seventy years. Your people discarded the misguided ramblings of your father and put their faith in a real leader.”

  Kaelyn rolled her eyes and continued to egg her on. The longer she could keep her preoccupied with this, the longer she was giving the Resistance. “A real leader? Please.” She laughed. “Your father runs an authoritarian society that keeps its people sedated and uneducated. Your family doesn’t govern; it forces, manipulates, lies, and controls. You’re too afraid to give people a choice because they wouldn’t choose your father. Your family is an embarrassment to the history of this country.”

  Nora came across the table as if she were going to slap her. She pushed the tips of her fingers down against the table until they were white. “Tell me why I shouldn’t kill you right now.”

  Kaelyn smiled at her. “Even if you killed me, it would be too late. Phoenix isn’t a person; it’s an idea. You can’t kill an idea. The Resistance is a movement that was created long before my family. It has lived in people since the American Revolution, during the Civil Rights Movement, the Women’s Rights Movement, and I could name thirty more. You might have won temporarily but not indefinitely. It’s not how Americans are built. The fear you’ve built into your approach can’t last. People are smarter than that, and they’re ready to fight back.”

  “People crave protection. They handed over their rights, their privacy, even their identities in order to be protected. That hasn’t changed.” Nora slipped the bands over Kaelyn’s arms, grabbing her more tightly when Kaelyn tried to pull away. “You overestimate people at their core. All of those things sound lovely on paper, but when it comes down to it, people will protect themselves before they give another thought to their neighbor.”

  “We’ll see about that.” Kaelyn glared at her. She had no plan, no idea what was happening, or if Arrow was even alive. All she could do was endure whatever was about to happen and hope her belief in her people was enough to keep her alive.

  Chapter Thirty-two

  Arrow sent out a distress signal. It was a calculated decision that could make their situation even more dangerous. The signal would notify the Resistance that the war had begun, but it would also give away their location. It’d be an upward battle from there.

  She flipped the three turbo switches on the console. They would be in what used to be Washington, DC, in less than an hour. She tightened the straps on her seat, holding her body in place.

  She turned her head, and Valor and her mother were doing the same. Valor had the rejuvenation system in place, and his breathing had leveled, the bleeding stopped. The rejuvenation system wouldn’t be complete by the time they got there, but there was no other option. They had to move now. Losing Kaelyn wasn’t a reality she was willing to accept. She flipped the go button, and the transport slammed forward into turbo drive.

  “Mom, when we get there, I’m going to drop you and Valor at the rally point. There should be several small platoons pushing their way through the streets now. You’re going to have to speak for Kaelyn.”

  “Take some of the forces with you. You’re going to need help,” her mom yelled from the back.

  Arrow pretended not to be able to hear her over the loud winds whipping over the transport. She had no intention of taking anyone with her. They were keeping Kaelyn somewhere, and getting her back would be easier on her own. She didn’t want to risk spooking Kaelyn’s jailers and having them kill her on impulse.

  They were coming up to the farthest gated entry point to Eden. The protocol here was to stop, be inspected, and then be given access. That wasn’t about to happen.

  Arrow flipped on the barrier eliminator gun they had specially installed in this transport. CAM had said it worked, but she’d never tried it herself. She grabbed the joystick and pushed the red button. A large orange blast radiated from the front of the transport. It completely leveled the guard station and barrier. There was smoke, dust, and gunfire raining down on top of the transport as they shot through.

  If the situation hadn’t been what it was, she would’ve given herself a moment to be thoroughly impressed. But as the dust started to clear, she heard the small artillery craft overhead. There was one above and then one on each side.

  She clicked the button for the protection barriers, but it wouldn’t protect the transport for long. Their energy supply was running low, and every hit would deplete it further. She just needed to make it farther. Then she would be able to disappear into the streets, under the cover of the ultra violet personal protectors.

  The low energy alert was blaring, and they only had a minute or two left before they’d be left completely vulnerable. They came upon a small building, and Arrow turned the steering wheel, forcing the transport to head directly into it, taking down the wall as they slammed through it.

  She grabbed the two bags from the front seat and jumped out of the transport. She pulled open the back door. “Go.”

  Macy and Valor climbed out as they were told, as quickly as possible. She reached back into the driver’s seat and set the transport to autopilot. She flipped the button for turbo speed and then closed the door. The transport pushed out the other side of the wall and only made it about sixty feet before the artillery craft blew it up.

  They waited, listening for the crafts to leave the area. When the hum
ming sounds finally stopped, she checked her weapons. She grabbed a few magazines out of the bag and put a charging mount on the laser portion of her rifle.

  “Take the rest and get to the rally point. I’m going to go get Kaelyn.” Arrow handed the bags to her mother and Valor.

  “You can’t go by yourself. You don’t even know where to start.” Valor looked at her as if he didn’t recognize her.

  “I synced Kaelyn’s bracelet to our transmitters before we left headquarters. There’s still a signal. They might have taken it off her, but it’s a good place to start. You two have to meet up with the platoons. This whole thing is about to blow up. People are going to be scared. They’re going to be confused. They’ll need a leader to let them know we’re still here and we’re still going ahead.” She grabbed her mom and hugged her as hard as she could without seeming scared.

  Her mom put her hands on the sides of Arrow’s face. She looked like she wanted to say a million different things, but all she could manage were two sentences. “I love you. Be careful.” She kissed Arrow’s forehead.

  “This is foolish.” Valor wasn’t going to give up as easily. “Let me go with you.”

  Arrow grabbed Valor’s transmitter and held her metal bracelet up to it, allowing the devices to sync. “No. If I can’t get Kaelyn back, they’ll need to know their president is still there. The other three Phoenixes should be in place soon.”

  He did the same with his bracelet. “At least we’ll be able to find each other now.”

  She stuck the transmitter in her pocket. “Yeah, but so will other people. I need you to cloak your location until you make it to the center of the capital.”

  He nodded. “Hey, Arrow…” He put his hands on his hips and looked down at the ground. “I’m not good at this kind of thing. But I need you to come back.”

  She hugged him, smiling into his neck. “I love you too, Valor.” She smacked his arm. “I’ll see you soon.”

  She turned and went in the other direction before they had a chance to see her eyes filling with tears. They had enough to worry about without her laying her fear at their feet. She knew this could possibly be the last time she would see either of them. The thought should’ve scared her, but what scared her more was the possibility of something happening to Kaelyn and her doing nothing to stop it. She could live with her own demise if it meant she was able to get Kaelyn to safety. Nothing else mattered more than that.

  She ducked behind the corner of the building she’d just allowed the transport to demolish. She needed to get her bearings and figure out where she was in relation to the complex she assumed they were keeping Kaelyn. She’d studied rudimentary maps of Eden, based on defectors’ recollections and how the area used to look before the Resistance had left. But she wasn’t quite prepared for the actual beauty of it all.

  The buildings seem to reach all the way up to the clouds. Some held their timeless and classic architecture while others had been updated over the years. The glass windows that reflected in the sun looked like diamonds that remained just out of reach. The streets were incredibly clean. As a matter of fact, she didn’t see a single piece of trash anywhere.

  Come to think of it, no one had shown up where she’d crashed their transport. There were no people crowding around wanting to know what happened. People walked past her without even looking in her direction. The crash should’ve alerted someone to the location, but there were no sirens, no soldiers. There was nothing.

  Here she stood in the middle of a street in broad daylight with a gun strapped to her back, blood on her clothes, and a uniform that didn’t match anyone’s in the vicinity, and no one was alarmed. They moved at a steady and controlled pace. Their faces were blank, void of any emotions. Their eyes seemed to be glassy, probably the ramifications of the sedatives they’d been ingesting their whole lives. Then she realized everyone was heading in the same direction, toward the center of Eden.

  Arrow didn’t know why everyone was heading to one location, but she could guess. MacLeod was going to impress his people with a public display of dominance. And there was nothing that would broadcast that more than Kaelyn Trapp. Everything she knew about MacLeod led her to believe that this display would involve humiliation, blood, and pain. He was going to try to use Kaelyn to discredit the Resistance and incite violence.

  What he didn’t bother to realize was that his ego would end up being his downfall. He was gathering all his people in one place. He would transmit the event to everyone and anyone in the country. He believed the whole movement was tied to one person, and if he could get rid of that person, the Resistance would fall apart. His mistake was not only underestimating the Resistance, but Kaelyn as well.

  Arrow felt the first tingle of relief since Kaelyn had been taken. If he was going to bring her out into public, it would be her one opportunity to get her back. She felt the swell of anticipation rise low in her chest. She could and would save Kaelyn.

  Chapter Thirty-three

  Adon glared at his daughter. She was wasting time trying to get information out of Kaelyn Trapp for no reason. They didn’t need to know their plans at this point. The forces were already within the city limits. They needed a sign of strength, one that only Kaelyn could give.

  He pushed the microphone on the desk that was linked to Nora’s ear. “Get in here.”

  He watched as she turned toward the mirror, irritation washing over her face. She stomped into the room he was waiting in.

  “What is it?” She motioned to the glass where Kaelyn sat slumped on the other side. “I just had her hooked up and we were going to get somewhere. Now she’s going to think we’re weak.”

  “Why waste our time doing this where no one can see it? Let’s get her out in the square. Her people need to see they’ve placed their hopes and dreams in the wrong person.” He looked over to the two soldiers. “Get her ready for transport.”

  Nora looked as if she was going to argue for a second but changed her mind. “Whatever you think is best, Daddy.”

  He waited for her to continue, sure an argument about his decision was next, but it didn’t come. “Okay, good. Go get changed. We’ll leave in fifteen minutes.”

  Nora left and he watched as the soldiers unhooked Kaelyn from the electric bands around her arms. She was much prettier than he had expected. He’d seen pictures of her, but they didn’t do her justice. Maybe if she made it through this without dying, he would make a wife out of her. She would look lovely on his arm, and that would be the final nail in the coffin for the traitors she aligned herself with. Nora wouldn’t like it, but she’d get over it.

  The soldiers dragged Kaelyn into the hallway, and Adon couldn’t pass up the opportunity to speak with her. He stepped out in front of them before they made it past the door.

  “Hello, Ms. Trapp.” Adon tried to touch her face, but she pulled away. “Oh, come now. There’s no reason to make this more difficult than necessary. I think if you give me a chance, you’ll see I’m not the monster you’ve made me out to be in your mind.” He touched her face again, and she pushed her chin out. Defiant. That wasn’t anything he couldn’t train out of her.

  “You can throw me into the deepest, darkest hole you have. I’m not going to tell you anything.” She pulled her face away again, and one of the soldiers shoved her, causing her to have to step toward him.

  “A hole? I’m not going to throw you into a hole. I know it’s been quite some time since you were part of this world, but that’s not how we do things anymore.” He started walking and the soldiers forced her to fall into step alongside him. “I want us to be friends. I have much bigger plans for you than dropping you out of sight, but we can start there if you prefer.”

  They reached the end of the hallway and stopped, waiting for the transport. “Tell me, what would your father think of his only offspring bearing a MacLeod child?” He looked her over, interested in what she might have to offer.

  Kaelyn pulled against her restraints. She clenched her teeth and practical
ly spit out her words. “I’d never touch you.”

  No woman had ever refused him, which made this exchange that much more fascinating. “You’re speaking as if I need your acquiescence. Many things have changed since your time here, not just technology. I don’t need your permission to have my way with you.”

  He finally received the reaction he had been searching for. He had rendered her speechless, and he could tell by looking at her face that she was terrified. Exhilarated, he thought maybe this whole situation might be exactly what he needed to rejuvenate him. He’d be able to renew the faith of the people and gain a little trophy at the same time. Killing her would be easy, but keeping her for himself would be the greatest triumph of all. Yes, she was going to look perfect lying in his bed, tied up and waiting for him.

  * * *

  Kaelyn fell into the transport, courtesy of the soldiers who seemed to not care one way or another what happened to her. She knew what MacLeod intended to do with her, and it was enough to make her feel nauseous. Nora, on the other hand, was a different story. She couldn’t quite pin down her angle. She understood that Nora was MacLeod’s daughter, but there was more to her than she could figure out without more information.

  She only briefly allowed the thought of what would happen if the Resistance wasn’t successful. She could only handle one problem at a time, and right now, she needed as much information as possible to help push the mission forward. She thought of Arrow and what she’d want her to do in this situation. She knew MacLeod was an arrogant man, and the best avenue would be to pursue information

  “The weather bubbles were a genius idea,” Kaelyn said, staring out the window as though she was really sharing her thoughts.

  MacLeod smiled at her. “Yes, they’re imperative to our survival. Other countries haven’t quite mastered the technology yet.”

  Kaelyn kept herself from bristling at his remarks. “You haven’t shared the technology then?”