Angel whined, and it did little to help my nerves. “I know,” I whispered. “It’s creeping me out too.” He started ahead of me, padding along silently. I followed, doing my best to stay hidden.
We walked for three blocks when I heard the growl. Not an animal, but of something mechanical. I grabbed Angel’s collar and hauled him behind a pile of debris. Squatting down, I ducked as low as I could.
Someone shouted from behind me and a pack of people dressed in little to nothing ran from the shadows and down the street, hauling ass as though their lives depended on it. Away from me. Other than their nearly naked state, I couldn’t tell much about them in the dim light. I didn’t have to see their faces to know they were terrified. Clearly they had been following me, but I didn’t get a sense of danger from them, more that they were curious. If they had wanted to hurt me, they could have done it long before.
Since they didn’t have anything which remotely resembled technology, I didn’t move, not wanting to find out the hard way what it was they were fleeing from. I sure didn’t want to meet whoever or whatever the primitives evaded.
Angel didn’t move or make a sound, and his behavior gave me enough reason to stay under cover.
I didn’t have to wait long when the first lights from gas-fired vehicles appeared on the street. They raced by, chasing the people who’d fled, nets and lances covered their vehicles. I closed my eyes and pulled Angel closer, burying my face in the scruff on his neck, praying I wouldn’t be spotted.
Later, when I found out who they were, I’d thanked God I hadn’t.
* * *
“The men who were chasing the primitives, those were the same we ran from,” Axel states, pulling me out of my story.
I nod.
“Do any of them wear uniforms?”
I stand up and move to the window. The moon is high above, hanging like a lantern over the city. I don’t see any unnatural lights in the sky, so the ships I saw the day before when I met Axel must not be out searching for him, or they can’t. He did say his people only activated the travel corridors, but I don’t mention what I’m thinking. “You and your companions were the first in uniforms I’ve seen.”
Axel comes up behind me. I jump when his hand lands on my shoulder. “You’re certain? Not even a leader?”
“No. If I’d seen uniforms, I would have left the city. This group we ran from isn’t using advanced technology. They have antiquated equipment, like what I can put together from parts and pieces. Not like your ships or your hand, relying on a wireless power source. And they don’t wear uniforms.”
“So you don’t think they are as dangerous as a group who might utilize the towers?”
“Maybe more so, because they don’t need the Net to power their weapons. But your ships, or the ships of people like you, won’t have a difficult time spotting my gardens from above. And that’s why I’d leave.”
“These raiders, how can you be certain they won’t come into the quarantine zone?”
I walk over to the stack of books I pulled from the cabinet earlier and grab the one on medieval warfare. “I can’t be, but I can do my best to keep them out. And if they do invade, I am ready to defend my compound.”
* * *
A few months before, on my first trip back from the library
I couldn’t breathe as I slammed the door to my compound. I’d watched the hunters chase the primitives but didn’t stick around to see what happened. People in groups could do amazing things, as I’d witnessed on the islands. However in number, they could also commit great acts of evil. The moment I had my chance to run, I did without looking back, certain the hunters’ intentions were not charitable.
I’d tossed my bag on the floor, my books spilling out. Colorful images lay scattered about. A fiction world and time I wished I could escape to, but no longer had the luxury. I had big issues. Enormous—if I were to put it into perspective.
My home wasn’t safe. I had to reinforce everything and couldn’t trust the raiders wouldn’t eventually make their way here. I surveyed my compound. My bees were no longer as powerful as they once were when tethered to the wireless power source in Sententia, and the raider’s numbers posed a huge problem should they find me.
I had to be ready for them.
I doubted they wanted friendship from the primitives. If they spotted me, someone equipped with advanced technology, what would their agenda be then? I could come up with multiple scenarios, none of them good.
Were the raiders the people the Sententian rebels had met with, agreed to trade bees for technology? I could only guess. Whoever they were, I didn’t trust them and their motives. The way they chased the primitives and to what end, made me even more leery. Were their captives slaves? Food?
Please, God, no.
I raked my fingers into my spiral curls and fisted the strands, scrunching my eyes shut, trying to calm the panic in my mind and think. Breathe. You don’t forget how to breathe, its instinct. And just like every time I’d frozen before a big test and reminded myself fixing things came naturally, the invisible steels bands around me released. As I relaxed, I opened my eyes.
I could do this.
I took stock of what I did have. Plants everywhere, PCV fencing which could be smashed through with ease by one of the gas-fired vehicles the men had used in their hunting party. One thousand bees—not enough to stop the raiders I’d seen. Well, not in mass. The building was brick and steel—a plus, but not enough. I’d need an army to scare them away.
And then I thought of Tyler. Or perhaps just the illusion of an army.
Where to start?
Walls.
My gaze landed on the book I’d brought back from the library on a whim. Medieval Weapons of War. Well, the primitive technology had worked for my distant ancestors, enough to win battles and protect castles. Granted, the raiders were a bit more advanced, but probably no less blood-thirsty or motivated. Time to find the materials to build said defenses.
A seagull swooped above me, squawking. I tipped my head back. The ocean. My solution sat in the ocean, not far from here.
I’d seen an old ship in the bay and knew I could scavenge steel panels and other items to fortify my home. With beams and pipe I could make several trebuchets to launch flaming balls of debris and other projectiles, maybe enough to make the raiders think twice about launching an attack on my home. I had to expand my perimeter, put a barrier away from my gardens, far enough it couldn’t be spotted with the naked eye.
I’d go mobile with the welder and plasma cutter, building a stronger frame on my hover, reinforce my hydraulic dolly, which made up for my lack of muscle, and use the field I’d abandoned to haul what I wanted to shore. Some wire cable and a wench I’d seen at an old factory should do the trick for dragging it all back to land.
I should have cut the field free and let it go out with the tide once I cleaned off what I’d wanted, but my instincts told me to hold onto it for a means of escape. I was glad I’d listened to the voice in my head which told me to keep it. After I finished, I’d release it from its tethers. If anyone saw it, they could be alerted of my presence, and now I knew someone was in the city with me, it had become an imperative, no longer an option.
Sure, I had found some fiberglass boat bodies in an old factory, and with a few modifications I could have made a solar boat, but perhaps the floating field represented too much of a past I didn’t want to let go of. Whatever the reason, I hadn’t let it float away. It would provide a way to get the heavy pieces across the water, before I said goodbye to who I used to be forever and sent it on its way, as I should have months before.
Oh lord, I’d be busy. No time to think about the mountain of work ahead of me, or Eli. Or my broken heart. I shook off the sorrow creeping up on me. I did not have the luxury of dwelling on the past, no matter how much I wanted to sink into it and mourn.
This would be the first time since I left Sententia I no longer felt safe. Those men were dangerous, and I had to do everything in
my power to protect myself.
With my bees, I could take down one, maybe two, raiders but not all of them. I’d made sure of that by modifying the entos.
So first light, I’d start to turn my compound into a fortress worthy of a medieval siege, because I sure as hell wasn’t converting the bees back to what they were before, no matter how desperate I became.
And then, when I knew I could protect myself, I planned to make a few hundred friends, courtesy of smoke and mirrors tactics—because ever fortress should have a sentry. If I couldn’t gather the brawn to fight the raiders off, I planned to scare the crap out of them and send them running back to their mammas.
* * *
“The way you speak of the bees, something must have happened on the islands with them.”
“The bees were so much worse than Eli led me to believe.” Tears fill my eyes, spilling onto my cheeks. “I didn’t believe him, thought he’d said what he had to manipulate me. I didn’t take the threat seriously until it was too late.” I wipe the moisture away with the back of my hand. “Whatever happens, you have to promise me your friends are not going to use the entos.” I turn and look him in the eyes.
“We came here to stop a weapon from being used, not build one.”
I nod. “You say there are others here, or coming here, from the United Regions. Are you certain?”
“Yes.”
“I’ve heard of them before, and I fear that these people from the United Regions Eli spoke of trading with will use the bees to kill.”
“You’ve got good instincts. I’ll bring you and your bees to our camp for security.”
“Where’s your camp?”
“Not sure. Our shuttle crashed outside the city. We’ve been making our way toward where we sent our forces, and we’re not sure if the shuttles you saw were ours or the United Regions.”
“Where are your friends staying?”
“An old hotel, a couple of miles from where you found us. If my com worked, I’d contact our base of operations and send a team to extract them.”
“Is it in your bag?”
“Yes,” he says.
“I can fix it, but it we’ll need to charge it in the sun before you can call out. Plus we will have to do it away from here. The open line could attract attention if anyone is monitoring the channels, and I’m sure they are, since you believe this United Regions is here, or coming here. Best not to draw them to our doorstep.”
He goes over to his bag, rummages for a minute, and extracts a handheld device. “Please fix it. Someone sabotaged our shuttle and brought it down. If whoever it is figures out we’re not dead, they’ll come back to finish the job. It’s critical we get Olivia and Marcus to safety. I can’t stop Pilot and his army without them. They are Aeropia’s backbone. The people will fight for them.”
“What about you?”
“I’m a clone. Some who are like me will, but the others will not. If Marcus dies, his brother inherits his seat of power, and that would be a very bad thing.”
“Who’s his brother?”
“He’s the same man bringing the forces from the United Regions here to get control of a devastating weapon we believe is somewhere in this city. We’ve been intercepting their transmissions for months, and several of them mention this place and the intent to send a force to recover a weapon. We thought it something left over from the War, but now I don’t believe it is.”
“You think it’s the entos?”
“Maybe. Tell me about them while you fix this.” He hands me the com.
14
Sententia, September 5th, 2238
As we walked through the dense vegetation a drone swooped in from my left and hovered in front of me at eye level. Before I could open my mouth to shout a warning, Akoni slapped it into a tree where it popped and smoked.
“Scout. Others are on the way.”
I looked over at Eli who reached out to me. I grabbed his hand, and we ran. We had to find cover and quick, if we could hide from the drones. Everywhere I looked, forest occupied the space. No buildings or caves. Nothing stood out where we could take shelter.
“This way,” Eli yelled as he veered off our path and pulled me after him. “It’s the fastest way out of the area.” Akoni crashed through the brush behind us as the air began to hum, growing louder by the second. I didn’t dare to look back or slow. Before I knew it, we were sailing of a cliff twenty feet over the river and free-falling to the water below. I closed my eyes before impact, not sure if rocks waited for us, what we’d just done registering with my brain right before impact.
We hit feet first. I hadn’t had time to scream or panic, and it had been a good thing. I doubted I would’ve gone over the cliff otherwise. Our hands came free from each other, and I went under, only to bob up and break the surface, splashing and swallowing water. I sank again, my nostrils and mouth filled with fluid. I never had much time at the beach or in the water. My swimming skills weren’t strong, and for a moment, I’d thought I’d breathed my last breath.
Strong hands grabbed me, pulling my head above the surface. I coughed and sputtered, wheezing as I drew air.
“I’ve got you.” Eli held me from behind against his chest until I could calm myself.
“How did you know we wouldn’t hit rocks?”
“I didn’t. We didn’t have an option.” He pointed up where a cloud of mechanical bees swooped around the trees. I swallowed. No question they searched for us, but they didn’t compute we might have gone off a cliff and into the water, possibly because the move had been suicidal. They were looking in the last spot I’d been reported.
“Point your feet downstream and go with the current.”
He started to let go, and I latched onto his hands. “Don’t. I’m not a good swimmer.”
“I won’t let go of you. I’ll hold your hand beside you, but we have to see where we’re going and if there are any threats ahead. Plus, we should keep our feet pointed downstream to avoid hitting obstacles. I can’t do that from behind you. Okay?”
“Okay.”
“It’s only a matter of time before they figure out where we went. We want to be out of the river and under cover before they do. Best place is in the nearby city. We can blend with the crowd.”
I nodded.
“Whatever you do, don’t try to stand when I let go of you. You could get your foot wedged in the rocks on the bottom and drown.”
“Thanks for reminding me of the possibility.”
“I won’t let you go under. Relax. We’re already moving.” He shifted beside me, and true to his word, he reached out and grasped my wrist. I grabbed his forearm in return and held on as if my life depended on it, and perhaps it did. As we began to pick up speed, I thought for sure my grip was all that stood between me and death. And for the first time since I’d been kidnapped, I knew I could trust Eli.
Akoni, however, not so much. Eli’s goal and his went in two different directions. I looked over as he caught the rapids in the middle and zipped by us in the current.
“I don’t trust him,” I said.
“That makes two of us. I thought perhaps they’d caught us on camera in the tunnel, or somehow had a tracker on us. But the more I think about it, the more it looks like the big guy did it. First your apartment and then the tunnel. When he’s around, the authorities seem to find us. I think he could’ve jammed the signal way before he did, and did he really lead our pursuers away when we went to the caves? He had no way to know where we’d gone, but he didn’t have a problem finding us underground. It’s odd he won’t tell me what my brother contacted him about. My brother doesn’t keep secrets from me. Something isn’t right. I can’t help feeling like we are being played.”
“I’ve thought the same thing.”
“So, as soon as we have a chance, we ditch him.”
“How do we do that?”
“I’m not sure, but there has to be a way.” We rounded a bend after traveling about five miles, and the Wailuku River widened, growing s
hallow. A sandbar sat off to one side. Akoni stood, waiting. “This looks like our exit.”
As we came to a stop on the sandbank, Eli stood and reached out to me. I put my hand in his and let him pull me to my feet. After I’d stood, he continued to hold my hand, not releasing me. I wanted to pull away but didn’t have the strength of mind or body. If I were honest with myself, I wanted him to hang on so I didn’t feel so alone.
“We should get out of the open.”
I narrowed my eyes, studying the area. “I know this place. It’s not too far from the ocean and the academy where I studied. We used to sneak off and come here at night to party on the bank.”
Eli nodded. “And we’re heading right into the city from here. The best place to hide is in plain sight. Until we can find another mode of transportation to Maui, we should lie low somewhere. I’m afraid they will be watching, knowing we are around. The cameras don’t miss much.”
“Wait,” I said. “There’s a pede station right off campus not monitored as heavily as the public stations. It’s used mostly by the staff coming to and going from the academy. If we can find a way to jam the cameras, we could get onboard and to Maui with little issue.
Eli nodded. “You’re right, but jamming the cameras won’t be necessary. It’s not that they officially don’t monitor. They do, but a bit differently than anywhere else in Sententia. Most of their control here is accomplished through brainwashing and threats. The students are led to believe all the government does protects them from external threats. They’ve been conditioned to report suspicious behavior.
“However, some of the students don’t buy what they’re selling. With the large number of techies on campus, it’s impossible to virtually monitor the academy. The security system gets hacked daily. The authorities gave up on the cameras and favor a more hands on approach here. They know the students come to this swimming hole, but they look the other way in favor of gathering intelligence. They have spies who report back on the goings on of this place, and they’ve gathered a lot of information from here.”
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