“We'll never be ready. We just loaded all the stuff into the buggies. There are rows of Red Eyes just the other side of the barricade. They are mobilising in formation. We can't move tonight.”
“Reid?” Jackson wasn’t so easily deterred. He had spent weeks formulating this plan. As far as he was concerned, tonight was the night.
“Listen, Jackson. I want as much as you do to move on Alpha Tower. We've been working on it for a long time now. But tonight? Street's right. Just the other side of that barricade there are rows and rows of Red Eyes. Last night I got reports from the Western Compound that there are more Red Eyes than they have ever seen lining up along the perimeters.” He held out his hands as if to suggest he had no more options left to consider. “They have essentially cut us off.”
“It doesn't matter. All we have to do is get in position. Ruse is ready. Our contact in Alpha IT will steal the backup tape tonight. Once we're in position we can sit in the middle of their line of communication and wait for them to generate new encryption codes.” The plan that Street had told Zack about. Execute a breach in security, intercept the new codes, sit like a man in the middle and fool both towers.
“What is Ruse?” Zack interrupted. Street shot him a look as if to say his questions were an unwelcome break in proceedings, but Jackson smiled as he explained.
“It’s the program that will enable us to steal their codes, generate new ones, and destroy what they created.”
“And the switch? Unless you're suggesting that we just rock up at the entrance of Alpha Tower and ask for access to the basement, we are going to need a switch.” As composed as Reid was, Street was frantic. Serena snatched a glance towards Zack. Neither of them knew what to say. As if to taunt them, the Red Eyes let out a screech as the guns on top of the turrets began a sequence of movements. The Guardians called out inaudible instructions until the sounds quietened down.
“And you want to wait, Street?” The sounds from the other side of the barricades were all the encouragement Jackson needed. “Reid, boot that up,” said Jackson, pointing at one of the laptops on the back of the buggy. After a confused glance towards Street, Reid complied, flicking open the screen of the laptop. Whilst it booted up Jackson pulled his rucksack to the front of his body and pulled out a handful of black devices, each no more than the size of an old cigarette lighter. Stoat jockeyed over his shoulder to get a better view. Each device had a series of numbers scribbled on the top in scruffy silver writing. He rifled through them, tossing each back into the bag in search of the one that he wanted. He kept the sixth and resealed the zip on the bag. “Here,” he said, handing the device to Reid. “Load it up, Soldier.”
Reid inserted the device into a slot at the side of the computer. He clicked a couple of buttons until the information began to stream onto the screen.
“What is that?” asked Street as Jackson angled the computer to face him to avoid the glare of the sunlight. It also gave Zack a better view of the screen and he realised quickly that they were looking at a series of plans. Based on the lines intersecting what looked like a city map, his first thought was of the underground.
“It's the underground system,” announced Zack, never more certain.
“Right, but not the original plans,” Jackson said. He drew his fingers across the touchpad mouse to zoom out so that the whole schematic was visible. He tapped the screen to focus their attention.
“The Republic of New Omega,” Serena read the written words aloud.
“Exactly,” said Jackson. “These plans were created by the regime. They show every inch of cable. They show every switch. They show every underground line.” He dragged the mouse and zoomed in on a certain area. “This is the line that they call the Alpha Omega line. It's what we call the Northern line. You see here,” he said, tapping his finger on the screen, “that's a switch right there. We can sit on the system here, and they will never know until it's too late.”
“But it's not just the hack, Jackson,” Street said. “Once we take down their simulations, what will the people in Alpha do? Remember Gamma?”
Jackson pulled the storage device from the side of the laptop and slammed the screen closed. Zack had never met him before in his life, but he knew when a man was trying to buy time. It seemed the plan only went so far. Just like the tunnels.
“I don't know.” He took a long breath in and sat down on the edge of the buggy facing them all. “But I do know that we have got the chance to help them. To at least give them a chance. You're right that we don't know what the hell they're doing across the other side of that barricade. But we've faced and survived worse than a few lines of Red Eyes, and I've no doubt that we stand the chance of facing worse in the future. But doing nothing isn't an option. Ruse is ready. The contact is ready. It has to happen tonight.” Each set of eyes was waiting on Jackson. He was just a kid, Zack thought. He looked like some kind of computer nerd from the past that probably never had any friends because he spent his life in front of a screen. Now here was, commanding them, fulfilling his possibilities. It was an infectious ability that he had, and his absolute certainty that what he was doing was the right thing had stirred something in Zack.
“What are the options?” Zack asked. “I mean once the simulation in Alpha ends. What could happen?”
“Based on what happened in Gamma, it's unlikely that Omega Tower would let them go,” said Reid. “They would rather kill them than leave them to go free. Very few got out of Gamma, and most of them ended up heading directly to Brighton. But that was a different situation. We acted rashly, foolishly. We cut the hard line to the server and when the programming failed Omega knew about it immediately.”
“That wouldn't happen this time, Zack,” interrupted Jackson. “With Ruse, things will be different. When we jack into their communications network and generate the false encryption codes, they will have no idea that we are there. Their systems were built before the war and they abide by certain rules. They authenticate their communications by a series of computerised responses.”
“Pings, Zack. What I was telling you about,” confirmed Street, who seemed to have calmed down a bit.
“Right,” said Jackson as he looked back to Zack. The suspension of the golf buggy groaned as Jackson shifted his weight. The Red Eyes responded by performing another series of movements, the sound of which rushed across the land as a reminder of the urgency with which they had to act. “So when we send out our pings to Omega they will think that they are receiving authentication signals from Alpha, but really we will have Alpha isolated from the network. There should be no reason why the isolation cannot be maintained long enough to get the Alpha residents out. As long as they realise what is happening there are enough of them to overpower the Guardians, which would enable us to bring them out and take them south.”
“But now that road is full of Guardians, and those other sons of bitches that they call Comrades,” said Street. She stopped when she realised that Nixon was running towards them. He was a guy Zack had seen a couple of times as he moved through the compound for supplies on his way along the perimeter. Sudden movements seemed like bad news. “What is it?” Street asked as he puffed and panted.
“I just got word from Duke,” said Nixon, as both Zack and Serena looked at each other in surprise. “Grayson is holding Emily. She is captive. He threatened her with denunciation.”
“Bullshit,” said Reid, laughing. “He will never do it.”
“Hang on,” said Zack, stepping in, his hand up against Reid’s chest. “You all know Emily?” Nixon didn’t wait to answer before he continued, but Reid nodded to confirm.
“He also said there was another denunciation ceremony soon.” Nixon turned to Zack. “Some guy who was coordinating your insertion into Omega.”
“Simon,” Zack said aloud. “He will be denounced because of me.”
“Not exactly,” said Nixon. “You might have been the trigger, but you're not the reasoning. The guy's gay, so they can string him up under the rule
of the seventh creed. They wouldn't admit to the rest of the Omega residents that anybody managed to get out.”
“Whatever. This is all irrelevant,” said Jackson. “If we have lost Emily, we have to face up to it. She, and we, always knew it was a risk. Let's get moving.”
The first thought in Zack's mind was of the last time he saw her, and when he felt her lips against his own. He still didn't really know what that kiss meant, but if she was in trouble he knew it was because of him. She was the only reason that he was free, but he knew now that freedom had come at a price that he wasn’t prepared to pay. He was woken from his daydream by Serena pulling out the water flask from the satchel over her shoulder. As she lifted up the flask to drink he saw something tumble from the bag. It fluttered to the ground like an autumn leaf, falling on a patch of grass with a dandelion struggling to survive against the odds. He reached down to pick it up. It was the photograph that he had lost on his first day in Omega. Samantha.
“Where did you get this?” he asked Serena. She sealed the lid on her water flask and shrugged her shoulders.
“I've never seen it before,” she said. “It must have fallen out of the bag.”
“But this is my photo. I lost it on my first day in Omega.” He could barely breathe for the sight of the face that he thought had been lost to him forever. “Where did you get the bag from?” Zack stammered.
She hesitated for a moment looking around at the accusatory faces of the others staring at her, waiting for a response. The image from the past didn’t just mean something to Zack. The sight of a face from before the war was a luxury that most of them had never had. They were all silent, their eyes on the photograph dreaming of their lost loves.
“The girl called Emily gave me the bag in the basement of Omega just before we left. Then she gave you one too, remember?” She pointed at the bag that he was still holding in his hand. “We must have switched. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to take it.”
Back in Delta, the photograph of Samantha had become a symbol of persistence. Just looking at it made him feel stronger. And then when it was gone it was as if his ability to resist was gone too, disappeared along with the last invisible strings which connected him to his old life. But they had been saved, preserved so that just when he needed them they would be there as a beautiful link to his past. It was Emily who had done this. When he needed a way out of Delta, she had shown him possibility. When he needed somebody to offer him an escape from Omega she was there. And now, even from a distance, it was her actions that reminded him that to forsake those who give so much without ever asking for anything in return, is to lose the very thing that makes you the person you are. Every mistake he had ever made in the old life was represented by this photograph, but now it also represented everything good that had happened to him since the war began. Emily had preserved it, but now she was being held in Omega Tower. Plus, there was another half of this image in Delta tower with Leonard. And it was waiting for him to fulfil his promise.
Serena knew before he had said anything that he was no longer going with her. He grabbed her, tighter than he had ever held her before.
“You'll be fine with them,” he told her as he cupped his hands around her face, stroking her cheeks with his thumbs. There were dirt marks on her face, proof that she was becoming a Drifter, moving forwards into an unknown journey. She held him, her fingertips digging into his back. She sniffled as she smiled at him, knowing that he felt something that neither of them had experienced in the last ten years. Purpose. “Who will be going south with Serena?” he asked of the rest.
“You are,” said Street. She was standing with one hand on her hip, the other propped up against the buggy. “Don't get any ideas about being a hero. Just because she gave you your photo back doesn't mean you can rescue Emily. You know that, right?”
“There are people in there that need me,” Zack countered as he held onto Serena's shoulder. He looked back at the boundaries of New Omega and for the first time they didn’t seem so impenetrable, even with the rows of Red Eyes protecting them.
“You don't know anything about computers,” she continued. “You don't know anything about the communications networks. There is nothing you can do. Emily was our contact, not yours.” She shoved the computer towers unnecessarily into position on the back of the buggy and pulled a heavy weave cover over the top, threadbare in places, scorched in others. “The best way of helping us is by leaving us to do what we know how to do.” She was adamant that he had no place with them. She saw him as a loose cannon, a potential for mistakes. Reid was quiet with his eyes cast to the floor, scuffing at the ground with his booted foot. Even Stoat had stopped his excitement. Was it the photograph that had stunned them, or was it something more than that?
Zack shook his head. “Emily is the reason I am standing here right now. You’ve already told me that you've got no idea how to get the people of Alpha Tower out. All you know how to do is take down the simulation software. But what then? Gamma already got destroyed on account of not having a plan!”
“When we were trying to free Gamma, you were out there with a gun shooting at us!” countered Street.
Reid stepped between Street and Zack, held up his hands like a boxing referee. “Both of you, that's enough.” Jackson was quiet, but he was watching.
“You have never even been in a tower,” said Zack to Street. “You don't know what it's like. You have watched the Guardians from afar, traded with them, shot at them. But you don't know what happens in there. You need me.”
“I get what you are trying to say, Zack. Really I do. I get that you feel responsible for Emily.” Jackson still hadn't said anything, but he was watching Zack all the time, soaking up every word he said, watching every move he made. “But just exactly how do you suggest that you're going to help?” asked Reid.
“Because you've got no idea how much those people are going to want to get out. I know it. I feel it. I felt it for ten years.” None of them could argue with that. “It's not just the people in there who need me. It's not just Emily. There are people in there I need.” He looked down at the photograph, and then towards the road which led to the south where there was the remotest chance that Samantha was living. When he looked back at the image in his hand it wasn't Samantha that he saw. Instead it was the torn edge, the indication that somewhere there was another half.
How had he forgotten Leonard so easily?
“I don't know if you've got any better chance with me than without me. But I know I can't make your chances any worse. Jackson,” Zack said, turning to face the person in whom he had decided to put all of his faith. Because he didn’t have another option. “Let me come with you. I believe that if you are going to save anybody in Alpha Tower, then you are going to need all the help you can get.”
“Jackson, baby, this would be crazy,” pleaded Street, pulling at his collar. It was her last effort, because they all knew who would make the final decision. Jackson was quiet as they all waited for his response.
“Reid, get those who are going south in the buggies and get moving. You,” he said looking towards Zack. “You come with me.”
Chapter Fifty One
Zack fiddled with the photograph as he stood alongside Street. They were both waiting for Jackson. Jackson was talking to Reid, who seemed to be part of the plan to move south. Serena was already on board one of the buggies waiting for him. She was looking back over her shoulder, an anxious yet permissive smile on her face. Zack told himself that he had done what he promised. He had got her out. Her smile told him he had done enough.
“I'm still not convinced by this. We usually work alone.” Street was crouched on her toes, her hands rifling through a rucksack. She got up, scuffing up dust as she moved towards the buggy that Serena was sitting in to grab another USB cable. She shoved it in the bag and pulled the cord tight. “Already we are forgetting things,” she hissed, as she snapped the bag closed.
Zack didn't say anything in reply. It didn't seem useful to aggravate
her further. The decision had been taken to let him go with them, a call that fell to Jackson. Zack had made it happen, and it felt good to know that he had stood his ground. That he had made a choice. The idea that he had gained his freedom at the expense of another person, and on top of that, the person who had organised his liberation from Omega Tower was another weight on his already weakened shoulders. It was something that only he could unload.
The four golf buggies began moving away. The last to leave housed Reid and Serena, plus stacks of computer hardware secured under a cover. Serena turned once more to find that Zack was watching her as they drove away. He gave her a thumbs up and she smiled again.
“I'll see you soon,” he said, but it was only to himself because she was too far away to hear him, and he didn't even really know if he believed it. He slipped the photograph in his satchel and secured the strap tightly.
That left four of them. Jackson was the obvious leader. He was the one who took the decisions. He was young, but there was a sense of calm about him which Zack appreciated. Perhaps because he had lived all of his adult life in a war zone there was nothing left for him to fear. A bomb could have exploded next to him and he would have simply brushed the fallout from his shoulders as if it was nothing more than a minor inconvenience. Jackson was also the coder. Stoat was the jack, and he was coming with them in order to get them into the system. He was carrying a bag full of cabling, way more than he would ever need. He reminded Zack of the tech guys who used to work in Delta - before it was Delta - who would fuss about under Zack's feet when something went wrong with the office networking or the telephone system. According to Reid, who had assured Zack that he would take care of Serena on the journey, Stoat could fix them up just about any system if it involved cables and hubs. He relented, however, that his supposed ability to smell the Red Eyes in close proximity had proven to be nothing more than fallacy. Or as useful as a piss pot with a hole in it, as Reid put it.
The Dawn: Omnibus edition (box set books 1-5) Page 48
