by Amy Cross
Her face is bloodied and bruised, and her left eye is already swollen shut.
“Do my ears deceive me,” she whispers, clearly struggling to speak as blood dribbles down her chin, “or did the cavalry just arrive?”
“What's going on?” I ask, stepping over to her. “Is this what you were waiting for?”
“Let me try to explain it to you very simply,” she replies, somehow still managing to smile. “When two sides hate each other very much, they get together and make a thing called -”
Before she can finish, there's a loud blast in the distance. The ground shudders as I turn and see an even larger fireball rising high into the sky, accompanied this time by thick black smoke. I can hear screams, too, and occasionally a stray laser shot briefly flashes up toward the sky. There must be four or five carriers in the air at least, which means any soldiers on the beach are going to be completely outgunned.
“That should keep them busy for a while,” Phillips says breathlessly. “There's nothing they love more than shooting at one another. Of course, they usually do it in one of the war-zones, but I'm sure they're enjoying the chance to spread their legs a little. I suppose both sides really, really want that code.”
“Did you do this?” I ask, turning to her as more explosions shake the ground beneath my feet. “Did you bring them here?”
“Me?” She chuckles, as if she finds the whole thing amusing. “I merely came here on a little boat. It's not my fault if two armies decided to come after me. I suppose they know what I have, and they'd both like it. I can't say I blame them, really. After all, if you've got a chance to win a war, you really should give it a shot.”
“What do they want?” I sneer, stepping toward her. “Tell me!”
“I already told you.”
“The code? They both want the code?”
She smiles. “It's a very important code.”
“Enough games!” I shout, shoving her back and then pinning her against the side of one of the huts. “If you have this code, you have to tell me where it is right now!”
“I don't have the code,” she replies. “I came to the island to fetch the code.”
“Then what -”
“The code is in you, Asher.”
I stare at her, trying to figure out what she means.
“That's impossible,” I point out finally. “Before I came to the island, I had every implant taken out of my body!”
“I know.”
“They didn't leave anything!”
“No, they didn't.”
“There's nothing in me that they could possibly want!”
“No, there isn't.” She pauses again. “Oh, except for one thing. You do have DNA, Asher.”
“What are you talking about?” I ask.
“Don't you remember the experiments, Asher? Don't you remember screaming when you were a little girl?”
“I remember you doing terrible things to me!”
“Precisely. And why do you think that was?” She smiles. “I needed to change your DNA base markers, Asher. It's not something that anybody would ever notice on the outside, and I don't think you felt it either. I just needed to make some modifications so that if anyone ever attempt to scan those markers, they'd instantly convert into a very special type of code.”
“That's impossible,” I tell her. “You can't change DNA like that.”
“We have the technology,” she replies. “We managed to hide something in your DNA. We didn't just do it to you, of course. That would have been like putting all our eggs in one basket. We knew we needed somebody who'd go through the war, so we selected one hundred children and conducted the same program on them. And now here we are, Asher, ninety-nine horrible war deaths later, and you're the only one still standing. All of which makes you rather important.”
“You're lying,” I reply. “Do you seriously expect me to believe all this?”
“The government computers are carefully guarded,” she explains. “Loading the code of a virus into their systems is almost impossible. Believe me, I know people who spent years trying to come up with a method. But then we realized that while the government goes to great lengths to keep viruses out, they also have a voracious appetite for data.”
“What kind of data?” I ask.
“Your data. Specifically, in this case, your DNA. So we started to wonder whether we could use that to our advantage. They scanned your DNA before, of course, but the pieces weren't in place back then. The vulnerabilities didn't exist in their system. That's why a few of us have been working for years to reach this moment. And it's why we've finally made sure that the government is so desperate to get you back. They'll be so busy processing you and scanning you into their system again, they won't notice that it's exactly what we want.”
“That makes no sense,” I tell her. “That kind of plan wouldn't even work!”
“Trust me, it'll work,” she replies. “All we need is for them to take you back to the city and scan a fresh DNA sample into their system. That sample will act like a virus, sweeping through every computer in their network and allowing certain other people to burrow into critical components. And then the whole goddamn corrupt structure will come crashing down. You're the key to it all, Asher. You're the code they're after.”
Chapter Fifty-One
Iris
Many years ago
“I thought stealing was wrong.”
Startled, I turn and see that Della is sitting on her bed. I'm in our rundown little room, back home before all of this started, but something feels wrong.
I shouldn't be here.
“Iris?” she continues. “I thought stealing was wrong.”
“So's starving,” I tell her cautiously, still trying to figure out why I feel so dazed. “Don't worry, no-one's going to miss the stuff I took.”
“Mum always said stealing's wrong,” she replies, looking back down at her piece of paper. “No matter what.”
“I got us a feast,” I tell her as I head over and sit on the dusty floor next to her creaking bed. I'm soaking wet, and I have no idea why; I can only assume it must have been raining outside, but I don't remember anything before I open my eyes a few seconds ago. Setting the muddied newspapers on my lap, I start unfolding them until I reveal the parcel of raw potato shavings. “They've still got the skin on,” I continue, hoping she'll be happy, “so they're extra good for you.”
“You first,” she replies cautiously.
“There's nothing wrong with them.”
“I know, but I think you should eat first.”
Scooping a handful of shavings into the palm of my hand, I hold them out for her. “Eat,” I say firmly, trying to copy Mum's tone of voice. Mum always got both of us to behave.
Mum would know what's wrong right now.
Reluctantly, Della leans forward and eats the shavings straight out of my hand. This is weird, I know, and messed up, but at least it works.
“Have you slept today?” I ask.
She shakes her head as she chews.
“Why not?”
She swallows. “I don't -” Coughing suddenly, she leans forward and I immediately start patting her back. I turn and reach for her inhaler, but I don't give it to her, not yet. She has so little medicine left, and I need to save it for the really bad attacks. “You have to wake up, Iris,” she adds finally. “Please! Wake up!”
“What do you mean?” I ask. “I'm -”
“Wake up!” she screams, her voice filled with abject terror. “Iris, wake up right now!”
***
“Wake up!”
Opening my eyes, I see Nissa staring down at me. It takes a moment before I realize that I'm flat on my back, and there's the sound of gunfire nearby. A few seconds later, a large black heli-mag carrier flashes across the sky straight above us, and when I sit up I realize that I must have been dreaming about Della.
I'm on the island.
I'm on the beach.
And there's a war waging all around me.
“You were knocked out by the last explosion,” Nissa explains. “Iris, we have to get to the trees!”
Looking around, I see that the treeline is at least fifty meters away. A moment later I spot a soldier running for cover, but he's immediately cut down by a laser blast. I'm certain that if Nissa and I try the same escape route, we'll suffer the same fate. At the same time, we can't stay here forever, cowering behind a half-destroyed crate, so at some point we're going to have to find a way off this beach.
“What's that?” Nissa yells suddenly, looking past me.
Turning, I see that a large round shape is moving slowly this way across the water. I've never seen anything so massive, and it's clearly at least three or four hundred feet high. There are bright lights arrange in a circle around the object's edges, and after a moment I realize that I remember hearing a description of something similar. I might be wrong, and I hope I'm wrong, but I think this might be one of the warships that have been used during battles. They're used by the enemy against our soldiers, and now it looks like one is slowly making its way toward the island.
I can already hear the hum of its vast engines.
“Iris, I'm scared,” Nissa continues, trembling with fear as she turns to me. “I want to go home.”
Realizing that staying on the beach is definitely no longer an option, I peer around the other side of the nearest crate and spot the burning wreckage of a carrier on the beach. There's thick smoke rising from the debris, and I think maybe the smoke would be thick enough to give us cover if we made a run for the trees.
With my hands still cuffed together, I grab Nissa's wrists and start leading her back around some of the damaged containers.
“Where are we going?” she asks, as we get closer to the wrecked carrier and the air fills with the foul, acrid stench of burning fuel.
I force her to keep following, until finally we get to a temporary safe spot behind another container. I'm trying to think of some other approach that might be less risky than simply making a run for the forest, but nothing comes to mind and I'm pretty sure this is our only option.
In my head, I count down from three.
Two.
One.
No turning back.
Still holding Nissa's hands, I start running toward the trees. Laser bolts flash through the air nearby, but the smoke from the carrier seems to be giving us a little cover and as far as I can tell nobody's actually aiming directly at us. Hurrying as fast as I can manage, I lead Nissa past the carrier, and for the first time I actually start to think we might make it to the trees.
And then, suddenly, I feel her slipping her hands free from mine.
Stopping, I turn and see that she's staring at the side of the burning carrier. Something seems to have mesmerized her, but I don't have time to ask her what's wrong. Running back to her, I grab her hands and try to pull her again, but she seems rooted to the spot. I look over at the carrier, worried that maybe she's seen another gruesome corpse, but there's no sign of anyone. All I see is our reflections in the side of the burning carrier, and I don't understand why she -
Suddenly I realize.
Staring at the black metal, I see my own reflection.
And Nissa's too.
She's staring at the reflection of her own face. For the first time in her life, she's seeing what she looks like.
Before I can even think of how to react, several laser blasts slam into the ground just a few feet away, showering us with sand.
Grabbing her hands, I grip as hard as I can manage and this time I force her to come with me. She pulls back, but I keep hold of her and finally we reach the relative cover of the trees. Dragging her a little further, I finally lose my footing and fall, slamming hard against the ground. Hitting a tree root, I wince as I feel a burst of pain in my arm, and then I turn to see Nissa standing a few feet away, silhouetted against the fires that are burning on the beach.
She's not looking out at the battle, however.
Instead, she's staring at me, and after a moment I realize I can see tears in her eyes.
Struggling to my feet, I look around and see that there don't seem to be any soldiers in this part of the forest. I turn back to Nissa, but she's still staring at me and now she has an expression I don't think I've ever seen on her face before. It's almost as if she's angry.
Hurrying over, I drop to my knees before twisting the gun and trying to aim it at the link between my handcuffs. I'm not entirely sure I've got this right, but I guess I have to hope for the best, so finally I pull the trigger. I feel a blast against my back, but the handcuffs separate. They're still around my wrists, but at least they're not longer joined. Relieved, I take hold of Nissa's hands and hold them out, and then I blast the link between her cuffs as well.
Checking the charge on the side of the gun, I see that it's good for a few few shots yet.
“Why didn't you tell me?” Nissa whispers, her voice trembling with rage.
For a moment, I have no idea what she means, but then I remember the moment when she was staring at her own reflection in the side of the burning carrier.
She saw her own face for the first time.
Which means she must have seen how much she looks like Asher.
“Why didn't you tell me?” she screams, lunging at me and pounding at my face with her fists.
Chapter Fifty-Two
Asher
“Where are you taking me?” Doctor Phillips asks as I push her through the forest. “We should have stayed at Steadfall! It's not safe out here!”
“I'm taking you to the beach,” I reply through gritted teeth, “so I can turn you over to them.”
“And what about your own body?” she asks. “They won't leave without the code, Asher. You're the code.”
“I'm still not sure I believe a word you've been saying,” I mutter.
Stopping ahead, she turns to me.
“Keep moving!” I yell.
“You can't run from this,” she says firmly. “You tried running, and look how that worked out.”
“I didn't run from anything!”
“You ran from the war!” she hisses. “You ran from the battle, and now do you hear the sound of gunfire ringing out across the island? The war just followed you here, and it won't ever leave you alone. You have the heart of a fighter, Asher, and you have to embrace who and what you really are. There's nowhere else you can run from here. You're on an island in the middle of the ocean, and the war still found you.”
“Go to hell!” I shout, shoving her so hard that she falls back and lands hard on the ground.
“Did that little outburst change anything?” she asks, before slowly getting to her feet.
“Stay down!” I yell, quickly pushing her again.
She lands on her ass and lets out a grunt of pain.
“I didn't tell you to get up,” I continue, even though I know I must sound like a maniac. For a moment, I can't even think straight. It's as if the distant sound of gunfire and explosions is burning through my thoughts. “I need to think!” I tell her. “I need to figure out the best way to get rid of you forever!”
“I engineered this moment,” she replies, still sitting on the forest floor. “If I'd made it too easy for them, if I'd delivered you on a silver spoon, they'd never be so quick to take you to the city. I sent you here so that one day they'd have to make all this effort to get to you. And I made sure the other side learned they were here, so that a new front would open up in this endless war. They're going to categorize you as a top-level threat, which means that when you get back to the city, they'll take you straight to the maximum security wing at the capitol building. That's where they'll carry out your new scans, and that's where your DNA will be entered into their computer network. From there, it'll spread like a virus. The war will end.”
I shake my head.
“What's wrong, Asher?” she asks. “Are you scared of a world without war?”
“All I've ever wanted is a world without war!” I shout.
“So play your part.”
“I came here to get away from the world,” I continue desperately. “All I wanted was to be able to set up my own life here on the island!”
“And you did that.”
“I'm not finished yet! I have to do more work to make sure Steadfall survives!”
“I'm sure it'll survive just fine,” she says with a sigh. “Provided it's not obliterated in this little skirmish, at least. Face facts, Asher. Sometimes we don't get to stick around and see the things we've created. Towns. Ideas. Children.”
“Everything was fine until you came along,” I tell her.
She shakes her head. “Everything most certainly was not fine, Asher. War has been raging for as long as anyone remembers. It's time to stop that now. You can't hide here at the island forever. You have a role to play, and it's time for you to go play that role now.”
“I refuse,” I reply.
“Oh really?”
“I refuse to do anything,” I continue. “I'll turn you over to them, I'll tell them everything you told me, and then they'll leave.”
“Not without the code.”
“You are the -”
“And I keep telling you, I don't believe a word of that!”
She smiles. “What you believe, or don't believe, is completely irrelevant now. You have a role to play.”
“I have no role,” I reply, shoving her forward and forcing her to keep walking. “The only thing left for me is to deliver you to those two armies. If they want to take you, let them take you. If not, just make sure you stay the hell out of my way. You wouldn't last five minutes alone on the island.”
“Well on that point,” she mutters, “at least, we're agreed. I'm not -”
Suddenly hearing the sound of somebody crashing through the undergrowth, we both turn just in time to see a wounded, bloodied soldiers stumbling toward us. The armor around his right shoulder is mangled and his arm is missing, and blood is trickling freely from the wound. Slumping against a nearby tree, he hesitates for a moment before turning and looking at us.
“Which side are you on?” he gasps.
