Allie's War Early Years

by JC Andrijeski

  Brother Balidor is a cautious man... as I have intimated.

  If that were true, he would have left me in the Pamir, Revik retorted. As I wanted. And requested. Repeatedly.

  She only smiled wider, nudging him with her arm.

  From what brother Jem tells me, you’re a bit paranoid, Rook, she said, still smiling. A bit hypersensitive, too. Of course, he finds it all quite charming, but he’s a big softie, our Jem. He’s also prone to taking in strays... of all shapes and sizes.

  Revik didn’t answer those words, either.

  Even so, they irritated him.

  Maybe because he could feel her trying to nudge his mind overtly that time, to get him to see something, or understand something, perhaps... probably something he either didn’t want or didn’t need to see or understand any more clearly than he already did.

  Or maybe she was just trying to jab at his emotions again.

  Testing his reflexes, as she’d said.

  He didn’t try very hard to untangle it, whatever it was, mainly because the only real possibilities there had likely run through his mind already. Besides, Dalejem himself drew a line in the sand where Revik was concerned already. A line Revik probably hadn’t needed pointed out to him explicitly, either, but one that hadn’t left a lot of room for ambiguity.

  His thoughts grew even more irritated when he remembered Dalejem and Mara outside of his sleeping tent that night, talking about him where they must have known he would feel it.

  For some reason, something either in his thoughts or his expression made Yumi laugh again, harder that time, but still almost soundlessly.

  Before Revik could give her an appropriate glare in response, she shut off the light glowing at her wrist. The action left them all in total darkness.

  It also effectively ended their conversation.

  6

  GUOREUM

  “ARE YOU READY, little brother?” Yumi said.

  She kept her voice low, despite the distance between them.

  He glanced back at her, at all of them where they stood in an uneven line, broken by the dense jungle trees.

  He saw rifles raised, hands by triggers, and a darker humor invaded his light, where he had a sudden image of them opening fire on him, rather than covering him.

  Nice try, little brother, Yumi murmured in his mind. You won’t get out of this that easy.

  Revik found himself remembering Dalejem saying something similar to him the day before, and smiled grimly, in spite of himself.

  I am ready, he told her, equally quiet.

  Then go, she sent. Just be careful, brother. This is not the time to hurry. And if you feel anything that worries you, get out... at once. We will feed your light to their sentries some other way, if Balidor decides it is still needed.

  Revik nodded to that, too.

  There wasn’t much else to do.

  He still crouched behind the last lines of jungle trees and undergrowth, in the shadow of the same as he gazed out on the grounds of Guoreum.

  It was the closest he’d been to anything belonging to the Rooks in more than five years.

  His eyes scanned the uneven landscape in front of him, most of which had been cleared almost entirely of jungle. He fought to keep his heart rate down, to do as Yumi said and exercise caution––not rush or hesitate. He couldn’t afford to try and get this over with any more than he could slow things down in some unconscious effort to avoid doing it altogether.

  He worked to ground himself in the physical, even as he breathed more evenly.

  The clear-cut around the edges of Guoreum left only a scar of black earth and uneven trunks, broken by rutted roads for military-style vehicles around the perimeter of the metal fence. Outside that immediate perimeter, Revik saw only occasional bushes and few trees, most of those situated nearer to the distant structures, so likely there as shade for the guards themselves.

  Uneven clumps of grass also bordered segments of the road. The nearest of those ruts passed only a few meters in front of where Revik currently hid.

  Few trees survived inside the fenced enclosure itself, which Revik could see past the fence only because they stood on a rise that led down into a gentle hill across much of the open pasture, at least in this this segment of the northern edge of the camp.

  Behind him, the jungle clung around him as if in spite.

  Or fear, maybe, that it would face the ax and tractors next.

  Revik didn’t see any guards in the area in front of him, or on the stretch or road along either side of the fence as far as he could see. He heard no vehicles nearby, either, only a distant hum of a combustion engine, which could have been a generator for the camp itself.

  Further away, he caught snippets of what might have been the speaker system to the main camp grounds, calling out some instruction or another to the inmates.

  He couldn’t make out the words, of course.

  Even so, just that small glimmer of prison life reminded him of the reality of the camps. Worse than that, it evoked less pleasant memories that were more personal to him, such as questioning traitors under the Rooks.

  Even before that, really. From back during his time with the Nazis.

  But he didn’t want to think about that, either.

  Feeling sweat break out over his body as the dawn light inched gradually over the field, Revik bit the inside of his cheek, fighting to keep his aleimi and his emotions in line.

  He stood just outside the main perimeter fence.

  Less than ten meters.

  The construct began before that, though. He could feel that now, too, like the buzzing hum of a radio, playing just outside of his awareness.

  The fence itself was clearly electric from the insulators he could see jutting out at regular intervals along its length on the outside, and the grounding pole poking just above the earth on the inside of the rutted road. The top part of the fence was also covered in razor wire.

  Revik had scoped cameras as well, which seemed to stand on nearly every fence post he could see, small and strangely insect-like, with a bubbled eye a good ten meters above the ground and well past the last of the razor wire itself.

  He knew that when he moved forward even just a few meters, that camera would pick up his outline, too... right about the same time the construct alarm went off.

  He hadn’t seen any more offensive weapons in the fencing mechanism, but given the green-tinted shine of the fence posts, betraying their organic components, he couldn’t rule it out. If nothing else, that green glow told him that anyone who tried to cross that fence from either side would likely get more than just a shock.

  It was probably tied to their collaring and implant system, as well.

  Glancing up at the harder gray of the dead-metal razor wire and the heavy bars that hung on thick chain links, he couldn’t help but see those as almost redundant.

  Whoever they held here would never get that far. Not on their own.

  He was wasting time, though, and he knew it.

  The sun hadn’t yet risen above the horizon line, but it was about to. The predawn light had turned the sky a dark pink and cobalt blue that illuminated most of the field east of where he crouched, just behind the last line of trees leading into the jungle.

  That same light extended south as well, where the clear-cut continued, but stopped not long past where he stood to the north, blocked by the dense trees and undergrowth. Even so, when he glanced back a second time, Revik could see the outline of the Adhipan infiltrators where they watched him, their postures tense, from about ten meters away.

  Brother? Yumi sent. Are you going?

  Revik let out a sharper exhale, then a nod.

  Okay, he sent, not hiding his reluctance.

  Rising slowly from his crouch, he stepped out from behind the trees, moving with a purpose he couldn’t make himself feel.

  Immediately, he felt the construct of the work camp in front of him.

  He hesitated, right at the periphery. Almost without knowing he d
id it, he winced, too, closing his eyes...

  Then he stepped across that line.

  He felt the division as tangibly as if he’d just stepped his whole body into a full tank of water. Silver strands, like metal teeth and razor wire, slid invasively into his light, so cleanly that he couldn’t begin to think about defending himself. Those same Barrier strands wrapped into structures he hadn’t touched in over five years, and Revik let out an involuntary gasp, feeling his whole body clench into a hard knot, paralyzing him on the spot.

  Then the alarm went off, so loudly he thought it might shatter his skull.

  He let out a cry, falling to his knees on something hard. He fought to get back to his feet, to get away... crawl away, if he had to...

  When hands abruptly grabbed him.

  Immediately, terror exploded over his light.

  They had him. They fucking had him...

  He tried to fight them off...

  “Brother,” a familiar voice said, through gritted teeth. “Brother, stop fighting us! Let us get you out of here! They’re closer than we thought. They’re coming!”

  Even as he said it, another sound ricocheted through the near-silence behind that clanging siren. Something about the pure familiarity of that sound lurched Revik back into motion, even behind the pain that now wanted to shatter his skull behind his eyes.

  It was the sound of gunfire.

  RUN! YUMI COMMANDED, her light vibrating their small construct. Flee! Now! All of you! Do not worry about the construct, we will meet up at the rendezvous!

  Rendezvous? Revik thought, his mind numb. Where the fuck is that?

  Panic tried to invade his light, the realization that they intended to leave him behind...

  “No, brother,” a voice said firmly from beside him.

  Revik looked over at the man half-jogging next to him, realizing only then that the same seer still clutched Revik’s arm in a death-grip.

  Dalejem. Always Dalejem.

  Revik felt a relief so profound, he could have hugged him.

  Not just could have... wanted to. He wanted to hug him, to wrap himself around him, lose himself inside that light...

  But he couldn’t think about that, either.

  Confusion fought with the pain throbbing behind his eyes, making him question everything. Was it really him? He couldn’t fucking see. He couldn’t fucking see anything now.

  The male beside him didn’t look at him, but continued to pull Revik forward into the jungle, urging him faster with his light and that iron-like grip on his arm, even as he spoke reassuringly to Revik in hurried pants.

  “Don’t worry, brother... I beg you. We would never intentionally let harm come to you. I promise you that...” He glanced up at Revik then, and jumped, as if startled at something he saw on Revik’s face.

  Revik fought to see him, to focus his eyes, but he couldn’t.

  “...We couldn’t risk giving it to you,” Dalejem explained, for it was Dalejem, it had to be Dalejem, who else would it be? “We had no idea what the construct would do to you, whether you would be able to shield any information from them at all. As it is, they might have killed you. They almost did kill you, even with us shielding. We should have foreseen this. We shouldn’t have let you go...”

  He looked up at Revik again, and that time, the green and violet eyes looked fierce.

  “I’ll get you there, brother,” he said, his voice colder, more uncompromising. “I promise you I will, or neither of us will get there. I won’t leave you, I promise you that, too...”

  Revik nodded, biting his lip.

  He could feel other lights around him now. He felt sympathy, whispers of concern, even guilt, but he couldn’t let any of that in, either.

  The silver light continued to slide around his form, pulling at him.

  Even as he noticed it, that same metallic light found an entry point, somewhere outside of Revik’s awareness, in some structure that lived in his light, above his head. Before Revik could stop it, or even send out a warning to the others...

  It funneled down through that same structure, blanketing him in iron.

  The pain of it made him stumble, nearly dropped him to his knees. Nausea swam through his body, so intense he thought he might throw up. It blurred his vision, bringing on a disorientation and fatigue so intense he stumbled a second time, nearly fell.

  It started to get worse.

  Then a lot worse, so bad Revik realized Dalejem was right, that the Rooks would kill him out here. There was no place left for him to go, no where far enough that the Rooks and Galaith wouldn’t follow, not now that they’d found his light again. They’d break everything in him, cover him over in molten fire, and then the others would get caught as well, trying to carry him out ahead of the infiltrators who would descend like vultures in the dark.

  Dalejem said he wouldn’t leave him.

  At the time, the words reassured Revik. Now, the memory of them panicked him.

  The thoughts jumbled in Revik’s brain, though, even as that sickness worsened.

  When suddenly, out of nowhere, Revik felt something else intervene.

  Not just something. Someone.

  Someone who suddenly felt an awful lot like––

  “Balidor,” Dalejem muttered next to him. “It’s about fucking time... we’ve been trying to reach him since you fell in that road. They will help you, brother. Him and the woman... they have Vash looped into the construct too. And Tarsi, our old leader. At the very least, they’ll keep them from killing you from the fucking Barrier before we can free your light...”

  It confused Revik somewhat, how angry the other man sounded.

  It crossed his mind that he might be angry at him...

  “No, brother.” Dalejem’s grip on him tightened, even as his voice grew lower. “No one is mad at you brother. Trust me on this.”

  He yanked harder on Revik’s arm, and Revik followed, mindlessly still, conscious suddenly that he had his other hand on the butt of the Glock strapped to his right thigh. He gripped it compulsively, but didn’t try to draw it. He wasn’t trying overly hard to be quiet at that point, either, although he followed the prodding of Dalejem’s light and pull of his hand.

  A few minutes later, he could almost see again.

  He felt flavors of Vash in his light, as well as Balidor still... stronger now.

  Taking a deeper breath, he fought to move his muscles more under his own will, but Dalejem resisted him slightly, using his light to continue to guide Revik’s own, as well as his physical body.

  “Let me do it,” he said.

  Revik heard the relief in the other male’s voice that time.

  “Just be as open to them as you can,” he said. “They have a better shield around you now. Let them try to pull some of that shit out of your light...”

  Revik nodded, but Dalejem wasn’t looking at him at that point, but at the path in front of them. Revik realized only then that the trees had grown visible around him, that the sun was up enough to reach them through the thick canopy. He also realized Dalejem held a machete in his free hand, not a gun, and that he was hacking them through the jungle, moving faster than Revik would have thought possible for such a trajectory.

  “They knew it was me,” Revik managed, a few minutes later.

  Dalejem let out a humorous laugh, nearly hoarse.

  “Yes, brother,” he said, that darker humor still in his voice. “They did.”

  “Are they following us?”

  “Yes,” Dalejem said.

  “Just the ones at the camp? Or the ones who had been following Balidor and...” He hesitated on her name, even now. “...And Kali?” he finished. “Those seers, too?”

  “About half of them, yes. The plan exceeded our expectations in that regard.” Dalejem glanced back at him. “They really want you, brother.”

  Revik nodded to that, too.

  Again, he assumed Dalejem didn’t see him, though, since the other seer had already turned his attention back to the not-pa
th he hacked for the two of them through the jungle.

  Neither of them spoke again.

  Revik followed behind Dalejem’s steps. Mindlessly.

  Fatigue tried to slow him down, to make his legs move more clumsily, but the other seer kept jerking him back from that edge with his light, pulling him back into focus.

  Revik could feel the seers pursuing them now.

  He fought to keep his light away from theirs, even as those silvery threads continued to try and resonate with and penetrate his own. He felt Vash there, pushing Revik to let them handle it, but Revik couldn’t quite make himself do that, either. Fear tried to take over his light, making his paranoia worse, causing him to focus too much on the Rooks chasing them. He fought to make himself look away, knowing it would only make it easier for them to find him, but he couldn’t make himself, not entirely, not even with Vash and Balidor’s help.

  He wondered again what the fuck he was doing out here, why he thought coming here would be a good idea... much less approaching Guoreum on his own, without even the shields he had around him now.

  He remembered Kali...

  And then he blacked out again, losing touch with the jungle and his body and the pains in his head and chest and body altogether.

  It happened so fast that time, the fear never touched him.

  He simply disappeared, vanishing out of his body without an ounce of friction between himself and some higher place in the Barrier.

  7

  DESPISED

  WHEN REVIK OPENED his eyes, he was being carried.

  Not by one seer that time, but by many... at least three that he could feel, although there may have been more. They had him on some kind of stretcher.

  “Gaos, this fucker is heavy...” someone muttered under him.

  “It could be worse,” another voice said humorously.

  “How?” the first one grumbled.

  “It could be Gar you’re carrying,” the other said.

  The words brought laughter from more than one side that time. One of those came out in a near-wheezing voice, deeper than the others.