arbitrate (daynight)

by Thomason, Megan

  He switches from his camera to binoculars for a moment and scans the area. Then he points down the aisle before starting to move swiftly into a crouched position. I emulate his movements, and we manage to maneuver down the row without being detected. Joshua points to an illuminated exit door twenty feet away. The path is partially obstructed from view but not fully…so we’ll be risking being seen, and there are over a hundred potential witnesses in the assembly area.

  Run, crawl, purposefully march? What’s he going to pick? The human eye is quick to pick up on any movement, so we’re likely to be seen no matter what.

  He draws his weapon and whispers. “Run.”

  We’re through the door when the alarm sounds. “Follow me.” Joshua sprints down the dim walkway in front of us and around a corner. I can hear the door to the warehouse open. We duck into some sort of lab storeroom. Joshua takes more video footage as he moves us through the space towards the other side and out another door—that, unfortunately, takes us into the main lab.

  Dozens of white-coat-wearing men look up. One smiles as he presses a button that seals off the room. Joshua has his semi ready, and I’ve released the safety on my pistol.

  A tall, blond-haired man tosses a beaker our way. At the same time, a second man, who’d been partially hidden behind another, steps out and pulls the trigger of a gun.

  I lunge for Joshua who is returning fire. The moment my hand reaches his, I think of Kira and Zander and home.

  The last thing I see as the scene unfolds is a bright, white light and hissing steam less than a foot away from my head.

  Three months prior: Intelligence City West, Thera

  Kira would have loved this place. Well, she wouldn’t have loved the purpose of this place, but she would have appreciated the looks of it. The entirety of the small city—shaped in a ring with tall towers interspersed—was made of jeweled glass. At night, lights made the entire area look like a giant kaleidoscope. At day, it looked like a royal crown. Even the Eco barrier receptors were jeweled.

  All week, I’d studied for the bar exam and lived on energy drinks. I couldn’t possibly fit any more information into my overstuffed brain. Studying, sitting on the Ten, working for my Uncle Henry’s campaign, moonlighting at the Clean Slate Complex in Los Angeles, and occasionally seeing Alexa kept me plenty busy. I needed to be busy to keep my mind off Kira.

  Listening to my mother open a full night emergency security conference would send me into a coma. So I failed to pay attention and let my mind wander to Kira. I couldn’t wrap my head around her death and the circumstances surrounding it. Blake had been there. Jax—who was supposed to be protecting her—was with me. How could someone so full of life, so strong, and so beautiful no longer exist? No matter how many distractions I heaped onto my plate, she still haunted me. I’d give anything for her to be alive and to see her again—and meet my son.

  My mother continued to drone on until one statement finally infiltrated my conscience. “The Exilers are organizing.”

  I snapped my head up. The last time the Exilers “organized” under Blake’s dad, the SCI slaughtered them.

  She continued the brief. “Second Chancers have been defecting at alarming rates to Exiled territories. Over one hundred thousand are assembled in makeshift camps outside all of our major cities. They want to be recognized as a nation and be free to build infrastructure. They know about the crossovers and Heart. Somehow, someone has been disseminating information within the cities.”

  A bald man shouted out. “Could the Arbiters be involved?”

  The Intelligence City West City Head, a thirty-something Daynighter who’d been trained on Earth as a CIA operative, spoke up. “We don’t think so. The Arbiters have never involved themselves in SCI business before, and we don’t expect them to start now. A Second Chancer informant has told us that the memory removal process failed to work in one or more cases, and that it’s a Second Chancer spreading ill will in order to boost Exiler numbers.”

  “Can we stop the Second Chancers from Exiling? Imprison them or put them to death instead?”

  My mother responded with, “We risk a full scale revolt in the cities if we do this. We have employed our best hypnotists where we know the Second Chancers have been compromised. But in most cases, we have no solid way to tell if a person is intentionally committing a crime to join with the Exilers.”

  Another member of the Ten asked, “Do we have reason to fear these Exiler camps? Have we seen military activity or anything to insinuate they plan to attack?”

  “So far, it all seems peaceful. Blake Sundry has told us they want to make the truce he negotiated a few months back permanent.”

  The rest of the night was spent in fervent debate. Although they were one hundred percent confident the SCI would prevail in any altercation, given the high number of troops on call in Military City, they still considered the Exiler camps and increasing number of Second Chancer defections a big risk to “life as we know it” on Thera.

  In the end, they decided to use Intelligence City operatives posing as Second Chancer defectors to infiltrate each camp and report back. We’d drag out peace treaty talks as long as possible. The information from the camps would be analyzed. And based on the results, the Ten would have the unenviable position of deciding whether to take offensive action.

  Present

  A new scene floods my vision and it’s not one I recognize. A playroom? At least we’re out of that warehouse. Joshua’s unconscious. So figuring out where we are will have to wait. I pull off my gas mask and hood and then start checking Joshua for injuries.

  The sound of a baby crying catches my attention. I look over and am shocked to see three side-by-side bouncy chairs. Zander’s in one, Aiden’s in another, and a third baby with a pink dress on, occupies the last. What the hell?

  Two things happen simultaneously: Joshua gasps for air and Kira walks in and screams bloody murder. All three babies are now crying and chaos ensues. A nurse and Arbiter guard rush in.

  I hold up my arms in response to the guard raising his weapon. “Call him off, Kira. This is my apartment. Or, at least, I assume it is.”

  She has herself positioned in front of the baby girl, blocking my view. To the guard she mutters, “It’s okay. I’ve got this.” To me, “How…how’d you get in? The locks…”

  “Yeah Ethan. How’d we get here? We were stuck in that lab. The shots…chemical…what happened? My chest…shoulder.” Joshua is definitely hurt.

  My head bobs between the two of them, and I settle my gaze on Joshua. Potential injuries trump the child Kira’s hiding. Where did the baby girl come from? I close my eyes for a moment in an attempt to gain focus. “There will be plenty of time for talking later, Joshua. Right now, I need to know whether you are injured. Kira, please find some scissors. I don’t want to move him, so I’m going to cut him out of his clothes and see if he’s wounded.”

  I watch as she tries to stealthily send the nurse out for scissors (with the baby girl). A few moments later, the nurse returns without the girl but with some scissors. Kira hands them to me.

  “Where were you guys? What happened?” she asks.

  Ignoring her, I cut the camo outerwear off Joshua. I release the Velcro of his bulletproof vest at his shoulders and then open it at the front. As I’m doing this, I find a bullet embedded in the vest, which would account for the chest pain. Didn’t matter that it didn’t penetrate the vest. The impact alone would hurt like hell.

  Once I’ve slipped off the vest, I use the scissors to cut through his body suit. He has a healthy bruise on his chest and a full bullet graze on his shoulder. Removing the compression bodysuit starts the blood flowing.

  I bark out an order to Kira. “I need a first aid kit and clean towels pronto.”

  Apparently, the nurse had already thought of this, and I’m handed some heavy duty gauze pads. I rip open a package and put pressure on the wound.

  “Kira, I need you to cut the rest of his suit off and check for more wound
s.” Despite the pain Joshua’s in, he manages to smirk, clearly thrilled to be disrobing in front of Kira. She does as I ask, and I catch her checking him out. It better just be for injuries.

  “I don’t see anything else,” she says.

  Joshua chuckles, although I can tell the act of laughing is hurting him. “Kira, beautiful, you might want to cut through my boxer briefs and make sure I don’t have any pelvic injuries.”

  “Do you have pain there? Because if not, I can surely arrange for some,” Kira quips, despite the fact she’s blushing furiously.

  I desperately want to talk to her to ask her about the third baby. But I don’t want to have the conversation in front of Joshua. Instead I lean over him. “I do believe I won the bet.”

  He looks like he’s pondering my declaration. “How’d we get out of there, Ethan? Explain that, or I start singing.”

  “All you need to know is that I saved your sorry…”

  The appearance of one very angry Jackson Christo—without Blake—interrupts my insult. He glances around the room and then takes a deep breath. “Which one of you idiots set off the alarm?”

  Joshua sits up and then stands, shrugging off the cut-up body suit. Kira’s eyes go wide at the sight of him standing there in his underwear, which prompts equally annoyed looks from both Jax and me. Joshua tosses his camera to Jax. “Sorry, unavoidable. But the stuff on the camera should help. Now how ’bout a lift home, so that I can take a shower. Unless Kira would like to give me a sponge bath.” He gives her a wink, and I want to dig my fingers into his shoulder wound until he decides to leave, permanently.

  “That’s never going to happen,” I tell Joshua. To Jax I ask, “Where’s Blake?”

  Jax turns to me and says, “I dropped him off at Exiler headquarters…with the footage we got. We bailed from the facility when the alarm sounded. The room we were in sealed off and started spewing some toxic mist.” He walks over to Kira and whispers in her ear. She shrugs her shoulders and whispers something back. He’s probably asking her if she managed to hide her little secret from me.

  I’d hate for Jax to think he pulled one over on me. “I saw. But by all means, run Joshua home, and I’ll stay here and discuss the matter with Kira.”

  I watch as Kira’s head droops and she starts crying. Crap. Jax marches over to me and grabs my face in his hand and gives me a healthy Arbiter-induced shock. My knees buckle from the pain. He leans over and whispers in my ear. “Leave. Kira. Alone. And do not speak a single word of this. You will make copies of this footage and then pay your mother a visit. What we found is the priority. Understand?”

  He removes his grip and promptly disappears with Joshua.

  Kira’s looking at me like I’m the devil come to destroy her world. I don’t care what Jax says. I only have one question. “Is. She. Mine?”

  She shakes her head.

  Okay. Make that two questions. “Blake’s?”

  She shakes her head.

  I push past her into the room adjoining the playroom and find the nursery. Three cribs. I approach the round princess bed and peer over the side. The little girl stares up and giggles at me. Despite her eyes being ringed with green instead of blue, I’d recognize the gold centers anywhere.

  Kira’s beside me, her arm brushing mine. “Neither of us knew until months after the embryos were implanted. It was Dr. Christo’s doing. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you about Evvie. I just wanted to keep her safe, particularly now that the SCI knows about Jax’s bloodline. The Ten wouldn’t hesitate to…” She doesn’t need to finish. I’m well aware of what would happen to the child if she were unearthed. “Please…please don’t…”

  “I won’t.” I walk out of the room and away from them both, lost in a torrential downpour of terrible thoughts.

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  Blake

  “You confer with Bailey and Doc. I’ve got to go check on Joshua and Ethan.” Jax didn’t waste time getting us the hell out of Brad’s warehouse of death devices when the alarm sounded and the room started filling with a toxic mist. Unfortunately, instead of taking us back to Ethan’s apartment, he’s dropping me in the lion’s den. And Queen of the beasts is a very pretty blonde with a giant chip on her shoulder. Said blonde is currently giving me a look that says, “You bastard. You desert me for four months and suddenly have the nerve to show your sorry face?” She’d be even more pissed if she knew that I barely thought about her during my time away—not because she isn’t memorable but because dwelling on my past never does me any good.

  Jax smiles when he sees the look on Bailey’s face. “You’re not afraid she’ll bite. Are you, Blake? You are still wearing body armor.”

  I shake my head. “Nah. But I am concerned that she’ll rip my flesh from my bones and devour it while I watch.” Brad and his weapons factory are less scary to me than Bailey Goodington. Brad has a use for me right now. Bailey, on the other hand, is going to make me suffer.

  Jax can’t keep himself from emitting laughter at my predicament. “I’ll bring reinforcements soon. Until then, put on your brave face and tell her the fight will have to wait until you get everyone up to speed on what’s going on.” He vanishes from my sight, taking his amusement with him.

  After taking a deep breath, I approach Bailey—not tentatively but with purpose and determination. Adam Caster—the only other person Jax has let retain his memories during his crossover—is standing to her left and looking like he won’t hesitate to protect her. I say, “Where’s Doc? We’ve got a bit of a crisis.”

  Bailey’s in a defensive stance, arms crossed over her chest and a scowl on her face. She’s dressed in a camo tank top and short shorts, and I have to restrain a moan because man, she looks hot—even with the scowl. Yeah, I know. The Exilers are facing permanent extermination, and I’m appreciating my angry ex?-girlfriend with my eyes. I run my eyes from her messy blonde hair down to her bare feet, lingering on her lips, beautiful curves, and long legs. Instead of being happy that I’m still attracted to her, she looks even more pissed off.

  I anticipate her right hook this time and step back out of the way in plenty of time. “If you want a fight, Brad Darcton’s bringing a whopper of one to you and all the other Exilers—although I’m not sure your right hook will do much good against his bombs, missiles, chemical weapons, and the rest of his sizable arsenal. Our deal…” I point between the two of us, “… is not important right now. Go. Get. Doc.”

  Her eyes go wide as she processes the information. She leans in to Adam in an affectionate manner, stroking his arm and whispering into his ear. When she’s done with her “message,” she places a lingering kiss on his cheek. I guess that’s her way of telling me that I’ve been replaced. Either that or it’s one of her warped “tests” to see if I’ll fight for her. Adam runs off—hopefully to go get Doc, and I’m left alone with Bailey in this claustrophobic “back room” of the main cave. We’ve always used the space for meetings because it affords as much privacy as you can find in Exile, but the air is foul and stifling, the ceiling low and uneven.

  “Adam will gather the Exiler Board. He’s very efficient and reliable, so I’d guess we have mere minutes before they return. You have that much time to explain to me where the hell you’ve been for the last few months.”

  I roll my eyes and decide to toy with her. I know she wants me to ask about Adam, but I’m not taking her bait. “I’ve been on an extended vacation in Hawaii. I needed time to think.”

  “Yeah right. Because you’re such a thinker. Where. Were. You. Really?”

  “Gee Bailey, what happened to your awesome sense of humor? Truth be told…I haven’t had a single day of down time since I left Heart. I was on Earth tracking my baby’s kidnapper. I found the kidnapper and then tracked his employer. The employer—a very not dead Brad Darcton—kidnapped me and then used my son to blackmail me into bringing a message back to the Ten. He decided that I did such a good job of playing his errand boy that he should insist I become his full time lackey. In my ra
re spare time, I’ve been helping uncover what Brad’s plans are on Thera.”

  She puts her hands on her hips and puffs out her chest—which should make her look like the angry wench she is but only serves to emphasize her nice rack. “And you were too busy to get me word that you were alive? Or even if you didn’t care to see me…perhaps you could have checked in to see how the efforts were going.”

  I clench my teeth. “Well, dear, as much as I’d have liked to…until a couple weeks ago I was stuck on Earth and Mr. Rapid Transportation System, Jax, wasn’t exactly making himself available to me given that I’d nearly gotten Kira killed.”

  Crap. I realize my mistake after it’s too late. “Kira is alive? And your son is alive. No wonder you haven’t been around. I’m sure you’ve got quite the happy family unit going. How is it being a daddy?”

  “Yes, she’s alive. Yes, the baby’s alive. No, I’m not part of a happy family unit. And I wouldn’t know what it’s like to be a father. I’ve held the kid once. I’m not with Kira.” I chuckle a bit because the picture Bailey’s imagining is complete fiction. “I think she’s with Jax? Maybe Ethan? I don’t know. We don’t really talk.”

  Adam conveniently shows up with Doc Daryn and a dozen other men—some who I know and others I’ve never seen before.

  Doc grabs me into a strong embrace. “Blake. It has been too long. What’s the word?”

  “War.” I gesture for everyone to sit on the hard, hot floor of the cave. Then I proceed to catch everyone up on the chilling happenings of the SCI—Brad Darcton being alive, his “terrorist” attacks on Earth, the coup of the Ten, and the weapons build-up in Industrial City.

  After my brief, Doc is the first to speak. “I still think negotiating for a permanent peace treaty and recognition of the Exiler Nation is the way to go.”

  I hate to disagree with the old man, but seeing is believing and after what I’ve seen…it’s clear that the time for peaceful negotiations is past. I wipe the sweat that has settled on my brow and then pull out my camera, dislodge the storage device, and shove it into my pocket tablet.