The commander walked boldly into the mass of people.
Olivia had to give me a shove to get me going. Once we were in the crowd, Olivia pushed her way to get in front of us and announced, “C’mon, we’ll head out on the north side.”
The tension could not have been higher, yet Olivia gave such a casual performance that I truly believed she would be able to get us through. It also made me realize how fully capable she was of coolly infiltrating Pemberwick Island, becoming our friend, and traveling across the country pretending to be someone she most definitely wasn’t.
The question was, who was she really?
We moved in a loose group, following Olivia. It was a constant traffic-ballet as we moved through the crush of people . . . and soldiers. I kept telling myself to act normally, but didn’t know how to do that in a place that was so completely different from anything I was used to. The harder I tried to be casual, the more awkward I felt.
Everyone else seemed to be headed somewhere important. There were no conversations and definitely no laughter. It was the same as with the people we saw outside. There was no interaction. Every so often we’d cross paths with a Retro soldier and my back would stiffen. Though we had only been to the prison camp in Nevada for a short time, I was already conditioned to fear our captors. Back there, one wrong look meant severe punishment. Or worse. I had to keep telling myself that these people didn’t know I was a prisoner. A native, as they called us. They weren’t going to zap me . . . unless I gave them reason to.
A few times I made eye contact with a soldier and had to force myself not to look away too quickly. I could only hope that they wouldn’t recognize me. I made a point of not smiling because, well, nobody else was smiling.
We made our way across the vast lobby to a set of doors beside the main entrance. Just twenty more feet and we’d be out.
“Olivia Kinsey!” a guy called.
Olivia stopped short. Her whole body stiffened. If you didn’t know her as well as I did, you might not have noticed.
The rest of us slowed down and drifted apart to find a spot to stand and wait for her. I stood beside a massive column that looked as though it helped support the roof.
Olivia turned back as a Retro soldier hurried up to her.
She instantly put on a big, dazzling smile as if running into him was the highlight of her day. Olivia was good at that.
“Hello, Alec,” she said sweetly. “So good to see you.”
Olivia was strangely formal with the soldier, though they were obviously friends.
I threw a quick look to Tori and Kent. They both had their eyes focused on her. If they were like me, they were also holding their breaths.
“When did you return?” the soldier asked. He too sounded formal, like Mr. Spock or something.
Alec didn’t look any older than Kent. He had short dark hair and was built like a defensive end. He was handsome too, a fact I’m pretty sure wasn’t lost on Kent.
“Just a few weeks ago,” Olivia said brightly. “How is your training proceeding?”
The guy shrugged. “Adequately. It’s nothing I haven’t heard a thousand times before. I’ve been assigned to the first group that will land on Catalina Island.”
“Congratulations,” Olivia said. “That’s a dangerous assignment.”
I knew she was trying to act as though nothing was wrong, but her manner was strangely stiff. Was that how Retro friends acted with each other?
“Not really,” Alec replied. “They won’t know what hit them.”
My stomach twisted. There was a SYLO ark on Catalina Island off of Los Angeles. This guy was talking about an invasion.
“What about you?” he asked. “I thought you were on Pemberwick?”
She shrugged and said, “I was. I got homesick.”
Alec gave her a surprised look. It was the first time he showed any emotion. “You were homesick for this dump?”
Olivia reached up, touched his chest, and with a flirty smile said, “No. I was homesick for you!”
That was the Olivia I knew. She was a master when it came to manipulating guys.
I think the soldier blushed, which is exactly the response she was going for.
He said, “Maybe we can get together tonight and—”
Olivia backed away from him, heading toward the door. “Ooh, not possible. I haven’t finished my report about Pemberwick and it’s overdue. Another time?”
“Any time,” he said. “But, uh, it should be soon because, well, you know.”
That was ominous.
“I promise! Bye!”
Olivia spun around and practically skipped toward the door. It was yet another technique she used to attract attention, and drive guys wild.
The enchanted soldier named Alec watched with his mouth open until she reached the door. He may have been robotic, but it was hard to resist Olivia Kinsey. Compared to the other emotionless types who were moving through the building, Olivia stood out like, well, like Olivia. Playing her part to the end, she turned to give him a flirty smile and a wave. With a giggle, she headed out.
Alec waited a second more, probably hoping she might change her mind and come back.
Grateful the diversion was over, I walked straight for the door and marched outside.
Olivia was there waiting. The flirty smile was long gone.
“Keep moving,” she commanded. It was back to business.
Tori and Kent were right behind me, as were the remaining soldiers. Or Sounders. As we made our way through the busy courtyard headed for the street, my hope grew that we were not only going to find out what the Sounders were all about, but we would also learn about the Retros and what was going on here. Olivia had known exactly who they were all along, but of course she didn’t share it with us. How could she? She was an infiltrator. An enemy. I was torn between feeling angry at her, bewildered as to what her true intentions were, and afraid of the truth.
She led us quickly through the silent crowds until we reached the sidewalk. Without hesitation she moved across the street and turned down a narrow side street where two white vans were waiting.
In the driver’s seat of the front van was the woman commander. She was the first and only one to have arrived.
“Jump in back,” Olivia said to us.
We obediently piled in.
Olivia sidled into the shotgun seat next to the woman commander, who sat with both hands gripping the wheel.
“We’ll move as soon as the others arrive,” the commander said, matter-of-fact.
Olivia looked at her as if wanting to say something to her superior but not sure if she should. It took her a few seconds to finally make a decision.
“I’m sorry about Conner,” she said with compassion. “I know what a good friend he was.”
“He was with us from the beginning,” the commander said. “He’ll be missed.”
It sounded as though she was trying to keep her emotions in check. I had to believe they were talking about the Retro soldier who was killed on the roof.
“There’s nothing they can use to trace us through him,” the commander added.
“I wasn’t even thinking that way,” Olivia said.
It was odd hearing Olivia speaking with such sincerity and respect. I was more used to her complaining. Then again, it was odd seeing her shooting down an enemy drone too.
“Here they come,” the commander said.
I was hoping she meant the other Sounders, but instead there were several more small drones that swooped by overhead on their way to the building we had just escaped from. They were soon followed by dozens of armed Retro soldiers who sprinted for the building and set up in the courtyard, their eyes trained on the entrance. The drones hovered overhead, keeping a watchful eye out . . . for us.
“We got out of there just in time,” Olivia said.
“Maybe,” the commander said, ominously.
Thankfully, the rest of the Sounders arrived and hurried to the rear van. The commander fired up our engine, but rather than the throaty roar of a gasoline engine coming to life, the cabin was filled with the familiar musical tones that came from the Retro jet fighters.
The commander stepped on the gas, or whatever it was that they called the accelerator here, and the car rolled forward. We were under way and nearly home free when a squad of Retro soldiers appeared from around the building in front of us. Their leader, a tall dark-skinned guy with probing eyes, raised his hand for us to stop.
The other soldiers with him took up positions in front of the car, blocking our way.
Olivia calmly pulled her pulser out from her sleeve and held it close to her thigh, out of sight but ready.
The commander lowered her window as the squad leader strode up to her.
“Identification,” the leader said curtly.
The commander handed him a plastic ID card that the squad leader took and passed it over his own handheld device.
“Make this quick,” the commander said with authority. “My team is deploying in ten minutes.”
The leader looked at his device with a scowl, then to the commander.
“Colonel Pike?” the leader said.
“Yes?” the commander, Colonel Pike, replied.
“You aren’t in uniform,” the leader said, suspiciously.
“As I said, my team is about to deploy,” she said curtly. “And you’re wasting my time.”
The leader didn’t flinch. “There has been Sounder activity in the Academy. They destroyed one of our security craft and tried to escape with three native prisoners. I need to see everyone’s credentials.”
That wasn’t going to happen.
Olivia gripped her pulser tighter, though it wouldn’t help us much seeing as four other armed Retro soldiers were standing directly in front of us.
“Tried to escape?” the Colonel said. “That means they’re still inside?”
“We believe so,” the leader said. “We’ve sealed the building.”
“Then why exactly are you wasting my time by checking my team’s credentials out here?” the Colonel said with disdain. “If we miss our deployment window you will need to explain that to your commander. Is that how you want to spend your evening?”
The squad leader looked shaken. His eyes shifted to us, then back to the Colonel.
“Your choice,” the Colonel added.
The squad leader handed back the Colonel’s ID card and waved for his men to move aside.
“They’re clear!” the squad leader said.
The Colonel stepped on the accelerator and we lurched forward, barely missing one of the Retro soldiers who hadn’t moved away fast enough. We quickly picked up speed and drove away from the building called the Academy, which was now under total lockdown . . . a few minutes too late.
“Idiot,” the Colonel said with disdain. “I should report him.”
Olivia laughed, but quickly held it back since her Commander wasn’t really the joking type.
We sped along the narrow streets of the filthy city, passing hundreds of soldiers and civilians that clogged the sidewalks. There were very few vehicles. Most everyone traveled on foot.
Kent continued to stare at Olivia. Or at least, at the back of her head. I had to think he was still in shock over her resurrection. I knew the feeling.
Tori reached over and grabbed my arm. She needed the support. I did too. I wanted to trust these people but everything was happening way too fast.
“Olivia?” Kent finally said in a small voice.
She turned to look at us.
“Why aren’t you dead?”
“I couldn’t feel your pulse,” I said. “You were past the brink.”
“Apparently you don’t know how to take a pulse,” she said. “I was hanging from a thread, but I wasn’t gone.”
“I gave your body to some of the other survivors from Las Vegas,” Kent said.
“And they were ambushed by a squad of Air Force personnel from the base,” she explained. “Lucky for me they actually knew how to read a pulse, and shot me with the field meds.”
It all seemed plausible. If Feit could come back from the dead, twice, why not Olivia?
“I was back here before morning,” she added. “Good as new.”
“And where exactly is here?” Tori asked.
It was the simplest, most straightforward question possible.
It meant everything.
Olivia gave a questioning look to the Colonel.
The Colonel waited several long seconds before saying, “Your call.”
Olivia nodded. I felt as though she was bracing herself to deliver some very bad news. The pained look in her eyes only made it seem worse. She looked to me, then to Tori and to Kent.
“I know this will be hard to believe,” she said. “But I love you guys. I truly do. I hope I’ll be able to prove that to you.”
“Answer the question, Olivia,” Kent said, his voice cracking with emotion. “No more lies. What is this place?”
Olivia took a nervous breath and said, “That’s the wrong question. I think you already know what this place is. What you really need to know is . . . when it is.”
I felt Tori stiffen.
Kent shot me a confused look.
“What does that mean?” I asked, though I wasn’t sure I wanted the answer.
“We’re not aliens,” Olivia said. “We’re not from another place. We’re you. We’re from The United States of America . . . in the year two thousand three hundred and twenty-four. This is the twenty-fourth century.”
FOURTEEN
Silence.
That’s what Olivia’s revelation was met with.
Total silence.
I can’t speak for the others, but I had to believe they were having the same stunned reaction as me. I want to say that it was disbelief, but I was long past trying to find logical explanations for our new lives. It wasn’t so much that I couldn’t believe it; it was more about trying to wrap my mind around the possibility that what Olivia had said was true.
On the one hand it quickly answered the question as to why the Retros had such incredible technology. Three hundred years was a long time. But it didn’t explain what we were seeing outside the windows of the speeding SUV. This was the future? Where were the moving sidewalks? The flying suits? The modern buildings that proved we had found a way to live in harmony with our environment? What I saw instead was filth. This was not some utopian city that proudly displayed the wondrous advances of mankind. It was a crowded slum of bleak buildings that could have been built in a faraway nation before I was born, not three hundred years into the future.
And it rained acid.
“Not exactly what you expected?” Olivia asked, reading my mind.
“On any level,” Tori replied, while staring out the window with a look that was a mix between wonder and disgust.
“Does the rest of the world look like this?” I asked.
“No,” Olivia replied. “This city is here because of the Bridge. The doorway between this time and the past. The rest of the world is nothing like this.”
“Thank God,” Tori said.
“It’s way worse,” Olivia added.
That brought the silence back.
We travelled for several minutes along the crowded, grimy streets. The nondescript buildings made it impossible to tell one block from the next. There was a constant swirl of dust in the air that forced the people to cover their mouths with stained bits of cloth. Some wore surgical masks to block the choking clouds of chemical dust as they hid beneath their silver umbrellas.
I couldn’t imagine what “worse” might look like.
“Where are we
going?” Tori asked.
“Olivia’s quarters,” Colonel Pike answered. “You’ll be safe there until you’re needed.”
“Needed for what?” I asked. “You’ve got to give us a lot more to go on before we do anything to help you—”
The Colonel hit the brakes and the vehicle slammed to a stop. She quickly spun around to face us and said, “Olivia tells me you came all the way across the country to join a group of people who were willing to fight back against the Retros, as you call us. Is that true?”
Nobody replied.
“Answer me,” she said, insistently.
“Olivia’s a liar,” Kent said. “Everything she said to us from the moment we met her was a lie.”
Olivia slumped in her seat.
“She was doing her job,” the Colonel said tersely. “Under incredible stress and impossible circumstances. You were swept up in this. She volunteered. I’d trust her with my life and I suggest you three do the same. Now I’ll ask you again, do you truly want to fight back?”
“We destroyed about a thousand of your planes,” I said. “Does that answer your question?”
The Colonel gave me a small smile.
“But we have to know the truth,” Tori said. “All of it.”
“You’ll get it,” she said, then nodded toward Kent. “What about you, All-American?”
Kent looked away.
“He wants to stop the Retros as much as any of us,” I said. “Give him some time to process what’s going on.”
“Fair enough,” the Colonel said.
She hit the accelerator. The vehicle lurched forward and we were back under way.
Olivia stayed focused on the street ahead.
A small tear ran down her cheek.
I was too stunned to know what to say. Or think.
2324.
The future.
Was it possible? All we could do was go along for the ride and put our trust in the one person who turned out to be the most untrustworthy of us all.
After careening through the crowded streets for fifteen minutes, Colonel Pike stopped the car in front of a tall gray building that looked exactly like every other tall gray building.
Strike: The SYLO Chronicles #3 Page 16
