Atlas (The Atlas Series)

by Becca C. Smith

  Looking at the clock: 2d 14h 31m 22s: 2:30. She was getting better at this. Kala only had about a half hour to rendezvous with Derek. Kala hurried off the train and made her way to the line of cabs parked in the front of the station. Hailing one over, she slid in the back seat and told the cab driver where to go.

  There was a small television implanted in the back of the driver’s seat and it was playing something. Kala assumed it was the local news, but all she saw was herself shooting Jack in the face over and over. It was a relief when the driver finally arrived at her destination. Paying the cab fare in cash, Kala hurried out of the vehicle and away from the TV monitor.

  Kala kept her head ducked down as she made her way to the designated meeting place: Tapper’s Storage. Lot 22 to be precise. Derek and Kala always figured that meeting in a storage locker was remote enough that no one would be the wiser, and Tapper’s was the twistiest-turniest storage facility in the area. Even knowing exactly where unit 22 was it was still difficult to locate. After making her way through the maze of doors, garages and hallways, Kala finally arrived at the accordion door labeled 22. She nearly held back a cry of joy when she saw Derek there waiting for her.

  Kala couldn’t control herself, she hugged him tightly when she saw him. Derek’s arms held her close and Kala never felt safer in her life.

  “Whoa, girl, what’s going on? You’re never this affectionate,” Derek chuckled.

  Kala pulled away and smiled a smile of relief. “It’s just nice to see a friendly face.”

  “Where have you been?” Derek asked, concerned.

  “New York. Not by choice, believe me. Have you seen Jack?” Kala wanted to know if Jack had told Derek anything. From the look on Derek’s face, he hadn’t.

  Derek shook his head, “Jack’s been closed-up in interrogation since last night. Kala, when you disappeared, General Clifton re-opened the investigation of the President’s death. They’re looking for you.”

  “I know. I kicked the crap out of the poor girl Clifton sent after me. I didn’t know she was bringing me in. She attacked me, so I defended myself.” Kala didn’t bother telling Derek that she had thought Virginia might have been a Malak or a Demon. No sense in stirring the pot.

  “Where is she now?” Derek asked.

  Kala paused, not sure how Derek would take the news. “I kind of threw her off the train.”

  “You what?!” Derek’s eyes bugged out.

  “I didn’t want her attacking me again. I’m not sure I trust Clifton. I think he’s out for me, whether he thinks I’m innocent or guilty,” Kala confessed her suspicion. The more she analyzed the situation, the more she felt like a pawn.

  “That may be true, but Turner has your back. I talked to him myself. They just want you to come in,” Derek explained.

  Kala took a step back. “You didn’t tell them you were meeting me, did you?”

  “Of course not, but I did tell them I’d bring you in.” Derek reached forward and gently touched Kala’s arm. “No one is going to hurt you. You know I’d never let them do anything to you. Jack is already at the Compound. We’ll protect you,” Derek tried to reassure her.

  But Kala wasn’t having it. “Derek, I get it. I get that you’re doing your job, but I’m not sure it’s a good idea for me to go back just yet.” Kala couldn’t explain it, but her gut told her that General Clifton wasn’t going to let her go easily no matter what assurances Derek gave.

  “Running makes you look guilty, you know that.” Derek’s dark eyes were intense as he tried to reach Kala on an emotional level.

  “Derek, I am guilty. I did shoot the President. That’s on record, from everyone that was there, including you, including me. The fact that they haven’t executed me yet is a miracle no matter how justified I was in doing it.”

  Kala couldn’t believe what she was thinking. She suddenly knew with perfect clarity that she needed to leave Jack’s team. There was no forgiveness. Someone had to go down, whether they told the public that the President died in plane crash or not. Kala had pulled the trigger, so Kala would be the one punished. And though Kala had no intention of fulfilling her duties as an Atlas or whatever, she didn’t want to die. She wasn’t that heroic, and she definitely was not a martyr. Kala knew she’d die to save Derek, Jack or Lali, but she’d never willingly sacrifice herself so that the bureaucrats would be satisfied. Kala was not a fan of the hierarchy: dying to please them was not something her brain could compute.

  “Derek, I have to go.” Kala looked him in the eye and she could see that he knew she was saying good-bye.

  “Kala, just come in with me,” Derek pleaded. “Everything will be okay, you’ll see.”

  “I can’t. It’s complicated, but I have to keep on the run. I’ll contact you when I can.” Kala grabbed Derek’s hand and squeezed it gently. “Bye Derek.”

  Derek closed his eyes in pain. “I’m sorry, Kala.”

  Derek’s apology only meant one thing.

  He wasn’t letting her leave.

  Kala turned to make a run for it, but Derek snatched her and pulled her close to him. Before Kala could fight back, the smell of chloroform reached her nostrils and everything turned woozy. She felt so betrayed. She knew Derek was doing what he thought best for her, but Kala hated the fact that he didn’t trust her to make her own decisions. Duty first, friends second.

  After a few seconds of struggle, Kala welcomed the black abyss.

  At least she wouldn’t have to think about anything for a while…

  Chapter Fifteen

  Kala woke up in a blacked-out van handcuffed to a metal bench. She knew they were on their way to the Compound. Derek was sitting next to her like a protective lion, not letting any of the other seven soldiers near her.

  “Handcuffs? Really?” Kala inquired groggily.

  Derek looked down at Kala, his eyes full of determination, but laced with guilt. “This is for the best, trust me.”

  “You were the only one I thought I could trust. Sucks to be wrong.” Kala knew it was harsh, and she knew it would sting, but she couldn’t help it. She felt betrayed. Derek was her family, and he chose the government over her. It made her stomach turn.

  Derek looked away, not saying a word. Kala knew he felt like crap too. As horrible as it sounded, that gave her some comfort.

  The bigger picture? Either Kala would be executed for the assassination of the President, or Asmodeus would search for her at the Compound. Both options weren’t terribly appealing. How many times would she need to have some supernatural creature shift her DNA or whatever?

  Then it hit her.

  DNA.

  That’s how Kala gained entrance into the Compound. The machine used DNA to match the identity of the person entering. If Penny had truly changed her DNA, then Kala wouldn’t register in the system. This was bad.

  “Um, Derek?” Kala hoped he would actually talk to her after her little insult.

  Derek’s expression of hopefulness made Kala feel horrible. He really felt like an a-hole, Kala realized. “We’re almost there,” he said, a comforting tone in his voice trying to soothe the situation.

  “I know this is going to sound crazy, but I’m not going to pass the DNA scan.” Kala didn’t know why she was confessing to this. It probably would have been easier just to let it happen, but Kala was certain that once she failed the DNA match General Clifton would use it as an excuse for immediate execution.

  Instead of Derek looking shocked or curious, he looked at Kala with sympathy.

  Kala knew Derek genuinely thought she had lost her mind.

  She couldn’t really blame him, not when she thought about how she’d been acting after the mission. Kala hadn’t even told him the truth! Imagine if she had? He’d really think she was a nut job. Although, now that she thought about it, Derek had probably already heard about her conversation with Turner. Gossip like that was hard to keep quiet.

  “They say it might be the phase-suit. It could have messed with your brain a little. They’re g
oing to fix you, Kala.” Derek squeezed her hand in support.

  “It’s not the phase-suit,” Kala said under her breath, but she might as well have been talking to a lamppost.

  Kala knew that Derek was convinced something had happened to her and that she needed to be fixed. A part of her wished he was right. Maybe this is how crazy people think. Kala remembered the few times she had run away from foster care and lived on the streets. Some of the homeless people were truly fried in the brain, but they believed what they were screaming in her face. Kala wondered if this was how it started, trying to convince friends and loved ones, then when they turn you over to the psych ward, you end up yelling at anyone who will listen.

  Kala almost wished she was losing her marbles. That way, no one would get hurt, and she could be with Jack the rest of her life. If Clifton or Turner could prove that some kind of brain damage caused her to hallucinate everything that she’d seen so far, then Kala was sure she could fake being sane. And if she could fake it, she could live a normal life, never having to do anything horrible ever again.

  The van slowed to a stop.

  “Here we are,” Derek announced.

  Kala tried hard not to panic. This was it. One DNA scan and she was toast.

  Derek took her arm gently and led her out of the van.

  Sure enough they were standing in front of the worn down warehouses that served as a cover for the Compound. Just inside those doors was the platform scanner that would seal her doom.

  Instead of fighting, Kala kept her head down, stayed silent and let Derek guide her to the warehouse.

  “Hello, Kala.”

  Kala looked up to see Jack standing next to the platform standing next to…

  Gulp…

  Penny.

  And she looked pissed.

  Jack stepped forward, taking Kala from Derek. “Kala, this is Dr. Rosen. She’s a neurologist and she’s going to take a look at you.”

  Penny hid her anger well as she smiled at Kala, “Pleased to meet you, Ms. Hicks. We’re going to make sure everything’s working as it should.”

  “Great.” Kala found that this was the only word she could think of. What do you say to the girl you killed twice?

  “I’ll take her from here,” Penny advised. As Penny touched Kala’s arm, Kala felt the familiar tingling sensation that she had felt before when Penny had altered her DNA.

  Jack had yet to let go of Kala’s other arm, so together Penny and Jack led Kala to the scanning platform, followed by Derek and five guards from the van. Feeling the circular scan around her body, Kala hoped Penny knew what she was doing. When everyone came up as a MATCH, Kala felt relieved.

  Of course, that was short-lived when she realized Asmodeus now had a green light to pop in and take her away. Kala only hoped that the Compound and all its technology was enough to keep him away. After she left, assuming Kala would be able to leave, she’d need Penny to work her DNA mojo again. (Assuming Penny would help her at all.) There were a lot of assumptions going on, and none of them seemed too promising at the moment.

  The platform whizzed its way down to the belly of the compound. Kala fought her motion sickness as the elevator dropped farther down than she’d ever gone before. She knew that couldn’t be a good sign, but somehow having Penny next to her gave Kala some weird kind of comfort, though she couldn’t really explain why. Yes, Penny wanted Jack to kill her and become the next Atlas, but Kala knew Jack wouldn’t do that, so where did that leave Penny? For the time being, Kala was pretty sure it meant that Penny would keep her safe. Or at least not let her get killed by the U.S. government. Kala knew that Penny thought of her as the “enemy she knew,” and being executed was not on the menu.

  The platform finally stopped. The black metal doors slid open. No one had said a word the entire trip down and no one was starting now. Kala made brief eye contact with Jack as they were greeted by a soldier who led them through a dimly lit hallway. Her heart fluttered as Jack’s eyes revealed what looked like encouragement. They had been on enough missions for Kala to read Jack: his quick expression told her that he had a plan. Kala gave him one of her looks that said she’d follow him anywhere, and he answered with a smile.

  No matter what happened, Kala knew that Jack was on her side.

  Penny didn’t look too happy by the exchange, but she only grimaced as if to say she was getting used to the idea of Kala being around. The thought made Kala scared. Penny didn’t know the mission was to assassinate Jack. Kala wondered how Penny would feel if she knew. It was one thing to reluctantly agree with Jack to support Kala as the new Atlas, but when your golden boy is the target…

  Kala knew Penny would kill Jack herself if she knew.

  That’s why she’ll never know, Kala vowed to herself.

  Derek walked behind her like a bull dog. As mad as Kala was with Derek, she still knew he would die before he let anyone hurt her.

  Following the soldier down the never ending hallway was starting to make Kala a bit anxious. A part of her military training was to always have an exit, but with one really long hallway, that made the elevator platform the only exit and that was hundreds of feet away. Plus, no doors anywhere. Wherever this hallway ended up would be the safest place in the Compound since this long tube they were walking down was essentially, a bottleneck. If an army could find their way down here, they could be held off forever with nowhere to go. With enough fire power it would be a quick slaughter.

  Kala was never more grateful for having someone like Penny who couldn’t be killed on her side, or at least sort of on her side.

  Finally after at least a half hour of walking the group came to a metal door with a digital keypad. The soldier typed in a series of numbers and a green light scanned his eye. With a click and a clank, the door swung open.

  General Clifton and General Turner were inside a fairly large room standing next to the strangest machine Kala had ever seen. It looked like a chair with hundreds of tubes attached to some kind of helmet hanging from the ceiling. A row of computers were hooked up to the whole contraption. Kala had the sinking feeling that this machine was meant for her.

  Turner spoke first, “Please. Come in. This machine is a prototype, but it should tell us if there’s anything wrong with your brain.”

  “My brain?” Kala gulped.

  Turner walked over to Kala, then looked at Jack and Penny still holding her respective arms. “You can let go of her now, I promise I won’t bite.” Then he motioned to Derek. “Uncuff her please.”

  Derek immediately complied. As he unlocked the cuffs, Kala felt his hand squeeze hers. She squeezed back. No matter what was happening she still considered Derek her family: just in case this machine fried her brain, she wanted him to know she wasn’t mad.

  Turner smiled in a weird kind of excited smile and motioned to the chair. “Please. You’ll be the first. Our respective guinea pig.”

  “Fantastic,” Kala muttered. Normally, Kala would never be so disrespectful to a senior officer, but the last two days had made her a little immune to decorum.

  Unfortunately, General Clifton wasn’t very forgiving of that fact. Kala felt his hand grab her neck as he reached forward and threw her onto the chair. “You will address the General as ‘Sir’ or ‘General’.”

  “Yes, sir,” Kala responded. She wanted to break Clifton’s neck, but a part of her agreed with his anger. Kala was proud of the fact that she was a good soldier. She didn’t like it when she lapsed back into old habits.

  Turner didn’t seem fazed by Clifton’s actions, nor by the fact that Kala hadn’t given him a title of respect. He was far more interested in hooking Kala up to his newest toy. He placed the helmet on her head and Kala instantly felt her brain buzzing.

  “Whoa,” she said. Her teeth started rattling.

  Turner turned a knob on one of the computers and the vibrating lessened enough for her teeth to relax. “Better?” he asked.

  “Yes, sir,” Kala responded. But no would have been more truthful.
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br />   “This is my domain, General,” Penny pushed her way next to Turner.

  Turner looked like a kicked puppy, but didn’t argue. “Of course, Doctor. I’m just excited to see my baby out for a test run.”

  “Your baby needs to be monitored by a professional or you’ll put this girl into a coma.” Penny examined the machine and the monitors next to it. “I’ll run a few tests and we’ll see if she’s had any damage from the phase-suits.”

  Kala was watching Penny fiddle with the machine when everything went black.

  Kala wasn’t unconscious, it was like she was blind, but at the same time she knew she wasn’t.

  “Can you hear me, Kala?” Penny’s voice sounded in the darkness.

  “Yes,” Kala responded. She felt like she was in a dark room rather than simply going blind. She could feel herself standing in the blackness. Dark, like an interrogation room or somewhere else in the Compound. Kala wondered if Penny had lied to her before and really could teleport her. Maybe Penny had teleported her to some dark lair that she could never escape from. At least Asmodeus gave her a skyline to look at.

  With a snap of the fingers, the space lit up to reveal a whole lot of nothing. It was brighter, but like a grayish-white fog all around. Kala could see her own body, but then was startled to notice that she was slightly transparent. Penny appeared in front of her. She was also somewhat translucent.

  “We’re in this machine of his,” Penny said in disgust. She was obviously referring to General Turner, but Kala could tell she didn’t like him very much.

  “Do they know we’re having this conversation?” Kala asked.

  Penny looked at Kala like she was a total idiot. “Of course not. That man doesn’t know how this machine works. I don’t like all this technology he’s building, it’s dangerous.”

  “More dangerous than Demons or Malaks?” Kala found that she wanted to defend the General. It felt like an “Us versus Them” situation, Us being humans and Them being whatever the hell Penny was.

  “Of course not, but that’s the point isn’t it? With all of the General’s toys, he has the potential to do some real damage. I wouldn’t be surprised if his death was your mission, or at least a future mission. Speaking of which, do you have your mission yet?”