by Ann Bakshis
The sun will be rising in just over three hours. Tobin, Draken, Piran, and Bevan take the airship and head south. They’re to radio us with the army’s position and where the Laics may be. Braxton, Vier, Lehen, I, and several prisoners get into the transport. We lead, going at a slow pace, since the rest are walking.
Bevan radios us when we’re ten minutes from the entrance. “The Laics all seem to be secured in their housing units. The factories are quiet, probably because of the time of night. There are three patrols, all on the side of the river where the houses are.”
Braxton pushes a button on the console. “There aren’t any other soldiers? What about by the locks into the lake, or the towers by the entrance we’re approaching?”
“The night-vision isn’t picking anything up.”
“Maybe they feel there isn’t any threat with the Laics controlled,” says one of the prisoners. “I mean, their main reason for being here would be the city, right?”
He does have a point, I think. But it’s still strange.
“Bevan, stand by,” Braxton says, then stops the transport.
“What are you thinking?” I ask him.
“We need to be sure there isn’t anyone in those towers. The last thing we need is to act carelessly.”
One of the prisoners volunteers to scout ahead. A Regulator agrees to go with him. The two exit the transport, weapons at the ready. Since the radar distance on the transport is two miles, we drive until we’re less than a mile away and then stop. We crowd around the monitors, watching the two men cautiously approach the gate that is wide open.
My stomach turns, knots growing inside.
“I don’t like this,” I say.
Seconds pass like minutes. The two men finally reach the gate and walk through. I hear a collective sigh of relief from the group behind me, but I’m still holding my breath. The flash blinds us all for a few moments, followed closely by a second flash.
“Quantum mortars,” Lehen says.
Nothing is left of the two men. Two holes are all that remain of the incident.
“We’ve got movement on our left,” someone shouts.
“Also on our right,” screams another person.
“Vier, take Lehen and clear those mortars. It’s an ambush!” Braxton shouts.
He lowers the hatch. Vier and Lehen dart out, pushing their way through the crowd and making their way towards the entrance as the night sky lights up with Levin fire. Everyone returns fire as Hostem and the Tyrean army pours out of the trees just a few dozen meters around us to our east and west. Braxton puts the transport in gear, telling Bevan to maneuver back our way to assist.
Levin blasts hit the side of the transport, but the metal is so thick, it only causes minor damage. We keep moving forward. A Quantum mortar ignites to our right, decimating the trees and soldiers that were there. This doesn’t cause the army to retreat. Instead, they propel themselves forward even more eagerly. I look down at the display showing Vier and Lehen, who are working frantically to deactivate the mortars.
These ones must be different than the ones from the border we crossed through to get to Tartarus. Bevan had a special device to deactivate those, but Vier and Lehen are simply digging around the devices, pressing something on their side, and lifting them out of the ground. A patrol rushes towards them from behind. Lehen picks up one of the mortars, reactivates it, and tosses it in their direction. He continues to do this as those not injured continue to advance. Vier is left on his own to remove the last of the devices. He and Lehen are hit continuously with Levin blasts, but they keep working.
We hit the gate just as Vier signals he’s removed the last mortar. The prisoners take the lead in front of the transport and begin firing at those attacking Vier and Lehen. Braxton parks the transport in the center of the factories, lowers the hatch, and the rest of us rush out. I take one group and lead them towards one of the bridges that crosses the river to the housing units. Before we get there, a group of soldiers bursts out from one the factories, firing at us. Some are using Levin guns, while a few carry the same weapon that almost killed Braxton. We fire back as best we can. A blue cord wraps around my arm. The energy from it tingles, but nothing more. I look at the soldier who has the end of the weapon in his hand, and send the stream down the cord, killing the man.
When we reach the bridge, we’re attacked by two units, one from the other side of the bridge we’re on, and the other from a bridge across the way. I yell for everyone else to concentrate on the soldiers on the bridge directly across from us while I target those on ours.
We’re severely outnumbered. Wounded men and women lay around me, but to their credit, those not dead are still firing their weapons. The army in front of us advances onto our bridge. The sheer weight of everyone could cause it to collapse into the green murky water below.
I’m about to shout retreat when a new wave of our people join in the fight. Laics run up behind the soldiers and begin attacking. Many of the soldiers are caught off guard. My team pushes forward, running the soldiers off the bridge and into the hands of the waiting Laics.
We finally take control a couple of hours after sunrise. The soldiers that are still alive are placed into cages in the metal plate factory by the entrance. Of the eight hundred fighters we started with, only five hundred remain, but we’ve gained almost ten thousand more with the Laics.
Tobin has landed the airship in the small field on the other side of the gate. Our wounded are tended to in the medical building at the far end of the Borough. After coordinating cleanup and care for the wounded, Braxton and I sit alone in the transport.
“We have a traitor, don’t we?” Braxton asks.
“How else would they’ve been waiting for us,” I answer.
“Who?”
“I don’t know.” I lean my head back, prop my feet onto the dashboard, and let out a long sigh.
“Who do we want with us on the water?”
“Well…Vier, Lehen, and Piran, definitely.”
“Bevan also.”
“No, let’s leave him here. He can assist in getting the factories back working.”
“Tobin and Draken?”
I hesitate in responding. My instinct is to leave them, but I don’t trust to leave them alone either. “Let’s bring them.”
We exit the transport and pull the group together. Once we have the Underground secured, we’ll make our way to Superior Rhodes’ office to deactivate the detonators. When the devices are gone, those who volunteer can make their way across the water to the city.
CHAPTER 20
The Regulators have their own fleet of boats, housed in a mooring station by the first set of locks. Our group climbs into the smallest boat, Braxton starts the engine, backs us out of our space, and heads into the river. A Regulator stands at the locks’ controls, opening and closing them as we make our way into the lake.
The first row of detonators is just a quarter mile from the shore. Braxton slows the boat, inching us forward. We pass two devices, then he turns the wheel left, bringing us parallel to the row we just passed. We go by three more, than turn right. After passing two more detonators, he turns us right, then left after going by three more.
The pattern is repetitious, slow, and arduous. I keep my eyes to the sky, wondering if an aerial unit will make an appearance and blow us out of the water. An hour into our journey I can see the city, clouded in a familiar-looking misty veil.
“Shit,” Braxton mutters, placing the boat into reverse then stopping us.
“What’s the matter?” Lehen shouts from up top.
“They’ve enabled the perimeter shield. We’ll have to swim from here.”
“Swim?” Draken asks, shuddering. “You’ve got to be kidding.”
“No. Now we’ll lower the back ladder and slip into the water. Stay behind me at all times. When we get close, we’ll need to dive and swim under the barrier to the other side.”
“That’ll make it impossible to carry our weapons,” Vier states.
Braxton walks over to a small bench by the railing up on deck. He removes seven leather satchels, tossing one to each of us. “Use these, they’re waterproof when sealed.”
I shove my Levin gun inside my satchel and secure the strap across my chest. Braxton is the first to enter the water, followed by myself. Lehen brings up the end. We swim twenty-feet, then dive. The veil doesn’t penetrate the water, but it is wide, so we have to swim quite a distance underwater. I feel like I’m about to run out of air when Braxton begins his ascent. If I’m this winded, I can only imagine how the others may be feeling. We pop up a few feet from the loading platform, all breathing heavily from the exertion. We swim over to a ladder next to the dock. Braxton raises his head for a quick look and signals that there are two guards. Vier and Lehen remove their Levin guns, swim over to the edge of the platform, pull themselves out of the water, and fire.
The guards drop without a sound.
We climb the ladder, and run across the metal deck as fast as possible. I can hear the security cameras swivel in their domes, dangling down from the ceiling. I point to the small ventilation shaft in the back corner. We crawl on our hands and knees for about twenty minutes, then I stop and remove the screen covering our exit. Naomi never placed the bolts back when we used this entrance months ago, but someone has clearly found that out and fixed it, so I struggle with it. Once the screen is removed, we step out into a small alleyway, and Vier replaces the screen as the rest of us step out into the main thoroughfare.
People fill the walkways, many staring at us. Several wear Superior robes, others are Laics, Regulators, High Ruler Guards, and Acheron citizens.
“Where the hell did you come from?” a man in Superior garb says to us.
“We’re here to see the High Ruler,” Braxton says.
“That doesn’t answer my question.” The Superior points to a passing Regulator, gesturing him over. “Arrest these trespassers.”
I step in front of the group, placing myself between Braxton and the Regulator. “Artemis is expecting us,” I say.
“You’re Trea,” the Superior stammers. “We thought you were dead.”
“Sir,” Braxton interjects, “it’s imperative that we meet with the High Ruler.”
“Of course, this way.”
We’re escorted down the walkway, towards the energy core, which sits in the center of the Underground. It’s the only power source for the entire city. We turn right at the core, heading down another hallway towards an establishment called “The Piper Room”. The interior is crowded with gaming tables, crushed velvet couches, a long bar on the side, and Artemis sitting in the back booth.
He grins slightly at the sight of us. “So, the prodigal Antaean has returned,” he says with a smirk. “I thought you’d left your old lover behind, Trea.”
Braxton strikes him before I can.
“I’m surprised at you, Captain,” he says, wiping blood from this lower lip. “Hitting your leader. That’s punishable by time in the Reformatory.”
“Luckily for me, there isn’t a Reformatory to go to anymore,” Braxton responds, laconically, sitting down across from Artemis. “And you’re not my leader.”
I stand next to Braxton, the others circling around us. Artemis signals for a refill of his drink. He’s obviously drunk, since he’s slurring his words, and reeks of alcohol.
“So,” I begin, “are you going to tell us what happened or are you just going to drink yourself to death?”
Artemis puts his glass down, looks at me, and smiles. “You and I used to have a lot more fun together, Meg, remember?”
“You do not get to call her that,” Braxton says, standing up abruptly, almost knocking the table over.
“Oh boy, Captain. Has she got you under her spell, now? Don’t tell me, you’ve fallen for our little fighter, haven’t you? Has she told you about our past together? Our special night in Tyre?”
“Enough,” I shout.
Braxton sits back in his seat, while Artemis reclaims his drink.
“You always want to take the fun out of everything,” Artemis grumbles, sliding the glass to his lips and gulping down his drink. “Fine, if you want the whole sordid truth, have a seat, because this could take a while.”
“We don’t have that much time,” Lehen says. “The army will try to get down here at any moment now that they know we’ve snuck in.”
“The Tyrean army isn’t here,” a man in Superior robes says behind Artemis. “They never were.”
“I don’t understand,” I say. “Then why are all of you down here?”
“The Keons,” Artemis says. “My father’s little project.”
He receives a fresh drink and downs half of it before continuing. “As I’m sure you’ve already found out or figured out, Premier Vladim is my father. He and I have never seen eye to eye. I could never do anything right according to him. He never actually wanted me, so I guess it’s fair to say I never tried to impress him. He wasn’t the kindest of fathers, and when I was only seven and -”
I snap my fingers in Artemis’ face. “Focus,” I say.
He sets the glass down, motions for the women sitting next to him to leave, and asks a couple of his Superiors to take the now-empty seats. “The Keon army consisted of approximately twenty children around the ages of eleven and twelve. Strategically trained in combat, deception, and weapons creation. They were dropped off at various locations throughout Sirain in hopes they would be picked up by the other cities.”
“Why?” Braxton asks.
“To make the takeover of Sirain easier. The children were to infiltrate where ever they wound up, gain the trust of those around them, then turn on them when the moment came.”
“How long ago was this?” Lehen asks.
“Thirteen years ago.”
“How could Vladim possibly know where each child wound up? Certainly he can’t account for all of them?” Tobin asks.
I already know the answer. “They have chasers embedded in their shoulders.”
Braxton looks at me, a puzzled expression on his face.
“Iscariot mentioned the Keons when I interrogated him. They all have a specific marking on their shoulder. An intricately scrolled half-moon, a sword thrust through it, and a red jewel in the center. The jewel is the chaser.”
“Give this woman a drink!” Artemis shouts. “I knew I liked you for some reason.” He winks at me, which angers Braxton. “Anyhow, that’s why we’re down here. The four that wound up in Acheron have been recruiting others for years. They’ve taken over the city.”
“How many have they enlisted?” Braxton asks.
“Approximately forty of our own children,” the Superior on Artemis’ left responds. He introduces himself as Superior Grayson, the head of education. “Those four have always been trouble. I never did like having them in my schools.”
“Hindsight is always twenty-twenty, Superior,” Braxton says. “What particularly did you not like about them?”
“They asked too many questions. As they grew older, each took a particular interest in a different functionality within the city. They latched themselves, like leeches, to the Superiors in their particular field. They then killed them during the take-over.”
“Which ones?” Braxton asks, moving forward in his seat.
“Strume from Finance, Yulle from Transportation, Dwyer from Communications, and Rhodes from Security.”
“Damn. We were hoping to get to Superior Rhodes’ office to deactivate the detonators on the water.”
“Why would you want to do that?” someone behind Artemis says. “That’ll allow the real army to get to us.”
“You don’t have to worry about them, at the moment anyway. Our forces have them under control,” I say.
“And what forces would that be, my dear?” a Superior asks.
“Your Laics and prisoners. You need an army, and now you have one.”
The looks upon the Superiors and Acheron citizens’ faces are ones of disgust. They lo
ok mortified knowing their fate lies with those they detest the most. I savor the moment.
“So what now?” Vier asks.
“We still follow through with our plan and get to Rhodes’ office. I’m sure Commander Caderyn is sending reinforcements to the Borough, so we can’t leave our followers to sit there and be slaughtered,” Braxton replies.
“Artemis,” I begin, “if your Superior of Communications is dead, how did that video of Kedua killing you get made and released?”
“Ah yes, well, you see he and the others were murdered just after the film aired. My intention was to have my father believe I was dead, and that Kedua was in power. It would’ve been easier that way for me to get further out of his reach. But as you can see, it didn’t work out.”
“Where is Kedua?” I ask, sitting on the arm of the chair Braxton is occupying.
“Where she’s wanted to be this whole time. The High Ruler’s seat.”
I have to stifle a laugh. Artemis has been used, just like he uses everyone else. His face turns somber upon seeing my reaction. He scowls, then folds his arms across his chest and begins to pout like a child.
“So, are you all really taking shelter down here, or were you placed down here?” Braxton asks, looking around at everyone.
No one responds. This makes me think they were ordered down here and the exits to the city floor are guarded.
“How many total are in the Underground?”
“A little over seventy. The rest of the citizens decided to comply with the Keons in exchange for being able to stay in their homes. They have a strict curfew, and can only work when their particular expertise is needed, otherwise they’re confined to their residence.”
“Do you have any visual feeds down here from the cameras around the platform?” Braxton asks.
“Yes, we do,” Superior Grayson says.
