by Ann Bakshis
“We have to get out of here,” Braxton says, grabbing my arm and pulling me away.
I notice a small flashing dot on the roof of our building. “What’s that?” I ask.
“The High Ruler’s escape hatch. It’s been activated, which means someone is using it. Probably to get to the roof and signal the aerial unit that’s up there.”
Kedua.
I shake free of Braxton and head for the stairs, but he chases after me, and halts me a few feet from the stairwell door.
“Trea, listen! You don’t have enough time to get up there,” he says. “It’s already departing. She’ll be gone by the time you reach the roof, and you’ll have no way to get out of here alive.”
The building begins to moan. The structural integrity is failing.
We rush down the stairs, almost bumping into Vier and the young woman he has flung over his shoulder. The first set of explosions go off just as we hit the ground floor. As we run outside, the buildings to the north begin to collapse.
“Faster!” Lehen shouts.
We run down the rail, heading towards the boat docks. Another set of explosions erupts behind us. The base the city is sitting upon begins to rock violently. By the time we reach the edge, the platform has already detached, and is starting to accelerate to the south. We climb down the stairs to a barrier wall. People above us fall or jump into the water. We follow, and swim away from the collapsing city as fast as we can. Lines are let out from the platform. People are grabbing onto them to be swept and loaded onto the deck.
Lehen, Vier, and the woman he is carrying grab onto a line and are whisked onboard. Braxton and I grab the next one. We’re pulled on deck just as the core erupts. The mass explosion levels the remaining buildings, lighting up the area in a blue cloud. The base begins to sink, which causes massive waves to hit us. Artemis and Grayson grab as many people as they can before they’re swallowed up by the water.
Above us, the airships continue to battle, only one is heavily damaged. A cannon blast rips a hole in one of the wings. The vehicle spins out of control, crashing into the choppy waters. The surviving unit turns west and speeds away.
Braxton, Artemis, and Grayson are tending to those who need aid. Vier sets the woman down. She’s in shock, so he places a blanket around her. Lehen heads towards the back of the vessel and disappears. I lean against the wall, collapsing onto the metal surface, and watch Acheron slip into the abyss.
The waves settle after half an hour or so, and all signs of the city have been eradicated. I can’t see the other platforms.
“Where are the other life boats?” I ask Braxton as he sits down next to me.
“Each has a designated end point. The rafts are on automatic pilot. Once they reach their destination, they will lock into a base on the lake floor and stay.”
“Where are we headed?”
“The supply depot. I’ll radio Neo when we get there.”
From what I remember about the supply depot there isn’t much there, only the pods that hold extra food and supplies for the city. At least we’ll have food. I can’t remember when I ate last.
Artemis and Grayson join us after the injured have been assessed and treated. “How many do you think made it?” Artemis asks, a stunned expression on his face.
“No way to tell without getting counts from the other rafts,” Braxton answers.
“How many are on ours?” I ask.
“Three hundred,” Grayson replies.
“That’s not a lot.”
“No, it’s not, considering the city housed ten thousand.”
“Why?” Braxton asks after several minutes of silence. “Why go through all that trouble and then destroy Acheron in the end?”
“Control,” Artemis says, letting out a deep sigh. “Vladim wants control of the masses. Demonstrating his ability to wipe out an entire city will make the rest of Sirain take notice and no longer oppose him for fear of the same fate.”
“Tyre is the only city left,” I say. “There isn’t anything else to control.”
“Not that we know of,” Grayson responds.
I think of the journal, which is sitting in my pack on the floor of the transport back in the Factory Borough, along with my tablet. I look over at Vier who is still sitting with the woman he brought down with him. He isn’t allowing her to leave his side.
“Grayson,” I begin, pointing to the woman, “who’s that?”
“Mardig. She’s the Keon who took over communications.”
I stand up, walk over to her, strip the blanket from her thin frame, and pull back her shirt on the left shoulder. As I suspected, the chaser is glowing brightly, meaning we’re being tracked. I place my palm on the gem and force the Quantum Stream into it. She screams in pain from the burn, but no one interferes. The chaser finally cracks and goes dark. A High Ruler guard takes Mardig into custody, dragging her to the end of the platform and securing her to a pipe along the back wall. I sit down next to Vier, Lehen joining us a few moments later. None of us speaks.
It still doesn’t make any sense to destroy a whole city. Why not do that from the beginning? Why wait until now? What is Vladim trying to prove by annihilating Acheron? If anything, he loses people to control, and doesn’t gain anything in the process.
The platform moves slowly. I catch both Braxton and Artemis glancing in my direction. I stay seated, bring my knees up to my chin, and hug my legs. I feel cold, even though the space is hot from the sun above us.
Time ticks by slowly. The sun continues its march west and is almost below the horizon when the raft begins to slow. Some minutes later, we hear a loud grinding noise under our feet and we come to a stop. Braxton stands up and walks past me towards the other end of the platform, Artemis and Grayson following close behind. We decide to get up and join the parade. We pass through several doorways and maintenance rooms before emerging on the other side.
The storage depot is deserted. Small buoy lights flicker on around the base of each pod as well as the series of metal gangways connecting our docking station. Twenty-four large egg shaped shells stick up a few feet above the water, each with a small ladder leading down into the lake for the boats to hook up to when loading supplies. A High Ruler guard presses a button next to a small gate on the ledge we’re standing on, and the gate extends to the raft, linking with the gangway.
“Now where?” I ask Braxton.
“There’s an emergency transmitter in the pod over there.” He points to the furthest one on our left, marked by a blue light radiating from its base.
“The platforms don’t have radios?” Artemis asks, surprised.
“No, unfortunately. There’s a transmitter at each platform locking station, so they don’t consider there to be any need. I should be able to get a hold of Neo since he’s the closest Borough, other than the factory.”
Braxton takes a torch that was belted to the wall, turns it on, and steps onto the walkway. It sways with each step, but not dangerously. We follow him along the network of paths to the transmitter. The pod is shaped like the others, except that this has a keypad for a handle. Braxton punches in the code and the door opens, a light automatically turning on inside as we enter. The walls are lined with concave screens, all approximately five feet in height and topped with a small camera focused on the center of the room. In the center is a control console. Braxton sits down on the lone stool and gestures towards a switch on the wall by the door.
“Artemis, flip that switch, then go outside and make sure the generator around the back is running.”
Artemis complies. A few moments later, the screens jump to life. Braxton touches the panel in front of him, and the lights on the cameras go off. I wander around the room, looking at the various feeds displayed on the four monitors.
“Where are these coming from?” Grayson asks, stepping closer to the display on the opposite side of the console.
“I don’t know. Acheron’s feeds would be offline since the city was destroyed, so the screens shouldn’t be
picking up anything. Vladim must be broadcasting this all over the country.”
I walk to where Grayson is standing and watch as men in Tyrean army uniforms descend on a hamlet that looks to be somewhere in the Wasteland.
I had always thought the Wasteland was scattered with people. Not that any were actually grouped together in a community like setting. It would be too dangerous to have everyone mass together in one location.
Homes are set on fire as people are rounded up, clasped with binders, and ushered into waiting vehicles. Those who dare run are shot. The monitor next to the one we’re watching shows a Borough in the midst of an overhaul. Large cranes pick up and place thick steel beams into the ground in a circular formation in the midst of structures long since destroyed.
“Where’s this?” I ask, pointing to the screen.
Grayson takes a few steps closer. “Looks like the old Trade Borough. Wonder what happened to it.”
Another display shows troops, both child and young adult, running an obstacle course in the rain. I recognize two of the soldiers: Mare and Thane. They’re in a line of children around their age, waiting for their turn on a weapons range. An image to the right catches my attention.
“Is it possible to focus on this?” I ask, pointing to the display.
“No. It’s not controlled here, so I can’t make adjustments,” Braxton says.
I step closer to the screen, willing the image to tighten. That’s when I see it. A lone braid down one girl’s back.
“Grainne,” I say.
“What?” Vier and Lehen shout in unison, running over towards me.
A moment later, they confirm it’s Grainne. Thinner, taller, and being beaten.
“We have to go there!” I shout.
“I don’t know where that is,” Braxton says. “Even if we do find that location, how are we going to get there?”
“Mardig might know,” Grayson says.
We turn and look at him, waiting for an explanation.
“She’s one of his, after all.”
CHAPTER 22
I stay in the pod while Grayson, Vier, and Lehen go back to the platform to retrieve Mardig. Braxton is busy trying to get a signal out to Neo or anyone at the Farm Borough. Artemis is sidling from screen to screen, slowly making his way over to me, thinking I don’t notice.
“So,” he says once he’s at my side, “you and Braxton, huh?”
“What of it?”
“I just thought you went for more of the dashing, sophisticated type. Not a soldier.”
“Did you forget I’m a soldier?”
“No, of course not. That’s what I found most appealing about you.”
He moves closer, almost resting his hip against mine. Heat builds up between us and it feels nice. Inviting almost.
Could Artemis be right about me? Do I prefer him to Braxton?
“I see you’ve got new markings.”
I’d honestly forgotten about them. “I don’t want to talk about it,” I say, turning my back.
The door bangs open, jolting me from my daydream. Mardig is writhing between Vier and Lehen. She’s trying to scream, but a cloth has been shoved in her mouth. She sees me and grows angrier. Braxton hands me a Levin gun. I aim it at her and she begins to calm down. Nothing like a little incentive.
“Now, Mardig,” I begin, “I won’t shoot you if you tell me what I want to know.”
Lehen removes the gag, so she can respond.
“Go to hell,” she spits out.
I nod to Lehen, who grabs her by the back of her head and slams her into the ground. The plates along his legs and chest begin to glow. Mardig begins to scream from the pain the Quantum Stream is inflicting on her. Vier shoves Lehen off, picks Mardig up, and walks her over to the monitor that is still showing Grainne.
“Where is this?” he asks.
“Why should I tell you?”
“You know the pain you just felt,” I say, getting closer. “Imagine it all over. Like pinpricks a thousand times in one spot. Your skin burning until it falls off. Only, instead of death, we let you live so the pain lasts forever.”
“You’re crazy,” she whines.
“No, I’m just pissed off.” I walk over to the control panel, and hand Braxton the gun. “Now, what is that place?”
“It’s called the Barracks. The army’s training headquarters.”
“Where is it?”
“I don’t know.”
“Why not?”
“When we were removed from there, we were blindfolded so we couldn’t tell anyone the location.”
“Great,” Lehen begins, “now what do we do?”
“What we need is another aerial unit. Those must have a map of Sirain with a location of the Barracks,” Vier adds.
I think about the journal again, hoping it’s still safe. Lehen and Vier take Mardig back to the platform while Braxton turns his attention to the controls in front of him, working all switches and dials, trying to get Neo. Ten minutes of static pass before Neo finally responds.
“Braxton,” Neo says out of breath, “we’re evacuating the Borough. Vladim has sent a large wave of fighters into our area. Where are you?”
“Acheron storage pods. We fled here on one of the city’s platforms.”
“We saw what happened. Tyre hacked into our screens and displayed the destruction. That’s one of the other reasons we’re evacuating.”
There’s a brief pause. “I’ll contact you once we’ve reached the haven,” Neo says.
The line goes dead.
“What’s the haven?” Artemis asks.
“It’s an emergency shelter: a safe haven for the Borough,” Grayson responds. “Each Borough has one. They’re well hidden, and protected. The army will have a tough time locating them.”
“It’ll take them at least four hours to get there,” Braxton says. “You might as well return to the platform. I’ll stay here and wait.”
Grayson and Artemis leave. I stay to keep Braxton company. I sit on the floor, using the console as a backrest. Braxton sits next to me and we watch the monitors.
“How did you do that?” Braxton asks almost an hour later.
“Do what?”
“The protective shield. How did you do that?”
How much do I tell him? Do I tell him about what I found out on the tablet while we were at the crofter’s camp? Will he love me less if he finds out the truth about me and what I’m truly capable of?
“I don’t know,” I lie. “I’ve noticed some changes happening with the stream, but I can’t account for why.”
There’s a knock on the door. Lehen and Vier are carrying a sack with food for us to eat. They join us on the floor and we spend the next several hours nibbling on the canned fruit and dried meat, as we watch the monitors. Grainne is escorted from the field. The rest of the army continues to practice maneuvers and weapons use. The ages of the soldiers range from Mair and Thane’s age to around eighteen. Different squads rotate between the stations before being escorted away.
Construction continues in the former Trade Borough. Even with watching the screen for hours, it’s hard to tell exactly what the army is building.
“Haven Eight to Captain Braxton,” breaks the silence. It’s not Neo’s voice.
Braxton gets up, goes to the console and pushes a button. “Braxton here.”
“All are safe and accounted for from the Farm Borough,” the young male voice says.
“Where’s Neo?”
“He and the woman from Tartarus are making their way to your location. They should be there in a few hours.”
Braxton thanks the young man then disconnects the line. We leave the pod and go back to the platform. Braxton takes Grayson aside the moment we arrive. Lights illuminate the scared faces of the survivors. Many cling to each other, some just sit along the walls staring off. Several Regulators are going around distributing food and blankets. Artemis comes up next to me, watching as people slowly eat or begin to bed down for the night.
“No, they’re just scared.”
“Many of these people have never been out of the city before. They have no idea what Sirain is like,” he says, snickering.
“They’ll manage.”
“I doubt it.”
He walks away as Grayson and Braxton emerge from the crowd.
“Grayson is going to stay and in the morning take everyone to the closest haven,” Braxton says. “The rest of us will make our way to the mainland and wait for the transport.”
“What about Mardig?” I ask.
“She’s already been dealt with,” Grayson responds.
I wish I had been there to see it.
We grab a sack of provisions, a couple of torches, and make our away along the walkways towards land. I hadn’t realized the storage facility was actually completely off-shore. We have to wade the last several feet in water before we hit the sand. We walk through tall grasses that line the back of the beach, separating it from solid ground. There isn’t any moon to light our way, but we have the torches. I hear a rustling behind us. Spinning around with my Levin gun in hand, I almost shoot Artemis as he comes out of the grass.
“I’m not staying back there,” he says, sauntering up to us. “I figure I have a better chance at survival with you.”
He winks at me, but due to the darkness, Braxton misses it.
The walk is long. I’m not sure if Braxton knows where he’s going, or if he’s just speculating about where Neo will pick us up. After a couple of hours we come across a transport road. Braxton has us stop and we find a spot several meters from the road to hide in case the army decides to swing by.
No one speaks as the hours tick by. I feel myself dozing off against Braxton’s shoulder. He puts his arm around me and I fall asleep. I’m glad I no longer have nightmares of my past. I hardly dream anymore, which is fine with me. The horrors of reality are enough.
I’m not sure how long I’ve been sleeping when Braxton rouses me. I hear an engine idling behind us. Neo and Caitrin are waving us over.
