by K. Makansi
Jahnu leads the way to the rickety metal stairs on the side of the building. Eli and I follow, and we dash up the stairs as quickly as possible. Only six flights. My thighs burn, but I’m thankful for all those hurdles and squats I’ve been doing. I try to keep my movements smooth and fluid to keep the rusted groans of the metal stairs to a minimum.
On the roof, our booted feet murmur lightly as we tread along the edges towards the ventilation system. Here, we can see how different this building is from those surrounding it—massive green plants and solar panels comprise the roof, which is designed to help the seed bank meet its energy needs.
Eli surveys the grate on the vent and pulls a screwdriver out of his pack. He bends down to unscrew it. Too easy, I think, unsettled. This isn’t right. He pops the grate off quietly and sets it aside.
“Clear, Kenzie, Soren?” I ask into my headset.
“Clear.”
“Firestone?”
“All good.”
“Wait until I give the go-ahead,” Eli whispers to Jahnu and me. “Let me get in first and take out any nearby security.” He turns and slips through the air tunnel. I spare a moment to marvel at how thin he has become. We’re none of us starving, but we could all use a little more meat on our bones.
“What’s that light?” Firestone’s voice over the headset.
“What light?” I demand. My hackles are up instantly. I straighten and peer around us, over the walls, trying to see what he’s talking about. “Where?”
“I’m in,” Eli announces. “What’s going on up there?”
“On the ground. Coming through the forest. To the north.”
I run to the rooftop wall, staying low. I peer into the distance, toward the tree line where what had once probably been a well-manicured patch of ornamental trees has grown into a deep, dark forest. Sure enough, there’s a dim white light coming through the forest, dancing a little. Could just be a desolate survivor with a flashlight.
“I’m checking it out,” Kenzie reports. I focus on the light and the heat signature, still wavering, emerging from the forest. But then a brush of cold winter wind slices at my eyes and they burn and start to water. I turn away, but the wind is somehow coming from above—
I look up. Two black-as-night, cloaked, military-grade Sector airships are descending on the roof.
“JAHNU!” I scream. “Up above!”
All thought deserts me.
I sprint towards Jahnu and grab his hand, pulling him away from the airships. I hurl myself behind a small elevated brick wall and set my Bolt to maximum charge. At my side, Jahnu follows suit.
“It’s a Sector hovercar. Fuck!” Kenzie swears through the headset. “I’m shooting to disable the vehicle.”
“Eli, get the hell out of that building!” Soren’s voice is angry and afraid. I fire recklessly at the two airships, but the blue energy is harmlessly diffused.
“What’s going on?” I hear Eli’s disembodied shouts in my ear.
“They’ve got EMD,” I whisper to Jahnu. Electro-Magnetic Deflectors. They protect against electrical damage such as Bolts. Jahnu grabs a sonic grenade off his belt and activates it. I see him count to three, mouthing the words slowly, and then he stands up and launches it in the direction of the airships. We hold our hands over our ears, and I feel the deep, resonant boom in my chest as the device explodes and knocks the craft off course slightly—but the hulls are intact.
“Holy shit,” I whisper. “That’s some armor.”
Jahnu just nods silently.
The bay doors of the aircraft open slowly and I can see the magnetic hooks descend, each one bearing two fully armed soldiers.
“Eli,” I mutter. “There are two mid-size Sector airships hovering above us. They’re releasing soldiers. We’re aborting the mission. You can’t come back out this way—you have to get out through the ground floor. Pick one of the side entrances and we’ll meet you there.”
There is a moment of silence as Eli processes this.
“Okay. Southwest side entrance. Cover the door for me.”
Jahnu and I look at each other and nod.
In a second, we’re sprinting towards the fire escape. We hurdle over the iron gate, and all I can hear are my feet pounding down the stairs and voices in my ear.
“One of the hovercars has been disabled,” Kenzie reports.
“One of them?” I spit back. “How many more are there?”
“I don’t know. I see another set of matching lights on the east side of the building, so at least one more.”
I catapult down the last story of the building and hit the ground hard, rolling to get back to my feet. Jahnu lands beside me, much more gracefully, and I turn around the corner of the building, heading for the southwest entrance.
I run headfirst into a set of blinding lights. In my surprise and haste to turn around, I skid on my side, my feet flying out from under me. I struggle to get back to my feet, but my left leg suddenly doesn’t seem to be working properly. When I try to move it, sharp pain shoots up and down the side of my calf and thigh. I look down to see my black pants are torn to shreds, and dark red blood is trickling down my leg.
“Jahnu, where are you?” I say with as much energy as I can muster.
“Where are you?” he shouts desperately in my ear. “I lost you! I thought you were right behind me. What happened?”
I see a pair of black, shiny military-issue boots emerge from the hovercar and crunch on the gravel and broken glass. I look up to try to identify the face atop the boots but the light is too bright, and I can’t see. I pull my Bolt out from under me and aim it at the faceless boots.
“They’re surrounded, sir,” I hear someone say. “The target is trapped in the building.”
What target? Trapped in the building? Oh, god….
“Eli, they’re coming for you,” I pant. “Get out.”
“What?” he shouts back at me.
I breathe through the pain, prop myself up, and watch as the face that’s been haunting me for the last three years materializes above the boots. His grey eyes are full of concern, his face set into a grim expression as he stares me down. All I see is his stiff commander’s uniform, the shiny, brand-new hovercar waiting behind him, his perfectly polished boots. My heart thuds against my rib cage so hard it feels like it has a life of its own, a history and a future independent of anything I’ve ever been or will be. I grit my teeth so hard I think my jaw might shatter, and point the gun at Valerian Orleán.
“Remy, your leg.” He looks down at the Bolt pointed at him with a sickening expression of anger and anguish. He opens his palm to me like a peace offering, as though he seriously expects me to put my hand in his. “Are you okay?”
How can he be so calm when I’ve got a Bolt pointed at his heart?
“Remy!” In my ear, Soren sounds anything but calm. I glance around, see him coming up behind me, gun pointed directly at Vale. Vale looks up at the sound of his voice, and with my other hand—the hand behind my back—I unclip a sonic grenade from my belt. My vision is clearing. I can see again. If I can see, if I can breathe, then I can run.
“Vale.” His name is thick on my tongue. He turns his eyes back to me.
I hold my breath and lock eyes with him. I have to bite the insides of my cheeks so I don’t cry.
“I’m not going to hurt you,” Vale begins.
It’s not you I’m afraid of.
“Just lower your weapon,” he says.
I let the gun fall to the ground but tighten my grip on the grenade behind my back. I steel myself against the pain I know is coming.
“Come closer.” I can hardly talk; it’s like my mouth has been stuffed with day-old bread. “Please.” He leans in.
“Remy, I would never—”
I can feel Soren’s presence behind me. I know he sees the grenade. I pop out the pin with my thumb and in one explosive moment, I throw it up and over Vale’s head as far as I can and roll onto my knees. A hundred knives are stabbing into my left l
eg, twisting with every movement I make, and I cry out, grab my Bolt, but keep moving. I can see the blue flashes from Soren’s gun as he emerges from the shadow and shoots at the vehicle in the distance. I force myself to my feet and stumble forward, breaking into a run. I ignore the daggers in my leg and focus on moving forward. Behind me, I hear Vale yell and hit the dirt as the hovercar crunches into the side of the building, knocked off course by the grenade, but I keep running as fast as I can, shouting into the headpiece.
“Eli, are you out?” I cry desperately.
Firestone: “Get to the emergency rendezvous point! Now!”
“I’m here, Remy.” I hear Eli’s voice in my ear, but his voice sounds funny, like he wants to say something but can’t.
“Where? What’s going on?” I stop, panting from the pain. I must have shards of glass embedded in my leg, and I know I can’t keep running this way. Soren steps beside me, wrapping his arm under my shoulder to support me, and we hobble along the building, heading towards the rendezvous point.
“They’ve got me surrounded outside the west entrance,” Eli says slowly. “I can’t come out this door. They’re not in the building yet, but it’s only a matter of time.”
“Damn it!” I stop running. “We can’t leave you! Where’s Jahnu?”
“I’ve got him,” Kenzie says. “He’s out cold. Bolt blast to the head. Firestone, you’re gonna have to come pick us up.” Firestone swears into the mic.
“Fuck this shit. Okay, have your gloves activated. Flash a flare in thirty seconds and raise your gloves; I’ll drop a line for you.” It’s risky, and it’s hard as hell to pick someone up using the hooks while an airship is moving, but I trust Firestone’s piloting skills.
A flare goes up on the other side of the building. Firestone descends and pulls back up in the span of a few seconds. Through my contacts, I can see two glowing figures hooked onto the line.
“Eli, we’ve gotta get you out of there,” I whisper into the mic.
“No, Remy, I’ve got a better idea—just get to the airship, okay?”
I hesitate. I want to argue. I want to save him. But I know he can take care of himself.
“Not good enough,” Soren says. “We’re coming to get you.” He looks down at me. “Can you run?”
“Yeah,” I say. I can’t tell him how much pain I’m in, but I’m glad he agrees with me. We can’t leave Eli behind. I sling my Bolt around to readiness. “Let’s go.”
We set off at a slow, low jog, sticking to the shadows and heading back in the direction of the side door Eli was waiting at. As we jog around the building, it becomes clear we’re hopelessly outnumbered. Eli was right—there are six Sector soldiers, spaced about fifteen meters apart, spread at various positions around the west entrance. But there are also soldiers guarding every other entrance, too, including the fire escape. Every exit is blocked.
“We can’t take them all down,” I whisper, looking at Soren. He shakes his head. Eli is trapped.
“What are you two crazies doing?” Firestone demands.
“Soren, Remy, get out of here! I can take care of myself.” Eli’s puffing, breathing heavily like he’s running up stairs.
“I’m not leaving you!” I spit. In a moment of violence, I grab an explosive grenade and activate it. Soren’s eyes widen as he shouts, No! and catches my arm just as I’m about to throw it. He grabs it from me and throws it into the trees, where it detonates with an enormous explosion. Trees splinter and start to smolder as the smoke clears.
“Remy,” he growls, his blue eyes wolf-like and savage in the dim light as he looks at me with an intensity I’ve never seen. “We’re not going to kill anyone.”
Just then, an airship descends on us—two men in body armor level their weapons at us from the open hull and start to fire. Soren grabs me and pulls me forward in a full-out sprint, but I can’t keep pace with him; my leg hurts too much. I’m thrown back against the side of the building, knocked off my feet by a Bolt set to low charge. My vision goes fuzzy around the edges, and I stumble and fall to my knees. The sounds and colors and shapes around me seem dimmer, cloudy, and I reach my fingertips up to the back of my head where I feel a vague throbbing. When I pull them back, they’re covered in blood. I shudder, and my knees give way beneath me.
Then I’m awash in bright lights. I raise my head to see a car coming right at me and I duck, tucking my head under my arms. The world spins around me. I raise my head again a second later and see the hovercar tilt up and come to a stop several meters away. The boots, the same boots as before, land in the dirt, and poofs of dust arc outward. Vale’s faster this time, crouching by my side in what seems like an instant. “Remy, you’re bleeding. Are you okay?”
His eyes are clouded and his brow is furrowed, almost like he’s really worried, and he reaches out a hand to touch my bloody skull. The gesture is tender, and I want to give in to the temptation to let him touch me, to accept his caress, but then I remember who he is, what he’s done. A guttural noise escapes my throat, and I pull my Bolt out from under me and aim it at his face. This time his expression is harder, less tolerant. He rips the gun from my shaking hands and throws it to the side.
“I said I’m not going to hurt you.” He looks at me with an expression I don’t understand, like he’s both angry and afraid I might bite him.
“Back off, Vale,” I hear Soren growl. I crane my neck around to see that he’s got a weapon trained at Vale. “I won’t hurt any of your soldiers, but I have very few qualms about killing you. So don’t lay a hand on her.”
“Birdie,” Eli croons to me through the headset, “is Vale there?”
“Eli, where the fuck are you?” Firestone shouts. All the voices in my headpiece are swirling together, and it’s getting harder to tell who’s who. I raise my head to look at Vale, but I can’t quite make out his features anymore—there are two of him—and Soren looks murderous, and where is Eli?
Vale stands slowly, backs up, and looks down at us. “Surround him,” he says into his earpiece, and behind him six soldiers seem to appear from nowhere and take position, guns pointing at Soren but not at me, and I don’t know why. “Drop your weapon,” Vale commands.
Through hazy, blurred vision, I watch Soren wing his Bolt like a discus at Vale’s head. Vale ducks just in time, but several soldiers behind him step forward and raise their Bolts. Vale holds up his hand. “Remember, no one dies,” he says, and my head lolls back, and I close my eyes. Soren cradles me in his arms—what a peculiar feeling, how strange and comforting it is, just as I’m face to face with Vale again. Just as I’ve become convinced I’m about to die.
I feel nauseous, improbably hot and cold at the same time, and the air is thick, like everything is suspended, floating around me. Soren and Vale both look down at me, their faces etched with worry and fear. “Soren,” I whisper. Vale looks at me. He looks at Soren, and a new, strange expression contorts his face. I can’t make sense of it because my field of vision narrows and then expands, throbbing like a heartbeat, as everything spins. The hum of an airship’s engine thrums through me; the sky seems to be melting and bubbling above. I roll over and retch in the dirt. Voices call to me. Two Sorens hold me. Two Vales kneel beside me. Two worlds collide and go dark.
13 - VALE
Fall 89, Sector Annum 105, 03h47
Gregorian Calendar: December 18
Remy’s face is pale, and her head lolls back against Soren’s chest. He wipes her mouth with his sleeve and glares at me as if he wants nothing more in the whole wide world than to rip out my heart and eat it raw.
I ignore him. “Vitals,” I say, and my newly issued MC—Mission Control—contacts snap a photo and bring up: REMY ALEXANDER. BLEEDING FROM HEAD AND LEG WOUNDS. POSSIBLE CONCUSSION. BLOOD PRESSURE LIKELY DROPPING.
Shit. I stand and shout into my earpiece, “I need a medic at the west side of the building. Fast. We have a hostage who needs urgent medical attention.” I turn my attention to Soren. “What happened to her?” I ask him.
Soren ignores me.
Next to me, Chan-Yu looks at me sidelong. He volunteered to accompany me on this mission, and I was curious enough about his motivations that I agreed. Unfortunately, he’s been more of a nuisance than anything. He’s been following me around, staying close to my side, watching me as though sizing me up or waiting for me to do something. He certainly hasn’t done anything useful, and it occurs to me that my Mom sent him along to babysit—or worse, that he’s been instructed to report every mistake I make directly to Aulion.
I turn back to Remy. Broken and crushed glass shimmers on her ripped, blood-soaked pants. I saw how she sliced open her leg, but how did she get that head wound? Did one of my men shoot her? The Bolts were supposed to be on low charge. No one was supposed to get hurt. The plan was to have the three cars provide a distraction as the rest of the team dropped in from the airships. We’d surprise them in the middle of their mission, grab Eli, and we’d pack up and let the rest of them go. Then one of our drones would track them back to their base. That’s all been scrambled now. Remy’s losing blood fast, and I have no idea what kind of medical equipment they have at the Resistance base—or even how far away their base is. I’m not willing to let her go back if I don’t know she’s going to make it.
Soren starts pulling off his jacket and everyone startles, holding their weapons a little tighter, but all he does is wrap the jacket around Remy’s leg, trying to staunch the bleeding. Blood trickles into my eye, but I don’t know when or how I got hit in the face. Maybe when Remy threw that sonic grenade? I wipe the blood away and Soren’s name immediately appears above his head: SOREN SKAARSGUARD. WANTED: TREASON. Damn it, I know that!
“Clear!” I command, and the writing disappears. I wish I could use Demeter this far away from Okaria. She’s a hell of a lot more useful than these contacts.
