by P. T. Hylton
“Secondly, I want to tell you about a mission that took place yesterday. The Ground Mission Team traveled to the surface in an attempt to acquire the parts we need to repair our nuclear reactor. They were successful in their goal. Director Bowen in Engineering has confirmed we now have the parts we need to make the repair and keep this city in the air.”
Relief flooded through Alex. Everything they’d done had been worth it. The city was safe.
“The mission was not without cost, however. The GMT sniper Lincoln Simmons died in the line of duty during the mission. I’m told he fell while ensuring his teammates made it back to their away ship safely before sundown. He not only saved his team, he saved us all. We owe him the highest debt of gratitude.”
Alex’s eyes filled with tears. Hearing Simmons’s death announced by Councilman Stearns on the video monitor made it more real somehow.
“We’ve been a city divided over the issue of Resettlement in recent weeks. I hope now that the ship is safely repaired we can reunite and work together. Whatever your stance on Resettlement, we all want the same thing: a better future for humanity. The only thing we disagree on is how to make that happen. I believe we can use our differences of opinions as a strength rather than a weakness, coming together to build the future. I want to take this moment to commend everyone who cares enough to make their voice heard, whether that’s through peaceful protest or the voting ballot. We are safe. Now let’s build the future.”
***
Brian was the only one in the R&D lab when Alex arrived. He was crouched over a jetpack, working on it with a tiny screwdriver. He did a double take when he saw her.
“A-Alex,” he stammered. “Hi. Welcome back. I’m so sorry for your loss.” The words tumbled from his lips as if they were half-formed thoughts that he didn’t have time to process properly before speaking them.
“Thanks, Brian.”
He looked up at her, the pain clear on his face. “Look, about the way we left things—”
She waved off the rest of his comment. “Don’t even worry about it. You were right to be pissed. Listen, what happened while I was gone? Fleming’s been arrested.”
A shadow passed across his face. “It’s bad, Alex. The general and Captain Keller took a bunch of badges to Fleming’s headquarters. Things got out of hand. Fleming’s supporters and the badges started fighting and, well, Sarah got shot.”
The blood drained from Alex’s face. “Is she all right?”
He shook his head. “The bullet got her in the lung. Last I heard, they still weren’t sure whether she was going to make it.”
Sarah had been perhaps a little too blind in her dedication to Fleming, but she didn’t deserve this. Not even close.
“Stearns came clean about the damage to the ship last night,” Brian said. “He told the people that the ship can only remain in the air for twenty-eight more days unless we are able to repair it. Between that and Fleming’s arrest, it was chaos in the streets last night. Protests everywhere, some of them violent.”
“Damn.”
Neither of them spoke for a long moment.
Finally, Brian asked the question Alex knew he’d been dying to ask since she’d walked in. “How’d the Daylights work?”
She put a hand on his shoulder. “No joke, man, they saved our lives. None of us would have made it back if not for them.”
Brian smiled widely and he practically glowed with pride. “They burned the vampires?”
“Like noontime sun. But listen, they need more battery power and longer range.”
He nodded briskly. “Of course. I’ll get to work on that right away. I already have ideas.” He pushed the jetpack to the other side of the table and pulled out a pad of paper.
Alex tapped the jetpack. “These saved our lives, too. We wouldn’t have gotten out if we weren’t wearing them. You might not go on missions, Brian, but as far as I’m concerned, you’re as much a part of the team as I am.”
His eyes widened in surprise. “I…I don’t know what to say. Thank you.”
She clapped him on the shoulder. “Say you’ll give me a Daylight I can use for more than twenty minutes.”
“Of course! I’m on it.”
“Something happened down there, Brian. When the vampire bit Simmons, it…changed. Started to, anyway.”
“Changed how?”
Alex’s radio buzzed.
“You there, Alex?”
She lifted the radio and replied. “I’m here, Captain.”
“I know I said I wouldn’t bother you this morning, but something’s come up. Can you meet me in my office?”
She exchanged a quizzical look with Brian. “Sure thing, sir. I’ll be there in five minutes.”
***
CB rose as Alex entered and gestured to the chair across the desk from him. She sat, looking around hesitantly.
Though she’d been on the team more than a year, she’d only ever been in CB’s office one other time, and that had been her first day when he’d laid out the ground rules for the team.
In truth, she didn’t think CB spent much more time in this place than she did. It was sparsely appointed with only a monitor, a keyboard, and a picture of a woman Alex had never seen before. CB wasn’t married—maybe it was his mother? In short, it had the antiseptic feel of an unused space. The captain spent his time in the gym, the briefing room, and the hangar—the places his team spent their time. She’d never really appreciated it before, but CB went to a lot of effort to lead the team from among them.
“I won’t ask how you’re doing,” he said. “About as crappy as I am, I’ll bet.”
“Yes, sir. I’d imagine so.”
He gestured toward the dark monitor. “You saw Stearns’s speech earlier?”
“Yes, sir. It was a lovely tribute.”
“Simmons deserves more. But I’m impressed Stearns is playing it straight with the people. This city’s tearing itself in half, and it won’t heal if the government keeps hiding things.” He waved the thought away. “Enough politics. I have a favor to ask you.”
She hadn’t been expecting that. She’d thought this would be a mental-health check-in, that CB was probably doing it with the entire team. “Of course, sir. What do you need?”
“I know I promised you a little time off, and you’re going to get it. But there’s something I need you to do first.”
She waited. The way he was beating around the bush, this wasn’t going to be pleasant.
“I need you to talk to Councilman Fleming.”
Her eyes widened in surprise. She’d thought maybe he was going to ask her to help the badges with crowd control or give a written account of what happened yesterday. But she hadn’t expected this. “Pardon me, sir, but I thought Fleming was in jail.”
“He is. That’s where you need to talk to him.”
“I’m confused. If he’s already caught, why do you need me to talk to him?”
“Because he likes you.” He leaned forward and rested his elbows on the desk. “The general’s visited Fleming, as have Captain Keller and some of the best interrogators on the force. Fleming’s unwilling to cooperate in any way. He still thinks he’s in the right.”
“How can I change that?”
“You stole the Daylights because he asked you to, right? He respects your integrity. We’re hoping if he hears the story of what happened yesterday from you, it might make him reconsider his convictions about Resettlement.”
There were probably a few things Alex was less interested in doing this afternoon than visiting Fleming in prison and attempting to talk him into cooperating, but she couldn’t think of any. She highly doubted this plan would work, but she understood the reasoning. And this was CB asking.
“Sure thing, Captain. Set it up and I’ll be there.”
“Thank you. It means a lot that you’re willing to try. To me and the general both. And after this? I promise you’ll get that time off.”
Chapter 31
They had Fleming wait
ing in an interrogation room when she arrived. The lieutenant on duty asked if she needed someone to accompany her. Prisoners could be pretty unpredictable, he reminded her. She thought about knocking the lieutenant on his ass, but decided it probably wasn’t the smartest move. Instead, she politely declined and asked to be let in the room.
“Okay, but we’ll be watching and listening,” he said as he unlocked the door. “If you need anything, just start shouting, and we’ll be in there in ten seconds flat.”
Alex wasn’t sure if this was a veiled threat or a statement of support, so she didn’t respond.
Fleming’s eyebrows shot up in surprise when she sauntered in. He was dressed in a bright blue prison uniform, and he looked thinner than Alex remembered. That couldn’t be accurate, because he’d only been in here a day. Must have been one of those men-in-power-seem-bigger things. His hands were cuffed to a d-clip built into the table, which seemed a little unnecessary to Alex, but she wasn’t about to ask for him to be released. Let the badges do their thing.
Fleming stared at her with concern. “What are you doing here, Alex?”
Jesus, did he think she was in trouble? Like they’d let a suspect come talk to another suspect in an interrogation room unsupervised.
“I’m here to see you.”
“Ah.” He looked away, and though he didn’t say anything, Alex was certain he was considering whether she’d been sent to pump him for information. “You have to tell me what’s going on out there. Can you believe what they’ve done to me? They’ll do anything to try to stamp out the cause of Resettlement.”
“That’s kinda what I came here to discuss. Listen, Councilman, I went on a mission to the surface yesterday, and I saw some things that made me question whether Resettlement might be a good idea.”
His eyes narrowed, and he drew back in his seat. “What things?”
“The vampires yesterday were working together. They hid from us, moving from floor to floor so we wouldn’t find them. They waited until we were all exactly where they wanted us, and then they attacked all at once.”
Fleming sighed. “Alex, I don’t think you’re lying. But I do think, sometimes, in the heat of battle, the enemy can see more intelligent than they are.”
“Don’t patronize me, asshole. One of my teammates died down there. I know what I saw.”
“Fine. But even so, you survived. You proved once again that a properly trained and prepared human force can take out a much larger number of vampires.”
Alex wondered how she could have ever believed this man’s rhetoric. Naiveté radiated from him like light. “During the day, sure. But I saw vampires leap two hundred feet in the air moments after sundown.”
A brief smile played on his face, and for a moment she glimpsed the cocky Councilman she’d visited that night the week before. “Two hundred feet? I’m guessing you didn’t have a measuring tape out at the time.”
Alex gritted her teeth, using all her restraint not to attack this man. “I did not. What I did have was a clear view of them leaping through a hole in a roof and piling on top of my friend who was flying through the air on a jetpack. So, yeah, my estimation might have been ten feet off either way.”
The smile disappeared from his face. “I’m sorry about Simmons.”
She didn’t respond.
“Look, if what you’re saying is true, it’s all the more reason at least a partial Resettlement is essential. If something happens to the ship and we have to land, those creatures you describe would tear us apart. But if we start work on setting up a colony now and build protective walls and figure out how to defend them, we might stand a chance.”
“And what happens when the vampires rip through that colony, Councilman?”
“We learn from our mistakes and build another.”
“And when they tear through that? How many people are you willing to sacrifice to trial and error?”
“As many as it takes to ensure the long-term survival of humanity,” Fleming said. His lips were curled back in a snarl now. “Yours is an old way of thinking, and we have to move on from it.”
“You haven’t seen what I have. It’ll be a long time before human cities can survive on Earth again.” She suddenly realized how much she sounded like CB. She hadn’t believed what he’d tried to tell her, so why should she expect that Fleming would believe her?
Fleming let out a little laugh. “This is good. Reasoned debate is important. It’s what makes our government run, wouldn’t you agree?”
“Sure.”
“You’d be surprised how few on the City Council do.” He sighed, and suddenly all the weariness came back into his face. He was once again a prisoner, scared and alone. “Whether or not you’re right about Resettlement is beside the point. They refused to follow the will of the people, and they attempted to kill me to silence the Resettlement supporters. They have to go.”
She screwed up her face in disbelief. Tried to kill him? Now who was being dramatic?
“It’s true. General Craig took a shot at me. Unfortunately, Sarah stepped in front of the bullet. That brave, stupid woman is barely clinging to life because of your boss.”
“No way,” Alex said. “I heard what happened. People were attacking the badges, and things got crazy. I’m sure the general wasn’t trying to shoot you.”
“You heard wrong. The fighting had stopped by then. Your general had already shot two of my friends. Only then, after everything had calmed down, did he point his gun at me.”
Alex wasn’t sure what to believe. Fleming might be naive, but he wasn’t a liar. At least not the kind who’d spout off an easily disprovable fact like this. But she also didn’t believe General Craig would shoot a man in cold blood.
She’d had enough of this. Time to wrap it up. “Look, Councilman, I think you need to consider what’s actually in the best interests of the people. Maybe the Council acted wrongly, but they did it because they are fighting tooth and nail for humanity’s survival. They know Resettlement means death. If you want progress, you have to be smart enough to realize it’s not going to happen if the city’s tearing itself apart. And you can’t be the leader the people need while you’re sitting behind bars.” She stood up and rapped on the door. “Just something to think about.”
“Thank you, Alex. Feel free to stop by anytime. My door’s always open to you. So to speak.”
The door opened, and Alex marched out. A moment later, she heard the metal door of the interrogation room clang shut, once again trapping Councilman Fleming inside.
***
CB was waiting for her in the lobby of the building, a pillar of stillness in the sea of movement around him. His arms were crossed, and he looked pale. For the first time, Alex considered how losing Simmons must be affecting him. He was the leader of the team, and he’d come back without one of his people. Did he feel responsible? Did he lie awake last night wondering what he could have done differently?
She nodded in greeting as she approached. “That didn’t go as well as I’d hoped. I told him what happened in Texas, but I’m not sure he even—”
“We gotta go.” There was a shake in his voice as he spoke.
“What’s going on?”
“General Craig needs to meet with us. Emergency briefing.” He turned and headed for the door.
Alex hustled to catch up with him. “About that time off you promised me—”
“It’ll have to wait.”
***
Jessica Bowen stood before the team. As usual, she cut to the chase. After a day spent listening to politicians—first Stearns’s address over the monitor and then Fleming in the interrogation room—Alex appreciated this woman’s candor.
“There was a problem with the parts you brought back. I knew the facility in Texas was a water-displacement reactor, which of course is significantly different from our modern-era reactor, but I thought the control panel would be similar enough to make it work. Turns out, I was wrong.”
The words were like a punch in
the gut to Alex. Simmons had died bringing back those parts, and they were worthless?
“I still believe I can retrofit them to our system,” she continued, “but it would take time. More time than we have. At least a month.”
A groan went through the room. Alex exchanged a worried glance with Drew.
“What about Stearns’s address this morning?” Owl asked.
“It was a bit hasty,” Jessica said. “I urged him not to give it until we were sure, but…”
“Yeah,” CB said. “He wanted to calm people down.”
“What’s the Council say about all this?” Firefly asked.
“They’re currently discussing the matter,” General Craig said. “I need to head over there as soon as we’re done.”
Jessica spoke up again. “My team is poring over records, looking for another facility that might have what we need. Trouble is, our records are pretty shoddy. We don’t have time for another dangerous mission just to gather the wrong equipment.”
The general stood and addressed the team. “I need you ready to go at a moment’s notice. As soon as Jessica gives the word, we want to be ready to move. That means stay close to your quarters and keep your radios on you at all times.” He looked the team over, meeting each person’s eyes. “This team’s been through a lot, and I’d like nothing more than to give you a break right now, but it’ll have to wait a little longer. New Haven needs saving, and you’re the only ones who can do it.”
“Sir,” CB said, “we wouldn’t have it any other way.”
Chapter 32
The City Council, the directors, and their department heads were once again gathered in the Council building. Stearns stood at the head of the table, trying to restore order. Things were not going well.
“What in the hell were you thinking telling the people we had the problem fixed?” Councilwoman Yates asked. “There isn’t enough doubt in the trustworthiness of the Council?”
“I was working the best I could with the information I had,” Stearns said.
