by L T Anderson
“I don’t advise it,” Xander said.
“I’ll take the heat, Rasmus.” Silver walked around the table and sat next to Xander. “Let’s make a little pact, you and I. You let me talk to Levi. If he grants me full security access to the Underground and reinstates me as head of security, you fall in line behind me. You’re number three and you answer to me.”
Xander sat for a moment and pondered the offer. He reclined in the chair and crossed his arms. “And if he doesn’t?”
“Then lock me up. You’ll never hear from me again.”
Xander nodded once. “Very well, Ms. Long. I am confident enough that you are making a fool of yourself. I will call Levi. But you will speak to him. If you are able to convince him to come here to the conference room…” He held up a finger. “…tonight. Then we have a deal.”
Silver didn’t hesitate. “Call him.”
Xander speed-dialed Levi’s emergency number on his tablet and placed the device on the table. He tapped the speaker button and slowly slid the tablet to Silver.
The speaker cracked to life. “Rasmus! This better be good!”
Silver’s eyes narrowed as a smile split her face. “Hello, Levi.”
The Changer leader was livid. “Long! Where is Dr. Rasmus? And how did you come to possess his device?”
“Dr. Rasmus is here with me, which is where you need to be as well.”
“Rasmus. Have her arrested. Has Logan returned from Tremayne?”
Johnny hurried around the table and stood next to Silver. “I’m here.”
“Get a security detail to wherever you are and have that woman arrested.”
Silver held up a hand to Johnny behind her. “Hang on, Levi. Your new security chief is dead. You need me.”
“You’re a failure, Long. I replaced you for cause. Why am I even arguing with you about this? Logan!”
“Leader,” Silver said. “I have located Yaz.”
The speaker on the tablet was silent.
“Levi?” Silver said. She looked back and forth from Johnny to Xander. “Hello? Are you there?”
Xander touched the edge of the device with a finger and angled it toward himself. He shrugged and looked at Silver.
Johnny walked around the table to the wet bar in the corner. “Way to go, Long. Looks like you’ve sufficiently pissed him off. Would suck to be you right now.” He poured a triple shot of whiskey and turned to face Xander. He tipped his glass to the doctor. “Or you.”
Xander stood and joined Johnny at the bar. “Me? I haven’t done anything. You’ll both confirm that.” He looked up at Johnny. “Right?”
Johnny shrugged. “I’m not part of your little agreement with Ms. Long, Doctor.” He downed his drink and poured another. “You’re the one that made the deal. Don’t even think about bringing my name up to Levi.”
Xander’s eyes widened. “But—”
“Relax, Rasmus,” Silver said. “I’ll handle Levi.” She stood and moved around to the head of the conference table and seated herself in the chair previously occupied by the doctor. She picked up the tablet and eyed the screen. “He hasn’t hung up.” She tossed the device roughly back onto the table.
The conference room door swished open, and Levi entered followed by two security guards. His eyes locked on Silver’s. “Where is he?”
Silver stood and smiled. “We have much to discuss, Levi.”
Levi remained at the opposite end of the table and eyed Johnny and Xander before turning back to Silver. “First things first, Long—”
“Good,” Silver said. “We have common ground. First thing is I get my top security clearance back.”
“Not so fast,” Levi said. “I don’t know that you have knowledge of Yaz’s whereabouts.”
Silver folded her arms. “Top security clearance for Silver Long. Then, information.”
Levi frowned. “A poor attempt at humor. Where’s Yaz?”
“It’s called a conundrum, Levi.” Silver motioned to the pair at the bar. “You have your top two members of your inner circle standing around the bar in the War Room, drinking whiskey like it’s water.” She chuckled. “And yet, here I am. And here you are. You want information you can only get from me. Information your new security chief was unable to provide. She was a poor choice, by the way. Not even smart enough to keep her guard up.”
“Leader—” Johnny said.
Levi raised his hand. “Shut up.”
“Give me top security clearance, Levi.” She glanced at Xander and Johnny. “And make me second-in-command. Dr. Rasmus is weak.”
“He’s top-notch. So is Logan,” Levi said. “So was Ms. DeMone.”
“And yet, here I am,” she said. “I found Yaz. I eliminated Ms. DeMone. Logan brought me to the Underground. Logan brought me to the War Room. Rasmus allowed me to stay. Rasmus dialed your hotline. Who’s stronger?”
Levi stood still, staring at Silver.
“Be a true leader, Levi. Security chief. Second-in-command. Top security clearance.”
Levi looked at Xander. “Make it happen. Now.”
Chapter 38
Love
Krystal stood alone outside the door to the Depot. She stared silently into the fog through red-rimmed eyes. Across the compound, two Punk guards stopped for a smoke break under the yellow-orange mist of a sodium-vapor light. A burst of laughter from the pair reached her ears. Can’t even remember the last time I laughed. She pulled her hands from her duster pockets and rubbed her face. She ran her fingers over the acid scar on her right cheek—her thoughts drifted to the night she was branded by the Punks.
A sliver of light crept out of the Depot. “Care for some company?” It was Ryker. His voice was somehow comforting.
Krystal folded her arms tightly across her chest. “Sure.”
He let the door close slowly behind him and stood next to her. “I’m sorry about Curtis. No wonder we couldn’t find him.”
“Yeah.”
Ryker looked down at the side of her face. “Are you still in love with him?”
“Love?” Krystal leaned back against the Depot wall. “A person can build a wall around their heart, you know? And your heart’s there, safe behind that fortress you built. Then someone comes along and chips away at your heart’s wall. One by one they remove the bricks and expose your heart. And you hate that someone sees it, because you know it’s dark.”
“That’s not you, Krys,” Ryker said.
Krystal nodded slowly. “Yeah, it’s me.” A tear fell. “Curtis lit a fire in my heart. He made it appear bright and shiny with that fire.” She looked up at Ryker. “So you know what I did? I rebuilt the wall and snuffed out the fire.”
“He made choices, Krys—”
“I did it. I forced him to become a Changer.” She looked up as her eyes filled with tears. “God, I suck.”
Ryker stood in front of her and cradled her face with both hands. “Do you still love him?”
“Don’t you get it? No! I don’t love him now!” She pushed his hands away. “That’s why I suck. The wall’s up. My heart is dark, safe again. There’s no room for love in a world like this.”
Ryker’s arms hung at his sides. “Whatever happens in this world—any world—there’s room for love.”
She forced her hands back into the comfort of her pockets. “Not for me, there isn’t.”
He gazed past her at the Depot door. “You just need the right person to break down that wall again. Permanently, so it can’t be rebuilt.”
Krystal turned to the Depot door and grabbed the handle. “I need to see him. Now.” She flung the door open and walked inside.
Ryker turned around, leaned against the wall and lit a cigarette.
The two Punk guards walked slowly up the sidewalk and stopped in front of him. “Evening, boss,” the tall one said. “Everything okay?”
Ryker took a hit on his cigarette and exhaled slowly. “Yeah. Anybody got a hammer and chisel?”<
br />
Jimbo swiveled quickly in his chair at the communications console. “Hey. Krys.” He jerked a thumb over his shoulder. “Dion’s in his quarters with Fred and Thomas. He wants to see you and Ryk, ASAP.”
“I got something to do first,” she said, hurrying toward the side door.
“No can do, girl. He said as soon as you two get done with whatever you were doing, get to his quarters.”
Krystal stopped and glared at Jimbo.
He held up both hands. “Don’t shoot the messenger with those darts. Just get your butt in there.”
Without a word, she pushed the side door open and stormed down the hallway toward Dion’s quarters.
Dion and Winter sat on stools, their backs to the bar. “I’m sure they’ll be here soon,” Dion said.
“Krystal will know what to do,” Fred said. He settled onto the thick leather sofa and put his feet on the glass coffee table. “You know, Dion. She’s the only one of us that’s been a Bystander, a Changer and a Punk.”
Thomas held up his water bottle. “Well, here’s to Krystal.” He took a sip and glanced at the door. “Wonder what she thinks of Curtis now?”
“I was in love once,” Winter said.
“Once?” Fred said.
“Yeah…”
“So what happened?” Thomas said.
“Ah, it’s a long story.” She lifted her cell and checked the clock. “How much time you got?”
Dion glanced up when the door opened. “Hey, Krys.”
Krystal stepped inside and let the door close behind her. She tipped her chin up at Dion and Winter. “I’d kind of hoped to talk to Curtis.”
“We have some information, Krys,” Dion said. “Felix contacted Fred and Thomas right after we put Curtis in lockup.”
She unbuttoned her duster and slung it over the back of a barstool. “So what’s up?”
“First of all,” Fred said. “I’m certain Felix is in trouble.”
“How?”
“It’s Silver. From what he said, he let her get too close to him.”
“Yeah,” Thomas said. “She knows almost everything about his activities within the Underground. He had a monitor on the Changers’ War Room. Levi reinstated her as security chief.” He looked at Fred. “She’s officially second-in-command now.”
“Great,” Krystal said. “What are his plans?”
Fred put his feet down and sat forward. “He didn’t give us any other details about that. But he’s preparing to leave the Underground.”
Krystal began to pace slowly when Ryker walked in. “Did he say anything about the Changers’ next move?”
Fred stood and walked over to the pool table. He leaned against the edge and folded his arms. “They’re already moving. They’re populating Tremayne and other major cities in this sector with a new breed of Chybrid. They call them SOUL Chybrids. The SOUL Chybrid is virtually indistinguishable from the average human.”
“Populating?” Ryker said. “How, exactly?”
Thomas got up from the sofa and strode across the room to the bar. “Remember that subdivision in Tremayne where we saw Levi?” He leaned over the bar and tossed his empty water bottle into a recycle bin.
“Yep,” Ryker said.
“The first phase of that tract is 500 homes. There’s four phases planned in that subdivision alone. Plus, they’ve already begun construction on two other subdivisions and broken ground on a fourth.”
“Holy shit,” Dion said. “That’s 8,000 new homes.”
“Sure,” Fred said. “And Tremayne City Hall is fast-tracking all the permits and removing any and all roadblocks.”
“They gotta be embedded in the city government,” Winter said.
Thomas hopped onto a barstool. “They are. The city is also building schools to accommodate the influx of residents.”
“Damn.” Dion lit a cigarette. “This is bigger than we ever imagined.”
Fred shook his head. “It’s bigger than you’re imagining now. Those housing tracts are for the working class types. They’ve got plans for luxury subdivisions as well. But think about it, guys. That’s a city of a little over a half million people. Just those 8,000 homes will each have families of four occupants.”
“Some will have more,” Thomas said. “Each home will have at least two adult SOUL Chybrids. Each pair of adults will be assigned a minimum of two Chybrid children of varying ages.”
Krystal stopped pacing. “So what’s the purpose, Fred? Chybrids aren’t going to attack us from Tremayne. They don’t need to absorb to extend their lives—”
“The SOUL Chybrids are vessels, containers. The Chybrids will absorb the residents of the city and deliver the nutrients to the Changers.”
“They don’t need to attack us,” Thomas said. “The Bystanders already don’t want Punks in their cities anymore.”
“He’s right,” Ryker said. “It’s only a matter of time before the Bystanders kick us out. If the Changers control the government, they’ll come and go at will. From what you’re saying, absorptions won’t be an issue.” He shrugged. “The government will find a way to make it all okay.”
“If they even have to do that,” Thomas said. “The Chybrid children will infiltrate the schools and influence the Bystander kids. Felix said they’re going after the minds of the children first.”
“We’ve got weapons,” Winter said. “Why not just take them down?”
Dion snubbed his cigarette into an ashtray. “After the last attack, our force isn’t half what it used to be. Besides, being persona non grata in Bystander territory isn’t going to endear us or our fleet of BearCats to the residents when they get everything they need from the Changers.”
Ryker agreed. “Sure. We protected them from the Changers. They don’t need our protection now.”
“It gets worse,” Fred said. “This ground we’re sitting on right now. It’s inside the Perimeter. Inside the Wall. The Changers have a fierce army they didn’t have to use last time out. They practically decimated you guys with the mechanical Chybrids. Their army stayed home. But that won’t happen this time.”
“This time?” Krystal said.
Fred shook his head again. “Yeah. The plan is to kick the Punks to the outside. Outside the Wall. Then they seal it up and everything inside the Perimeter fulfills their goal.”
Butterflies roiled Krystal’s gut. The hair on the back of her neck bristled. “Human breeding farms.”
The room fell quiet as all heads turned to Krystal. She stood, feet apart, and folded her arms across her chest. Her eyes narrowed as her gaze flitted between the Punks and Rogue Changers.
Dion broke the silence. “What do you say, Krys?”
“I say we don’t have much time. Honestly, at this point, we’re gonna play catch up.” She uncrossed her arms and addressed the group. “First, we clean up all loose ends, starting in Tremayne.” She pointed at Dion. “Pull Red out of Tremayne. He’s not quite a liability, but he’s not our best. Have Jimbo get hold of the Three Amigos and Nico. I want one Amigo at each main checkpoint in Tremayne—east, west and south. Put Nico at the north. Put our best teams together to support them—ten Cats to back them up at each checkpoint. I’ll follow up with instructions.
“Next. Ryker, Winter and Jimbo will team up with me. So get Lace in here. Put her on the comm console to replace Jim.” She turned to Fred and Thomas. “You two call Felix and try to determine what he has left to be done in the Underground—and what his ETA is for exit.” She glanced at her cell. “Everyone meet in the main conference room in the morning. Seven o’clock sharp.”
“You got it, Krys,” Dion said. “Anything else?”
“Yeah. We got a loose end in lockup that only I can deal with.”
“Curtis,” Ryker said.
“Right.” She snatched her duster from the barstool and headed to the door. “And there won’t be any voting or group decisions on this one. I’ll handle it.”
Krystal
exited Dion’s quarters and turned down the stark gray concrete walkway toward the Punks’ lockup facility. Fog drifted over the sidewalk that led to the lockup, blurring the lights mounted atop poles that lined the path. She swung her duster off her shoulder. Without breaking stride, she slipped the long coat on and buttoned it, waist to chest.
Two guards stood casually at the door to the building. “Hey, Krystal,” the lead guard said.
“Evening, guys,” she said, stepping past them and twisting the doorknob. “Stand up straight and stay on alert.”
The two Punks complied as the door closed behind Krystal.
It was warm inside the cinder block building. No one was stationed at the counter in the foyer. Krystal glanced up at the six flat-screen monitors behind the counter. One monitor showed the two guards outside at the entrance. Another screen displayed an interior hallway and a row of caged cells with barred doors. She noticed Curtis was in cell number one, with two guards stationed at the cell door. She walked through a door behind the counter and into a short hallway.
The guards parted without a word when she walked in. “You two can beat it,” she said.
The pair moved around behind her to the exit. “Call if you need us. We’ll be right outside the door.”
Curtis stood quickly and walked three steps from the bare bench to the door of the cell. He grabbed the bars with both hands. “Babe!”
Krystal stood out of arm’s reach in the center of the hallway. “It’s time for you to go, Curtis.”
His face dropped. “What are you talking about?”
“I’m not a Changer. And you are.”
Curtis squinted and moved his face to the bars. “Wait—” He swallowed. “The Change isn’t reversible. Levi told me—”
“He’s a liar. It’s reversible.”
“But I became a Changer for you, babe. Because I love you.”
Krystal shoved her hands into her pockets. “And I loved you. And I hated being a Changer. I knew we couldn’t be together because Changers and Punks don’t mix. But I fought for the Punks because you were a Punk and I could be on your side.”
Curtis tried to be cheerful. “I know, babe. I saw you.”
