Patriots & Tyrants (Rebels & Lies Trilogy Book 2)

by Cotton, Brian

  “You gotta have hope, though, or else what’s all this shit for?”

  The kid had a point. But, what good was hope without anything substantial coming about? Kaspar could hope all he wanted that this miracle cure would perk her right back to the way she was before, but that hope wouldn’t change the facts. Either there was a cure or not. Either the cure would kill Krys or make her better. And, not only those facts, but also the fact that the unit would either get whatever was in that complex or they would die trying. What was the point of hope? He tried to feel hope when the two of them escaped with Clarke all those months back.

  Look where that got me.

  The irony—hypocrisy even—was not lost on Kaspar. This whole time he had been trying to get Krys to not lose hope and here he found himself losing his. It didn’t quite make all that much sense to him. After all, they were about to raid a compound where something that could finally help her was supposedly kept.

  Kaspar decided to change the subject. “What’s the deal with you and your old man, anyway?”

  “What do you mean?” Buck demanded.

  “I don’t know. It just seems like you’ve got a rocky relationship or something.”

  “Yeah, he wants me to be this great soldier.” Buck smirked. “Some great soldier, huh?”

  “You’re still young. You’re making rookie mistakes.”

  “Well, what if I don’t want to be that?”

  “What else would you do?”

  Buck thought on it for moment. He gave a smile. “A musician or an artist.”

  Kaspar laughed. “How do you plan on using that out there? Might as well keep on with the good fight.”

  “It was a joke, that’s the point. I’ve got nothing else out there for me. If I could though, I would be like a jazz musician or something.”

  “Yeah, that’d be great wouldn’t it?”

  “What would you be doing?”

  Kaspar rubbed at the stubble on his chin. “Hell, I’d probably still be boxing, I guess. Only thing I’m good at, other than shooting Agents, of course.”

  The two shared in another laugh. This was the first time that Kaspar had spent any kind of time with Buck apart from the battlefield. The kid seemed to be an all right guy. A bit too hard on himself, but Kaspar couldn’t say anything to him in that regard. After the laughter was over, they sat in silence for a while again before Kaspar spoke up.

  “Listen to your father.”

  Buck dropped the smile on his face and looked dead into Kaspar’s eyes. “What?”

  “You heard what I said.”

  Buck stood. “What business of that is yours?”

  “I’m just saying. You don’t know what it’s like to not have your old man around. All I had was my mother.”

  “Then we’re the same, but opposite.”

  “Huh?”

  Buck sighed. “My mother died while giving birth to me. I always felt guilty about it…and I’m never quite sure if my dad ever blamed me for it.”

  “I’m sure he doesn’t. He just wants what’s best for you.”

  “Well,” Buck said as he turned his body the other way. “I think that’s about enough of this talk for now. I’ll see you around, huh?”

  “Sure, kid.”

  Buck started to walk for the campsite leaving Kaspar alone with his thoughts once more.

  .26

  Harvey and Sanders sat in the back of Sanders’s tnak with a laptop set up on a fold out table. The laptop belonged to Sanders and, of course, had a large screen enough screen that it could’ve passed for a small television. On the screen was a GPS image of the target compound. There was a road that led up the mountain to it, but there were checkpoints every few miles from what they could see.

  “This is going to be tricky.” Harvey said.

  “Yeah, no shit.”

  “Well, we obviously can’t just drive up the road.”

  “Obviously. We’re going to have to park our vehicles somewhere far off and then walk.”

  Sanders played around with the image and pointed out what, in his estimation, would be the best place to park. Harvey noticed the distance involved from where his comrade finally stopped. He could tell even from the smaller scale of the image that the two teams would have to make it a long way by foot without detection.

  “How long of a hike is that?” Harvey wondered.

  “We’re looking at between ten to fifteen miles.” Sanders replied.

  “That long, huh?”

  “You gotta problem with that? Don’t think you’ll make it?”

  “It’s not me I’m worried about.”

  Sanders placed his coffee on the table. “Who are you worried about? That girl?”

  “She’s not in her best condition right now.”

  “Well, there’s no other way. Either she goes or guards the vehicles, I don’t care. Just one person, remember?”

  Harvey’s jaws clinched. “Yeah.”

  “Good. So, the way I figure it, we make the hike. Once we get closer, we can try and get a good look on the security outside the building.”

  “Makes sense.”

  “You’re pretty good with a sniper rifle, right?”

  Harvey shrugged his shoulders. “I’ve got some skill.”

  “Don’t be so damned humble all the time. We could use that skill to clear a path for ourselves.”

  It took a bit longer than he would care to admit, but Harvey began to realize that Sanders was taking complete control over an Op that he was originally supposed to just be helping out with. The old Marine had never been an in your face type of guy, it just wasn’t in his nature. Now, he felt his grasp on this mission slipping just a bit.

  “Hey,” Harvey said, puffing his chest. “This was my Op, remember?”

  Sanders grew a scowl on his face. “What the fuck are you talking about?”

  “You know what I mean. I asked you for help and all you’ve done is try to take over what we’ve been trying to do.”

  “Look, big guy, I respect your military record. But, leave the strategy to me. You’re right, you did ask for my help, and I’m giving it to you. If you want to make this all about yourself, then me and my unit will just pack our things and go it alone.”

  Harvey was stumped. There was no comeback that came to mind, strategic or witty. He just sat there, dumbfounded. Sanders could have just been playing him, but then again, he could have been dead serious. There would be no way of knowing unless Sanders came right out and said it. Even if he did say it, with a drop dead serious look, the truth likely would have been hard to find. On the computer screen, and now face to face, Harvey found his comrade to be nearly impossible to read. None of that mattered, however, because this was likely the most dangerous—important—mission that he and his team would undertake. He just had to swallow his pride and take what he was given.

  “All right,” Harvey said. “We’ll play it your way, for now. But, if this thing gets fucked up, you are the one to blame, not me.”

  “The mark of a great leader is not giving a shit about the critics. You’ll do well to learn that, even in your old age.”

  “Touché.”

  .27

  The sight of the factory where his targets worked at caused a wave of curiosity to pour through Sullivan. The building was a plain gray, indistinguishable from the countless other buildings in this damn city. It was shaped like a large rectangle, two stories high, the gray concrete exterior was kept in pristine condition.

  On top of curiosity was the anxiety. Once again, he had been forbidden from getting too close to those he investigated, which got under his skin even more now than before. Before, he would just take it all in stride, now his mind was more than a little bit questioning of the powers that be.

  His excuse for not showing up to work today was that he was sick and just needed the day to rest. That, of course, was utter bullshit. Sullivan’s actual reason for calling in was so that he could get a closer look at what Reed and the other boys did for a livin
g with the USR. As he walked to the front door of the facility, one final bit of emotion hit him right in the gut. It was guilt. He felt guilty for not calling in sick and taking Davie out of school for a day of one on one time with each other. All that would have to wait, he supposed, as he approached the door.

  After a deep breath, he yanked down on the heavy metal door handle and into the lobby. Inside, there was a desk in the far right hand corner which served as a check in area. The lanky young man behind the counter didn’t show a shred of emotion as Sullivan approached him. Sullivan stared at the man’s shoulder length hair full of grease and decided not to use any either. Instead, he reached into his pocket and pulled out his credentials.

  “William Sullivan, Detective, USR Agent.”

  “How may I help you, sir?” the man behind the counter asked.

  “I need to talk with one of the employees that works here. Travis Reed.”

  “Oh, yes, Mr. Reed. On what business?”

  “Confidential, my man. Just get him over here.”

  “Just one minute.”

  Sullivan took a seat on one of the uncomfortable, pumpkin orange chairs to the left. His eyes went down to the fresh shine of his shoes which rested on the white tile floor. There was only one other citizen in the waiting room. He had on the same lime green getup that Reed always wore. His right hand was bandaged up good, droplets of blood leaked out at his right index finger. Sullivan hoped for that man’s sake that this USR company provided good healthcare for him. That was bullshit to even think about.

  Sullivan returned to his task at hand and felt that maybe there was still some good to be done with his current standing in the USR. It still provided him the chance of using his title to get shit done. The man behind the counter was like any other man or woman in the United Society of Reason…they didn’t say anything but yes to an Agent. It occurred to him, as it did months before when his wife died, that he had no clue what he would do after he either quit or was forced out of the department. After he found the answers he was looking for, who knew, he might even join the rebellion. But, where would that leave Davie?

  “He’s on his way.” the man said.

  “Good. Have him meet me in the back.” Sullivan replied as he stood from his seated position.

  “Of course, sir.”

  Sullivan walked towards the door on his right, which led to the back alleyway. A perfect spot for him to have a little face time with Reed once again. He wondered if the suspected rebel actually took his advice or not. Right now, it didn’t really matter. He needed to have this talk with him to try and gain some trust with his target. Sullivan couldn’t blame the guy for not immediately trusting him for the same reason that he was able to quickly get the man behind the counter to do what he wanted.

  The sound of the door creaking open behind him forced the Agent’s attention towards that direction. There stood Reed, who threw his hands in the air, almost in defeat. His head went straight down, and then pointed straight up at the sky. When this little ritual was over, Reed finally approached the Agent.

  “What the hell?” Reed said aloud.

  “Calm down,” Sullivan replied. “I’m not here for anything but to talk.”

  “Talk about what?”

  “Have you cancelled your card game?”

  Reed thought for a moment. “Yes.”

  “Let’s go for a walk.”

  “Fine.”

  The two men walked around the corner and down a mildly busy sidewalk. Sullivan, for the first time that he could remember, grew weary when he saw an Agent in full riot gear. The instincts inside him caused his head to move to the side so as to avoid all eye contact. Reed, to his credit, just acted like everything was cool and even nodded at the Agent. Sullivan turned left and led the two into a deserted alley littered with trash. They walked about midway down before he stopped. Loose pieces of paper blew around them along with the heavy wind.

  “What the hell is going on?” Reed asked.

  Sullivan rested his back against one of the walls. “I need you to trust me.”

  “You know that that’s a large request.”

  “I realize that. There’s not much else I can do other than ask for your trust.”

  “How do you expect me, us, to trust you, an Agent?”

  “Remember when you were brought in for questioning?”

  “Yes, of course I remember.”

  “I’ve been holding back the big guns ever since. We’ve been watching you. I volunteered for the investigation, because I knew someone else would be too eager to get a gold star by their name, if you catch my drift.”

  Reed rubbed at his chin then looked down either side of the alleyway. “Why us?”

  The Agent pulled his upper body off of the wall and approached the suspected rebel. He, too, now looked from left to right down the alleyway to make sure nobody was listening in. For the first time in his career, he was about to breach the oath of secrecy that all Agents took when they were hired on to their respective departments. There was no going back now, though, he told himself. It was time to get some answers.

  “For some reason, all of your buddies have abandoned the streets of the major cities they used to operate in. For the past six months, there has been little to no resistance activity for me to investigate.”

  “I’m aware of that,” Reed replied with a smirk. “You think I’m going to tell you where they are?”

  Sullivan shook his head. “No. I don’t care what the resistance as a whole is up to.”

  “So, you don’t care about them blowing up your compounds that build that drug then?”

  “No, I don’t. In fact, I applaud them.”

  Reed raised an eyebrow. “I’m confused.”

  “My wife…she was infected by some kind of poison that our doctor had never seen before. Then, I see something over the TV that the USR was responsible…”

  “They were!” Reed cried. He took a breath and calmed himself. “They created that drug to promote their population control, killing off countless women in the process, unaware of the side effects. Or, maybe they were aware, which is even scarier. I just thank God that my wife hasn’t been infected, yet.”

  “Yeah, well, the boys in my department are all hush hush about it. They don’t even talk about it. It’s like they don’t care or that it’s not really going on.”

  “Okay, so what does this have to do with us again?”

  Sullivan folded his arms across his chest. “I’ve tried searching every database in our network. Every time I get close to the truth, my clearance gets blocked, almost like someone is watching me.”

  “Wait a minute,” Reed said, holding his hand up. “You think that I’m going to provide you with some type of answers to your wife’s death?”

  “You do work in a top secret USR facility and you resistance folk seem to know more about this poison than anyone I work for.”

  Reed paused before speaking again. He tried to get a read on this Agent he was talking to. The deep feeling within that he was being trapped started to take over. To tell this man what he did in the factory could give this Sullivan a good enough reason to arrest him. After the arrest, Reed knew what came next. However, it was obvious to him that Sullivan had been hurt in some regard by his employers. He didn’t even seem like he wanted revenge as much as just wanting answers. Either way, he had to play this one right. Having a mole inside the USR couldn’t do anything but help.

  “Look, I don’t trust you enough yet to tell you what I do.” Reed said.

  “I understand that.”

  “But, I can tell you that it was in fact the USR that initiated your wife’s death with their experiments and that it is the resistance who is trying to fight back against them for it.”

  “Okay,” Sullivan said. He got the feeling they were being watched. At least he got something. “Time to cut this short. Here, take this.”

  Sullivan looked around before he reached into his jacket pocket. When his hand came back out, the fin
gers gripped a small black cell phone. Reed seemed to a bit apprehensive about taking the phone.

  “Relax, it’s not bugged. I know that you guys can scan the thing anyway to make sure. I’m here to help. If I wanted to bring you boys down, I would’ve called in a SWAT team instead of barging in that warehouse myself.”

  “Okay, what’s the phone for?”

  “Keep it on you. If I hear of anything, I’ll call to warn you. My standing in the department isn’t very high right now. I had to call in sick today just to meet with you. I don’t know how much longer I’ll even be employed.”

  “All right.”

  “Stay low. I know this is ironic, but don’t trust anyone in there. If you feel the heat or anything, take your family, and book it the hell out of town.”

  “What about you?”

  “I’m going to keep in contact with you until you trust me enough to give me some answers.”

  .28

  Those pair of wide, brown eyes stared right back into Harvey’s. He could feel her pain. There was a time when he had to sit out an operation because of injury. Actually, there were more times than he cared to remember. Such was the case when running these rebellious black ops that went against the government. Her condition was getting worse and there was simply not a chance that she would survive not only the hike, but the bitter cold they would face as well.

  “It’s your choice, of course,” Harvey said after he cleared his throat. “But, I must advise you to not go out on this one. Not in your condition.”

  Krys faked a laugh. “My condition hasn’t stopped me, yet. Not going to now.”

  “Look, I understand…”

  “How can you understand?”

  “I understand because I’m a soldier. I’ve had these talks with others before. Had the same talks directed at me, too. Look…”

  “I’m going, Sam. That’s the end of it.”

  Harvey stood from his stool and looked down at his comrade. There was great admiration inside for the woman’s fighting spirit. But, there was a time to go with your balls out, so to speak, and a time to sit one out. This was a time for the latter, but there would be no getting through to her, and he knew it. Ever since they linked up, her mind and her focus had been on one thing. Spreading the word about the USR experiments and finding a cure. Although the unit’s activities had led to less time for spreading any kind of word, she was about to embark on her second, and most important, obsession. It would take a bullet to stop her.