Phantom Legacy

by T. C. Edge

  Phantom Legacy

  The Phantom Chronicles, Book 3

  T. C. Edge

  This book is a work of fiction. Any names, places, events, and incidents that occur are entirely a result of the author's imagination and any resemblance to real people, events, and places is entirely coincidental.

  Copyright 2018 T. C. Edge

  All right reserved.

  First edition: Feb 2018

  Cover Design by Laercio Messias

  No part of this book may be scanned, reproduced, or distributed in any printed or electronic form.

  BOOKS IN THE PHANTOM CHRONICLES

  The Last Phantom (Book 1)

  Phantom Hunter (Book 2)

  Phantom Legacy (Book 3)

  OTHER BOOKS BY THE AUTHOR:

  THE ENHANCED SERIES (MAIN SERIES):

  The Enhanced (Book One)

  Hybrid (Book Two)

  Nameless (Book Three)

  Assassin (Book Four)

  Captive (Book Five)

  Renegade (Book Six)

  Invader (Book Seven)

  Avenger (Book Eight)

  Defender (Book Nine)

  Nemesis (Book Ten)

  THE WARRIOR RACE SERIES (ENHANCED UNIVERSE):

  The Warrior Race (Book One)

  The Red Warrior (Book Two)

  Angel of War (Book Three)

  THE WATCHERS SERIES:

  The Watchers Trilogy:

  The Watchers of Eden (Book One)

  City of Stone (Book Two)

  War at the Wall (Book Three)

  The Watchers Trilogy Box Set

  The Seekers Trilogy

  The Watcher Wars (Book One)

  The Seekers of Knight (Book Two)

  The Endless Knight

  The Seekers Trilogy Box Set

  Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  What’s Next?

  Also by T. C. Edge

  1

  The skies that day had been blue through the morning. From leaving the little camp to the west of Devil’s Pike, to crossing into Nebraska to the old, abandoned farm, the weather had held out nicely. A positive omen, it had appeared, for the day ahead.

  It was meant to be triumphant, a day of great victory. They were meant to have the data disc by now; they were meant to have destroyed it. They were meant to be travelling back to the base of Project Dawn, high in the Colorado mountains, vindicated for their failures and greeted as heroes of their cause.

  None of that had happened.

  As if the weather of the world was in line with their feelings, the skies had now turned dark. A blanket of sodden grey clouds had worked quickly down from the north, bringing with it the threat of an impending storm. A storm in the skies; a storm down below. They’d failed, and now the world would suffer for it.

  The strike team sat aboard the falcon in a state of despondency. Eyes were down, brows furrowed. Heads shook in denial at just what had gone on. All had retreated into their personal thoughts, trying to work through the events of the day; the escape of Mikel, the stealing of the data, the arrival of those black-clad soldiers from the ridge. No one had answers. No one knew just what to do. Right now, they were merely floating in that jet, cloaked from sight and, perhaps, wishing they could just stay hidden forever.

  It had been only about twenty minutes since they’d escaped the farm, and those dozen or so soldiers who’d appeared to come from nowhere. In order to catch their breath and their bearings, Ragan had ordered Tanner to head high, drifting into the quiet skies where the falcon could hover without detection. They needed time to think, to ponder, and eventually, to plan. The data had been taken from them once more, and it remained in Mikel’s grasp. The hunt, though temporarily scuppered, was still on.

  Ragan rose from a chair at the briefing table, trying to brush aside his dejection. A large part of him wanted to wallow in his failure, indulge in self-rebuke, chastise himself for his stupidity in letting Mikel manipulate him like that. The nano-vamp had had them all on a string, making his demands, exploiting their desperation to win back the data. He’d worked Tanner into a fury, clouding Ragan’s ability to make sensible decisions. When he’d demanded release from his restraints, Ragan saw no other choice. He wanted that data so badly. He needed to do whatever it would take to get it.

  He thought, foolishly, that it would be fine as long as Chloe and Nadia had guns on him. He never expected Mikel to act as he did. Stupid though it was, he’d begun to believe that the vamp was willing to cooperate. He underestimated him, and perhaps overestimated himself. And that trick with the sensory grenade - how could I not see that coming?

  He gritted his teeth at the thought, and paced up through the plane. The others were still sat quietly around the jet, each lost to a temporary slump.

  It has to be temporary, thought Ragan. We can’t sit like this for long.

  He hoped his movement would fuel him, break him from the lull. The others glanced up at him, perhaps thinking he’d thought of something. Chloe’s eyes were eager, hopeful. Above all others, Ragan knew, she saw this data as her responsibility. Just as he did.

  I’ve failed you, he thought. He had to look away.

  He took a few more paces, thinking. Nadia’s arm - she sustained an unpleasant gash during the battle from a bullet graze - had now been sewn up by Tanner and was wrapped in a bandage. Her nanites would work quickly to heal the wound, though the stitching would help speed the process. It wasn’t bad enough to hinder mobility. She sat next to Tanner now, both unusually quiet. For Tanner, in particular, that was odd. At another time, Ragan would be happy for the respite. But not today.

  He needed to rouse his troops. The hunt wasn’t over yet.

  He cleared his throat, turning on them. He found Chloe’s eyes eager again, Remus perched on her shoulder, standing as if to attention in his avian form. The sight lured a smile to Ragan’s lips. That was enough to draw away some of the tension.

  He made to speak, but realised he didn’t have much to say. Instead, he hesitated, then posed a question. He needed to get a dialogue going.

  “So…anyone had any thoughts,” he asked. It was a stupid question, but a start.

  “Thoughts?” murmured Tanner, unusually sombre.

  “Yes. On…what to do next?”

  “Ragan, if you don’t know, I’m damned if I do,” said Tanner. He shook his head and turned away.

  Ragan’s eyes went to Nadia. She shrugged.

  “I guess we head back to base,” she said. “We’ve got no trail on where Mikel went, so there’s little we can do from here. We could probably use Colonel Slattery’s help right now. I know you wanted to finish the job on your own, Ragan, but things have changed now. There’s nothing we can do from here.”

  Ragan nodded, though reluctantly. He didn’t particularly like admitting defeat like this, but Nadia was right. They’d reached a dead-end in the chase, led there by Mikel. As much as he hated the thought, they had to regroup. And no doubt Slattery would take Ragan straight off the case for his second failure, and second insubordination.
>
  Returning to base, in fact, might just be an admission that it was all over. As Tanner had told him that morning, Slattery wouldn’t trust him any longer. He’d eroded that trust, abused it. He’d tried to do it all himself, and now he was paying the price.

  His head started to hang at the thought. No, he needed to lift it. He needed to stay strong. He drew a breath and nodded.

  “You’re probably right,” he said. “I’m…sorry for leading you into this mess. I’ll assume full responsibility for what happened. None of you have to…”

  “Hell no.” It was Tanner, turning back to Ragan. He stood, suddenly, as he spoke. “Ragan, we came down here as a team, and we’ll take the heat as a team too. Mikel fooled us all, not just you. And if Slattery wants to hang you out to dry for this one…well, I ain’t having it.”

  Ragan smiled.

  “I appreciate it, Cliff. But, this is my fault. I’ve made some bad calls, and I need to face up to it.”

  “What bad calls?” asked Chloe, her voice firm, eyes equally so. “Ragan, we were set up, remember. Martha did all of this, that treacherous snake. And you were the one to work that out.”

  “But I didn’t call it in to Colonel Slattery,” said Ragan, his voice weaker, more vulnerable, than normal. “I should have done. He’d have sent soldiers to support us, and Mikel wouldn’t have had any chance of getting away.”

  “Yeah, you might have done that,” said Chloe. “But, you were afraid, just like all of us, that there might be another mole back at base…”

  “No,” said Ragan shaking his head. He was falling to self-reproach again. “I wanted to complete the mission myself, without Slattery’s help. I was foolish, and egotistical, and…”

  “And nothing,” cut in Chloe. “You made a decision, one that could have gone either way. We had no idea who we could trust, so we decided to just trust each other. Don’t second guess your decisions, Ragan. Mikel duped us all with that grenade. Hell, he convinced me he was genuine. I was the one who thought I’d got him to come around, remember. So I’m just as much as to blame as anyone, maybe more…”

  “I’ll throw my hat in that ring,” interrupted Tanner. “That goddamn freak got under my skin, made me lose my cool. If I hadn’t, things would have gone different.”

  “Guys…” Nadia’s voice was calm, collected. All eyes turned to her. She stood, wincing at the pain in her arm. “This isn’t going to get us anywhere. It seems everyone wants to take the blame. That’s sweet. It’s nice we all want to make the rest feel better, but it’s a waste of time.” She steadied her eyes over her companions. “I say we go back to base, and face the consequences together. What’s the worst Slattery can do?”

  Ragan shrugged.

  “He’ll take us off the hunt, relegate us,” he said. “He won’t trust me after this, and if you all take responsibility too, he won’t trust you either.” He shook his head. “This is my fault, my problem. There’s no sense in all of us suffering.”

  “Well if that’s the case, then I’m not heading back there,” said Tanner confidently. “I’m not going back just so you, or all of us, can be locked in the damn brig for insubordination. Data or no data, I’m going after Mikel. If Slattery wants to get between that, forget him.”

  Ragan raised his eyebrows. Did Tanner have a point? If Ragan truly believed that returning to base would have him grounded, then was that really the best choice?

  “We all admire your fervour, Cliff,” said Nadia coolly, almost to the point of mocking. “But we have to be more sensible than that. Sure, this isn’t like the militaries we used to serve, but we still have to obey hierarchy and command. Otherwise we’re just a bunch of rogue agents, doing whatever we want. That’s no way to run operations. Colonel Slattery is our elected leader, and like it or not, he needs to be included.” She winced again, reaching across to her arm. “And aside from that, we need some support here. We can’t keep working alone like this.”

  Tanner’s expression displayed a respectful understanding of Nadia’s words, though held a clear undercurrent of denial as well. He had always been a rogue, it was in his blood. Operating beyond the remit of his commanders was something he was rather fond of.

  Ragan took Nadia’s opinion on board, and found himself nodding. He needed to forget his personal feelings in retrieving the data, and his personal vendetta against Mikel. He was, perhaps, making the mistake of thinking this mission meant more to him than it did others. That wasn’t the case, he knew. Despite Martha’s betrayal, Project Dawn remained as committed as ever to seeing through their intended purpose, and Colonel Slattery had always been at the centre of that. Could he now deny him, leave the highest ranking member of the Crimson Corps out in the cold? Did Ragan have that right, that authority. Was he really that arrogant?

  “Nadia’s right,” he found himself saying. “We have to fall into line. We - I - took a chance. It failed. Now it’s time to make up for it. Whatever that means.”

  The group fell silent. Ragan looked to Tanner, clearly displeased with the decision, and then to Nadia, expression placid. Chloe, meanwhile, was staring off to the side, frowning. It looked as though she was looking at Remus, communicating with him.

  “This needs to be a group decision, though,” Ragan went on, partly to pacify Tanner. “We judge things as a team from now on.” His words didn’t catch Chloe’s attention. She continued to look distracted, her face seeming to turn more pale. “Chloe…” Ragan said. “What do you think?”

  It took a second for Chloe to react, to even hear what Ragan said. She blinked suddenly, as if escaping a dream or some strange spell. She looked over at Ragan, her frown deep, eyes stark.

  “I know who those soldiers were who attacked us,” she whispered, her tone grave.

  The group perked up.

  “Who!” asked Nadia keenly.

  “How do you know?” asked Ragan, just as fast.

  “Remus just informed me,” Chloe whispered. “I’d been too distracted until now to take it in. He…he recognised some of the men.”

  “Recognised?” said Tanner, doubtful. “How could he…”

  And then it dawned on them, as if they all came to the realisation at precisely the same moment.

  “They were from the base,” whispered Ragan. “Soldiers from the Crimson Corps.”

  They all looked at Chloe for confirmation. She was nodding.

  “But…how? They were all dressed in combat gear and helmets,” asked Tanner, still incredulous at the thought. “How could Remus know?”

  “Remus recognised their gait, body proportions, shape, movement,” said Chloe. “He takes in a lot of data. Clearly he’d analysed everyone he saw back at the base, and his data logs flagged up with some of the soldiers who chased us.”

  “I guess they were wearing the same combat gear as us,” nodded Nadia. “It’s what we’re issued when on mission.”

  “Standard stuff for mercs around here. Lot of soldiers wear the same,” countered Tanner. “Are you sure about this, Chloe? Are you certain Remus is right?”

  Chloe nodded, resolute.

  “Remus is always right. This isn’t some regular person thinking they recognise someone by the way they move, or their body shape. This is scientific. It was men from the base, that’s a fact. Though…he doesn’t know exactly who.”

  “Captain Quinn,” said Ragan, drawing the eyes of the group. “It would have been him and his unit. He’s Slattery’s preferred commander in the field.”

  The consequences of the reveal seemed to be dawning on the group. Their jaws were slightly open, eyes wide, heads shaking in continued disbelief.

  “Why the hell would Slattery send out a team to kill us?” questioned Tanner. “Sure, we were out of contact for a day or so…but this is a bit of an overreaction, don’t you think?”

  “Guess he thinks we’ve gone rogue or something,” suggested Nadia. “I mean, think of it from his perspective. We go dark, shut off the transponder so he can’t track us in the falcon. Who knows, he
may have sent a team to Devil’s Pike to investigate. If they found out that we’d taken the money and weapons from the trade, he’d be doubly suspicious. Still, seems an odd move to kill us and not try to take us in.”

  Ragan clenched his fists. More than ever, he wished he’d called it in.

  Damn you, Ragan, he growled to himself, internally. You’ve royally screwed this up…

  “Right, but how did they track us exactly?” asked Tanner. “They knew exactly where we were. I thought all possible ways of finding us were deactivated?”

  Ragan felt his heart lurch at the question, his insides constrict. Did they have another way of tracking them? The group shared uneasy looks, feeling suddenly unsafe. But it was fine up here in the clouds, the falcon cloaked as it was…wasn’t it?

  A sudden beeping sound spread from the cockpit. An alarm, starting quiet and blaring louder with each beep, like a screaming child demanding attention. All eyes turned immediately to the front of the plane. All four were straight onto their feet, rushing through the jet, down the short passage, and into the cockpit.

  Tanner swept into the pilot’s seat, tapping at a few dials and buttons. On a central screen, a simple satellite map came into view, showing their location. And not far away, another light was blinking.

  And it was closing fast.

  2

  “We’ve got company,” said Tanner, turning the jet quickly off auto-pilot and taking the controls. Ragan slipped into the seat next to him. Tanner glanced back at Chloe and Nadia. “You girls best get strapped in. This isn’t going to be a pleasant ride.”