by Greg Dragon
It was just the break they needed. A hand clasped my shoulder, and I shook it free only to have my arm grabbed. I fought, but it was too late. Three men had me secured in seconds. A tall yellow with lean features stood between me and freedom, his techband screen still up as if I’d interrupted a conversation. He glanced back at the screen. “Wish you could see this, Mills. It’s a girl EPIC soldier. And a red, no less.” He leaned over me, and I felt his hot breath on my cheek. “What’d you do, pretty little lady? Must’ve been pretty bad to be pegged as a red so young.”
I struck. It took one kick, more a desperate toss of my leg than a true strike. It wasn’t powerful, but it landed true. The techband screen nearly tore right off. Its owner gasped in shock and grabbed his hand in horror, his mouth working soundlessly. In slow motion, he sank to the floor. I hadn’t shattered the screen, but the impact had been enough to trigger punishment mode. The hands gripping my arms suddenly loosened.
I was up and running before his companions knew what had happened, stumbling for the exit. Poly and his team had to be in position by now. I was out of time.
Incoherent shouting followed, and the wild footsteps behind me moved faster this time, taking advantage of my awkward strides. Why did Tali let them tie my hands? I summoned every ounce of speed I could, leaping toward the door with a yell, but it wasn’t fast enough. A hand whipped out and hooked around my waist, yanking me to a near stop. I turned and swung my elbows upward, hoping to make contact with the man’s face, but he was ready. He grabbed my shoulders and shoved me roughly to the ground. I landed with my nose in the dirt.
“Stupid girl,” he said, then grabbed a handful of my hair and pulled, lifting me painfully to my feet. I yelped, but he didn’t let go.
A skinny man sneered right in my face. “We’re out of knockout pills, but no biggie. Let’s find out if reds bleed like the rest of ’em.”
He straightened. I realized what he was about to do, but my shaking, oxygen-deprived body was frozen in place. Just as his fist cocked, a figure jumped out from behind a crate.
“No!”
I felt the impact. Then everything went black.
15
After leaving Treena hidden, I did a quick perimeter check. Very few workers lingered here—they mostly trotted past without even glancing at me. I wasn’t sure what to make of that. Either I was well disguised, or they knew exactly who I was and pretended not to see. In either case, nothing seemed out of the ordinary.
I found a corner stacked with dusty crates and crouched down, intending to get a location check on my guys. But just before flipping open the techband, I caught sight of something etched on a metal box in front of me. I squinted at it, then froze. Two curvy lines with a square in the middle. An iron belt. The sign of my clan.
I rocked back on my heels and brushed my hand over the uneven surface. Someone had used a laser to mark the box, and by the absence of dirt and rust, it had been done recently. That could only mean one thing.
I leaped up, searching wildly for the men I knew would be here. This end of the room was completely empty of workers now. A perfect time for a drop, although I knew now that wasn’t their true intention.
If my clan wanted to talk to me badly enough to set all this up, it meant they were ready for us. It meant my men were in danger.
Your men are armed, I reminded myself. It’s the girl who isn’t. And you just left her alone.
With a curse, I sprinted back toward Treena’s hiding place.
><><><><><><><
They were already there. Ten of them surrounded Treena, who lay on the ground.
A thick guy yanked her up by the hair. She glared at her captor with determination, breathing hard. Marshall, my clan’s metalworker, said something—I couldn’t hear what, from my position—and then cocked a fist.
I jumped up. “No!”
His fist made contact, and Treena crumpled to the ground. I swore and leaped forward, shoving Marshall against a stack of crates. I nearly landed a punch to his already bloodied nose before he had sense enough to block me. He spun out of my grasp and swung a fist toward my head. I redirected his punch toward the ground, stepped in, and kicked him hard in the groin. He collapsed with a moan.
“Punching a teenage girl in the face, Marshall,” I muttered. “Are you really that insecure?”
“Vance,” Anton, my former best friend, said. “Wondered when you’d show up.” He stepped forward as if to pat my shoulder, but one look at my face made him pull his hand back.
“Nice of you all to gather in one place,” I told him. “It’ll make my job much easier.” My gaze flickered to Treena, her unconscious body twisted on the ground, her face turned toward me. She looked peaceful, her dark eyelashes even more apparent against her smooth skin. A nasty red mark marred one cheek.
“Oh, you won’t arrest us,” Anton said. “We have a message for you from the clan.” His voice was smooth, confident. He barely looked like himself. His hair was too short, his teenage tufts of beard had been shaven away, and a bright yellow 611 glowed on his forehead. Strangely, his wrist was bare. No techband.
“Our clan doesn’t exist anymore,” I said.
“Just because they scattered us doesn’t mean we don’t exist. We’re gathering again, and our freedom will come very soon. You’re lucky we’re even telling you of our plans. Most of them didn’t want Vance the Lapdog included at all.”
“I’m no lapdog.”
“Not a well-trained one, I’ll admit,” he said, grinning at the others, “but a lapdog in every sense of the word. Don’t you want to hear the message?”
That stopped me. I glanced around the group. Half of them had familiar faces; they were men who had families and vocations. Men who had followed my father with loyalty. Now they watched me with hatred and disgust. They couldn’t blame NORA for their fate. It was too big, too far above them. But they could blame me, a seeming traitor who had defected to the other side. I was just one person, and I was right here.
“No, I don’t,” I said.
“Amnesty. They’ll allow you back if you leave now. Undefect yourself, Vance. Come help us overthrow that stupid empress and her clones. If you tell us everything you know, we can succeed and be home within the month.”
“Home.” I nearly spat the word. “There is no home. Remember, Anton? It’s just a pile of charred rubble now. Besides, you’ll lose. The empress—”
“Implemented her new law too late,” Graydon interrupted. His slender form made him appear taller than he was. “We’ve ditched the techbands, Vance. The military workers have to keep theirs to get us in, like this unfortunate fellow.” He nodded toward a body on the ground. “But the rest of us are free. She can’t punish us now unless she catches us.”
“And she won’t,” Anton said. “Not this time. Join us.”
I glanced back at Anton, who watched me carefully. Maybe too carefully. He’d never been a good liar. He stood a little too straight now, his face shiny with sweat, his manner nervous. It was interesting that they had chosen my best friend as their representative. If they thought that would get into my head, they were dead wrong. Unfortunately, Anton had brought nine men with him, men who now encircled me like they would a prisoner.
It wasn’t much of a choice at all. If I left, the Demander would kill my family. They were no safer now than that awful day two years ago. Besides, I’d spent every day since then being manipulated and used. I would not switch from one master to another.
“No,” I said.
Anton’s mouth actually dropped. “No?”
“No. And I suggest you get moving. Team One should be here in . . .” I glanced at my techband, “hmm . . . about twenty seconds.”
“I’m getting sick of this traitor’s mouth,” Darrell said with a growl. He pushed himself off the floor and lunged in my direction. I stepped aside and let him stumble past, then twisted his arm into a wristlock. In seconds his arms were fastened behind his back. The cuffs weren’t as effective without the tech
band connection, but he wouldn’t get far. One down.
“You chose the wrong side, man,” Anton said. “They’ll never let you go, and you know it. Join us and we can take her down together. Besides, something’s coming. You don’t want to be here when it does.”
“I’m on nobody’s side, Anton, yours or theirs. It’s just me.”
“Let’s go, Anton,” a smaller man said. “If he really does have backup—”
“Nah, he’s bluffing. We took out his team, remember? You’ll regret turning us down, Hawking.” Anton motioned to two of his men, who started to approach. That was Anton—he never did his own fighting. I let my anger flow freely, feeling the surge of fire in my veins. As soon as they attacked, I struck—a kick, an elbow to the temple, a blur of motion. I took a punch to the nose and returned the favor with a shot to the ribs. Within seconds both men were moaning on the floor, wrists bound. Two and three.
“Oh, come on, Anton,” a smaller man said, backing away. “We’ll put out a call for the people to take care of him. He won’t last a week.”
“Yeah,” another guy, Gregor, muttered. “Just tell Mills that Vance has turned on us. Again.”
Anton glared, and his hand itched toward where he’d once kept his pistol. He didn’t have one now, of course. Pistols would give them away in a second, not to mention how a gunshot echoed for kilometers.
Kilometers. Now I was even thinking like NORA. That was unacceptable.
“Don’t move.” I snatched up my weapon, aiming it at Anton in one swift motion. The color drained from his face. The other guys spun and began to run. I kept my weapon trained on his chest.
The footsteps faded into the distance as Anton’s guys found their way outside. The sound of distant yelling broke the silence. Poly’s team was closing in. The settlers had taken out five of us, but it looked like we’d get all ten of them, in addition to whomever Poly had found. The cold satisfaction that accompanied my thoughts shocked me out of my anger, and I lowered my weapon.
Anton dropped his hands and cocked his head to listen, his expression hardening. “You have your revenge,” he nearly spat. “I should have known you’d betray us again. That’s just who you are. But if you want me, you’ll have to shoot.”
I wanted to. Man, I wanted to shoot him, if only to make myself feel better. But the adrenaline surge was wearing off now. I tried to imagine him a foot shorter, his hair long over his ears, his face freckled and tan. Anton had once been the best trapper in the settlement, and I’d gone with him to catch rabbits and squirrels before we were technically old enough to be alone in the forest. We’d almost trapped a bear once.
He stared at me accusingly now, as if I’d been the one to set fire to the settlement and destroy his way of life. The innocent Anton was gone forever. I could tell he was thinking the same thing about me.
“Climb the platform pole,” I said. “I’ll tell them I checked it myself. But try to trick me again, and you won’t even make it to the safety of prison.” Without waiting for an answer, I strode past him and made my way to Treena’s still form. Anton scrambled away.
I turned her onto her back as gently as I could. Her chest rose and fell in a steady rhythm, and she looked fine except for the deep purple bruise. What kind of leader left his most inexperienced soldier alone to go meet with the enemy? Treena had even followed my orders despite her objections, and she’d paid the price for my idiocy. She’d trusted me to protect her.
That was her biggest mistake.
16
She’s waking up,” Poly said.
With a moan, I tried to force my eyes open, then slammed them shut again when the headache hit. I was lying on a hard floor—the washroom? One eye allowed a sliver of light in, just enough to see faces above me.
“Welcome back,” Vance said softly.
“What happened?” I tried to ask, but it came out as a groan. My jaw wouldn’t work right. The pain was terrible—a throbbing in my cheek, my head, and even my teeth.
“Triggering punishment mode on his own techband,” Neb muttered. “That was brilliant, Treena. I wonder if it works the same way if you mess with someone’s implant?”
His words disintegrated in my foggy thoughts. What was he talking about? I tried to sit up, and Vance reached out to steady me with a gentle hand, but I shrugged him away. “Where are we?”
“We’re still at Meridian. Take it easy,” Poly said. “You may have a concussion. Fates, what I wouldn’t give to have my pharmacy rights back—a pronopolyne pill would have you up in no time. At the very least, you’ll have a bruise for a few days.”
“Bruise?” Daymond mumbled. “If that’s just a bruise, I’m emperor of NORA. She’s lucky he didn’t cave her face in.”
“I think I can stand.” I pushed myself up. The ground swayed for a second, and I closed my eyes against the light. “Where is everyone?”
“Escorting our smuggler friends to town,” Vance said.
Neb broke in. “Vance kept them distracted until Poly could get there. He got three of them by himself.”
Poly turned to me. “We think one of them got away, Treena. Do you remember how many there were?”
I glanced at Vance. He was staring at the ground. “Ten?” I guessed.
“All males?” Poly prodded.
I hesitated, then nodded, instantly regretting it when the pain slammed into my head again. “Yeah. Why do you ask? Did you catch any women?”
“Nah,” Poly said. “Just making sure we got ’em all.”
I let my breath out slowly. Tali had escaped. I hoped she knew what she was doing.
“There are no available choppers,” Poly began, “so we’re taking transports back. I’ll escort Treena—”
“No.” Vance interrupted. “I’ll take her. Can she walk?”
“I don’t see why not,” Poly replied. “She probably has a huge headache, though. She may need someone to steady her.”
“How about you stop talking about me like I’m not here? I can walk fine,” I said.
“Come on,” Vance said, avoiding my eyes. “It’s parked out front. This way.”
To my dismay, Vance insisted on riding back with me. I wanted to tell him he was the last person I wanted to ride with, but he hopped in and slammed the door before I could protest. We watched the military base disappear into the distance.
It was several minutes before I broke the heavy silence. “Where did you go?”
“Perimeter check. And you didn’t obey orders.”
“Excuse me?”
“I told you to stay down and notify me if you saw something.”
“I did say something. You never answered. Besides, they jumped me from behind. What was all that ‘stay together’ junk, anyway, if you were planning on ditching me?”
He stiffened. “I thought you’d be safe there. I wasn’t gone ten minutes.”
“Good, then you caught the big finale. You know, the part when I was running for my life and you sat behind a crate and watched? I hope it was a good show.”
He turned to look at my face, his brown eyes flashing. “They paid for it. Besides, they wouldn’t have hurt you. Just knocked you out with their pills, just like the others.”
I snorted and pointed to the swollen mass of my cheek. “Wouldn’t hurt me! You don’t think this hurts?”
“If you hadn’t fought, he wouldn’t have assaulted you.”
“Didn’t you train me so I could defend myself?” I yelled. “Didn’t you, just this morning, tell me to attack rather than run? What the fates is the matter with you?”
“You were completely surrounded and unarmed. The smart thing would’ve been to surrender and wait for backup.”
“You were my backup. For all I knew, everyone else was dead.”
“I can’t protect you!” he thundered. The poor driver jumped, then eyed us in the rearview mirror. Vance sighed and lowered his voice. “I mean—I won’t always be around, Treena.” He ran his fingers through his hair in frustration. “Just forget it.
”
The anger drained away. “I never asked for your protection.”
“Yeah, well, I never asked them to send a helpless, untrained girl that I’d have to protect.”
“I am not helpless.“
“I saw the whole thing, Treena. You have courage, but your skills aren’t there yet. Until they are, it’s my job as your trainer to keep you safe. Those smugglers weren’t the murdering kind. They were just proving a point.”
I stared at him in disbelief. “If I didn’t know better, I’d think you were on their side.”
His jaw tightened as he turned away.
We ignored each other for the rest of the trip.
17
So, what now?” I asked Neb when we walked into the training room. My argument with Vance had only compounded my headache, which was now affecting my vision. Vance had stormed off into the bedroom, so I decided to wait awhile before going to bed. Or, rather, to my pile of pillows.
He shrugged. “Downtime. I’ll probably go work out.”
Ross chuckled as he walked past. “You? Since when?”
Neb glared at him, and I hid a smile. “Practically every day,” he shot back. “I can lift my own body weight. I can probably lift you, Treena.”
“I’ll take your word on that,” I said.
Ross, still wearing a grin, opened a closet near the door. There were several chunks of black metal resting on the shelves within. He typed something into a keypad, and one of the masses morphed into a set of weights. He grabbed them and headed for a bench in the corner, and Neb stepped in to take his turn.
There was no way I was working out. The dull ache in my head made me feel grumpy, and the confidence I’d felt this morning had drained completely away, taking with it some of my resolve. Tali was—had always been—a smuggler. How had I not known? What other secrets had my best friend hidden from me? She’d been a little distant since I’d started dating Dresden. Had my absence driven her to a life of crime?
