Paradise Awakened Trilogy

by Mackenzie Morris

  "You're a stubborn android, aren't you?"

  "Kazimir made me." Isidore says with a smile. "Of course I'm stubborn. My stubbornness is the only reason I'm alive at this point. Everyone here can vouch for that. What is your answer?"

  Velex looks around at everyone. "Fine. We'll get this plan going and get the people out of here then to Himmel."

  "Thank you."

  "One condition." Velex says.

  "What's that?"

  "You get me something strong to drink. I'm going to need it."

  10

  Velex paces across the entire length of the lounge where he has gathered everyone together to finalize the plan. He hands each person a small silver sensor. "This is your tracking device. Katarina will be stationed in the control room with Blice for the duration of this operation. They will take turns monitoring the screens and giving clearance for shots and initiating fights. They will be able to see where you are at all times so it is imperative that you attach this sensor to your body where it is not easily visible to the enemy. It will sting a bit at first as it connects to your nerves, but it is necessary for monitoring each of your bodily functions. If something goes wrong, they will be able to see it and take the appropriate actions. Here are your orders for today. Byron, are you able to fight?"

  Byron loads his shot gun. "Yes, sir. I'm feeling better than I have in months."

  "Good. You will be in the southern part of sector one. The enemy presence is light there so you should be fine going solo. Isidore, you will take the northern half of sector one. Just scout out the area and report in if you find any sign of innocents. Jarred and Jayce, I need you two to be in sector two. It's still heavily fortified from the civil war, but you two are sneaky enough to maneuver through the checkpoints and find a place to hole up and take shots when you can. Your primary objective is not to kill enemies. You are to find the hostages and get them back to the ship."

  Jarred nods his head. "Understood."

  "Doss and Zerachiel, I need you on the ground in sector three. That is the last known location of Michael. Will the two of you be able to take him down?"

  Doss runs his finger along the razor edge of his sword. "That's a tall order, Velex. You know what he's capable of."

  "Then if you feel incapable, I want you to trail him and tell Katarina of your location so we can get reinforcements down there to help."

  He sighs. "Yes, sir."

  "Now, Zach, I need you and your group of refugees to take up arms and position yourselves outside and surround this lab to prevent anyone from infiltrating our base of operations. Sector four is a completely burned out and empty sector that we have no reason to go into. That covers everything, then. Any questions?"

  No one moves.

  "All right. To your places and be sure to pray to whatever being you believe in to guide your souls. This is not going to be an easy operation. Stay safe out there, everyone."

  * * *

  Katarina sits down behind the wall of screens and checks to see if everyone's sensors are working. She pulls up the information on one of the monitors and goes down the list of names and corresponding numbers. Everything looks good. On the screen next to that is a map of Paradise and their locations displayed and moving as they move. The final touch is a blue glowing hologram floating on the table that has a three dimensional rendering of Paradise with every location of the sensors on it, updated every five seconds. She can watch each quadrant from here and know the direction in which they are traveling. She knows that this kind of information will prove to be invaluable in the next few hours or days, however long it takes to accomplish this mission and get everyone onto the ship.

  Blice lands on the table next to the hologram. "Be careful with this one. It can be flipped around and get a bit confusing on which quadrant is where. Always check back with the map on the screen over there when giving orders just to be sure you're not looking at the wrong one."

  "Sure thing."

  "Stay close to the radio so you can always communicate with the teams when they call in. Their names are listed next to the corresponding number for the radio. Just press down the button with the number of who you need to speak to then talk into the speaker there. I've set it up so that only the people talking to you can hear you and only you can hear them. That way the others won't be compromised if one channel gets hacked. Don't let that freak you out, though. It's really simple once you get used to it. Think you can handle the first shift by yourself? Things shouldn't get heated until later when they are finally in place. I'm going to go run some scans on a couple of Zach's cyborgs and fix you some coffee. If you need me, just shout. I'll hear you."

  She smiles at him. "Thanks, Blice. I should be good."

  "Okay."

  * * *

  Byron waves to Isidore as they split and go to their separate halves of sector one. He brings up the map on his watch and follows a side street past some smoldering cars and piles of discarded bricks stacked haphazardly on the sidewalk almost as if someone has been collecting them from all across the city. When he finds other discarded items like tires, mattresses, and ammo crates, he begins to feel uneasy. This took quite a bit of time and manpower to assemble what is quickly turning out to be something resembling a camp. He slips behind a stack of crates and peeks around into a small enclosure where a fire is burning and a group of people is gathered around tossing objects into piles. He's not close enough to see if they're wearing IGR uniforms or not and he can't make out what they're saying so he decides to fall back and call it in. Once he is out on the main street again, he presses the button on his earpiece. "Byron to base."

  Katarina answers the call. "Base here. What's up, Byron?"

  "I found what appears to be a camp of some sort across the street from the old fire department. There is a group of about eight people with all kinds of supplies stacked around the area. I couldn't get close enough to see if they are allies or enemies."

  "I'm looking at your location right now and I can tell you that the place you're talking about is a known human outpost. They should be refugees."

  "Should be? If I take the chance and go waltzing in there, you better make damn sure they're not going to pull out laser pistols and gun me down."

  "Let me talk to Blice and I'll get back to you. For now, try to approach the area from a different direction and see if you can get closer and get a good look at them."

  "Will do." Byron starts to end the call, but stops. "Oh, and Kat?"

  "Yes?"

  "I love you. Do you still love me?"

  She is silent for a minute and Byron thinks she ended the call until she sounds almost on the verge of tears. "I never stopped."

  * * *

  Doss checks his laser pistols as they make their way down to sector three. He occasionally glances over to Zerachiel who doesn't seem to be in any way anxious. He's never seen him fight or even get angry. When he got upset about what Doss did to Remiel years ago, he just stopped talking to him and never even acknowledged his existence. It was worse than if he had screamed at him. Zerachiel doesn't have a temper so there's no way of knowing how he will react in a fight. "Hey, what are you going to do if we have to fight?"

  "I'll do what I have to do. It's a simple balance, really. Make sure the enemy dies before you do."

  "Kazimir programmed us to each have a specialty in battle. Mine is my swordplay. Michael's is a blind rage that drives him to kill until nothing is left alive. Raphael's was crazy fast reflexes. Remiel had the ability to resurrect himself one time."

  "Which he had to use that one time in Australia." Zerachiel says softly.

  "I know. Anyway, Raguel has some intense brute strength and Gabriel . . . what can Gabriel do?"

  "You don't want to know. It's not pretty."

  That is never good. "Okay. Well, I hope I never have to find out."

  "Ever heard of three strikes and you're out?"

  "Sure."

  "Well, it's not baseball with him." Zerachiel says. "His ability is spe
cifically designed to permanently shut down archons. If he marks your wings with his nanobots three times, you shut down and can't be turned back on. That's what happened to Azreal."

  "Who?"

  "You weren't there for that. It was so bloody and gruesome. Azreal was the eighth archon who showed up after you fell down here to Earth. He was supposed to take your place, but Clark did something wrong and he couldn't figure out what Kazimir did to make us archons function correctly. Azreal had some major mental issues and tried to set the moon base on fire with all of us inside. So Gabriel cornered him, tied him up, and delivered three surges of nanobots to his wings. Then he just exploded. It was the worst thing I've ever seen."

  "Oh my God. That's awful." Doss has to change the subject. "What about you?"

  "Focus."

  "Focus?" Doss asks.

  "In any situation, I will remain focused on every minute detail and analyze all possible outcomes instantly to isolate the most favorable one."

  Something feels strange around them so Doss stops walking and holds out his arm to stop Zerachiel. There are two more steps behind them after they have stopped. He spins around and holds up his sword.

  Michael crosses his arms on his bare pale chest and grins darkly. "Nice day for a stroll?"

  "How long have you been following us?"

  "Since you left the lab. I knew you were going to come looking for me so I thought it would just be so much easier and save time if I came to you."

  Doss glances back to Zerachiel, but he's gone. Where did he go? He just disappeared. He looks up at Michael and those menacing black wings. "I don't want to fight, Michael."

  "Go ahead and call Katarina. Tell her I'm here."

  He steps back and defensively holds up his sword in front of his chest. "No, that's okay. How about I go my way and you go yours?"

  "What's wrong, Uriel? Scared to fight me? You know what I'm capable of." He lunges at Doss and knocks him to the ground then holds him there with his knee in the middle of his back. He grabs Doss's hair and slides a dagger up against his neck. "I said to call Katarina. Do it or I end your life with the slightest movement of this blade along your throat."

  * * *

  Jarred and Jayce skirt along the edge of a concrete barricade serving as the dividing border between sector one and sector two. Jarred takes point as they squeeze through a small opening between two upright slabs of concrete that someone was using to build a wall. It's a tight fit, but they make it. He drops down the ground and pulls Jayce with him as a group of Blood Force agents in their blood red cloaks walk past with machine guns strapped to their back and flashlights searching the shadows. He holds his breath and remains as still as he possibly can when a beam of light passes just inches in front of his face. Once it passes and the agents are far enough away, they take off running across the street and into a mostly intact apartment building. They climb up the stairs and set up in the windows. Minutes pass while the area below is quiet and calm without any signs of life.

  Jayce is the first one to have anything. "Jarred, my sensors are picking up some movements down along the edge of the park. I can't tell what they are. I'm still learning how to decipher the codes and blurry images this program gives me."

  "I know. It's okay. You're being a big help, Jayce. I'll check it out." He looks around that location and sees what seems to be just a black shadow shifting around a small storage shed. He turns on thermal imaging and zooms in closer. Unreal. It's giving of heat like a human, but it appears to be almost ethereal like a spirit or apparition. Wait. It must be some kind of electronic camouflage projection system. He's seen it once before when some highly advanced thieves attempted to break into the android auction where Jarred as working as a security guard. He was only fourteen at the time and it scared the hell out of him so bad that he didn't sleep through the night for three weeks. But who would be out here with that kind of technology? He decides to call in and see if anyone knows whether he should shoot it or invite it in for tea. "Silver to base."

  "Using you code name?" Katarina asks.

  "I always do when I'm in the field. Have you received any reports about anyone using electronic cloaking devices in the city?"

  "Velex just called in from the ship about the possibility of IGR Shadow Spies being in Paradise. Could that be what you're seeing?"

  "Shadow Spies, huh? So, should I take the shot on this thing?" Jarred asks.

  "Not yet. Just keep an eye on it. I don't have any way of knowing if it's friendly or not. If it does anything threatening or moves closer to the building you're in, you have clearance to shoot."

  "Okay. Thanks."

  "How is Jolt holding up?" Katarina asks.

  "He's good. He's still getting used to using those programs. I keep trying to convince him to keep them on all the time so he can at least make his way around the lab without my help, but I think he's still scared of admitting that he's blind now."

  "Give him time. I can't even imagine how hard that would be to go through and to lose his sight in such a horribly violent way."

  "The acid really messed with him." Jarred says as he looks over to his husband who is leaning up against the window sill with his long black hair down around his waist. "You know how many nightmares he's been having since Ben Crowe did that to him."

  "It's what terrorists do. I'm gonna have to go now to go talk to Blice. You keep me informed."

  * * *

  Katarina sits back down at the console with a cup of coffee and new information. She presses the button to call Byron. "Base to Byron."

  "Hey." Byron answers.

  "I spoke to Blice about that camp you found and he agrees with me. I even checked with Isidore and Zach who know more about this city than anyone else. So if you can get in there and lead those people to the ship, we can ask them if they know where any other camps are. Good find, Byron."

  "You're one hundred percent sure that they're not going to kill me?" Bryon asks.

  "Ninety-nine percent."

  "Knowing my luck recently, they're in the one percent category."

  "You'll be fine. And you're close enough to Isidore's current location that if anyone starts shooting, he can hear you and be there in about a minute."

  "There are many ways to kill a person in under a minute."

  "Please stop." Katarina says. Then she sees another button blinking next to Isidore's name. "I have another call coming in. I'll check back in with you later." Katarina ends the call with her husband and picks up the one with her father. "Hey Dad, what's up?"

  "This half of sector one is completely empty. It looks like some people just set everything on fire. There aren't many places where anyone could be hiding. I think I'm going to check a couple more locations then I'm going to head down to sector four just to look around and make sure there aren't any loners down there wandering around in the rubble."

  "All right. Call back in when you cross over."

  "Will do." Isidore says. "Oh, and make sure you tell everyone that I will be in an IGR uniform I found to help disguise me. I need some added protection if I'm going all the way down to sector four. I won't be crossing paths with anyone, just let them know as a precaution."

  The button beside another name starts blinking. "Doss to base."

  She answers it, but speaks cautiously because he doesn't sound like himself. "This is base."

  "I found Michael. Well, he um, found me. Zerachiel ran off."

  "Where is Michael now?" Katarina asks.

  "On my back pinning me to the pavement with his dagger against my throat."

  * * *

  Something in Jarred's gut tells him to move over to the opposite window and check on things going on in the opposite direction. Once he gets set up and does a quick scan of the area around sector three, he is glad he moved. He presses the button on his earpiece. "Kat, I have Michael in my sights. What do you want me to do? It's a clear shot."

  "Be careful. Doss is down there. Michael attacked him and has him pinned down right n
ow."

  "It's your call."

  "Go ahead and take the shot." Katarina says.

  He ends the call and focuses on getting this exactly right. He can't afford to miss and hit Doss. Just as Jarred squeezes the trigger, something slams into the side of his head and he falls back against the wall. Three men in red cloaks rush him and throw him down on the ground. He turns his head to see Jayce being slammed up against the wall and his rifle is ripped from his hands. A heavy boot holds Jarred down on the floor as hands search him, pulling away his earpiece and combat knife. Another set of boots grinds the earpiece into the floor, shattering it and preventing any more communications from Katarina back at base. This is not good. What's worse is when they lift up Jarred's shirt and tear away his tracker sensor. Now Katarina won't be able to see where they will be taken.

  One of the men holds up a small communication sensor on the back of his hand and speaks into it as he watches Jayce being searched. "Squad four to base, we caught two snipers trying to pick off our agents from an abandoned building."

  "Good. Fix them up and bring them down into the maintenance tunnel with the rest of them. We'll teach them what happens to snipers who aren't smart enough to remain hidden."

  Strong arms pull Jarred to his feet and grab his arms. The black pillowcase is slipped over Jarred's head as his wrists are bound behind his back in what he can only guess is duct tape. He listens as Jayce is bound as well. When he hears the quiet crying, it tears him apart. Please don't have a panic attack. He mentally tries his hardest to calm Jayce down. It doesn't seem to be working, though. The crying soon changes into rapid breathing and sobbing.

  Someone hits Jarred hard in the middle of his back. "Get walking. You don't stop until I tell you to stop. Is that clear?"

  "Yes."

  "You don't get to speak. Now get walking."

  11

  The sound of the gunshot startles Michael just long enough for Doss to push his arm away and turn over while kicking Michael's legs out from under him. He scrambles to his feet and feels the surge of power flow through his body like it hasn't for years. He dives to retrieve his sword from where he dropped it earlier and as soon as his hand tightens around the hilt, bright orange flames spread along the blade. It's back. His power is back. Getting new wings must have repaired enough to jumpstart this program. Doss doesn't have much time to celebrate, however.