The Phoenix Project (The Liberty Box Book 3)

by C. A. Gray

  “Powdered!” she announced when Jacob expressed his appreciation. “And canned chilis. They never go bad.”

  “Gotta love preservatives!” Jacob grinned, shoving a forkful in his mouth.

  “Yeah, they might kill you in fifty years,” said Charlie, “but who’s got fifty years to worry about?”

  I would have just tapped Jackson on the shoulder while we were both in the kitchen and told him I needed to talk to him, but the kitchen was so cramped I couldn’t even reach him. Once they’d finished serving themselves, he, Charlie, Roger, Jacob, Nick, and Molly all convened in the living room. I gathered, as I strained to catch their conversation, that they’d decided on Jackson’s plan of taking Joe to the main control center in the IT wing of the palace after all, and wanted to take every fighter they had along to ensure the best possible outcome. Molly would go too, just because Nick wouldn’t leave her behind.

  “Will and Kate are going to New Estonia,” I overheard Nick say to Roger, “and Will needs Jean’s help until then—so I assume she’ll go to New Estonia with them.”

  No, I thought desperately. I’m not going to New Estonia! I have to go to the palace. I just have to. I started to follow the hunters as they reconvened in the living room, but Alec grabbed Joe’s arm and pulled him into the hallway with an urgent look on his face, blocking my path. Before I could dodge them and chart my course to the living room again, Will called me over to him. He was sitting at the particle board kitchen table beside Jean.

  “Kate,” he said, “we need your help figuring out how to get a message to Jillian.”

  I stood there indecisively, staring first at the living room and then at the table where Will and Jean sat. I also glanced at Joe a few times, mistrustful of Alec. They spoke in low tones, and Joe looked rather frightened. I couldn’t see Alec’s expression.

  “Hold on,” I called to Will. I had a vague idea of pretending to go to the bathroom, scooting by Alec and Joe enough to hear what they were talking about, and passing through to the living room on the other side. Alec stopped talking and favored me with a scowl as I inched by, and I walked into the bathroom, turning on the sink as a ruse. I closed the door almost all the way but left it open just a crack, and pressed my ear against the door.

  “—At least program the thing to tell everyone what Voltolini really is first!” Alec was whispering. “How is that wrong?”

  “Because we’d still be using the technology to tell people to think what we want them to think, instead of letting them make up their own minds!” came Joe’s voice.

  “Yeah, but you’d be programming them to know the truth,” Alec insisted, “counteracting everything they’ve believed up until now! If you don’t do that, most of them will stay sheep, just like they are now. They’re all stuck in their blissful ignorance, and they’ll go on being stuck and just perpetuate their own brainwashing. If you destroy the Liberty Box technology but everyone still thinks Voltolini’s the freaking messiah, what do you think is gonna happen? They’ll all protect him! And we’ll never make it out of there alive!”

  “I suppose you’re right…”

  “’Course I’m right! So how long will you need for the new signals to take before you can send the self-destruct code?”

  Joe didn’t answer right away. “Well… we’re trying to rewrite over decades of programming. For most of them, the thought loops are pretty engrained. But we’re planning to go at night, and people are more susceptible while they’re sleeping. So… thirty minutes maybe?”

  “All right, so tell the others that it’ll take you thirty minutes to execute the code then.”

  “It’s not that easy,” Joe protested, still whispering. “There’s an electronic ticker tape across the top of all the walls in the IT wing showing the outgoing signals so we can tell it’s working. If I’m recoding them, everybody in the room with me will know it!”

  “Then we’ll keep the others occupied,” Alec hissed. “Shouldn’t be hard, they’ll be protecting you anyway. I’ll just be your personal guard inside the IT wing and convince everybody else to stay outside. Why the hell is she washing her hands that long?”

  I realized Alec meant me. I waited another few beats so the timing wouldn’t seem too coincidental, and turned off the faucet. I also flushed the toilet for good measure, stepped out, and smiled politely at Alec and Joe as I tried to continue on down the hall. Unfortunately, it dead ended instead of looping back around to the living room, like I’d hoped. Alec eyed me suspiciously as I passed by them again, trying to slip into the living room without attracting Will’s notice.

  “Kate!”

  Will’s tone was commanding as ever. He gestured at the seat opposite him and Jean.

  I couldn’t think of another good excuse, so I obeyed. I did my best to answer their questions, but they had to repeat them more than once because I was so busy straining to hear what was going on in the living room.

  For my part, I agreed with Alec. Why not use the Liberty Box technology for good before destroying it? As long as we were programming people to believe what was real, it was like doing for them what training with Jackson had done for me. Except stronger. I agreed with Jackson and the others that it would be wrong to prop one of us up in Voltolini’s place, but I didn’t see anything wrong with using it to tell them the truth before we destroyed it. That was what I’d tried to do with my broadcast, after all.

  I caught snippets of the strategizing discussion in the living room. Why they didn’t need Jean or Will to help Joe since they were also technical, I didn’t know. I cut Will off mid-sentence on accident to voice this question.

  He furrowed his brow at me, annoyed. “Because Joe knows the Liberty Box technology and we don’t. All the rest of them have to do is strategize how to get him in and give him the time he needs. Would you focus, please?”

  After I’d told Will and Jean everything I knew about newsroom email security, which wasn’t much, Will at last agreed to allow me to use the anonymous tip line and call in what I wanted to say to Jillian there, just in my own voice. She’d recognize that, and it would be easier than trying to get through the newsroom security. Just in case there was any doubt, I’d drop a few details that nobody else would know, to prove it was me.

  “Like what?” Jean asked.

  “Like we both knew Nancy left her husband two years ago because he cheated on her with the maid,” I said.

  Jean and Will exchanged a look with raised eyebrows, and Will shrugged. “Whatever works,” he said.

  I tuned in to the living room again, because something had changed. It seemed like their conversation was over, and they’d all stood up as if they were going somewhere.

  “Anything else?” Jean prompted me.

  “And… her main makeup artist is Hannah, and she doesn’t like to use Caroline because Caroline poofs her hair too much and Jillian thinks she does it because she’s jealous of her…”

  I trailed off and turned around. I heard Jacob and Roger saying their goodbyes, and jumped to my feet.

  “Are they leaving? Are you leaving?” I asked Charlie as he came in, giving Will a side-hug and shaking Jean’s hand as he made his way to me. “But—we just got here!” I protested.

  Charlie shrugged, and hugged me next. “We don’t have a lot of time to lose, you know? Neither do you guys. The sooner we do this, the better,” he said.

  “No! I have to come with you!” I protested, tears filling my eyes.

  “We haven’t even sent the message to Jillian yet, Kate,” Will growled behind me. “We need you here.”

  “It’ll be hard enough for us to keep Molly safe,” Charlie told me under his breath. “I’ll get Mom and Dad, I promise. We’ll all come find you guys in New Estonia and live happily ever after.” He had a twinkle in his eye when he said this, but his expression was grave. He pulled my shoulders back and gave me a hard look. “You take care, all right? I’ll see you soon.”

  I choked a little as I clung t
o him. “Are you lying to me?”

  “I hope not,” he said. He kissed the top of my head, and released me.

  The rest of the group crowded in to say their goodbyes next. Joe kissed my hand and told me he was glad to have known me. Molly made much of me, which I might have appreciated under any other circumstance, but it meant nobody else could get to me. I saw Jackson watching me over her shoulder, but I could tell from his body language that he had no intention of approaching me again. He’d said all he was going to say. The ball was in my court now.

  And then they were leaving. He was halfway out the door when I felt a spike of panic, unsure what I could do short of calling after him in front of everyone.

  Then they were outside, piling into the large white van. Jacob and Roger filled it with what supplies they’d managed to scrounge from the house, and Molly loaded it up with blankets for who knew what purpose. Joe got in to the backseat beside Alec. Charlie climbed in to the driver’s seat, and Nick and Jackson helped Jacob and Roger as they loaded up. I followed them all outside and stood on the sidewalk, waiting—I don’t even know for what. For an opening? For something less ridiculous than what I was about to do?

  “Jackson!” I shouted.

  All of them stopped and turned to look at me, including him.

  All the blood rushed to my face, and I blurted, “You didn’t say goodbye to me.”

  He watched me for a beat, searching my face. “Wasn’t that what we did this morning?”

  What could I say to that, in front of all these people?

  The next thing I knew, the moment was gone. I watched him get into the van with the others, helpless. Charlie waved at me through the driver’s side window.

  The van receded into the distance, and I stood staring after it, a feeling of utter helplessness washing over me. Finally as it rounded the corner and disappeared from sight, I burst into tears, sinking to my knees.

  The first time I realized that Jean and Will were standing on the sidewalk too was when Jean crept up put her arm around me, saying in her most soothing, matronly voice, “They’re gonna be okay, honey. You’ll see them all again.”

  “It isn’t okay, you—you don’t understand!” I sobbed. “I’ll never know, and he’ll never know either!”

  Jean rubbed my back for a few minutes until I calmed down. When I stood up, I finally saw Will’s expression. It was resignation, but not surprise. I felt that something had changed between us forever.

  He cleared his throat. “After you send that message to Jillian, there will be nothing more for you to do in the Republic,” he said. “Are you coming to New Estonia with us?” I could tell that the question was just a formality. He knew my answer.

  I straightened up and took a deep breath, shaking my head. “There is one more thing I can do here that no one else can,” I said. “Nobody but me could get close enough.”

  His expression didn’t change. “Oh yeah? What’s that?”

  I set my jaw, and could feel my hands trembling. One man was responsible for all of this pain. There was only one man who had stolen everything from me. I was going to make him pay, if it was the last thing I ever did.

  I whispered, “I can assassinate the Potentate.”

  Chapter 26: Kate

  “You’re going to assassinate the Potentate?” Will repeated, and he actually laughed a little.

  “Yes!” I defied him, throwing my shoulders back. “If I let the agents catch me, they’ll take me straight to Voltolini, you know they will. I’ll get there before the others, most likely. I’ll distract him for them while Joe does his thing, and then I’ll kill him.”

  “What if he’s put out orders to kill you on sight instead?” Will challenged. “Don’t you think that’s likely, now that he knows you’ve escaped?”

  Jean hovered on the sidewalk just behind him, staring at us both like she was watching a tennis match.

  “Not if I have a good story,” I retorted, though I hadn’t thought this part through yet. I paced on the driveway. “Hold on, let me think… it’s got to be something the agents will believe right away and might tell Voltolini before they even bring me to him…” I snapped my fingers. “Jackson kidnapped me!” I whirled on Jean, who raised her eyebrows, and looked back at Will. “Of course! Since we escaped at the same time, and those guards we overheard assumed Jackson had taken me anyway, I can tell them he used the interior passage I found to break into the palace, instead of me using it to break out!” I kept pacing, and murmured to myself, “But should I tell them he’s dead? Probably, otherwise how did I escape him?”

  Will and Jean exchanged a helpless look as I continued to answer my own questions.

  “That might protect Jackson at least a little bit too,” I went on, “they won’t be looking for a dead man.” I gasped, excited by another stroke of genius. “I can play the traumatized victim to the agents! Bat my eyelashes a lot, cry a little, tell them he took advantage of me. I don’t think Jackson will mind if I do that, they think he’s a fiend anyway. I’ll beg them to take me back to Voltolini as soon as they find me. If I do it right, they’ll usher me right in, no questions asked…”

  “Kate!” Will shouted, and I turned to him, startled. “Are you completely nuts?”

  “I think this might be kind of brilliant, actually,” Jean murmured.

  I grinned at her. “The next problem,” I went on, to myself, “is that they’ll strip me of my weapons before I get to him. So I’ll have to have an unconventional weapon of some sort. I can’t bring a gun obviously, but I won’t need anything that long range. Voltolini likes to get up close and personal, anyway.” I grimaced as his swarthy face popped vividly into my mind: slicked back hair, hooded black eyes, over-confident smile. I pictured him leaning in, trying to kiss me. Yes. I’d have to make that happen if this was going to work. He’d have to be very close indeed. “A dagger?” I went on, “but no, they’d frisk me and find that too. A hair pin, maybe?” I looked at Jean, eyes wide. “Like one of those long pointy things I can wrap my hair in a french twist around?”

  Jean, with her own short graying hair which she cut herself sans mirror, shrugged at me helplessly.

  “Except I want something much sharper than that,” I went on, “so that it’ll slide right in between his ribs, like butter…” I pantomimed this as if Voltolini were in front of me right now.

  Will shook his head at me, incredulous. “I don’t even know you.”

  “I might want a backup weapon too, though,” I said, ignoring him, “since once I get to the palace, I’m likely to see Ingrid before Voltolini. If she dresses me and does my hair some other way, then I’ll lose the hairpin.” I lit up. “I know! If there’s a swiss army knife or something around here, I can hide it in my bra…”

  “Kate,” Will cut in sternly. “Have you ever stabbed a man before?”

  “Of course not.” I made a face.

  “Well, I have. And let me tell you, planning it out in your mind and actually doing it are two very different things. I’ll tell you how this is really going to go down. You’re gonna get there, be standing right in front of him, maybe even have the opportunity—and find you don’t have the heart. You’re not a killer, Kate. And when you hesitate, he’s gonna kill you.”

  I looked Will squarely in the eyes. “He’s stolen twelve years of my life. He’s got my parents in custody, for the second time, and he nearly shot them in front of me once already.” I ticked off Voltolini’s offenses on my fingers as I went, feeling my blood pressure spike. “He blew up the caves and many of our friends. He blew up Beckenshire and even more of our friends! He executed my old roommate Maggie. He would have executed Jackson if he’d had the chance. He brainwashed me, and…” I choked on my own words, “…and made me turn against Jackson. After all Jackson did for me, I betrayed him.” I blinked back tears, and with renewed hatred I finished, “I’m not playing the victim here, Will. I know all of that was ultimately my own fault, but it was Voltolini’s use
of the technology and Voltolini’s idea that made me betray him. And I… want… him… to…. die!” With each word I took another step toward Will until we were eye to eye, and I stared him down, daring him to challenge me further.

  He didn’t flinch. “I’m telling you,” Will returned evenly, “You can’t do it. You are incapable. You couldn’t resist the brainwaves before, even when you knew they were there! You’re your mother’s daughter, Kate. The sooner you realize your own weakness, the sooner you’ll stop talking nonsense and—what are you doing?”

  I pushed past him, walked determinedly back into the house, and went straight for the stack of papers Jean had that morning when we were working on what to send to Jillian. I grabbed a blank one, and a pen, and started scribbling.

  They all followed me, and Will demanded, exasperated, “Kate, will you please—what in the name of—”

  “I’m telling myself the truth,” I muttered to him, not looking up. “To counter your lies about me!”

  “My ‘lies’?”

  “Yes!” I looked up and stared at him fiercely. “Because you’re right, when I get caught, all those thoughts will go through my head. They brainwashed me once, and I’ll have to leave my signal disruptor behind if I want them to find me. So I’m going to have to fight back the old fashioned way—with the truth!” I waved the paper in the air. Then I went back to scribbling: I am strong. I am capable. I know my own mind. Voltolini is evil. The Republic is poor and oppressed. I came here for revenge. Ignoring the rock in the pit of my stomach, I added, Jackson is on my side. Jackson saved my life.

  “You can’t keep that on you,” Jean murmured, worried. “If they find that, it’s as good as a confession…”

  I shook my head. “I’ll keep it wherever I keep my weapon. In my bra if I have to. I’ll memorize it too, just in case, but I don’t know if brainwashing wipes out stuff you’ve memorized. I just know when I was there the last time, I would have given anything to have a source of truth I could trust. This time—” I clicked the pen shut, and stared up at them both, “I’m going to have it. This will work.”