The Phoenix Project (The Liberty Box Book 3)

by C. A. Gray

  The two agents exchanged a look with each other, and the driver said, “You know why things look funny?”

  Nick, finally seeing a ray of hope, said, “Yes. It’s because of our signal disruptors. They block Voltolini’s control signals for about a ten foot radius, and they also block us from detection by the control center sweeps. You know all about those, of course.”

  “This is the world as Kate described it in that first broadcast!” Charlie insisted. “You’re seeing reality for the first time since Voltolini took power!”

  The agent on the passenger side let out his breath in a puff through pursed lips. “This is intense.”

  “You really are them,” guessed the driver, glancing at each of us in the rearview mirror. “You’re the rebels we’re all looking for.”

  There was a long pause, while all three of us decided whether to admit this. It could cost us our lives… but then, our lives were technically forfeited anyway.

  “We are,” Nick said at last.

  “So that’s MacNamera, then!” the driver practically shouted, looking at me.

  In response, I used my tongue to move the cotton out from my upper lip, leaned forward, and spat it upon the floor of the car. I looked back at the driver, who let out a whoop.

  “Ha! I knew it!”

  The agent beside him suddenly looked frightened. “We have to kill him,” he said to his partner. “Right now. Those were the Potentate’s orders—” but he didn’t move for his weapon.

  “No!” cried Charlie. “Now you know Kate lied in that whole broadcast you just watched, because she said she killed him! Is he dead? Does he even look like he’s been shot recently?” When they did not reply, he added, “That whole thing was coerced. None of that happened. He’d never hurt her, he’s in love with her, for crying out loud!” I glanced at Charlie and he said, exasperated, “Well you are, aren’t you?” Before I could reply, he told the agents, “She loves him too, I’m pretty sure. She would never say any of that about him unless she had absolutely no choice. He’s got our parents hostage, I’m telling you.”

  “Which means she’s in grave danger now,” Nick told them, rallying. “We can help her, but only if you help us.”

  We’d just exited the main city roads and entered the long drive that dead-ended at the palace.

  “You just wiped out a lot of my friends back there,” said the driver, “and you would’ve killed us too. Why should we believe you’re the good guys all of a sudden?”

  “That was all Alec!” Charlie insisted, “we told him not to shoot unless he had to, and not to shoot to kill unless he had no other choice. But once he opened fire, of course you shot back, and then we all just had to save our own necks—you and us.”

  “We lost two friends back there, also,” Nick reminded them. “We started out with hundreds of rebels. We’re down to six.”

  “Seven,” Charlie corrected, gesturing at the now blank screen. “Kate.”

  The agents looked at each other meaningfully.

  “One moment,” said the agent on the passenger side, and he pressed a button, raising the partition again.

  As soon as it was closed, all three of us leaned forward, pressing our ears against it as hard as we could.

  “What do you think, Mitch?” said the agent who had closed the partition.

  Mitch sighed. After a long pause he said, “I hate to admit it. But… I think I believe them.”

  “So do I,” said the other. There was a long, weighty pause, and he added, “Now what?”

  “Well,” Mitch murmured, so softly we could barely make it out. “Guess we have to help them.”

  “Become rebels ourselves? You know that’s a death sentence.”

  “Do we have a choice?”

  This was rhetorical, so the other agent didn’t reply to it directly. Instead he said, “What about the other car? What do we tell them?”

  “Do you think they’re having the same conversation in there?”

  “One way to find out.” I heard the white static sound of a transmitter, and then the agent said, “Hey Smitty?”

  “Yeah,” came the staticky voice from the other car.

  “Do, ah—do things look any… different around you?”

  Another burst of static, and Smitty replied, “How do you mean?”

  My heart sank, and I looked at Charlie and Nick. Nick closed his eyes like he was praying.

  The agent in our car replied, “Like… when we were in the city, did it look different than it usually does?”

  Smitty came back, “Oh, thank God. You saw it too? Murph says they see it too!” He said this last bit to his partner.

  Charlie mouthed, “Yes!” and Nick turned wide, grateful eyes toward heaven.

  “Yeah we did,” Murph affirmed to Smitty.

  “You seeing the planes overhead? What’s that about?” Smitty asked.

  “Is that what those were?” was Murph’s reply, but he didn’t otherwise comment. “Listen, um… there’s been a change of plans over here. We’ll get back to you with the specifics. Just follow our lead, okay?”

  Static, and then, “Uhh, all right, but we’re almost there. Let us know.”

  “You bet.”

  Murph hung up, and then the partition lowered again, looking at us.

  “So what do you need us to do?”

  Chapter 39: Kate

  I pointed the gun at Voltolini’s temple, my arm trembling.

  Do it. Do it! I shouted at myself.

  But my finger refused. It wouldn’t pull the trigger.

  I couldn’t do it.

  Will was right.

  Voltolini, who looked startled at first, now broke into a taunting smile. He held up his hands to the guards, all of whom had their guns trained upon me.

  Shoot him, dammit!

  “Put the gun down, Kate. Or your parents die.”

  I heard a muffled scream, and I spared a glance away from Voltolini to my parents and Hurst, even though it meant I lost my aim. Hurst poised a razor at my mother’s throat.

  I started to lower the gun, as if someone else owned my arm.

  I can’t do this. I’m too weak. I’m useless.

  “That’s it, Kate,” murmured Voltolini. “We can all be reasonable here, can’t we?” Then he leaned over to the guard beside him. “Get me an update on those rebels. They should be here by now. Make sure they’re taking them straight to Execution Hill, and get a camera out there.”

  Jackson, I thought. Charlie. They had to be in that group.

  “Nobody leaves!” I shouted, raising the gun again at the guard who had moved to obey Voltolini’s orders. The guard froze.

  Voltolini tilted his head to the side as he observed me, that complacent smile spread across his deplorable face. He flitted his hand at the guard to reaffirm his orders as he murmured to me with infuriating condescension, “My dear. You never had it in you.”

  I had to stop him: the guard, Voltolini, Hurst—all of them. I had one bullet, and way too many targets.

  That was when I caught sight of the electrical box behind the teleprompter.

  Will that work?

  I didn’t have time to think about it; it was the only idea I had. In a split second, I closed my eye, swung my arm around in one motion, and pulled the trigger.

  Sparks flew, shouts and screams erupted, and a searing pain like molten lava scorched my chest. I collapsed.

  Within seconds, the whole room went up in flames.

  Chapter 40: Jackson

  As we approached the gate of the palace, Nick leaned forward to Mitch. “Just tell the guard you’re bringing the rebels to the Potentate as promised. After that, Jackson will tell you where to go.” He glanced at me, and I nodded. I’d learned a thing or two about the exterior of the palace while breaking Kate and Charlie free.

  “Hands behind your back,” Murph hissed at us in the backseat. He’d uncuffed us already so that we could spring into acti
on upon arrival. Nick, Charlie and I sat back, assuming the body language of prisoners. But when we got closer, we saw that the guard post had been abandoned.

  “That’s odd,” murmured Mitch, but then he gasped.

  “Oh…” moaned Murph, and Charlie and Nick leaned forward to see what was going on. I got a clear view from my side of the car, though.

  “He’s been shot,” I announced gravely. “The guard.”

  “By whom?” asked Charlie in amazement.

  “My guess is, by whoever was causing all the background commotion during the broadcast,” Nick murmured. “And maybe whoever owns all those planes we’ve been seeing.”

  We exchanged a look, but nobody said aloud what I knew we were all thinking. New Estonia?

  Once we drove past the gate and approached the fountain, I said, “I know where there’s a side way inside. Drive around behind the glass atrium—” But I stopped. There were soldiers on the grounds in unfamiliar uniforms, taking cover wherever they could.

  “It is them!” whooped Charlie. “Will’s message did it!”

  “Hey, uh,” said Mitch, wide-eyed, “hope you guys understand, but we’re gonna drop you here and… go.”

  “Thanks for all your help!” I leapt out as fast as I could, eager to obey. Charlie and Nick piled out right after me, and in the car behind us, Alec, Molly, and Joe did the same.

  “Hey Joe!” Nick shouted, jogging toward him, “where’s the IT wing?”

  Joe pointed just beyond the atrium I’d indicated. “It’s there, we usually go in a side door around the corner—”

  “Jackson knows where it is,” Nick cut him off. “Come on!”

  The others took off running, but I knew from experience that Joe would have a hard time keeping up, so I slowed to keep pace with him and protect him if I could. Desperate as I was to find the broadcasting studio where Kate and Voltolini must be, I also knew someone had to stop Alec. Nick refused to help me. I hadn’t said anything to Charlie about my suspicions, and there wasn’t any time to now.

  Joe’s chest heaved. He turned his tortured expression upon me as I fell into step beside him.

  “It’s not too late,” I told him in a low voice. “You can still do the right thing!”

  “You—don’t—understand,” he huffed.

  “I don’t know what he said to you or how he threatened you, but—”

  I stopped talking when I saw the smoke. It rose from the polar opposite end of the palace. Our destination was on one end; the smoke was on the other.

  That’s where she is. I don’t know how I knew. I just knew.

  Nick and Alec made it to the door first, and Alec shot the lock off and kicked it open. After we’d all crossed the threshold, Nick turned around and said, just loudly enough for us all to hear, “Alec, Joe, and Molly, get to IT as fast as possible! Charlie, Jackson, and I will guard you!”

  “Molly?” demanded Alec. “No, Molly has to stay here!”

  “I want her in the inner sanctum, it’s the safest place!” Nick insisted. “She’ll have two layers of protection that way, us and you. Now go, go, go!”

  Molly, Alec, and Joe took off running down the hall from which they could access the IT wing. For some reason, Alec turned around and looked at me. I knew this was the moment I had to choose.

  Follow them, and try to save the Republic from Alec? Or follow the smoke, and try to save Kate?

  Chapter 41: Kate

  I forgot about everything else for the first few seconds: the pain was everything. The pain… and the heat. All around me was chaos, as the broadcast team and the Tribunal and presumably Voltolini himself ran for the exit. I longed to sit up and see whether Mom and Dad made it out too, but my body refused to obey.

  I should put some pressure on my wound, I thought vaguely. I reached up with my left hand and felt the pool of wetness, the rapidly cooling blood, and a wave of nausea rolled over me when I pulled it away and saw that it was soaked with my own blood. I tried to press on the wound but found I didn’t have the strength.

  I’m going to die. I’m actually going to die.

  Bits of burning debris hit me, and I cried out.

  “Katie!”

  Seconds later, a face appeared over mine—one of the most welcome faces I could imagine.

  “Dad!” I croaked, with mingled relief and fear. I started to cry, except I had no tears, and no voice.

  “I’m getting you out of here, Katie,” he whispered, scooping me up as gently and lovingly as he could. I saw the tears running down his face too, but his jaw was set. He picked up one of my limp hands and placed it over my wound, forcing it down with pressure that made me gasp.

  “Push!” he commanded. “As hard as you can!”

  But I lacked even the strength to keep my head upright. It lolled backwards, and my dad had to push it forward for me. He leapt over rubble where there once had been a door, and I felt the heat of the flames all around us lick my skin.

  That was the last thing I knew—after that, the world went dark.

  Chapter 42: Jackson

  “Jackson! Where the hell—Jackson!”

  It was Nick shouting behind me, but I ignored him. I’d made my choice.

  I chose Kate. Of course I chose Kate.

  I quickly discovered that the palace was riddled with soldiers just as the grounds were, but I couldn’t afford to get bogged down with any of them. I charted my path in no man’s land between pockets of fighting, assuming that each set of combatants would be too occupied with their current opponents to worry about me. To my left, one of the soldiers fought hand to hand with the Potentate’s guards. I dodged them without even pausing in my sprint. All I thought of was the direction of the fire, northwest of my current position. I bounded over bodies, and maybe dodged bullets, I don’t know. I couldn’t tell.

  It’s on the second floor, I thought—or at least the source of the smoke had seemed to be coming from upstairs when I’d seen it. Once I got close enough, I found a staircase, propelled myself up three steps at a time, and rounded a corner—to find myself face to face with Voltolini.

  He froze. So did I. I couldn’t understand—Kate had been about to kill him on camera. That was the last thing I’d seen. But if he was here, then…

  He killed her instead.

  All this crossed my mind in an instant, and the next thing I knew, the barrel of my gun pointed at his temple. I was shaking.

  Voltolini held up his hands, unarmed. Of course; he wouldn’t need a gun himself. He’d always have guards around him. Except right now.

  “Go ahead, do what she couldn’t!” he shouted. “We all know you’re a murderer!”

  My finger tightened on the trigger. I could barely see through my rage. And yet, even now… even now, there was Uncle Patrick’s damn voice in my head.

  This isn’t self-defense, Jackson. This isn’t defending the innocent. It isn’t even justice. This is just vengeance, killing an unarmed man.

  Voltolini began to laugh maniacally. “You can’t do it either, can you? What a pathetic pair you two make!”

  Suddenly his eyes bulged, and blood trickled from his throat. Voltolini fell forward, dead.

  Alec stood behind him, lowering his weapon back to his side.

  For a long moment I couldn’t speak. Alec did it for me.

  “I knew you’d go after Kate,” Alec smiled, “and wherever she did that broadcast, I knew he’d be, too. I just couldn’t let anyone else have the satisfaction of killing the bastard.”

  My brain was still trying to compute. “Where is Joe?”

  “Joe knew how to get to IT. He doesn’t need my help. I told him to go on ahead. I had some business to take care of first.”

  “What about Molly?” I spluttered.

  Alec shrugged. “She’s fine. I kept my cuffs after they released us and cuffed her to a nice little wall fixture to keep her out of my way. Nobody will find her there.”

  I gestured at Voltol
ini, lying dead between us. “You have what you wanted now, you got your revenge! Now tell Joe to just destroy the control centers, like we planned!”

  Alec shook his head, his lips curled. “And leave the sheep of this country thinking their heroic Potentate was assassinated by a terrorist? Jackson, come on! You’ve been here long enough to know they won’t figure out the truth without help!”

  “What about the agents that drove us here?” I countered. “All it took was for them to be in the presence of our signal disruptors—”

  “Those are the exceptions, and you know it!” Alec’s face contorted as he took a step closer to me. “My dad would have wanted me to rebuild this nation. Maggie would have wanted it!”

  “They’d want you to do exactly what he did?” I countered, jabbing my finger at Voltolini again. “To become another dictator?”

  “The end justifies the means!” Alec side-stepped Voltolini now, getting right up in my face. “These people have been born and bred as slaves, and they will always be slaves to something! They don’t have the capacity to think for themselves anymore. They need me!”

  “Alec,” said a third voice, and we both turned. Nick stood, his pistol trained upon Alec’s forehead. I could see the heartbreak in his face. “Don’t do this. Please.”

  “It’s already done!” Alec shouted, raising his own weapon to meet Nick’s. “It’s happening right now, as we speak!

  Nick didn’t lower his weapon, but he raised his other hand, a gesture of peace. He stepped away from Alec, down the hall from which we had come. “But if we go back to IT right now, we can tell Joe to stop—”

  “If you take one more step in that direction, I will kill you!” Alec warned, clicking the safety off his weapon.

  But he wasn’t looking at me. In one motion, I raised my pistol and pulled the trigger.

  Alec crumpled on top of Voltolini, my bullet through his temple. I closed my eyes, just to delay the moment when I’d have to look at Nick. When I finally did, he was already right beside me, his hand on my shoulder.

  “Let’s go,” he whispered. “We have to get to IT. We have to stop Joe.”

  “No. I need to find Kate—”