“So we’re just lab rats to them? How dare they use us like that! I’ll never forgive them!” Anna looked at the biotoxin canister in her hands.
Ethan stepped forward and held out his hand. “I’ll take that and put it somewhere no one can ever use it.”
Anna looked Madison, who nodded. She handed it over hesitantly.
“So what happens now?” Claire said, her shoulders slumping, “I think I get where you guys are coming from, but I’m having trouble processing it in the light of everything we’ve been led to believe.”
“Hey, Bhagya?” I said. “I know we can’t show them the video of the dissections until we get back home, but you brought the photos, yeah?”
The Indian girl nodded and removed a sheaf of photos from her bag. They were stills from the dissections videos. She handed the photos to Anna, Claire and Lucia, and explained in disturbingly graphic detail how the geneticists dissected several of the male echolocators while they were still alive. She also briefly remarked on a number of other things we had learned about the chancellor, such as the longevity treatments he was taking.
“Wait, are you saying that Chancellor Lee is Captain Lee Kwang Soon? The submarine captain who came to Melbourne a century ago and established Newhome?” Anna’s eyes were wider than I would have thought possible.
“That’s what we think,” I said.
“And you’re sure of this information?”
“I saw it myself on their computers.”
“So the chancellor could be a 150 years old?”
“Lee Kwang Soon was born in 1982, so if he is Chancellor Lee, he’s 141,” Ethan said.
Silence fell as Anna, Claire, and Lucia considered everything we just told them. Expressions of surprise, confusion, and anger fled across their faces.
“So, what happens now?” Anna asked finally.
“That’s the question, isn’t it? One that only you can answer,” I said.
“What do you mean?”
“Will you join us in our fight against the chancellor now your eyes have been opened?”
Lucia slung her rifle over her shoulder. “Absolutely.”
“I feel weird, like I’m dreaming or something, but yeah, count me in too,” Claire said.
“I feel like I can see – really see, for the first time in my life – so yes, I’ll join you. Besides,” Anna looked at Madison. “I’d follow you anywhere.”
Madison rewarded her with a smile.
“Way to go, Anna – you too, Lucia and Claire. You’re finally free of Cho’s control,” Ethan said.
“Hey, you took quite a risk turning up unarmed like that. What if we’d shot you?” Claire said.
“What, you think I just waltzed in here unarmed, trusting you wouldn’t try to shoot me?” Ethan said, smirking.
Taking that as their cue, two men and a woman, all wearing the same combat fatigues as Madison and Ethan, seemed to rise out of the very ground itself. They were young, probably late teens and early twenties, but they held their assault rifles with the practised ease of veterans. One guy was an Aussie. He had long white-blond hair and was almost a head shorter than I was. The other two must be Japanese. The guy had short black hair, a strikingly handsome face, and was taller than Ryan. The woman, on the other hand, was even shorter than the white-blond haired fellow. She had a round face and wore her hair in a bob cut.
“Shorty, Ken, and my wife, Nanako,” Ethan said.
Seeing that introductions were in order, my five companions and I nodded to the newcomers and said our names. And like the others, I found myself staring at Nanako with more than a passing interest. She, a normal human, was married to the only male echolocator in the world. I wondered if she’d experienced the heartache of having a miscarriage too.
“Okay then, let’s get back to Hamamachi,” Madison said. “We can continue our discussion after we’ve cleaned up and had something to eat.”
“No,” I said.
“Excuse me?” Madison seemed bemused.
“We have to get back to Newhome.”
“You will not be detained in Hamamachi.”
“You can’t guarantee that. When your commander hears of the biotoxin he’ll imprison and interrogate us, and we can’t risk that.”
“Colonel Ito, our commanding officer, has been briefed on the effects of the Round Room and how Bhagya Singhe has been working to set you girls free,” Ethan said. “He will understand that you’re not responsible for what happened here tonight. Besides, I won’t tell him about the biotoxin, just the explosives. Better he thinks you came to blow up the water purification plant.”
“But–”
“Chelsea, I give you my word that you won’t be detained. Now come with us and get some food into you while we talk more,” Madison said as she walked past us, heading for a large garage situated next to the water treatment plant’s main entrance.
We all shouldered our guns and set off after her.
All except for Claire, that is. She jumped back from the rest of us, couched her rifle, and aimed the gun at us with a fire smouldering in her eyes.
Chapter Six
~ Ethan Jones ~
“This nonsense stops now!” shouted Claire. “I’ve set my assault rifle to fully automatic, and I won’t hesitate to use it. So put your guns slowly on the ground and your hands on your heads. Anna, get the biotoxin and get over here. We’re going to finish the mission.”
I sighed and turned around. So much for thinking the night had gone better than expected. I hefted the biotoxin canister, which was surprisingly heavier than it looked.
“Put the gun down, Claire, and that’s an order,” Anna said.
“Done taking orders from you. Now get the biotoxin!”
“Didn’t you hear anything we said about the chancellor and the virus? About his plan to kill off you girls within the year? You going to go along with that?” I said as Nanako, Shorty and Ken spread out and pointed their assault rifles at her.
Claire aimed the gun at me. “Everything you’ve said is lies and misinformation. The chancellor’s decisions are always correct, for only he can see the big picture.”
“Claire–” Anna began.
“Can it, Anna! Get the biotoxin and release it into the water like you were told.”
Anna didn’t move.
“You’ve got to the count of three, and then I open fire. One…two–”
A gunshot rang out, shattering the deceptive calm of the crisp early morning air. Claire’s assault rifle went spinning from her hands, a large-calibre bullet having struck its barrel casing, completely wrecking the weapon.
Claire gasped in pain from the shock of the impact, but quickly recovered her poise, reaching for her pistol. But before she could unclip the holster, Anna dashed forward and snapped a powerful roundhouse kick to the side of her head. She grunted and collapsed, out cold.
I looked at the unconscious girl on the ground, and then back at the rest of the girls from Newhome. What if more of them were pretending to go along with us like Claire?
“Don’t take this personally, Specialists, but put your guns down and we’ll check where your loyalties lie,” I said as I knelt down and zip tied Claire’s hands behind her back.
“Hey, we said we’re with you! I took her out, didn’t I?” Anna said. “And so much for trusting us, by the way – how many snipers have you got trained on us?”
“Earn my trust if you want it. Now put your guns down – and slowly. One wrong move and you’ll be shot.”
Lucia put her weapon on the ground, followed a moment later, and somewhat begrudgingly, by Anna.
“Chelsea, Romy, you too,” I said.
“What? We’ve been with Bhagya for months. I was the first one she set free from the brainwashing. Ask her!” The redhead, Chelsea, said.
“I’m only asking you to put your guns down while we ascertain whether you’re telling the truth,” I said.
“Didn’t you see Romy, Bhagya and me risk our lives trying to stop the bi
otoxin from being released? Bhagya, tell him!”
“I can vouch for Chelsea and Romy – they’re totally on our side,” Bhagya said.
“Okay, sure.” I shrugged. “Can you do your thing while Madison asks Anna and Lucia some questions?”
“Sure,” Bhagya said.
“Just think of this as an interview to join the Underground Resistance Movement,” Chelsea said to Anna and Lucia.
“You mean you’re not working alone?” Anna asked.
“You think we’re the only people alarmed by the chancellor’s unjust and excessive policies?”
I raised my eyebrows at that – there was an organised resistance movement in Newhome? For all the time I spent there, carefully living in the shadows to hide my biologically engineered differences, I never saw even a hint of any such movement. Maybe there was hope for the town after all.
Madison asked the girls a number of questions to check whether they were still loyal to the chancellor or if they had indeed thrown off the brainwashing. While she asked the questions, Bhagya sang with echolocation, studying the girls’ body language carefully as they answered. Having a living lie detector with a hundred percent accuracy on our side was a fantastic boon.
When the questions had all been answered, Bhagya turned to me. “They’re telling the truth. They are indeed free of the Round Room’s conditioning and no longer revere the chancellor.”
“Awesome.” I motioned for my unit to stand down and Nanako, Shorty, and Ken slung their rifles over their shoulders. At the same time, Aika emerged from her hiding spot, holding a sniper rifle almost as big as she was. She limped over to us, blood soaking through a bandage wrapped around her thigh.
“This is Aika,” I said.
“Hey, that’s a Blaser Tactical 2 Sniper Rifle,” Anna said. “I did an intensive training course with one of those when I was a cadet at the Custodian Academy.”
“Cool.” Aika nodded politely.
Anna and Lucia returned the nod respectfully – how many snipers could shoot a rifle out of someone’s hands like that?
“Great! Now that we’re one big happy family, let’s get back to Hamamachi. I’m famished and would love to catch some shut-eye. And Ken, bring her, will you?” Madison said, pointing at Claire.
“What will you do with her?” Lucia asked.
“She’ll be placed under guard until our psychologists can help her break free of the brainwashing,” I said.
We headed for the facility’s spacious garage.
It was fortuitous that the spy satellite technicians at Militia Headquarters spotted the Specialist girls leaving Newhome earlier tonight. Monitoring their progress, they correctly deduced their destination once they got deep into the countryside. Because of that, we managed to get to the water purification plant half an hour before they did. Oh, and also thanks to Shorty driving like a lunatic.
That the dark-haired girl, Anna, had been observed making the trip from Newhome to this facility two weeks ago made it easier to guess their destination as well. Madison and I had watched her snoop about the water purification plant, taking care to avoid being seen by the security patrols and staff as she reconnoitred the place thoroughly. In the end, we let her go since she did nothing but gather information. Turned out to be the correct call, considering how things panned out tonight.
The other two girls, Romy and Chelsea, were turning out to be great finds too, especially the latter. She played a major role in convincing the others they had been brainwashed. Had a keen mind that one, and enough charisma to get her points across convincingly. Wouldn’t be surprised if she had leadership potential. Wasn’t sure about Romy, though. Her heart was in the right place, but she was seething with anger. Still, I couldn’t blame her. Like all the girls in the lab, she was torn from her family at a young age and forced to live in a sterile, loveless environment.
Ken activated the roller door when we reached the garage, which was set back from the facility’s main entrance. Several vehicles were inside – maintenance trucks, rapid response 4WD vehicles – and a Bushmaster. That caused the girls to gasp in surprise.
“How come you’ve got one of our Bushmasters?” Anna asked.
“The Japanese captured it when King took it to Hamamachi,” I said.
“And you’ve been able to keep it going?”
“Replaced the electric motor and solar panels with a refurbished six-cylinder diesel engine,” Ken said, patting the vehicle’s blocky rear end affectionately.
Chapter Seven
~ Chelsea Thomas ~
After dropping Shorty and Aika off at the hospital, we went to Dalyston Barracks, the Militia’s base of operations situated just outside Hamamachi. Ethan handed a conscious and rather irate Claire over to the Militia squad on night duty to be thrown into a holding cell. He also informed his commander of our arrival, though not in person, for Colonel Ito had gone out to meet the convoy of rescued Skel slaves that had just returned.
The rest of us adjourned to the brilliantly lit barrack’s mess hall to wash up, throw down some ration bars and fresh fruit, and discuss where to go from here.
“Ethan, what are you thinking of doing now you know about the virus?” I said after I consumed two ration bars and an apple. I was sitting across from Ethan at one of the sturdy wooden tables. Romy and Bhagya were beside me.
“I think it’s high time my unit and I return to Newhome. Not just to liberate the echolocator girls as originally planned, but to destroy the virus too,” Ethan said.
I gave him a withering look. “Seriously? You want to waltz into Newhome, rescue the girls, destroy the virus, and leave? Sure, that’ll stop the chancellor releasing the virus, but what about the town’s ten thousand inhabitants? Which, by the way, includes your friends and families. Don’t you care that they’re trapped in a prison that robs them of their freedoms, that treats girls and women as second class citizens, and that imprisons and executes civilians for simply going against the chancellor’s will?”
“What exactly are you trying to say?” Ethan glanced at Madison sitting cross-legged on the chair beside him. She seemed baffled as well.
“If you’re going to do a job, then for goodness sake, do it properly! Break into Newhome and overthrow the chancellor and his brutal regime. After all, that’s the only sure-fire way to make sure the virus can never be released. And you won’t just rescue the girls but everyone else in the town too. We can create a democratic government and a new police force. We can empty the prisons of those imprisoned unjustly.”
“You’re kidding yourself if you think we can pull off something like that. Remember those four hundred trigger-happy Custodians itching to enforce the chancellor’s will?” Ethan said.
“There’s less than three hundred of them now, thanks to the Rangers and Skel–”
“Still too many.”
“–and around seventy of them are members of the Freehome Resistance Movement, ready and waiting for the order to rise up–”
“Freehome Resistance Movement? You mentioned that before. What is it?” Ethan leaned forward, one eyebrow raised.
The time had finally come to rise up in revolt against the chancellor. I shared what I knew about the Freehome and Underground resistance movements and their preparations to date. I also explained how the Specialists were working with both groups to bring about the chancellor’s downfall.
Ethan whistled. “I’m impressed. I had no idea the people of Newhome were setting wheels in motion to depose the chancellor.”
I nodded. Thank goodness, I was getting through to him.
“However,” he continued, “the chancellor isn’t going to sit back and watch as you try to wrest control of the town away from him. He will fight back, and with every resource at his disposal. If we go back and instigate a full scale revolution, a lot of people are going to die, including some of us.”
“I’m well aware of that,” I said.
“Not to mention it’ll be a death sentence for everyone who participates if i
t fails,” Madison added.
“Then we’d better not fail,” Anna said, surprising everyone.
“You can count me out,” Leigh said. “I didn’t escape that dump to walk back in and let them take pot shots at me.”
“Not helping, Leigh,” Ethan said.
“Wasn’t trying to help,” he muttered under his breath.
“What do you think, Bhagya?” Madison said. “Is it time for the people of Newhome to rise up?”
Bhagya replied, and without a trace of emotion, as usual. “Ever since I was five and I saw the geneticists dissect a boy echolocator, I have plotted and schemed to bring about the fall of the chancellor’s regime. As I see it, the virus has forced our hand. It’s time to act.”
“There’s something else you need to realise, Ethan,” I said. “If you return to Newhome and try to take the echolocator girls out with you, none will go.”
“Why’s that?”
“Because unlike you, we’re not willing to abandon our friends and families to the chancellor.”
“Whoa, judgemental or what?” Leigh hissed.
“Steady on, there,” Ethan said. “Who gives you the right to judge me?”
“Haven’t you got family in Newhome?”
“Yes, but–”
“So what the blazes are you doing out here, playing soldier while your family rots away in there?”
“You’re way out of line, Chelsea. First, do you know how the chancellor rewarded me for saving the Custodians and taking out the Ranger sniper? He accused my team of being Japanese spies. Then he went so far as to arrest Nanako and sentence her to death! If we had remained in Newhome after I rescued her, they would have turned over every stone until they found us. Second, the Custodian officer who helped us escape sent us outside to save the town from the Rangers and the Skel.”
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