One of the soldiers used the keypad and brought up an old video feed. Evie watched the grains of film form into a street view of The Spire. The security drone moved through the abandoned streets until they stopped on two bodies. Two men who were dressed in Armistice Guard fatigues.
'These two soldiers were part of your Commander Fox's unit,' Hawk said. 'Both have been shot by bullets that were assigned to your brother's gun.'
Evie looked at the men confused then back to Hawk. 'He wouldn't shoot them,' she said. 'He's a loyalist, he wouldn't turn on his own men.'
'We're still operating under the assumption that his prisoner has turned on him,' Galen said. 'But he's kept Commander Fox alive, which raises suspicion.' Evie didn't know what Galen was wanting from her or what she thought she was supposed to say. 'Give me the room,' she said. The men got up and left, Cara lingered for a moment until Evie nodded that it was okay for her to leave. 'She's like your little shadow,' Galen noted. 'It's cute, almost like how you and Lux were.'
Evie stiffened and straightened. 'You don't get to say her name,' she said quietly.
'Why not?' Galen asked and walked round the table. 'You see, I'm trying to paint a picture. You were madly in love with a defector, someone who tried to escape the life that me and my government have built. Yet you work for me, your brother works for me and now two of his soldiers are dead and none of my men can reach him.'
'He's in the dead zone, out of range,' Evie said.
'Or he's also defected,' Galen said. 'Abandoned us, everything he's grown to believe to join a cause that is...well just foolish.'
Evie held her thoughts, it was difficult and frustrating but she knew she couldn't risk herself or Jack. 'I'll find Jack and bring him back, Valletta too.'
Hawk smiled at her with a mocking glint in her eye. 'You're a scientist,' she said. 'Not a soldier.'
'You know my test results,' Evie argued. 'You know I scored higher than Jack and most of your men. I can survive in the field and right this wrong.'
Galen studied her for a moment. 'You were assigned to the lab for a reason,' she said. 'And it was at your request if I remember rightly.'
Evie was quiet as she recalled the moment when she thought she could make a difference to the world she was living in by trying to find a cure rather than fighting on the front line. 'I made a mistake,' she said. 'Peace for our land won't be found in some laboratory, but out there, by trying to bring some order to this country.'
'Are you requesting an official reassignment?' Galen asked.
Evie looked at the two dead soldiers on the street of her city, she wanted to get back there so badly. Wanted to restore it to what it once was and live beyond the wire. She wanted to find Jack and cure for them both. 'I am,' she said. 'I am requesting to be assigned the post of soldier, and have Cara accompany me.' she said. 'She might be able to find something useful out in the field.'
Galen hid a smile. 'Approved,' she said. 'Welcome aboard.'
Evie was escorted out of the situation room and down to the barracks where she was given a set of fatigues. Galen handed her over to Hawk and she had to change in front of her, trying to hide her modesty as much as possible. 'Do you want to watch me or...?' Evie asked.
'Don't flatter yourself,' Hawk said. 'Rookies aren't normally sent out to the field on their first day so you need to do everything by the book.'
'I get it,' Evie said as she buttoned up her shirt. 'Get in, get Jack out, get back safe and sound.'
'You're not just going on a rescue mission,' Hawk told her. 'I need you to bring Valletta in, dead or alive, preferably alive, but if you don't bring her back to the compound then both you and your brother are exiled.'
'Exiled?' Evie asked.
'You don't just get a reassignment without a consequence,' Hawk said. 'And if you and your brother are thinking of defecting then I'll make sure you won't survive outside the wire.'
Evie frowned, she had done nothing to deserve the hostility but knew that once Hawk suspected someone it was difficult to change her mind.
'I'll bring your Commander back,' Evie told her.
'Good,' Hawk said. 'Because I'm assigning you two soldiers who are going to make sure you don't put a toe out of line,' she said and looked down the line of bunk beds before whistling. 'Max, Connor, Private Fox here is the newest prisoner of state,' she said.
'What?' Evie asked.
'The President and I are not letting one of our leading scientists go over the wire so easily,' Hawk told her. 'You're the best way of bringing your brother back and have a higher score than these two clowns put together but I don't trust disorder so we'll be in charge while you're out there. Do you understand your mission?'
'You're coming too?' Evie asked dismayed.
'I'm not going to let you ruin our objective,' she said. 'Now, do you understand the mission?'
'Bring my brother home, resume equilibrium,' Evie said, holding back a sigh of frustration.
'You do that, then everything will go back to normal,' Hawk said. 'Men, make sure she's in your sight at all times.'
'Yes ma'am,' one of the soldiers said.
Evie looked at the two men and rolled her eyes. 'I don't need a babysitter,' she said.
'You don't get a choice,' Connor said.
'Great,' Evie muttered.
'Get what you need, if we're going to the Dead Zone we need to start moving,' Max said.
Evie followed them out to a hanger when she saw Cara standing at the edge of the barracks. 'Give me a minute,' she said and went over to her.
'You're really going?' Cara asked. 'The Spire is our home but even you know that there are sectors that no sane person would venture to.'
'If those two have their way I'll be back within 48 hours,' Evie said. 'Jack's in those sectors and has failed in what he wanted to do, I have to bring him home.'
Cara lowered her voice. 'You're not coming back are you?' She asked.
'Nothing's ever going to change if we stay here,' Evie said. 'Can you tell me that if you knew our world would be better if we actually got up and did something that you wouldn't take the chance to?' She asked.
Cara showed her a government order that she had. 'I convinced Galen to let me go with you,' she said. 'On the grounds that I might be able to find something that relates to a cure.'
'We gotta move out!' Max called over to them.
'You sure?' Evie asked Cara.
'Let’s see if we can change the world,' Cara said and grabbed the pack that was by her feet. She and Evie crossed the airfield to the hanger, and made their way over the wire.
Kit's truck had pulled down an alleyway when they saw the jet fly overhead.
'What are the rebels doing flying over the city?' Lil asked.
'Rook, get a signal on them, try and establish a communication network,' Kit ordered.
'On it,' Rook said as she tapped furiously as her keyboard in the back seat.
'They're trying to rescue Kingsley,' Kit said. 'They must have intercepted our messages.'
'Are they dangerous?' Lil asked.
'They'll strike if needed,' Canaan said.
'Would they attack us?' Rook asked.
'Only if they perceive us as a target,' Shep said. 'And if Kingsley has a guard with him then he's traveling with a threat.'
'We can't risk the death of that guard,' Kit said. 'Not when he's our key for getting to Hawk.'
'So we're now rescuing King from his own people and trying to keep our enemy alive?' Lil said. 'That's one messed up day at the office.'
'I got a hit,' Rook said. 'Jet's three blocks from here, hovering, GPS locates Kingsley at five blocks away but we've got a family of hybrids out there taking a Silva trip as well.'
'Great,' Kit said under her breath. 'Arm up, I have a feeling this is going to get heavy before we get to go home.'
Shep and Canaan loaded up the guns and Lil put the truck into drive. 'Think I can outdrive a jet loaded with ammo?' She asked quietly.
'Think I can shoot a jet down
?' Kit replied.
'If you do, I'll add it to our training manual,' Lil said.
Kit checked her weapon as Lil drove through the streets, she carried an A9-342, one of the older models made by the Empire. She had traded fifty notes for it when the market was last in town and her ammunition levels were running drastically low. She thought threw as best she could the scenarios that could take place when they met Kingsley and the guard but mainly hoped that she wouldn't have to end up using her weapon and that everyone would still be alive at the end of it.
'Rook, how far away are we?' She asked.
'Two blocks,' Rook replied. Then there was a beat. 'We got a family of hybrids coming up to us on our right.'
'Can you outdrive them?' Kit asked Lil.
'I'll try,' Lil said. 'Hold on!' She called out and floored the gas pedal and the truck went zooming forward. Gray hybrid mutants came bounding out of the right alleyway, clawing and screeching as they ran after their prey. Two of them launched onto the back of the truck, Lil tried to swerve so that they fell but it was Canaan's shots that made them roll to the ground below. He kept firing as the pack kept following and Shep joined, the sound of bullets coursed through the air as the hybrids screamed like banshees. The pack had been reduced significantly when the remaining few began to scale the walls of buildings and retreat on their attack.
'Where are they going?' Rook asked.
'You're our navigator,' Canaan said as he reloaded his gun. 'You tell us.'
Rook looked back to her screen and tried to reposition it to their location when it began to flicker. She hit the side of it furiously. 'There's something interrupting the feed,' she said and the truck rolled to a halt. Rook's computer went dead and Kit's gun turned itself off.
'We've entered the Dead Zone,' Lil said.
Evie looked out down of the window at the Empire of America that lay below her, the one great United States of America was forever different. It was a desolate landscape, perilous to anyone who tried to cross it on foot. They flew over cities that had once stood majestic but now were nothing more than wastelands left by the rebel soldiers.
'It's a sad sight,' Hawk said. She was sat across from her, wearing headphones and a gray military uniform. 'The nation once was one of the most powerful in the world, now because of people who want to work against us rather than for us, the land lays useless to anyone who tries to inhibit it.'
'The cities were all destroyed by the plague?' Evie asked.
'Mostly,' Hawk said. 'When the first invasions happened, natural disasters wiped out a lot and killed most people. Then when the Blast happened it was near impossible to survive.'
Evie thought of what it must have been like for the people living during the time of the invasion, what it must have been like to fear for your life and not be able to do anything to save yourself. 'Why did the Others attack?' Evie asked.
Hawk looked at her and Evie saw almost a pleased expression come over her face. 'Some say it's because they needed a new home planet, they wanted to expand their race by taking over ours. Others believe it was orchestrated by humans.' Evie looked and Cara looked at her confused. 'Does that surprise you?' She asked. 'To think that we could have been the ones who wanted the Others to come here and wipe out our planet? That's what the rebels think, that could be what your brother thinks and that's why they're so dangerous.'
'Did governments around the world let this happen to us?' Evie asked. 'Was it the Alliance?'
Hawk looked back out the window as they flew over another city that lay in ruin. 'I have to believe they didn't,' she said.
Evie and Cara were quiet for the rest of the flight. Evie could sense Cara's nerves but she was able to keep herself relatively composed. Evie thought of old New York, of the city her grandparents had once called home before they had traveled to Volt for sanctuary. She could feel the energy inside her begin to swell as they approached the Dead Zone sector in the Spire. It felt stronger here, like something was awakening it inside her and she was doing what she could to keep it contained. If Hawk even suspected there was anything mutant about her she knew she would be shot instantly and there would be no hope for Jack. She steadied her thoughts as best as possible and tried desperately to decrease the anxiety she was feeling. Her heart was racing and it wasn't helping.
Cara looked over to her and made the hand gesture they had learnt in school that asked, 'Are you okay?' Evie nodded but Cara could see in her eyes that all was not well.
'How long till we land?' She asked Hawk.
'We'll be there in 10 minutes,' she said. 'Armor up boys,' she called over to Max and Connor. 'All your training has led to this mission.'
The men put on their helmets and charged up their guns. Evie got up from her seat and went over to the armory where she looked at the small amount of weaponry they had. She recognized all of the guns, although hadn't used any since she had begun working at the lab. She knelt down by the box and selected the few items she needed before returning to her seat. She knew Hawk was watching her, she was purposefully making sure Hawk was watching her as she assembled the R9-492 general assault rifle. The large black gun that could carry fifteen bars of ammunition was one of the most powerful Volt produced. She clicked the pieces together perfectly and saw the gage light up to tell her she had a full tank of ammo before putting together a second gun for Cara. The secondary machine was smaller and when it was ready to be fired Evie aimed it at Hawk. For a moment Cara thought she was going to shoot her then and there. She had the perfect opportunity to, no one had ever been so close to assassinating the President's Army Chief but as Hawk smiled Evie withdrew, took the safety off and handed the gun to Cara.
'Only fire it if you absolutely need to,' she said. 'I don't want to see you having to kill anyone unless you have to.'
Cara took the gun tentatively, the device felt heavy in her hand and when Evie saw her holding it, her childhood friend who didn't believe in violence and who held such a strong moral compass and knew then that they had entered the war. Evie just had to decide which side they were fighting for.
Chapter Ten
JACK WONDERED IF HE had made the right choice. If he had been a fool for revealing himself and Evie to Kingsley. He had always been taught that as an Empire soldier it was his job to have the upper hand and he had given it away so easily. Yet even with Kingsley aiming a gun at him, Jack felt freer than he had in years. Someone finally knew who he was, someone who was just like him knew his secret and he was going to meet others who were the same.
'Are you part of the rebels?' Jack asked him.
'You're really going to start asking me questions right now?' Kingsley asked.
'I just want to know if you're part of the rebel army who have a jet flying over us ready to drop bombs on us,' Jack said.
'They'll only drop them on my command,' Kingsley said.
‘You’re their leader?' Jack asked.
'Stop asking questions,' Kingsley ordered. 'You don't know anything about the rebel army, you think you do, but it's all stories that your government makes up to cover their own asses.'
'What are they covering up?' Jack asked.
The tablet beeped, telling them they were three blocks away from their target.
'That they're responsible for the virus,' Kingsley said. 'That they insight the riots so they can make us look like the uncontrollable ones. They tell you folks that mutants are out to kill you so that you fear us.'
Two blocks.
'You don't want to kill us?' Jack asked.
Kingsley stopped and Jack turned to him. Kingsley looked at his weapon and then at Jack, he thought about Jack showing him what powers he had, he saw the Armistice Guard uniform he was wearing and what it represented.
'Do you want to kill us?' Kingsley asked.
'Hands in the air!' Jack heard a female voice shout from behind them and when he spun round he saw Katarina Valletta aiming a gun at him. 'Do it!' She ordered.
He did as he was commanded, it felt strange being on the o
ther side of the gun and the other side of the order that he had been so used to giving.
'Don't shoot,' Kingsley told her as he stepped in between them.
'Get out of my range Kingsley,' Kit ordered.
'Chief, I'm telling you, you don't want to kill him, he's one of us,' Kingsley said.
Kit lowered her gun ever so slightly, surprised that the guard had revealed himself to Kingsley. Shep and Canaan had their guns aimed at him. Lil and Rook were up in buildings armed and ready to fire the moment they were given the order but when Kit looked at Kingsley she saw sincerity in his eyes. She looked back at the guard, he had a busted-up leg, his uniform was torn and he wasn't armed. His blue eyes met hers through floppy brown hair that should have been cut off in any other unit. He looked tired, weary but it wasn't until Kit saw the tattoo marks shimmering down his arms that she knew Kingsley was right.
'Lower your weapons,' she ordered.
'Chief?' Canaan asked. 'I have him in range.'
Kit turned to him. 'Lower your gun,' she said. 'He's a mutant.'
As her words left her the block erupted into an explosion of fire.
Kit opened her eyes and the world slowed down around her. She was being carried and she could feel herself being moved but couldn't keep her eyes open long enough to work out what was happening and she fell into darkness.
She entered the Starlight. The world around her was dark and as she walked forward she saw she was dressed in her old hospital gown. Her hair was short again and she was back in the depths of the Shard. In the distance she could see a man who was frail and withered sat curled up in a ball ahead of her. .
'Hello?' She asked, she didn't get a response from him and she took a few steps forward. She could feel her powers being to tingle and her energy begin to change.
'Katarina?' The man whispered.
'Yes,' she said. He looked up at her, his eyes were drawn, skin around them hollow. She looked into the depths of them and thought she saw something familiar. 'Father?' She asked quietly.
'Run,' the man said.
Kit opened her eyes and saw she was in an empty room. She sat up in the bed thinking she was back in Shard and darted for the door. Lil opened it and caught her as she was about to fall.
Rogue (Convergence Series Book 1) Page 10
