Rogue (Convergence Series Book 1)

by S. A. Stephenson

  'That's all you've ever been,' she said. 'It's what we created you to be and now it's what I need you to be.'

  'You don't need me,' Evie said.

  'I need to show you something,' Galen said.

  Evie looked up at her and didn't want to leave. Galen had one of the nurses bring a wheel chair and lifted Evie into it. The nurse strapped to the arms and she scowled furiously at Galen.

  'Just a precaution,' Galen told her.

  The nurse pushed her down the long corridor as Galen walked beside her. Outside she could hear faint shouting of a crowd. 'A lot has changed since you've been away,' she said. 'Even in the last few months, there's been a change in Volt's prefecture's that was unexpected. Rogue media reports started to come into the city and riots started. The guards are doing what they can to contain the city but this is unexpected and unprecedented.'

  'The people are finally realizing that they're not living in a free state,' Evie said. 'Took them long enough.'

  Galen turned to the nurse. 'Leave us,' she said. The nurse nodded and walked back the way that they had come. 'They're realizing how dangerous mutants are,' she said. 'Lord knows we've been saying that for years but now that you and your brother defected and they've seen what the FSA can do, they're demanding a recourse.'

  'You've started a civil war,' Evie said. 'What more do you want?'

  'To show how badly mutants can ruin their lives,' Galen said. 'To show them that they're the reason why they live the way that they do, why we have the sanctions and training programs in place.'

  'You have those in place for your own sense of power,' Evie said. 'Mutants won't be a threat to you if you stop hunting them,' she told her.

  'Do you know the exact origins of mutants?' Galen asked her.

  'There are so many different versions, it's hard to know what the truth is,' Evie said. 'Growing up I thought I knew, but since being over the wire, I'm not so sure.'

  'It's their goal to confuse anyone who leaves our compound, to tell a different story to undermine us,' Galen said. 'I believe that this is what Valletta has done to you, she's told you lies so that you'll fight against us rather than with us like you always have.'

  'Kit wouldn't lie to me.' Evie said.

  'Think about it,' Galen said. 'She's been working against us for years, built up her own story of what she believes the truth is so that she can grow her army. She knows the truth, she just doesn't want to admit it.'

  Evie was hesitant, she couldn't believe Galen was telling the truth but she also couldn't sort truth from the lie. 'You're wrong,' she said, but hesitation fluttered over her voice.

  'Am I?' Galen asked. She wheeled Evie into one of the empty rooms. It was cold and sterile and could have either been a classroom or a lab, Evie wasn't sure. There was a large window that overlooked the central government prefecture. Evie looked over the city where she had grown up, the streets that she once knew so well, she thought of the people she had grown up with, she found happy memories weave their way through her conscious and for the first time in a long time she felt a sense of safety. She looked up at Galen and the feeling wavered. 'What's your version of the truth?' She asked. 'Really?'

  Galen took a moment before she answered, 'Decades ago, we discovered that the Russians had created an alien-human hybrid during the Cold War and a group of men tried to stop an attack coming to US soil,' Galen told her. These men worked for the old government, one that was buried deep with secrets that could never be exposed to the public. The Russians were intelligent, they positioned their hybrids in American institutions so they could conduct genetic experiments.'

  'And begin the first wave of human mutation,' Evie said.

  'You remember your history lessons I see,' Galen said. 'Then you'll also know that experimentation dates as far back as the 1940's when a craft landed in what was once New Mexico,' Galen said.

  'But the original DNA came from an arctic expedition,' Evie said, clearly remembering Doctor Frank's lessons.

  'We've been visited more than once,' Galen said. 'The DNA found in the artic became the foundation for the next wave of human evolution. That's why the Other's come here, they're evolving us into the next race, into them. Those who can't serve their purpose, are killed. We've had to create a world that can cope with advances in human genetics and visitors from worlds that aren't ours.'

  'And your response is by treating us like animals, criminals?' Evie asked. 'You're trying to control something that isn't designed to be trained and organized into a weapon.'

  Galen pushed Evie closer to the window and Evie saw the crowd below, people of Volt were lined up in chains outside the building. 'This is the first time we've had mass control in Volt's history,' Galen said.

  'They work for you,' Evie said.

  Galen smiled thinly. 'They did,' she said. 'They began to question how you could escape and join the resistance, they began to question us. So we retaliated.' She looked at Evie and saw that she had turned white. 'You broke out, and they suffered because of it, we increased taxes, implemented a curfew, stricter testing. We had to let them know that it was unacceptable to think you could break free and join the resistance.'

  Evie couldn't comprehend what she was seeing, a whole city of people had become prisoners. 'You can't do this,' she said.

  'I think you'll find that I can,' she said. 'But there is a way to end it,' she told her.

  Evie looked at her, the woman's face was sunken and hollow, almost ill. 'Did you wonder why your brother flew away from that field? Why he didn't reach down and rescue you?'

  Evie's mind raced with the thought, she was struggling to remember what happened after she was shot and her thoughts became confused. 'Because Hawk was firing at him?' She said.

  Galen gave her a look of pity. 'Your brother has been controlling you all these years,' she said. 'Making sure you didn't use your powers, keeping a close eye on you, but you seem to forget who he was working for. The people he couldn't keep secrets from.'

  'Hawk was his General,' Evie said quietly.

  'And she's still his General,' Galen said. 'Your brother never stopped working for us. His job was to go out and get Valletta, the fact that you wanted to follow him gave us the perfect opportunity to draw her out to us. We knew she would sway you to her cause that you would want to use your powers that you'd been suppressing for so long. But your brother is a loyalist, always had been.'

  'You’re lying,' Evie said. 'I want to see him, if he's working for you, I want to hear it from him.'

  'I'm afraid that's not possible,' Galen said. 'He's become part of an elite squad that I have commissioned for a special op,' she said.

  Evie looked at her, more confused now than ever. 'None of this is making sense,' she said.

  ‘I want to restore peace with Alto,' she said. 'All of this,' she said, indicating to the crowd below. 'This isn't the legacy that I want to leave, as my grandfather was dying he told me of the world he once knew, of how he grew up. He wanted me to be the one to restore America to what it once was. And that means having a world without mutants, or human-hybrids,' she said.

  'Where's Kit?' Evie asked carefully. 'And my brother?'

  'You'll find out in time,' Galen said. 'For now, we have to share the news with Volt that we've captured a notorious criminal and that you're re-joining our society.'

  Evie scoffed. 'You think I'm going to come back to you?' She asked.

  'You don't have a choice,' Galen said. 'If you don't, you'll be killed, and you are the one who has to survive.'

  'Because my DNA holds the cure,' Evie said as cold realization seeped into every pore of her being.

  'Your DNA stops the evolution of unknown genome,' Galen told her. 'We've known for some time, but we've been trying to find a way to utilize it for mass application.'

  'You want to process every citizen and put them through your experiments,' Evie said.

  'No, we want you to help us restore mutants to human form, and in return, you'll be able to have the normal life you'
ve always wanted,' Galen said.

  Evie felt overwhelmed and she looked down at the people below her. She wanted them to be free, she wanted to be free but as long as mutants and humans were at war, she knew that would never happen.

  'I want to believe you,' Evie said. 'But history goes against everything you're telling me. You're your father's daughter, you always have been, change this big doesn't happen overnight.'

  'Then let me show you what we're facing,' Galen said and pushed her out of the room. They took the elevator to the fifth floor and Galen pushed her over to one of the large windows that looked down over the main square. Kit had seen the square numerous times growing up, walked across it as part of drills and even snuck out with friends during the night to hang out at the fountain. Now it was deserted except for a single black flag that had a picture of the white circle drawn in the center.

  'This appeared not long after news came here about the death of Doctor Fields,' Galen said. 'We don't know who is responsible for it but every time we try to take it down, it gets replaced.'

  Evie looked up at Galen. 'Cara's death has incited a revolution, Evie

  'When they found out about the incident, the people here saw themselves in Cara, they saw what could become of themselves if they tried to go against the order that we created. I did not order Cara's death. You may not believe me, but I like my scientists alive. Her death marked the beginning of a division and the start of the riots. Hawk is running her own agenda and has turned rogue, although she's not aware that I've discovered her deception. I can't bring order to this country through oppression. So it's time for it to end.'

  'And the invasion?' Evie asked.

  'We need to control it,' Galen said. 'If we're going to be invaded again then we need to prepare our people.'

  'They're not going to listen to you when they're being rounded up like cattle,' Evie said. 'They see you as the problem, not the solution.'

  'Which is where you come in,' Galen said. 'They see you and Valletta as a martyr to the system, a rebel, if you join us you can unite us.'

  Evie frowned. 'By letting you use my DNA.'

  'By letting us nullify the threat that mutants pose,' Galen said. 'I want to make you stronger, make you a leader of our army again so you can lead our people against the invasion. If Hawk is leading this attack and that craft attacks the way it did the last time, then it will completely wipe us out.'

  'Letting her have the chance to create her own version of hell,' Evie said.

  'Divide and conquer,' Galen said.

  'Where's Kit?' Evie then asked her. 'She was shot by your guards.'

  'Hawk has her,' Galen said. 'She's in one of the prison camps and we can't get her.'

  'What do you mean you can't get her?' Evie demanded. 'They're your prisons, you control them.'

  'Hawk's taken control of the grounds,' Galen said. 'The prison is on the other side of the Empire and buried deep in rugged terrain. Only the most notorious criminals are sent there.'

  Evie felt trepidation rise in her stomach. 'What's going to happen to her?' She asked.

  Galen looked grave. 'I can only hope whatever it is, it's at least humane,' Galen said.

  Evie tried to shake away the confusion that washed over her. 'Where's Jack?' She asked.

  'I don't know,' Galen said. 'But how many years have you made decisions based on what he thinks is best for you?' She asked. 'Now's the time to decide if you're going to be the leader you know you can be.'

  Evie looked at Galen, the person who she never envisioned helping and she desperately wanted to find Rook and Lil, the only two people who she knew she could trust amongst all of this. Realizing that she'd never find them on her own, she felt a sense of dread as she spoke.

  'Okay,' she said. 'I'll help you unite Volt and Alto,' she told her. 'On the condition that when this ends, you end the experiments. Prisoners who've committed no crime are free and we restore democracy.'

  'You don't ask for much do you?' Galen asked and Evie looked at her sternly. 'Fine, I agree to your terms,' she said then looked out to the crowd. 'Now we need to tell them.'

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  GALEN CALLED A MEETING at the Capitol Square and in the Town Hall, Evie watched the seats fill with residents from across the prefectures. She was used to being one of those in the square that she had never thought what it would be like from Galen's perspective, or from those who weren't allowed inside and had to hear the news second hand, if at all. She had never wondered what it was like to stand in the position of power, to have such control over a legion of people and it was something she had never desired. She never understood those who wanted to be in charge and determine the fate of others, but now as she felt her own future finally feeling like it was becoming her own, she didn't want someone else to feel like they could take that away from her. She never thought she would side with Galen in a war, she knew this allegiance was different to the one she had with Kit. Her tie to Kit was emotional, it felt like a deep tunnel that had been carved through her in a way she had never expected. She had spent so much time fighting being a mutant until Kit had shown her that it was the most unique part of her that could be used for some good in the world. Evie wanted to use her powers to help people, she wanted to change Volt and the Empire to a country that was for everyone, not just Galen's elite few. When Galen had told her about Hawk, she had sensed something was amiss, not quite right. Two women who fight side by side do so because of a common cause. She had seen over the years how Galen and Hawk had this relationship, how they were more powerful together than apart. Evie knew she couldn't trust her President, she had grown up with a fearful reverence of the Presidential family, for years she had believed that they could hear her thoughts, knew everything she and her family were doing. So many years she had spent living in fear, Lux had been the one who helped her break free from the rigid thinking she had been forced into and it was Kit who gave her hope of a tomorrow that she had never dreamed possible.

  She felt her heart thud at the thought of what was about to happen, pledging her allegiance to the Empire and Galen's supposed war against the invasion and Hawk. She dressed in black, skin tight armor. The old Cadet uniform that she had been so used to growing up. It made her almost miss her old lab coat, the new uniform had become what felt the most comfortable but knowing what she had done as a scientist now made her uncomfortable. Her long hair was in a braid, the same way her mother had styled her hair when she started at the military school. She thought of those long languishing days before her parents had received her orders for enrolment. The experiments had begun soon afterwards and fear had set in. Life had been surrounded by the labs, torturers and decisions that weren't hers. At least in the lab, she had been given some sense of being in charge.

  She knew that she couldn't cure mutants by staying in a lab, she couldn't be part of the system that created them for experimentation then tortured them when they no longer suited Volt's purpose. If there was a cure for the virus in her blood, they could fix the humans who had been infected and a time would come when she would be able to extract her DNA and try and use it to help people. Galen couldn't know, her family's dynasty wouldn't let the people of the Empire ever be cured of the virus, if Evie revealed what she knew she would be killed.

  Galen walked out to the podium and the crowd fell silent. Evie tuned out as she fed them propaganda on why they should unite and what this new threat means to them. Evie knelt to adjust her boot, wincing as the pain of her gunshot wound.

  She felt her energy begin to return. She could feel her power rise within her and she felt it control itself and speak quietly to her. She could see the blue light of electric dance at the end of her fingers. She knew how to use it, suddenly it seemed so clear. Her powers had been given to her for a reason, and she could no longer reject who she was.

  'We have a recruit who's returned to us, determined to help lead our country to victory against this invasion,' Galen said. She stepped to one side and Evie stepped forward, her
eyes momentarily blinded by the sun. A shocked hush fell over the town square. She looked at the sea of faces, and there were people she recognized. People she had grown up with, and people who knew that she was becoming a deserter long before she did. People who had known Lux and Cara, people who had heard about what had happened in the Spire. Galen was in front of her, twenty feet away at most. She felt her energy twist inside her, begging for release, the crowd was starting to murmur as they watched her.

  In the distance she saw a man rise, she had seen him around Volt but never had gotten to know him. He tapped his chest twice and raised his hand above his head. He was signaling for her to strike. Galen saw the gesture and turned to Evie, her eyes were wide with fear, her guards couldn't get to her aid in time and soon she was in the air. Evie's eyes locked on her, her hand outstretched as the force she felt inside her raised Galen in the air.

  'This is for Volt's freedom, and for mutants everywhere in the Empire,' Evie said and saw the blue electricity from her arm shoot out of her fingertips and wrap itself around Galen's throat. Galen dropped to the ground below with a heavy thud, her body convulsing as the mutant energy surged through her, boiling her blood until she went still. Evie didn't know if she had killed her or if she was still alive. The guards surged forward to attack and the crowd raised up against them, as though Evie's gesture finally broke the conformity that the residents had been living by for so long. The guards flooded the square in droves, Evie saw them beat the residents to submission, she saw people die in front of her as guards grabbed her and wrestled her to the ground.

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  WHEN KIT WOKE SHE was in darkness. She looked around her for a glimpse of light and her eyes fell on the crack in the window that was letting through a single beam from the moon. She got to her feet, and excruciating pain radiated through her. As her eyes adjusted to the darkness, she saw she was in a gray cell. She was dressed in an old flannel night dress and she felt pain gnawing at her arm. When she looked down, she could see there was something there. Her stomach sunk and she knew she was in one of Volt's prisons. The pain on her arm was a number tattooed, marking her as an inmate.