by K. F. Breene
The staffer sank to his knees, bent his face to the ground, and covered his head.
“Whatever works,” Roe said, shaking his head. He ducked into the clone facility, where he was greeted with soft-yellow walls and brightly colored art. “Well, isn’t this lovely.”
The clones’ faces were indistinctive, similar in appearance to any lab born, but their bodies were fit and muscular, perfectly in shape and well proportioned. “I think you all are going to have a leg up on getting dates on Paradise, I’ll say that much. The women will go bonkers.”
“We’ve got comms,” someone yelled over the loud speaker.
That was fast. These young troops were efficient. Or maybe that was just their age. Very energetic.
“Follow me,” Roe said, motioning to the clones who’d gathered around him. They came without further prompting. Without questioning. “I guess when you’re going to die soon anyway, you don’t fear strangers.”
“A few security staffers are holed up in the eatery,” someone called out.
“Give them the offer through the door,” Roe said. “If they don’t take it, blast them out. Is someone checking for Toton’s forces?”
“Yes, sir.”
Roe sauntered into the exercise facility, which was still half full. “Holy Masses, you’re still at it even while you’re under siege. That’s either dedication or stupidity, and I’m not sure which.” He flicked the screen on the wall, couldn’t figure out how to turn all the exercise systems off, and then shot it.
“What happened, sir?” one of the troopers called out over the loudspeaker. Someone else ran in.
Roe wanted to call him over, but he had no idea what any of these kids’ names were. While he should learn them, or at least one or two of them, it was really below his level of interest.
“Do you need help, sir?” the kid asked.
“Yeah. Turn these things off.” He gestured toward the running mats, which still had people on them despite the fact that he’d shot a round at the wall.
That was either a really great sign or an extremely bad one.
“Yes, sir.” The kid took to a different console. A moment later, all activity in the room ceased. Still no one spoke or asked what was going on. They were like robots, only they didn’t have one ounce of tech in them. It just went to show that the human mind could be programmed with conditioning like any computer could be programmed with code.
“All right, listen—” Roe paused as another group of people were ushered in. Many had scared expressions, but a few looked angry. “Ah. So here are the survivalists. I wondered.” He made a mental note of the angry ones. They’d be the most useful. “Right, okay. My name is Roe, and I represent—”
“A few more, sir.”
“Just bring them in quietly, for the love of Holy!” He shifted and redirected his attention to the waiting people. “As I was saying, I represent a faction of people who have rebelled against the conglomerates’ control. This started before Toton declared war. But we’ve decided we want more. We want to put this world back the way it was. At least as far as the ruling system goes. The people are supposed to be in charge, by the way, since only those with history books would actually remember that. To give power back to the people, we need to cut the legs out of Toton and the other conglomerates. Who’s with us?”
A few of the newcomers looked around in confusion. The ones who were still standing on their running mats stared placidly.
“Holy shit, this is something else.” Roe ran his fingers through his hair. “Okay, look. You can either stay here and get turned into hamburger meat—”
“They don’t know what that is, sir . . .”
Roe thinned his lips to keep from shooting his helpers. “You can either stay here and be killed for your parts, or you can come with us. If you come with us, you can choose to help us save this world, and possibly die in the process, or go to a safe house to eventually be transported to Paradise, another planet. The choice is yours. So. If you want to go with us, form a cluster over there . . .” Roe pointed to the right. “And if you want to stay, form a cluster over there . . .”
Everyone looked around. Many blinked. Someone looked at the stilled running mat at his feet.
“Should we just kidnap them, sir? We don’t have much time to get to the other facilities.”
Roe stared at the most placid human beings he’d ever encountered in his life. “Well, fuck it. They’re going to die anyway, right? Might as well give them a bit more time to think.” Roe started back toward the holes he’d made in their facility. “Let’s get them loaded up in the carriers. Call the rebel headquarters and let them know we’re going to need a lot more carriers as we make our rounds, and a lot more dedicated space for the former clones.”
As he moved down the hall, he peered in the rooms. Someone was still in one of them, reading.
“And check all the rooms. The cleaning stalls, too. These people aren’t normal.”
“Well, no, sir. They’re clones. So—”
“Stop helping,” Roe said, waving the persistent trooper away. “Go do something. And stop referring to these people as clones. They were made in the lab just like you were. Probably.” Roe glimpsed three people in one of the rooms, naked and writhing. “C’mon, you three. You can have sex in the carrier. I doubt any of this lot will care. Hell,” he said, continuing on. “Maybe they’ll join in and give an expression or two. That would be better than all these bland faces I keep seeing.”
“Sir,” one of the troopers said as Roe reached the new door he’d fashioned with the heavy artillery. “We’ve seen no activity from Toton. Their communications have noted the disturbance down here, but it didn’t get escalated into the more secure areas of their net. They aren’t interested.”
“You guys hacked into their internet? Does Millie know that?”
“The baby Foster got us in, sir. From wherever she is. She sectioned us off into certain areas that wouldn’t disturb them . . . I think.”
“The baby Foster, huh?” Roe huffed out a laugh. “That’ll piss Gunner off. You don’t sound sure, though.” Roe ducked through the door and immediately raised his gun. Nothing waited on the walkway except bad weather and a dead body.
“I’m getting the information secondhand. That kid is a genius. She easily rivals Ms. Foster and she’s only a kid.”
Roe huffed again and climbed into the craft. “And that’ll piss Millicent off. You guys are going to create some hostile enemies.” He sat and leaned back. He wasn’t as adept at traveling as he used to be. He wasn’t old enough to feel like he did. To be this tired. “Fine. So they have eyes and ears in this part of the city, but they don’t care about harvesting the clones for their machines.” Roe thought back to the mostly blank faces and placid mannerisms. “I think I can guess why. Let’s keep to the schedule, but if Toton has eyes and ears out, I don’t want to lead them straight to our shelter. Take the clones—people—to another location and squat there until I can talk to Millie or Gunner. If Toton doesn’t want them, we’re not in any hurry to take them home.”
“Do you know what Toton does want, sir?” the kid asked.
Roe took a deep breath. “I think it’s less of what they want, and more who they want.”
Chapter 10
Millicent glanced away from the craft’s console to look at Danissa. Her sister sat next to the man they’d carried out of the building, silently holding his hand as sorrow coated her face. Clearly they’d been close. She’d dragged him down a lot of floors and holed up in that office with him, holding on to the hope that he would live. Now he was gone.
A shiver passed through Millicent as she shifted her gaze to Ryker. His tight eyes indicated he was in pain, but he’d push through. He’d been injured worse before. On his lap sat Marie, who was hugging him tightly.
Millicent would lose her mind if either of them died. If Danissa felt even a fraction of that soul-sucking love for this man, it was amazing that she was holding it together.
&nb
sp; Although, what choice did she have? This was Earth. People either hardened up or they let death take them.
She tried not to think of a third outcome, which had to do with Toton.
“Any indication they’re following us back to headquarters?” she asked Ryker.
He and Dagger glanced up, the two sitting side by side, equally in pain and equally trying to ignore it.
Ryker flicked his hand and Dagger stood smoothly. “I’ll just grab a look-see, will I?” Dagger crossed to the cockpit.
“How are you holding up, Millie?” Ryker asked softly.
It was amazing. There was half a large craft between them, ensuring he had to use the full volume of his voice, and still he made those words sound intimate, as if he’d whispered them in her ear.
She shivered for an entirely different reason. “Small injuries, nothing to worry about.”
“Did you eat?” he asked.
“I grabbed a food pouch after we pulled away from the building. I gave one to Marie, too. I never realized how disgusting those were.”
“You hadn’t had real food before Paradise, so how could you have known?”
She glanced out the window at the clear skies, completely devoid of city traffic. “I could’ve never imagined this, either. It’s so . . .”
“Dead,” Ryker said, looking out the window across from him. The trooper in front of it raised his eyebrows, clearly wondering if Ryker was looking at him.
“Literally dead, or is everyone in hiding?” Millicent muttered.
“Literally,” Danissa said from her seat. “This city is a shell. It was a madhouse—the constant battles in the beginning, the higher-ups hiding, the lower-level staffers killing each other, people disappearing . . .”
“I got word from Roe.” Ryker looked at his wrist screen. “He successfully transferred the first facility of clones. Toton noted the disturbance in that area, but he has reason to believe they won’t interfere.”
“Interesting.” Millicent leaned against the wall in fatigue. “I wonder if that was a part of the city they usually watch, or if there’s something special about those clones . . .”
“They watch the city,” Danissa said, staring blankly. “They followed me from place to place. They always knew where we landed not long after we landed there. Places we hadn’t planned to go, and still they were right behind us. They have eyes everywhere.”
Ryker transferred Marie to the seat and stood. He stalked down the center of the aisle toward Millicent, and feet either pulled back or got stepped on. “Then we’ll have to blind them.”
“Our scanners are reading various outgoing feeds,” Dagger said, leaning on the panel just outside the cockpit. “They all take the same amount of bandwidth, and not much at that. But”—he looked at Millicent with a twinkle in his eyes—“you probably knew that.”
“My guess is they’re video uplinks.” Millicent selfishly wished Danissa would snap out of it. Toton probably wasn’t watching the whole city, in which case the places they were monitoring needed to be mapped and analyzed for weaknesses. That would take time, and if Danissa helped, it would go much quicker. “They’re compressed, but they’re low quality. They probably take the identification numbers off the passing vessels and run them, trying to keep track of who’s moving around. Those most likely get stored until they hit on a flagged vessel, which this is not.”
“I thought you said they’d be trying to find this craft since the other was blown up?” asked Sinner, a lean young man who pined after a woman who was being safeguarded with the higher-level Gregon staffers. Going by the gossip, she didn’t know he existed. Millicent bet that would change when Sinner showed up out of the blue and rescued her in the way only these guys knew how.
“I took care of that flag.” Millicent glanced at the screen that would flash red should any of her alerts go active. It was a miracle none were going off at the moment. She had an awful lot of them set up. “If they flag us again, it will immediately be unflagged. What I’d like to know, however, is if we are physically being followed.”
Dagger wore a huge smile. He crossed the space with his infallible swagger, clearly a uniform of security directors since Ryker always wore the same one, and leaned his hand against the wall next to the console. He smiled down at her. “Look at us go! Feels good to have the most valuable player in this game. Whoooowee! Super Foster.”
“She’s going to need a little more room, bro-yo,” Ryker said in a warning tone.
Dagger’s hands flew up and he took a decisive step back. “I hear that, Ranger Danger. I sure do. That was my bad. She’s pretty and smart—hard to resist stepping close.”
“Try.”
“Yes, sir, I absolutely will.” Dagger started to laugh, not at all afraid of Ryker’s menacing tone. “Yes, sir. I know where you’re coming from.”
“You men act like a bunch of apes.” Millicent shook her head. “Their communication can’t be great with those spider robots.” She bit her lip, thinking out loud. “They knew where we exited. If they could relay exact coordinates, or even vehicle type, someone would already be on our tail. We don’t have to be flagged to be followed. Probably.”
Dagger’s smile melted away and his eyes stopped glimmering. “I didn’t see anyone. But they could be keeping their distance. Getting analysis.”
“True.” She blew out a breath. “That’s what I would do. We need more information, I just don’t know how to get it.”
“How are you planning to take them down?” Dagger’s voice was laced with aggression now. He flipped moods quickly. “How do we end their reign?”
“We have to technically cut the legs out from under them.” She lifted her hand to stave off more questions. “All I have are ideas at the present. No solid plans.”
“I ain’t gonna push, pretty lady. I’ll let you keep your secrets.” Dagger walked past her.
“Don’t call me pretty lady.”
“What is the problem with pretty ladies not wanting to be called pretty ladies? I don’t get it.”
“They’re prickly,” Ryker said. A few men chuckled.
“We’re not prickly—we know that when you make comments like that, you’re thinking with your dick. Being that no intelligence whatsoever resides in your dick, and, indeed, you actually become stupider whenever you use it, you and those comments are annoying at best, and dangerous at worst. Best to verbally cut it out at the root so we don’t progress to having to physically cut it off at the root.”
“Yikes.” Dagger grabbed his crotch. “Point made.”
“Fine. Keep your eyes on the sky.”
“I’m on it. I’m no Gunner, but I’ve got this security detail handled.”
Millicent rolled her eyes. “Thanks.”
Dagger had only taken a few steps away when he slowed, his smile melting. His eyes had landed on Danissa, and his gaze was rooted to her face. An expression crossed his visage that Millicent recognized easily. Longing. Her sister had made some sort of impression on the muscular man.
Millicent remembered her own courtship dance with Ryker. He’d pursued her for over two years, and even though they’d spent much of that time apart, Ryker’s feelings had never altered or subsided. He’d admitted in a quiet moment on Paradise that soon after he’d seen her, that was it. His heart had been taken, and he would’ve waited forever for her to come around.
Of course, he’d been positive that she would. The man’s ego was mighty.
Now, looking at Dagger, Millicent saw that same deep softness in his eyes. The desire not born of lust, but of something deeper.
Dagger’s gaze flicked to Danissa holding Puda’s lifeless hand. He glanced away and braced his hands on his hips. Shortly thereafter, he fully turned away to look out the window. Millicent could tell he was staring at nothing. He was probably fighting the urges he felt.
A strange surge of butterflies filled her stomach. It was like watching one of those romance vids. She was enraptured with what would happen next.
Dagger blew out a breath, minutely shook his head, and then, in a purposeful sort of way, turned toward Danissa and took the open seat opposite Puda. He sat still for a moment, staring at nothing. Then, in a quiet voice, asked, “Are you okay?”
Danissa blinked lethargically. Her head turned slowly until she was staring at him full in the face. “Dagger, right?”
“Kace, actually. Kace Dagger.”
She nodded and looked straight ahead again. Her thumb moved slowly over the skin of Puda’s hand. “Thank you. For saving me. I’m not sure I thanked you for that.”
“No thanks necessary. It was my pleasure.” He rested his hands on his knees and leaned back, seemingly to get comfortable, but with his back not yet healed, he must’ve been anything but. Clearly he was trying to put Danissa at ease with his presence.
Smart move, Millicent thought.
“He’d followed me from place to place,” Danissa said, staring vaguely. “I thought he would make it.”
Dagger nodded slightly. “It’s hard to lose a loved one.”
“Yes. He was my best friend. And my lover.” Tears dripped down Danissa’s cheeks. “Some called him my pet, but he wasn’t. I truly enjoyed his company.”
“And I’m sure being with you gave him the happiest moments of his life. He died protecting you. Any man would think that was the highest honor.”
“I’m not so sure.” Tears tracked down her cheeks. She wiped them away forcefully. “Sorry. I don’t usually fall apart.”
“It’s okay to feel the pain. To let your emotion bubble out. It’s healthy.” Dagger’s hand drifted toward her thigh, but he paused in the air. Instead, he covered her forearm, a place that implied emotional support instead of intimacy.
Good guy.
Some of the conglomerates’ directors of security had gone badly wrong, like Mr. Hunt, whom Ryker had killed before they left Earth. That man had been so dangerous and twisted, he hadn’t been allowed in close proximity to important people without supervision. But some of the breeding went perfectly, as Ryker had shown. It looked like Dagger’s creators had also hit the nail on the head.
