Dream Sky
Page 31
__________
OMEGA THREE WALKED over to his bag and pulled out his thermos of coffee. With a clear sky, the temperature was a lot lower than it had been in the last week, so staying warm was going to be a challenge. He really should have brought two thermoses. He’d have to remember that for tomorrow.
God, he hated the graveyard shift, he thought as he sipped some of the warm liquid.
The teams rotated on a weekly basis. Tonight was Omega team’s first night back on the eleven p.m. to seven a.m. shift. What he wouldn’t give to be in his bed, under his blankets, fast asleep. Maybe he should have done what Omega Two had done and feigned illness. Not that Omega Two wasn’t sick, but Omega Three couldn’t help but feel envious the guy had spent only an hour on duty.
Have to remember that trick.
He finished his coffee and pushed all thoughts of his bed out of his mind. It would only make him crazy.
His thermos back in the bag, he returned to his post, and once more took up scanning the ghost town below.
__________
THE GROUP WICKS had been following was clearly not the Project Eden patrol he had thought it was.
Instead of entering the town, the group went around it, leaving behind what he’d discovered were cameras at strategic points, each covering a different portion of Everton. Leaving the cameras in place, he continued to follow the patrol to the eastern hill, where the team set up camp.
Then, within the last hour, the patrol had swelled in number with the arrival of a larger group. If not for the cameras, he might have thought these people were a band of survivors who’d come together and were looking for someplace safe to stay. If that had been the case, he would have moved on long ago. But they obviously weren’t simply a group of survivors, so he thought it best to figure out what they were up to, make sure they wouldn’t mess up his plans.
Very carefully, he worked his way through the trees so he could get close enough to their camp to hear what they were saying.
__________
CHLOE HEARD A subtle crush of snow. It had come from up the hill to the left.
She took a quick head count, thinking someone might have wandered off to take a leak, but everyone was there.
Another crush, slight and slow, like someone taking a long time to lower his or her foot.
As casually as possible, she moved behind the group, going right, away from the noise. After she was out of the hollow, she angled up the hill fifty feet before coming back across to the right. There she paused and scanned the hillside between her and the others.
It wasn’t long before she spotted the shadow among the trees, creeping downhill, right where she thought it would be.
__________
WICKS STOPPED, KNOWING he had gone as far as he dared.
For several seconds there was silence. Perhaps they were whispering, in which case he wouldn’t be able to safely get close enough. Then a voice, not loud, but enough for him to hear.
“What is that?”
Another voice. “I don’t know. A storage building? Whatever it is, that’s where the trail leads.”
The third voice did not come from in front of him. It came from behind.
Right behind him.
“Don’t move.”
He could feel the breath of the words on the back of his neck. He wanted to turn and see who it was, but what did it matter? He was caught.
“On my command, you’ll stand up. Nice and slow. You try anything and my knife will cut through you before you realize it. Nod if you understand.”
Wicks nodded.
“Good. Up.”
He rose.
“Now walk forward.”
__________
ASH HEARD A murmur from the back of the crowd and turned to see what was going on. Out of the trees, a man emerged with Chloe tailing him, holding a knife.
“What’s going on?” Ash asked.
“We have a visitor,” Chloe said. “He seemed very interested in what we were doing.”
The man appeared too old to be a sentry, but that could have been Ash’s bias. As Ash walked over, he couldn’t help but notice the man was staring at him, almost gawking.
“Who are you?” Ash asked.
The man didn’t appear to hear him. Chloe poked the tip of her knife into his back. He winced then blinked several times.
“I know you,” the man said, still looking at Ash.
“I don’t think so.”
“Las Cruces. You were there.”
Ash narrowed his eyes. “Who are you?”
“You were kneeling next to Matt. You were with him when he died. I saw you. You’re with the Resistance, aren’t you?”
Ash couldn’t stop himself from grabbing the man’s shirt and pulling him forward. “Who are you?”
“My…my name is Curtis. Curtis Wicks.”
“I don’t know you,” Ash said. “I’ve never seen you before. How do you know Matt?”
“He was my friend. He was…” The man was quiet for a moment. “Maybe you know my code name. Matt called me C8.”
Ash let go of the man’s shirt and took a step back.
“C8 died in the explosion at NB219,” he finally said.
“I didn’t. Obviously. Matt warned me about what was going to happen. I was up in the warehouse when the blast went off, and was able to get out before everything burned down.”
His anger growing, Ash said, “If you saw us, why didn’t you join us?”
The man looked as if he were searching for the right words, but ended up saying nothing.
“If you’re really C8,” Chloe said, “then you know why we’re here.”
“Matt told you, didn’t he?” the man said.
“Told us what?” Ash said.
The man looked from him to Chloe and back. “Dream Sky. It could be the only reason you’re here.”
The skin of Ash’s arms prickled.
“What is it?” Ash asked. “What is Dream Sky?”
Through trembling lips, the man said, “Everything.”
“That’s a little broad for my taste. What is it?”
The man stammered but made no answer.
“Whatever it is,” Chloe said, “once we destroy it, it’ll bring the Project down, won’t it?”
The man’s eyes widened. “You can’t destroy it!”
“Why not?” Ash said. “Isn’t that what Matt wanted to do?”
“No. He wanted to take it,” the man said. “You need it. We all need it if we’re going to start over. It’s a repository of irreplaceable knowledge!”
“Are you telling me it’s a library?” Ash asked.
“No. Not a library. People.”
38
AFTER ALMOST DYING at the survival station, Belinda Ramsey is not sure if she and her fellow survivors should be trusting these people who found them not long after they went on the run, but there was little choice. She and the others were both physically and emotionally exhausted, and the promise to help them get far away from the Chicago survival station was all it took.
The bus is headed west to where they’ve been told other survivors are gathering. It sounds suspiciously like the safe zones the UN people, or whoever they were, talked about. But these new people have already treated Belinda’s group much better than the others back at the station. Food and clothes and medical attention have all been offered.
Belinda is hopeful and at the same time scared to hope.
The only thing she regrets about leaving the survival station is that her journal is still sitting on her bunk. She must have said something to someone about it, because when they take a break at a large truck stop, one of the new people brings her a pen and a blank diary from the store.
“In case you get the urge,” the woman says, placing it on the seat next to Belinda.
Belinda at first isn’t sure she’d ever have the urge to write again, but after a while on the road again, she realizes that’s not true. There is at least one thing she has to write.
<
br /> She picks up the book, opens it to the first page, and begins:
I don’t know what his name was. I don’t know what happened to him. I don’t know where he is. All I know is that if not for his actions, we would all be dead. Since there is no way I can thank him, all I can do is tell you what happened.
Last night, after eleven p.m., my name was finally called...
__________
PAX ISN’T SURE exactly what it is he’s feeling. Satisfaction for taking over the Los Angeles survival station? A bit. Relief that they were able to save Martina’s friends and the other detainees? Sure. Revulsion at what was done to the girl named Ruby? Absolutely. All these thoughts and more race through him, making it impossible for him to hold still for more than a moment.
The amazing thing is that the Campbell kid isn’t sick or dead. He appears completely unaffected by the virus, only agitated at being cooped up. Why the virus didn’t make him sick is something Pax will let others work out. For the moment, he’s strictly concerned with getting all possible intel out of the facility, then getting out of there before Project Eden sends people in to find out what happened.
As soon as he finishes searching the facility director’s office, he picks up his radio and says, “Finish up whatever you’re doing and get to the main entrance. This is the fifteen-minute warning.”
__________
MARTINA WILL NOT leave Ben’s side. He doesn’t seem to mind, though, and appears just as glued to her. They are waiting in the back of one of the troop trucks at the stadium, told that after their rescuers finish what they’re doing at the station, they’ll head out. The rest of her friends are also in the truck, with the exception of Ruby, who is still in isolation. Martina was able to visit her before leaving and was happy to see her friend’s spirits were up and that she looked perfectly healthy.
Now, all the others are asking her questions about where she’s been and who their saviors are.
She answers as best as she can.
Then Jilly asks, “What about Noreen and Riley and Craig? Where are they?”
Until that moment, Martina was pretty sure she’s never been happier, but the mention of her missing friends dampens her mood. It’s her fault they’re not here. She raced off, focused solely on Ben’s Jeep, and lost them.
“We’ll find them,” she says. “Tomorrow, first thing.”
Ben squeezes her hand. “Absolutely.”
__________
NOREEN ISN’T SURE if Craig is dead or only unconscious. If she could check, she would, but her hands are bound behind her and tied to a pipe running up the wall of the mostly empty room. Craig is slumped to the side ten feet away, similarly bound to another pipe. She watches his chest to see if he’s breathing, but in the dim light it’s hard to tell.
Where Riley is, she has no idea. It was Riley’s turn to gather food for dinner, so she wasn’t there when the men they saw in Cambria returned and sneaked up on them. Thankfully, Riley took her motorcycle with her. Otherwise the men wouldn’t stop looking until they find out who it belongs to.
Noreen doesn’t know what’s going to happen, but she’s sure it won’t be good.
“Craig,” she whispers for about the millionth time. “Craig, can you hear me?”
__________
ROBERT AND ESTELLA have been given their assignment. They wait with four others in the trees at the western edge of town. They can’t see the guard with whom they’re supposed to make contact, but they know where he is.
The only question Robert has is, will the guard shoot first or wait until it’s too late?
It’s a huge risk, but no bigger than some of the stunts he’s pulled lately.
At least that’s what he tells himself.
__________
KUSUM SITS BEHIND the wheel of the car. Sanjay and van Assen sit in back.
When Sanjay confronted him at the makeshift roadblock, van Assen tried to grab Sanjay, probably intending to knock Sanjay’s head into the car. Sanjay batted away van Assen’s hands and kneed him in the gut.
Now, as they sit in the backseat, van Assen lunges at Sanjay as Sanjay is talking to Kusum. The Dutchman is able to get in a few jabs, but fails at wrestling away the gun Sanjay procured from the trunk of the vehicle. Sanjay slaps the weapon against the side of the man’s head, causing a trickle of blood to run from his ear.
If the man tries anything again, Sanjay is prepared to shoot him, first in the foot, then, if necessary, the knee, and then the hip. He doesn’t think pulling the trigger will be needed, though. He is pretty sure van Assen has received the message, but Sanjay will stay vigilant nonetheless.
After he resumes his conversation with Kusum, he glances occasionally at the sat phone sitting in the front passenger seat, knowing that at any moment, the call will come.
__________
RACHEL PUTS A supportive hand on Crystal’s back. “You doing all right?”
“Fine,” the girl says.
“And we’re all set?”
“As set as we can be.”
Rachel smiles. “Good.”
She knows the girl, like most of the others present, is running on adrenaline, having already put in more than twenty hours straight. Soon Crystal can rest, but not yet. There is still work to do tonight.
Help me give them strength, Rachel thinks, hoping somewhere her brother hears her.
She is still shattered by his absence, but she’s learning to cope with it, if barely.
She walks over to Leon and puts the same hand on him. “Hanging in there?”
__________
CELESTE JOHNSON’S ANNOYANCE is growing with every minute the Los Angeles survival station remains silent. She decides to dispatch a squad from the Bay Area to get eyes on the ground, and is told they will arrive within ninety minutes.
With nothing else to do and the hour growing extremely late, she decides the best thing she can do now is get some sleep.
__________
ASH EYES THE concrete building in the middle of the snow-covered field. So unassuming, so easy to dismiss.
C8 has confirmed it’s the entrance to the facility.
To Dream Sky.
Ash looks over at Powell and whispers, “Are we all in position?”
“Yes, sir,” the man responds.
Ash turns to Chloe and notices a far-off look on her face. “You okay?”
She jerks a little in surprise and then tries to smile. “Yeah, yeah. I’m good. It’s just…”
“What?” he asks.
“I feel like I’ve been here before.”
Ash waits, but nothing else comes. “You want to sit this one out?” he asks.
A sneer leaps onto her face. “No way.”
That’s good enough for him. He reaches into this coat pocket, pulls out the sat phone. The number for Ward Mountain is waiting for him on the screen.
He looks again to Powell. “Group one, go.”
As Powell raises his radio to his mouth, Ash moves his thumb over the SEND button.
It’s time.
Project Eden No. 7 will be out later in 2014
If you feel inclined, reviews at your store of purchase are always appreciated.
For updates, please sign up for Brett’s newsletter:
Brettbattles.com/contacts
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Brett Battles is a Barry Award-winning author of over twenty novels, including the Jonathan Quinn, Logan Harper, and Project Eden series. You can learn more at his website: brettbattles.com
Table of Contents
Praise for the Project Eden Thrillers
ALSO BY BRETT BATTLES
DREAM SKY Copyright © 2014 by Brett Battles
What Came Before
January 3rd
1
2
January 5th
3
4
5
6
7
January 6th
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
January 7th
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
January 8th
35
36
37
38
Project Eden No. 7 will be out later in 2014
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Table of Contents
Praise for the Project Eden Thrillers
ALSO BY BRETT BATTLES
DREAM SKY Copyright © 2014 by Brett Battles
What Came Before
January 3rd
1
2
January 5th
3
4
5
6
7
January 6th
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
January 7th
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
January 8th
35
36
37
38
Project Eden No. 7 will be out later in 2014
ABOUT THE AUTHOR