Revolution: Book Three of the Secret World Chronicle

by Mercedes Lackey

  “Hey, that wasn’t our first choice!” Scope shouted, following Acrobat’s lead and subtly flicking the safeties off her pistols. “We were sort of rushed for time. Believe me, if we could have figured out a way to off you while saving everyone else on that train, we would have.”

  “Do we really need the bravado?” Harmony asked. “Really, all I want to do is talk.”

  “You want to talk?” Scope scoffed. “Harm, you were infiltrating us for Blacksnake, you lied to us for years, you killed our boss, you put Bull in a coma, and it turns out you’re Blacksnake’s number one hitman! You just tried to off a train full of Echo Ops and veterans and you just plugged Reverie in the head with a bullet! We left the ‘talking’ portion of this crazy soap opera a while ago. Can we just fight now?”

  “No,” Harmony answered. “I’m going to need to say a few things.”

  “We don’t need to hear anything from you!” Scope shouted.

  “Oh, it’s not to you,” Harmony said. “But I think you’ll be interested to hear it. It’ll also do that ‘two birds, one stone’ thing. You appreciate that, don’t you Scope? Look at me, I’m being efficient!”

  “Get to the point, Harm,” Acrobat said.

  “It’ll be quick, promise,” Harmony said. “Something that should hurt my former employer, and pay you two back in full. Then we can get back to you trying to take me down.” She chuckled, and raised her voice. “You picking this up, Overwatch? Do I have your full attention?”

  There was a pause, and then . . .

  “Tell her I’m listening,” they heard Vickie say.

  “Overwatch is receiving,” Acrobat said, loudly. “Say your piece.”

  “This is Special Operative Talisman of Blacksnake, formerly known as Echo Op Trainee Harmony. On this, the first-year anniversary of the global Invasion, Dominic Verdigris III attempted to assassinate a MARTA train full of Echo veterans and their Echo Op escorts by way of a bombing. His aim was to set up the bombing as a failed kidnapping attempt, using the Atlanta rogue meta group known as the Rebs as scapegoats. Prior to today, my understanding was that this plan had two objectives. First, through combat or the detonation of bombs placed on the MARTA transport, to eliminate key members of Echo meta personnel Verdigris wanted neutralized. Second, to discredit and undermine the remaining Echo personnel currently in upper management roles to facilitate an eventual transfer of power completely into his hands. His desire to have the Echo veterans eliminated in all of his contingency plans suggests to me a third objective, though he never chose to discuss this particular point with me. In light of new evidence, I would also postulate a fourth objective. His decision to plant bombs on every car of the MARTA transport suggests he also wished to terminate myself and my team of Blacksnake operatives. My belief is that he wished to eliminate the last key piece of evidence linking himself to the murder of Alex Tesla—me. I was Alex Tesla’s murderer, and I state now for the record that I acted under the sole direction of Dominic Verdigris III.”

  “Harmony!” Bruno said. “You know this won’t mean much unless you turn yourself in and testify! Does this mean you’re surrendering to us?”

  “Please no,” Scope muttered. “Then I can’t shoot her.”

  “Don’t be absurd,” Harmony said. “Do you really think I’d just chain myself to you? Overwatch, I am now transmitting a URL to the Echo Med freq for secure documents, recordings and files that will provide all the evidence you need to corroborate these accusations. The passkey is One-Five-Delta-Charlie-Tango-Quebec-Two-Foxtrot-Zulu. Please confirm.”

  There was a long silence.

  “Package confirmed, you two,” they heard Vickie say over their communicators.

  “She’s got it,” Bruno said. “It’s done, Harmony.”

  “Good,” Harmony said simply. “Take him down, with my compliments. Now, if you will excuse me, I’m sure Bull’s been listening in all this time and is double-timing it towards us. He promised to break me, you see, and as much as I’d find that entertaining, I think it might be best to save that for another day.”

  “Harmony!” Scope shouted. “You even think of jackrabbiting and I swear I will mow you down where you stand!”

  “More tired threats, Scope?” Harmony sighed. “This should be good. I know you, dear girl. I know how much your eyes are your crutch, as much as your strength. Pray, how are you going to hit what you can’t see? Are you going to . . .”

  In answer, Scope leveled her pistols in Harmony’s direction, and emptied her magazines. Bruno heard the storm of bullets ricochet off the concrete walls, but a few seemed to find their mark. Harmony screamed. “How . . . ?”

  “Can’t see you, can’t help but hear you,” Scope replied smugly. “How’s that for a new bit, bitch?”

  Bruno heard Harmony swear, and then with a loud fooomph he saw a gleam of light, growing larger . . .

  “Scope!” he yelled, but it was too late. He dove to protect Scope with his own body, but it wasn’t a grenade that Harmony had fired at them, it was a flare. The small flame punctured the dense smoke, and the very air around them ignited in a tremendous flash of light. Scope began to scream while Bruno rubbed at the stars in his eyes. He was dazed, but the haze of bright stars was already beginning to fade, and he saw that the flash had depleted the smokescreen. It had been so bright though, so bright that Scope must have been . . .

  “Blinded!” Scope yelled. “The bitch blinded me! She . . .”

  Bruno heard the pounding of footsteps, caught a glimpse of a brief struggle, and when his eyes finally began to register shapes, he saw Scope sliding to the ground and Harmony standing over her.

  “Paris!” Bruno screamed. “You killed her!”

  Harmony rolled her eyes. “Of course not. She just cut up my legs to hell. She’s no good to me dead.” She reached down towards Scope’s limp body, and frowned. She looked up at Bruno. “Full body armor. Since when do you two wear full body armor?”

  Acrobat ignored the question and instead launched himself at the tunnel wall, rebounded and flew at Harmony, feetfirst. With a surprised yelp, she dodged back and tumbled away, landing in a crouch. Bruno noticed she was noticeably slower. After her sprint to escape and a number of bullets embedded in her legs, she was severely weakened and in obvious need of juicing.

  “You stay the hell away from her,” Acrobat growled.

  “Don’t be an idiot, Bruno,” Harmony snarled as she stood up. “Why do you think I went for her first? Even blind, she’s more a threat to me than you’ll ever be, you little mouse of a . . .”

  She shrieked, threw down another smoke bomb and retreated as he drew his pistol and began firing. Once again, the fog obscured anything beyond a foot away. Bruno bent down, threw Scope over one shoulder, and fell back as Harmony began to return fire. It was awkward, shielding Scope’s chest and head with his body while he backed away, exchanging gunfire with Harmony through the thick smoke. He grunted as one shot grazed his shoulder, and after a moment he felt the sting of a fresh wound. He quickened his backward pace, but slowed as Harmony stopped shooting. From the smoke, he heard the pounding of feet on pavement. Harmony was running away.

  “God, I miss Echo nanoweave,” he winced.

  “Bruno,” he heard Scope mutter into his back. “Put me down, you moron.”

  He knelt down and let Scope come to her feet. Immediately, her legs buckled and he steadied her as she sank to her knees. She was clutching her side.

  “Easy, easy,” he said. “Don’t exert yourself. I think Harm gave you a solid shot to the liver. Can you see yet?”

  Scope looked around blankly, and her lips quivered with rage. She shook her head.

  “It’s getting better. The great black blur is kind of a great gray blur now. I’m going to need a minute, just a minute . . .” She exhaled and gritted her teeth, struggling with indecision. “We don’t have a minute. You need to go after her, now.”

  “Acrobat, you will belay that order!” Bulwark’s voice rumbled over their comm unit
s. “I am almost to your position, I . . .”

  “No, Bull, you’re really not,” Vickie interrupted. “You folks are going to have to move. Just gave a look over Harm’s files. They’re good, but Bruno is right. To make this stick we need a live body, a living witness, otherwise there’ll be claims we manufactured it all. If there is a chance in hell you can capture her, do it.”

  “Overwatch, Harmony is not to be underestimated!” Bulwark sounded like he had quickened his pace to a dead run. His breathing sounded labored, his footsteps thundering on concrete.

  “I freaking helped bring you back from the other side; you think I don’t know that? But I also know Verd, I know what he’ll do, I know the politicians he’s bought and the people he’s got under his thumb. We need a live witness.”

  “Dammit, Bruno, you will wait for me to . . .”

  Scope reached up and felt about Bruno’s head for his comm unit. She turned it off, and then hers. She grabbed Bruno by the front of his flak jacket and brought his face within an inch of her own.

  “Listen to me!” she hissed. “Harm’s getting away! Go! Remember what you promised me!”

  “We finish this today,” he said.

  “We finish this today,” she nodded.

  Bruno hesitated, looking down the tunnel where Harmony had fled, and back to Scope. She couldn’t see him, but her eyes were wide open. He had always been so taken with how intense they were. While the rest of her shook with anger, her eyes stayed fixed in place. She couldn’t see him. She never had, and he suspected now she never would. How could someone who could see with such clarity be so blind to what was right in front of her? It occurred to him that perhaps Harmony was right. Scope’s vision was a crutch. And if she couldn’t see him one way, then perhaps another approach would have to do.

  He released the bottom half of his mask, and then hers, and cupped her face gently with both hands.

  “Bruno,” she said. “What the hell . . .”

  He kissed her, and felt her scorn melt away to astonishment, and right at the end, he felt her kiss him back.

  “Stay here,” he breathed, pulling back reluctantly. “God, I’ve wanted to do that for a really long time. God willing, maybe you’ll let me do that again.”

  Scope just nodded. She had stopped shaking with anger. Instead, she just looked utterly bewildered, even a little lost. Which, given her other possible reactions, Bruno read as positive. Bruno refastened his mask, sprang to his feet, and raced off.

  Scope could not have moved, and it had nothing to do with her injuries or her blindness. She felt completely paralyzed, mentally and physically stunned. Blind-sided. Never had a word been more appropriate.

  Finally, she spoke aloud, though there was no one to hear her.

  “Well, that just happened.”

  * * *

  “. . . FBI, CIA, Interpol, you name it. Hell, even Red Saviour has a file on him as thick as your thumb. They have all got little task forces trying to nail Verd to the wall and have been for years. He always gets out of it, Bull! Present evidence and either the judges he bought turn him loose or his lawyers throw enough doubt on it that he gets off.”

  “You’re telling me that full recorded testimony and corroborating evidence by Tesla’s actual murderer won’t be sufficient?” Bulwark said, his tone incredulous. He huffed as he continued to run.

  “Yes, I am. You keep forgetting, my folks are the section heads for their FBI division, which means they need to think and plan past the arrest. Any good lawyer could present evidence claiming to show we edited it, made it up out of whole cloth, or otherwise tampered with it. And they have, over and over again. That’s how he keeps getting off.”

  “Somehow, I don’t see Harmony being the most cooperative of witnesses upon capture. Leaving a statement and jetting is one thing for her, but taking the stand is quite another. We know how good an actor she is, too. She’ll say and do anything she wants, and she’ll be convincing. If I had an entire squadron, it might be different, but the risk involved here, for something so uncertain . . .”

  “It depends on what kind of deal she can get out. I expect it will be a good one. Deal, that is.”

  “You expect a deal? Really? She fingered Verdigris, but she took full credit for the act herself? How good a deal could she get?”

  “I’ve watched DAs and federal prosecutors deal with Mafia assassins, hitmen of all sorts. I’ve watched them give them full immunity and put them in the Witness Protection Program when the stakes are high enough—”

  “Overwatch, is this really the time for a debate? You just overrode a direct order from their field commander.”

  “Yes, I did. They’ve been operating on their own for months, and doing damn well at it.”

  “And now they’ve cut communications and Bruno is off to attempt capture of a seasoned killer. You just sent him off to die.”

  “When are you going to let them grow up? When are you going to stop trying to protect them and let them do the job you’ve been training them to do? When will you allow them to make the same level of sacrifice you ask of yourself? Isn’t that what our job always comes down to in the end? Being willing to sacrifice whatever it takes?”

  “This isn’t just some job!” he roared, now breathing hard. He came to a stop, panting. “I send soldiers off on missions. I give orders that can be met and executed. I just don’t think . . .”

  He paused.

  “You don’t think he can beat her, do you?”

  “No,” Bull said finally, and began to run again. “I don’t.”

  * * *

  Bruno raced down the tunnel, keeping his footsteps light, straining to see or hear anything ahead of him. He should have been terrified. His heart should have been beating hard enough to erupt out of his chest. It was, actually, but not from fright. He was reliving the kiss, again and again, and he could hardly believe that it had happened.

  I did it, I kissed her, I can’t believe I kissed her, and she kissed back, she did, I know she did, I felt it . . .

  As he rounded a corner, the thunder of gunshots brought him crashing back to the present.

  Oh, right. Harmony.

  He dove under the shots, rolled, and came up shooting. He heard Harmony curse and duck back under cover. Bruno took shelter behind an inset doorway, gulped down a breath of courage, and returned fire.

  “Bruno!” Harmony yelled, as she fired a few more rounds at him.

  “What?” Acrobat yelled back, as he squeezed off a few more shots of his own.

  “This is stupid!”

  “Of course it is!” Bruno shouted. “If you stop and think about it, the last few months have been a complete waste of time! We should be working together! Kriegers, remember?”

  “I meant this!” Harmony said. “Right here, right now, you and me! You know you can’t take me, so why are you even trying? You were in the Blacksnake barracks, so you must have heard all about me. You know everything they told you? It’s true. Yes, I’m the one Blacksnake would send in to take out OpThrees. I’m the one who got the entire Coredonne clan. I’m the one that took down the head yakuza of the Blood Tigers, and his bodyguards.”

  “Oh yeah,” Bruno agreed. “We heard all about you. Talisman, the lady who can suck you dry with a touch. Talisman, she’ll always see you coming, but you’ll never see her, not before she’s got you pinned to the ground. You know what no one said about you? Your staying power. You’ve got none, Harmony. You’re spent from running, you’ve left a trail of blood ever since Scope dumped a load of lead into your legs, and now I’m guessing you’re not nearly as fast as you usually are. I’m guessing you’re pretty hungry right now, too. But if you want to eat me, guess what . . . ?”

  “I’m going to have to fight you,” Harmony said. “You’re covered up. You both did your homework.”

  They had been trading volleys of gunfire, each ducking behind their respective corners as the other opened up. This time they both leapt out, each rushing the other, their firearms rai
sed. Triggers were squeezed, but nothing happened, their ammo was spent. And neither of them had magazines left to reload with.

  “Been a while since we sparred,” Harmony said, and smirked at him. “In a way, I’m happy about this. Do you have any idea how much it sucked, having to always throw fights to you?”

  “I’ll bet,” Bruno said, and dropped his pistol. “Care to make a wager on this one?”

  “I don’t do sure bets,” Harmony replied, also dropping her gun. “There’s no sport in it.”

  “That satisfy the prefight banter portion?” Bruno asked.

  “Meh, it’ll do,” Harm said, and launched herself at him.

  Bruno rolled under her kick, but Harmony’s follow-up backhand smashed him to the ground. She might have lost a lot of speed, but she was still fast enough, and strong. He flipped over, threw his arms up to block a heavy dropkick, and was rewarded with a howl of pain. Harmony fell back a few steps, and he used her brief retreat to flip up to his feet. She wasn’t used to being so drained, or wounded. Why else would she have made such an amateur mistake? He looked down at her legs. Bits of torn flesh were poking out of her leggings. She had willed them to heal, just enough to stop the bleeding, but she wouldn’t be trying another kick any time soon. They circled one another, and Bruno caught a flicker of fear on her face. At least, he hoped so.

  She’s cunning. She’s got great acting chops. Don’t underestimate her.

  He darted in and threw a few tentative jabs. She slapped his hands away contemptuously, but missed the feint as he dropped down and went for the sweep. Harmony cried out as his feet buckled her legs, just behind the knees. She toppled over, and received a solid boot to the temple before he dove away. She was on her feet in an instant, though she seemed a bit unsteady.

  She’s weak in the legs, she’s weak in the legs . . . she’s cunning, she’s cunning . . .

  He tried again, leading with soft strikes to her head and chest, which she easily deflected and dodged, and dropped down to drive an elbow at her kneecap. Harmony screamed as he rammed the side of her leg, and he heard something snap. She drove down with both fists and slammed him to the ground. He pushed himself up, grunted as she sent him flying back with an enormous uppercut and went limp as he collided with the tunnel wall. He fell to his knees, massaging the back of his head. He felt a little dizzy, and suppressed the urge to vomit.