"Take care of him?" I raise a brow. "You mean kill him?"
"I mean let them work it out," Trout says, sounding disgruntled.
"You might as well put a bullet in his head yourself," I say. "That's not who we are."
"Your call. I'll set the rest of the Rogues up with weapons," he says and strides off.
Lou turns to me, a smile on her wrinkled lips. "I like that boy."
I grimace. "I do too when his head's screwed on right."
She makes a disapproving clicking sound. "You can't fight other people's wars for them. Sounds like that's what you're trying to do."
"You should meet Big Ed," I say. "He talks like you."
Lou swings her quiver over her shoulder. "Don't care much about meeting people."
"Neither does he," I say. "You'd get along great. But first, you and I need to go to the courthouse and let Blackbeard know the Sweepers are coming.
Blackbeard's eyes widen when Lou describes the fleet of Hovermedes camped outside the Craniopolis.
"We have to locate the Megamedes and get on board somehow," I say. "It's the only way to shut them down. Even if we manage to fight off this first wave of Schutz Clones more will come."
"What about Jerome and the deviations?" Blackbeard asks.
"They're in no immediate danger. If the Sweepers discover them, they can feign ignorance of everything that went down in the Craniopolis."
Blackbeard looks unconvinced. "I'll head over to the CommCenter at the Superconductor and update Jerome."
"Got any water around here?" Lou asks.
Blackbeard gives a curt nod. "Follow me."
They exit the room just as Trout reappears. "I put the Rogues on the west side of the main gate," he says. "They're willing to fight--just thankful they made it to the city before the Hovermedes landed. Sven and some of his men are keeping an eye on them all the same."
I drum my fingers on Jerome's desk. "Do you really think I should let Rummy out?"
Trout looks somber. "We could use him. And The Ghost doesn't need to know he's here. We can put Rummy on the east side of the barricade with the riders."
I push my hands against the edge of the desk and slide my chair out. "Let's find out if he's up for war."
We make our way down the hallway to the holding cells. I can barely suppress a shudder as the memories come flooding back. Only a few short hours ago Sven and Trout carried Rocco's ossified corpse along this same stretch of corridor. Yet, every time the grotesque image springs to mind, I see Sven's face.
I nod in passing at the guard outside the holding cell and step inside the room. Rummy gets to his feet and I waste no time relaying the news to him.
"A fleet of Hovermedes, eh?" A slow grin spreads across his face. "We got 'em running scared."
"You can help us if you're willing to do it on our terms," I say.
"I ain't gonna sit in here with my dang feet up. I'll fight 'em."
"Just to be clear," I say, handing him back his weapon, "if we survive this you need to leave the city afterward."
"That's a fair shake," he says, inspecting his gun.
"There you are," Lou's voice calls out from behind me.
Rummy glances up. The crossed cleaver tattoos on his neck twitch once. My blood chills at the darkness that comes over his face.
I swing around and my eyes light on the wild turkey feather tips peeking out from Lou's quiver.
28
"I couldn't find you any--" Lou's voice trails off.
I turn in time to see Rummy raise his rifle. My heart booms in my ears. Trout yells something. My lips part but the only sound is a whooshing past my ear. Rummy grunts and collapses on the floor in front of me, an arrow protruding from his chest.
Lou slings her bow over her shoulder and walks over to him. She kneels and checks for a pulse. "He's gone." She gets to her feet and locks eyes with me. "Who was he trying to kill?"
I blink, taken aback by the question. Rummy wanted Lou dead for sure. But was he about to shoot me for hiding her? "I don't know for sure," I say. "You killed his brother. And I was protecting you."
"He kept the arrow so he could track you down," Trout says, holstering his gun.
Lou runs a hand over her lined brow. "Sounds like one of us had to die, sooner or later."
I stare down at Rummy's body. I'm not sure why I don't feel more relieved he's dead. Rummy and I had some strange connection in the end. He saved Curly's life, and he had my back a time or two. But I'm glad Lou's alive instead of him.
"If it makes you feel any better," I say, "You just solved a huge problem for me."
Lou raises her brows.
"If The Ghost had discovered I was hiding Rummy we'd have had a bloodbath on our hands before the Sweepers got anywhere near the city."
Lou nods thoughtfully. "It's going to take more than an arrow to stop the Schutz Clones advancing."
Her words snap me back into action. I turn to Trout. "Find Jody and tell her to send out some riders as scouts. I want to know as soon as the Schutz Clones are on the move. Lou and I will swing by the Superconductor and see if Blackbeard has made contact with Jerome."
I track down a couple of Undergrounders and instruct them to bury Rummy and mention it to no one. With any luck, people will assume he died in the battle to come.
The air outside the courthouse has a bite to it. Lou and I are halfway to the Superconductor when the first snowflakes land on us. I look up, startled to see the sky has turned a translucent gray. Several more white flakes drift gently downward. "Look!" I say to Lou. "I haven't seen snow since the meltdown.
Within minutes, the few remaining children in the city are in the street trying to catch the flakes in their outstretched palms. They shriek with delight, tasting the snow with the tips of their tongues like eager puppies.
The feathery snow melts as soon as it touches the ground, much to the kids' disappointment. I catch sight of Izzy running around in circles, arms outstretched to the sky, laughing hysterically. I smile, remembering the first time I set eyes on her grubby face, her spindly arms wrapped tight around Tucker's neck. I saved her once, I only hope the Sweepers don't take her in the end.
I turn at the sound of hooves and a moment later Jody and the other riders come into view, trotting in the direction of the main gate.
Jody waves across to us, her body seamless with the horse's movements.
I wave back, my stomach churning as the riders disappear around the corner. I should have known Jody wouldn't send her riders into danger without her. I'm asking a lot, sending them out on a precarious scouting mission, but we need to be prepared for what's coming.
Lou pokes me in the ribs. "Hey! I thought we were going to the Superconductor?"
"We are," I say, tearing my eyes away from the horses.
"Snow's an odd sight after all these years," Lou says, as we walk off.
"If it's snowing, the earth must be cooling, right?" I say.
She pinches her brow. "The last snow we had was right before the meltdown."
I throw her a look of alarm. "You don't think it's going to happen all over again, do you?"
Her sharp eyes appraise me. "The earth is disturbed. Anything's possible."
We walk the rest of the way lost in our thoughts. If the snow is an omen of another meltdown we won't be safe in the city even if we can defend it. Maybe we won't be safe anywhere ever again.
Inside the Superconductor, the air is cool and static. A low humming tickles the hairs in my ears. Across the room, Jerome's hologram hovers above the CommCenter. Blackbeard rests his palms on the desk, head bent, as though weighing something Jerome said. He looks up when he hears us enter.
"Everything okay?" I ask, glancing between him and Jerome's hologram.
Blackbeard tugs at his beard. "The Sweepers are planning to evacuate the deviations. We need to get them out of the Craniopolis."
"It's too dangerous," Jerome says. "There are hundreds of Schutz Clones camped outside, and an armed guard posted
at the door to Terminus. We'll never get through."
Blackbeard draws his bushy black brows together. "They don't know about the tunnel. We could use it to evacuate the deviations. We just need to figure out how to eliminate the guards at the door to Terminus without alerting the rest of the Schutz Clones."
Lou pats her bow. "Consider it done."
Jerome rubs a hand across his jaw. "Has to be tonight. The Sweepers are going to begin documenting the deviations for transport tomorrow."
"We'll leave within the hour," I say. "That'll get us there by midnight."
"Even if we manage to get them out, it's a long trek to the city," Jerome says.
"What if we take them east of the Deadwood River to the homesteaders instead?" I say.
"We don't know if the homesteaders made it," Blackbeard says. "The Sweepers could be extracting them as we speak."
"Your call, Jerome," I say. "Talk it over with the other deviations before we get there. You don't have long to decide."
Jerome acknowledges with a nod and the hologram fades from sight.
I gesture to the other scientists at work around the room. "Has anyone made any progress on contacting the Megamedes?"
Blackbeard points to a bald-headed, lanky man. "Gustav picked up a weak signal about an hour ago. He's been chasing it ever since."
I cross the room to talk to Gustav. He runs his fingers through his hair and sighs. "I've sent for Dimitri. He's the only one who can lock the signal in."
"If he's able to function," I say. "He's in shock."
"I told him we picked up a signal," Gustav says. "He wants to do this for Iskra's sake."
Before I can respond, the entry door swings wide. Dimitri walks in, stiff-limbed and pale. A short, stocky scientist guides him by the elbow over to the CommCenter. He stares at the controls avoiding eye contact with any of us.
I walk over to him and lay a hand on his arm. "Thanks. I know it's hard for you to be here."
His feverish eyes search my face. "Iskra wouldn't be dead, and my father wouldn't have been forced into the decisions he made if it weren't for the Sweepers. I will find the signal if it kills me." He leans over the control panel and depresses a sequence of buttons. "Iskra would want me to finish what she started."
I tighten my lips. He doesn't know about Iskra's deception and it's better that way. We desperately need his help to lock this signal in. I watch for several minutes, scarcely daring to breathe as Dimitri scans through row after row of data. His forehead glistens with sweat as he calls out occasional sequencing instructions to the other scientists. The minutes tick by and I wrestle to keep my doubts at bay that Dimitri can pull this off.
Lou grows restless and wanders around the room poking at equipment. I slump back against the wall. If Dimitri comes up flat, I have no plan "B" to save the city.
My eyes are beginning to glaze over when a harsh insistent buzzing fills the room. Lou jumps back from the monitor she was fiddling with. "Did I do that?" She looks around guiltily.
The scientists stare in unison at Dimitri. His fingers work furiously, adjusting knobs and gliding over screens until the buzzing sound evens out to a low hum.
"We did it, Iskra! We did it!" he whispers, his voice filled with awe. He sways forward so alarmingly that I grab him. He turns and looks at me. "I have the Megamedes!"
I glance around the room at the others. Trout grins across at me. The scientists exchange disbelieving looks with one another.
"Are you sure it's the Megamedes and not a Hovermedes?" Blackbeard asks.
Dimitri nods. "Positive. It's within a thousand mile range of here," he says, studying the screens in front of him.
"Why can't we hear anyone yet?" I ask.
Dimitri turns up the volume, then lowers it again when the loud buzzing sound starts back up. "Give it a minute."
I press my fingernails into my palms until Dimitri gives a sharp gasp. 'Listen," he whispers.
The other scientists gather around. I take a shallow breath, not wanting to drown out even the faintest murmur.
A moment later a loud crackling breaks the silence, and then a voice comes over the line. "... I repeat, do you copy, Craniopolis?"
"We read you," Dimitri responds. "Identify and state your position."
"This is the Megamedes. We have a contact bearing two hundred and eighty at four hundred and sixty miles and--"
The line sputters briefly and for a moment I think we've lost them.
"All surviving personnel evacuate to the Megamedes. I repeat, all surviving personnel evacuate to the Megamedes."
29
The line sputters again. "Acknowledge orders, I repeat. Acknow–"
The lights on the CommCenter flicker and the line goes dead. Dimitri slams his fist on the counter.
"It doesn't matter!" I blurt out.
The shell-shocked faces in the room turn to me.
"We've got the coordinates now," I say, excitement swirling up from my gut. "We can launch the Hovermedes from the Craniopolis and land a raiding party on the Megamedes. The Sweepers will think we're part of the evacuation. They won't realize what's happening until it's too late."
Dimitri stares at me as if I'm some alien species he has inadvertently whipped up in his lab. "Are you out of your mind?" he asks.
"Not entirely. Sven and the military clones are trained to operate the Hovermedes. They can pose as Schutz Clones while you man communications from here between the ships. The Undergrounders can pass themselves off as scientists. Once we're on board we'll attack."
"Count me in," Lou says, giving an approving nod.
Gustav steps forward. "I can help Dimitri manage communications."
"There are six Hovermedes in the docking station at the Craniopolis," I say. "Enough to land a large raiding party. And we have the advantage of surprise."
Blackbeard grinds his jaw like he's chewing on something. "What about getting Jerome and the deviations out?"
"If we attack the Megamedes first we may not need to evacuate the deviations," I say.
"I can send Jerome a message about the change in plan," Dimitri offers.
"No." I shake my head. "We'll tell him once we reach the Craniopolis. The deviations need to go ahead with their preparations to leave in case things don't go as planned on our end."
I turn back to Dimitri. "Are you sure you're up for this?"
He blinks, trying hard to hold back tears. "I've never been more sure about anything."
Gustav squeezes his shoulder gently. I give him an appreciative smile before turning to leave with Blackbeard and Lou.
"We need to pull Sven and the military clones off the barricade and head to the Craniopolis right away," I say, as we exit the Superconductor.
"What about the Rogues?" Blackbeard asks.
"They're under your command now." I look directly at him. "I need you to stay here in the city. There's no one Jerome trusts more to guard it in his absence than you."
"Just bring him back," he says in a hoarse voice. "That's all I ask."
"I swear to you I won't leave him behind."
Blackbeard's plea haunts me as we make our way across town. Bring him back. Maybe I can save Jerome from the Schutz Clones, but he's already twenty-four units. I can't keep him alive past his expiration date. His only hope of surviving beyond it lies with the secrets onboard the Megamedes.
Back at the container gate, Blackbeard moves some of his men into new positions around the barricade to free up those he's picked to supervise the Rogues. I'm not worried about leaving him behind with the Rogues. They're weakened and outnumbered, grateful we gave them refuge. The Ghost will have no takers if he tries to rally them to go up against Blackbeard and his men.
Sven and the military clones betray no emotion when Trout and I update them on the developments and brief them on our plan to attack the Megamedes. I'm reminded again that they don't fear war because this is what they were engineered to do. It's at times like this when Sven seems more machine than man, and yet I k
now by the way he looks at me when we're alone that he's capable of loving me as much as any man.
The Ghost watches the proceedings as the military clones fall into formation behind Sven, but he keeps his thoughts to himself. He's been subdued since he arrived back in the city with only a third of his men. I can't imagine he's thrilled about the shift in the balance of power. But for now, at any rate, he seems willing to toe the line.
I swing my pack over my shoulder and reach for my gun. All of a sudden the Undergrounders and Rogues start shouting to each other along the barricade.
"What's going on?" Trout yells up to them.
"Riders! Coming in hard," an Undergrounder shouts back.
I push my way through the crowd to the gate and wait with bated breath for word to come from the guards. It can't be good. Moments later, I hear the dreaded words. "Schutz Clones!"
My thoughts splinter inside my head. It's happening!
All around me men and women scramble up on the barricade, weapons in hand. Lou and Trout run to take up positions alongside the Rogues and Undergrounders. The container gates groan open and the horses bearing the riders gallop through, nostrils flared and heaving.
I press my face up against the shell of an abandoned car and angle my head as far as I can. When I scrunch my eyes up I detect a flicker of movement on the horizon. Minutes go by and the flicker turns into a steady crawl, like locusts darkening the earth. My blood runs cold.
The barricade fills up as more Undergrounders flock to help. The military clones resume their positions, faces set like steel. I spot Jakob and Hannah climbing into an abandoned truck built into the base of the barricade. Seems the entire city has turned out for the last stand. Men, women, and children old enough to hold a rifle, are tucked into perches all over the tangled steel and concrete wall. Lou kneels behind the burned-out cab of a truck beside me, bow in hand.
Sven walks up to me. "So much for attacking the Megamedes. We'll have to fight them here first after all."
"Keep everyone off the ridge line." I tuck my braid inside the collar of my coat and climb onto the barricade. "We don't give the Schutz Clones a clean shot."
Judgement: The Undergrounders Series Book Three (A Young Adult Post-apocalyptic Science Fiction Thriller) Page 18
