"Can you make it appear as if Dimitri's transmitting from the Craniopolis?" I ask Sven.
"Give me a minute to redirect the signal." He swirls his fingertips over the screen and glances up at the hologram. "Okay, you're all set, Dimitri. We'll be able to hear you, but we won't be able to communicate with you until you terminate the transmission with the Megamedes."
"Understood," Dimitri replies, a strained expression on his face. I pace back and forth. I only hope he pulls this off. If he cracks, we're all lost.
Sven adjusts a few controls on the CommCenter dashboard, and then steps back.
Minutes tick by and everyone's breathing grows raspy to my ear. My heart feels as though it's swollen to twice its normal size. In the end, everything comes down to infiltrating the Megamedes, but it's become so much more complicated. We have to hijack a dying monster ship, free all the extractees, and land before the systems on board fail completely. It's a death wish, but there's no backing out now.
A snapping sound grabs my attention. A deep voice booms over the speaker. "This is the Megamedes transmitting. Does anyone read me?"
"Craniopolis responding," Dimitri says. "We read you loud and clear."
"Identify."
"Doctor Dimitri Petrov speaking, head of the delegation."
After a brief pause, the voice resumes in a more relaxed tone. "Doctor Amul Bhagat here. Is the Craniopolis secure?"
"Affirmative. What is your status?"
"Our CommCenter is failing and we are unable to make contact with the Schutz Clones or Hovermedes stationed outside the Craniopolis. We require additional Schutz Clones to oversee a number of hostile detainees. Request you send reinforcements to the Megamedes ASAP."
I squeeze my eyes shut. A direct invitation on board. The only hitch is that the Schutz Clones in the Craniopolis are all dead, and the Hovermedes inoperable.
"Copy that," Dimitri replies. "Ships are in maintenance mode. Several hours out."
"Expedite mainten–"
The transmission fizzles, snaps once and dies.
We wait for several more minutes, but the line remains dead. Sven flips a switch to reconnect us to Dimitri. Nothing happens. He lets out an exasperated sigh and fiddles with the dashboard. "Something's wrong with the CommCenter on the Superconductor end," Sven says. "If I can get the connection back up there's no guarantee it will last so make it snappy."
Finally, the line crackles and sputters back to life.
"You heard that," Dimitri says, rubbing his brow as he comes back into focus. "We just got summoned. Now, what?"
"We give them what they asked for," I say. "Sven and the military clones can don the black fatigues from the ossified Schutz Clones and goose step their way out of a Hovermedes."
"Except we don't have a ship fit to fly." Trout scowls across at Owen.
"Yes we do," I say, grinning. "We can take the Hovermedes east of here. You heard that Doctor Amul guy. They couldn't make contact with the Schutz Clones or the Hovermedes. That means we decimated the Schutz Clones who attacked the city."
"The Sweepers will put us straight to work if we go in as Schutz Clones," Sven says. "How are we going to hijack the Megamedes?"
I turn to look at Dimitri's hologram. "Is there a way to broadcast an emergency alert and feed it through to the Megamedes?"
Dimitri rumples his brow. "I don't see why not, now that we've locked into their signal."
"Good. When we're about to land I want you to send an alert to the Megamedes that the Craniopolis is under attack. Request the immediate return of the Hovermedes and all Schutz Clones on board."
Comprehension ripples across Dimitri's face. "Meanwhile, you disembark and the pilot flies back with an empty Hovermedes," he says.
"Exactly," I say. "We'll hide out in the Megamedes long enough to do some recon and figure out the best way to commandeer the ship."
"It's clever." Sven nods appreciatively. "The tricky part will be making it out of the docking station undetected. The Sweepers will have deviations working shifts and at least a couple of Schutz Clones overseeing them."
"We can take out a few Schutz Clones easily enough," I say.
"We should bring Jerome with us," Trout says. "If the deviations panic and alert the Sweepers we'll be screwed."
"Good idea," Sven says. "The deviations trust Jerome.
I nod. "All right. We'll go by Terminus on our way out of here."
"One more thing," Dimitri says.
I turn my head in his direction.
He runs his tongue over his lips. "Big Ed–" Another loud crackle cuts off Viktor's voice.
My spine tingles. "What about Big Ed?"
The hologram flickers once and flatlines.
My skin crawls. I stare at the empty space over the CommCenter. "Do something," I yell at Sven. "Get him back on!"
Sven swipes a few practiced strokes across the screen. He shakes his head. "Connection's down at the Superconductor. I can't fix it on this end."
Trout lays a hand on my shoulder. "Don't assume the worst. Dimitri might have had a message for you from Big Ed."
Owen throws me a sympathetic look. "Trout's right. Nothing we can do now."
"That old boy's fine," Lou says, a mischievous sparkle in her eyes. "He was well on the way to recovery before we left."
I take several deep breaths. They're all trying their best to calm my worst fear; that Big Ed's dead and that I didn't get to say goodbye to the man who was closer to me than my own father. None of them know what Dimitri was about to say, but they're bound and determined to keep me focused, and for good reason. We only get one shot at boarding the Megamedes, and they can't let me screw it up. Nothing I can do will help Big Ed now one way or the other. If he's gone, I'll mourn him later. If there is a later.
We gather up our packs and weapons and make our way back along the tunnel to the Sweepers' living quarters to retrieve the Schutz Clones' fatigues. Sven and the military clones undertake the gruesome task of undressing the few shriveled corpses that remain among the piles of dust. A military clone turns over a boot and tips out the powdered remains inside. I turn from the sight, fighting the tang of acid in my throat. If the ossification bug can't be resolved, this will be Sven's fate sooner or later. In a strange way, the thought bolsters my courage. What we're about to do is the only thing to do in the face of the unrelenting evil that has taken over the world. Somehow knowing that makes it easier to believe we can win despite the odds against us.
"We're all done here," Sven says, walking up to me dressed head-to-toe in black Schutz Clone fatigues.
I repress a shudder. "Time to head to Terminus."
Jerome raises his brows when he sees Owen and the homesteaders.
I give him a wry grin. "We found out who took out the Schutz Clones in the docking station."
"What are they doing here?" Jerome asks, ushering us inside Terminus. His eye bores into Owen, seeking an explanation.
Owen clenches his fists. "The sweeps have resumed. They extracted Nikki and some of the other Undergrounders."
"Dimitri says they've been transferred to the Megamedes," I add.
Jerome runs a hand over his pitted face. "When will you attack?"
"We may not have to," I say. "The Sweepers sent a transmission requesting additional Schutz Clones to monitor hostiles, presumably the Undergrounders they extracted."
Jerome throws a questioning look Sven's way. "Let me guess. You're planning to pose as Schutz Clones."
Sven nods. "But we need your help. The docking station will likely be manned by deviations guarded by a handful of Schutz Clones. We can dispose of the guards, but we need you to persuade the deviations to smuggle us out of there."
Jerome frowns. "The Sweepers will expect you to report for duty as soon as you've landed."
"We've got that covered," I say. "Dimitri will broadcast an emergency alert through to the Megamedes letting them know the Craniopolis is under attack. He'll request the immediate return of the Hovermedes and all Schutz Clones on board. We
'll infiltrate the Megamedes while one of the military clones flies the empty Hovermedes back here."
Jerome moves his jaw side to side as if weighing our odds. "All right, I'm in. Are you taking all six Hovermedes?"
"They're not operational," I say.
Owen throws Jerome an uneasy look."We sabotaged them."
"We'll use the Hovermedes east of here," I say. "Most of the Schutz Clones died in the assault on the city. There may be no one left guarding them for all we know."
"We should get going before the Megamedes grows suspicious," Sven says.
Jerome exchanges a few words with some of the deviations and then gathers up his pack and gun.
I lead the way back out into the corridor and head south to the Biotik Sektor. My pulse races with the certain knowledge that there's no turning back now. Once the Hovermedes launch, death or victory await us.
When I round the final bend I come to an abrupt halt and gesture behind me to the others to ready their weapons. The steel entry doors to the Biotik Sektor are lying open. I grip my gun and inch toward the doorway. Scarcely daring to breathe, I tilt forward and crane my neck around the doorframe.
A hooded figure is hunched over the food dispenser hastily shoving sachets into a pack.
34
I raise my gun and take aim, unsure if it's a Rogue or just a hungry deviation.
"Hands in the air!" I yell.
The figure swivels. I gasp at the gray, matted beard and wrinkled face inside the hood.
"Big Ed!" I shout, racing across the room. I fling myself at him and bury myself in the pine-scented folds of his flannel shirt.
I wipe a dangling tear of relief from my lashes when we pull apart. "What are you doing here?"
"I reckon I'm fit to fight," he says, staring at something over my shoulder. I turn and see Lou approaching.
She beams at him. "Told you my special soup recipe would work wonders."
The pleats around Big Ed's eyes crinkle. "Sure beats this stuff." He gestures at the lyophilized food packets in his hand.
I shake my head in disbelief as Trout and Owen come walking up. "Can you believe this?"
Trout chuckles. "So that's what Dimitri was trying to tell us when the signal went down."
"He'll slow us down," Owen mutters.
I throw him a skeptical look as I reach for my pack. "You want to try shooing him back to the city?"
He gives a subtle tilt of his head in Lou's direction. "I wouldn't dare. I might end up with an arrow in my chest."
Jerome leads the way as we make our way along the now familiar turns in the dirt-packed tunnel from the Craniopolis to the forest. It's anyone's guess what we'll find when we reach the camp where Lou spotted the Hovermedes. If there are any surviving Schutz Clones, they could have moved the ships by now, or they might be waiting for reinforcements to arrive. Neither option gives me a warm and fuzzy feeling.
When we climb out of the tunnel the sun glares down on us, a circle of red steel heralding a scorching hike ahead. Sven assembles the black fatigue-clad military clones into formation. I watch as they don their helmets, transforming themselves into the feared extraction force of a regime gone mad. The Undergrounders eye them warily.
Jerome locates a nearby spring and we take a few minutes to slake our thirst and fill our canteens. Big Ed rips open a lyophilized food packet with his teeth, spilling some of the powder into his grizzled beard. "It sure don't grease up the taste buds like the smell of meat roasting," he says, "but it's growing on me."
"Can't beat the convenience when you live life on the run," Trout remarks.
Lou pulls a face. "I want to live in a world with time to stir what I'm cooking."
"You will," I say, "once we take it back." Or die trying.
"Everyone ready?" Lou glances around at the others.
She takes the lead, heading east in the direction of the Schutz Clones' camp. Big Ed shows no sign of weakness, matching her pace effortlessly as they march. I'm flabbergasted at the recovery he's made. I suspect it has less to do with the soup and more with the soup maker. For a woman who prefers her own company, Lou seems to have plenty to talk about with Big Ed.
"How much farther?" I ask, coming up alongside them.
Lou points due east. "About a half mile in that direction. I can go ahead and do some recon."
Big Ed pulls at his beard. He won't try and stop her, but he'll want to go with her, and that's not an option. She's light and swift, and climbs like a monkey, but Big Ed's odds of outrunning a Schutz Clone are next to zero.
"No," I say. "I'll send Sven and the military clones ahead. It will look like Schutz Clone reinforcements arriving."
Big Ed beams at me. "Good idea."
I turn and make my way back to Sven and Jerome.
"The camp is a half mile from here," I say. "Might be best if the military clones lead the way from here."
Sven nods. "Once we clear the area, we'll fire up a Hovermedes and activate a beacon. That will be your signal to join us. We'll load up and be ready to take off as soon as you get there."
His amber eyes meet mine and a ripple of longing goes through me. The unexpected rush of the memory of his mouth on mine takes my breath away. I turn to leave, but Sven lays a hand on my shoulder. " Promise me you'll wait for the beacon."
I stare at his hand, the heat from it tingling all the way through me. Promise me you'll wait. We have so little time left together. Why does it have to be spent like this? I place my other hand on his and squeeze it, not trusting myself to speak.
Jerome eyes us curiously, one misshapen arm folded across his chest, the other palm resting on his corrugated cheek.
I look away, my heart filling with sadness for him. If Sven has the capacity for love, then, disfigured as he is, Jerome does too. Maybe the cruelest twist in the Sweepers' experimentation is the desire for love they couldn't eradicate from the hearts of even the most deformed deviations. I pull apart from Sven and nod goodbye.
When he marches off with the military clones I keep my hands glued to my sides, fighting the urge to grab hold of him and beg him not to go. Once he's out of sight, I sling my pack aside and sink down on a tree stump. Every time we part, the thought that it might be the last time I see him cuts more than before. But, we can't stop now--not until we've found the sovereign leader and shut down the Sweepers' operation.
The waiting is torturous. No one is in the mood to talk anymore. Even Big Ed and Lou have fallen silent. I sit down in a clearing off to the side of the trail, my knees bent to my chin, my mind choking on chaotic images of Sven's demise. There are plenty of reasons why he may never come back, but I can't accept any of them. I want to believe that he can beat the odds and won't expire, but deep down I know it's a fantasy.
An hour goes by and my palms begin to sweat with a deathly fear that something's gone wrong. I'm debating whether to put together a search party to go after them when I hear Trout shout something. I jump to my feet, my heart straining at my ribs.
"It's them!" Owen yells, running up. He points behind me at a revolving beacon.
Relief floods through me. "Let's do this," I say. I tighten the straps on my pack and wait for Big Ed and Lou to load up. Jerome, Trout, and the Undergrounders have already assembled on the trail up ahead, their eyes betraying the rollercoaster of emotions going through them. I signal to Trout to take the lead.
The sun bears down on us now like a branding iron as we hike into the open. Sweat trickles down my face. I reach into my pack and rummage around for my water canteen. Somewhere in the recesses of my brain I register a familiar whooshing sensation. I glance up in time to see a cylindrical steel arm snake down through the trees and latch onto Jerome.
Screams fill the air. The Undergrounders scatter into the brush. Only Trout is close enough to hammer helplessly on the articulated metal tube before it retracts with its prey.
Jerome hovers above the trail like a blackened kill on a spit before the steel arm yanks him through the glare of the sun and
into the belly of a waiting Hovermedes.
Trout falls to his knees and buries his head in his bleeding hands.
"Get up!" I shout. I rush toward him, panic flooding through me. What is he thinking?
He looks up as the second tube shoots down, too late to sidestep it before it locks onto him.
My heart slides up my throat, choking off my air supply. I stumble forward in slow motion, grasping in vain to reach him. I wince as the sun reflects off the menacing steel, whipping its way upward. I blink back tears, desperate to catch one last glimpse of Trout in the blinding sun. I sway back on my heels, dashes of darkness flickering across my field of vision like shadowy flotsam. No! This isn't happening!
Someone grabs me by the arms and yanks me into the brush. I fall to the ground and heave a few violent dry sobs. Not Trout! My eyes burn with salty tears. Big Ed, Lou, and Owen huddle around, peering at me anxiously.
"They're tracking us," I gasp. "Is there any other way to reach the camp?"
"We'll have to muscle our way through the undergrowth," Lou says.
"Do you think that beacon really was Sven?" Owen asks.
"I hope so," I say, getting to my feet. I wipe the back of my hand across my eyes. "We need to get to him before that Hovermedes finds us."
Weapons at hand, we begin the task of bushwhacking our way through a tangle of thorny brush and braided saplings. Without the enhanced strength of the military clones, it's an arduous task, branches flailing our faces as we weave our way forward. Every time I try to process what just happened to Trout and Jerome, the shock of losing them makes my knees go weak.
When we finally reach the camp perimeter, sweating and exhausted, Lou points through the foliage at eight gleaming Hovermedes lined up in a large clearing. "Two of them are gone," she says.
"They could arrive back at any minute," Big Ed says.
"Or they could be taking Jerome and Trout to the Megamedes," Owen says, his face creased with worry.
"Let's go," I say, parting the bushes in front of me. "Sven and the military clones must be on board the other ships already."
We step out into the clearing and jog toward the nearest Hovermedes.
Judgement: The Undergrounders Series Book Three (A Young Adult Post-apocalyptic Science Fiction Thriller) Page 21
