Amid his reverie, he heard Yon call out. “Hey, are you going to catch us dinner or should I call for pizza?”
Takoda chuckled and turned to look at his friend, co-worker and partner-in-underground-crime. She was stretched out on a lounge chair by the campfire, glass of wine in one hand and the screen of a holotablet hovering in front of her face.
“Put that contraption away and enjoy the sunset.” Takoda was ecstatic they had made it through the day in New Atlantia and returned to Carapach without incident.
She pushed the floating screen aside long enough to say, “No way. It keeps the bugs away. Now, hurry up and catch something. I’m starving.”
“Okay, okay.” He laughed and reeled in the line.
After casting it out again, he focused his attention on attracting a trout with fly-like twitches on the water. As he repeated the cast-twitch-reel process, however, his mood darkened as he revisited his meeting with Neville.
Takoda had not yet told Yon of the encounter and debated now whether he should. He knew Yon would urge him to share the details of the conversation with Hoot, and Takoda was reluctant to do that until after he and Yon were allowed to talk with Sarah Hearns. He was afraid Hoot would cut them out of any more dealings with Sarah if she learned Neville Thompson had deciphered their goal.
The Beacon leader had already delayed their link up with Sarah as part of her edict to maintain their normal routines so long as NASF had them under surveillance. For now, Sarah was sequestered with her daughters in an undisclosed safehouse and there she would remain until Hoot said otherwise. She even prohibited phone and electronic communication with Sarah, fearing NASF would break Beacon’s encryption.
Hoot was so paranoid about security, she had applied the same prohibition on Takoda for any communications with Ellie who, at that moment, was en route to Beacon’s gutant safe haven in Flathead, Montana with Billy Hearns and Akecheta’s brain core. At least they’ll all be safe there, Takoda thought.
Takoda could not say the same about himself and Yon. He felt incredibly uneasy about returning to New Atlantia a second time after enduring Spiers’ tiptoe around the uniqueness of Billy’s DNA. It was as if the NASF major knew exactly why they had rescued him and was taunting them with his knowledge. His uneasiness was further magnified by the conversation with Neville. He shuddered to think what would happen if he and Yon were in New Atlantia and Neville changed his mind and talked to NASF.
A caress of his shoulder roused Takoda from his thoughts. He looked around to see Yon standing beside him in the stream. With her hands on her hips and a frown on her face, she said, “Pizza will be here in ten minutes. I’ll see you inside.”
As he watched Yon wade her way back to shore, Takoda said, “I thought we were eating trout.”
“You took too long.”
“Why inside, then? Let’s eat by the fire.”
“Can’t. Got a message from Hoot. She wants to talk with us in half an hour.”
When Takoda returned to the house, Yon was prepping her holotablet for the call with Hoot. Neither Takoda nor Yon had ever met her, nor did either of them know her real name, what she looked like or where she was located.
In fact, if Takoda had been directly recruited by Hoot instead of by Yon, he would have declined to join Beacon. The idea of placing his fate in the hands of a stranger would have been too much of a leap of faith for him. But he had worked with Yon for four years and trusted her. So, two years ago, when she made her first overture to join the underground, Takoda had listened.
At first, he had listened out of respect for their friendship. Yon had been there for him after the death of his wife and the surrender of his daughter. Yon had helped Takoda through his grief and anger and had kept him from descending into the darkness of depression. Along the way, she became an increasing presence in his life, someone Takoda looked forward to spending time with, whether at work or socially.
And Takoda knew Yon wanted more than friendship. She wanted him to dock Ellie and share a more intimate relationship with her, but it was a step Takoda wasn’t ready for yet. As he watched her open the encryption program on the tablet’s floating screen, he hoped he might feel differently one day. He didn’t want to lose her.
When the call was connected, the voice on the other end was not Hoot. It was the male voice of an android. With unusual formality, he requested their passcodes. Yon spoke hers, then Takoda gave his. They waited for the android to process their codes through its voice recognition module and then he connected them with Hoot.
“Hello? Trout? Wolf?”
Trout was Yon’s codename, Takoda’s was Wolf.
“We’re here, Hoot. How are you?” Yon asked.
Hoot’s answer was curt. “You two are in danger. You must leave immediately.”
“What? Why?” Yon probed.
“No time for that now. Grab your ready-packs, get in your maglev, Wolf, and haul ass to Standing Rock. You have about ten minutes before they get there.”
“Before who gets here?” Takoda asked.
“Call me back when you’re on the road. Now, move!”
The holoscreen went dark. Yon deactivated the tablet, hopped up and headed for the kitchen door. Takoda disappeared into his bedroom and fished out his emergency ready-pack from his closet.
Without bothering to turn off lights or lock doors, Takoda followed Yon’s route through the kitchen and out the door leading to the driveway. He had been through enough practice drills of Beacon’s escape protocol to know speed was of the essence. When he pushed through the door, he saw Yon had already started her Starlight maglev cruiser. He dashed to the open back hatch, threw in his bag and ran around to the passenger side.
As soon as he was in and closed the door, Yon commanded the vehicle to depart. “Cloak mode. Quickest route to Standing Rock via maglev. Fastest possible speed. Don’t stop for anything or anyone.”
The vehicle chassis lifted off the ground and spun around until it was pointed down Takoda’s mile-long driveway. Then it shot down the road, pinning Takoda to his seat.
“What do you think is going on?” Yon asked.
“It has to be NASF.”
“But they can’t come into Carapach.”
“Legally, no. Let’s call Hoot back and get more details.”
With the Starlight navigating the country road on autopilot, Yon reconnected with the underground. After the same annoying passcode verification, Hoot was back on the line. “Have you left?”
“Yes,” said Yon.
“We can’t see you on our tracking grid.”
“I put on cloak mode. What’s going on?”
Hoot’s explanation was just as terse as her earlier command to flee. “NASF has sent a stealth team to capture, interrogate and execute you. Both of you.”
“What? Are you sure?” Takoda asked.
“Positive. We have eyes on them right now. I’ll tell you more when you get to Standing Rock. Deactivate the cloak mode. We need to be able to track you.”
“But what about NASF?” Yon said.
“Useless. For NASF to dare to send a stealth team across the border, they would have had you under satellite surveillance before they crossed the border. Now, disable it. We’ve dispatched drones from Rosebud to provide you cover but they need a signal to lock onto.”
“Cover from what?”
“Stealth gliders. Disable it quickly.”
Yon blurted out a command for the Starlight to deactivate the electronic signal suppression system. For a short spell, no one spoke. Then Hoot said, “Okay, we’ve got you. Let us take over navigation from here. Transmitting routing now.”
Seconds later, Starlight’s computer indicated it had received a remote navigation request. Yon authorized the remote access. At the next intersection, the cruiser abruptly slowed to make a screeching left-hand turn and then re-accelerated. Hoot spoke again. “Time to glider intercept is forty-five—”
There was a blinding flash of light. Takoda shielded his eyes. He
felt the cruiser shudder and swerve. The safety harness pressed him against the seat while the headrest clamped around his skull. The next sensation Takoda felt was the Starlight tumbling.
En route to the old Standing Rock Indian Reservation
North Dakota, Carapach
“Direct hit!” Cassidy said. “But we have incoming, Major. Three drones. From the southwest at two hundred twenty-three degrees.”
As they rambled down the road in the camouflaged assault vehicle, Damon followed the action up ahead on the holoscreen map in front of him. They were four miles behind the Starlight, but closing fast on the now immobile vehicle. His NASF gliders, four of them, surrounded the upside-down cruiser.
“Recommend we engage the Carapach drones,” said Cassidy.
Abel, the Viper android leader of the stealth team seated behind Cassidy, said, “Sir, we’ve picked up a transmission from the Carapach police. They’ve closed the border behind us. They have our coordinates, and they’ve dispatched units to intercept us.”
“How’s that possible? How do they know where we are?” Damon said. But he realized the answer before he finished saying the words. “Beacon! Scan for a nano or a tracking device in the vicinity. Quickly!”
“Major…the incoming drones are almost on station,” Cassidy warned.
A glance back at the screen showed Damon three blips converging on the surrounded Starlight.
“We have a hot spot in the cabin, Major,” said Abel.
“What? Where?”
“Engaging the Carapach drones,” said Cassidy.
“No! Stop!” shouted Damon. He reached out to bat Cassidy’s hand from touching the drone fire-control screen. She crushed down on his hand.
As he tried to pull it away, Abel announced, “Hot spot ID’d. It’s on Sgt. Will—”
Damon caught a quick glimpse of Cassidy’s fist before it slammed into his head. Rocked off his seat, he crashed into the weapon rack and fell to the floor. As he scrambled to get up, he heard the hiss of a laser pistol. Before he reached his feet, however, another blow struck him on the back of the head. Damon thudded onto the floor and passed out.
On a holoscreen displaying the view from the assault vehicle’s front window, Cassidy saw dozens of small fires on the road ahead and in the brush on both embankments. In the center of the road, lying on its roof, she spotted the crumpled shell of the Starlight cruiser. As Cassidy commanded the vehicle computer to stop one hundred feet short of the wreck, she transmitted a message to Beacon requesting medical assistance. Shortly thereafter, she received a response from an EMT squad confirming they were en route.
When the NASF truck stopped, it straddled the centerline of the road with its engine idling. Stepping over the melted remains of the stealth team Vipers she’d destroyed, Cassidy exited through the back door and approached the Starlight.
Laser pistol raised, she scanned the cruiser with her sensors. She detected both passengers inside, still secured into their seats. They were not moving, but her biometric instruments registered activity. The female’s vital signs were weaker than the male’s. Cassidy relayed the data to the EMTs and then proceeded to scan the perimeter for signs of electronic activity from the destroyed NASF gliders.
Sensing none, Cassidy holstered her weapon and returned to the assault vehicle to drag out the unconscious Damon. Hoisting him over her shoulder, she carried him to the wreck and laid him on the road.
A short while later, several vehicles arrived. Among the people who arrived in them were EMTs and rescue personnel who extracted Yon and Takoda from the Starlight. After receiving medical aid, they were loaded into one of the vehicles and driven away.
Under Cassidy’s watchful eyes, other EMTs rendered aid to Damon and extracted the identification chip lodged in his neck. After he was loaded into a separate vehicle, Cassidy received instructions from Hoot. “Assist our Makoas. Scavenge the NASF truck. Remove everything of value. Weapons and tech.”
Cassidy confirmed the command as the van bearing Damon sped off. Once the NASF truck was picked clean, Cassidy received follow-on instructions from Hoot. “Set charges in the Starlight and the NASF truck, then join the Makoas. We will detonate remotely.”
Moments later, with the charges placed, Cassidy boarded the truck with the other androids. As the truck drove away, she watched the explosions light up the night sky. Soon after, her audio module received a final message from Hoot. “Dock and power down.”
“Roger that. Willow out.”
She lifted a Velcro patch on the back of her pants, exposing a battery port on her left butt cheek. Cassidy eased back until she detected the connection with the dock. After her sensors confirmed recharging had initiated, Cassidy closed her eyes and activated sleep mode.
CHAPTER 12: COMFORT THE NEEDY
En route to gutant refugee village
Flathead, Montana, Carapach
The long road trip to the old Flathead Reservation in Montana had been rough on Billy Hearns. During the journey, Ellie had done her best to soothe the child’s apprehensions but the violet-eyed boy was, at turns, inconsolable and combative.
He did not understand who Ellie was, how he had gotten from his bed at home to the RV in which they now rode, or where his parents were. He was also frustrated by her silence when he demanded to know where they were headed and why.
During the lulls between his intermittent tantrums, Ellie had suggested he take a nap or eat, suggestions that Billy rejected summarily. Instead, he either sulked in the RV’s bedroom or stood by her side and barraged her with questions and complaints.
Finally, however, about halfway into their trip and a good ten hours after he awoke from the series of sedatives he had received, Billy’s defiant resolve broke down and he ate pancakes Ellie had prepared. It was his favorite breakfast meal, a tip passed along by Sarah Hearns before she and her daughters were spirited out of New Atlantia. Soon after finishing the meal, he had fallen asleep for several hours.
Now, with only an hour left to go before the self-driving home-on-wheels reached their destination, Ellie nudged him awake.
“Wake up, sleepyhead.” The soft-voice and vernacular Ellie employed were features of the nurturing module she had activated at the beginning of the trip. “Come on, now, wake up. We’re almost there.”
Billy cracked open his eyes a little and yawned. “Almost where?”
“Your new home.”
The information stirred Billy fully awake. His expression began as apparent confusion and then morphed into anger. “I don’t want a new home. I want my old one. I want my mom and dad.”
Ellie reached out a hand and touched the boy’s arm. “I know, sweetie. Don’t get upset again. Your mom will be here soon. This is her new home too.”
“Really?” Billy’s eyes lit up. Then a frown formed on his face. “Why did we have to move? Why didn’t my parents come with us? Where are my sisters and my father?”
“I’m sure your mom will tell you everything when she gets here. You’ll be living in a village called Flathead. As you can see by looking out the windows, there are many mountains and tall trees. And there is also a big lake. I know you will like it here. I’m told all the boys and girls like it here.”
As far as Ellie could tell from Billy’s reaction to her sales pitch, the prospect of a reunion with his family seemed to make Billy very happy, but he also remained skeptical. He continued to rattle off questions. When will the rest of my family get here? Is my father coming too? Why did we have to move?
When they arrived at the village, a delegation from the refugee ranch was there to greet them. Among the welcome party were adults and children. The children rushed forward and waved to Billy; however, Billy was reluctant to exit the RV. He clung by Ellie’s side and held her hand.
“Come on, let’s go meet your new friends,” Ellie said.
“I’m scared.”
“Don’t be. They’re very nice people. You’ll like them.”
“Can’t I stay with you until my
mom gets here?”
“I’m afraid not. I have other responsibilities, but I will come to check on you later tonight. Okay?”
Ellie stepped down out of the RV and Billy edged out after her. Moments later, surrounded by smiling, gaggling children, he let go of Ellie’s hand. Two women, apparently mothers of some of the children, knelt and chatted with Billy and soon they led the welcome party away. Ellie saw Billy turn and look back at her. She waved to him and he waved back.
“Don’t forget to check on me,” he called.
“I won’t. I’ll see you tonight.”
A man walked up to Ellie and introduced himself as Dr. Wyatt Longbow, the refugee ranch director. “Any trouble during the trip?”
“No. Billy was tired and frustrated, but that was to be expected.”
Longbow nodded. “It’s traumatic. One moment you’re at home sleeping in your bed. The next, you’re halfway across the continent, in a foreign country. Your parents aren’t there. Everybody is a stranger. It’s confusing, scary. But he’ll be okay. We’re used to helping kids assimilate. As you saw, everybody likes to pitch in. Many of them have been through the same experience, so they know what Billy’s feeling right now. They’ll help him feel at home until his mother arrives.”
“Good. Will you please inform Beacon HQ of his arrival? I would myself but I have been directed to refrain from initiating communications.” Ellie said.
“Yes, of course. I’ll take care of it.” Longbow looked past Ellie to gaze at the RV behind her. “Are you heading back east tonight?”
“No. I have some errands to complete. I will be here for a day or two.”
The GODD Chip (The Unity of Four Book 1) Page 15
