by Leigh Walker
I felt so sorry for my mom. She must’ve known, too. She’d known why. Then she’d had to watch me join the same people who’d destroyed our family.
I needed to understand what Beth meant about Katie’s power and her ability to control people. If she were right, if Katie had had that talent, it made sense that The Division would have been afraid of her. She’d been too dangerous. She would have been impossible to control for long.
I thought about it some more. To an extent, I also had that power. I could move people, lift them, and throw them. I could end their lives by crushing their bodies with the power of my brain waves. But I couldn’t make them do my will or act under my orders. It sounded as though my sister’s power was similar to what Nora had done to us with our monitors.
But I’d been able to stop her. My power had been able to block hers. I was stronger.
I was strong.
It made me wonder what else I could do.
Halfway back to the base, I realized we hadn’t settled on a plan. What are we going to do?
Finn smiled at me. I was just wondering the same thing.
It was so cool that we could talk to each other telepathically. I’d hated it at first because I’d felt as though I could never get away from him, never have any privacy. But now I trusted him to respect when I needed space. And we could even talk over the throb of the helicopter. On the one hand, I had so much to be grateful for. On the other, there was so much to be angry about.
Was The Division all evil? Beth and Ed didn’t seem so bad.
Then there was Finn. I loved Finn. And I loved my friends. I couldn’t wait to see them again.
What do you think?
He frowned as he punched in more coordinates. I think Nora’s got too much power. And she only wants more.
I glanced over my shoulder at Althea. You believe her? That they’re working together?
He nodded. I’ve been listening in on that Beth, too. She’s thinking that Nora’s going to handle all of this and that everything’s going to go back to the plan.
Do you think everyone we work for is bad? The whole government?
No. Finn shook his head. I just don’t. I can’t believe that.
I nodded. Me either.
So we’ll go back in, and we’ll find a way around Nora.
I nodded again, but my heart raced. As far as I knew, Nora was the boss. The big boss. We never had the opportunity to speak to or even hear about anyone else.
I know, Finn said, but I have an idea.
Are you going to let me in on it?
He smiled, flashing his dimple. Once it actually makes sense, sure.
I made sure my seat belt was fastened. Whatever waited for us, it was bound to be a wild ride.
Our transmitter suddenly crackled and came to life. “Please state your vehicle identification number and flight destination,” a scratchy voice said.
Finn looked around a bit wildly until he saw the code. “HJ300045XYII. Our destination is…” He looked at me, and I shrugged. “Return to base. The admiral will want to see us.”
“Copy that.” There was static for a moment, then the voice came back on. “You’re cleared for landing. You’re next in the queue, over.”
“Copy that. See you in a few.”
He put the transmitter down and gritted his teeth. I have no idea where I’m going.
You got us this far. Just follow that. I pointed to the blinking light on the monitor.
Finn nodded and adjusted his controls.
I glanced toward the back of the copter. What are we going to do with You-Know-Who?
Finn eyed the forest below us. I was thinking about chucking her out, to be honest. Goodbye and good riddance.
I sighed. Don’t we kind of need her as insurance?
Yes. Finn grimaced. All these adult decisions… Almost makes me feel like I’m ready for a Goldendoodle of my own. He winked at me.
I… You… I spluttered.
Finn’s shoulders shook with silent laughter. You just make it so easy, babe. I can’t help myself.
I gritted my teeth, but deep down, I was relieved. Finn was acting like his old self. We’d been to hell and back, but he was enjoying this.
We’re getting closer. He stopped laughing.
In the distance, I saw a mountain. As we drew near, the top of it slid open. That’s it. I pointed.
Finn maneuvered the helicopter closer. We’ll have to see who’s waiting for us.
I nodded, too stressed to even answer.
No matter what, stay with me. We can do this, Hanover. We were made to do this.
We descended, and Finn flew the helicopter into the base’s landing area. We landed with a thud on the pad, then bounced, then landed again. Finn quickly switched the copter off before it could bounce again.
“Way to stick the landing.” I smiled at him, but it slid from my face as soon as I saw the inside of the base.
We were surrounded. At least fifty guards aimed large, ugly-looking guns at the helicopter. Nora stood near the entrance, holding up a megaphone. “Come out with your hands up.”
Frickin’ Nora. Finn reached for my hand. Are you ready for this?
I licked my lips. “I was born ready.”
One second: I’m calling the rest of the team. He closed his eyes for a moment. When he opened them, he moved quickly. He reached into the back and took off Althea’s headphones, motioning for Beth and the others to do the same. Then he tossed me a blaster and grabbed his own.
“Stay down,” he told them. “Way down.”
“It’d help if you undid my cuffs so I can actually move,” Althea said.
“Good luck with that, Your Highness.” Finn turned to me. “I’m bringing her with us. You ready?”
“One sec.” I mentally made sure that my protections were up and running for both of us. It would be seriously bad news if The Division got a hold of our monitors anytime soon.
My blocks were running perfectly. I closed my eyes and mentally cast a protective net around the helicopter, agitating the air so that when the guards blasted us, they would be blocked.
I exhaled deeply and opened my eyes. “I’m ready.”
Finn held out his fingers. “On my count.”
Three, two, one.
We burst out of my door. As soon as Nora saw that it was Finn and me with weapons drawn, she issued the command.
Every soldier fired his blaster at us.
My protection held steady, and the blasts ricocheted off of it. Some of the soldiers fell, hit by their own shots. Finn started shooting, and I started telekinetically going after the soldiers. I went after them like a Weedwacker. They fell by the dozens.
Finn hustled Althea out of the helicopter and held her in front of him. With all the fighting, I barely spared her a glance—but when I did I saw Althea standing proud, staring fearlessly out ot the commotion.
Nora was at the other side of the room. Even from here, I could see that her face was white, twisted with fury. I pulsed my power out toward her, mowing down a row of soldiers in the process. When I reached her, I hurled her into the air. She shrieked, kicking, and I smiled at her, my real smile, which reached all the way to my eyes.
The door opened and our team spilled in, brawling as soon as they came through. Clearly, their monitors hadn’t been affected. I caught a flash of the twins’ red hair as they took on a group of guards. Emma, Josh, Micah, Kyan, Rachel, Nicole—they all joined the fray. Rachel replicated herself and fought a pack of soldiers. Nicole bent down and cast out visible brain waves. The soldiers around her fell like dominoes, one after the other. Their weapons clattered to the ground. Kyan landed a roundhouse kick to a guard’s chest and then Micah punched the guard in the face, knocking him to the ground. Emma waved, pointing to Nora hanging in the air, then gave me the thumbs-up.
Cranston barrelled into the room. He whacked the soldier who charged him with the back of his gun, then joined the melee. He was fighting with us.
My gaze flick
ed to Nora. Instead of white with fury, her face had gone beet red. She knows she’s losing.
So I didn’t kill her.
I let her watch as my team—my team, not hers—crushed her tainted uprising.
What are you going to do to Althea? I asked Finn.
I might save her for later and throw her out of the helicopter. Finn shrugged. Or maybe I’ll turn her over with Nora. They can be cellmates and BFFs for the rest of their lives.
I nodded, approving. I like Option B. Let her live in the world she tried to destroy, with the people she hates. Without her makeup case for all of eternity. I grinned, just imagining Althea in prison wear and no access to eyebrow wax for the rest of her life.
I like it. Finn watched as our teammates continued to crush the other side. I like it a lot.
24
Cry Me A River
The guards who’d fought us were either dead or locked up. Althea was handcuffed in a secure room. Help was on the way.
And we were getting ready for them. I wanted everything prepared, so that we could finish this and save our families.
I’d brought Nora down from my telekinetic hold and we had tied her to a chair. But even in tight restraints, she was trying to find a way to slip her way out.
“I’m the one that released you,” Nora hissed. “Do you really think you’re that good? Honestly, I sent you with Althea in the first place because I knew that you two would be able to accomplish this. Finn’s shown me repeatedly that you’re his PMF, and vice versa.” Her nostrils flared. “To think that either of you two little cogs came up with this plan is, quite frankly, laughable.”
“You wanted Althea out of the way.” Finn took a step toward her, his chest puffed out. “And you wanted us to do it. But then you planned to get rid of us too so there would be no witnesses, no trail, no nothing leading back to you and your new crown. That’s why you were waiting for us out here with all these guards. But we were ready for you, and now you’re trapped.”
“Everything you’re saying is a complete fabrication.”
Finn’s eyes narrowed. “No, it’s not, but feel free to keep pretending. Pretend to the bitter end. And it will be bitter—I can promise you that.”
He turned to me. “Riley?”
I nodded. “I’m going to hold her mentally still so she’s exposed, so we can get what we need from her.”
Nora scoffed. “You can’t do that.”
I jutted my chin. “Yes I can. I can make you do what I want, and I get what I need from you. I’m talented. Just like my sister was.”
The admiral rolled her eyes. “Your sister’s talents far surpassed yours.”
“You’re right. I wish she was here, so she could be the one to do this.” I took a step toward her. “But I’ll just have to honor her memory by doing my best. My best to ruin you, one and for all.”
I turned to Finn. “Once I open her up, read her thoughts out loud. Beth can transcribe them. Jennifer will enter everyting into the system so it can’t be deleted. Ed will video every second so we have the evidence we need. I can force her signature after that, but it’s probably unnecessary. They’ll know she’s telling the truth.”
“You can’t do that.” Nora sounded as convinced as ever, but her gaze flicked to Beth then Ed. She looked at them as if seeing them for the first time.
“Yes, she can. She’s capable of great things, just like her sister was.” Beth’s voice was flat, emotionless. “You will be held accountable for the things you’ve done wrong. And then your own daughter will see what you’re made of. I’m very sorry for her trouble, but I’m quite looking forward to yours.” Beth turned to us. “I’m ready when you are. Finn?”
He rubbed his hands together. “Are you kidding me? I was made for this. Literally.”
“I ratted her out because I knew. I knew Nora was involved in this somehow, but I couldn’t prove it.” Cranston flexed his fingers and stared at them, looking as though he wished he could wrap them around Nora’s neck. “When she put me in the brig, she was so smug. It’s like she finally had a hold of the wheel and didn’t have to tell anybody else where she was steering it or why.”
Kyan scanned Cranston’s face. “So why’d she let you out?”
The sergeant sighed. “Because you’re a bunch of hormonal teenagers, and she couldn’t wrangle you with all the other dealings she had going on. She needed a muscle, one who knew the group. Me. And she offered me a promotion, a new unit, and a fresh start if I did a good job for her. I knew she was trying to obfuscate what was really going on, but I didn’t let on. I let her think I was desperate. Which you sort of have to be, to agree to come back and work with you yahoos.”
Kyan rolled his eyes and went back to ignoring Cranston. He turned to Nicole. “But what I don’t understand is the why. Why did your mother turn against her own country, her own people? Why was she working with Althea?”
Nicole hopped up and started to pace, a sure sign those same questions had been plaguing her and that she needed to work them through. “She won’t speak to me about it. In a rare instance of maternal concern, she said it’s because she wants to protect me in case they try and depose me.” She laughed, but it was weak.
Maya frowned at her friend. “Nic, I’m so sorry.”
Nicole shook her head. “Don’t be. We got her. We turned her in. I’d rather have that be true than any other thing.”
“But why do you think she did it?” Rachel asked.
The pacing resumed in earnest. “I think she wanted in at the front lines. She wanted power. She wanted to rule. If things were completely reset, she wanted the opportunity to take over the helm and finally be in charge—of everyone and everything.”
Morgan’s brow furrowed. “But I still can’t believe she’d sell out her own people like that.”
Nicole’s face twisted. “I don’t think she thought of us as ‘her’ people. She’s always looked down on regular people. It wasn’t good enough for her to have a biological child. She had to have me genetically engineered for greatness, guaranteed to be special. That was the only thing good enough for her. But even though I was special, she didn’t just want me as a daughter. She wanted me to perform. She wanted me to help strengthen her position.”
Her ponytail whipped around as she changed course. “My mother thinks she’s better than ‘regular’ people. She thinks she works harder. She thinks she’s smarter. Deep down, a lot of what Althea was saying about the disgusting state of the world appealed to her. A reset made sense to her. And she wanted to be in charge of shaping the future.”
Micah scrubbed a hand across his face. “I don’t think she feels bad about it.”
Cranston smiled. “She doesn’t at all. And she’s getting exactly what she deserves. The general’s going to annihilate her.”
“Dude.” Kyan took a step back. “Are you smiling?”
Cranston’s frown snapped back into place. “No. But I am looking forward to justice being served.” He raked a hand over his crewcut, mumbling to himself. I made out the phrases “just what she deserves,” “so glad I get to be the one,” and “thank you, Jesus.”
“What are we going to do?” Emma asked. “What do we tell them, and what do we ask for?”
I stepped forward. “We tell them that we’ll give them everything. Right, Nicole?”
She nodded. “Everything—everything they need to come clean and go public. The Skype records, statements from Beth and Ed, statements from Althea’s personal guards, the workers at the New York base, Trey, Dave, the AI, if they want it—everything they need to start over.”
Finn raked a hand through his hair. “But we’re out. And they’re giving us things in exchange for all of this.”
“Like what?” Nicole asked.
“Trey, Dave, all of our families, a plane, enough fuel to get us across country and then some, a crap-ton of supplies—enough for a year. And then I want them to sever the connection to our monitors.” He grabbed my hand and squeezed it. “I want to
live the rest of my life off the grid.”
The general was younger than I’d expected, but he was still imposing. He frowned at us from across the table. “Tell me everything, including why so many of our soldiers are at this base when they weren’t supposed to be.”
“The admiral’s been running this operation for a long time.” I crossed my arms against my chest. “We don’t know if everyone who was working for her understood that she’d gone off-command.”
“They knew.” The general grimaced. “Where is she?”
“The admiral’s in cell 1-A.” Finn motioned to a stack of documents organized neatly on the table. “We have all the evidence you need for a full conviction. Statements from the donors, statements from Althea’s team that we captured, records of conversations she’s had with Althea Remington over the course of the past year.”
“We had no idea that the breach went this high.” The general’s lips were a thin white line of searing disapproval. “I can’t even process the impact of this. Her actions are directly responsible for the loss of more lives than I bear to contemplate. But we have to take direct responsibility for what happened. We haven’t kept our people safe. We failed them.”
Finn nodded. “Nora was able to run her own ship for too long. But if you go public with the truth, I think it’ll help people understand. Maybe if they understand that Althea had help, inside help, and that all responsible parties are dead or in prison, maybe they can start to feel safe again. Maybe you can eventually earn back their trust.”
“I take small comfort in the fact that both the admiral and Althea Remington will be in prison for the rest of their lives.” The general kept his focus on the stack of evidence. “But I don’t think that’s enough to earn trust back. I think people have lost too much.”
“You’re probably right about that.”
The general raised his gaze to meet Finn’s. “You won’t reconsider your position? We don’t have anyone like your team. You’re the only ones. Irreplaceable.”
Finn shook his head. “I’m sorry, sir. But we all feel that we’ve served our time. We gave everything we had to The Division. Now all we want is to be with our families and live in peace, like civilians—or how civilians are going to live now. We just want to start over.”
