“He dead?” Keo asked when she was done.
“He’s in sickbay with Zoe now. Hart’s also there. He wants to talk to you.”
“You trust him?”
“He’s in over his head, but he’s willing to listen. What happened earlier with Erin was my idea; he was just going along with it.”
“No. I meant Riley. You trust him?”
“He hasn’t lied to me yet.”
“As far as you know.”
She nodded. “As far as I know. But he hasn’t done anything to make me believe he can’t be trusted. In fact, he’s probably a little too trusting for my liking.”
“The getting shot by his own people thing.”
“Uh huh.”
“That’s gotta sting.” Then, “Where is the Trident, anyway? I didn’t see it when we were pulling in.”
“It’s docked on the other side of the Ocean Star and out of view.”
“Smart.”
“We have our moments.”
They walked in silence for a moment, before Keo said, “Should I even ask if the Ranger made it back yet?”
She shook her head and sighed. “It’s complicated…”
“You wanna do what?” Hart asked.
“Kill Mercer,” Keo said.
“Why the hell would you want to do that?” Hart said. Lara couldn’t tell if he was against the idea or just confused by it.
“It’s personal,” Keo said.
Lara stood between the two men near the door, listening to them going back and forth inside the oil rig’s sickbay while watching Zoe check on Riley’s vitals across the room. Both Hart and Keo were talking in low voices—or, at least, they had started that way. If Zoe was bothered by the conversation as it grew in volume, she didn’t stop adjusting the IV drip connected to Riley’s arm to let it be known. Riley was heavily sedated and hadn’t woken since they brought him inside the room hours ago.
“Was that what you were doing out there when you got caught?” Hart asked. “Sneaking around, trying to find Mercer?”
“Something like that,” Keo said. “I didn’t know where he was or even what he looked like, so I had to take more chances than I would have liked.”
“How was getting captured going to help you?”
Keo shrugged. “It wasn’t my first choice, but it worked out. Erin was taking me to him for interrogation.”
“Where?”
“The Ranch.”
“You know about that?”
“It’s been a topic of multiple conversations I’ve had with your fellow Mercerians.”
“‘Mercerians,’” Hart grunted. Lara couldn’t tell if he liked the word or found it insulting. Maybe a little of both. “Why didn’t they just shoot you on the spot?”
“Only Erin can answer that,” Keo said. “She’s the only reason I’m still alive now.”
“Hunh,” Hart said.
“That mean something to you?”
Hart glanced over at her, and Lara could tell he was replaying their last conversation about Erin and Riley. “Maybe,” Hart said.
“Tell Keo what you told me,” Lara said.
Hart nodded and repeated what he had told her about Riley and Erin, how Riley had almost recruited her, but she left for Texas first. Keo listened silently, processing the new information without interrupting.
“The Ranch is an island called Black Tide,” Lara said when Hart was finished. “That’s where they were taking you.”
“So that’s where Mercer will be,” Keo said. “Which leaves the obvious question: How do I get there?”
“Reaching Black Tide isn’t the problem,” Hart said. “I can give you the coordinates, and you could get there by boat with enough fuel reserves.”
“What’s the security like?”
“That’s the good news…”
“Good, I like good news.”
“Right now, Black Tide is at its most vulnerable. You won’t find a better time to assault the place. With the war in full swing, there won’t be enough men left to watch every inch of the place, so you could easily sneak onto it at night.”
“So I could just swim ashore with no one the wiser?”
Hart shrugged. “Theoretically.”
“I’m a very good swimmer.”
“It’s true,” Lara said. “Keo is half dolphin.”
“So about that boat and a map…” Keo said.
“You have your pick of boats; we won’t be needing them anyway, thanks to the Trident,” Hart said. “You can fill it with as much gas and reserves as you need to reach the island. Getting back, well, that’s your problem, because we’re not going to be here when you come back. That’s assuming you make it out of there alive.”
“You let me worry about that.”
“Can I ask why?” Hart said, looking curiously at Keo.
“Why what?”
“Mercer. Why, and what do you hope to achieve by killing him?”
“Some assholes just need killing,” Keo said. “Your Mister Mercer is one such asshole.”
“Jordan,” Lara said.
Keo nodded and leaned against the railing at the top of the stairs, with the submarine door into the oil rig closed behind them.
“He killed her?” Lara asked.
“Not with his own hands, but he may as well have.”
“This war of his…”
“Yeah.”
“I’m sorry, Keo. I know you two were close.” She paused for a moment, searching for the right words. “I really liked her, even though we only met for a short time.”
“She was easy to like.”
“When did it happen?”
“After Sunport. We were on our way to T18.”
“And Gillian?”
“I don’t know. We—I never made it to her.”
Keo went quiet and they spent the next few minutes staring silently at the sunless horizon, at the black-and-blue of the ocean sloshing under the full moon. Even the wind seemed to have settled down, and she didn’t have to zip her jacket all the way up unlike the last time she was out here. She focused on the Trident, anchored nearby with just enough of its lights turned on to give its position away.
“What are you going to do after you kill Mercer?” she finally asked.
“I don’t know,” Keo said. “I haven’t thought that far ahead.”
I was afraid of that.
“We could use another able body on the Trident,” she said.
“You got Hart and the other guy.”
“Riley hasn’t told me where I’m supposed to take them. If we don’t like it there, it wouldn’t make sense to stay. This alliance of ours might be very short-lived.”
“Does Hart know the location?”
“I think so, but he won’t tell me without Riley’s permission.”
“Loyal to the end, huh?”
“Loyalty’s a hard thing to find these days.”
“And there’s the kind that convinces you dropping bombs on pregnant women is perfectly A-OK.”
“I didn’t say it was always a good thing.”
She glanced over at him. There was a single light bulb over the door behind her, and it cast a halo around them. She wished she were looking at the face of someone who expected to come back from his “mission” alive, but she knew better.
“I could really use you back on the Trident with me, Keo,” she said.
“My greatness precedes me,” he smiled, though it wasn’t nearly as convincing as his usual smiles.
“It’s well deserved.”
“I knew you secretly liked me.”
“Don’t be an ass.”
He chuckled. “Just sayin’.”
“Come with us.”
“You mean after I finish with Mercer.”
She shook her head and turned around to look at him. “No. I don’t mean that at all.”
“What do you mean?”
“Forget Mercer. Come back to the Trident with me instead.”
“I can’t.”<
br />
“Why not?”
“Because I can’t.”
“At least tell me you’re hoping to also stop this war by killing him.”
“I could, but it’d be a lie.” He looked off at the darkness around the oil rig and gritted his teeth. “There’s nothing noble about this, Lara. There isn’t a grand plan. There’s just me and him.”
“You just want to kill him, is that it?”
“Yes.”
“That’s it.”
“That’s it.”
“Jesus, Keo.”
“Yeah…”
She turned away and leaned back against the railing. “Danny’s probably dead,” she said quietly.
“What?” Keo said, looking over at her for the first time since they stepped outside. “I thought you said he was just having a problem getting back. That’s a hell of a long way from ‘probably dead,’ Lara.”
“Carly hasn’t stopped crying since he radioed in hours ago. She doesn’t think he’s going to make it.”
“Jesus. What did he say?”
“It wasn’t what he said; it’s what he didn’t say.”
“What about the girl and her boyfriend?”
“They’re with Danny. If he doesn’t make it, I don’t think they have much of a chance on their own.”
Keo let out a loud, frustrated sigh and laid his forehead against the chipped railing for a moment before lifting it back up, and Lara thought, Goddammit, girl, you are one manipulative bitch, aren’t you?
“You’re putting me in a tough spot,” he said.
“I’m asking you to live.”
“What makes you think I don’t want to live?”
“Cut the crap, Keo. Don’t insult me by lying.”
He shook his head. “I don’t know what you want me to say.”
“Say yes to coming back with me and forgetting about Mercer.”
“I can’t do that. Jordan’s dead because of him.”
“I’m sorry about Jordan, but there are other people still alive who care for you. Like Carrie. She’s been waiting for you.”
“You told her I was here?”
“Not yet.”
“Good. Keep it that way.”
“Why don’t you want her to know?”
“I won’t be staying long anyway. Plus, I’ve never been very good at good-byes.”
“What about Bonnie?”
“What about her?”
“She likes you, too.”
“I don’t blame her. I’m fucking handsome, and there’s not exactly a lot to choose from these days.”
Lara couldn’t help herself and laughed softly.
“What’s so funny?” he asked, feigning hurt.
“Nothing,” she said, and shook her head.
“Besides, you’re a tough kid.”
“I’m twenty-six going on forty-six.”
“Don’t be so hard on yourself. You don’t look a day over thirty-six.”
“I feel it. Every imaginary day of it.”
She sucked in a deep, cool breath and looked over at the Trident nearby. It wasn’t late enough that everyone would be asleep already, so most of the crew were probably gathered in the galley over a late-night dinner and maybe a board game. In her wildest dreams (nightmares?) she would never imagine so many people putting their lives in her hands. And why should they? She was a twenty-something civilian with no military training. What the hell did she know about leading people?
Nothing. Not a damn thing. That was always your job, Will.
“If Danny’s gone, we’re going to need you even more,” she finally said. “I can’t keep doing this by myself. It’s too much.”
“You seemed to be doing all right to me. Look, you’ve even adopted an oil rig.”
“Just the people on it…”
“You stuck your neck out for strangers.”
“They had something I needed…”
“Now who’s bullshitting who?”
The girl’s voice on the radio flashed across her mind again, begging for her help…
“Maybe you’re right,” she said. “Maybe I’m just trying to make up for some bad decisions. So what’s your excuse?”
“I’m just tired.”
“Tired of what?”
“Tired of fucking everything up that I touch. I’m tired of trying, Lara.”
“We’re all tired,” she said. “I’m tired. Carly’s tired. Danny, Gaby, Riley, Hart… We’re all tired, Keo. But we push on, because we don’t give up. You know who gives up?”
He didn’t say anything.
“Assholes,” she said.
He smiled. “Assholes, huh?”
“Don’t be an asshole, Keo. If you won’t stay with us, if you won’t come back to the Trident with me, at least promise me you’re not going out there just to get yourself killed. Tell me you’ll at least try to make it back, and mean it.”
“What if I can’t?”
“You can. You just have to make the choice.”
“Okay,” he said.
“Okay, what?”
“I’ll do my best. How’s that?”
She nodded. “Good enough.”
“Tough oil rig,” he said.
She reached over and put her hand over his. He pursed his lips and stared off at the darkness and didn’t say anything.
“I’m sorry about Jordan,” she said after a while.
“Yeah, me too,” he said softly.
21
Keo
A young blond twenty-something named James led Keo to the Ocean Star’s armory, which took them through the civilian area. Kids peeked out of open doors as they walked through the hallway, and Keo saw people packing up their belongings inside rooms.
“Looks like everyone’s ready to go,” Keo said.
“Never thought it’d happen,” James said. “When Riley asked us to join him, I was pretty sure we’d all end up dying out here.”
“That’s the spirit, kid.”
James grinned nervously at him. “You have no idea how crazy all of this is.”
“Oh, I think I know a little bit.”
“Maybe, but you weren’t there in the early days, back when it was just us and Mercer. He saved our lives. If it weren’t for him, we wouldn’t be here. And now we’re betraying him…” He shook his head. “I don’t expect you to understand.”
I don’t need to understand, kid. I just need a clean shot.
“So make me understand,” Keo said. “Why is everyone leaving if all of you owe Mercer so much?”
“Because of Texas. What’s happening over there.” James actually winced. “I want to have kids one day. Even after everything that’s happened, I want to be a dad and raise a family, and I can’t do that if I’m a part of what’s going on out there.”
Kinda late to be jumping ship, isn’t it, pal? he thought, but of course didn’t say it out loud. Whatever he thought of James or Hart or the rest of Riley’s people, Keo had to admit, it took some guts to go against Mercer.
“Looks like you guys are going to make it out of here just fine,” Keo said.
“I hope so,” James said, “because sooner or later someone’s going to figure out what’s really happening. No one wants what happened this afternoon to happen again.” James gave him a forced grin. “It’s kind of being a chicken shit, I know, just running away…”
“Hey, nothing wrong with running. Done plenty of it myself.”
“The thing is, it’s better than shooting it out with people we’ve been spending the last year of our lives with. A lot of them are still our friends. I get why they’re out there following Mercer. Most of them lost everything, and this is all they have.”
“What about you? What did you lose?” Keo asked as they turned a corner.
Apparently they had also left the civilian population behind, because the hallway was almost empty and the only sounds were their footsteps.
“Friends and family, like everyone else,” James said. “But I was one of the luc
ky few; I found someone in all this mess. She’s the one who introduced me to Riley, got us here. Faith.”
“Not a lot of that going around these days.”
“No, I mean, her name’s Faith.”
“Ah.” Then, “What changed her mind?”
“I guess it was me. I was one of the people Mercer sent out there to scout the state. That’s how we mapped out the towns for attacks. We knew where they were, got a good idea of their sizes, and even the best attacking options. Me and a lot of other people spent a lot of time out there hiding and reconning.”
“You saw the pregnant women.”
James nodded. “They were one of the first things we noticed. We snapped a lot of pictures, and they were in a lot of them. And that was it.”
“What was it?”
“Faith saw them. The pictures. Everyone did. But it didn’t really register until we got closer to R-Day. When the teams started leaving Black Tide Island one by one, it got real real fast. We couldn’t avoid it anymore.”
“So you joined Riley’s crew.”
“Basically.”
They turned another corner and walked in silence for a while. Keo was thinking the hallway was never going to end until it finally did.
“Here we are,” James said.
“Here?”
“What, you expected Fort Knox?”
“I guess not,” he said.
Keo exchanged a brief nod with the two guys in tactical vests cradling rifles and standing guard in front of a door. There was nothing to indicate there was an armory behind them. The guards stepped aside, and James stuck a key into a padlock and pulled the door open. Keo followed the young man inside.
The armory was a converted storage closet and wasn’t mind-blowingly impressive, but it had a decent selection and there was a lot of everything, more than enough to arm everyone on the rig (including the kids) five to six times over. He wasn’t too surprised by the surplus since guns were easy to find if you knew where to look, and Mercer struck him as the type who would know.
A light bulb flickered on above him while Keo looked over his choices. Racks along the walls held automatic rifles and shotguns and shelves housed handguns and ammo while spare gun belts hung from hooks.
“This everything?” Keo asked.
“What, you want more?” James said.
The Purge of Babylon Series Box Set, Vol. 3 | Books 7-9 Page 64
