Echoes of War

by Cheryl Campbell

  Moore’s face flushed with rage, but he held his tongue.

  “Ma’am,” Gavin said, returning his attention to Houston, “the CNA only defends against Warden attacks. You’ve been slowly losing for decades. It’s time to change tactics if we’re going to change the outcome of this war.”

  “What do you propose?”

  “We have ways of gathering intel. With your tech, we can help you do more than just defend. We can attack the Wardens for a change, do some real damage.”

  “You gather the intel, and the CNA does the fighting?”

  “No. The Brigands will be your recon and sabotage forces. We’ll fight together.”

  Houston tapped a finger on the table in front of her. “While I’m intrigued by the idea of hurting the Wardens’ cause, I need a better reason to loan out our tech to a civilian force that’s effectively holding us hostage.”

  “Dani,” Gavin said.

  Miles hated the smirk on her face as she strode around the table and dropped a palm-sized black box with several wires coming out of it in front of Houston. She pulled Miles’s old comm device from her pocket, and he tightened his jaw. She flipped it open and manipulated the touch pad. “Your engineers will need that to restore power back to the primary.” She nodded toward the black box on the table and entered more commands on the comm. “Your secondary power is back under your control, and comms are now up again.” She tossed the unit on the table and walked past Miles to stand behind and to his right.

  Miles glanced at her as she passed and tightened his fists, ready to throttle her for invading the barracks. Her smirk disappeared when her eyes fell on the new scar on his face, courtesy of Xander. He hadn’t seen her in over a week, and he wanted to talk to her about more than just this foolish intrusion.

  Houston picked up the comm unit and examined it. “You wiped the device. We have ways of retrieving the data to find out what you did to commandeer our equipment.”

  “Good luck,” Dani said.

  Gavin stepped forward. “Three Brigands took control of your barracks, and all we needed to do it was that little black box. Ready to take us seriously now?”

  As Gavin spoke, Jace left the MP he’d been standing beside and eased himself into one of the seats in the front row of the auditorium. He moved, as usual, without a sound. The squeak from his chair was the only noise when he sat. Dani watched to see if he touched his chest, and was relieved when he didn’t.

  Her eyes moved to Miles. From her angle, she couldn’t see his face, or the scar she’d spotted when she walked by him before. She’d known Xan had attacked him; no one had told her that he’d slashed his jawline open. She wanted to talk to Miles, ask him about the incident with Xan, but she’d have to wait. She still needed Houston to meet with the Bangor Brigands and not throw her, Jace, and Gavin in jail.

  “Three Brigands.” Houston stared at the box on the table. “What you’ve accomplished today is impressive; I’ll give you that. Though you’ve broken at least two dozen CNA laws as a result.”

  “We know,” Gavin said.

  “Yet you still came?”

  “We believe this partnership is more important than worrying about the risks we took to come.”

  “More important than our laws, you mean,” Houston said.

  Gavin shrugged.

  “Other than the three of you, how many people do you have on this Brigand force?”

  Gavin hesitated, and Houston leaned forward. She placed her arms on the table and laced her fingers together.

  Shit, Dani thought. Gavin flat lied about the Brigands agreeing to join together, and Houston just flushed out the truth. The woman was smart.

  “Ah, a bit of an exaggeration you made earlier,” Houston said.

  “This is ridiculous,” one of the other officers said.

  “Arrest them!” Moore growled, seeing his chance.

  Houston silenced them again with a flick of her hand. Dani admired this woman. One dismissive wave and the others fell silent. Sure, she outranked them all, but they—Moore excluded—clearly respected her for more than the shiny pins on her collar. The officer reminded her of Aunt Hattie.

  “We have a high concentration of Brigands in Bangor, and we have a strong community,” Gavin said. “Bangor has leadership and laws where other Brigands can’t even claim a community larger than a handful of people able to work together.”

  “Our council had agreed to meet with the CNA,” Jace said. “Then one of your MPs killed a Brigand. They didn’t much like that.”

  Houston turned her attention to Jace. “So you speak for your council?”

  “Nope,” Jace said. “We speak for ourselves. If you agree to meet with our people and we can reach a partnership, more Brigands will join.”

  “I see,” Houston said. “And what’s your role in this, sir?”

  “Locksmith,” Jace said with a grin.

  Dani’s eyebrows went up, and she stifled a laugh. Her brother was genuinely enjoying himself.

  “Captain Jackman,” Houston said.

  Dani suppressed her smile when Miles flinched to hear his name called.

  “Yes, ma’am?”

  “Your son was protected by a Brigand woman when three men attacked MP wives and their children, correct?” Houston asked.

  “Yes, ma’am.”

  “Is the Brigand woman in this room?”

  Miles’s voice failed, and he coughed. “Yes, ma’am.”

  “Speak up!” Houston said.

  “Yes, ma’am!”

  “So you know each other?”

  “We’ve crossed paths, yes, ma’am. She kept Oliver safe that night and sent word to me through an MP who was visiting a brothel in town. I met her the following morning when I picked up my son.”

  Dani shifted her feet. Miles was leaving out a lot of details about their former history, that visit, and their subsequent path-crossing. Houston was clearly good at sniffing out the truth; Dani hoped she wouldn’t press for more information here.

  “And you’ve seen her since then?” Houston asked, dashing Dani’s hopes.

  Miles nodded. “Yes, ma’am. My son likes to skip school to visit her.”

  “Is Oliver a good judge of character?” Houston asked.

  “He is.”

  Houston leaned back in her chair. “Has Oliver met these other two?”

  “Yes, ma’am.”

  “And?”

  “He thinks Gavin is the friendlier one of the two,” Miles said.

  “He’s right,” Jace said and laughed.

  Dani disliked this interrogation, but Miles withstood the barrage of questions without complaint.

  “How many other Brigands has Oliver met?”

  “Several,” Miles said.

  “And?”

  “Other than the one incident at the Standpipe, he’s made friends among them.”

  “Have you made friends too, Captain?”

  Dani stepped forward. “He has. Why does it matter?”

  Houston grinned at Dani and leaned across the table again.

  Fuck.

  “I wondered how long I’d have to press him before you interrupted. Now I know. Your poker face sucks as badly as his,” Houston said with a nod toward Miles. “Ready to end the bullshit?”

  “Yeah.” Dani’s temper flared, though the logical part of her brain knew it was her own fault she’d fallen into Houston’s trap.

  “What do you know about our tech that makes you think you can penetrate the Warden base in Portland?”

  “If you have it stored at these barracks, we know it exists and may have one of our own. We’ve been gathering intel on Portland for months and know when we need to attack. We can fine-tune how the attack will play out once we partner.”

  “When are you planning this event?”

  Dani shook her head. “Partnership first.”

  Houston turned to Gavin. “You’re former military, yes?”

  Gavin nodded.

  “Branch?”

 
; Dani pinched her lips into a thin line, willing him to stay quiet. If he told the truth, Houston would figure out he was an Echo.

  “Marines, ma’am,” he said.

  Goddammit, Gavin.

  “You know what Wardens do when they catch Echoes—what they will do to you—yes?” Houston asked.

  Houston had figured out he was non-human far more quickly than Dani had. Dani wondered if the woman exceeded smart and leaned into genius territory.

  “Yes, ma’am.”

  “Still worth the risk?”

  Gavin nodded.

  “Her life too?”

  Gavin’s jaw muscle flexed before he answered. “Dani knows what’s at stake.”

  “Does she?” Houston stood, and the other officers did the same. “I’ll meet with the Brigand council and hear what they say on the matter.”

  Moore trembled with rage, but he did not speak out against his superior officer. Dani grinned at the man’s discomfort and at Houston’s answer.

  Houston turned and addressed the other officers. “Thank you for the time you took today to review Captain Jackman’s case.” They accepted their dismissal, saluted, and left. “You’re excused as well, gentlemen,” she said to the guards. “Not you, Captain.”

  Dani waited next to Miles and Gavin while the room emptied. Jace pried his body from his chair and joined them as Houston walked around the table to face them.

  “If there’s any chance you want to join the CNA, I can find jobs for you,” Houston said.

  “Pass,” Gavin said. Dani and Jace nodded their agreement.

  “I figured as much.” Houston turned to Jace. “You’re too old and banged up to be taking on this kind of mission, so I’m guessing you came along for the ride today because they asked you to.”

  Jace smiled. “I just helped get them through the front door.”

  “Uh-huh.” She turned her attention to Miles. “Captain Jackman, you lied about Dani. You know her far better than you implied a few minutes ago, and I expect you to fill in the gaps for me later. Never lie to me again.”

  “Yes, ma’am,” Miles said.

  “Gavin, you’re the face of this movement, or whatever the hell it is, but”—Houston focused her eyes on Dani—“you are the force behind it.”

  Dani tensed.

  “Thank you for confirming my suspicions.” Houston smiled. “If the Brigand council rejects the partnership, I’m still open to using your help to attack the Wardens. I can’t tell you how tired I am of getting my ass handed to me or being forced to flee every time those fuckers show up looking for a fight. I’m still pissed I had to leave Portland to them. I want it back.”

  Dani nodded. “So do we.”

  “Good. Next question: where’s the best place to eat in town?”

  “Hattie’s,” Jace said. “Ask any MP based here for directions. They can get you there, no trouble.”

  “Excellent!” Houston picked up the comm unit from the table and took a moment to reprogram it. She tossed the unit to Dani and picked up the box from the table. “Contact me when the council is ready to meet. That comm will link directly to mine.” Houston headed for the door. “You showed yourselves in, you can show yourselves out.”

  Dani continued to stare at the door after it closed behind the woman. Her attention diverted away from it when Miles grabbed her arm and spun her around.

  “Christ, Dani, have you lost your mind? Houston is a fucking master at reading body language. She presides over most investigations because she can sniff out lies like no one else can, and you—my god, Dani, you interrupt the panel’s meeting just to show you can break into the barracks while she’s here?”

  “How was I supposed to know she’s a genius?”

  “I would have told you, but you didn’t bother to speak with me before you dropped in.”

  “You were confined to quarters!” Dani roared back at him.

  “You had the comm. All you had to do was use it to contact me—but no, instead you use it to fuck with the power.”

  “We got the meeting. That’s what we wanted, Miles.”

  “It’s what you wanted.”

  “Not just me. They did too—uh, where did they go?” Dani looked about the room; only she and Miles were left in it. She abandoned their argument and jogged to the door. She found Jace and Gavin waiting for her on the other side.

  “Took you long enough,” Jace said as Miles followed her out.

  Dani scowled at him. “Shut up.”

  “Miles, congratulations on the results of the investigation,” Gavin said.

  “Time to go,” Jace said, glancing down the hall both ways. A few MPs were hovering and watching them. “Think we’ve worn out our welcome.”

  Dani left with her brother and Gavin. She glanced back at Miles, who said nothing as they walked away. She had wanted to talk to him about his altercation with Xan. Instead, they’d shouted at each other and parted on bitter terms. That wasn’t at all what she’d wanted.

  CHAPTER

  31

  Oliver knelt on the floor by one of the tables at Aunt Hattie’s, occupying himself with finding Brody’s favorite places to be scratched. Three days earlier, the Bangor barracks had been turned upside down by a trio of Brigands, and Oliver wished he could’ve seen it. Instead, he’d been in school when the power went out for a few minutes before coming back on. At the time, it had seemed like a non-event, but his mouth had gaped open when his father had told him what really happened. Oliver was far more excited about the mini invasion than his father.

  A group of Commonwealth MPs, ground troops, and a few senior officers had visited the town that night and spent a lot of money on food and drink in the pubs. Oliver, of course, had been in bed when this happened. He hated missing out on big events. The CNA officers had started an all-day meeting with the Brigand council yesterday, and it had resumed again today. Oliver had insisted that his father bring him to town so he could hear the results for himself.

  “It’s all the political bullshit now, Ollie,” his father had told him. “This could go on for days.”

  “So?” he’d demanded. “We’re out for school break now. Let me go to town, or I’ll go anyway.”

  Oliver had gotten his wish, but he had to admit the waiting around was boring. Gavin, Jace, and Aunt Hattie were involved in the meeting, though they weren’t formally part of the council. His father was on duty and would join him later in the day. Dani sat at the table tinkering with an electronic something-or-other Aunt Hattie had asked her to fix before leaving for the meeting. At least it’s not a gun, he thought. He didn’t like guns.

  Dani’s food remained untouched, and her mood worsened the more she fought with the tiny wires. She released a burst of curses at the device, and Oliver decided to interrupt her small project.

  “Hey,” he said.

  Dani sighed and tossed her screwdriver on the table. She leaned back in her chair. “What?”

  “Let’s go to the river so Brody can have a swim.”

  She stood without argument. “Sure.”

  Oliver tried to have a conversation with Dani as they headed down the street, but she was distracted and only gave him one-word responses.

  At least the meeting hadn’t ended with the two sides storming out after the first few hours. Oliver saw that as progress. He had enough classmates, himself included, with a deceased parent as a result of the war. A few of his friends had been orphaned by the war and adopted by other military families. Children from barracks all ended up in the CNA ranks once they turned seventeen. Oliver didn’t want to be part of the ground, sea, or air troops. He didn’t want to fight and kill. He needed this war to end as much as everyone else did.

  They arrived at the river, and Brody wasted no time clambering down the slope to reach the water. Dani stood a few feet up the embankment, staring at the water, her arms crossed. Oliver followed Brody’s path and stopped at the waterline. He picked up a few small, flat rocks, and threw them across the water, counting the number of
skips they made. Brody swam after them until they disappeared, then paddled off in another direction until Oliver threw another rock.

  “Six!” he cried out, raising his arms. It was a new personal best record.

  “How do you do that?”

  Oliver hadn’t heard Dani come down to the sandy area where he stood. “Do what? Skip rocks?”

  “Yeah.”

  “You’ve never skipped rocks before?”

  Dani shook her head.

  Oliver held up one of his stones. “You need a nice flat one with rounded edges, like this. Sharp edges will make them catch and dive into the water instead of skimming the top.” He took her hand and placed her thumb and first two fingers around the stone the way he wanted them positioned. “Hold it like that and throw side-arm. Before you release it, give your wrist an extra flick. Got it?”

  Dani nodded. “I think so.”

  Oliver stepped aside. He’d never taught her something before; in fact, he’d grown to believe she knew everything.

  Dani threw the first stone, and it plunked into the water a few feet from shore.

  Oliver handed her another rock. “More side-arm. Watch me.” He made another throw—slower than he normally would, to show her the motion—and his stone skipped three times before sinking. “You’re not trying to hit the water with the rock; you want it to glide just above the surface so when it hits it’ll skim the top.”

  Dani nodded and made another toss. This time it skipped twice.

  “Great! Go again.” He gave her his last rock, then began searching for more stones along the water’s edge.

  Oliver rubbed his shoulder. “I think I need to stop. My arm is sore.”

  “Mine too.” Dani laughed. “That was fun.”

  Oliver had no idea what time it was; he’d lost track during all the fun. Dani had celebrated with him when he’d made another personal best—nine skips!—and when she’d clocked her own best, seven. Brody, tired from the swim, was sprawled in the sun on the bank, napping.