by S. J Woods
“When was this?” Dane asked, his mind whirring to make sense of it all.
Teonie checked the date stamp and grimaced.
“About the time the infertility struck, and they closed the borders.”
“Do you think this is true?” Rose asked quietly. “Do you think they did all these things?”
“I can find out.” She touched the screens, pushing the articles to one side where they hovered ominously; their headlines looming in the darkened cabin.
The same line of nonsensical numbers and characters appeared again, but this time it took her longer and she cursed under her breath. Red warnings flashed across the screen and she flared with temper, banging a fist down in frustration more than once.
“Ok.” She said finally. “We’re in.”
She trawled through the highest level of confidential documents, reading realms of jargon with speed and stopping to point and summarise to them.
“There.” Rose stopped her, leaning out of her seat and reaching past Teonie to expand the screen. “In plain terms, they launched Project Terra, a population control to reduce the population, originally planning to replace 50% of the population with Artificial Intelligence. Some high-ranking officers disagreed with what they were doing and then there was a backlash amongst the people-at-the-top. They withdrew the programme, worried about civil unrest. The next phase of the plan is to fake a war with Latheia and wipe out several big cities. They’ve kept an elite military force and have sent them out to the wilderness as they’re worried about civilians escaping because of insider leaks.”
“There’s the list.” Teonie pointed at a highlighted link and clicked into it.
Hundreds of names rolled across the screen of the people that had been deemed a high-risk. The date stamp showed this was a working document, constantly being updated with the status.
“Look,” She zoomed in. “There we are. There are my parents. Still alive, I see.” Her voice softened. “There’s Gia.”
Dane flinched at the bold strikethrough on “Gia Vercelli”. The coldness of the government hitlist made his flesh goose-bump even in the temperature-controlled craft.
She tabbed backwards sharply, but not before Dane had seen the name “Cam Alexander” struck out.
“No.” Dane covered her hand with his, and she met his eyes with a tender gaze. “Keep going.”
She went back through the names, every now and then wincing when she recognised one highlighted as deceased. A name popped up on the screen and Dane spun automatically to see if the children had noticed, but they were occupied with watching the world beneath them whizz by through the small windows. “Tatiana Coles”
“That’s enough.” Rose nudged Teonie and she quickly closed down the list.
“That’s what the Tech-shield was for.” She said. “It’s what the rest of the world is using to keep us out. They’ve been trying to break through for years. Apatia is well on the way to culling half of us and then planning on bursting into the little countries until they’re close enough to make a grab for Mela or Latheia and their resources.”
“And what can we do?” Dane replied. “We can’t just let them.”
“I don’t know.” She covered her face with her hands, overwhelmed and on the brink of defeat. “We need to get the children safe first of all.”
Dane nodded his agreement.
The console beeped twice, and an automated voice announced their destination.
Teonie and Dane both automatically reached for their weapon holsters.
“Last hurdle.”
THIRTY
As they prepared themselves for landing three things happened.
Firstly, Rico, still reeling from the blow of seeing the names of his family highlighted on the once-trusted government’s hitlist, beckoned Teonie.
“Tee,” He called to her softly. “This might be our last chance to speak to them.”
She recoiled at his words as if taking in the probability for the first time.
“Oh.” She took a moment to compose herself. “Yes. We should let them know where we are.”
She summoned the capsule to a halt and it floated effortlessly, suspended in mid-air.
Dane moved across to the children, joining them at the viewing window, wishing he could give the Perez siblings privacy for this poignant moment. He gazed down at the Port, not taking in the flat grey buildings but looking instead to the ocean beyond it. He had seen the ocean many times in live feeds, still and moving pictures, but the coastlines and a minimum fifty-mile boundary had been off-limits to civilians ever since the borders had closed. This was the first time he had seen it with his own eyes. He was struck by how vast it was. It seemed endless; every kind of blue melting into deep greens and then greys, blending gently as it touched the sky in the distance. Like a painting, flawlessly beautiful, yet it was the raw wildness that made it breath-taking. The true magic of nature couldn’t be replicated.
Dane thought back to the artificial imitation of nature: the mountains, the rivers, the trees and he compared it to all he had seen with his own eyes, breathed in with his lungs. As a soldier, he had thought of himself as a powerful part of the most advanced country in the world. With their Artificial Intelligence and their technological superiority, there was almost a feeling that they, the Apatians, had evolved beyond the planet that they called home. Looking down at the great ocean rippling gently upon the land that it could reclaim whenever it chose to, Dane was struck by the smallness of them all.
The video call connected, and Dane kept his back respectfully turned as he heard the unfamiliar voices echo in the cabin.
“Hey!” A female voice, sounding relieved and happy, spoke first.
“Hey.” Teonie replied, and Dane could hear the smile in her voice. “We don’t have long, and I’m not on a secure line, I’m sorry.”
“That’s ok.” A man’s voice came next. “Where are you? Are you safe?”
“Over the Port.” Rico answered. “We’re ready for the last leg, but we’ll be back.”
“No!” The woman, who Dane assumed was their mother responded quickly, with an urgency in her tone. “It’s not safe and it’ll get a lot worse before it gets better. Just promise us you’ll stay there.”
Both sides of the call fell quiet for a moment.
“We won’t be able to contact you once we’re there.” Teonie said quietly. “Be careful. I’m sending you everything I’ve been able to get my hands on.”
“I mean it.” Her mother repeated. “Don’t come back. We’ll find a way to get hold of you.”
“Be safe.” Teonie ignored the instruction again. “We love you so much.”
“We love you.” Dane heard the crackle of emotion in their parents’ voices and he felt his heart sting with sadness.
Rico echoed the sentiment and Teonie disconnected the call. Dane turned back to them slowly, pretending not to notice the tears shining in both their eyes.
“Why don’t they come?” Dane asked, as Teonie set to work sending the hacked Government files over to her parents.
“They won’t.” She shrugged. “The resistance is growing stronger. They’d rather die fighting than turn their backs, knowing innocent people will be killed.”
“And you’re planning on coming back?” Dane raised an eyebrow at her.
She ignored him for a few moments as she finished sending the encrypted files over. She swiped all the screens, except one, closed with dramatic flourish before turning to him and considering his question.
“I don’t see how I can not return.” She said. “It’s not right that I’m safe and they’re not. Not if I can help.”
“You’ve done enough.” Rico reminded her. “You’ve taken the Tech-Shield and you’ve supplied the resistance with all that intelligence. Once the Central Network is down, there’s not much else you can do.”
“Yes, there is!” She exclaimed in frustration. “I might just be a Tech agent, but I can fight almost as well as their best soldiers.”
“Enough.” Dane placed a calming hand on her arm. “There’s plenty of time to talk about this. The important thing is getting the next part of the plan right.”
Teonie reset the aircraft to land and they gathered close together as she explained what they needed to do once on the ground.
“We don’t have any time once we’re on the ground. It’s the second warehouse. We take the craft and we move.”
Then the second thing happened. Dane felt a gentle elbow to his ribs and he looked up to see Rose frowning at him. She nodded her head towards Alyssa, who was sat quietly away from the rest of them. She hadn’t said much, only answering any direct questions, since they had been freed on the mountain.
“Is she going to be ok?” Rose asked her brother quietly. “I think she might be in shock.”
Teonie looked over at Alyssa. She’d been too caught up in everything that had happened to even notice Alyssa’s detached behaviour, but she eyed her now with concern.
“Alyssa!” She called loudly. “Are you going to be ok with what I’ve just said?”
Alyssa looked up and regarded Teonie passively before nodding.
Dane felt his heart sink. There was a good chance, as Teonie had outlined, that they would be met with resistance at the Port. There was no hiding the descending hijacked craft swooping in to land between the buildings. He and Teonie, Rico and Rose would need to be ready to fight. They were counting on Alyssa to keep the children safe.
“Rico,” Teonie turned away from Alyssa. “I think you should take the children.”
She gave Rose an apologetic smile, but Rose nodded in agreement with her.
“It’s all a lot for her to take in.” Rose shrugged, but Dane could see the annoyance in her eyes at her mother retreating back into her shell when they needed every hand on deck.
The third flaw became evident as the craft was close to landing. The Port was just a collection of buildings set back on a low ledge of the cliff that dropped to the sea. The precipice rose up like a guardian giant around the squat buildings, so it looked like the Port had been built upon a shelf cut into a mountain, not even twenty feet above sea level. The height of the cliff meant that, once touched down, the mountains and the forests beyond would be obscured from them and approaching aircraft couldn’t be seen. They almost missed it as they sank into the dip towards the buildings, but the children saw it, as they looked back at the National Park behind them, and they cried out.
“Look! Look!”
They rushed to the viewing portal in time to see a formation of discs swooping through the air and the ground below each one burst into flames.
“They’re torching it!” Teonie gasped in shock. “Quick, they’ll be here in minutes.”
With no time to waste, she pushed them into the transparent capsule, not waiting for the disc to land, and they floated to the ground. They were contained in the bubble between two large identical grey buildings, and Teonie had the door open before they even had time to take in their location. Dane could feel the urgency, tangible in the air, and they bundled out of the vehicle, feeling the strong, salt wind cold and powerful, whipping their dazed senses into alertness.
“This way!” She called.
They were huddled together, flowing as one like fluid. Dane felt Teonie at his side. Rose and Rico were at the back, tucking the children in front of them. The entrance to the building was an old-fashioned door, like the ones back at the mountain base, attached to the building by metal hinges. Teonie pulled at the handle and it swung open towards them. She stepped in and Dane followed her, his trained eyes sweeping the dark building for any danger. It was so dark they could only see a few metres ahead of them and the width of the building made Dane nervous as they clung closely to the wall.
There was a crack from somewhere ahead of them and the building filled with thick smoke. The children screamed in terror, but their cries were drowned out by the crashing that followed the impact.
“They’re on top of us!” Teonie realised with horror as a bolt of fire lit up their surroundings.
In the flash of light, they made out crude rafts and life jackets, suspended from metal racks. A sturdy craft, ten times smaller than the disc they had flown in, was parked in front of the large doors. It was oval-shaped, with a circular door cut into the side, set on wheels.
Teonie saw it as through a gap in the smoke billowing towards them.
“There!” She cried. “Quick!”
They raced towards the vehicle, and Dane bundled the children inside as Rico rolled up a large shutter in the wall of the warehouse, flooding the building with daylight.
They could see the discs dancing over the sea in front of them as they pelted the Port with fire.
“Tee,” Rico called as he jumped in, pulling the door shut. “We need to move!”
“I’m trying!” She yelled back, not looking up from where she was pounding at the controls.
The inside of the craft was small. A bench ran on the opposite side to the door and the only light came from the windows that curved along the front, above the control station. Dane couldn’t stand comfortably, stooping to avoid banging his head on the low ceiling. Next to the door, hung a line of inflatable life-jackets and a deflated brown raft was strapped to the wall beneath it.
Through the narrow window, Dane saw a disc darting towards them. He crouched beside Teonie, helplessly watching as the craft headed straight for them.
“They’re coming!” He heard himself shout and just as he was preparing to run to the door and rip the children out of the sitting target, there was a blast from the land to the side of them and the aircraft pulled upwards sharply and disappeared above the building. Several more shots rang out, deafening and terrifying. Dane clutched the children to him, preparing for the direct hit when suddenly the vehicle burst into life.
It was a heavy mechanical noise, unlike the quiet, sophisticated hum of the aircrafts they had flown in, and it drowned out the crashing around them as the little metal ship launched forwards on its wheels, sending dust flying around it. Dane looked through the viewing screen to the side of them. The aircrafts were still surrounding the Port, yet they were no longer focussed on attacking the buildings and the land around them, instead they seemed to be darting away from counter-shots from soldiers lined up along the sea-ramps.
They’re fighting back! Dane thought in shock as he made out the Apatian uniform of a huddle of soldiers on the lip of the Port. One soldier turned to him and Dane recoiled in recognition, but before he could process what he had seen, the boat crashed over the edge and into the water.
THIRTY-ONE
The foamy green surface broke, swallowing the container as they plunged nose-down into the ocean and the cabin fell into a bleak, grey darkness. Dane waited for the craft to emerge and the attack to begin, but they dove deeper into the water before levelling out some metres beneath the surface. They were quite safe while submerged, but at some point, the craft would be forced to rise again. All they could do was pray that the aircraft didn’t tail them.
“Everybody ok?” Rico asked, breaking the hypnotic silence that had fallen as they all stared fixedly through the viewing pane at the ocean washing over them.
There were murmurs of affirmation up and down the bench.
“Did you see what happened?” Rico continued. “The soldiers were shooting at the aircraft.”
Teonie turned to look at him, and through the dim light, Dane could make out her surprise.
“Are you sure?” She asked. “I was focussed on getting us into the ocean. I know they had a security presence guarding the Port, but they’re meant to be civilians.”
“It was definitely AMS.” Dane backed up Rico’s claim. “I saw them. They weren’t Special Forces though. I…” He trailed off uncertainly before continuing. “I thought I saw Joaquin.”
He recalled the image and played the scene over in his mind’s eye. It had been fleeting, but he knew what he had seen. Along the narrow, dusty strip of land
between the line of buildings and the ocean-ramps, he had recognised the AMS colours of the open-back vehicles that carried the anti-aircraft weaponry. There were three, parked at intervals in front of the buildings and there were several soldiers operating each one. The nearest soldier had turned to look at the ocean-craft as it came ripping through the open door and there was a familiarity to the way the soldier moved that resonated with Dane, causing him to double-take. The cropped dark hair and the thick muscular build could have been anyone, but in that instant Dane knew it was his friend, and then he had turned fully, meeting Dane’s eyes for less than a split-second before the vehicle was over the edge and they were gone.
“Shooting at us?” Teonie looked horrified.
“No. They were shooting at the aircraft.” Dane was adamant that that’s what they’d been doing, although it made no sense. “They could have captured us when we landed. It’s like they let us go.”
Teonie and Dane both fell quiet, lost in their own thoughts. Everything that they had been so sure of had been shaken to the core over the past few weeks. As soldiers, what they had believed had made up part of who they were and now, all the certainty had been ripped away. Dazed and disorientated, Dane sank on to the bench, lowering his head into his hands.
“It must all be coming out now.” Teonie perched gently on the crowded seat next to him, resting a hand on his hunched shoulder. “The Resistance that my parents are working with have been releasing the truth bit-by-bit. There are good people out there. If Joaquin and the squad were on an order to take over from the security firm manning the Port, then they must have known they were being sentenced to death. The whole mountain was blazing when we landed. No doubt they were going to kill soldiers too as part of their web of lies. Blame it on Latheia, no doubt.”
Dane tried to push the image of Joaquin from his mind. He felt useless, helpless. Joaquin had saved them, whether they had known they were there or had been acting in self-defence. Joaquin who always had Dane’s back. He was probably dead already. The grim thought echoed in Dane’s mind. Blown to pieces or burned alive. Trapped between the buildings by the country that he had pledged to lay down his life for. Tears of fury and heartache burned at the back of Dane’s eyes. He needed to go back. He knew that suddenly. He would deliver the children to safety and he would do everything in his power to avenge his best friend, his father, his sister and all the innocent people that had been taken.