by Eliza Green
His eyes widened. ‘How?’
But his body still held tension.
‘Jacob built a device to give me back what I lost.’
Anya’s heart thundered in her chest. She had expected more excitement from him at this turn of events.
‘What device?’ said Kaylie, more alert.
Anya pinned Dom with her gaze, hoping she wouldn’t have to explain it to Kaylie.
To her relief, Dom said, ‘Kaylie, let’s do this later.’
‘But Max needs it done now.’
Dom’s eyes never left Anya. ‘He’ll make an exception for this.’
Kaylie huffed, while Anya tried not to make a big deal out of it.
When she was gone, Dom said, ‘How much do you remember?’
‘All of it,’ she whispered.
Dom uncrossed his arms; she caught the hesitation, the lack of surety in his stance.
His hands flexed by his sides, as though this moment confused him. She made it easy for him. In two strides her toes met his. She reached up and grabbed his face, pulling it down to hers, and kissed him.
He jerked beneath her touch, as though it had released a lifetime of pain. His hands gripped her head, pulling her closer, kissing her harder, deeper. A groan escaped from his lips and his hands got even busier. She tried to rein in her own joy but it overflowed from her like a bubbling pot of water. Her fingers worked through his curls, long at the top. A flashback of her time with Alex reminded her of her confusion, her expectation that a different man should be in her arms. It was Dom. It always had been. Somehow, she never forgot.
Dom pulled back. His soft gaze examined every inch of her face. ‘Anya, I don’t know what to say.’
She felt the same way.
‘I had given up on you.’
She pulled back in surprise. ‘When?’
‘Last night. I was done with it all.’
She loosened her grip on him. A pain radiated from her chest to her limbs, making everything weak.
She gripped the wall for support. ‘Okay, I understand.’
But he surprised her by grabbing her hand and pulling her close. ‘Do you think I’m letting you go again? I was miserable without you.’
Her heart blossomed with the love she felt for this man. ‘Me too, even though I didn’t remember it. But my subconscious never forgot.’
She wanted to ask something, afraid of the answer. ‘My newborn, Canya.’
Dom nodded slowly.
‘Did anything happen between you two?’
When his hand loosened on hers, she had her answer. ‘Yes and no. I thought she was you for a while. I was in so much pain that I didn’t see what she was. But whatever happened, it didn’t mean anything.’
Anya buried the jealousy for her newborn, who had not only experienced Anya’s time with Dom, but created new memories too. While Anya and Dom hadn’t had sex, their time spent together had been a private, intimate experience.
When Dom looked worried, she smiled and said, ‘That was then. Let’s start a new chapter.’
He smiled and nodded. ‘Agreed. Come on.’
He pulled her from the supply room.
‘Where are we going?’
‘I assume you haven’t told Max yet, so unless Jacob has, I think he’d like to hear it.’
Anya agreed. ‘There’s someone else who needs to know first.’
Dom frowned. ‘Who?’
She led him to the medical bay where a bored looking June lay fully clothed on one of the beds. Her stomach pains had gone away for now, but she was under strict monitoring. June’s eyes widened when she saw her approach.
‘Come on,’ said Anya, pulling her up from the bed.
‘Where are we going?’
‘You’ll see.’
June frowned at Dom, who just shrugged innocently. Anya loved him for not ruining the surprise.
She led June to the workshop, where Jacob was checking the connections in the cap and Thomas and Jason were reading something on the monitor.
Jacob looked up, clearly relieved. ‘There you are, Anya. We were worried about you when you just ran—’
He smiled when he saw June and Dom.
Anya led a confused June into the room and sat her in the chair, still set up from her session. ‘I need you to work your magic on June. She doesn’t remember either.’
Jacob picked up the cap. ‘Gladly.’
June peered up at Anya. ‘Your memories?’
Anya nodded. ‘And soon to be your memories.’
An eager June rested her hands on her lap. ‘Then hit me with what you’ve got.’
She closed her eyes when Jacob slid the cap over her head. Thomas hit her with the lowest pain setting. The jolt had barely hurt Anya, but it doubled June over. She clutched at her belly.
‘Ow.’ She straightened up in the chair. To Jacob, she said, ‘I don’t think Junior likes the pain.’
The Inventor pulled the cap off her head. ‘We’ll have to wait until Junior’s gone.’
Anya touched June’s shoulder, feeling bad for getting her hopes up. ‘I’m sorry.’
June stood.
With a smile, she said, ‘Don’t be. Knowing I can get them back gives me something to look forward to.’
Dom grabbed Anya’s hand, surprising her. ‘Max, now.’
Anya nodded and turned from the others, who were visibly excited by her newfound status.
She walked hand in hand with Dom, something that felt so right and natural. They entered Max’s office without knocking to find him in deep discussion with Julius, Imogen and Vanessa.
They looked up, obviously surprised to see them.
‘She has her memories back,’ blurted out Dom. Anya glared at him, but he shrugged. ‘Sorry. I’m too excited.’
So was she.
Vanessa grabbed her hands. ‘Thank God. What do you remember, Anya?’
‘All of it.’
A relieved Vanessa led her over to a chair. Anya sat in it while Vanessa sat in the one beside her. Her eyes went to Julius and Imogen, both of whom she didn’t know.
Max must have sensed her concern, because he said, ‘I trust both of them.’
She nodded and concentrated on Vanessa. Dom hovered in the background and chewed on his thumb.
Vanessa grabbed her hands. ‘Your memories might have unlocked latent ones from before Arcis. Think back to any conversations your parents might have had.’
Anya closed her eyes and pictured her home life. Her parents were talking with someone called... what was her name? Janet.
She opened her eyes. ‘Does someone called Janet mean anything to you?’
Vanessa became animated. Her eyes slid to a shocked Max. ‘Yes, she was one of the original rebel recruiters. She was taken by the Collective.’ She concentrated on Anya once more. ‘Think about that conversation.’
Dom lingered behind Imogen and Julius. The latter appeared to be most interested in what she had to say next. When she looked over at Dom, he winked at her. But the presence of the other two bothered her. She closed her eyes and concentrated on the conversation instead. Her mother, Grace, had been talking to Janet about her upcoming attempt to cross over. She replayed their secret chat in her mind.
Her mother said, ‘Please be careful out there, Janet.’ She handed her a diary. ‘If the machines get their hands on this, all of it will be for nothing. We found it in one of the camps, hidden by a rebel who we think crossed over. It contains the presumed coordinates to the Beyond. You’ll need it if you are to cross, but don’t take it with you.’
Anya opened her eyes and relayed the conversation back to everyone.
Vanessa stood up and joined a stern looking Max. ‘We find Janet, we find the diary.’
Max shook his head, deflating Anya’s hope. ‘Janet was captured by the Collective.’
Vanessa glanced at the others. ‘I don’t remember her being in the city.’
‘Doesn’t mean she wasn’t there,’ said Anya. ‘You and I didn’t meet
until the end.’
‘If she had the diary on her and got caught, chances are the Collective has it now,’ said Vanessa.
Anya wasn’t so sure. ‘If they did, why would they put us through the hell of Arcis? If their ultimate goal was to escape to the Beyond, why delay their exit by keeping us prisoner to learn more about humanity?’
Dom stepped forward. ‘They asked me about the Beyond while I was their prisoner. I don’t think they know where it is.’
A frowning Max stared at the floor. ‘So, maybe she ditched it somewhere before her capture.’
‘Maybe,’ said Vanessa. ‘Or it could be hidden inside the city.’
Max seemed to ponder this. ‘Rumours are an underground city existed before the machines built over it to create Praesidium.’
Vanessa nodded, apparently in agreement. ‘There are dozens of underground tunnels beneath that city that appear to lead nowhere. The Copies hate the dark, so it always struck me as odd that the Collective would have built them.’
Dom said, ‘It’s possible Janet would have figured that out and hid the diary in one of the tunnels, so the Copies wouldn’t find it.’
Max dragged a hand down his face. ‘Assuming the coordinates are even there, now we need to locate a map of the tunnels where those coordinates might be hidden? Great.’
A thought struck Anya. Her gaze flitted around the room. ‘Carissa may still have access to the schematics of the tunnels. She helped us to escape.’
Max slid his gaze to Vanessa, looking more confident. ‘We should ask her. We’ll need to go there anyway to rescue the others. I’m not leaving this region until I know the Collective is decommissioned, or whatever ends its tyrannical life.’
Vanessa smiled at Anya. ‘You did good, Miss Macklin. Your parents would have been proud.’
A soldier burst into the room, breaking apart their short-lived joy. ‘Colonel Roberts, you’re needed outside. We have a problem.’
33
Dom
Dom followed the soldier outside to see what was causing the trouble. Close behind him were Anya, Max, Vanessa, Julius and Imogen. He looked up to see a dozen orbs zipping over the top of the compound. That meant only one thing: the Collective must have found the bullhorn and changed the command frequency code controlling their orbs.
Max pushed past him as one of the flying spheres nosedived for a better look. Max swatted it away when it looked like it was on a collision course.
‘Get Jacob, now!’ he snapped at Julius, who was already racing towards the alley and the workshop.
His second in command didn’t get far before Jacob came running out of the alley, followed by Jason and Thomas.
Max strode forward to meet him. ‘What happened, Jacob?’
‘The recording, it’s no longer playing the command. Something may have broken it.’
One of the machines, perhaps? Dom had watched Jason and Thomas bury the device well enough for the orbs not to see it. Something must have known it was there. His thoughts turned to Jacob’s reprogrammed orb, which was supposed to listen only to his commands. Maybe it had reset itself and returned to the city to warn the Collective.
Max turned to Thomas, pointing up. ‘Can we recalibrate the anti-magnetic field to reach higher?’
Thomas shook his head. ‘We’d need time to shift the position of each generator so the field projects a sharper upwards arc. It would cover the space higher up in the valley, but would leave a large portion of the valley bed unprotected.’
Max cursed. ‘We don’t have time for that. We have to pack up and leave. Now.’ He turned to Dom. ‘Assemble the soldiers and arm them. Everyone gets a gun, even those without full training.’
Anya touched his arm, surprising him. In the commotion, he’d almost forgotten she was there. But she wasn’t looking at him.
‘I’ve been teaching Warren, Alex and Jerome how to shoot,’ she said to Max.
When had she done that?
Max nodded. ‘That leaves Carissa and the Guardian.’ He slid his gaze to Jacob. ‘You know how to shoot?’ Jacob nodded. ‘Any news on your reprogrammed orb?’
‘Still out there. We can track it better when we get past the anti-magnetic field.’
‘Do you think it had something to do with this attack?’
Max ducked suddenly when one of the buzzing orbs zipped closer to his head.
Dom protected his and Anya’s heads as it weaved in and around their group.
‘No,’ said Jacob. ‘I programmed it to lead the machines away, not towards us.’
Max seemed happy with that explanation, but Dom was not. They knew nothing about the true nature of the orbs. How little had the Collective allowed Jacob to see and understand as a prisoner in the city?
‘Okay,’ said Max, pointing to the mountain shelf above the camp. ‘I want soldiers up top as soon as we turn off the anti-magnetic field. We leave in half an hour.’
‘What about the orbs?’ said Dom, as another dashed around the space above.
Max shook his head. ‘Let them look all they want. We’re not coming back here and I’m not wasting my time or ammo attacking them. If something worse is coming, these things were sent to distract us.’
Dom grabbed Anya’s hand and together they raced to the storage supply room to sort through the guns. The greyish, metal ones, sleek and smooth, shot electricity, similar to the Electro Guns. Others, more crude constructions, shot homemade projectiles like tiny, metal balls. Anya took four of the spare, and rarely used, revolvers to arm her lesser trained group. He needed the electricity shooting weapons in the hands of the more experienced soldiers.
With two handfuls of guns, she said, ‘I’ll take responsibility for the newbies. Don’t worry; we’ll fire only if we have to.’
‘I’m not happy about Warren being in your group.’
She shook her head. ‘Don’t worry about him. He won’t cause any trouble.’
Dom nodded, grateful that she understood combat better than some of the soldiers he’d trained with. He gathered up as many weapons as he could. New soldiers came to collect more. He handed them out until everyone had a weapon and the store was empty.
He returned to the town hall amid a dozen orbs invading everyone’s personal space. Max was right. It didn’t matter what they saw now. Not if they were all leaving the camp.
Max, Charlie, Jacob and Vanessa had gathered at the entrance to the camp along with Julius, Imogen and Kaylie, plus their teams. Carissa stayed close to the beast while the ex-Guardian whined and clawed at the rock-hard ground with its long, spindly nails. Dom shuddered as he recalled the Guardians that had supervised them on the ground floor of Arcis. Their menacing presence had put everyone on edge, but it was who they answered to, an unseen presence, that had put Dom on the highest alert. Rover appeared to be more docile than the ones he remembered. Not only that, but Rover had helped them to escape the city.
Dom assembled his troops, including June, who looked ready to fight, despite her condition. He saw her wince and knead a fist to the small of her back. But when she caught Dom looking, she straightened up and shook her head at him, as if to indicate she was fine. He needed her experience. Even Warren’s. Nobody could be idle.
‘Can you command them, Carissa?’ said Max, pointing up at the orbs.
She whistled but the orbs didn’t respond.
Jason came running up with a hand-sized screen, showing the activity of both the recording and the bullhorn buried in the dirt. ‘It’s still running.’
He showed the screen to Max.
Max’s mouth pressed into a thin line. ‘That means the Collective knows about the device and these orbs are running on a different command frequency.’ Just as Dom had suspected. ‘Who knows what’s waiting for us out there?’
The rest of the camp gathered by the entrance. Charlie clutched what looked to be a remote controller for the anti-magnetic field. Dom frowned at it.
‘It’s a mobile version,’ Charlie said.
Dom glanced up
at the orbs. They were longer flying erratically, but were doing systematic sweeps of the space below them. His team, which included Imogen and Sheila, lined up behind him, and readied for combat. Next to them was a hard-faced Kaylie and her team. Next to her stood Julius and his team, which included the two medics from camp. Anya was behind the main groups with Jerome, Warren and Alex, who, Dom noticed, all held their guns correctly. Her training had paid off. Behind them were spare soldiers sitting in the trucks. Dom expected they would struggle with the rough valley terrain. No matter, they had to take the risk.
Max spoke. ‘Listen up, everyone. The second Charlie turns off the anti-magnetic field in the valley, we need to move fast. We’ve got limited cover from above.’ He pointed up to the shelf above the camp where more soldiers with guns waited. ‘But the orbs might be communicating in real time back to the city. We don’t know what’s out there. One thing’s for certain: we stay, they trap us.’
The mechanical beast growled up at the orbs that continued their systematic catalogue of the camp.
‘Once we go, don’t stop.’
Dom looked up at the mountain pass they’d used to reach the camp. The service elevator was located in a section of the mountain rock, a short distance from the entrance to the camp. He didn’t understand why they were escaping through the valley terrain. The trucks and soldiers could be up and out with a few runs.
‘Why aren’t we using the mountain pass?’ he asked Max.
‘Because it’s one way in and out that doesn’t provide us with cover. Chances are the orbs have found our special way in. We can’t take any chances.’
Two soldiers opened the gates. Dom heard the hum of the field and felt a strong kick back that stopped him from moving forward. Charlie fiddled with the anti-magnetic controller, sucking away the repelling force.
The valley ahead was riddled with rocks, making the trucks their last resort rather than their first line of defence. Dom led the way with Kaylie. She gave him a sharp nod as the soldiers followed their respective team leaders. Max dropped back with Vanessa while Charlie, Jacob and Carissa climbed aboard the beast. Julius and his team travelled behind the beast, while Sheila joined Anya and her newbies at the back. It pleased Dom to know Anya had help.