Ruins of Fate

by Jamie A. Waters

  Depending on how long trading had been shut down, their inventory may be sparse. They’d still have some in reserve, and Skye knew where the excess was probably stored. But it wouldn’t be as large of a haul as if they’d just picked up a new shipment from the towers.

  “Got it,” Leo whispered, reattaching the cover. “I just sent Chance the frequency codes to mask his signal on approach. You ready to move in to disable the surveillance?”

  She nodded. “See if you can find something to use for the door.”

  Keeping her footsteps silent, she moved toward the main entrance. Once upon a time, access had been as simple as putting her hand on the console serving as an electronic door lock. Unfortunately, brute force was the only way to gain entry now. Leo handed her the tool, and she pried off the cover. They couldn’t override the electronic lock this way, but she could disable the alarms while they manually pried it open.

  She put the cover on the floor and held up a light to study the wiring. Not everyone who worked in the trading camp knew all the security features, and she wasn’t an exception. But her relationship with Tyler had given her some additional insights. He’d trusted her, and she’d walked in on a few conversations he’d had with other crew members. Over time, she’d managed to piece together a better idea of how everything worked.

  The wiring was all color coded, but there were enough decoys to make it nearly impossible for anyone to circumvent it. Pulling out her multi-purpose tool, Skye located what appeared to be two ground wires. Only one of them was used for that function, but the other was the line for the alarm system. She quickly cut both of them. Severing the real ground wire wouldn’t alert anyone unless they happened to be running a diagnostic on the system at that moment, and they could repair the safety wire easily enough.

  “We’re good,” she said, motioning for Leo to help her with the door.

  He bent down and shoved the edge of a piece of metal into the door. Using it as a lever, he forced open the door a fraction. She shoved her fingers into the crevice and he did the same. Using their combined strength, they pulled the door open enough to slip inside.

  The moment they entered, the springs on the door sealed it shut behind them. Skye took a steadying breath and crept along the wall. Silence was their only friend now.

  The control room was located on the far side of the camp. They could either head through the main common area or directly through the crew’s quarters. Even though people would be sleeping in the crew’s quarters, the common area was riskier.

  She passed by what once had been Tyler’s office. The door was closed, which wasn’t surprising since the trader currently assigned to this post was probably back at the towers. She started to move farther down the hallway, but approaching footsteps made her halt.

  “Yeah, but I thought I heard something,” someone said from an adjacent room.

  Leo pushed open the door to Tyler’s office, and she darted inside with him. He closed the door quietly behind them and leaned against the wall to wait. She glanced over at him in the dim lighting. That was a little too close. He pressed his ear against the door, but she tapped his arm and shook her head.

  Motioning for him to follow, she crossed the room and pressed a small button hidden on the far wall. A panel slid open, leading directly to the trader’s private quarters. She closed the door behind him and let out the breath she’d been holding.

  “We can talk in here,” she said, pulling out a light to see how much had changed. The few personal possessions Tyler had kept in here were long gone. They’d gone through at least two other traders since then. She didn’t know this new one, but they never lasted longer than five years. OmniLab didn’t keep them in the field longer than that.

  “This room isn’t monitored?”

  She shook her head. “No. It’s also soundproofed. The privacy screens in the office weren’t activated, so anyone walking by could have heard us. The power draw is too high to keep them engaged when they’re not needed. But the noise-insulating effect in here is built into the walls.”

  Leo frowned and gazed around the room. “This is the trader’s quarters, isn’t it? Won’t they look for us in here?”

  Skye shook her head, trailing her fingertips over one of the shelves of the wall unit. Several artifacts were on display, most likely prized possessions belonging to the trader. “No. Except for the crew, no one knows about the secondary entrance through the office. The main one is through the hallway, but it’s usually kept locked.” She opened the locker to look inside at the neatly folded clothing. “It’s unlikely the new trader changed that, especially with his personal items here. We’re safe enough at the moment.”

  She paused at the bed and then forced herself to look away. There were too many memories here. She’d once been happy in this place, before it had robbed her of so much.

  “Hey,” Leo began, moving to stand next to her. He turned her around to look at him and tilted up her chin. “He was an idiot for letting you go. I’m not going to do the same.”

  She managed a smile and kissed him lightly. “If I’d met you first, I never would have looked twice at him.”

  He searched her expression. “It’s hard being here, isn’t it?”

  “Yes, but not for the reasons you’re probably thinking,” she admitted and looked around the room once more. “I want Veridian to have a future, Leo. It scares me to think he’s going to spend the rest of his life struggling while his father’s living in the safety of the towers.”

  “He has you, Skye. That’s more than he would have living there. You’re the best mother I’ve ever known, and Veridian’s lucky to have you.”

  Skye swallowed. “There’s something I want to ask you. I know I don’t have any right, but…” Her voice trailed off as she looked away.

  “You can ask me anything. What is it?”

  “Being here, in this place again… I know Veridian isn’t your responsibility, but he looks up to you, Leo. If something does happen to me or I don’t make it out, will you look out for him?”

  “Hey,” Leo said gently, lifting her chin again to look into her eyes. “Nothing’s going to happen to you. But you have my word. I’ll always protect him the same way I’d protect you. I love him too, Skye. I love both of you.”

  Her eyes welled with tears, and she threw her arms around his neck. Leo had always been a man of his word. If he made a promise, he held to it. She buried her face against his chest, love nearly overwhelming her.

  Leo wrapped his arms around her, pulling her close. “We’re going to make it out of here fine, baby. You’ll see.”

  She nodded. Running her hands down his chest, she said, “I know. Sometimes, I think you can do just about anything.”

  “With you by my side, absolutely. Come on. I’m sure they’re gone by now. We need to get in and back out before the sun comes up.”

  Taking a steadying breath, she pulled away from him and led him back into the trader’s office. They approached the door, and Leo listened against it. In a quiet voice, he said, “It’s clear.”

  She opened the door, and they slipped back out into the hallway. Staying close to the wall, she crept forward until she could see around the corner. It was clear.

  The crew’s quarters were located in one large room, divided up into small, private quarters. Electronic privacy dividers were set up, sectioning off each mini room. She still remembered the first time she’d seen such opulence and how much it had astounded her. In all honesty, it was one of the things she missed most about the trader camp.

  A small red light shone outside some of the private areas, indicating the residents were inside and didn’t want to be disturbed. Skye counted them quickly. As she expected, five people were currently sleeping, which meant no more than five would be awake. That was still more than she wanted to deal with, but their odds had just increased dramatically.

  She led Leo through the crew’s quarters to another hallway. The soft sound of voices could be heard farther down the hall, s
omewhere in the vicinity of the tech room or communication room. The easiest and fastest way to disable the surveillance would be from the tech room, but that wasn’t going to be an option. They’d definitely be spotted, and they needed to keep this operation as quiet as possible. Instead, Skye headed the opposite direction toward the maintenance room.

  Leo closed the door behind them, and Skye tapped her lips with her finger, indicating the need to be quiet. This room wasn’t soundproofed. Leo nodded and began investigating some of the equipment being stored in here while she activated the terminal in the corner of the room.

  Skye readily admitted she wasn’t the best tech. It had never interested her overly much. She’d always preferred the glamour and excitement of scavenging in long-abandoned ruins. But she knew more about this particular camp than Leo, so this next part would be up to her.

  Taking a deep breath, she pulled up the file mapping for the entire camp. Tyler’s old administrative password would have been changed years ago, but there had to be a way to access the surveillance system from the backend. They would still need to be able to access some of the systems in the event of an emergency or if the trader was off-site.

  Leo leaned over her shoulder to look at the screen while she scanned through the different folders. It was more disorganized than she expected. Things were mislabeled or filed incorrectly. It was a wonder how they managed to keep this camp profitable.

  Leo pointed to a folder on the screen and whispered close to her ear, “What’s that?”

  She frowned and opened up the file folder. Dozens of internal memos appeared on the screen, along with some rather strange headings. She opened one of the most recent memos and began reading. Her eyes widened at the information.

  The leader of the Omni Towers had died in some sort of accident, along with a dozen other members of something called the Inner Circle. Skye didn’t know much about their hierarchy in the towers, but her thoughts drifted back to the conversation she’d had with Tyler about a circle. This must be the same circle he’d spoken of with such fear. If these were important people, it made sense that all the traders and other Omni personnel had been recalled immediately to the towers.

  She flipped through to the next memo. It contained more details about the status of the trading camps. Trading was suspended until they restored order to their government and an investigation was concluded. Skye frowned, more determined than ever to confiscate the supplies they needed. OmniLab would ensure their employees wouldn’t starve, but the same couldn’t be said for any of the ruin rats. Based on the contents of this missive, she had no way to guess when trading might resume again.

  The voices grew closer, and she quickly closed the terminal. Leo grabbed her arm and they scooted deeper into the shadows. They ducked behind some crates just in time for the door to open.

  Light shone from the outside hallway, and she waited, hoping whoever had entered would keep moving. Someone hummed a wordless tune, and the sound of some crates being opened nearby caused her heart to skip a beat.

  “Did you find the spare circuit boards?” a woman asked from somewhere outside the room.

  “Nope,” came the answering reply from almost directly in front of them. “It looks like these are just the extra food stores. I’ll keep my eyes open, but the circuit boards might be in the comm room.”

  The woman cursed. “Shari’s going to be up soon. She wanted me to run a full diagnostic on the system before she got on shift. One of the circuit boards got fried somehow, and I need to install a new one before running it.”

  Skye tensed. If they ran a diagnostic check while they were still inside the camp, their presence would be detected.

  “Did you look in the tech room?”

  “That’s my next stop,” the woman replied with a sigh.

  “Let me finish this and I’ll come help you look.”

  “Thanks. We need to get all this shit organized before the boss gets back from the towers.”

  The man snorted, and Skye cringed as more crates were moved. It sounded like he was even closer now. “Put Cruncher on it when he wakes up. That's the perfect job for a new recruit.”

  “You're just a little bit evil,” the woman said with a laugh. “Come on and help me find them. It’s getting late, and Shari will be up soon.”

  The door closed, and the sound of footsteps grew dimmer. Skye let out a breath.

  “We need to hurry,” she whispered, standing and moving back toward the terminal.

  Leo nodded. “You keep looking for the surveillance. I’ll check the crates to see if there’s anything else we can use in here. The food supplies will be a huge help.”

  “The food crates should be labeled with a red ‘F’.” Skye said, turning the terminal back on. She quickly began scrolling through the folders searching for the surveillance access. After several more minutes, she located it and quickly disabled the exterior cameras along the same route she’d traveled with Leo. Before they left, she’d drawn a map for Chance so he could drive the transport right up to the front door.

  Her fingers flew over the keyboard as she tried to locate the settings controlling the crew’s quarters privacy dividers. It might be possible to trigger them to lock, which would buy them some additional time. They’d still need to avoid the people who were awake, but it would limit their potential for getting caught.

  “We good?” Leo whispered, taking a step toward her.

  Skye nodded, hoping no one woke up earlier than normal. Her efforts at locking them inside their quarters could easily be reversed, but it would take at least ten minutes.

  “We're ready to send the signal, but it sounds like the supplies are scattered throughout the camp.” She checked the time. “We're still okay, but we can't afford any more delays. We have to grab what we can and run.”

  “Can you find out where they store medical supplies?”

  “I’ll try,” she said, turning back to the terminal and opening more folders. She quickly scanned through pages of worthless notes. “Most are going to be stored in the medical room. That’s near the front of the camp, but the excess should be in the storeroom. OmniLab labels the crates with a blue ‘M’.”

  “What about equipment?”

  “Orange ‘T’ for tech,” she said, still searching through notes. “We won’t know the contents until we open each one.” She muttered a curse under her breath. “I can’t find a detailed list. It’s too disorganized. I think the food and medical supplies need to be a priority. We can always go low-tech until trading starts up again, but the other items are necessities.”

  “I'm sending the signal now,” Leo said, pulling out the commlink and entering a command. He slipped it back into his pocket and motioned toward the door. “Chance will be here in a few minutes. I need to get back to the entrance to show him where the supplies are located.”

  “Let’s go,” she said, following right behind him.

  Leo opened the door and looked outside before gesturing for her to follow him. They headed back down the hall toward the direction of the tech room. The door was closed, but she could hear at least three people inside talking.

  Leaning close to Leo, she whispered, “Go meet up with Chance. I’ll disable the comms and meet you in the medical room.”

  Leo nodded and quietly moved down the hall in the direction of the exit. With her heart pounding in her chest, Skye approached the communication room. The door was shut, but she didn’t hear anything. She gripped her knife tightly, hoping she wouldn’t need to use it.

  Skye opened the door and relaxed slightly. It was empty. One of the people they’d overheard earlier must have been assigned to man the communication system. She quickly headed to the console to find they were still logged in. Her luck was continuing to hold. Entering several commands, she quickly disrupted their communication devices. Even if someone woke up now and found themselves locked inside the crew’s quarters, they wouldn’t be able to call out using their commlinks.

  Slipping back out of the r
oom, Skye headed toward the tech room where people were working. She pried off the panel cover to the door and crossed the wiring. With a snap and hiss, the wiring sparked. They’d be locked inside the room for a short time until they rewired it, but that was all her crew needed.

  Skye darted down the hall in the direction of the medical room. Unless someone was actively being treated, this room was usually empty. Two medical beds, cabinets, and a host of other equipment was nearby waiting for the camp’s next emergency. Skye grabbed an empty box and put it on one of the beds. Sorting through the nearby drawers, she tossed a bunch of items into the box and started searching the cabinets.

  The door opened, and her hand immediately went to her knife. At the sight of Leo, she relaxed and motioned toward the box.

  “That box is ready to go. I’ll fill another and disconnect one of their bone molds. We may have three people still moving throughout the camp, so tell Chance and everyone to be careful. I’ve locked down the tech room.”

  “Got it,” Leo said, picking up the box she’d put on the bed. “They just pulled up. I told them where the food was located, and they’re going to grab some of those crates and whatever else they can find.”

  She nodded and went back to work unceremoniously grabbing medicine, bandages, and other medical supplies. When she finished, she quickly unhooked one of the bone molds from the wall while Leo came back to grab the second box. The items they were stealing wouldn’t affect those living within the Omni trading camp, but they could completely change the lives of the ruin rats. Even so, Skye tried to bury her guilt. She’d never dream of taking such things from another ruin rat camp. If there were any other option, she’d do it in a heartbeat.

  Skye finished filling the last box and carried it out of the medical room. Their time was almost up. At any second, people would either be waking up or they’d figure out how to undo her sabotage. A shout caught her attention, and she ran toward the entrance to see a grisly sight.