Allie's War Season Three

by JC Andrijeski

  He gestured a 'yes,' but I saw him frown, right before his eyes flickered to Jaden.

  On top of everything else, he was still struggling with his light. When I glanced over, Jaden seemed to be staring at him, too. From the look on his face, I guessed Revik approximated some kind of cartoon villain in his mind. When I walked over to the couch on that side of the room, they all flinched back, as if I was going to shoot every one of them on the spot.

  Ignoring the flinch, and their exchanged looks and pale faces, I motioned for Sasquatch and Frankie to join us, too, along with Jon. Given their facial expressions, everyone's but Jon's, that is, I didn't try to sit next to them on the couch, but got down cross-legged on the floor.

  "So," I said. "We seriously don't have a lot of time. But I needed you to hear this from me. We are going to try our damnedest to get you all out of here alive...I promise you that. Not to hold you hostage, but for your own safety. For the same reason, you might have to stay with us for awhile in New York..."

  "Who the fuck are these guys?" Sasquatch burst out. "Stay with who, Allie? Like...this is the nonsense train. Total non sequitor..." He eyes were wide, almost agitated. "We need more info, chica! You can't leave us so dry on the fountain of knowing...it's all wrong..."

  I hesitated, then sighed, gesturing at the other seers.

  "They work with me. Well...for me, I guess. Sort of." I glanced at Jaden, then at Angeline, who still hadn't said anything.

  I found myself looking at her more closely than the others. She seemed to be curled up into herself, like an animal stuffed into a den and ready to fight off predators. I tried to remember the last time I'd seen her, and couldn't. The memory that kept popping into my head was of her visiting me in jail, bringing me cookies decorated with tiny, icing, hack saws. I knew we'd hung out after that of course, and I remembered going swimming with her at the community pool, but it all seemed so long ago. Swallowing tightly, I gave her a reassuring look.

  "Are all of you okay?" I said. "...No one's sick or hurt or anything?"

  Jaden shook his head. He seemed to shake himself out of a trance in the process.

  "Allie...why did you come here?" he said. "Is it really dangerous for you here, like that guy said?"

  "Who cares?" Pouty lips muttered under her breath.

  I sighed, glancing at her, Tina, whose face had gone bright red. Even so, her lips were pressed into a jagged line, her arms folded tightly under her ample breasts. Looking at her, I wondered if she was keeping relatively quiet out of fear that I might kill her.

  Then I wondered if I should be discouraging that impression entirely.

  "It's a long story," I said belatedly to Jaden, sighing again as I ran my fingers through my hair. "We..." I motioned back at Revik and the others. "...We had our own reasons for needing to come here, but we're also here to try and get you out."

  "Are you a terrorist, Allie?" Angeline said, from her corner of the couch.

  The question was direct. So direct, her voice made me jump. I thought briefly about how to answer, then, reluctantly, I nodded.

  "Technically, I guess I am. My even being here, without a human owner or whatever, pretty much makes me a terrorist. But you guys already knew that...you've seen the feeds."

  There was a silence where they all looked at one another, then at me. I found myself focusing on Frankie, then looking at Angeline again, who still appeared overly pale.

  "Are you going to kill them?" Frankie said, as if noticing my stare. "Jaden and Angeline?"

  I looked at Angeline first, hesitating, then at Jaden. Jaden barely noticed; he was staring at Revik again, this time seeming to be measuring him with his eyes, and looking over his body as much as his face. I don't think he even heard the question that Frankie asked me. I couldn't help looking at Jaden, too, since I hadn't seen him in four-plus years. He didn't look that different, really. A little less skinny than I remembered. He had sideburns now, which looked suitably arty and musician-like. I knew his band was doing well; I occasionally heard them on the alternative feed stations.

  "That really is Syrimne, isn't it?" he muttered. "Like in the history books...as in World War I and raining clouds of death..." He gave a short laugh. "That's your boyfriend. Death guy."

  "Yeah, it's him." My voice grew slightly terse. "He's my husband, not my boyfriend...but yeah." When Jaden gave me an incredulous look, I waved a dismissive hand. "Look. Don't freak out about it, okay? He's not as bad as the feeds make it sound...and again, we don't have time for any of that now..."

  "Not as bad as the feeds make it sound?" Frankie gave her own humorless laugh, kneeling on the carpet and rearranging her short legs. She looked over her shoulder at Revik, giving him a sharper, faster, once-over than Jaden had. "Okay, he's hot...so I'm getting the husband thing...but he's still like a mass murderer, right? How can that be 'not as bad' as the feeds make it sound?"

  "Look...we really don't have time for this," I said, biting back my frustration with an effort. "I know I seem harsh right now...I know I do. I missed all of you guys, and I'll be happy to talk to all of you about my husband and how we met and World War I and whatever else you want...but right now I'm a little preoccupied with how we're going to get Jaden and Angie out of here without their heads exploding..." Glancing at Angeline again, I swallowed, really letting myself see her that time before I looked at the others. "...We can play social catch-up after we get everyone out of the quarantine zone, okay?" My eyes returned to Angeline, seemingly on their own. "Angie. Seriously. Are you okay? You're not sick, are you?"

  She shook her head, still clutching her upper arms with long-fingered hands.

  Since I didn't know which question she'd answered, it didn't really reassure me.

  Apart from the stunned look on her face, she looked exactly like how I remembered her, from her large brown eyes and muscular arms down to the streaks of gold in her dread-locked hair. She'd always pulled off the artist schtick way better than I had; I'd thought of her as the 'real' artist, while I was more of a doodler and pen-scratcher. Even now, streaks of crimson and gold paint decorated her denim coveralls and the white tank top she wore underneath. She looked as if Gar and the others dragged her out of her studio in the middle of a painting.

  Looking around at all of them, including the five strangers who sat in a silent huddle on the other side of the couch, I realized that I really didn't have a lot to say to any of them, not right then, anyway. After another awkward silence, I climbed back to my feet.

  "I'm sorry I'm not better at this," I said after a too-long pause. "I really want to get you all out safe. I'll do the best I can, I promise...but for now, I need you to try and stay calm and follow instructions. I know you have no reason to trust me, given everything, but I'm asking you to try...just for now. We really aren't going to hurt you..."

  Hesitating, I found I was just standing there, without anything else to say.

  After another pause, I caught Jon's eye. He was watching from a few yards away, as if trying to determine how effective my words had been.

  When I waved him closer, he gritted his teeth a little, but did as I asked.

  "Some of you know my brother, Jon," I said, my words still coming out stiff. "He's actually in charge of you guys...meaning, he's in charge of seeing to it that all of the humans on the list are okay. So do what he says, all right? He's not going to hurt you, either..." Giving Jon an awkward pat on the shoulder, I hesitated just long enough for him to raise an eyebrow at me.

  "You got this, right?" I said.

  He gave a short laugh, but nodded, giving me a dismissive gesture. "Sure. Whatever."

  "Thanks." Hesitating only another half-beat, I glanced at the humans lining that half of the room, then turned stiffly on my heel, walking back to Revik and the other seers. I was unable to hide my relief, and when I approached, Revik looked up, smiling faintly.

  "You stuck Jon with it, didn't you?" he said, his voice soft.

  Flushing, I shrugged. "Yeah, well...he's always been be
tter at that stuff than me. And I figured I needed to hear this before you all decided to try something crazy..."

  Clicking softly, he kissed me briefly, then sent me a snapshot with his light of what he'd covered so far. He'd been busy. I had to guess he'd done most of it via his headset, considering how much ground he'd covered in those few minutes I'd been gone.

  "...So the complication remains the trackers," Revik finished. "Gar thinks he can get me to the beach easily enough...especially if we go via the park. But the idea was to move the people on the list, too. Right now, two of them are a hazard. Not just to themselves, but to all of us." He gave me a hard look. "There's no way you're going to be anywhere near this house before I leave, Allie," he added, his voice soft once more. "I mean it. I'll kill them myself if it comes to that. I'm not going anywhere until you're out of that bastard's reach..."

  I acknowledged this with a reassuring pulse, then looked at the others.

  "What about the telekinesis?" I said. "For the trackers, I mean. Do you have enough intel on their exact mechanics that Revik might be able to disable them without trying to remove them?" I glanced at Jaden and Angeline again. "...and without detonating the explosives?"

  Thinking about this for a few seconds, Revik frowned, glancing at Garensche. "Were you able to get decent scans of the implants?"

  The large seer nodded, once. "X-rays, a chemical and DNA scan of the organics. We tried to reason with the breed of course, but these are Chinese-made, and bred to follow only preset commands given to them by the Lao Hu. In this case, we think the organisms were DNA-coded to Ditrini himself." Pausing, he added, "We mapped the Barrier signals they emit...as well as the exact satellite frequency. We haven't been able to modify those either, so not sure how helpful that will be. We can block the signal, of course, but when we tried that, it immediately started the timer for the explosive..."

  Revik nodded, glancing at me again.

  "You sure you want to risk that, Allie?" he said, quieter. "I could kill them, you know...accidentally, I mean. If the machines really are DNA-coded to Ditrini, they might have an automatic trigger if I mess with them. He would probably plan for me trying something like this..."

  I nodded, sighing, and once more glancing at Angeline before I could stop myself. I looked at Jaden a moment later, watching him listen as Jon told them all something, or probably answered one of their ten million questions. I couldn't quite wrap myself around any of them as people yet, but I knew I didn't want them to die.

  Well, except maybe pouty lips. Even that was more in theory than actuality.

  "Do we have time for anything else?" I asked him flatly. "It's that, or we leave them here, right? Which do you think would be safer?"

  "What would Ditrini do, if you left them behind?" Revik said.

  I looked at Angeline and Jaden. After thinking for a minute, I sighed. "Given what we have planned, who knows? He'd probably bring them back to the City with him...try to lure me back for another try. But I can't say that with any certainty." I shrugged, one-handed. "He could just shoot them on the spot. I honestly have no idea how he'll react."

  "But what do you think, Allie?" he said, his eyes faintly skeptical.

  I frowned, thinking harder that time. "My mind tells me he'd probably keep them. That's what makes the most sense. That's what most infiltrators would do." I hesitated. "...But I think he'd kill them. Maybe to screw with my head, maybe because he'd assume their names are on the list...or maybe just to punish me for not doing what he wants, like he did with the tattoo. I think he'd shoot them as soon as we left..." I swallowed, glancing at Jon. "...Jon, too, if he was here. And Jon won't want to leave them. As much as he bitches about it, he would feel responsible..."

  Revik nodded. "That's what I think, too."

  "What are we going to do about Jon?" Garensche said, looking at Revik. "Does he stay with us? Or with the Bridge? Isn't he a priority asset now, given his placement on the list?"

  I sighed, looking up at Revik, too. I could already feel what he was thinking, and the logic made sense, but it made me nervous. Clicking softly, I took his hand, tugging lightly on his fingers until he looked down.

  "You know Wreg'll kill you. He'll kill us, Revik. Even if we do manage to pull this off..."

  Revik nodded, frowning a little before he glanced at Jon. "I know. But we can't afford to lose him, Allie...and it's the best way to keep him safe. It might be the only way, right now. He definitely can't stay here...and he can't go with you. If we let him go with Gar and the others, and the decoy works..." Gesturing with one hand, he trailed, not bothering to finish that sentence. He gave me another of those uncompromising looks. "I want us out within the hour. I want you out, well before us, Allie..."

  I nodded at his words, still thinking as I held his hand. I realized in the pause that I wanted Jon to come with me, but I knew that didn't make a lot of sense, either. Anyway, that wasn't the point, not anymore. If Jon didn't go with Gar, it meant he was coming along for the whole ride. He'd be a target, either way, which meant he might have to go with us the whole way.

  Revik was right. I didn't like it, but he was right.

  Garensche looked between the two of us. "What have you decided?" he said, sounding confused. "...You've decided something, right?"

  Revik nodded, looking at Garensche, then at Deklan, before his eyes swiveled back to mine.

  "Jon and the two humans with trackers are coming with me," he said.

  "With you?" Garensche said, baffled. "Where?"

  "To South America," Revik said grimly.

  23

  DIVERSION

  JON FOUND HIMSELF crouched and panting on the sand, surrounded by a smattering of those hard, reedy grasses he associated with California beaches, as well as a fair bit of broken glass, hiri and human cigarette butts, plastic, bits of burnt wood and charcoal.

  They were huddled against the low wall separating the parking lot from the sand, on the ocean side of the wave breakers. Jon knew Revik likely positioned them there as protection from the few buildings dotting the Great Highway on the way up towards the Cliff House. Jon was sweating, out of breath, and now felt totally exposed, despite the shielding of the wall and the fact that he couldn't actually see anyone but the three humans, Revik and Illeg.

  The sky looked gray out here, and heavy, mixing with the darker expanse of green-black water. Waves crashed on the surf, making so much noise Jon found it difficult to hear past them. White crests decorated the dark swells past the breakers, and the wind seemed to cut through his clothing, even with the armored plating of his two shirts and the turtleneck.

  It hadn't exactly been a smooth trip out from Jaden's house.

  Revik snapped into military mode before they'd left the building. Jon had only really seen him like that a handful of times, at least up close. It made Jon nervous more than anything, flashing him back to how Revik had been when they busted out of Terian's bunker...how completely paranoid and unforgiving he'd been about any mistakes, especially his own.

  He lost the fight on whether Jaden's girlfriend, Tina, came with them, which probably hadn't helped his mood much.

  In either case, Revik hadn't even bothered trying to give orders to the three other humans, Jaden, Angeline and Tina. Instead, he came out of the gate using his sight.

  He and Illeg took turns pushing all three of them, and hooking their minds to their actual movements to control them...and to keep them silent. The decision made sense, but still, Jon had never seen Revik act quite like that before, either. That Ditrini guy really had him spooked. Either that, or he could feel something in the Barrier he wasn't sharing.

  In any case, Revik displayed every single one of those reactionary, paranoid behaviors that made Jon wary in the past...along with a few new ones he'd never experienced.

  Or maybe Jon himself just felt too much now.

  He could feel how much the Elaerian hated leaving Allie...and how half of his attention remained split with what she might be going through. Before t
hey parted ways, Jon had watched as Revik held her compulsively, practically the whole time they stood in that candlelit room at Jaden's. When she finally got ready to leave, he kissed her for a full minute, right in front of all of them, which wasn't really in character for him these days, either. He'd actually gotten pretty private about their love life, once they got the Dreng out of his light.

  But this time, he let her go only reluctantly.

  Since they'd left the house, whatever worry Revik had for Allie only seemed to be making him more aggressive. For the first time he could remember, Jon had been nearly afraid of him. Or maybe for him. He was acting just the slightest bit crazy again, at least in terms of his light. On the surface, however, he appeared only to be hyper-focused.

  "Move," he sent through a subvocalization via the headset, his voice hard. "Now, Jon...keep your head down, and get the three of them over to that slight overpass..."

  Jon didn't wait to pinpoint the exact location with his eyes. Instead, he followed the prod of Revik's mind to the walking path onto the sand, which did leave a shadowed area underneath where they could be protected from view on more sides. Without Jon having to ask them to come along with him, Tina, Jaden and Angeline moved quickly, seemingly with their eyes trained on his feet. Jon had to assume Revik was behind that, too.

  They'd made their way to the shore mostly via the park, with Revik in front and Jon right behind him. Neela stayed with Gar and the others, but they'd brought Illeg. She took up the rear position, since Revik wanted Jon next to him at all times.

  It seemed like Revik spent every other step telling Jon what he should be doing with his light, or even with his physical eyes. All of them had their guns out by then, but their path had been clear so far, apart from a few buffalos in the north paddock...and more dead bodies, of course.

  They'd moved a lot quicker than they had getting from the drop zone to Jaden's house, but Jon understood that, too. Gar and the others left the house at the same time that they did, in an armored SUV with most of the humans in the back, guarded by Jorag, Neela and Poresh holding automatic rifles. Gar drove, of course, with Deklan riding shotgun, both literally and figuratively.