Sniper Squad

by Meg Buchanan

  Fitzgerald nodded. “Jacob’s son Thomas developed a strain of corn resistant to Genus6 before he died, your dad managed to smuggle it to Australia and has been growing it out and getting more seed for a few years now. A couple of girls in the town he lives in have had babies. It looks like we have more proof now that the effects of Genus6 can be reversed.

  “Really?” All this could come to the end. There’d be no need for the Quarantine. There’d be no need for the Administration, or Humicrib, or Vector. The country would be free.

  “How’s he going to let everyone know?”

  Patsy shrugged. “We can’t tell you Jack. It’s better if these things are just known by the people who need to know, then there are no leaks. It’s up to Jacob to tell you.”

  That made sense. And it sounded like the way Jacob operated. He always thought walls had ears.

  “I’ll ask him then.”

  “He might tell you if there’s some job he has in mind for you, so you need to know.” Patsy sounded cynical. She picked up her plate and cup and took it to the bench. “It’s lovely to have you home again Jack,” she said. “Even if it’s just for a few days.”

  He nodded. “It’s good to be here.” It was better than good. The choking hold on his heart had been loosened. And if Jacob did want him to stay with Vector for another week or so, what did it matter? There was an end in sight.

  Chapter 10

  JACK WENT DOWN THE STAIRS at the back of the pub, then over to the row of garages in the yard. He unlocked the end garage and inside he found his LandRover. He hadn’t seen it for a year either, and he wasn’t sure if his mum or Fitzgerald would have thought to drain the Eco fuel out of the tank, so maybe it wouldn’t start.

  He’d check the fuel level then find out if he could make the thing fire up. He didn’t want to spend half the morning with his head under the bonnet trying to get it going, but he didn’t want to spend his whole leave walking either.

  Just as he got into the driver’s seat and was about to turn on the key to check the fuel, a police car pulled into the yard and Fitzgerald got out, went to the back, opened the boot and hauled a fuel can out.

  He held the can up. “Thought you might need this? I drained the fuel when you left so it should start all right once you’ve filled it.”

  Jack got out of the LandRover. “Thanks.” Even though they had a few issues maybe Fitzgerald was all right.

  Fitzgerald leaned against the side of the vehicle and folded his arms. “Is there anything else you want to say to me now your mother’s not here?”

  Jack unscrewed the top of the can, fitted the funnel, then took the fuel cap off the LandRover while he thought about that.

  Actually, there were plenty of things he wanted to mention to Fitzgerald, apart from this thing with his mum. For a start, the way he worked with Jacob to force him to join Vector, then there was pretending not to know about those kids being killed yesterday. Hell, he was second in charge to Jacob.

  “Yeah,” he said in the end. “Why did you do it?”

  Fitzgerald looked at him a moment. “Because I love your mother,” he said.

  “No, not that, not moving in with Mum. I mean forcing me to join Vector.”

  Fitzgerald shifted a bit and unfolded then refolded his arms. At least he felt guilty.

  “We had to convince you to do what we wanted fast. And that was the best way.”

  “By blaming me for my friends’ deaths?” They’d used Nick and Curly’s deaths against him to make him feel he had no choice but to make amends somehow.

  Fitzgerald nodded. “By morning it had to look like you’d turned and wanted to join Vector. We didn’t have time to muck around convincing you or more people would have died.”

  Jack screwed the lid back on. About what he figured. But he didn’t have to like it.

  He handed the empty can to Fitzgerald. “Jacob always was the ends justify the means sort of person, but I thought you were different. I don’t mind about you and Mum really. It makes sense. Dad’s not coming back. No point in Mum being lonely. But, the other thing?” He shook his head. It took him months to work out that Vincent killing Nick and Curly wasn’t his fault. That he hadn’t caused it to happen.

  Fitzgerald nodded. “It was a filthy thing we did to you. But having you in the squad and the Intel you’ve given us has been invaluable.”

  Jack shrugged. He went to the door of the LandRover. “I just hope you’re right and this is nearly over.” He climbed into the driver’s seat, and Fitzgerald shut the door.

  “Yep,” said Fitzgerald. “We all do.”

  As he drove out of town, Jack thought about what Fitzgerald and his mother had told him. Ela’s father had created a variety of corn that didn’t produce progesterone when it was stored. His dad had grown it on and was testing it in Australia. And it looked like it did reverse the effects of Genus6, that was huge.

  Jacob must be planning on letting someone know and somehow convincing the world this was the way to go. He drove along Rotokohu Road and when he came Jacob’s gateway, he swung into the drive and drove to his house.

  He went to the kennel first and let Monsanto out. He crouched down so he could make a fuss of him. It was a wonder Mon recognised him and forgave him for suddenly disappearing, his father had done the same thing to the dog five years ago and Mon had just transferred his affection.

  “Looking good, Mon,” he said and ran his hands down both sides of his neck. “Sounds like it won’t be long before I can come home permanently. Coming for a walk?”

  Mon followed him out past the orchard where he found Jacob in the glasshouses. It looked like he was pricking out seeds. That was what he and Ela had been doing that first day he looked after her. Exactly a year ago. Same season, same work.

  He leaned against the door frame. Jacob looked even older and greyer than when he left. “Hi,” he said to let him know he was there.

  Jacob looked up. “Jack!” he sounded pleased to see him. Jacob rubbed his hands together to get the soil off them and came out of the glasshouse. “Fitzgerald said you had a bit of trouble last night.”

  Jack moved away from the doorway to let him through. “Yeah, I had it under control, but Fitzgerald came along and chased them off.”

  “So, I heard,” said Jacob. “Do you want a cuppa?” Jacob wasn’t acting uncomfortable the way Fitzgerald had been but maybe that was because Jacob didn’t have any conscience about the things he did. He always did what he thought needed done without any second thoughts.

  They went into the old house, and after washing his hands, Jacob started making the hot chocolate the way he always had.

  “They let you out?”

  “Yeah,” said Jack. “Free for two days.” He played with a pen that was sitting on top of the table.

  Jacob brought the mugs over and sat down. Jack decided there was no point having Jacob on about forcing him to join Vector. He’d only say what Fitzgerald had.

  “You know about the two kids Vector killed?” he asked.

  Jacob nodded. Of course, he knew.

  “Thought you were going to stop anything the City Cell had planned until we knew more.”

  Jacob shrugged.

  “Who were they?”

  “Jake McMillan and Tom Guise.”

  “Are their family’s all right?”

  “Yeah, we got the warning before Vector got to them and got them away. Poor bastards. First, they hear their kids are dead and at the same time they have to go to a safe house and stay there. There’s nothing left of their house or farm now. Vector annihilated it all.” For a moment Jacob looked even older, then he drew in a deep breath and looked over the table at him. “I hear you want out?”

  “Yep.” Jack stood up and went to the window. He pushed the curtain back and looked at the old sheds Jacob kept everything in. “I don’t want to be in Vector. I want to be here helping you.”

  Jacob leaned back in his chair. “I need you to stay with Vector for a bit longer.”


  “Why?” asked Jack.

  “Fitzgerald said he told you about the seeds?”

  Jack nodded. “He said Ela’s father developed a strain that will solve the problem of Genus6, and my dad is trialling them.”

  Jacob folded his arms and crossed his socks. “We’ll peacefully take the country back by offering the world a solution to the infertility problem, so they won’t need NZ to supply the raw DNA. Everything is in place. We’ve been working towards this for five years. Finally, we’re ready to tell the world.”

  “How?”

  “We’re going to take over all the communications systems and before the Administration realise what’s happening, we’ll have the news on every channel, social media platform, news broadcast and talk show around the world. It’s ready to go and will happen at the end of next week.”

  “And it will work? asked Jack. “That will be the end of the Quarantine?”

  “It should be. Once the world knows there is a way to conceive their own babies, there will be no need for the Quarantine, or Humicrib, or Vector for that matter.”

  “Okay,” said Jack. But he had his doubts. Most of the world had been indoctrinated to believe cloned babies were superior to naturally conceived ones. The females are more feminine and the males bigger and stronger with better endurance. People might not want to go back to having their own babies. And sex and intimacy between couples was outlawed in most countries. It would require a huge shift in mindset to go back to the ways of the past.

  “What about lifting the shields so I can contact Ela?”

  “Nope,” said Jacob. “She’s safe. She’s part of the Elite. They accept her. She’s happy. We don’t need you upsetting her. We’ve kept her safe and hidden this long we don’t need her calling attention to herself by associating with a Vector sniper, who to top it off is a Local.”

  And that sounded like the end of that discussion.

  They finished their hot chocolate and Jacob stood up. “I need to go and check the Vault; do you want to come for a ride?”

  Jack nodded. Riding across the farm on one of Jacobs old motorbikes sounded like a good way to spend a few hours.

  They went out to the barn where the motorbikes were kept. It was where he took the photo of Ela, he had on his Com. She’d looked beautiful that day. There were quite a few things he resented about the way Jacob did things.

  They got the bikes out. They used to be noisy and smoky, but not now.

  “What happened to your bikes?” He didn’t even have to shout to make himself heard.

  Jacob shrugged. “It got too hard to get hold of petrol, and I refuse to use Eco fuel, so I got Rob to convert them to solar.”

  “It makes a difference.”

  Jacob nodded. “Yeah, now when we can talk, we can hear each other.”

  They made their way across the paddocks to the back of Jacob’s farm. Every now and then they’d see a surveillance Hover above them, but neither of them had wrist shields over their Locates, and they were both where they were meant to be, so it wouldn’t matter. Even the Administration would think it was reasonable for him to visit his old boss when he was on leave and for Jacob to be riding around on his own farm.

  But when they reached the bush line, Jacob handed him a wrist shield.

  “We’ve got this far; we don’t want to lead Vector to the Vault now.”

  Jack slipped the wrist shield on over the implant in his wrist and saw Jacob do the same.

  “Do you still come out and check the Vault each day?” Jack asked. Another thing he used to do with Ela.

  Jacob nodded. “Yes. We don’t want anything to go wrong now. The SeedVault might hold other answers we need.”

  They left the bikes by the boundary fence and Jacob’s dogs settled to wait. Mon started to follow them, and Jack saw Jacob give him the patting stay signal, and the dog reluctantly went back and sat with the others.

  They made their way through the bush. The track was defined but not so beaten down that you’d find it if you didn’t know what you were looking for.

  Last time he was here, he and Ela had been together a fortnight and all that time she was either in those ridiculous clothes, all short frilly skirts and tiny tops, with that bloody blue cloak, or she was in Swandri, jeans and boots.

  When Jacob asked him to look after his granddaughter, he didn’t even consider that they might fall in love. At first, it had been all about them working together to find out what the hell was going on and why Jacob thought Vector would kill Ela.

  He’d been pretty shocked when he’d found out she was a Natural, there hadn’t been a natural born to the Elite for fifty years by then. How could someone so lovely if the genes were left to pick themselves? And she was nice too, and funny and brave.

  And she’d liked him. They’d made love. He was the happiest he could remember being and then it all turned to shit, and Jacob had put up those shields so there was no chance of him contacting Ela. And it looked like Jacob planned to keep it that way.

  Finally, they came to the clearing. The waterfall still spilled over the cliff into a tranquil pool. The ferns nodded around the edge of the clearing. This was where he’d made love to Ela for the first time and the last time. It had been magical. He wasn’t going to share that insight with Jacob though. Jacob had never really approved of his granddaughter’s friendship with his farmhand.

  If this was all just about over, he could wait to see her again.

  Jacob pulled the lever that allowed the huge rocks concealing the Vault’s entrance to move back. Then he punched the code into the keypad. The doors opened to room after room of shelving. Each room had a security door, or more like gates and made of steel rods, that needed a code to unlock it. The rooms were covered in the same pale grey tiles used everywhere in the City.

  Room after room of tiled walls and ceilings. All to keep safe the small plastic crates filled with seed that didn’t have Genus6. The seeds they’d need to replant if they did convince the world to get rid of the Trojan Gene.

  It was always a shock to go from the clearing into the Vault. One moment you were in the green and shadows of the bush, with the sound of falling water and birds. Then you were in the silver light and tiles. It was like you were in the City again, but silent, only the echoes of their footsteps and the sound of their voices.

  Jack helped Jacob do all the checks to make sure the seeds were being kept at the right temperature and humidity, then was pleased to leave and get outside again.

  Chapter 11

  ELA STRAIGHTENED and eased her back. She’d spent all weekend practising wiring the shield into the mainframe of the Station’s system. Curly said the system at Humicrib was configured the same way.

  “Do you want to try it again?” asked Curly.

  She shook her head. “I think I’ve got it.”

  “Do you want to go over the blueprint for the one at Humicrib again?”

  “No.” She was sure she knew every line and box drawn in that blueprint, and if she looked at it again her head would explode.

  Nick slipped the screwdriver she’d been using into the small pouch of tools. “You’ve done well. The Administration took four years to teach Curly here what he’s been trying to teach us in a weekend.”

  She knew Nick was just trying to make her feel better about not being able to read the wiring scheme as quickly as he and Curly could. Usually, she learned new things easily, but this had been a marathon.

  “Come on.” Nick wrapped his arm over her shoulders. “Get something to eat, then we’ll go through the plan one more time and after that you’d better go home and sleep.”

  Ela sighed. This was exciting and frightening at the same time and she guessed going through again what they’d planned was a good idea. But she was sure she understood what she had to do. Tomorrow she’d go to lectures as usual, then head for Humicrib and work with the Preborns. But midway through her shift she had to find some reason to leave and work her way down into the basement without causing any suspi
cion.

  She could do it. She was sure she could.

  She smiled tiredly up at Nick as he walked her to the canteen. A big group of kids hurried in the other direction. They’d be the afternoon shift who’d monitored all the screens in the Coms room for the last few hours. They were heading back to the University, and the next shift would take over until midnight.

  “Yeah, one more time,” she said. Everyone’s lives would be at risk if anything went wrong. That was why as soon as they knew Jake and Tom had been killed the first thing Nick and Curly did was send a CatchingFire to Jake’s sister to run. No one had said anything about what happened with the girl.

  “Did you get Jake’s sister here in time?” she asked as she sat. The big dining table had a stack of plates and cutlery at one end and loaves of bread on bread boards and bowls of salad ingredients and sliced meat. A bunch of kids from the kitchen detail were delivering more food to the table and taking away empty plates.

  Curly nodded. “She’s being looked after. She’ll live here until this is over. It won’t be safe for her anywhere else.”

  “What will she do?” asked Ela.

  “What the rest of us do.” Nick pulled a plate towards him from the pile at the end of the table. “Eat, sleep, train, take our turns at surveillance and every now and then do something to upset the Administration.” He pushed a plate at Ela and another at Curly, then handed Ela a knife and pushed a plate of sliced bread at her and some meat and butter. “Eat up.”

  Ela put together a sandwich and bit into it.

  Nick tucked in too. “A final meal for the condemned man and woman,” he said.

  Ela looked at him. Maybe Nick didn’t think they’d get away tomorrow and they’d finish up like Jake and Tom? Was really what he thought? She stared at her sandwich before she bit into it again. Would he take a pistol too? She thought about that for a moment. He would. So far, they knew how they’d get into Humicrib. They’d practised how to wire in the shield, but neither Nick nor Curly had said anything about getting away. Maybe they didn’t think it was possible.