Xenofreak Nation, Book Three: XIA

by Conway, Melissa

  The men who’d been pushing the bus stopped and the crowd quieted down more rapidly than Scott might have expected – probably because they were desperate for information. Now their faces held had a mixed expression of doubt and hope.

  The holosphere above the UAAV faded out and a man’s face replaced it. Scott recognized him as the commanding officer of the National Guardsmen who’d helped secure XIA Headquarters.

  “My name is Colonel Jeremy Carter. Due to the riots, Martial Law has been declared in New York and it’s my job to restore order. I know you have a lot of questions and I’m not appearing before you now to offer platitudes. While it’s true you’ve been detained for your safety, it’s also true you’ve been removed from the populace because you present a potential danger to the rest of society. Until we know more about the disease that is being spread by people such as yourselves, we must continue to proceed with extreme caution. Let me assure you that food, water and supplies are on the way. Please be patient. These are tough times, but we are working diligently towards getting you back to your homes and families.”

  His face abruptly disappeared. Maddy rose from her seat, face twisted with outrage. “That’s it? Are they kidding?”

  Fournier smiled. “At least Martial Law has been declared.”

  “How is that better?” Maddy demanded.

  “New people in charge.”

  “Less corrupt, you mean?” Bryn asked. “How do you know?”

  “I don’t. But sometimes you have to shake the tree to see what falls out.”

  “I suppose you’re going to say this was part of your plan?” Mia snapped.

  “It was one of many possibilities. Chaos begets change.”

  Scott frowned. “Chaos. Your man Savvy’s favorite thing.”

  “He’s here, you know,” Alton said. “On the pier. Him and Nicola.”

  Maddy turned to Padme and made air quotes. “The daughter?”

  When Padme nodded, Maddy crowed with laughter.

  Fournier leaned his good arm against the seat to lever himself into a standing position. For some reason, he addressed Scott. “Please, Cougar. We have to find her. She’s sick. She needs a transplant.”

  Maddy pointed to Padme’s midsection. “Is that who it’s for? You cloned a clone?”

  “It’s not what you think.” Fournier turned to Padme. “If you care for her at all, you’ll protect what you carry.”

  Padme looked like she was going to throw up. “I do care for her, but I won’t let you kill this baby.”

  “It’s not a baby,” he said, just before the crowd outside the bus renewed their efforts to overturn it.

  Chapter Forty-five

  The people standing outside Bryn’s side of the bus cleared out as it became more and more likely the vehicle would tip onto its side and crush them if they stayed.

  Jason pulled his gun. “I don’t want to shoot anyone, but we’re going to have to stop them.”

  Scott nodded and turned to Bastida. “How do we open the windows?”

  He peered at the dashboard and shrugged. “This is a prison bus. Do they even open?”

  “We’ll have to go out the door.” Scott grabbed the pole by the front seat as the bus rocked again. This time it felt to Bryn as if the wheels left the tarmac. Padme let out a short shriek as it bounced back down.

  “Hold on,” Jason said. “Lo thinks she can appeal to them.”

  Bryn looked out the window, relieved to see the blue holosphere had appeared above Lo’s strange vehicle again. “May I have your attention, please?”

  Once again, the people outside the bus stopped what they were doing to listen.

  “Those of you engaged in the attempt to overturn the bus on the exit ramp must cease and desist. You are in the process of committing a crime and will be prosecuted.”

  The blue holosphere winked out of existence and Maddy laughed. “That was an appeal? Dragila, I’m telling you, she should appeal to my people.”

  “Or mine,” Fournier said.

  “And what happens to us when your people show up?” Malone gestured around at the guardsmen. “We get tossed back in the water, that’s what!”

  The faces outside the bus looked angrier than ever to Bryn. She put her coat back on and pulled the hood up over her quills. She expected more rocking, but instead, there was a commotion at the edge of the crowd. Someone started screaming and she heard gunshots. Panic spread quickly and people began trampling each other to get away.

  “What’s going on?” Mia asked.

  Before anyone could speculate on what was happening, the crowd magically parted. Out of the darkness, five men in ski masks made a beeline for the bus. It was hard to see them clearly, but they were definitely armed, and from the looks of it, the lead man was carrying an automatic weapon. Without warning, he opened fire on the bus, strafing all along one side of it. The rounds weren’t explosive, but they pattered across the windows, leaving dozens of chinks in the reinforced glass. Padme shrieked again as she and everyone else aboard the bus dropped to the floor.

  “Lo, we are under fire!” Jason shouted.

  “Who the hell are they?” Malone asked.

  “Who do you think?” Maddy was lying prone on the floor of the bus. She rolled to look up at Jason. “Did you really think my father would give up that easily? Tell ‘Lo’ to get my people over here!”

  “Can the army help?” Jason was still talking to Lo. Bryn saw his lips thin as he looked at Scott and shook his head. “Lo says they can, but won’t. We’re on our own.”

  The guardsman who’d been driving climbed back into his seat and shifted the bus into gear, but before he could drive more than a few yards, the other gunmen surrounded the bus and shot out its tires.

  One of them shouted, “We just want the transvestite!”

  Maddy gasped in indignation at the slur, but said, “Don’t believe it. You cannot negotiate with them. They will have orders to silence all of you.”

  “I tend to agree,” Scott said.

  Jason strode over and knelt by Maddy’s head, holding out his holophone. “Lo says she can patch you in to the holoprojector. Better make it good, your Majesty.”

  “Am I on?” Maddy asked. Bryn heard her voice echo out over the pier.

  “Yes!” Jason said. “Talk!”

  Maddy licked her lips and lifted her chin, as if it was even possible to summon her dignity while lying bound on the floor of a prison transport bus.

  “Mad Eyes, it is I, your queen.”

  Bryn remembered at Edgemere how Maddy loved posturing and theatrics, and ‘her people’ seemed to enjoy it just as much. But she’d essentially abdicated her throne when she told them to evacuate the underground community. She’d abandoned them. Would they come to her aid now?

  Maddy said, “I am in the bus that is under siege and I require your assistance immediately. That is all.”

  From the light of the holophone, Bryn saw Jason’s eyes briefly go wide as if he couldn’t believe her arrogance. Before he could wave his hand to sever the connection, however, Fournier lurched out from behind his seat and cried, “XBestia soldiers! There is a truce between us and the Mad Eye. Honor it.” His burning gaze dared Maddy to refute it.

  Jason jerked the holophone away and disconnected as Fournier sagged against the edge of the seat. Maddy tilted her head at him. “Why did you say that?”

  “If I hadn’t shown myself, my soldiers would have attacked the bus to get to you.”

  “Lupus was your enforcer. Now that he’s dead, will they listen to you?”

  “They’d better,” Fournier replied. “Otherwise we aren’t getting out of here.”

  “How are you enjoying your chaos now?”

  He chuckled weakly. “I would have preferred to watch from the sidelines, but that’s chaos for you, isn’t it?”

  Chapter Forty-six

  If Maddy planned a response to Fournier’s quip, she wasn’t able to deliver it because the assailants opened fire on the bus again, focusing
on the windows on the right side, which quickly became so severely cracked, they were nearly opaque. Scott hoped the windows would last longer than their attackers’ ammunition, but he’d gotten a good look at one of the men, and from the ammo belt slung over his shoulder it was apparent they’d brought plenty.

  Every one of the guardsmen inside the bus was armed and waiting tensely to return fire as soon as it was breached. They weren’t outmanned, but with that submachine gun out there, they were definitely outgunned.

  The shooter wasn’t able produce a constant stream of bullets without overheating the weapon, though, so in a momentary break in the gunfire, Alton told them, “Lo’s bringing the UAAV closer. Hopefully Boardman can get a shot.”

  “Good.” Scott lifted his head long enough to scan the vicinity out the front windshield for any Mad Eye or XBestia. The ramp was devoid of anyone but the masked men.

  The shooter finally figured out he needed to choose one window and concentrate on it. He fired a short burst at a window midway down the bus, paused, and fired again. This time, several bullets penetrated, at least one of them ricocheting around inside. A guardsman yelped but immediately said, “I’m okay. Just nicked me!”

  Malone was closest to the ruptured window. He popped up and thrust his gun into the hole, but before he could get off a shot, the shooter fired another burst. Malone’s head jerked violently and he toppled onto the seat without a sound. Scott could only see the top of his head, but Bryn and Mia were both facing him a few feet away. If Scott wasn’t already sure the outspoken sergeant was dead, the abject horror on their faces confirmed it.

  He stood and started to take off his vest to give it to Bryn when Maddy shouted, “Stop shooting! I give up!”

  “What are you doing?” Padme cried.

  “Stalling for time, what else?” Maddy said quietly. She struggled to her knees and then to her feet.

  “They’re going to kill you.” Padme’s voice cracked.

  “No…it’ll be alright.” Maddy was staring out the front windshield.

  Scott glanced in that direction and did a double-take, his first thought: hallelujah.

  Another crowd had formed and was marching out of the tunnel and up the ramp. Some were carrying torches, and he saw that the men and women at the forefront were wearing riot gear and holding clear curved riot shields. If Malone were alive, he’d no doubt point out that the xenos had gotten the gear from the guardsmen. As it was, the crowd may have looked formidable, but those shields weren’t meant to deflect bullets. The masked man with the submachine gun seemed to know that, because he strode out confidently to meet them. Ten feet past the front of the bus, however, a faint ‘crack’ sounded and he stiffened and fell.

  Alton laughed. “Boardman says, ‘You’re welcome.’”

  Through the glass door of the bus, Scott heard the other masked gunmen engage in a short conversation. He couldn’t make out their words, but if they were debating whether to check their fallen comrade – either to help him or take his weapon and ammo – they decided against it, turning instead and bolting back the way they’d come.

  The crowd responded like a horde of barbarians, screaming and charging after them.

  “Open the door!” Scott gestured urgently at Bastida. When the glass door folded in on itself, Scott said, “Tell Boardman it’s me!” as he leapt over the steps. He landed hard on the tarmac and scrambled over to the dead man, snatching the weapon out of his hand. The crowd was only about ten yards away when he jumped back on the bus and the door closed behind him. The first wave of xenos, the ones with the riot gear, thundered past after the masked gunmen, but the majority stopped to surround the bus.

  From his spot on the floor of the bus, Fournier looked up at Scott and Alton.

  “Now what?” he asked.

  Chapter Forty-seven

  “I’ll tell you what.” Maddy walked up to Jason, turned her back to him and lifted her bound hands. “Cut me free and I won’t tell them who you really are.”

  “Our cover was already blown today,” Scott said. “There are xenos out there who know we’re XIA.”

  “Well, you’re with me now,” she said. “If anyone dares to ask, I’ll tell them you were my plant – just like Antonovich.”

  Bryn remembered Antonovich well. Jason had killed him, unaware at the time that he’d been an FBI agent on Maddy’s payroll. Jason had shot him in the head, and Bryn shuddered at the memory as her gaze drifted to the spreading pool of blood under Malone’s seat.

  “We can’t just let you go,” Jason said.

  Maddy twisted her torso to look over her shoulder at him. “I’m not asking for my freedom, Dragila, I’m simply offering to make a deal.”

  He bent and pulled his knife from his boot, but only examined the blade. “Deal’s not on the table anymore. Your father’s not going to talk to you now.”

  “Not true. I’m sure he’s got a lot he wants to say to me.”

  “The XIA isn’t interested in his opinion of you.”

  “Right. Well, anyway, that’s not the deal I was referring to. You may have the guns, but that will only get you so far.”

  Someone outside the bus slapped his hands against the door and growled, “Open up!”

  Along with everyone else, Bryn had risen from the floor, but she hadn’t taken her seat because it was spattered with blood. Now she averted her eyes from Malone’s body and stepped over the dark puddle in the aisle. Everyone around her looked shell-shocked. As she made her way to Scott’s side, Fournier shuffled along behind her like a walking corpse.

  “Maddy’s right,” Fournier said. “As soon as that door opens, every person on this bus will become a target in one way or another unless we all agree to cooperate. The Mad Eye want me; the XBestia want Maddy. If either of them find out you took us prisoner, you’ll only last as long as your ammunition. And we all know what they think of the National Guardsmen. No one is going to step off this bus with the upper hand.”

  “Thank you, Nicolas, for so eloquently making my point for me.” Maddy turned away and lifted her hands again. “Dragila?”

  The man who’d banged on the door raised his voice. “Open this door now!” and began banging again.

  Jason looked at Scott, who gave him an almost imperceptible shrug. Jason pointed the knife at Maddy and then Fournier. “We’ve got a sniper in that vehicle out there and I’m in constant contact with him. You will be in his sights at all times. The first hint either of you is going back on your word…”

  Maddy nodded. “Understood.”

  “Agreed,” Fournier said.

  Jason slit their zip ties.

  “Don’t forget Padme.” Maddy rubbed her wrists. “And if this is going to work, you and Cougar here are going to have to obey us…or pretend to.”

  Jason smiled thinly as he cut Padme’s zip tie. “Shouldn’t be a stretch.”

  “Yes, I suppose you’ve had a lot of practice faking it. The rest of you,” she glanced around at the guardsmen, “should probably keep your mouths shut.”

  “I’m not going out there,” Bastida said. “I’d rather take a bullet than get that disease.”

  The other guardsmen chimed in with their agreement.

  “I don’t blame you.” Jason looked over at Mia, and Bryn saw his head go back a little as he realized she would have to stay with the guardsmen. He shoved his knife back into its sheath and said, “You guys take care of the doc, okay?”

  “No.” Mia made her way to the front of the bus. “I’m going with you.”

  Jason shook his head. “Too big a risk. There are probably carriers out there. You said it yourself, your graft won’t protect you yet.”

  Mia had somehow kept hold of her purse through everything that had happened. She reached inside and pulled out a blue paper face mask. “This will.”

  Jason looked like he was going to argue with her, but Scott said, “It’s her choice. Let’s just get to the UAAV.”

  He nodded to Bastida, who opened the door. Maddy smooth
ed her hair, pushed past Jason and descended the steps regally, Padme on her heels. Jason went next, gun drawn, but Bryn noticed he was careful to point it away from Maddy. Fournier took the steps slowly, leaning heavily on the rail. Scott followed, the submachine gun pointed at the ground. Bryn and Mia came last and stayed close behind him.

  The bus door shut with a ‘shush,’ and the waiting xenos backed away to create a semicircle lit by torchlight. Bryn peered out at them from under her hood. It wasn’t a consolidated group. There was a clear, grumbling line of division between the people of Edgemere and the denizens of the Warehouse. Bryn didn’t recognize anyone from her short time at either place.

  At the edge of the crowd, the men in riot gear had returned. One of them pushed his way through to the front and gingerly removed his helmet. White gauze had been wound around his forehead to hold the bandage on the back of his head in place. Dundee. Bryn curled her fingers under the bottom of Scott’s vest, glad she still had Jason’s backup gun in her pocket. Next to her, Mia reached up to the mask on her face, pushing down against the metal strip across her nose to secure it more tightly.

  Maddy hooked an arm through Fournier’s uninjured one and beamed at everyone around her. “It’s so good to see you again. I’m sure you all have a lot of questions.”

  The pupils of Dundee’s crocodile eyes glowed eerily as he stared her down. “Just one. Who the bloody hell do you think you’re fooling?”

  Chapter Forty-eight

  Scott tensed and shifted to stand in front of Bryn. He didn’t know how Dundee had gotten here, whether he’d been stopped on the highway by the army and rounded up, or if he’d followed Maddy’s yacht with her outboard, but if things went south and Scott was forced to fire, that psycho would eat the first bullet.

  “The truce is real.” Fournier’s quiet voice carried in the silence. “Maddy Singh and I have come to an agreement.”