Evolution (The Wasteland Chronicles, #3)

by Kyle West

  It was the best I could hope for right now. I just needed to think of something – anything – that could save her. The problem was, I had zero idea on how to do that.

  Makara said nothing. She had been so against Anna when she had first joined us. I wondered if she felt the same way now. Anna was now a part of our team, along for the ride when she had, at first, only been our guide to the Great Blight. She had saved the mission countless times, and it was wrong to leave her behind without any sort of plan to go after her. I didn’t care what anyone said, or how rational they made it sound.

  We followed Samuel down the slope. In the distance, smoke rose in lazy circles from within the trees. That was the location of the settlement. In the misty morning light, I could make out the wooden shapes of shops and houses surrounded by the circular palisade wall.

  Somewhere in all that was Anna.

  “Hang on, Anna,” I said. “We’re coming.”

  Chapter 9

  Another hour passed, and we were in the outer stands of trees, scanning the wall of the town. It looked damn near impenetrable. The entire town was situated in a large meadow, and clearings filled with farms surrounded it. On the farms worked hundreds upon hundreds of slaves, growing crops. A road cut through the farms, entering the city by a gate, upon either side of which were two lofty guard towers. The road left the settlement’s other side, veering off and curving into the forest.

  That’s the gate Anna had entered, and the one we had been chased out of. They were the only two entrances we could see. In addition, several guards sat upon the three guard towers built into the walls that curved between each of the two gates, making a total of ten guard towers. Each tower had at least one guard in it.

  Obviously, the Empire took security very seriously.

  “Yeah,” Makara said, “doesn’t look like we’re busting in that place.”

  “There has to be a way,” I said. “We’re just not thinking hard enough.”

  No one answered me, which was a bit discouraging.

  “Would a disguise work?” I asked.

  “Where would we get said disguise?” Makara asked.

  I pointed toward one of the workers on the field. “Maybe he’ll let us borrow his.”

  “Run out in the open and ambush a helpless slave?” Makara sniffed. “No thanks.”

  “We could start a fire,” I said.

  “Arson’s always a win in my book,” Makara said.

  I couldn’t tell if she was being sarcastic or not.

  “A fire would force them out of the town, if it spreads enough,” Samuel said. “That might mean Anna, too.”

  “She would still be under protection, though,” Makara said. “Besides, we might end up hurting her.”

  “If we wait until nightfall, sneaking in might be easier,” I said.

  “Maybe,” Samuel said. “But they probably have that place guarded 24/7.” He paused. “I wonder what they’re keeping in there that’s so important.”

  We looked at the settlement longer, watching a caravan of camels leave by the north gate. When twelve camels had left, surrounded by guards and robed merchants, the gates closed once more.

  “Not open to any sort of traffic, even in the daytime,” Samuel said. “They always keep the gates closed. Either that’s normal, or they are on lockdown for some reason.”

  I looked at Samuel. “Because of us?”

  Samuel nodded. “Maybe. They probably thought we were escaped slaves. Or spies from Raider Bluff.”

  “That’s right,” Makara said. “We’re technically at war with them.”

  “What would spies from Raider Bluff be doing in this Podunk town?” I asked. “Wouldn’t we be in Nova Roma?”

  “This place is on the way there,” Samuel said. He pointed toward the road leading out from the left gate. “Follow that road far enough southeast, you’ll end up in Nova Roma. Follow it the other way, it goes all the way up the Mexican coast, through a series of towns for over a thousand miles. Who knows? It might eventually arrive at Raider Bluff itself.”

  It seemed mind-boggling that a place like the Nova Roman Empire could exist, thirty years after the fall of Ragnarok. Augustus was obviously both a very well-organized and powerful man. It was hard to see how Raider Bluff could stand a chance against him.

  My thoughts turned back to rescuing Anna. Just staring at that town, I couldn’t let her go – not without trying something.

  “I don’t think we can break in,” Makara said. “We came here, we searched it out...there is literally nothing we can do.”

  My heart sunk. Makara was right. How would we break into that place?

  Then, I got an idea.

  “The Odin!” I said.

  Makara and Samuel looked at each other, confused.

  “Alex, they’ll see that thing from a mile away. There’s no chance.”

  “Not if we fly it high enough.”

  “What are you saying?”

  “We could parachute in. Do it at night, when no one can see us. Obviously, it would be just me and Sam. Makara would have to pilot the ship.”

  “That...” Makara began. I could tell she wanted to say my idea was stupid. I didn’t care, interrupting her before she could speak again.

  “We could learn to parachute,” I said. “It probably isn’t that hard. We have the ship – we can just take it somewhere safe, and practice until we’re good enough to land where we want. Then we can get into the town.”

  “Yes,” Makara said. “Even if we did do all that, how would we go about searching for Anna? How would we get out of the town?” She shook her head. “Those parts are pretty important, too.”

  Admittedly, they were. “We can figure that out later. Yes, it’s risky, but isn’t Anna worth the risk? How many times would this mission have failed without her?”

  Makara and Samuel looked at each other. I could tell they were not saying anything, afraid to let me down. Cold logic said my idea was suicide – even if it was better than all the other ones I had thrown out.

  “I know Odin has parachutes on board,” Samuel said. “Unfortunately, none of us have ever used one before. And without anyone to teach us, I won’t risk it.”

  “I’m sure there’s instructions on the side.”

  Samuel sighed. “Alex, you’re asking that we risk both of our lives for the miniscule chance that we save one. Our mission is to stop Xenofall – and yes, that might involve some losses. I would rescue Anna if there were any chance of success. But this is suicide.”

  “I don’t care,” I said, not concerned with how illogical I knew I was being. “I just know that if we don’t try this, we’ll regret it.”

  “We won’t have the luxury of regretting anything if we’re all dead,” Makara said.

  We said nothing, watching the town. I felt a mixture of anger and depression. I couldn’t tear my gaze away from that town, even if I’d tried. It was my fault that Anna was gone, and there was no way I could live the rest of my life knowing I had done nothing to save her.

  Finally, Makara spoke. “Fine. Let’s practice it first.”

  I turned to Makara, unbelieving that she had changed her mind. “You mean it, then?”

  Makara nodded. “It has to be daylight. And you, Alex...you’re going to be the first one to throw your ass off the ship.”

  I wanted to hug her, but I knew there was small chance that she’d be receptive to that. “Done.”

  “Hopefully, parachutes can get reused,” Samuel said. “We have a lot of practice to do.” He shook his head. “The fact that I don’t know if parachutes can be reused does not bode well at all.”

  I didn’t care about that small detail. “So, we’re really doing it?”

  Samuel sighed, and didn’t say anything for a long moment.

  “I don’t like to leave anyone behind. We can go back to Odin and see if it’s even a feasible option.”

  “What about Ashton?” Makara asked.

  Samuel hesitated. “He won’t like it. But s
pending a few days just to see if this could work isn’t a small price to pay when it means getting Anna back.”

  “Exactly,” I said.

  “I can’t believe we’re actually doing this,” Makara said.

  “Believe it,” I said.

  “Let’s not get ahead of ourselves,” Samuel said. “Let’s get back to Odin, and see what our options are.”

  Now that Makara and Samuel were on board for my crazy idea, I had no idea how we were going to pull it off. But if we could get into that town, find Anna, and escape, it would be the best thing we had done so far.

  We weren’t going to leave one of our own behind without a fight.

  ***

  We spent the rest of the day double timing it to Odin. We made it there by evening.

  Unfortunately, by the time we made it, it was far too dark to practice. Instead, we got the parachutes out and tried to see if we could figure out how to use them.

  Before we did any of that, however, we debated on whether we should tell Ashton about Anna.

  “He’s going to find out as soon as the ship goes online, anyway,” Samuel said.

  We stood on the bridge, waiting to turn on the transceiver.

  “I can deliver the news, if you don’t want to,” I said.

  I reached for the mic, but Samuel brushed my hand aside.

  “I’m the leader of this crew,” Samuel said. “In the end, it was my decision.”

  Samuel didn’t take long to collect his thoughts. He turned on the transceiver and began to speak.

  “Skyhome...this is Odin. Do you have a copy?”

  Silence. It lasted a good, long while. I began to get nervous. Ashton could probably hear us, but was in such disbelief that he couldn’t bring himself to answer.

  Finally, Ashton’s voice crackled out of the speaker.

  “Odin, what is your status? You should just now be in the city. What happened?”

  Samuel paused before answering. “Anna’s gone.”

  Ashton did not speak for a moment. “Are Makara and Alex with you?”

  “Yes.”

  “We’ve been over this, Samuel. In the case one of the crewmembers died...”

  “She’s not dead, Ashton. There’s a chance she may be rescued.” Samuel gripped the speaker in his hand, attached by a curly cord that went to the transceiver. “I intend to take that chance.”

  “Christ, what happened?”

  Samuel proceeded to tell the story. I internally winced when he got to the part about the town having a wall, many guards, and our plan being to parachute ourselves in at night.

  When Samuel was done, the other line was silent. It seemed that Ashton was having trouble processing all this information.

  “Anna’s a good fighter, there is no doubt of that,” Ashton said. “But she isn’t worth the risk. You know that, yet you came back to Odin, knowing what my answer would be.”

  I reached for the mic, but Samuel turned away. “She’s been with us from the beginning. My crew would be crippled without her.”

  “You’ve never parachuted before!” Ashton said, voice rising with anger. “You intend to drop into a city under heavy guard, where you’ll most likely be seen, even if done at night, and search every building until you find her? And if you do, how do you plan on getting out? All of you will be compromised! This is a no brainer! What makes you think that you have even the remotest chance of success? Despite everything you guys have gone through, you are not invincible!”

  No one answered Ashton for a long while. His cold logic was almost enough to cut through all my emotion. Almost.

  I took the speaker from Samuel. This time, he did not resist.

  “Ashton, we’re doing this at great risk, because it is simply something we need to do. I can’t explain it, but I know this mission will fail without Anna’s help. She’s our best fighter, and we can’t go on without her. That’s the truth, as truthful as anything you’ve just told us. Yes, it will be hard, but we will succeed. I have no doubt.”

  Ashton sighed from the other end of the line. He still didn’t agree.

  Samuel took back the mic, was about to say something, but then was quiet.

  “Pack up, and get moving,” Ashton said. “You’re going to have to let Anna go. You have to meet with Augustus. That is your mission, Samuel. That is a direct order.”

  Samuel grit his teeth, holding the mic for a moment before answering. “You can say what you want, Ashton. We’re going in.”

  “Like hell you are.”

  “Alex is right. Anna is family, and we don’t leave family behind.”

  “Makara?” Ashton said. “Surely, you’re not caught up in this madness?”

  She shrugged. “My loyalty is with Samuel.”

  Ashton growled on the other end of the line. “If you all insist on being so bullheaded and stubborn, then you leave me no choice.”

  We all looked at each other, eyes wide. What was he talking about?

  “I didn’t want it to come to this,” Ashton said. “I’m far too old to be doing such insane things.”

  “What are you talking about, Ashton?” Samuel asked.

  “If you are dead set on this fool plan, then someone is going to have to teach you how to parachute without killing yourselves.”

  “You’re coming down here?” Samuel asked.

  “I’ll be prepping Gilgamesh tonight,” Ashton said. “I should be there by morning, your time. Try to get some rest. You’re going to have a long day tomorrow.”

  With that, Ashton cut out.

  Chapter 10

  That next morning I awoke to the colossal sound of Gilgamesh landing right next to Odin. I rushed out of my bunk and ran outside.

  The early morning sun cast the large ship in a pale, orange glow. Three angular struts, two in back and one in front, unfolded from beneath the ship as it hovered above the ground. Slowly, it set down on the earth, its thrusters spewing blue flame. The ship’s internal, fusion hum dissipated as it powered down.

  Like Odin, Gilgamesh looked like a giant, primordial insect. Ashton had told me the U.S. made its spaceships angular in order to be invisible to radar. Gilgamesh had a short wingspan for atmospheric flying, through the majority of its lift came from the four thrusters mounted in back. These thrusters could be turned to provide propulsion in whatever direction Gilgamesh wanted to go – up, and down, even left and right, although it could not go directly backward, as the thrusters could not point straight ahead, toward the front of the ship.

  Gilgamesh’s boarding ramp slid outward, and the blast door opened. A few seconds later, Ashton appeared, standing at the top of the ramp.

  Samuel and Makara ran out to join me. We stood for a moment, watching Ashton.

  Without a word, he motioned for us to come up the ramp and join him in the ship. When he turned to go back inside, we climbed the ramp and entered the ship. The blast door shut behind us.

  The ship’s interior was cool, lit by fluorescent lights. The interior design was not much different from Odin, but everything was slightly larger. Two tables were built into the wall of Gilgamesh’s galley, whereas Odin only had one. Gilgamesh had been designed to carry a larger crew. The kitchen appeared to be in the same spot, connected to the galley, and to our left, a corridor led to the cabins and the clinic, and even further back, the engine and fusion generator. On our right lay another corridor. On one side lay a conference room, to which Ashton now walked. We followed him down the corridor. Opposite the conference room was the armory – where not just weapons were stored, but other necessary supplies. The main difference between Gilgamesh and Odin, besides size, was that Gilgamesh was large enough to have a proper bridge rather than a cockpit. Before ducking into the conference room after the others, I paused to take a look.

  Behind the pilot’s and copilot’s chairs was a large screen, displaying a colored map of Mexico, along with Gilgamesh’s location, a red dot on the map. A red line designated the flight path Gilgamesh had taken to arrive. On either si
de of the screen sat the pilot and copilot chairs. Outside the angled windshields, I could see the green of the forest. A large deck allowed room for standing in front of the screen, and several jump seats had been built into the walls. In all, the bridge was probably twice as big as Odin’s cockpit.

  I entered the conference room. A long, stainless steel table sat in the middle, and eight chairs sat around it, bolted to the floor. A flat screen, currently was off, was mounted to one of the walls. Three packs were lined up on the table.

  Parachutes, I thought.

  “Sit,” Ashton said. “We have much to go over.”

  His tone was stern and businesslike. He was probably still upset about our decision, but what was done was done. The fact that he was here meant he wasn’t completely against the idea.

  Or at least, that’s what I kept telling myself.

  “I took the time to refresh myself on how to do this,” Ashton said, indicating the parachutes. “Lucky for all of us, before Ragnarok fell, I was an experienced skydiver. My wife and I did it fairly often. There is not much to it, but it can be dangerous; especially for you all, who are lacking in experience. You will need to listen carefully, because there is not much time. The longer we wait to do this, the more danger Anna is in, and the more risky the operation becomes.

  “Today, you will learn something that should take many weeks to accomplish. You will each learn to drop solo, and be proficient in all the steps, not only ensure a safe landing, but to also land in a precise location of your choosing. Adding to this difficulty, you will be doing this at night, and will very likely be under enemy fire.”

  None of us said anything at Ashton’s preamble. We were all listening, intent on what he was going to say next.

  “The parachutes I have chosen are all dark. This was will make them difficult to see at night, although of course, it’s very probable that once you open the main canopy at an altitude of 2,500 feet, you will be seen, shot, and killed. To avoid this as much as possible, we will practice as much as we can today – if all goes well, we will have as much as three trial runs. During these trials, you will learn how, and when, to deploy your parachute, how to steer yourself in the direction you want to go using the toggles, and, if all goes well, learn how to steer proficiently enough to hit a precise location. And hopefully, you will learn enough during daylight to do this under the cloak of darkness.”