Meridian Divide

by Cassandra Rose Clarke

  “We shouldn’t be here,” she said softly.

  Victor made a scoffing noise. But Owen said, “You’re right. You shouldn’t. But you are now. And you have to decide what you’re going to do about it.”

  Dorian had stopped at the end of the hall, near a gouge in the wall. The wind pushed his clothes and his hair back. Evie wondered what he was looking at. If the wreckage that was Annecy looked any different from this angle.

  “We need to know what the Covenant are trying to find,” Owen said. “We need to evaluate how much of a threat it is. If you want to save the people of Meridian, that’s how you do it. You have to understand that the magnitude of this war is far, far bigger than the four of you and the people you love. It always has been. You’re not just scared kids anymore, and I think you know it.”

  Evie looked away from Dorian, at Saskia, who said nothing but gave a gentle nod, a minuscule I’m in.

  “Yeah,” Victor said. “Of course we do. Dorian’s just—”

  “Scared,” Evie said, maybe too defensively. “Just like all of us.”

  Victor looked away.

  “That’s good, to be scared,” Owen said. “That’s what’s going to keep you safe when we go out into Annecy.”

  Evie wanted to protest. Wanted to refuse. She wanted to arm herself with knowledge, ask Owen all the questions that were populating the fringes of her brain. How many lives had been lost? How far had the invasion spread? When would ONI—when would Owen—lie to them again? Did they really have a shot at saving Meridian?

  But she knew it would be pointless to do or ask any of those things. Not here. Not now. Not with the Covenant closing in on whatever artifact lay out there in the ruins.

  In the end, only three of them went out into the city with Owen. Dorian stayed behind, his fury radiating around him. He said he would help Green Squad scavenge the area, looking for supplies, and Evie knew he would. More than anything, Dorian cared about the well-being of the people around him—that was why he was so furious about the lie in the first place. She knew he thought that knowing about the invasion would have prevented the death of his friends. She saw the anger in his expression, the distrust. The hurt. She felt that hurt herself every time she looked at Owen. She understood why he’d done it—after all her experiences, the UNSC’s decision did make some sense to her, which was why she wasn’t about to give up her responsibility. But was flat-out lying the best solution? Surely the UNSC could have found a way to share information about the invasion in a way that would allow people to prepare, rather than just going about their lives to be blindsided.

  One good thing was that Saskia had managed to find a beat-up old reconnaissance vehicle in a hidden militia depot, bulky and armored with a turret fixed to the back. Saskia smiled when she came driving in with it, seeing Owen, Evie, and Victor standing out in the cold, dust from the demolished buildings blowing up in miniature tornadoes.

  “A Warthog,” she said. “I used to ride around in one of these with my parents. And even better, there’s a huge stockpile of ammo in the back.”

  “We’re extremely lucky you found that,” Owen called out as she pulled to a stop in front of them. “Makes it a hell of a lot easier to get to the coordinates.” He kept acting like the conversation earlier that morning had never happened. Evie rankled against it, this military way of pushing aside the things they didn’t want to think about. But she didn’t say anything either. After all, her mom had done the same thing.

  “I’ve got to say, I don’t think I’ll miss fighting my way through the woods,” Victor said as they crawled into the Warthog.

  “It’d be nice if we had some jackets, though.” Saskia smiled at Owen. “Mind if I man the turret?”

  Owen sighed. “That’s a pretty dangerous position to be in.”

  “Well, that’s not a no.” She crawled into the back of the vehicle, bracing herself against the mounted machine gun there.

  “If you’re going to do it,” Owen said, “hang on and don’t fire until I tell you to. That turret has serious recoil, so be prepared for it.”

  Evie wondered how Saskia could so easily act like nothing was wrong. Victor too. Didn’t it bother them? The broken buildings of the city loomed over Evie like tombstones, and she wondered how many people had died here during the invasion. It was one of the first hit, Dorian had said, which implied it wasn’t the very first. Could the UNSC have saved lives, at least here, in these early days, by alerting the people of Annecy?

  Focus on the mission, she told herself, and despite her lingering hurt, she reminded herself what Owen had told them, that what they were doing now was how they would save Meridian. A way to ensure the lives lost in Annecy—and within their own militia—wouldn’t have been in vain.

  Owen turned over the engine, and the Warthog rumbled down the side of the hill, heading into town. Evie leaned forward against the back of the front seats, her arms wrapped around herself to keep out the cold. She actually thought she preferred the forest to this. At least they had been dressed appropriately.

  “So where are we going?” Victor said.

  Or is that classified? Evie thought.

  “Eastern side of the city.” Owen tapped a comm control on the Warthog’s dash, and a map of the city flowered into existence. A pale green dot blinked in the upper left-hand corner. “We’ll see how accurate that is, though.”

  “Would ONI give us the wrong coordinates?” Evie shouted over the wind.

  “Only if they made a mistake.”

  “I meant on purpose.” Evie felt vaguely dizzy.

  Victor shot her a dark look. “Stop trying to be Dorian,” he muttered.

  “Why do you think they would do that?” Owen asked.

  “They’re clearly okay with lying when it suits them.” The words were out of her mouth before she could stop them. “Even when it means excessive casualties. Maybe they decided we’d serve them best as a distraction while the militia—”

  “Evie, stop.” Saskia leaned down, one hand gripping the turret, her mouth close to Evie’s ear. How she’d managed to hear the exchange over the wind and the rattle of debris beneath the Warthog’s tires, Evie had no idea. “Let’s focus on the mission.”

  “You’re right,” Evie said, and she knew Saskia was. But Evie didn’t like operating in this world of secrets and classified information. It wasn’t just about the UNSC keeping the invasion a secret from civilians either. ONI had led Owen and the militia straight into a death trap with limited intelligence. How could she blindly trust them after that? If it hadn’t been for Dorian’s backup plan, they’d probably all be dead, and the Covenant would have the artifact, which, for all ONI knew, was a world-destroying super-weapon.

  For the first time in a while, Evie was glad to be getting out of this life soon. She was going to be a computer scientist, where all the answers were laid out in front of you if you knew how to look for them.

  She leaned back in the seat, teeth chattering a little. The husk of the city flashed by. Buildings jutted like stalagmites out of the charred ground. Unrecognizable lumps of debris marred by a single untouched sign for a breakfast restaurant, the letters flat without the energy to make them glow. Evie thought of the destruction the Covenant had wrought on the main street back in Brume-sur-Mer. It was nothing compared to the wreckage of Annecy.

  And she’d had no idea it had even happened.

  Owen turned the Warthog down a narrow alley. The vehicle barely fit between the two towering brick walls, the only remains of whatever buildings they’d once belonged to. He killed the engine.

  “Is this it?” Victor said doubtfully.

  “No,” Owen said. “But we’re continuing on foot. Easier to stay hidden.”

  Evie’s frustration and anger was replaced then by the old squeeze of fear. She wrapped her fingers around her rifle. “You think the Covenant’s here already?”

  “I think it’s not safe to assume anything.” Owen paused. “Regardless of what ONI might say.”

&nb
sp; He jumped out of the Warthog, and Evie just sat stunned.

  “See?” Saskia dropped down beside her. “He understands.”

  “Does it matter if we can’t trust him or ONI? He lied to you too,” Evie said.

  “Yeah, but I understand why he did it.” Saskia put her hand on Evie’s shoulder. “We’ve got to trust him if we’re going to get out of this alive. We can be as angry as we need to be later, but for now we’ve got to trust—”

  Gunfire exploded on the other side of the building. Saskia and Evie both slouched down in the seat, instincts kicking in. Footsteps against the cement. A pant of breath.

  It was Victor.

  “Grunt,” he said. “Owen got him. Are you two coming or not?”

  “Let’s go,” Saskia said, and she climbed out of the Warthog. Evie took a deep breath and followed.

  Victor led them around to the other side of the wall, in the blackened pit where some part of a city had once been. Now there was just Owen clutching his rifle, the body of a Grunt splayed out in front of him.

  “I knew it,” he said. “We’ve got to be careful. The fact that there’s a Covenant presence this far out from the coordinates—” He glanced over at Evie and Saskia and Victor. “Remember your training. This is just like Brume-sur-Mer. Stick to the shadows. Stay hidden.”

  He turned and gestured for them to follow, skittering up close to the wall. They lined up behind him single file, the way they always did in the forest. It felt strange to fall into position without Dorian, though, and Evie wondered if it would ever be the same between them again. He’d been angry enough that she could imagine him trying to find a way off-world, though she doubted he’d get far if Meridian really was in as bad of shape as ONI made it seem.

  She tried to shove the thought aside, the way of a soldier. Because she was a soldier now, creeping through a war zone. There would be time to process all this later. If they managed to get out alive.

  They picked their way through the ruins, running across the open spaces to duck behind piles of debris. The cold wind blew up clouds of white dust that made Evie’s eyes sting. At least the movement kept her relatively warm.

  Owen held up a fist, stopping them in their tracks. Then he gestured them closer.

  They crouched down behind a slab of gray stone. Owen reached into the hard case fixed onto the armor of his thigh and pulled out the artifact. The light inside pulsed like a star.

  “What’s it doing?” Evie blurted, before slapping her hand over her mouth. She’d never seen it pulse like that before.

  “The coordinates are dead ahead,” Owen said in a low voice. “I wanted to see how this would react.”

  The light brightened, faded, brightened, faded.

  “It seems like there’s a connection,” Saskia whispered.

  Owen nodded, then lifted his head over the top of the stone. The wind was whining through the demolished buildings, keening low and haunting. It was all Evie could hear.

  “Not seeing any hostiles,” he said, slipping the artifact back into the case. Evie wanted to reach over it and pull it out again—she was fascinated by that pulsing light, fascinated by the secrets the artifact could hold.

  But Owen was already moving forward, jogging over the piles of shredded garbage that rose up in the wind, swirling like ghosts.

  “Let’s go,” he said.

  Evie took a deep breath, stood, followed. Owen was a blur on the debris fields up ahead. She hated being out in the open like this, but there was no place to duck behind and hide. Whatever had happened here had left an empty space in the middle of the city, insulated by strips of white foam and sparkling swirls of broken glass.

  “What is this stuff?” Saskia whispered, kicking a wad of foam.

  “Not sure,” Victor muttered. “It kind of looks like insulation, but the smell is more … sterile?”

  Owen stopped, lifted one hand. Over here. Evie broke into a run, her heart hammering. Owen crouched down on the ground, pulled out the artifact. Immediately, a glare of light flashed out over the open space, bright enough that Evie stumbled, momentarily blinded. Panic crept up her spine. How far had that light traveled?

  More importantly: Had the Covenant seen it?

  She blinked the dots out of her vision and took off again. “Why’d you do that?” she demanded as she stumbled up next to Owen.

  Saskia came up behind her. “What happened?”

  “The artifact is reacting strangely,” he said, his voice frustratingly calm.

  Evie scanned the area around Owen. More of that strange white debris. It drifted up into piles beside them, swirling and then settling, dusting across the hulking shoulders of his armor. As Evie approached, she saw a soft purple-pink light reflected in his visor. Her chest seized up.

  “They beat us to it,” she said, suddenly aware of the energy shield blocking their path.

  “Maybe,” Owen said. “Maybe not.” He pointed at the ground, and Evie moved closer and saw that there was an enormous hole carved into the broken, blackened cement. A Covenant energy shield arced over the hole, sealing it tight.

  “Why ‘maybe not’?” Saskia asked. “They’ve clearly been drilling here.”

  “If they’d already taken the artifact, there wouldn’t be a shield over it,” Owen said. “There’s no excavation equipment here anymore either. No Locust, no Scarab. But they are protecting something down there.”

  “Which means they beat us to it,” Evie said softly. “But it’s probably still there.”

  Owen looked up at her, his face hidden by his visor. “Exactly.”

  “Also explains why there are only scattered patrols in the city; if they can’t extract it—”

  “It means they’ve been focusing their efforts somewhere else,” Saskia finished.

  Brume-sur-Mer, Evie thought. But now that they’d extracted the artifact, how long would it be before the Covenant set their sights on Annecy?

  Owen stood, switched on the light embedded into his helmet, shone it down on the shield. Evie expected it to just reflect back, but instead they were able to get a better glimpse of what lay beyond the shield, in that huge hole. Stairs. Smooth gleaming walls. An opening of some sort—no, she realized. A doorway.

  “It’s a building,” she gasped.

  Owen nodded, the light bouncing over the shield, revealing more flashes of the structure: strange carved glyphs, smooth gray walls made of stone.

  Evie became aware then of a strange humming sound, something vaguely mechanical. She grabbed her rifle and whipped her head around, surveying the open space and finding only that white debris. “Do you hear that?” she whispered.

  “Yes,” Victor said, gripping his own gun. “What is that?”

  The humming intensified, filling up the air around them. And then Owen cursed.

  Evie jumped; she’d never heard that from him. He whipped off the case containing the artifact and immediately the humming stopped, although the case was still vibrating, the material rattling against the palm of his glove.

  “I didn’t even feel it,” Owen said, sounding slightly dazed.

  The vibrating seemed to be getting more intense. Evie reached out for the case, but Owen clutched it more tightly and shook his head. “It’s not safe.”

  “Nothing about this is safe,” she snapped, and when she pulled on the case, he let it go. The vibration rumbled up through her fingers, into her arm. She tried her best to ignore it and slid the case open.

  There was no flash of light like before, but the light inside the cylinder was shimmering violently, bouncing strangely against the glass walls. Evie took a step closer to the excavation site. Held the case up toward it.

  The case jerked out of her hand, went flying sideways. Evie stumbled with the force of its movement and hit the ground hard, close enough to the energy shield that she smelled the sizzle of its power.

  “Got it,” Owen said. She peered up, and he was holding the case in one enormous fist. It lifted itself up, trying to pull away from hi
m, but he was able to hold tight. “It wants to get to that structure.”

  “What if we let it go?” Victor said. “That was some intense force. I wonder if it could break through the shield—”

  Reddish plasma bolts suddenly streaked past them, raining down over the shield and the rest of the dig site like comets. Owen leapt away from the shield and began firing; the artifact slumped back to normal. Evie scrambled to her feet and fired off a round of bullets, aiming at the tall, shaggy figures barreling toward them. Jiralhanae, howling and firing as they approached.

  “Run!” Owen roared, and they did, Evie and Saskia taking the lead, Victor laying down cover fire. They had to get to shelter. The plasma bolts lit up the shadows around the ruins.

  “There!” Victor called out, pointing at the ragged remains of a steel wall. Evie pumped her arms faster. She could hear Owen shouting behind them. Shouting orders? She couldn’t hear over the adrenaline, and so she ran, her lungs burning, until she could duck behind the wall.

  “Figured it wouldn’t be unprotected for long,” Saskia murmured as she reloaded her gun. “Not after Owen took out that Grunt nearby.”

  “And now they know we’re here,” Evie gasped. “Always the perennial problem with us.” She stood up, peered around the wall, firing wildly. Owen was racing toward them, Brutes following. She counted three of them.

  “Run!” Owen roared. “We’ve got to lose them in the city. Now!”

  Evie twisted back around the wall. “Did you hear that?”

  Saskia and Victor nodded wildly.

  “Well,” Evie said. “Let’s go.”

  And so they ran.

  Victor slouched down in a pile of ash and dirt, the softest place in the entire city. He took a deep breath, but the cold air just stabbed at his lungs. He never thought he’d say this, but he missed Brume-sur-Mer and its sweltering humidity.

  “Do we know where we are?” Saskia asked, sitting a few paces away on a chunk of broken stone. She squinted up at the sky. “Better yet, does Owen know where we are?”