Under the Wire_A Jupiter Winds Short Story

by C. J. Darlington

  “I do not care.”

  “That why you defected?”

  Natalya was quick as a cat and slapped Rin on the cheek. “Smart tongue get you nowhere.”

  “Why even talk to us then?” There was a fury behind Grey’s eyes, and Rin knew it was killing her not to do something to retaliate for that slap to her kid sister. Sometimes her protectiveness got overbearing, but in this case Rin appreciated knowing that if they died today at least their bond would be as strong as ever.

  “Yes, that is good question.” Natalya circled around them, maybe so they couldn’t make eye contact. “See, I have heard of Alexanders.”

  Rin and Grey exchanged a glance. Did this woman know something about their parents?

  “You are brave, and I am sorry to hear of your loss.”

  “My parents aren’t dead,” Rin said.

  “Ah, but as good as such, correct?”

  She ground her teeth. This little conversation was hardly productive, but Natalya was in charge here, and the best Rin and Grey could do was play along.

  “I have heard of your skills,” Natalya continued. “I could as easily turn you over to Mazdaar as I snap fingers.” Natalya did just that. “But I do not like them. They cheap.”

  “What?” Rin and Grey both responded in unison.

  “Money. We are talking about money.” Natalya sighed and shook her head. “Children. They do not understand.”

  “Maybe if you—”

  “Only speak when spoken to!”

  Rin shut up.

  “Or perhaps you would work for me.”

  When neither of them responded, Natalya smiled. “Good. You learn.”

  “We’re no bounty hunters,” Grey said.

  “But smugglers, yes?”

  So that’s what this was about. Rin warmed a little that someone recognized their skills, but the aching in her shoulders from being bound reminded her who was in charge. Natalya had kidnapped them.

  “If you wanted us to work for you, you could’ve asked,” Grey said.

  “And you would have refused.”

  “Sure about that?”

  “Yes.” Natalya unholstered her violetflare and held it in her palm. “I know you Alexanders. Good to fault. But your stupid morals are practically useless in this place.”

  “We’re alive,” Rin said.

  “But you would have been dead if I hadn’t rescued you.”

  Rin and Grey glanced at each other again.

  “Ah, I see you are clueless, as I suspected.”

  “What do you mean?” Grey’s voice lowered.

  “Land mines. Newly planted by swarm of drones.” Natalya holstered her weapon and nodded at her guards. The men came behind Rin and Grey and undid their restraints.

  “Do not test me,” Natalya said. “You will lose if you do.”

  Rin believed her.

  “Anyway. We were talking of how you are going to work for me.”

  “Why not just warn us? Then we wouldn’t have needed to be rescued.” Rin rubbed her wrists where the metal restraints had dug into her skin. The area burned.

  “Let me see.” Natalya tapped her head. “I too am in this to survive. If I would have warned you, then I receive nothing. This way I—how do you say?—kill two birds with one stone.”

  Rin always hated that phrase.

  “I will pay you.”

  This was getting weirder and weirder. First, a bounty hunter kidnaps them and claims she actually rescued them, and now she wants them to work for her, and she’s going to pay them? They’d never been particularly discriminatory about the jobs they took smuggling. Practically everything was contraband out here in the Preserve, after all, but Grey always drew the line somewhere. Working for a bounty hunter who clearly turned in unconnected people was hardly the type of work their parents would be proud they were doing. Or Mrs. March. Rin wished they could ask the old woman for advice.

  A burning question came to Rin’s mind.

  “Are you connected?” she said.

  Natalya laughed.

  Whether she was or wasn’t didn’t matter right now. They had a decision to make, and Grey was the one who would make it. Rin glanced at her sister.

  “How much?” Grey asked.

  # # #

  Rin stared down at the flat, rectangular object in Natalya’s hands.

  “This is what we’re smuggling?” Rin said.

  “This more valuable than you think,” Natalya replied.

  Rin eyed her sister, and Grey gave her a little shrug.

  “It’s a book,” Rin said.

  Natalya’s expression was like the one Mom gave Rin when she suggested they adopt a tiger cub, and Rin stared down at the thin tome. The Art of War by Sun Tzu, said the plain red cover, though the lettering had faded and the edges of the cover were worn so much that the cardboard underneath the paper was showing through.

  She knew about Mazdaar’s book ban and mass confiscation of libraries across the world. They either burned them or carried them off to who-knew-where. Sometimes Rin thought about it when she picked up one of the few Mom and Dad had salvaged for them. They only had a handful of physical books. Most of their reading material was kept on the server that ran the silo’s security system, but Rin still enjoyed actually holding one in her hands. She reached for the book Natalya cradled in her fingers.

  Natalya didn’t release it. “I do not know if I trust you.”

  This time Grey actually rolled her eyes. “Are you kidding?”

  “Do I look kidding?” Natalya glared at them.

  Crossing her arms, Rin widened her stance and tried to make herself appear more confident than she felt. She didn’t trust Natalya either, but the woman had just offered them enough coinage to keep them well fed for a month. They could buy fresh food from the well-hidden traders who farmed underground or meat from the outlaw hunters. It was worth the risk.

  “Why us?”

  Rin’s question hung in the air. She glanced from Natalya to Grey to one of Natalya’s guards who stood at the entrance of the cavern holding a blueflare rifle across his chest. They were in the heart of the fox’s den. Rin wondered if she should feel more afraid.

  “You practically said we’re stupid kids,” Grey added.

  “And dispensable.” Natalya’s response was matter-of-fact.

  In a way Rin liked her directness, but it was also unnerving.

  Rin pointed at the book still clutched between Natalya’s fingers. “If that’s so valuable, why trust us?”

  “Doveryat.”

  Rin cocked her head. “What?”

  “Russian,” Natalya said.

  She eyed her sister again, and Grey’s eyebrow rose. Maybe they should just let Natalya talk. Rin had learned on most of their missions that filling silence never gave them the advantage. It was easier to mess up if you started running at the mouth.

  “Trust is not the word I would use,” Natalya said. She handed the book to Rin, and she realized that doveryat must be the Russian term for whatever it was Natalya was trying to convey.

  Rin took the book and turned it over in her hand.

  “I must get this to man named Jet,” Natalya said.

  “Who?” Grey sidled over to Rin and together they examined The Art of War.

  “In the Alamo Republic.”

  Rin looked up sharply. “Seriously?”

  “What is it with these children?” Natalya raised her hands. “They think I joke all the time?” She waved her arms around the cavern. “Do I look like I joke?”

  For some reason a smile came to Rin’s lips, but she quickly erased it. Even though there were so many different nationalities sprinkled in the Preserve’s crevices, Rin had never heard an accent quite like Natalya’s before. It made everything she said seem less serious, though Rin had a feeling it was not having the same effect on her sister.

  Grey’s eyes narrowed, and she looked as firm as ever and ready to take on whatever was necessary. But the Alamo Republic? It was one of Mazdaa
r’s most protected cities. How would they get past the border fence? She’d heard it was charged with enough voltage to fry someone’s brain.

  “You will do?” Natalya stepped closer to Grey, and Rin felt a little like she was being left out. Sure, Grey was older, but everyone always seemed to address her sister as if she wasn’t even there. Except Mrs. March. Their eccentric old neighbor treated them like equals, and Rin had always loved her for that.

  “I said we’d do it, so we will,” Grey responded. “But we’re gonna need a lot more information.”

  Natalya smiled. “My specialty.”

  # # #

  “This is auris plug,” Natalya explained, holding up a small device the size of Rin’s fingertip. “It is removable implant and will allow you to hear for miles.”

  Rin felt her mouth gape. She’d heard of these devices that allowed the unconnected to have some of the same technology as the connected, except they could take them out of their heads whenever they wanted. But never had she imagined actually getting her hands on one. They had to be worth a fortune.

  “And why are you giving these to us?”

  Grey voiced Rin’s concerns too. All of this was just a little bit too weird and convenient. Were they making a mistake trusting this woman?

  Continuing on as if she didn’t hear the question, Natalya set down the auris on the scratched metallic table in the corner of the cavern where supplies were laid out along with the book they were supposed to deliver to this Jet person. Rin recognized the basics, no problem. A collapsible shovel, bundles of rope, sheet of chameleon cloth, and a coilgun.

  “This is ocelli.” Natalya plucked up a clear rectangular box in which a disk of some kind lay on a bed of gauze. “You wear it in eye, and these”—she picked up two bracelets—“are controllers. They enable command of implants without voice or brain waves.”

  Basic stuff she’d read about but never expected to see in the Preserve. Their silo home had some upper level tech, but nothing quite like this.

  “Why, you ask?” Natalya handed the ocelli to Grey. “You must get in alive. That will not happen without these. If not happen, then I get no money.”

  Okay . . . that was encouraging.

  They spent the next hour being lectured about how to use each device, and Natalya made both Rin and Grey practice using the implants. Rin tried not to hide her excitement, but when she placed the auris plug in her ear, she heard an animal outside snort, and if she wasn’t mistaken it was something of the equine variety. Maybe they could use these to find the zorses!

  Grey elbowed her, and she realized she was looking too eager. They always had to downplay interest in just about everything these days. An eager buyer could be taken advantage of, but disinterest could slash prices or even close a deal they wouldn’t otherwise have made.

  “Okay, so you have our attention,” Grey said, and Rin nodded her agreement.

  Natalya rolled her eyes at them. “Do you honestly think you walk away without doing this?”

  Was that a threat?

  “Half our payment up front,” Grey said.

  “Agree,” Natalya replied.

  “And you escort us as close to the fence as you can.”

  Natalya tipped her chin toward them. “You are not used to walking?”

  “We’re tired,” Rin added.

  “Then we have deal.” Natalya’s smile seemed genuine. “Leave at dawn.”

  She allowed them a few hours’ rest in a small chamber off the main room where they met earlier. Lying on two cots that smelled of moth balls, Rin and Grey tried to doze. Neither of them could.

  “Do you trust her?” Rin asked.

  “We don’t have a choice.”

  “I thought we always had a choice.”

  “She holds all the cards.”

  “We could run,” Rin said.

  “And that got us pretty far before.”

  Point taken.

  Rin rested her hands behind her head and stared up at the moist, rock ceiling. She didn’t mind small spaces, and she didn’t even mind that Natalya had at first deceived them, but venturing into the Alamo Republic seemed like a suicide mission. She didn’t want to lose her sister anytime soon. They’d already lost their parents. They needed each other now more than ever.

  But Grey knew all that too, and she still agreed to do this. Rin turned onto her side and tried to see her sister’s face better. She couldn’t really remember a day that didn’t go by without observing some sort of worry lines on Grey’s forehead. She always tried to hide her emotions from Rin, but Rin still saw more than Grey knew. That’s why she tried to crack jokes sometimes or steer the conversation to a lighter topic. They were good for each other that way. Grey kept Rin safe, and she kept Grey sane.

  The thought made her chuckle.

  “What are you laughing at?”

  “Nothing.”

  “You’re silly, Rinny.”

  She pushed herself up on her elbow. “We’re gonna be okay. Together. That’s how we do stuff, right?”

  “Yeah.”

  “What would you do without me?”

  She meant it to make Grey smile, but instead her sister’s eyes started to water.

  “That was supposed to be funny,” Rin said.

  Grey reached out and grabbed Rin’s hand, squeezing it hard. “I know.”

  “If we thought of this as an adventure it might help.”

  # # #

  Natalya herself piloted the hovercraft that flew them across the desert. This time Grey and Rin weren’t bound or blindfolded, and they could see the beauty of the familiar landscape as the horizon lightened, though Rin couldn’t keep her heart from racing as fast as the craft.

  Dust flung through the air and her hair whipped in the wind, but even though Rin knew her life was in danger she felt incredibly free. Like she could actually lower her guard for a few seconds. That surprised her. Usually it took something animal-related to fill her with joy, but this was the most fun she’d had in a long time. She had a feeling Grey didn’t exactly share her sentiments.

  Still, Rin gave her sister a wink and a salute when Natalya wasn’t looking, and Grey returned it. It was either laugh or cry.

  Too soon the hovercraft’s engine slowed. When they came to a complete stop Rin waited beside her sister, wondering what they should do.

  “You just sit there?” Natalya jumped over the side of the open-air craft. Her curly hair askew, she glared up at them.

  Rin and Grey did the same, both weighed down with the packs full of supplies. Grey wore the ocelli lens and Rin the auris plug. They had decided that would be less complicated. She wasn’t sure if she could handle two implants at once with such little training.

  “You understand mission?” Natalya asked.

  Rin gave the woman a thumbs-up.

  “Doveryat runs both ways,” Grey said.

  Natalya’s lip curled up as if she was pleased. “Then it is time for you to move.”

  She leapt back into the craft but didn’t immediately drive away.

  “Walk confidently,” Grey said to Rin, and together they headed across the desert toward a mission Rin knew would change their lives one way or another.

  # # #

  The Alamo Republic border fence was invisible, but over the years rebels had marked it strategically with well-placed rocks and dirt mounds. Mrs. March had taught Grey exactly what to look for years ago.

  “How many volts do you think it is?” Rin whispered to Grey.

  “Enough to kill an elephant.”

  That wasn’t exactly heartening, and as they approached the fence crouching from saguaro to saguaro and sandstone boulder to sandstone boulder, Rin felt as if one of the rocks had sunk into her stomach. They could die today.

  Grey seemed to sense her distress, because she reached out and patted her on the shoulder. “Hey, it’s going to be okay.”

  “Promise?”

  Her sister’s touch sent confidence through her limbs.

  In uniso
n, like the well-oiled team they’d become, Rin and Grey Alexander approached the border fence. Rin wasn’t sure, but she almost thought she could hear it hum with electricity. Was that even possible?

  She glanced upward where the vertical bolts of current shot from the buried wire they were supposed to unearth. How high did the beams go? Rin grabbed a rock and without thinking threw it at the fence.

  When it hit the invisible beams, the explosion as it disintegrated was like a thunder clap, and Rin ducked as splinters of rock rained on them.

  “What are you doing?” Grey grabbed Rin by the arm and pulled her to the ground.

  “I wanted to—”

  “You’ll alert the drones!”

  “But—”

  “Anytime there’s a set-off, the drones have to check.” Grey tore off her pack and threw it on the ground, frantically unzipping it and pulling out the shovel.

  Stupid! She should’ve realized.

  “I didn’t know, Grey.”

  “Just hurry.”

  “We can come back later.”

  “There’s not enough time or cover. They’ll be less likely to find us inside.”

  Heart racing, Rin obeyed her sister, but she could barely concentrate on her Grey’s instructions. If they were caught, it would be her fault. Her fault. Her fault. Her—

  “Rin.”

  She blinked back tears.

  “We’ll be fine,” Grey said, squeezing her arm. She stood for a moment and stared at the air where the fence’s current would be flowing. “At least we know for sure it’s on.”

  “I’m really sorry,” Rin said.

  “Keep your ears peeled.”

  She’d almost forgotten the auris, and with a swipe of her bracelet controller she turned it up. Natalya had shown her how to tune out the background noises with a few commands.

  “Nothing yet,” she said.

  Grey shrugged, and with a deep breath plunged the shovel into the hard ground, making sure to keep her body and the metal blade away from the charge. Even with its insulated handle, they weren’t sure if it might conduct the electricity.

  They took turns digging and keeping watch until both of them were dripping with sweat and panting in the pre-dawn light. Soon they could see the wire and scraped the dirt away underneath. The current projected upward. They’d have to make a tunnel large enough for them to crawl underneath without touching the wire.