“Provided we don’t crash into anything, and that another patrol doesn’t try to contact us, and that no one else sees my terrible attempt at driving and gets suspicious, probably fifteen minutes,” Allison said.
“If we manage to pull that off, how exactly are we going to get into the palace? They aren’t just going to let us wander in, not even in this rig,” Ethan stated.
“We aren’t all going into the palace,” Aleena replied. “Like I said before, I’m going alone. I’ll have a better chance on my own. I just need you to drop me off close. Then both of you should head back to the forest. I’ll meet you in the clearing by sunup.”
“I still don’t like it,” Ethan said
“Me either,” Allison agreed.
“It doesn’t matter. I’m doing this alone. Ethan, if you want me to keep training you, then you have to listen to me.”
“Fine, but if you’re not back by sunrise, we’re coming after you,” Ethan said.
“You won’t need to,” Aleena replied. “I’ll be there.”
They arrived several blocks from the palace with no incident and parked next to a tall gray tower. It was engulfed by reflective windows that ran seamlessly to the top of the skyscraper. “This is as close as we should get,” Allison said. “The palace is a little ways ahead.” She pointed in the general direction. “You can’t miss it.”
In front of the tower, two formidable-looking men dressed in dark T-shirts and jeans were playing a card game on a bench. Aleena, not noticing the bystanders, reached for the switch to open the side door.
“Wait!” Ethan called quickly. “There are people out there. You can’t let them see you.”
Aleena leaned forward into the cabin to see out the window. Sure enough, just as Ethan said, she saw two men holding cards and staring straight into each other’s eyes, a pile of Urlowen cash stacked between them. “Those are members of the Council Guard,” Aleena said, her voice catching in her throat.
“How do you know that?” Ethan asked. His own voice quivered just a bit. Something about these men reminded him of the soldiers who’d decimated his friends in the clothing store.
“Those black bands on their left arms. They’re called multibands. They’re like personal computers and communication devices all rolled into one. They’re only issued to the Guard. Standard troops don’t get that kind of tech.”
“Do you think they know the people who killed my parents?” Allison asked, anger and pain mixing in her voice.
“If your parents were killed by the Guard, then you may be looking straight at the ones who did it. They usually only deploy one team per city, and even then, they don’t stay long. It usually doesn’t take them long to do their job. If you ever find out that more than one team is being sent to a particular area, then you should really start to worry. That’s what happened when they decided to eradicate my people.”
It took half an hour and several hands before the game ended. Finally, the shorter of the two Guard reached out and pulled the money pile toward himself, laughing. The other got up and stormed into the building.
“I think they were playing poker,” Ethan said.
“It doesn’t really matter. Look, the other one just went inside too. Now’s your chance, Aleena,” Allison said.
Aleena opened the side hatch and stepped out of the skimmer. As far as she could see, no one was watching. She leaned her head back into the vehicle and whispered, “Remember, ditch the skimmer and meet me at the clearing.”
“We’ll be there,” Ethan replied. “You better be too.”
The door slid shut. Ethan and Allison watched Aleena run across the street and disappear around a corner, moving in the direction of the palace.
Allison looked up at the tower just outside the window. “I don’t like this place,” she said. “We need to get out of here.”
Ethan looked over at the building as well. “I think you’re right, and I think we need to go right now.”
Chapter 22
The glass door swung shut behind Alex, a large stack of bills and coins in his arms. He glanced over his shoulder to see if the patrol skimmer was still lurking a short distance down the road. “Still there,” he said to Zavier, who was standing near the reception desk watching the vehicle.
“Well done, detective,” Zavier murmured. “How you managed to beat me with smarts like that is one of the mysteries of the universe.”
“You’d miss me if I wasn’t around.”
Zavier sneered. “Don’t count on it.” In spite of his annoyance about parting with one week’s pay, he couldn’t get too upset with his best friend. After all, Zavier was the one who’d asked Alex to play a couple hands tonight. I guess I did it to myself.
“I’ll call it up to Wren,” Alex said, referring to the skimmer’s unscheduled appearance.
“Don’t bother, I called him just before you came inside. He already knew anyway. The proximity alarms have been going off ever since it pulled up. He was watching it from the penthouse on the security feeds.”
Just as he finished speaking, a young black-haired girl caught his eye, darting out from the other side of the skimmer. “Why, hello there. You certainly aren’t a patrolman.” Zavier pushed off from the desk he was leaning against. He watched the girl turn the corner across the street and run out of sight.
Wren’s voice cut into their minds. “Did you catch that?”
“Yes, sir, we saw her. Do you want a tail and a pickup?” Alex replied.
“Start with the tail. Let’s figure out what she’s doing before we decide to pick her up.”
“And the skimmer?” Zavier asked.
“I’ll put Malik and Traven on it.”
“We’ll be in touch.”
“I would expect nothing less.” Wren’s transmission ceased.
Alex and Zavier ran toward the lobby door, their sneakers squeaking against the polished marble floor.
“Do you have any weapons on you?” Zavier asked.
“I’ve got a knife and handgun.”
“I just have a knife.”
“Really? You were outside without a firearm? Did you smack your head this morning or something?”
“It was our night off! Never mind, just shut up and run faster. We have to catch up to her.”
It only took them a couple of blocks to close to a workable distance from the girl. She was fast, making trailing her without being seen exceptionally difficult. They took turns breaking off from behind her into alleyways and side streets, alternating who was closest just in case she spotted one of them. Even then, they maintained at least a city block of separation and never let her gain line of sight on them.
“She’s going to the palace,” Alex said through the multiband.
“I was thinking the same thing.”
“Do you want to intercept her before she gets there?”
“I don’t see how she could be a threat to the palace sentinels. I say we let them catch her, and then we’ll ask her a few questions before they let her go.”
“Sounds good to me.”
Zavier was a block ahead of Alex and closest to the girl. “I’ll wait for you here.”
“Be there shortly.”
Zavier brought up his multiband’s communication channel and connected to Wren’s encryption protocol.
“Zavier, what’s she up to?”
“She’s headed to the councilwoman’s palace, sir. We’re pulling back a bit. If she approaches the palace, the sentinels will catch her. In the meantime, we’ll get a glimpse of her intentions.”
“Good thinking. I’ll let the sentinel commander know she’s inbound. Check in once you know more.”
“Always, sir.”
It only took Alex another minute to rendezvous with Zavier. He was panting a bit when he arrived. “At least we’ve learned one thing already.”
“Yeah, what’s that?” Zavier asked.
“She’s gotta be a runner. People don’t move that fast unless they’re an athlete.”
Zavier rolled his eyes. “If she’s so athletic, then maybe she’ll give the sentinels a decent fight.”
“I’ll bet she does. I’ll bet she lasts at least a minute.”
“You willing to put money on that?” Zavier replied, seeing an opportunity to win his money back.
“Always,” Alex said, a hungry smile pasted on his lips.
“Then it’s a week’s pay, if she lasts less than a minute.”
“You’re on. Now let’s go get some ringside seats.”
The two made their way toward the palace. The front entrance had a large courtyard with a two-story gold statue of the first High Councilman. His hands were extended as if welcoming all those who would approach the palace. He stood atop a raised platform which took the shape of the largest continent on the Urlowen home world. His feet rested in the center where the High Palace resided. The platform was surrounded by water that extended fifty feet in all directions and was enclosed by a perfectly circular retaining wall. The building was five stories tall with rows of gold-trimmed windows with small balconies denoting each story. The palace entrance was on the second story, and a wide marble staircase led from the courtyard, passing under grand arches, up to a row of ten perfectly symmetrical, ornate double doors.
“She’d be crazy to make a run on the front entrance,” Alex said. “She has to be headed to the side.” The road had dumped them out closer to the south side of the palace.
“Quick or we’ll miss the whole thing. They’ll probably have her by the time we get there,” Zavier urged.
Fueled by curiosity more than caution, they abandoned subtlety and ran through the open courtyard toward the side of the palace. When they rounded the corner, Zavier stopped dead in his tracks, his mouth open and his eyes wide. Alex nearly slammed into his back but jumped to the side, avoiding the collision.
It took Zavier a moment to compose his thoughts. “How did this happen?” he finally asked.
Scattered on the ground near one of the palace entrances, ten sentinels laid motionless. Another five were evenly spaced directly next to the palace wall. Zavier looked toward the roof, realizing those five had fallen from their positions above.
“Where’s the girl?” Alex asked, breaking the silence.
They exchanged a knowing look, then sprinted toward the palace entrance.
“She must’ve had help,” Alex said.
All traces of the playful bet made earlier were gone as the two transitioned without thought into their role as soldiers. They ran up a staircase, much smaller than the ornate front entrance, to the door. It was closed firmly and still locked. Alex used his multiband to send the entry codes to the door, which immediately swung open before him.
“I’ll secure the councilwoman,” Zavier said. “You find the girl and watch your back.” He took off down the corridor at breakneck speed.
Alex lifted his arm while linking his multiband to the palace security system. Where are you going? A schematic of the entire building was projected into the space just above his forearm. A snakelike line of security cameras flashed red, winding through the halls of the first floor and up to the second. As he watched, more of the pinpoints representing cameras in the image began flashing red. He brought up a live display from a camera in the path of the intruder, splitting the view from the multiband so he could simultaneously see the building schematic juxtaposed against the live video. On the building schematic, the camera positions just before the video feed began flashing red, but nothing looked out of the ordinary on the video. Any second now. He watched the live stream closely until it abruptly went black. At the same time, the point on the schematic representing the camera started flashing red.
Well that was disappointing.
Alex shut off the video feed, leaving the schematic of the building visible, and sprinted toward the second floor. The path of red dots was winding through the corridors of the palace in a wandering fashion. What are you looking for? He had to change directions multiple times in his attempt to reach an intercept point. The path wound to the third floor, where the trail finally stopped.
Increasing the size of the schematic, Alex pulled up the list of rooms on the floor. There was only one accessible at that location: the intelligence repository. This is an intel op? Really? Alex continued running toward the repository. What kind of moron runs an intel op with this level of visibility? He laughed out loud. A moron who’s going to get caught, that’s who.
Alex passed three more sentinels sprawled on the white and gray marble floor before he reached the repository’s hallway. The camera trail hadn’t changed in the time it took for him to get there. The entry to the room was usually sealed by a large circular solid metal door, four feet thick and sealed both magnetically and with several poles that extended from its perimeter into sockets located in the walls. However, the door stood wide open, and cracks ran the length of walls from the trauma of having the poles ripped through their sockets.
There was no sound coming from inside the room. Alex edged to the side of the opening and waited against the wall, out of sight of anyone inside. Given the loss of life and destruction that this girl and her friends had made on their way into the palace, he wasn’t going to rush headfirst into the large open repository; he’d wait and give them a nasty surprise when they came out. It was risky giving them the chance to access intel while he waited, but there was no way to transmit any communication outside the palace. The only exception to this was the Guards’ multibands. And with me standing just outside the door, there’s no way any of them will leave this palace.
After two or three more minutes of waiting, Alex heard movement within the repository. Five sentinels entered the hallway, but he waved them off. They moved back around the corner to provide support should he require it. At last, soft footsteps echoed in the room and drew close. Alex withdrew the knife he had stashed at his waist under his plain black T-shirt. He flipped the blade over in his hands, gripped the sturdy hilt, and waited for his moment to strike.
The girl stepped into the hallway, and the heavy, blunted end of the knife handle slammed against her head. Alex shoved the unconscious girl out of the way and instinctively jabbed the business end of the knife toward the entrance, expecting it to collide with another resistance or Alliance soldier. He had thrust so hard that he nearly fell over as the blade passed through the empty air. Alex caught his balance and gazed around the room in disbelief. She was alone.
“I’ve got her,” Alex told Zavier through the multiband.
“Good work. Is she alive?”
“Yeah, she’s alive. She’ll also have a killer headache when she wakes up.”
“The councilwoman would like the sentinels to bring her to the holding cell.”
Alex looked down at the girl. “Sounds like it’s going to be interrogation for you. You probably would’ve been better off if I’d just killed you.” He sighed. “Oh well.” Stepping over her, he called the sentinels to retrieve her.
The sentinels picked her up, a bit unceremoniously, with one grabbing her arms and another taking her feet. Her body dangled between them, slightly bent at her back.
“Are you sure you’ve got this?” Alex asked.
“Yes, sir,” the sentinel replied. “Look at her. Even if she wakes up, how dangerous could she be?”
“That does seem to be the question,” Alex said. “But there’s one thing that I’m pretty sure of now.”
“What’s that, sir?” the sentinel replied.
Alex smiled. “Zavier owes me more money.”
Chapter 23
“I am Aleena. I am Earthborn.”
The guards standing outside the blue shimmering barrier field watched uncomfortably as the clearly crazed girl chanted to herself. She bore the wear of her interrogation surprisingly well. She looked tired, but other than that reasonably normal. She was young, probably sixteen or seventeen, with straight black hair, thin and fit. Traven felt like he should recognize her from somewhere but couldn’t seem to put his fing
er on it. She kneeled, doubled over, on the floor of her cell, incessantly repeating the same two sentences over and over again.
“I am Aleena. I am Earthborn.”
“They did a number on this one,” Malik murmured to the other two Guard standing at the barrier. He didn’t use her name. It was easier in cases like this to remember that prisoners were not people; it made what usually followed easier to forget. Days of interrogation had a way of ending with the prisoner disappearing—forever. It’s probably a better end than wandering aimlessly the rest of their lives with a slanted mind, begging for food on the street, and not knowing their own names. Plus, that would make the Council look particularly bad. No, it’s best if the public doesn’t see what happens here.
“I am Aleena. I am Earthborn.”
The Guard were heavily armed, Kalma and Traven flanking each side of the opening while Malik stood against the wall directly across from it.
“Do you think it’s true?” Kalma asked with a hint of caution in his voice. He studied the others’ reactions, looking for any indication that they were taking the girl’s ranting seriously.
“Think what’s true?” Malik said as he shifted his weight to lean against the wall behind him.
“Do you think she’s an Earthborn?”
Malik sneered at the question. “Of course not. The Earthborn are a legend, a story told to children to frighten them into obedience.” He contorted his face as if he were scolding a child. “Eat your breakfast or the Earthborn will get you. Clean your room or the Earthborn will get you. Do your homework or the Earthborn will get you.” Malik looked contemptuously at Kalma. “Don’t be ridiculous.”
“You seriously tell your kids that kind of stuff?” Traven asked, a bit of judgment in his voice.
“No, of course not,” Malik said a little too quickly. “I’m just saying some people do.”
Traven pursed his lips and arched his eyebrows. Sure you don’t, buddy. He went back to perusing the news on his multiband.
“Anyway,” Malik continued, “you can’t believe all the stories you hear from the Great War, and you can’t believe everything you hear from a drugged-up Human.”
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