The Gender End

by Bella Forrest

  “Poor Rina?” Morgan asked, and Alyssa looked over at her, her eyes sad.

  “I tried to reach out to her after… well, after you were hospitalized, my dear. She was cold, aloof, isolated. I hadn’t realized what she was going through. What she had brought upon you and herself. She reminded me so much of her grandmother—now there was a strong woman. Confident in command, downright intractable. I was young back then, and she thought I was amusing. The joke was on her when she had to make me one of her advisors.”

  She let out a chuckle and then sighed heavily, leaning back into her chair. “This is all so much to take in,” she admitted. “I am ashamed to say that I almost don’t want to believe you. Then again, I’ve met Elena. It doesn’t take much for anyone to realize that ice runs through her veins.”

  “So you’ll help us?” asked Violet, moving forward in her chair a few inches. “Please. We are running out of options, and the people over there are dying.”

  Alyssa stared at Violet, her mouth twisting into a grimace. “Look, I have some friends I could get this to who could verify the contents of the data chip within the next few hours. If it is legitimate, then I can make sure it goes out with the nine a.m. ticker blast. Of course, I’ll have to paraphrase a lot of it—I’m pretty sure the public isn’t going to want every detail, although they will have to be made aware of them.”

  I blinked in surprise. “You have that much sway with the ticker teams?” I asked. “We actually brought a program that would allow us to override every handheld in Matrus and give out the information that way. We… We figured it would be safer.”

  “Hmm. It might, but it also might undermine your credibility. I don’t know. To be honest, I’m still in a bit of shock here. You have to understand, no queen has ever been deposed before, and I’m not entirely certain how best to proceed. I think—”

  “Viggo.” Thomas’ voice cut me off, and I looked over at him, surprised to see him on his hands and knees, digging around underneath Violet’s armchair. Violet started, pulling her legs out of the way as Thomas put his whole head under the chair. There was a ripping noise, and he began pulling out stuffing, muttering to himself.

  “What on earth—” Alyssa began, rising to her feet, but she wasn’t able to finish her sentence before Thomas said, “There it is!”

  The next moment he was standing, a tiny silver bead clutched between his fingers. Thomas looked at me with serious eyes, and then dropped it into a teacup with a plop, splashing some of the brown liquid onto the table, before putting one of the saucers over it.

  “What is it?” I asked, feeling my blood starting to rush.

  “It’s a bug,” he announced grimly. “Someone has been listening to us.”

  OceanofPDF.com

  27

  OceanofPDF.com

  VIOLET

  Everyone scrambled. Owen and Morgan immediately moved out of the room, heading for the front doors to get to the cars. Alyssa followed them, but turned to go up the stairs from the front hall instead, and I could hear her footsteps creaking around upstairs. Ms. Dale already had her gun in her hand, and she was peering out the windows.

  “We’ve been here for an hour,” she said in a low voice.

  “I’m sorry,” Thomas replied, his eyes flicking over the screen. “It doesn’t emit much of an RF signature. I was just looking through my programs, checking to see if anything had changed, and realized that I was picking up a new signal in this room. I should have thought to check for something like this. I haven’t seen any of this design for years—I assume it’s very old.”

  “Old? Then how do we know—”

  “It’s still transmitting,” Thomas said, cutting me off. “If a bug is working, it’s better to keep the bug there than risk getting caught replacing it. Ms. Dawes must’ve been bugged by Rina some years ago, and Elena gained access to it afterward. It’s probably voice activated—as soon as she starts talking in close enough proximity, it turns on and alerts someone on the other line.”

  “Thomas,” I asked, “is there a chance that… that nobody was listening? If it was an old bug, how would Elena even know to pay attention to this feed?”

  Thomas looked at me, his eyes sharp and nervous. “There’s a good chance, in fact,” he said. “But we can’t afford the consequences if someone has been listening in and we choose to ignore it. As far as strategy is concerned, we have to assume we’ve been compromised.”

  We all took a moment—but only a very short moment—to let that sink in.

  “Someone should be watching Alyssa,” Solomon said, gingerly pulling a curtain aside so he could peer out the window. “Maybe she’s working with the queen.”

  “I don’t think she is,” Viggo said. “We talked in the kitchen, and I’m convinced she is an honorable person. She wouldn’t let what Elena’s doing go unchallenged.”

  “This changes things,” Ms. Dale said. “We have to go now.”

  “If there are people listening in, why aren’t they here yet?” Amber asked. “They’ve had plenty of time. They…”

  “She would have held them off.” Alyssa entered the room wearing heavy black slacks, a sweater, and a puffy snow vest around her chest. A scarf wrapped around her neck, and she had a beanie on her head, her white hair tucked in underneath. The fabric seemed like it was swallowing her up, distracting the eye from the shotgun she was once again cradling in her hands.

  It occurred to me that I had never seen where she’d put it away after brandishing it at us earlier. She gave us all a look and then nodded toward the door. “She held them off so she could know what the plan was—she knew she had time to hear what you’re doing next. If somebody is coming for us, she would have sent them about when I asked what you wanted me to do. So we might have a few minutes.”

  “She’d have them close—” Viggo said, meeting my gaze.

  “But not close enough to tip us off,” I finished for him, realizing where Elena had miscalculated—and, probably, where we had. “She assumed we would use lookouts.”

  “Let’s go,” Viggo replied, shouldering his bag and rushing everyone toward the door. We exited and ran to the vehicles, Ms. Dale leading Morgan, Tim, Amber, and Logan toward the second car, while Viggo dove into ours, Owen already hopping into the backseat. Thomas and Solomon were right behind me as I came around the back to the passenger side, angling for the front seat. I climbed in, pausing when I saw Alyssa heading toward the gate.

  “We’ll open it when we’re in the cars and leaving,” I called softly to her.

  “I’m not going with you. For your plan to work, you need me to get that information out.” She hunched over, keying in the code, and the wrought iron doors started to swing in.

  “What’s she saying?” Viggo asked, and I ducked over.

  “She’s going to try and get the information out. By herself.”

  Viggo cursed. “She can’t go alone. We’ll need to send one or two people with her, maybe Amb—”

  “No need,” Solomon grumbled, already opening his door. “I’ll go with her. I’m worth ten of them in a fight, and now that I’m not a monster anymore, I’ll have better control over where and when I fight than anybody else they could send at me. I’ll keep her safe.”

  I turned, spearing him with a look. “Are you sure? Elena—”

  “You’ll get her,” he declared, his eyes glistening intently in the ambient light. “I told you I wanted to put a stop to all this. Keeping her safe means the information gets out and the population is informed. You just make sure justice is carried out.”

  I licked my lips—no pressure, right?—then nodded. “Be careful.”

  “You too.” He looked at me long enough to show how much he meant the statement, then shut the door gently and jogged over to where Alyssa was already moving down the drive, heading for the street. He caught up as I sat down, falling into step with her with what appeared to be little effort, and in a moment they’d disappeared around the curved wall.

  Sitting down, I be
gan to buckle up as Viggo hit the gas, heading toward the gate. “Put in the comms,” he said, and I reached over and opened a pocket on his vest, pulling out the earbud and subvocalizers. These were the older style, unfortunately. Too many of the gloves Thomas had developed to turn them on and off had been damaged in the fighting at the water plant.

  I hooked Viggo’s subvocalizer around his neck as he drove, turning it on, and as soon as I slipped the earbud around his ear, his mouth began moving silently, the words hidden from my ears. I quickly put mine in and turned it on, shifting uncomfortably at the feeling of my vocal cords freezing.

  —repeat, I am going left. Your team goes right, meet at rendezvous position. My team will be on B channel, yours on A. Touch base if you get in a jam. I’ll do the same.

  Copy that, Ms. Dale’s voice said, and her headlights cut to the right, heading down the same street Solomon and Alyssa were walking down at a hurried pace. It seemed surreal for them to be going out in the city unprotected like that… but maybe they could slip through Elena’s defenses that way. The wardens were much more likely to be expecting us in the cars. And Solomon was definitely the best person for the job. I swallowed and kept my eyes ahead, accepting the rifle Owen handed me from our stash of gear in the back. I cradled it carefully, keeping the muzzle pointed down at the floor, hidden behind the dashboard.

  Viggo picked up speed as he turned, barreling down the slight incline. We passed by one street, then another, and then I saw another car screech around the corner, heading right for us.

  There! I transmitted. If it had been out loud, the sound would’ve been a shout. As it was, the car was filled with a quiet that was almost worse than the noise of battle—just the wind whistling, the engine roaring beneath us, the whooshing noises of things going by.

  Viggo was already braking and spinning the wheels, his eyes focused entirely on the road. I leaned my shoulder against the door as we turned and pivoted in my seat, looking out the back window. At first, there was nothing there, but sure enough, headlights soon appeared in the window, the vehicle growing closer with each passing second.

  Hold on to something! Viggo transmitted, and I spread my legs wider, bracing them on the frame of the vehicle and grabbing the handle above the passenger side window. Viggo cut the wheel hard, yanking the emergency brake with his right hand, and our center of gravity shifted suddenly as we rounded a sharp corner in a squealing slide. He downshifted and slammed the emergency brake off, releasing the locked wheels, then hit the gas, and we jerked forward.

  They shot right past us, Thomas exclaimed, and I turned and saw the flash of red light as the other car’s brake lights lit up the lane in front of us.

  Yeah, but they’ll be right back, I said. We need to get off this road.

  I know, Viggo said, but we were in an alley that seemed to run between the backsides of houses. There was no break in the brick walls, save for small doors leading in and out of backyards and gardens.

  He accelerated, and I clutched the handle overhead as though it would help us, my heart pounding wildly in my chest as he continued to race down the narrow street, garbage bins and little windows blurring past far too rapidly. Viggo looked over at me—just a quick glance—and then smiled… and suddenly, for a moment, this was exciting. It reminded me of the first time he’d taken me for a ride on his motorcycle. How exhilarating it had been with him in control.

  I trusted him implicitly.

  They’re catching up! Owen shouted, the tone of the shout carrying even through the subvocalizers.

  The roof, I said, looking up.

  This set of Ashabee’s vehicles were equipped with a moon roof—we’d chosen them for the mission partially for that reason. Reaching up, I yanked at the handle, sliding open the small window, just wide enough for one person. I passed Owen my gun as I stood up, hunched over so as not to give away my position, rocking with the motion of the car. I peeked over the edge of the roof and saw the other vehicle, thirty feet behind and closing, just as Owen gave me back the gun.

  Then I stood fully, the rifle braced to my shoulder, and fired at the vehicle, the weapon’s loud retort rudely interrupting the silence of the road. As expected, the bullets ricocheted off, but the car jerked back and forth for a second, backing off a few feet as it narrowly avoided jerking into a wall.

  There’s an intersection fifty feet ahead, Thomas transmitted, and I dropped down into my seat, yanking the belt over my body. Viggo pulled the emergency brake again, and we turned left—just as I saw another SUV barreling toward us down the road and shouted Viggo’s name.

  He pulled the wheel hard, and we spun, doing almost a 360-degree turn. I could barely see what was what as the world whirled around us, and then I felt Viggo hit the gas, flooring it. The car jerked as he released the brake again, and then we were out of the SUV’s way, Viggo dodging the second car as it exited the alleyway.

  Hell yes, Owen shouted as we headed down a clear path, the two vehicles behind us having to slow down to turn around and avoid hitting each other. Then, from the road on the right, another patrol car barreled toward us, forcing us to cut to the left.

  C’mon! Viggo groaned as we entered yet another alley that ran between backyards.

  Viggo, this neighborhood was built oddly—there’s a five-way intersection coming up. If we can get a bit of a lead on them, we can lose them, Thomas transmitted sharply.

  You’re in their systems; can you tell where all the enemy cars are? Are they being tracked?

  They are, and I can, but only for small increments of time, or else the people tracking them on their side will notice something’s up, and that’ll give our location away.

  Okay. Hold this one until we lose them in the junction, okay?

  Roger.

  Viggo’s eyes darted up to the rearview mirror, at the third SUV in pursuit.

  Viggo? Ms. Dale’s voice buzzed in my ear. We seem to have slipped out of their net. Where are you? Do you need any help?

  Give me a second, Viggo responded as he upshifted, coaxing even more speed from the vehicle. Owen, get a flash grenade ready. We’re going to blind them just before this intersection.

  I’ll transmit our location to the other car, Thomas said.

  Owen immediately produced a metal can from our bags and moved up to the moon roof, keeping his head low.

  How far, Thomas? Viggo asked after a moment in which the smaller man’s voice was absent from our channel.

  A heartbeat passed, then a few more.

  Thomas, how far?

  Two hundred feet and counting! Thomas’ voice came back onto the line.

  Owen—now.

  Owen stood up, his hand on the grenade, his body moving as he let it loose and then immediately ducked back down. I kept my eyes lowered as a brilliant flash lit the night behind us, and Viggo surged ahead, while all we could hear was the long screech of brakes. He slid through the intersection, following Thomas’ advice, taking the third road from the left, and didn’t stop until the pursuit fell from sight behind us.

  There was no sign of headlights behind us for a whole minute, and I let out the breath I had been holding.

  That was close, I said, and Viggo and I exchanged a smile.

  Thomas? Figure out our best path, Viggo said.

  Already pulling up their system. I… He paused, staring at the screen, and then looked up. Viggo, we’re already surrounded, he said, turning the handheld around and leaning forward to show us the various cars moving along the streets, searching for us. I scanned the map, trying to find a way out, but couldn’t—the net they had set up was too well spun. We were going to get caught. It was only a matter of when.

  Viggo? What do you need?

  Viggo frowned at Ms. Dale’s voice, and then looked around the car, almost apologetically. I guess you tuned in to hear we’re surrounded. We need for you to get to the caves and get to Elena. We’ll try to distract them, keep them busy for as long as possible.

  What? No! That’s risky. How do you know
she hasn’t just given a kill order?

  We don’t, Viggo replied, throwing the car into gear and moving us forward. But we’ll just have to hope she hasn’t. Complete the mission. Maybe rescue us if you can find the time.

  There was a long pause and a burst of static, followed by, Roger that.

  Viggo, take this road and get to the intersection of Burberry and Olwent, Thomas said. There are two cars waiting for us there, but maybe we can use them against each other. We have some grenades.

  How far away is it? Viggo asked, shifting up and gaining even more speed.

  Head this way for two blocks, take a right for another five, and then another right, and we’ll be there.

  That’s really close to the city center, Owen commented. Are you sure?

  It’s their weakest point—all the other cars are patrolling the streets, but there’ll be a window in which these two cars will be on their own. If we can pull them after us and then pile them up… it might work.

  It’s as good a plan as any, I added.

  A car suddenly rounded a corner behind us and accelerated hard, bumping into us.

  Who is that? I asked as I pulled up the rifle and unbuckled my belt. They weren’t on the map! The vehicle accelerated behind us, and I was thrown forward into the dashboard—not hard, but enough to be rattled. I climbed up to the moon roof again, pushing the rifle out first.

  I don’t know! Thomas replied, plainly irritated. Maybe a car that doesn’t have a tracker… Does it really matter?

  I tuned out his voice as I drew the rifle smoothly to my shoulder and began firing, the shots ricocheting off the hood and windows. This driver didn’t panic, just accelerated again, jolting me into the side of the roof. My hip hit hard, and I sucked in a breath, pain radiating from the spot, and then fired again.

  The stock shook my shoulder from the recoil, but I continued to fire, going for their weak points. They were too close for me to get a shot at their tires, but as I saw the grill on the front, an idea occurred to me. Ducking down into a squat, I ejected the magazine, taking the new one Owen handed me and slapping it in.