Master: Arrow's Flight #3

by Casey Hays

  “Ian, my boy!” Jeb shuffles up to my tent, a big grin lighting his face through all that hair. I rise to meet him. “You’re alive!”

  “Yep.”

  Justin drops his load of wood and wipes his hands on his jeans. I come around the side of my tent, and Jeb instantly hauls me into one of his famous rawhide embraces, knocking the breath out of me.

  “How in the world are we going to break you of this habit of getting lost near the river?”

  He winks then, giving his long beard a stroke, and I shake my head with a laugh.

  “Don’t hold your breath, Jeb,” Justin smiles, settles on a stump a few yards away, and pulls out his latest carving, working his knife into it.

  “How’s Kate?” Jeb steps back, arms crossed. “Justin filled me in on what happened.”

  “She’s good,” I concede gesturing toward her. “She couldn’t remember who I was for a couple of days. That was scary. But Penelope fixed her up nice. She’s a good doctor.”

  Jeb raises his bushy brows with a smile. “She always was.”

  The Rovers set up their own camp in a strategically military fashion, planting themselves on the outskirts. It’s clear they’ve had a lot of practice in surveillance and some defense combat. The grove is full of the camouflaged giants of Eden with dust-colored backpacks, and just having them in the vicinity makes me feel better. A few of the men are as tall as Jeb, full of muscle and courage to go along with it.

  Jesse sidles up next to me, a grin taking up most of his face. He stands shoulder to shoulder next to Jeb and crosses his arms, his expression full of pride.

  “What do you think of our army?”

  Jeb nods, pursing his lips somewhere inside his beard. “I’d say you did a decent job of recruiting.”

  Jesse smiles. “We did good.”

  “Ian Roberts?”

  I turn. Rob Foster makes his way toward me, extending a hand for a shake.

  “Rob Foster.”

  “Yeah,” I smile. “I know who you are. I used to watch you do pushups in the plaza when I was a kid.”

  Rob smiles and rubs at his clean-shaven face—so clean-shaven it makes me wonder if he grows facial hair. He stands a couple inches taller than me, his dark hair close-clipped and neat above the beige collar of his standard military t-shirt. He exchanges a handshake with Jeb before his hazel eyes narrow in on me.

  “Jesse showed us the weapons. He also said you can outrun the bullets. Is that true?”

  I glance at Jesse, think a minute, before I shake my head. “Well, I didn’t exactly outrun them. They got me pretty good in a couple of places.”

  Rob tilts his head, clear disappointment on his face.

  “But,” I continue. “What I can do is see them coming . . . at my speed. Like . . . in slow motion? So I’m able to dodge them.” I shrug. “It’s pretty much why I’m not dead.”

  “See?” Jesse nudges Rob with his shoulder.

  Rob studies me a moment before he purses his lips with a nod. “Impressive.”

  “Yeah, well, it would have been more impressive if I hadn’t gotten nicked. I almost died.”

  “What saved you?”

  “This guy.” I nod at Justin still seated, a half-carved wooden lady bug in his hand. “He cut the stuff out of me, and I healed.”

  Rob raises a brow. “That’s even more impressive.”

  Justin shakes his head and stands, planting his eyes on Rob. “Not really. It was messy. I just did what had to be done.”

  “You’ll want to talk to Penelope,” I say. “She can explain how their ammo works against us.”

  “I’ll do that.” He takes a step back. “It will help us get a better handle on things if we know exactly what we’re dealing with. Thanks, boys.”

  He nods and turns away without another word.

  “Boys?” Jesse murmurs in exasperation. “That’s an insult.”

  “So. Do they have a plan?” Jeb asks after Rob’s out of earshot.

  I defer to Jesse for the answer.

  “Don’t know yet,” he shrugs and looks at me. “But I think you were right to send us to find them. They’re our best chance.”

  I toss my eyes along the tree line. “I hope so. The Vortex soldiers we ran into could still be lurking around. They must have a camp somewhere.”

  “Yeah,” Jeb growls. “In fact, we caught us one snooping around here this morning. Alone. No weapon, no pack. And he’s not talking, either. Not one word the whole time we’ve had him.”

  Jesse’s jaw flinches. “You kept him? Why didn’t you just kill him?”

  Jeb faces him. “Because he looked pathetic. Worn thin. He was unarmed. Not a threat. And I’m a hunter, not a butcher.”

  I watch Jesse. He’s wound into some kind of knot inside that’s screaming for someone to untangle it. He twists his cap around until the bill faces the back.

  “That’s nuts,” he exclaims. “They’re all a threat. You identify the enemy, and you take it out.”

  Justin runs his hand through his hair as our eyes meet in a wary exchange. We had a nice long talk while we were building the raft. We’ve both felt the kick of Serum that shoved us into action. Neither one of us liked how it made us feel. But Jesse?

  “How many of these guys have you taken out, Jesse?” Justin asks.

  Jesse shrugs. “Too many to count, but does it matter?” He scans the crowd of newly-made campers until he spies Max. “Ask Max. He might know.”

  Max is in deep conversation with one of the Rovers, listening, flicking open his pocket knife, twirling it once, and snapping it closed. I turn my attention back to Jeb.

  “Where is this guy?” I ask.

  “Just past that copse of trees over there,” Jeb points. “Luke’s with him now. We tied him up as a precaution—so he wouldn’t go off and tell the others our location.”

  “Let’s go see for ourselves.” I look at Jesse. “Maybe you should get Rob.”

  He nods and goes. Justin puts away his carving.

  “I’m worried about Jesse.” His voice is low. “He seems different.”

  “How?” I chew on my lip, not necessarily wanting him to answer that question. I’ve noticed a change in him.

  “Like . . . desensitized, maybe.”

  I nod. “Maybe.”

  “There’s no ‘maybe’ about it.” Rob says, hearing the end of our conversation. He joins us, his face grim. “If that’s what you’re sensing, that’s what it is.”

  I look at him sidelong as Kyle sidles up to stand next to me.

  “That’s the way it works, boys,” Rob continues. “With every kill, you’ll lose a piece of your humanity. Once you get past the shock of taking someone’s life, that is.”

  I frown, tossing a glance at Kyle, who meets my eyes briefly and looks away.

  “Is that how it is for you?” I ask Rob.

  “Not anymore.” He slaps an affectionate hand over my shoulder.” I’ve learned to be shocked every single time and still get the job done.”

  He squeezes my shoulder, one hard pinch, and takes off ahead of us to walk with Jeb and Jesse. Kyle takes a sip of water from the bottle he carries.

  “You could learn a lot from that guy,” he says, wiping his forearm across his lips and recapping the bottle. “He’s a genius in the field.” He looks at me. “And that’s purely from observation.”

  “What did he mean by ‘not anymore’?”

  “Discipline,” he shrugs. “In the Guard, we learn discretion, control. Now that I know about the robots buzzing around inside me, I get it.” He nods at me, fiddles with the cap of his water bottle. “You would have learned it, too. Self-discipline, I mean. I saw the potential in you. Still might learn it, if you get the chance to finish your training.” He pauses, looks from me to Justin. “On the job training in the middle of a war. No fun, is it?”

  I scoop in an anxious breath. Justin says nothing. We walk.

  “How many kills would it take to lose your humanity?”

  I’m scar
ed to hear the answer. Kyle sips, looks off into the growing shadows of the trees.

  “Without training? Not very many,” he says quietly. “Not very many at all.”

  We enter the thicket. The soldier is tied to the trunk of a tree, the ropes wrapped around his upper body to hold him in place. Luke crouches a foot away, his spear stabbed into the ground. He tries to get the guy to drink some water. The soldier refuses, turning his head away, an angry glint in his eye.

  Luke stands with an exasperated shake of his head as Rob and Jeb approach him. Rob gestures toward the bound soldier.

  “Tell me about this guy.”

  “Not much to tell,” Luke shrugs, turning his attention back to the tree. “We found him wandering around last night. He looked kind of lost, but that could be a ploy to make us sympathize. My deduction? He’s a waste of our time. We’re not going to get any information out of him.” He looks at Jeb with a shrug. “We might as well just kill him.”

  Jeb frowns, but he says nothing, deferring the matter to Rob.

  I study the soldier closely. This guy is big. Nearly as big as me. Brown hair. Brown eyes. His black uniform is definitely standard Vortex with the gold V insignia on the sleeve, but it’s clearly too small for him. The sleeves hit him well above the wrists, and even sitting with his knees propped up, I can tell the pants wouldn’t come close to his ankles if he stood. He won’t look at anyone, keeping his eyes pinned on something in the distance.

  “Where are his shoes?” I ask. His bare feet are crusted over with old dirt.

  “He didn’t have any,” Luke answers.

  “A soldier with no boots?” Kyle crosses his arms. “Hmmm….”

  He glances at Rob, and the Rover nods in agreement. “The one thing you never let go of in the field is your shoes. Or your weapon. Never.”

  “What are you thinking?” Jeb asks, crossing his big arms over his burly chest.

  “I’m thinking he’s not a soldier.” Rob leans in, tugs at the guy’s collar, tries to fasten the top button. His neck is too thick. The guy doesn’t move a muscle. “And if he is, this isn’t his uniform.”

  Kyle nods, but something in his eye makes me pause and really look at him. There’s an intensity in his glare as he stares down this soldier.

  “I agree,” he finally says. “He doesn’t look anything like the soldiers we’ve seen.”

  “Okay.” Jeb tugs at his beard, the end of his large bow jutting up behind his head. “So what do we do with him?”

  “Where’d you find him?” I squat a few feet away from the tree, resting my elbow on my knee.

  “About ten yards from this spot.” Jeb points for emphasis. “We didn’t take any chances with someone dressed like that. And I was not going to waste my time measuring his clothing or wondering where his boots had gone off to.”

  “Good call,” Kyle steps in. He kicks at the guy’s foot. “Hey. Where’d you come from?”

  The soldier keeps his gaze leveled on something in the distance, ignoring him. Kyle kicks at him again.

  “You tell us who you are and where you came from, and we might not kill you. Are you with the Vortex?”

  No answer.

  “Here. Let me try,” Jesse says with a crack of his knuckles. He steps in, but I leap to my feet and hold him back with one arm.

  “No, Jess. We don’t need violence.” I look at the man again. “We’ll get enough of that as it is.”

  Jesse backs off, but his eyes carry that familiar flicker. I feel it, too. The tiny tug in my blood that wants a fight. I hold my breath to rein it in.

  Help me, God.

  Kyle squints at the soldier, bends to examine his dirty, cut up feet.

  "Whoever this guy is, he walked a long way to get here. That’s for sure.”

  In silence, we all stare at him together. The man sits as still as death.

  Chapter 30

  R

  ob spends some time with Penelope digesting her theory about the white liquid in the Eden-killers. They crack open a bullet to carefully examine the mixture with gloved hands. It seems harmless at the moment, but Rob doesn’t lower his guard. He’s also not shaken by the news. He takes it as if it’s just another dimension of a job that changes course in the same way the wind changes direction. Kyle says it’s all part of their training. To maintain a calm demeanor at every obstacle in order to avoid detection. Or capture. Or in our present situation . . . death.

  “A Rover’s heart rate never goes above seventy-five beats per minute,” Kyle explains. “Not even when they exert themselves full out. Not sure if you know what that means, but it’s pretty impressive.”

  I know what it means. I am impressed.

  Jesse and Max collected over eighty rifles and tons of bullets, so the Rovers organize a team and set out just after dark to retrieve them. By default—because they are the only ones who know where the weapons are hidden—Jesse and Max get to tag along. Jesse’s excitement at getting to work with the Rovers is transparent.

  “If I’d known about these guys sooner, I would have joined up a long time ago.”

  “Sure,” I laugh. “Once you graduated and served two years in the Guard.”

  He shrugs, fastening his pack while Max characteristically flips his pocketknife open and shut with a grin.

  “Formalities,” Jesse concludes with a smug twitch of his lips.

  He and Max trudge out with the team.

  Another team of Rovers takes first watch, setting up a perimeter, camouflaging themselves among the shadows. They really do have it together.

  Rob’s team gathers around the campfire, and Justin and I squirm our way into the circle to listen. It’s late. The citizens of Jordan have been asleep for hours. I glance toward the tent where Kate and Diana sleep, and a catch in my chest reminds me of that old fear. The one that says I’ll never be able to keep Kate safe. We’re about to enter this war, and I don’t have a clue how it will pan out.

  I take a breath and focus on the fire, trying to gather some of the peace I’ve found over the past few days. My heart pounds too loudly.

  Where are you, Yeshua?

  “We’re going to need one team to get inside Eden. Undetected,” Rob explains. The crackling firelight reflects in his eyes. “We assume the Board has had no outside communication since this thing went down. Right now, they need intel more than anything. The tunnels are our best option.”

  “We’ll have to pick the perfect time to go in,” Kyle says. “More than likely, Central is closely monitoring all entrances for intruders. They’re going to immediately think it’s the enemy infiltrating the wall.”

  Rob rubs a hand across his ridiculously smooth face. He glances at Evan Rice seated to his left. Kyle stuffs his hand into his inside vest pocket and pulls out a rectangular piece of folded paper. He smoothes it open and slaps it onto the ground. We can barely see it in the firelight, and we all lean in, causing a shadow to fall over the paper. Kyle pops out a flashlight and aims it.

  It’s a sketchy map of the entire underground sections of Eden, including not only the tunnels, but the lockdown areas. I study the circular twisting pattern of paths making their way to each hatch, trying to figure out which one I used when I left Eden. But just as it was when I was inside the tunnels, the map is confusing. Rob raises a curious brow.

  “You drew this?”

  “Been working on it for a while now,” Kyle nods. “It’s not close to finished as far as the tunnels themselves, but these are the four main entrances.” He points. “Here, here, here, and there. And the sixteen hatches. I think I’ve drawn all twenty entrances pretty accurately.

  “Twenty?” Jeb leans back in shock, scratching his head. “You’ve got to be kidding me.”

  “No sir,” Rob answers. “It’s not something the security in Eden advertises, but it’s no joke.” He runs his fingers along one section. “This is the main gate here, right?” When Kyle nods, he continues. “Okay, so it’s connected to tunnel hatches 1, 4, 8, and 12. The south gate operates
with 2, 5, 9, and 13. Every twenty-eight minutes a scan is run on five entrances, beginning with the main entrance and its tunnel hatches.”

  “Which is something I didn’t know until I tried leaving,” Kyle nods. “I thought the checks were simultaneous.”

  “Wow,” I lean back, connecting with Kyle. “I was lucky then.”

  Kyle grins. “You sure were, Ian Roberts.” He addresses Rob. “So the entire system resets every night at midnight with the first scan, correct?”

  “Right. Hatch one is left of the main entrance—when you’re facing the wall from the outside. The rest of the hatches coincide in order around the building with hatch sixteen to the right of the main entrance. Tunnel entrances are above ground, but once you’re in a chamber, you take a downward slope into the labyrinth.”

  Kyle squints up at him, and we all wait for him to continue.

  “We have to prepare for the possibility that the security scans have increased.” Rob’s expression turns grim. “But we can’t know. We’ll have to take our chances with the intel we have.” He sweeps his eyes across the small group of Rovers in the circle. “We’ll go in after dark. Which hatch we penetrate will depend on how this army is set up. We have to hope there’s a hole in their line.”

  “And that they don’t see you coming,” Jeb adds with a disheartened grunt.

  “They won’t.” Evan Rice finally speaks, grinding the end of a twig between his teeth. His red hair bounces out from his head in thick, unkempt curls, and the biggest knife I’ve ever seen dangles from his fingers. “We do invisible for a living.”

  His confidence exudes from his expressionless face, and he uses his tongue to flick the twig from one corner of his mouth to the other.

  “That’s it, then.” Rob stands, rubbing his hands down the front of his pant legs in the process before he stretches to his full six foot eight height. “We’ll send a couple of scouts out to search for a weak spot in their line. In the meantime, let’s get some sleep, re-energize, and be ready to move out once the team returns with the guns.”

  “Sounds good to me,” I say, bouncing to my feet.

  Rob holds up a hand.