The Seat of Power (The Securus Trilogy Book 3)

by Anthony Maldonado

  A few minutes after we pass the exit hatch, another weird sensation overcomes me. I have not seen or heard anything in the forest, but I get the feeling we are being watched. Even worse, the forest seems to have gone quiet. No birds or insects sing out. The only sounds come from the gentle push of the wind against the tree tops. I am not the only one who notices something feels off. Without prompting, the others gather close to me. We back against one of the larger trees, watching the forest around us.

  Sayda clutches a Persuader while Hadwin keeps his pistol ready. My rifle slowly searches out between the trees. My body freezes when finding a pair of golden eyes watching us. Even from a distance, the intense hunger within those eyes terrifies me. Only a single pair is visible, but we know others must be near. Those ferocious mountain lions hunted in a pack before and that is not likely to change. It is too late to run. If we want to live, we must stay and fight.

  A crunch comes from the woods to our left. I turn and shoot even though the source of the noise remains veiled. The blast lashes out at a tree, tearing a sizable piece from its trunk. As soon as our attention is distracted, the mountain lion watching us leaps from his cover, racing directly at us. I squeeze the trigger again. This time the blast finds its intended target, nearly decapitating the beast. The momentum of the directionless body carries the mountain lion into a nearby tree.

  We wait for the other mountain lions to show themselves, but none appear. Knowing the others are close by, we stay backed up against our tree for another twenty minutes. The other beasts never appear.

  Hadwin is the first to break our vigil. “They have to be gone.”

  “I think those mountain lions were luring us into a trap. They’re smarter than we thought. I’m guessing they recognized what my rifle does and were scared off by the blast,” I say.

  We cautiously move on, making sure to stay close together. Not long after, the trees thin out. Up ahead, through the vegetation, we see fragments of what looks to be a fence. We have finally reached Munitus.

  Chapter 12

  We slowly approach Munitus, making sure no Guards catch us by surprise. The outer fence appears different than before. When we were here last, it was composed solely of simple chain links. Now, much like our own perimeter fence, they have lined razor sharp wires across the top and bottom.

  “I don’t know if it means anything, but they’re beefing up these fences,” I warn the others. The timing of the change is bothersome. Like Securus, this place has to have been here for a full century, so why are they only now adding to the security of their borders? Did Auden, the Guard I met, change his mind and tell Leadership about our encounter?

  We retreat back into the woods, circling around to where Radek and I saw their people working in the garden. Being this early, they have not come out to work in the field yet. Without a horde of people breaking up its splendor, the garden looks even more impressive. If nothing else, this proves how capable the land is of generating food to sustain our people.

  The other thing grabbing my attention is the entrance to Munitus. The oversized steel doors are identical to the bunker doors of Securus. Like ours, these bear scars from the unfortunate ones who were locked outside when The Agent first spread across the land.

  While Auden is inside Munitus, contacting him would be too dangerous. So we move back a safe distance to wait. Once we find a good spot, I recheck my communicator, making sure it remains functional. Satisfied with that, I get an optical enhancer out of my pack. The enhancer has a circular screen within a tubular structure not much longer than my fist. It has settings to magnify the view as well as to check for biological heat signatures. Eventually, we hear the outer doors open. Through the optical enhancer, I see their workers, all donning bio-suits, stream out into the garden. Behind them, some Leadership overseers leisurely follow.

  Once the workers and overseers are spread throughout the garden, a few men with crimson bands on their arms come from Munitus, fanning out in different directions. Hopefully one of those Guards is Auden. Even with my enhancer, their faces are obscured by the visors of their bio-suits. If Auden is one of the Guards on patrol today, he would be far enough away from the others for us to safely contact him.

  I activate the communicator. “Auden? This is Kagen, do you hear me?”

  The only reply is static. I repeat myself, but again, no response comes.

  “Don’t tell me they gave him the day off,” Hadwin says.

  Despite Hadwin’s joke, we all know a day off is not what we are really worried about. If Leadership discovered that we spoke, he could have been reassigned or even placed into their Detention Center for not informing them immediately. The longer we wait without a response, the more our fears becomes a probability. Considering what we have lost to get here, returning to Securus without making contact would be devastating to us. The seconds of silence turn into minutes. After an hour has passed, my hopes for Auden answering are obliterated. I slump over on the ground, holding my head in my hands to think. I do not want to go back now. If we are not going to admit defeat, we are left with only one other possibility. Contacting another person will be foolish, but it is the only way.

  I survey the area, looking for anyone isolated enough for us to get their attention without attracting any others. All of the workers are too close to the overseers. Most of the Guards are clearly in their line of sight as well. Only one man has wandered further out. His patrol has brought him close to the trees, near the vicinity of the first exit hatch.

  “This looks like our best chance,” I tell Sayda and Hadwin.

  They reluctantly agree. We circle back in that direction, being careful with our steps to make as little noise as possible. When we get close, I hand Hadwin my rifle. “Here, you take this. Stay out of sight, but keep us covered just in case.”

  Hadwin agrees, though Sayda does not like my idea. “We should stay together. What if one of those mountain lions comes back?”

  “If they do, Hadwin will be safer than us,” I tell her. “We need to keep the Guard from getting too nervous. A smaller group of people and keeping my rifle out of sight will be much less intimidating.”

  “Then let me go off with the rifle,” Sayda demands, wanting to stay in the role of protector instead of being protected.

  “Even if we know better, you don’t look dangerous. Having you there will help them be more at ease,” Hadwin says with a slight chuckle.

  Sayda knows we are right. She gives in, but not before giving Hadwin a halfhearted shove as punishment. Hadwin takes the weapon and falls back beyond our sight. When he signals us through his communicator, Sayda and I go look for the isolated Guard.

  The Guard stands on the edge of the forest. We stay behind the trees, watching for anything to give us insight. He wears the same bio-suit as everyone else, except for the band on his arm identifying him as a Guard. He slowly continues his patrol with his back toward us. Before we risk exposing ourselves, we need to make sure he is not from Leadership, especially given Wakil’s warning about them. I slowly move from tree to tree to get a better angle. Every time I am about to catch a glimpse of the front of his bio-suit, he moves. The Guard’s head constantly shifts its focus and his feet are in perpetual motion. For some reason, he seems to be even more fidgety than we are. I wonder if his agitation has something to do with why they are bulking up their fences.

  Eventually, the Guard turns enough for me to finally see the front of his uniform. Thankfully, he does not bear the stain of the old Leadership symbol. I inch my way back to Sayda. Almost shadowing my movement, the Guard moves further into the woods, constantly looking over his shoulder the entire time. His agitation is worrisome. The way he appears to be sneaking off means he could be up to something. Then again, if he is hiding something from Leadership, that could work in our favor.

  Sayda and I circle around closer to Munitus. If we startle the Guard, we do not want him running back to the others before we can explain. We are only thirty yards away. He now stands in pl
ace as if waiting for something. I am not sure if we should wait to see what he is doing or call out to him now. While I weigh the options, the decision is made for me. My communicator emits a burst of static followed by a loud voice. I can’t believe I forgot to turn it off! I lament in my own mind. My hand instantly reaches to switch off the communicator, but it is too late.

  Hearing the noise, the Guard spins around with his gun ready. Sayda and I jump to the side, seeking cover from the trees. This is not what we wanted. Briefly peeking out from behind the too thin tree, I see Hadwin approaching the frightened Guard from a blind spot. Hadwin gets a good angle and aims his rifle. That gives me more confidence but does not erase the danger. The Guard could easily shoot me before Hadwin reacts.

  I take a deep breath and calm my mind. We are already committed to this. I fear the longer we give the Guard to worry, the worse this will turn out. My hands reach out from behind the tree to show him I am unarmed. My body resists leaving the cover of the tree, making my first step into the open uncoordinated. As soon as I am exposed, my eyes automatically close. I hold my breath, bracing for a gun blast to ring out. It takes a few seconds before my body finally cooperates and moves again. When my eyes open, much to my surprise, the Guard has his gun holstered.

  Still nervous, I move slowly toward the Guard while looking around for any others. No one else is visible. Now for the first time I see the face that was previously concealed within his helmet. The Guard’s dark skin and eyes are a welcome sight.

  I lower my hands and relax my shoulders. “Auden? Why didn’t you answer the communicator?”

  “If anyone else saw me talking to myself they would’ve become suspicious. I figured it would be better to wait until I was alone to answer,” Auden explains.

  “So that was you just now on the communicator?” I ask, remembering the blast of static that gave away my location.

  “Yeah, the noise scared me for a minute,” he says sheepishly. “Since the last time you were here, we’ve had a few close calls with animal attacks. A pack of mountain lions have been stalking these woods. They’re getting more brazen each time we spot them. It’s getting so bad we had to reinforce the fences to protect ourselves.”

  So that is why they are increasing their security. It makes sense, but the explanation ignites a new wave of guilt. I am the reason those beasts are here. They followed us right to Munitus. When we disappeared, they stayed here to hunt. I suppress my urge to apologize. It would be harder for his people to trust us knowing we have already brought danger along with us.

  “Well, if it helps, we killed one of them earlier today,” I say, offering a small consolation while motioning for Sayda to come out from her hiding place.

  Auden’s stance briefly tenses up when he sees someone else. When she reaches us, Auden extends his hand out and gives Sayda a smile. That is exactly the effect I was hoping her presence would have.

  “This is Sayda,” I tell him. “We have one more man with us. Since I didn’t know if you were going to respond, I had him hide so our numbers wouldn’t scare anyone. Did you tell anyone else about me?”

  Auden leans forward, as if he were trying to keep anyone else from hearing. “I did. There are a couple of people who are very anxious to meet you. They’re in Leadership, but unlike the others, they can be trusted.”

  That part makes me uneasy. I know we need to get the word out, but having Leadership involved so soon is unexpected. Another distressing thought comes to mind, What if Munitus has its own Agents of Guidance? Who can we trust? Either way, we have to take the chance.

  “So, how are we to meet? Can they sneak out?” I ask.

  “No, there’s no way we could get them out here without drawing attention. Their faces are too well known.” Auden’s eyes turn down from mine as he continues. “But we did come up with an alternative.”

  “And what’s that?” Sayda asks, clearly skeptical of their idea before even hearing it.

  “We tried to get more, but one was all we could manage without being caught,” he explains.

  “More of what?” Sayda demands firmly.

  Auden steps past us to go back toward Munitus. “Follow me, it’s over here,”

  Before going, I signal Hadwin to join us. Auden walks over near the outer fence, stopping a few feet past the tree line. The area feels exposed, but we should be out of range of their security cameras.

  Auden flinches when seeing the rifle Hadwin carries, but then turns and kneels on the ground. I follow his lead, helping sweep away some fallen leaves and a thin layer of dirt. This almost feels like we are digging for one of the poison boxes. Instead of a metal box, we unearth something soft, covered by a thick plastic bag.

  My head becomes heavy from anxiety. “Is this what I think it is?”

  “Yeah, it’s a bio-suit,” Auden answers. “I’m gonna sneak you into Munitus.”

  My muscles go weak, causing me to fall back from my knees. While sitting on the pile of dirt and leaves, I stare at the bio-suit. Everything about this trip has been dangerous, but this goes beyond that. If anyone notices me, Caelum will absolutely kill us all. Then again, it was not very difficult for the Controller and his lackey to strut through Securus without being noticed. Being caught is not the only thing that worries me. Auden did say he was only able to get one bio-suit. That means two of us need to stay out here with those mountain lions.

  I pull myself together and stand up to look Auden in the eye. “Before we do this, how sure are you the others can be trusted?”

  “Of everyone in Leadership, they’re the only ones who have the trust and respect of our workers. Most of Leadership doesn’t care about the workers as long as we keep up production. But those two are different. They’ve always tried to help us as much as they could. If we’re going to accomplish anything, they’re our only chance.” Auden says with a surprising amount of conviction. He was not nearly this forceful last time. Then again, he has had some time to come to terms with our imprisonment. Now he appears as determined as we are to escape it.

  “Give me a moment with them first, okay?” I say before turning back to Hadwin and Sayda.

  Auden waits while we walk back into the forest to talk. As expected, the look on Sayda’s face tells me her opinion before she even speaks.

  “You’re not going in there alone!” she says.

  “It’s too risky,” Hadwin adds. “We need to find another way or turn around.”

  “Weren’t you the one telling me that we can’t stop until we accomplish what we set out to do?” I ask Sayda. I know they are worried for me, but this is too important.

  “Don’t twist my words. You know what I meant,” she snaps. “It’s one thing to push on when we have some control over what happens out here. But in there, you’re helpless. This trip has turned out bad enough, don’t make it worse.”

  “Sayda, you know we have to try. They deserve to know the truth. On top of that, the more people we have working against Caelum, the greater our chance of success will be. Besides, what if we fail? We can’t let the truth die with us. No one should ever be forced to live like this.”

  The argument does not leave their eyes, but they stop resisting. Sayda and Hadwin reluctantly agree to go back to the camp site we stayed at last night. They will return to meet me here in the morning. They have everything needed to keep warm and safe until then. The hardest part is convincing them of the need to return to Securus without me if I fail to show up. Their consent to that part does not seem genuine, but we do not have any more time to argue. I give them my pack before going to tell Auden our decision. As I walk back, my friends disappear into the forest. When he sees me coming alone, Auden nods his head in acknowledgement.

  “Let’s go,” I tell him.

  Before putting on the bio-suit, I first put on the upper half of a spare Guard uniform and wrap the rest around my torso to hide it. The bottom half will have to wait until we get inside because of the bio-suit’s waste collection system. Their uniforms look the same as
ours, but the feel of the material is different. It has a softness that makes the clothes more comfortable, though it feels less durable. While putting on the bio-suit, I cannot help but to wonder if this is a sterilized one or if they had to sneak out a used one. Considering the intimate connection of the waste disposal connector, I really hope it is clean.

  “Patrolling Guards typically don’t return at the same time. The schedule is staggered. So we can’t walk in together without attracting unwanted attention. I’ll go in first. You keep slowly patrolling this fence until I signal you to come in. When you do, don’t talk to anyone. Just walk straight in the main door. I’ll be waiting inside,” Auden says.

  I really do not like having to go in alone, but I am already committed to this. After I nod my head, Auden goes back to the fence and walks toward Munitus. Keeping a steady stride is difficult for me while walking along the fence, knowing the security cameras can now see me. Not wanting to go too far, I repeatedly stop to inspect random holes and noises to give the illusion of a vigilant Guard performing his patrol. After ten agonizing minutes, Auden calls to me through the communicator.

  “Okay, Kagen, you can come in. Remember to avoid eye contact and whatever happens, just keep walking,” he says.

  “On my way,” I reply.

  I turn around and stand fully upright, using the same rigid posture Radek used to while marching toward the gardens of Munitus. The thought of him makes me flinch, and for a second, my eyes begin to tear. As I move forward, my breathing speeds up and my legs feel weakened by nervousness. Soon, I reach a locked gate serving as an entrance into the secure inner zone. Next to the entrance is a numbered keypad. Auden did not tell me about this. I look around the gate, but there is no clue to the code.

  “Look at the control panel of your suit,” Auden whispers in my ear.

  The number on the display almost immediately changes. I enter the new code seconds before it changes again. Having a constantly changing code seems excessive. It is not like they expect invading hordes to come in through here, or do they?