‘Where is Michael?’ Joan demanded, drawing her gun in his direction.
‘Your gun won’t work in here, Ambassador. And Michael, the traitor? He’s right here as well.’
Following the direction of his beady eyes and pointed nose, they turned around. A dark cage lit up. Michael, chains clasped around his wrists, arms pulled wide, hung from its ceiling. His eyes were swollen shut, and his head dangled below his shoulders, chin to chest. His once majestic wings had been brutally removed from his bloody and mutilated back. Except for the faint movement of his beleaguered breathing, he could have been mistaken for dead.
‘No!’ Joan screamed, running towards his cage.
Michael, with great effort, raised his head and opened his eyes at hearing her voice. Joan placed her hands on the glass barrier, her shoulders trembling. Michael tried to hold her eyes, but the effort proved too much, and his head sank back down.
‘Don’t worry, Ambassador, you’ll join him soon enough,’ Doctor Brutus hissed. ‘Guards, take her away.’
Two large black-winged soldiers emerged from the doorway and pointed their weapons at Joan. She turned at them, her face wet and distorted with tears, and raised her hands into the air without resistance.
‘No! Stop, please stop!’ begged Mercy, lunging towards Joan.
Chase darted forward to intercept her. Catching her arm, he shot Brutus a piercing glare and released a full, all-teeth, curled-lip growl.
‘Now, now, there’s no need for violence,’ calmed Brutus. ‘You and I need to find an agreement, Doctor Perching. We brought you to our Sanctuary with the hope that you would become sympathetic to our Children of the Miracle, help us find a cure and bring the message of hybrids into the world. We didn’t plan for you to see all this.’ He waved his hand across the room. ‘And for that, I am sorry. But I still need your help. And after all, aren’t we working for the same cause – to protect the hybrids and find a cure?’
‘Not like this, not these hybrids,’ Mercy shook her head.
Brutus’ eyes grew dark and sinister. ‘Very well, I have an offer,’ he continued pleased with himself. ‘How would you like to keep your baby?’
Chase’s face slowly spun round her direction. She followed his movement with a terrified eye. Pale, his blue eyes clouded with confusion, he cocked his head, waiting for her to talk. A profound silence sat between them.
‘What is he talking about, Mercy?’ challenged Chase.
Her eyes pleaded for forgiveness before she even spoke. ‘I’m sorry.’
‘But it’s impossible…’ he stammeringly repeated.
‘It can happen. It did happen,’ Mercy continued defeated. ‘I wanted to tell you, but...I couldn’t see the point. There is little chance the foetus will survive.’ Her confession spilt out in front of everyone.
Brutus cleared his throat. ‘Excuse me. This is where I come in; or better said, we come together. I can help ensure your baby lives. The Prime wasn’t fully truthful. Yes, out in the world, natural cross-breeding has never proven successful. But, as you can see here in the lab, I’ve managed to create all forms of life. I’m offering you a chance for your child if you choose to help us.’
Mercy’s arm fell away from Chase. She stared at Brutus, unable to answer. A buzzing rang through her head as if someone had struck her with a heavy blow. How she hated this man, she thought, looking at him with disgust. But he was insignificant. The virus, her baby, Chase, her Sanctuary: these were the things she had to consider.
‘Mercy, don’t do this,’ Chase begged apprehensively. ‘Look at Michael. Look at all the people in these cages. What’s their future? No, this isn’t our future. Not one we should bring a child into.’
Mercy’s shoulders slumped, and her eyes dropped to her feet. ‘Okay, I will help,’ her answer for Brutus.
Chase shook his head. His mouth hung open, uncomprehending. He stared at her as if he were looking at a stranger.
Mercy’s eyes met Chase. ‘He’s right,’ she continued in a private voice, meant only for Chase. ‘The cure is worth it. I’ve dedicated my life’s work to finding a vaccine. It’s why I risked coming here. The virus is already outside this lab, and we are at risk, everyone. You said it yourself. We are not politicians. This is not our fight. If there is any chance the virus could spread, how can we turn our backs on helping?’
Ears laid flat on his head, eyes filled with tears, he pulled away from her.
‘But I too have my conditions,’ said Mercy shooting a burning glare onto Brutus. ‘You will release Joan, Chase and Michael. Keep us here if you must, for now. Make it your personal goal to keep us safe while I work with you. And, yes, help me keep our baby. Then I’ll do as you ask.’
CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
The cantina in the Science and Medicine Hall smelt of recently warmed food. Two guards, one wolf, the other bear, stood by the entrance, arms crossed, lasers at their hips.
Mercy sat alone at a long grey steel table; built to meet the needs of an otherwise busy dining hall. With a limp hand, she twisted her fork and stirred the green beans and carrots on her plate, uninterested. A fading twilight painted her face red; for the whole of the western wall was a window out onto a closed-in courtyard. It had been two days and four meals since Mercy had seen Chase or Joan. Each trip to the cantina she anxiously waited, even sitting long after her meal had gone cold, for one or both of them to join her. She was getting more and more confident they would never talk to her again.
A noise from outside the cantina ushered in more guards. Behind them, Joan walked in. Mercy’s eyes lit up, her face radiated relief. Joan gave her a small friendly nod, collected her meal and took a seat opposite Mercy.
‘Joan!’ her welcome was almost desperate. ‘I can’t tell you how good it is to see you’re okay.’
‘Yes, sorry. I meant to come and talk to you earlier. But I’ve been taking care of Michael.’
‘How is he?’
‘His wounds have healed, but he’s struggling. Losing his wings has shaken him. I think it will take time, but he is strong.’
‘Well, you have each other. That’s something, isn’t it?’ Her tone begging, seeking atonement.
‘Mercy, I want to thank you,’ she continued pensively, holding something back, ‘I mean – I feel I owe you at least that. You’ve saved both of our lives.’
Mercy knew what lay behind the hesitation in Joan’s voice. It was the same disappointment that kept Chase from talking to her.
‘But?’ asked Mercy.
‘No, but; I mean it. I’m just confused. Michael and I were ready to die trying to free the soldiers in this camp. Our friends have died to help us get here. And now this arrangement you’ve engineered. It’s put us in limbo. We are alive, we are together, but we are more trapped than the people we were trying to set free.’ She paused, then leaned into the table between them and spoke softly, ‘Are we still fighting the same cause?’
Mercy glanced around. The soldiers were watching.
‘Joan, the cause we are fighting for is the survival of humanity. How could I turn down the opportunity to see what Brutus has discovered and how I might help?’
Joan watched intently, trying to figure out if Mercy was lying. ‘Have you forgotten what the Prime did to Senator Arjun? To Michael?’
‘No. Of course not. But I need to know everything Brutus knows. Once we have that, the people and politicians can work out who’s right and wrong. Not me.’
Joan reached across the table towards Mercy’s wrist as if to offer a friendly gesture. She spoke in a nearly inaudible whisper. ‘Mercy, who has the cure does matter. The difference is salvation or a weapon of mass destruction.’
Mercy nervously glanced at the guards out of the corner of her eye. The conversation was getting dangerous for them both. She pulled her arm away and quickly changed the subject. ‘Have you seen Chase?’
‘No. He won’t
come out of his quarters.’
‘Should I go to see him? I wanted to give him some time, but now I’m afraid he won’t see me.’
‘What I know about Chase is that he doesn’t quit. He fights harder.’
‘Joan, you must try to get to him. Tell him to let me handle this and not to do something stupid,’ she continued, refusing to let Joan break her stare. ‘You both have to trust me.’
An unspoken understanding passed between the two women. Joan got the answer she had come for. They were fighting the same cause. She agreed to talk to Chase.
After a long day in the lab, Mercy ate dinner alone, but her eyes remained bright. She believed in Joan and deep down knew Chase would talk to her eventually. He had to.
As she was escorted back to her quarters for the evening by a wolf-solider, she thought about walking past Chase’s room. It wouldn’t be the first time. On two other occasions, she went out of her way to pass by, yet never stopped. He needed time, and her loneliness wasn’t enough to take that from him, she told herself. And her palpable guilt made it easy to agree and keep walking.
Arriving at her room, just as her door opened, the wolf lurched forward and slipped something into her hand. Startled, she clasped the item instinctively and quickly pulled away. Before she could open her palm and look at the object, the soldier stepped back outside her apartment, took his position standing face forward. Swoosh. Her door closed.
Mercy quickly opened the piece of paper. The words read, Tomorrow, breakfast. Her heart raced, and a joyous smile lit up her face. Joan must have gotten through to Chase, she thought excitedly.
CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
Mercy was early for breakfast. Sitting at a round table for four, she waited anxiously. Minutes later, Joan and Michael arrived together. It was the first time Mercy had seen Michael since the horrible events of their reunion. His body moved naturally, healed, but his unsmiling face and sunken eyes revealed something still broken. The fearless warrior she had known in the Belt was missing.
‘Will Chase be joining us?’ Mercy blurted out before greetings had even been exchanged.
Joan shrugged her shoulders and raised her eyebrows. ‘Maybe, but I can’t promise.’
Just as she finished her words, Chase walked into the cantina, escorted by his guard. Mercy’s heart leapt into her throat. She looked at him expectantly, awaiting his judgement, hate, scorn; wishing for compassion, encouragement, and above all else, love. He gathered his breakfast, refusing to look in her direction, until arriving at their table, where, for the first time, he met her face to face.
‘It’s good to see you,’ she said timidly, hopeful.
Chase folded his ears back against his head. ‘Yes, it is good.’ His tone wounded but also forgiving.
He placed his tray on the table, moved the empty chair closer to her and took his seat. Mercy released a breath she had been holding. Her eyes grew wet; holding back an embarrassing urge to blubber.
Silence sat between them. It should have been a time of relief, yet tension hung in the air. Without warning, Michael’s eyes lit up. He glanced sideways at the guards for the all-clear and spoke in a low whisper. ‘For Tommy. Lunch today.’
Joan and Chase nodded, unsurprised.
Mercy suddenly realised the author of the mysterious note given to her by the soldier was Michael, and the message was not about a reunion for her and Chase. Of course, Mercy thought, Joan’s easy submission to arrest, Chase’s anger and distance; all of it keeping the guard’s suspicions at bay. They had been plotting an escape all along.
Chase sensed her apprehension and quickly interjected. ‘Mercy, I thought I would join you in the lab today. I want to help if you’ll have me.’ His tone not a question but a demand.
Their staring eyes crowded at Mercy.
‘I would like that. I could use the help.’ Mercy’s unspoken answer was clear; she understood and would go along with their plans.
CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE
Mercy and Chase were left in the lab. The guards took their positions outside the doorway.
Mercy pointed at the holographic display. ‘This here, this is a test on an avian hybrid they asked me to look into yesterday. There is a genetic response to the virus I haven’t seen in the other data, but nothing conclusive. I think this is when they found the immune hybrid. And here,’ she continued scrolling through the data stream, ‘this is when the test suddenly stops as if the subject disappeared. Or something worse…’ Her voice trailed off, remembering the tortured soldiers.
Chase, his PVA submerged in the coherent light panel, spoke quietly and urgent, ‘Joan has programmed your PVA to record your work into an encrypted file automatically. Everything you’ve been researching is on this.’ He held her wrist. ‘We got what we came for.’
‘Did we?’ she questioned his enthusiasm. ‘This isn’t a cure. I’m not sure if I have enough data.’
‘Mercy, I’ve seen your work. You’re a genius,’ he encouraged her. ‘Seriously, you have enough. We need to get out.’
A long moment passed. The heavy presence of something more important than their escape, more important than their own lives, couldn’t be ignored. Mercy broke the stillness.
‘Chase, I always planned to tell you.’ Her voice drifted off. ‘No, that’s not true. I almost didn’t tell you. Until the Prime threatened me, I hadn’t realised that I might want the baby.’
‘Might?’
‘I don’t know!’ Mercy said, exasperated. She straightened her shoulders and braced herself as she prepared to confront his truth. ‘What do you want?’ she asked.
Their eyes for a moment met. Chase turned away first. ‘I don’t know. I never thought it was possible.’
An uncomfortable pause sat between them, neither having the final answer for themselves or willing to choose for the other.
‘I honestly thought you’d never talk to me again,’ said Mercy in a worried voice.
Chase placed his hand on top of hers. ‘No matter what, you and I are going to be together.’
CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR
Outside, in the cantina courtyard, it was clear skies.
By one o’clock the facility had been cleared for the prisoners. Two guards, one wolf, the other bear, stood at the courtyard entrance. A further two avian guards stood inside the dining hall, at the main door. Everything was as expected.
Joan and Michael were calm. They were trained for manoeuvres like this. To escape if captured. To capture their enemies in return. They chattered about nothing important, unsuspicious.
Mercy forced herself to eat, her hands trembling. Chase couldn’t stop grabbing looks at her; his knitted eyes worried.
On cue, the low metallic hum of the daily Solar Wave started. Clouds emerged, condensing out of thin air as thunder clapped in the distance.
One of the guards inside the cantina called out to the courtyard guards, ‘There’s going to be rain this wave; let’s get them in.’
Crack! A slap of nearby thunder hurried their response.
‘Come on, let’s go, lunch is over,’ yelled the bear guard.
Michael’s imploring eyes alerted everyone to be ready. All at once, an ear-piercing boom caused a great fright. Confused, the guards instinctively turned their eyes up to the Shade.
‘That didn’t sound like thunder?’ cried the wolf soldier.
There was another explosion, this one closer. Sirens shrieked from inside the compound. Giant plumes of black smoke rose into the sky.
‘Over there!’ Michael shouted, pointing to the smoke.
The bear turned in the direction of the black plumes, momentarily distracted. The wolf pointed his laser gun onto the guards inside the dining hall and with precision shot both before they understood what was happening. The avian soldiers slumped dead to the ground.
Michael had already leapt at the bear and was wrestling him, hav
ing the advantage. He slammed the bear’s hand into the cement, dislodging his gun, which spun across the courtyard, landing at Joan’s feet. Quickly picking it up, she tried to aim at the bear, but Michael kept flying into her sights. The wolf guard joined the hand-to-hand battle in a tightly wound ball of flesh and fur.
Weaponless but still full of fight, the bear growled ferociously. Foam dripping from his loose bottom lip, the bear swiped his razor claws across Michael’s leg, cutting deep. Quick to take advantage of his gain, the bear used the ground against his back as leverage and launched Michael backwards into the air. The wolf soldier quickly stepped out of the brawl as if this was his plan all along. The bear’s momentary victory was short-lived as the red laser of Joan’s gun ripped his head in half.
A loud humming overhead cast the prisoners into a shadow. Something had come between them and the sunlight. A ship landed.
‘Hurry!’ barked the wolf soldier, waving Chase and Mercy to his side.
A hatch morphed open. Chase, with his hand on Mercy’s back, urged her forward, shielding her with his body. Quickly, everyone jumped into the armoured vehicle, and the ship sped off towards the mountains.
Down below, in the open streets, billows of black smoke rose as mayhem tore through the compound. Soldiers started firing on fellow soldiers. Warships raced through the sky, their lasers blasting hybrids and buildings alike. Confusion reigned, providing a perfect distraction as the fugitives slipped through the air in the direction of the snow-capped mountains, unnoticed.
Safely beyond the base, but not yet free, the escape vehicle landed on a mountain top just minutes outside of the camp. The levelled peak ended at a cliff’s edge and a sheer deadly drop to the forest below. An urgent disembarking left the four fugitives standing alone as their ship, and its pilots sped away. Five warships raced over their heads in pursuit, unaware their targets were no longer on board.
‘Follow me,’ ordered Michael and led them to a narrow stone path that wound precariously down the mountainside.
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