Liberation (I Am Margaret Book 3)

by Corinna Turner

  Eduardo shook his head.

  “They’ve been moved to Nice.”

  “Convenient,” murmured Jon sarcastically.

  “Far too convenient!” I said, the sinking feeling continuing unabated. “They’ve moved them from Reims to Nice? From one thousand kilometres from the Mediterranean to right on the coast? Bait! Hello! Am I the only one who’s bothered this is clearly a trap?”

  “Yes, it’s a trap,” said Bane grimly, “but what will they do, Margo, if we don’t turn up and try to rescue them?”

  My heart sank still further.

  “They’ll just execute them anyway.”

  “Exactly. We’re not going to get a second shot at this. This is our only chance to save them.”

  Eduardo was doing some sort of route calculations from the map.

  “If you’re going to go, you need to go pretty much within the next half hour to have any chance of effecting a rescue. It will take you most of the time left just to get there.”

  Bane put his hands on the table and stared down at the map for several long moments. Finally he straightened up again. Didn’t look at me.

  “We’ve got to try...”

  “Bane...” My voice was thin.

  He turned and gripped my shoulders firmly.

  “Margo, I happen to know for a fact that when you sit down and think all this through, you’ll be the one telling me we have to try. I’m just saving time by saying it for you, okay? We’ll get over there, take a careful look. If we can’t spot the trap, we’ll pull out – getting ourselves killed as well isn’t going to help them. So we’re going to be careful, okay?”

  “I’m coming with you.”

  “No. You promised.”

  “This is different...”

  “I don’t remember any exceptions.”

  “Bane, this is different. You have to let me come.”

  “No. I am not letting you out of that promise – and breaking your word to me wouldn’t be a great way to start our marriage, would it?”

  From the expression on Kyle’s face – and Jon’s, and Eduardo’s – I might have trouble getting out of the gates on this occasion, anyway.

  “We’ll just take one lorry.” Bane looked at the others again. “Nice and fast. All the original Animal team members, except you,” he pointed at me, “and you...” he pointed at Sister Krayj. “You’re staying behind too.”

  Fury covered Sister Krayj’s normally calm face.

  “You sexist...”

  “It’s not ‘cause you’re a girl! It’s ‘cause... it’s ‘cause if this goes pear-shaped you need to be here to carry things on.”

  Sister Krayj’s face went rather expressionless.

  “I think I should be leading this thing and you should be staying here to carry on in the event of pears.”

  Bane didn’t dignify this suggestion with a reply, to my more selfish side’s disappointment. Sister Krayj didn’t waste precious time arguing.

  “What about a plan?” she asked.

  “We’ll have to sort it out en route and when we get there. We don’t know what’s what and we’ve hardly time to get everyone and everything rounded up and loaded – damn, what about the next satellite, is it still clear?”

  Eduardo didn’t bother to consult the chart.

  “Coming overhead in twenty minutes, now, so make it fast.”

  “Sister Krayj, round up the guys, send them to the armoury,” ordered Bane. “Alligator, get to the armoury, get it open. First few to arrive, get them to load up the most reliable truck – they’ll have to ask the drivers about that. Jon, go with him and help make sure they pack anything we might need. Take the nonLethal grenades and launchers, we may want them. Send Grass Snake to get a laptop, not that we’ve got a working code, now. Kyle, alert the boatmen. Eduardo, we need everything you’ve got on the Facility security... And someone make sure the truck’s hydrogen tank is full.”

  “I’ll do it.” Kyle half turned to follow Sister Krayj and Jack, then stepped back to give me a quick hug. “Don’t think we’re going to have time for long goodbyes this time,” he said lightly, so much sympathy in his eyes it made me feel even worse. His eyes strayed to my blouse – he looked away, his cheeks going slightly red. “Uh... you’re our prayer support, Margo.” He hurried from the room.

  What...? Oh. My buttons were done up the wrong way. Embarrassing, but fair enough in the circumstances – clearly too much for a big brother, though.

  Jon gave me a quick, wordless hug of comfort and followed Kyle.

  Attaching myself to Bane’s hand as he stood over the map with Eduardo, I struggled to listen to what they were saying, because an extra mind never went amiss. But all I could think about was Bane lying there, covered in blood, life hanging by a thread... I’d known he was going out again, but not yet, not like this...

  Bane didn’t let go of my hand as he walked with rapid strides down to the courtyard to check on progress. A truck sat there; from the way the original members of Animal team were milling around, most things were taken care of. Kyle was just hurrying up, still in his cassock, a wad of camo clothing under his arm.

  Sister Krayj stood overseeing everything, looking about as cheerful as an iceberg. Catching Bane’s arm, she pulled him into a corner of the square.

  “Bane, seriously, let me take this one.” She looked pointedly at me.

  “Did they risk their lives to help you?” demanded Bane.

  “No, but...”

  “No. They didn’t. So I cannot let you do this instead of me.”

  “I’m apparently expected to let you do this instead of me,” I muttered.

  “That’s different.” He tried to head back to the truck, but I held onto his hand. No hope of persuading him to let Sister Krayj go instead, but...

  “Bane, seriously, will you at least let Sister Krayj go along? There’s... no way to replace experience, y’know...”

  Bane scowled for several long moments.

  “Fine, it’s up to her. There’s space if she wants to come.”

  “Good job I fetched my camo from my room.” Sister Krayj headed for the truck, habit flapping around her legs. “This is your second in command speaking. Mount up, all of you.”

  Bane followed, still scowling, but there was a mutter of approval from the guys as they started scrambling up into the back.

  Jon had appeared in the square now, and Bane stopped near him, cupping my face between his hands.

  “We’re going to be really careful, Margo, I promise.” His face was earnest in the square’s flood lights. “I don’t want to get anyone killed, I really don’t, we wouldn’t gain anything, would we?”

  “Just...” I drew in a shuddering breath, my hand flat on his chest. His heart thumped beneath my fingers... “Just... be careful. Please, please be careful.”

  “I just promised, didn’t I?”

  “Yes...” I stared up at his beloved face, the wave of his hair, the strong line of his jaw. How could I let him go? How could I let him go alone? “Bane...”

  “No! I will chain you to Eduardo’s radiator, do you understand me? I mean it!”

  He did. And I’d definitely missed any chance to try and stow away in the truck. I really was going to be stuck here. Waiting. Not knowing if he’d come back. I bit my lip – no good, I was crying. He put his arms around me and held me tightly, and I clung to him as though drowning, my face buried in his hair. Déjà-vu.

  “Come back,” I sobbed, “please, please come back...”

  “I’ll come back.” His voice was ragged. “I’ll come back. I promise...”

  You can’t promise that... But it made my less rational side feel better.

  “All aboard, then? Come on, let’s go,” called Sister Krayj, and the engine started.

  “You...! ” Bane kissed me for one long, lingering moment, pushed me back into Jon’s arms, twisted out of my limpet-like grip, and sprinted after the truck, leaping up into the cab just before it began to ease through the arch.


  Then it’d disappeared into the darkness, and I began to get the front of Jon’s suit very wet. Not how I’d expected to spend my wedding night. The thought made me cry even harder.

  “Bastards!” I just managed not to beat on Jon’s innocent chest in frustration. “EuroGov bastards. They planned this deliberately!”

  “It has spoiled the perfect wedding day rather.”

  “I don’t care about the perfect wedding day,” I choked, “just so long as he comes back.”

  “He’s quite good at coming back.” Jon spoke with determined optimism.

  “I’m just worried... when he’s actually there... when it comes to it... he’ll get carried away trying to save them...”

  My voice trailed off into silence and this time Jon didn’t reply.

  They’d decided to maintain absolute radio silence, not even the usual periodic updates. ‘Cause there was no real doubt this was a trap, and the EuroGov would be scouring the airwaves for all they were worth. Eduardo’s probably-not-actually-a-radio was supposed to be uncrackable, but this time, we weren’t going to risk it.

  It was quite possibly my worst night ever, first curled up alone in that double bed, ‘cause I wasn’t going back to my single room like Bane wasn’t coming back or something, then kneeling in the cathedral when I could stand it no longer. Jon joined me eventually, trying to act unconcerned and failing dismally. Whether or not they managed a raid at dawn, or pulled out without attempting one, they wouldn’t be back until mid-afternoon, and if they missed the safe slot then, they wouldn’t be back until late at night.

  Juwan and Doms were in that place waiting to die, and all the other members of the team were in danger, but all I could think about was Bane. So selfish... I struggled to pray for them all equally.

  Eventually, when the likely time of the raid had come and gone, Jon dragged me off to catch the tail end of breakfast. I wasn’t the slightest bit hungry, and drifted on autopilot to the newspaper table. Stopped dead.

  Bane and I, lost in that tender kiss in the cathedral. On the front page of almost every newspaper. Picking one up, I stared at it, head fogged with lack of sleep and heart aching unbearably. We looked so happy. How happy we’d been... it felt like someone was digging my heart out with a blunt spoon.

  A couple of brave papers had chosen photos of us kneeling at the communion rail, one actually had the word ‘marry’ on the front page – ‘M.V. ‘marries’ B.M.’ it proclaimed. The others used convoluted phrases such as ‘unofficial registration’ or ‘superstitious pseudo-registration ceremony’. But they had the photo, with the carefully unfocussed background that was still clearly a church. Lots of stupid fishing puns, like, ‘M.V. hooks her man’.

  “I’m very sorry, Margaret.” A quiet voice beside me. “I’d already sent them off.”

  I dumped the paper back on the table.

  “Doesn’t matter.” My voice was as tight as my chest. “Apparently everyone wants to see. Not like he isn’t coming back.” I turned my back on the photos and started to move towards the serving hatch. Stopped. “No news?”

  “No news, Margaret. Radio silence, remember.”

  The day dragged unbearably, but we could do nothing but bear it. Jon and I spent most of the time in the cathedral, praying, but we kept rushing up to the TV room for each news broadcast.

  Nothing. Nothing about the two planned executions being carried out. Nothing about them not being carried out. Nothing about a raid on Nice Detention Facility. Just... nothing.

  “What the hell does that mean?” I muttered, as the three o’clock news ended.

  “Don’t know,” said Jon. “But they’ll probably be back soon. It’ll all make sense then. Perhaps they got them and the EuroGov are still racking their brains how to save their faces, hmm?”

  “Oh, Lord willing,” I whispered. “I’m going back to the cathedral...”

  I was kneeling in a near trance of fear and exhaustion when the noise finally penetrated. An engine. A large one. Ticking over in the square outside.

  “How long’s that been there?” exclaimed Jon.

  Shooting to my feet so fast my head swam, I genuflected and tore down the aisle, Jon’s stick tap-tapping behind me. I burst through the doors to see the truck easing through the arch, on its way back to its discreet garage. They were back!

  I raced all the way to the conference room usually used for debriefing the teams – they were back! – paused for a moment outside to swallow my pounding heart back down. Pushed the door open and went in.

  Near silence. The room was so subdued. They hadn’t got them? But no, there was Juwan sitting at a table... thin, his face tear-streaked. Oh Lord, no, only partially successful? My eyes skipped around the room, searching, searching. The guys were avoiding my eyes.

  “Where’s Bane?”

  No one answered, but Juwan looked up and saw me.

  “Oh merde,” he cried softly – put his head in his hands.

  My insides were clenching up, tighter and tighter and tighter until something must surely tear...

  “Where’s Bane! ” It came out a hoarse shout.

  Sister Krayj and Kyle hurried over to me and I sensed rather than saw Jon arrive at my elbow.

  “We managed to get in.” Sister Krayj spoke very levelly. “Reached Juwan’s cell all right. But Dominique had already been taken to the Lab. So Bane and Hyena went to get her. Not long after that every alarm in the place went off and all hell broke loose. We barely got out. And Bane and Hyena... didn’t.”

  I stared at her. The world was grey.

  “I don’t understand.” My voice. Blank and stupid and thin. “Where’s Bane?”

  “They’ve got him, Margo.” Kyle’s voice, desperately, desperately gentle. “I’m so sorry...”

  The world was spinning, echoing, dissolving... I was falling... and then mercifully, everything was black and gone.

  ***+***

  24

  KICKED IN THE STOMACH BY A CARTHORSE WEARING SPIKED SHOES

  My head rested on something hard. I felt weak and disorientated. I’d been having a dream – couldn’t remember what. Was this the real world? The dream felt more real...

  Lying on a hard surface...

  I shot upright, my mouth open to scream... Oh, not strapped down. Not a gurney. Conference room floor. A ring of startled faces looked down at me.

  Bane.

  The strength went out of me and I flopped back again. Someone caught my shoulders before I could crack my head on the floor. I’d fainted. Should feel embarrassed. Didn’t feel anything. The world didn’t seem real.

  They’ve got him.

  The only real thing. The list of charges hovered before my mind.

  Sedition: Category 1

  Murder...

  No need to go further, either would be enough...

  Everything dissolved into grey again.

  Then black.

  ...Eduardo was kneeling by my head, which lay in Kyle’s lap.

  “Margo?” Eduardo pale-faced and grim. “You with us? Eat this...”

  He pressed something between my lips. Square and sweet.

  “Glucose.” He answered the question before it fully formed in my reeling mind. “You haven’t eaten today, have you.” Not really a question.

  “Bane...”

  Eduardo looked away.

  “I’m sorry,” he said to the wall. “I’m really sorry. There’s nothing we can do.” He looked back at me again. “Look, I think you should have a lie down, and a little something to drink and eat. Unless you want to carry on fainting all over the place.”

  Kyle glared at him and he held up his hands.

  “Fine, I’ll leave this to all you more emotionally sensitive people. I’ll start the debriefing.”

  He got to his feet and disappeared into the sea of legs.

  Bane.

  Kyle was speaking to me, but I just stared at the old ceiling, high above. My mind had come to a complete stop.

  “It’s okay, Margo, Doctor
Frederick’s on his way...” That penetrated my daze.

  “I don’t need Doctor Frederick!” I pushed up into a sitting position. My head swam and I sank halfway back again. Kyle supported me, pressing another glucose tablet to my lips. Jon crouched the other side of me, silent, white-faced. His expression... he agreed with Eduardo. It was hopeless.

  A strangled sound of pain escaped my lips, drawing Jon from his despair – he reached out, found me and gathered me to him, held me tight. Didn’t speak. What could he say?

  I clung to him just as soundlessly. I didn’t cry, couldn’t cry. Beyond tears.

  Eventually my head stopped going numb and blurry and echoey every few moments and my brain cells began to spark just a little – no choice but to draw away from Jon and face the world. Empty though it would be soon enough.

  “Are we sure? Are we sure we can’t save him?”

  An uncomfortable silence.

  “Well, how did you get in this time?”

  “Won’t work again, Margo,” said Kyle, quietly. “And it was the only way we could spot.”

  “How?”

  “Well, Bane and Sister Krayj cooked it up. There was this whole cordon of guards in the forest around the place, supposed to be keeping quiet ready to catch us but it was the end of their shift and they were cold and bored and fidgeting. We put them out and put on their uniforms, then waited for the relief to arrive and put them out too. After which we marched off into the Facility as though we were the returning guard. We had those towers before anyone thought to pay us any attention whatsoever. So we thought we’d avoided the trap, you see.”

  “But there must’ve been two traps,” said Sister Krayj. “That or something simply went wrong in the Lab. We’d have tried to get them, but we were taking fire. Gerbil and Salmon are in the hospital wing as it is.”

  Guilt stabbed me. I’d not even counted the team.

  “Are they... okay?”

  “They should be. But Gerbil’s arm is a mess. Doubt he’ll be on active service again.” She sighed. She usually partnered with Gerbil, a cheery Swiss guard who pretty much worshipped her.

  “Is there nothing we can try?”