by Matt Roberts
O’Brien shrugged. “You said it yourself, none of us got here by having it easy. We all went through hell, even if you don’t think yours was as bad as mine.”
Owyn bowed his head, breaking eye contact so he could take a few second to think. “Before I was born my parents left Michigan to move out into the forest in Ontario. As far as I know my Dad knew the energy industry was in bad shape so as soon as my older brother Mitch was born they packed up and headed for the most secluded spot in the continent. I spent my entire childhood living out there, practically oblivious to all the war and chaos that was consuming the rest of the world.
My Mom died not long after I was born so the only people I ever knew out there were Dad and Mitch. We had a big log cabin and grew all the food we could ever need by ourselves. We collected and purified our own water and generated our own electricity from solar power – we were living pretty happily.
When he finally decided I was old enough Dad gave me a talk about the crash and the rebellions and everything else but I never saw any of it. It always worried him, I think, but it never really bothered me or Mitch – I guess we just didn’t really understand the whole situation.”
O’Brien interrupted momentarily. “It wasn’t something kids were supposed to understand. The worst thing was that so many did.”
“I guess not, but that didn’t stop me from feeling guilty when I saw it first-hand.” He sighed. “I think Dad hoped we never got that chance, but when I was 17 he got ill and died suddenly. We carried on just the same for a while, but one day Mitch decided we should head south. He was two years older than me so I guess he’d just hit an awkward stage or something, but he was suddenly pretty insistent we couldn’t just stand by while the US ripped itself apart. He said we had a duty to fight for our country.”
“Is that why you have such a problem with that word – duty? Don’t think I don’t see the look in your eyes or hear you muttering under your breath every time someone mentions it.”
Of course she’d noticed. It was O’Brien. Why wouldn’t she have? “We didn’t have a duty to do anything,” Owyn answered. “If anything we had a responsibility to stay out of that shit-fest our parents had tried so hard to keep us away from, but he’d made his decision and I wasn’t going to argue with him so we packed up and headed into Minnesota to join the army.
For a few months we fought the rebels in the north where you could hardly even tell there was a war on. We weren’t doing anything but we were satisfied. We got to shoot guns every day and party hard every night. Very rarely ended up killing anyone either. It was mostly just threats and posturing. We were living the dream – all the way up until one of those nights when Mitch got off with a girl and she ended up pregnant. I never worked out if he actually loved her, but he was suddenly desperate to protect the child. As soon as he found out he deserted to take her back home where she’d be safe; I guess he forgot his whole duty speech pretty quickly. I had the chance to follow but stupidly I didn’t. For God knows what reason I’d actually bought into the idea I was making a difference.”
“The partying might have had something to do with it.”
“Well with Mitch gone I decided to cut the distractions and focus on becoming a better soldier. With the booze and drugs out of my system it didn’t take me long to see my mistake, but it also meant I attracted unwanted attention. I suddenly started flying through the ranks and moving into rougher and rougher territory until the next year when XION joined the war. They tried to recruit me into their training programme and since I’d missed my only chance to get out I didn’t see any reason to refuse.
The training wasn’t easy, but it was better than being on the front lines. I got nearly four years away from the war before I got thrown in even deeper than before. That’s when I joined up with Shaw and Captain Miller.
I didn’t know it, but up to then I’d barely had a taste of the war. The little skirmishes I’d been fighting previously didn’t compare to the all-out carnage around Colorado. In the army I shot maybe six or seven rebel fighters over the course of months. I’d killed more than twenty within my first week at XION. I was terrified. The only way I kept it together was by constantly telling myself that it was all for the greater good. I got obsessed with the idea. After a couple of months killing a man was as easy as squashing a bug, as long as I was reassured we were the good guys.
But the war still wasn’t going anywhere. Our brutality was just making more and more people turn against us. Rather than slow down we turned to even more extreme methods. We started using the families of the rebel fighters as leverage to force them to surrender. With Miller it was worse than that. Taking hostages wasn’t enough. If the surrender wasn’t quick he’d draw his knife. The first time I tried to stand up to him Shaw took his side and I didn’t have the guts to take them both on.
I lost faith in everything, but all I could do was carry on. Miller beat me into line because he knew he could and I soon kept my mouth shut. Still, my breaking point didn’t come for another year, on the day the first transport left for Altaris – February 7, 2043. We got assigned to Boston to deal with anyone who tried to spoil the big event and to root out stowaways. Somehow we avoided trouble until a few minutes before launch when one of the other guys in our squad found someone trying to sneak into the hold. It was Mitch…and his daughter.
He brought them both to Miller and he called the rest of us in. Our orders were to execute all stowaways on site. No exceptions. When I got there Miller already had a gun to Mitch’s head. I knew I couldn’t speak out or I’d have put my head on the block next to him. All I could do was stand and watch. Mitch didn’t say anything, just looked at me with desperation in his eyes. I don’t think he cared if he was going to die. All he cared about was that his daughter was safe, right to the moment Miller blew his brains out.
I tried not to react, but Miller saw it in my face. He handed the gun to me and ordered me to finish the girl. Part of me just wanted to get it over with. All I had to do was shoot my 6-year-old niece in the head and I’d be safe from Miller’s wrath. In some dark place in my head I tried to justify it by telling myself that Mitch had betrayed me by running off to protect his family. The only thing that stopped me was when she looked up at me, tears pouring down her face. She recognised me. I know she did. She’d watched her father die while I just stood by and did nothing and she recognised me.
I grabbed hold of her and ran for the ship. The last few passengers were still getting on board so I reckoned if I could just get her into the line she could slip in. I nearly made it, but Shaw caught me. He tackled me to the ground and I begged her to run, but Shaw didn’t go after her. He held me down until she was inside, then we watched the ship take off and disappear into the clouds. I never figured out why, but he defied Miller’s orders and let her go. That’s what I meant when I said I owed him more than just my life.”
“So she’s here? On Altaris? Do you know where?”
Owyn looked down at the floor to hide the shame in his eyes. “No. I don’t even know her name. She’s the only family I’ve got left but I haven’t got a clue where she is or how to find her.”
“Is that what you came here to do?”
Owyn rubbed his eyes. “I don’t know. It took six months for the offer to come, and by then I just wanted to escape. Honestly I thought I was dead as soon as Shaw brought me in. I expected Miller to put me in the ground beside Mitch but he wanted me to suffer for a little longer first. The whole team turned against me straight away. They wanted me gone. Shaw hardly spoke a word to me. He wouldn’t even let me thank him. Maybe he regretted it. Miller worked us all harder after Boston. In the end it wasn’t just me suffering for what happened.
Maybe I left to find my niece. Maybe I just wanted to get away from Miller, just like he said. I don’t know. Once I was here I realised I had no way of finding her. It was hopeless. I just ended up lost again.”
O’Brien shook her head. She wasn’t buying it – not all of it. “You do know her
name don’t you? You just don’t want to say it because it’s the last thing your brother said before he died.”
“What makes you think that?”
“It’s engraved on the barrel of your gun,” she answered.
Owyn smiled weakly. “I thought I had you convinced the name didn’t mean anything.”
“One translation of the Latin word Gratia is Grace. That’s her name, isn’t it? Grace Carter. I’m betting the C90 means something too.”
Owyn nodded. “It’s the designation of the ship she got on. It was the last thing I saw as it left. I’ve no idea where that ship ended up or how to find out but yeah. Everything I know about her is marked on an item I carry with me every day. It makes sure I don’t forget.”
“We’ll find them. Both of them. Ambrose and your niece. Trust me,” O’Brien assured. The way she said it gave no impression that she doubted her own words.
“Why wouldn’t I? You’re family.” Owyn smiled back at her again.
Out of the blue the door opened again and Sully came rushing in. Owyn jumped to his feet, concerned by what might be happening. “Sully? What’s happening?”
“I found him,” Sully proclaimed, wheezing as though he’d just run a marathon.
Owyn’s eyes widened. “Are you sure?”
O’Brien now joined him, scrambling to her feet in anticipation.
Sully calmed himself a little so he could speak clearly. “I found Ambrose.”
CHAPTER 13
RETURN
Sully skipped down the stairs and hopped onto the IC. Owyn and O’Brien followed as quickly as they could, but there was no way they were keeping up. He could hardly contain himself.
“Sully, slow down,” Owyn called. “How the hell did you find him?”
Sully was already hurriedly typing in to the console as he began explaining. “Unlike most chip scanners, the one installed into the IC keeps a log of everyone who accesses it. Since every Operative and Head of Intelligence can access it there needed to be a way to check for any unusual or suspicious activity. Theoretically only the Commanding Officer can see the log, so considering the Commanding Officer is dead nobody checked it. I didn’t think to until now.”
“Theoretically? Meaning you can too?”
“Well, yeah. It’s only a chip scanner; it doesn’t take a genius to get past it.”
Owyn rolled his eyes.
“Point is,” Sully continued. “The most recent entry before me was Lieutenant Ambrose.”
Owyn’s eyes lit up in anticipation. “Are you saying Ambrose has been here; on the station?”
“He accessed the IC a few hours ago – about the same time we were fighting off an army of DPD.”
Owyn was almost ready to let out a cheer before O’Brien butted in. “How does this help us? We know he’s been here but surely he isn’t here anymore.”
Sully wasn’t about to be put off by that sort of pessimism. “He might not still be here, but his signature is.” He finished typing then stepped back.
Upon the holographic image of Altaris appeared a flashing blip right in the middle of the Tajari desert.
“This isn’t just your standard chip scanner – the information on the IC is far too important for that,” Sully continued. “As soon as someone enters the system all of the data from their identity chip is copied into an encrypted part of the system. On the surface that sort of thing’s illegal – even the DPD don’t do it too often. That’s partly to prevent identity theft, impersonation, etcetera, but also because inside every chip, buried deep in the code, is hidden tracking software. It’s extremely well secured, obviously, but if you make a copy of it and manage to crack the encryption you can pinpoint the current location of that person anywhere on the globe. Lieutenant Ambrose…” He pointed to the flashing blue light. “…is right there.”
Owyn patted him firmly on the back. On the outside he managed to keep calm, but inside he was practically bouncing with joy. It was a peculiar feeling. He suddenly had something to drive towards. It felt like an achievement; like his goal was in sight. He couldn’t remember ever having felt that way before.
“Are you sure he hasn’t redirected the signal?” O’Brien wanted to be certain before she thought about joining the celebrations. “We need to be sure this isn’t a trap or diversion before we go chasing it.”
“I scanned that sector to be sure,” Sully assured her. “I picked up one life sign. I can’t guarantee it’s him, but I can’t think who else would go out there alone.”
“It’s him. It has to be.” Owyn hadn’t a shred of doubt. “He wants me to find him, and the Tajari is where all of this started. It adds up.”
O’Brien still had more concerns to raise. “What about the storms? How are we going to get anywhere near there? It’s right in the middle of the desert.”
“Sandstorms aren’t the problem.” Sully said. The other two looked at him with intrigue. The last time anyone mentioned flying into the Tajari he’d reached straight for his pitchfork. “According to all the information on our systems – weather maps, satellite images, everything – it’s a total no-fly zone. All of it. Yet we got thirty miles in without a speck of dust within radar distance. We shouldn’t have been able to get near to that base.”
“What are you suggesting?” Owyn questioned.
“I’m not suggesting anything; I’m telling you that there hasn’t been a single sandstorm of significance in that desert for more than a month. As far as I can tell there are no storms whatsoever.”
“How’s that possible?” O’Brien asked. “How haven’t we realised before now? Are you saying it was an intentional deception?”
Sully nodded. “Turns out there’s an electromagnetic field around the entire desert blocking our sensors. From what I can tell there are underground facilities all around its perimeter – possibly installations like the one we attacked – creating a network large enough to hide everything in the Tajari from long range scanners and broadcast a constant feed of false information. I got suspicious while Ambrose had me circling Installation 3 and I managed to pick up a signal broadcasting from beneath the surface. It took me until a few days ago to finally figure out a way to see through it.”
“You’ve been working on this all this time? Why didn’t you tell us?” Owyn asked.
“It wasn’t exactly relevant. Plus, I thought you were involved until today.” He looked down at the ground as though disappointed with himself. “Point is, storms aren’t the threat – unmanned drones are. Beyond the outermost circle the entire desert is swarming with them. They’re likely to be heavily armed and there’s practically no way to get past them undetected.” He pointed again at the flashing tracking signal. “The area around Ambrose’ location isn’t empty either. There are structures there – towers. Hundreds of them. Who knows what the hell they are.”
“Christ. You’ve been busy,” Owyn remarked.
Sully shrugged. “Well what else was I supposed to do while Miller had you guys locked in training 24/7?”
O’Brien had one last argument to take up with Owyn. “You can bet Ambrose planned this too. Why else would he come back here? He planted a trace that only Sully would find. He wants you to go out there.”
Owyn took a deep breath and sighed. “I know.”
“Are you sure you want take the bait?”
“We need answers. Not just me; all of us. We don’t know how much we’ve been kept in the dark about. We’re sitting ducks until we know what’s going on.” Owyn was firm. He wasn’t going to be deterred. Not this time. “Ambrose knows what he’s doing so he’s probably guessed we’ll figure out this is bait. He knows I’ll go anyway because he left no other choice.”
O’Brien nodded. She knew all that already of course. She was just making sure Owyn knew what he was walking in to. “Alright,” she said.
Owyn turned to Sully. “Can you get us there?”
“We’ll have to be quick if we’re going to make it back, but yeah. I found a weak spot in the dron
e net so all we have to do is dodge a few of robots with rocket launchers and we’ll be there.”
Owyn stood in quiet thought for a moment. It was a risk in more ways than one but it was necessary. He had to keep believing that. “Okay. Prep us a jet. Let’s go get him.”
“Yes sir,” Sully said, his mocking tone now almost fully restored. He then set off running again, disappearing down the corridor on his way to the elevator.
Owyn smiled to himself. This was the most upbeat he’d seen Sully in a long time, and even in the midst of such a desperate situation he himself felt a flicker of happiness more genuine than he’d felt since he’d lost Mitch the first time.
He turned back to O’Brien. “You’re in charge while we’re gone. Keep Anderson in check and you should be fine.”
Without saying a word O’Brien stepped forward, wrapped her arms around his shoulders and hugged him tightly. After getting over the initial shock he reached his arms around her, prompting her to squeeze a little tighter still. It was a day full of peculiar feelings. The last time he’d felt the warm embrace of another person was, again, the day Mitch deserted. After that he never had another chance with his brother. This finally felt like the release he needed from the guilt of missing that chance. He finally had a family again.
“Try not to die out there, Carter,” O’Brien said before releasing him and heading back up to the stairs towards the Commanding Officer’s quarters.
“Don’t make yourself too at home,” he called up before she could disappear inside.
“I just fancied taking in the view a little longer. It should be even better without you there to get in the way.” She smiled down at him then let the door close behind her.
Even after he was left alone Owyn stood awkwardly grinning to himself for more than a little too long before he returned to reality. Perhaps she was right; he did have a little hope left after all.