Sixth Cycle

by Darren Wearmouth

  She believed the outlaws sourced weapons and ammunition from Epsilon, but decided to keep that to herself. Twenty-four hours ago, Skye thought she was beyond corruption. Now she knew about three serious treaty breaches. An illegal Omega-Zeta trade and distribution of weapons to people outside of a stronghold, these two didn’t bother her. The expendable resource pool did, if Rhodes told the truth. How many other strongholds were circumventing the rules?

  Skye felt her chin drop as her eyelids drooped. She snapped her head up and lowered her window to allow chilly spring air to rush inside the vehicle. Anything to keep awake for the last few minutes, until she could grab two hours of sleep behind Zeta’s walls.

  She finally reached the raised ground leading up to the dark stone wall and solid oak gates. The first signs of dawn appeared on the horizon. After she got some sleep, Skye planned to have a busy day. First, she would question Rhodes again. He put forward a convincing argument to kill Ryder, and spoke as if he’d witnessed some of the events. Second, she planned on speaking to Finch about Ryder’s claims.

  Two SUVs and a truck parked outside the gate. Five people in royal blue jackets stood around them. Members of the Omega Force. None were scheduled to visit Zeta today.

  As she pulled level with the rear vehicle, she saw local officers, in their crisp navy uniforms, aiming their weapons at her team. This was a highly unusual state of affairs. Skye had only seen a standoff like this once before. Three young soldiers from Theta went AWOL, and her team found them in a derelict factory.

  She slammed on the brakes, grabbed her rifle and jumped out of her SUV. One of the Omega guards looked back at her and shrugged. He was in the convoy she left with last night. Skye told them not to wait.

  Two orderlies, dressed in green medical center scrubs, carried a casualty through the gates and headed for the truck. None of the three she delivered yesterday would be fit to travel back to Omega. They'd needed serious treatment. She headed over to check who was on the stretcher.

  A Zeta guard, with a handlebar mustache, stepped in front of her and blocked her path to the truck. Another followed close behind and lowered his rifle toward her.

  “Who are you?” Handlebar asked.

  “I’m Lieutenant Skye Reed from Omega. I have important news for your governor. What exactly is going on here?”

  He stepped back and drew his pistol. “Put your rifle on the ground and raise your hands.”

  Skye froze. His actions were so alien she didn’t know how to react.

  “I said, put your rifle on the ground and raise your hands. Now.”

  She shook her head, placed down the rifle, and locked her fingers around the back of her neck. “I’d like to know what’s going on here?”

  “I have orders to arrest you on sight. Please step away from the truck.”

  “Arrested on what charge?”

  He jerked his pistol to the right, encouraging her away from the Omega team and their vehicles. “Conspiracy and illegal trading.”

  “You’ve got this all wrong. Let me speak to Governor Harrison.”

  “Get the other two loaded,” an officer shouted at the orderlies. “I want them out of here as soon as possible.”

  They both scurried back through the gates.

  “Got any other weapons?” Handlebar said.

  “Just the rifle. Outlaws took my dagger.”

  “I don’t believe you.” He moved around behind her. “Keep still while I search you. My friend over there can get nervous.”

  He ran his hands along her arms and legs, patted down her back, and moved his hands around to the front of her body.

  She looked over her shoulder. “Just watch where those hands go, buddy.”

  “She’s clear,” he said to the guard in front of her.

  “What evidence do you have against me?”

  “You can explain to my commanding officer. He’s the one who wants you arrested.”

  “I need to speak with Governor Harrison.”

  Handlebar laughed. “He doesn’t deal with bottom feeders like you. Move toward the gates.”

  He shoved her in the back, and Skye stumbled forward. She glanced across to her driver. He sat cross-legged in front of his SUV and raised his bound wrists. “What are we supposed to have done, Lieutenant?”

  One of the guards kicked him in the chest. “Stop talking, traitor.”

  Handlebar continued to shove Skye in the back, even though she didn’t need encouraging through the gates. If they met again on more equal terms, she intended to give him a taste of his own medicine. This had to be connected to Rhodes. Finch wouldn’t put her in a situation like this.

  They passed the guardhouse, didn’t sign in, and headed for a smaller side building attached to the headquarters. He bundled Skye through the door and directed her into a small windowless room with red walls.

  Handlebar pointed at a plastic chair behind a scratch-covered metal table. “Sit down. He’ll be with you shortly.”

  He slammed the door behind her. Skye slumped on the chair and let out a deep breath. A minute later, muffled chatter came from outside.

  The door swung open. A stocky man with a buzz cut and general’s flashes on his epaulets walked in and sat down in front of her. He didn’t say anything at first and just glared. Skye kept eye contact. She wouldn’t be bullied by Zeta thugs.

  “How long has Omega been planning an attack on Zeta?”

  Skye frowned. “Excuse me? I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

  “How many men are working with Rhodes?”

  “How should I know? He works in your factory.”

  “How long have Omega been supplying insurgents?”

  “You’re gonna have to help me out here. Has Rhodes done something? I only met the guy yesterday.”

  “Don’t lie to me, Lieutenant. Governor Harrison was more than a little suspicious about your private meeting with Rhodes. When we raided the factories, we found out he’s disappeared, along with your shipment. Was the plan to support them in a coup, or is this a precursor to an attack by Omega?”

  “I was asked to deliver that shipment by Governor Finch. I have no idea what was inside. I’m not aware of any attack or plan against this stronghold.”

  He rested his elbows on the table and leaned forward. “Where were you last night?”

  “I was in the hills to the east. I had a private mission to take care of some outlaws. It seems that your foreman set me up. They weren’t who he led me to believe.”

  “Are these outlaws part of the plot to attack Zeta?”

  “No. I was told they were enemies of Zeta. Rhodes asked me to kill their leader. He said they had been attacking your outlying fields and you were doing nothing to protect the workers.”

  He smiled and shook his head. “What outlying fields?”

  “You don’t have any outside the walls?”

  “We’d be mad to do that. I suppose Rhodes told you this?”

  “Yes. I met him yesterday with your governor. If I had anything to hide, why would I do that?”

  As much as she hated to admit it to herself, she believed the officer about the fields. Rhodes had gone missing, which suggested he was the one who came up with the lie and set her up to be killed in the eastern hills. Skye knew Finch too well to think he had anything to do with Rhodes’ true intentions. If Rhodes meant to help out the workers in Zeta, he had a funny way of going about it.

  The general relaxed back in his seat and unfastened his top button. “Did you kill the outlaw?”

  “No. Turns out he’s not the bad guy we should be worrying about.”

  “Are you saying outlaws are the good guys?”

  “Rhodes gave me directions to their camp. We were ambushed shortly after I arrived. I managed to escape. They have women and children.”

  “Ambushed by who?”

  “Wastelanders. Maybe a hundred.”

  The general let out a heavy sigh. “Let me get this right. You’re claiming that you escaped from the la
rgest wastelander attack in history. But nobody can verify it?”

  “I assure you the threat is real. Twenty attacked Omega yesterday morning. I have no idea about any internal plot to attack this stronghold. If I were you, I’d be looking outside the walls.”

  “The governor is straightening this out with Finch at the moment. I’m sure you see my problem. You turn up with an illegal trade, and the next thing, Rhodes is gone. You realize he’s a known rabble-rouser?”

  Skye shrugged. “How would I know? I’m sure he set me up, so I’d like to ask him some questions too.”

  “By wastelanders? Pretty unlikely.”

  A thought struck Skye and she took a sharp intake of breath. If Rhodes did know about the wastelander attack, he probably knew Sky Man. She wanted to find both of them first.

  “Are you okay?” the general said.

  “Fine. Any idea where Rhodes might be?”

  “We think he might be hiding out in one of the apartment blocks. We’ll find him. Don’t worry about that. When we do and make him talk, we might be paying you a visit.”

  “If you do, make sure you bring him along.”

  He shook his head. “That’s not gonna happen. If I were you, I’d pray that Finch has a good story lined up, or you might be spending the rest of your life working our hemp fields.”

  The door swung open and a guard walked in. The general winced after he offered him a weak salute.

  “Sir, the governor has sent an order to release Lieutenant Reed and her people. They are to leave Zeta immediately.”

  “I haven’t finished with her yet. We still don’t know what was in that crate.”

  The guard passed him a piece of paper. Skye watched as he ran his finger along the lines of text. “It seems Governor Finch has secured your release. If it was up to me, I’d take you to our cells for a real interrogation.”

  “I’m glad it’s not. Just be on the lookout for wastelanders. If I get to Rhodes first, I’ll let you know.”

  “Final question. What was in the crate? Don’t tell me it was tools.”

  “I honestly don’t know. I intend to ask Finch when I get back.”

  Skye also wanted to know his relationship with Rhodes. She guessed, like her, Finch also swallowed Rhodes’ crap about wanting to help people. But she needed to be sure. Especially now she suspected Rhodes’ link to Sky Man.

  The general waved his hand toward the door. “Get her out of my sight. Make sure their convoy leaves immediately.”

  He stood and eyeballed Skye as she walked past him. She hoped he took her warning about wastelanders seriously, for the good of the workers if nothing else. She walked out of the half-open gates and hoped it would be another four years until she returned to Zeta.

  * * *

  Skye lay on a spare stretcher in the back of the open truck. She gave orders to wake her when they were in radio range of Omega. All three casualties were still in bad shape, and she wanted a treatment room prepared in the barracks.

  After drifting in and out of sleep for twenty minutes, the truck braked hard. She sprang from the stretcher and grabbed her rifle.

  A vehicle door slammed. Footsteps approached. Somebody talked to the driver. She waited for a minute and the conversation continued. Looking at the casualties and becoming increasingly impatient, Skye jumped off the back and walked around the side.

  Trader turned to her. “I hear you’ve been up to mischief?”

  “I’d call it something else.”

  Phillips leaned against the open passenger door of Trader’s SUV.

  “You need to come with me,” Trader said. “I need to hear about it.”

  “I need to speak to Finch first.”

  He raised his sunglasses and lacked his customary smile. “You’re coming with me.”

  Chapter Sixteen

  Trader had the idea of stopping and searching the truck. After what they found at the western bunker, Jake thought it a smart thing to do. Even more so, now they had Skye, a capable member of the Omega Force, in the backseat of the SUV. He glanced at her in the rearview mirror. She rubbed her eyes and yawned.

  “Foreman Rhodes you say? I’ve dealt with him a few times,” Trader said.

  “They think he was part of a coup. I delivered a crate, and he gave me the mission. I swear either he or somebody else set me up in those hills.”

  “I’d keep your powder dry for the moment, Skye. Wastelanders are building in the area. Whose idea was it for you to go up there?”

  “Finch sent me to Zeta because Rhodes wanted me to kill an outlaw rapist. Turns out he’s no rapist, and he hasn’t attacked them.”

  “Doesn’t surprise me. Some of them are good people. What did you deliver for Finch?”

  She sighed. “I should’ve checked the crate. I know the punishment for illegal trade. Do you think Finch had anything to do with Rhodes? I don’t see it like that.”

  The SUV screeched to a halt. Trader’s left eye twitched. The convoy rolled up behind and stopped.

  He slammed his hand against the steering wheel. “The last thing we need at the moment is that idiot Finch playing his silly games. There’s trouble on the horizon, Skye. Bigger than any tin-pot coup. We all need to be pulling together.”

  “I heard two wastelanders in the forest talking about Sky Man. Do you mean that kind of trouble? Because if you do, I’ve got your back on that one.”

  “Yes, that kind of trouble. Finch certainly knows how to pick his moments to screw me around. Leave him to me.”

  “Could either of those two be C3431?” Jake said.

  “No,” Trader said. “Both have been around as long as I can remember.”

  “Who’s Sky Man?”

  “He’s a myth.”

  Skye poked her head between the front seats. “Come on, Trader. That’s bullshit and you know it.” She turned to Jake. “Ten years ago he destroyed my settlement with a small army of wastelanders. I heard two northern ones mention his name yesterday morning. It explains the growing numbers in the area. I know it.”

  “We’ve just come from a mass slaughter,” Jake said. “An officer in the Fleet, C3431, is working with wastelanders. Could he be Sky Man?”

  “Where was this?”

  “At an Allied bunker. They were all taken out of stasis and killed.”

  “He did the same to my settlement. Only two of us survived.”

  “Did you get a look at him?”

  “I only heard his name—”

  Trader shook his head. “You’re putting two and two together and getting five. Ten years is a long time in this world. We’ll wait to see what Carlos has to say.”

  Jake remembered Trader telling him how they liked to not repeat historical mistakes. It seemed they were well on their way to doing so. Many regions and countries had fallen in the past because of infighting and division while a larger threat loomed and struck. Finch and Rhodes sounded like they were opening up a dangerous fault line in the thin veneer of solidarity that existed between the strongholds.

  Trader pressed the accelerator, and the SUV continued along the dirt track through rocky terrain. Hills rose either side, but hiding places to mount a close-quarter ambush were limited. Jake scanned both ridge lines for signs of movement. Somebody out there had the western bunker’s rocket launchers, and the Omicron-constructed SUVs provided little protection from a direct strike.

  Seeing the bunker victims cut deep, but it did raise the prospect of other places still being operational. Jake knew of two more in Wyoming he could explore, once the opportunity arose. Trader providing safety and an enemy slaughtering his former colleagues committed Jake to this fight. He wanted revenge and the prospect of a future.

  They snaked up to the southern ridge, across a barren plateau, and Kappa appeared in the distance below them, only half a mile away. This stronghold looked unlike the rest. Its high oval walls were constructed out of concrete blocks. A natural lake hugged the eastern boundary, plowed fields surrounded the rest.

  “It
used to be made out of timber,” Trader said. “Those blocks are eight deep.”

  “What kind of trouble were you all expecting?” Jake said.

  “Don’t misread our motivations. The walls you’ve seen allow people to sleep safely at night. Wastelanders have been a constant threat.”

  Jake turned in his seat. “I want to thank you for yesterday.”

  “Just doing my job,” Skye said. “I guess you’ve had an interesting twenty-four hours?”

  “Interesting is one way of putting it. It still hasn’t all sunk in yet, but I’m only sitting here because of you.”

  “I saw you fighting them off. You were doing fine.”

  Jake liked her modesty. She could’ve just turned a blind eye to his plight, like the others he initially spotted on the rampart and in the pillboxes. But she didn’t.

  Trader checked his watch. “Twenty minutes to our arranged meeting time; he might be here already.” He grabbed the mic and depressed the button. “Carlos, this is Trader, do you copy?”

  The radio crackled. “This is Kappa gate. He arrived fifteen minutes ago. I recognized your convoy coming down the hill.”

  “Thanks. Where’s he waiting?”

  “The cafeteria. I’ll open up the gates.”

  “Roger.”

  A sound like a fire bell rang in the distance. The gates opened. Trader sped up after reaching flat ground and headed straight for them.

  * * *

  The cafeteria reminded Jake of a prison block from the outside, with small rectangular windows positioned near the top of cream-painted concrete walls. The smell of cooking meat drifted through a gap in the large blue metal door at the front. Most other square buildings in Kappa looked the same, neatly constructed in a grid system around tarmac roads.

  “Skye, wait with my team until I’ve finished talking to the governor,” Trader said.