Heir Ascendant (Faded Skies Book 1)

by Matthew S. Cox

  Maya ran to the fire escape stairs, clanking and clattering to the second floor platform. After a couple of bounces, the ladder extended, and she rode it more than climbed to the street level. A few feet away from the sidewalk, she jumped and trotted over to the corner.

  “Street’s clear,” she whispered.

  She shivered from nerves, paced back and forth, and leaned against a streetlamp post. Two civilian e-cars went by. One man glanced at her, though the look seemed one of curiosity. Neither vehicle slowed. Five or six blocks to her left, an Authority patrol car crossed the street, visible only for a few seconds.

  Drone fan whir echoed off the walls, loud enough to be close. Maya looked straight up, expecting to see one pass over the roof of the building she’d been perched on. When a blast of wind and blinding glare hit her from the right, she screamed.

  A standard blue Authority drone hovered over the intersection, about even with the middle of the second floor. It spotted two searchlights on her and aimed its .50 caliber machine gun.

  Maya spun to face it, arms rigid at her sides, standing at attention with her chin up. The grid of green laser light spread over her. Please. Nice drone. I’m not doing anything wrong. These ones aren’t supposed to do this…

  She expected the usual happy chirp, but it made an angry digital squawk and erupted with a bevy of red flashing lights.

  “By order of the Authority, you are to surrender. Place yourself on the ground immediately with your arms and legs apart. Any attempt to flee or sudden motion will be considered an admission of guilt and result in immediate termination.”

  Mom! She trembled, unable to move. When a scary clicking noise came from the long-barreled cannon slung along its underbelly, she slid her hand into the pocket with the radio and squeezed the transmit button. The throat mic wouldn’t pick up the drone, but the microphone on the box itself would.

  “By order of the Authority you are to surrender. Place yourself on the ground immediately with your arms and legs apart. You have four seconds or you will be shot.”

  Maya dropped, flat on her chest. She hoped the transmission was enough of a call for help and stretched herself out in the shape of an X. Head turned to the side, she rested her cheek on the sidewalk. “Mom, help!”

  “Do not attempt to move,” crackled the electronic voice overhead. “Authority officers are on their way to collect you. Any attempt to resist will result in lethal force.”

  Gunfire erupted inside the warehouse. Maya closed her eyes, afraid to even shake too much lest the drone kill her. Voices shouted in her earbud, though she couldn’t make out what they said over the roar of fans overhead. Rippling gunfire from three or four people firing bursts at the same time preceded a labored whirring of distant drone fans and an explosive crash.

  Maya flattened herself as much as she could, fingers trying to grip the ground. She risked a peek toward the warehouse, where the booth guard screamed into some kind of phone.

  “G-gate g-guard’s o-on the p-phone,” said Maya, unsure if the throat mic would pick it up with a drone so close overhead.

  “You are not authorized to move,” said the drone.

  She let her cheek hit the ground again. “Please don’t kill me. I’m only a kid.”

  “You are not authorized to speak,” said the drone.

  Shattering glass preceded another ripple of gunfire by a split second. The drone swiveled up and to its right. Maya rolled onto her side and clamped her hands over her ears as the heavy machinegun went off, aimed in the direction of the warehouse. Huge empty shell casings rained down around her. One bounced off her knee before rolling into the street. In the instant of silence following its short burst, clanks and pings echoed overhead. The drone careened forward, both front fans sputtering, and bottomed out in the middle of the road. It slid and spun over the paving in a spray of sparks before slamming into a line of parked cars. More shots followed, sounding like toys compared to the .50 caliber cannon. Blue fire washed over the drone amid a crackling explosion similar to fireworks.

  Maya shrieked when a hand grabbed her arm a moment later. She snapped her head up to find Genna, covered in blood, rifle held in one hand.

  “Mom!”

  “I’m okay.” Genna hauled her into the air and spun to face the warehouse.

  Maya twisted around, aghast at the guard station windows shot out and stained red. The man inside slumped face down on the desk. Chromatic light from whatever video he’d been watching made the parts of his shirt that remained white flicker. They heard me.

  She didn’t have time to wonder if she’d caused that man’s death. Genna whisked her up in a full sprint, heading across the street. Maya averted her eyes once it became apparent they headed toward the booth. Genna reached in the shattered window and hit a switch that caused the long rolling gate to open.

  The truck barreled around the corner of the warehouse, nearly tilting over from taking a turn too fast. It knocked two forklifts out of the row as it pulled a hard left to approach the exit and skidded to an almost-stop by the booth. Sidiqi shoved the passenger door open. Genna ran alongside and tossed Maya up and into his arms before she jumped in. Maya stared at the empty back seat. Carver had blood on the right side of his face, but it looked like someone else near him had a bad day.

  Carver leaned on the accelerator. Electric motors whined in protest, but the truck lurched forward, bouncing over the sidewalk and onto the road. He spun the wheel, heading left, opposite the way they’d come in. Genna grabbed Maya and clung tight.

  Maya stared around numb. Sidiqi bled from his left shoulder and a few shards of glass or plastic stuck in the side of his head. Crimson poured out of Carver’s nose, which had turned purple from a blunt impact.

  Genna buried her face in Maya’s hair. “Oh, baby… I’m sorry. We should’ve left you at the safehouse.”

  “It wasn’t the kid,” said Carver. “They were waiting for us. Dammit. We should’ve known they would have noticed that much Xeno redirected. Damn nine-year-old isn’t going to beat Ascendant at its own game.”

  “The Xeno was there, wasn’t it?” Genna offered a mournful smile.

  “Where’s Binks and Jameson?” whispered Maya.

  “In the back.” Sidiqi sounded grim.

  Maya looked down. “Are they dead?”

  Carver wrung his hands on the wheel. “Not yet, but it ain’t lookin’ good for Binks. Took a .50 to the chest. Jay is with him in the back.”

  “I’m sorry.” Maya sniffled. “It snuck up on me.” It didn’t think I was a Citizen…

  “This is a war.” Carver sighed. “We all went in knowing this could happen. He didn’t hesitate. We couldn’t have gotten a hold of that much Xeno without you, kid… even if they did technically let you get away with it.”

  The truck bounced over a rough patch in the road, causing a loud groan from the back. Carver slowed a bit since no drones or Authority cars seemed to be chasing them.

  Maya thought it over. “I don’t think they let me. Vanessa wouldn’t gamble that much money. If they knew, they’d have swapped it back for A-Profen and let us think it’s Xeno. This warehouse was repeatedly written up for bad security.”

  “Looks like they beefed it up some.” Sidiqi chuckled. “Poor bastards. There’s gonna be a couple job openings.”

  “Transponder,” crackled Zeroice’s voice from a box on the floor. “The truck doesn’t have one. It took them a while to catch on, but their security thought you guys were just some crew there ta steal shit.”

  “Where’s the Authority?” Genna glared at the side mirror. “Why aren’t they all over us?”

  “I expect the requisite bowing and worship at some later point,” said Zeroice over the radio. “Your panic-stricken warehouse guards were begging a couple of my AIs for help… not Authority dispatch. However, you should get that rig out of sight sooner rather than later. Oh, and that roamer that spotted Maya… had to be random. There’s nothing in their system about a raid.”

  “
Copy,” said Carver.

  Maya shifted around and cuddled up to Genna. “I wanna go home.”

  “We will.” Genna rocked her a little. “We will.”

  Two heavy thuds hammered on the back wall, with the muted quality of a human fist. Sidiqi bowed his head and whispered in a language Maya didn’t recognize.

  “Honor and Glory, Bink.” muttered Carver.

  “I was right fuckin’ next to him.” Genna shivered. “That could’a been me. Damn, Bink. Your ass was always first through the door.” She cried. “You should’ve ducked.”

  Maya felt a moment of relief that the drone decided to fire first at Binks and not Genna. Guilt squashed her happiness, and she cried along with her mother.

  “‘Bout six minutes,” said Carver while turning right onto a road that would take them most of the way across the city heading south.

  “It saw me. I killed Binks.” Maya rested her head against her mother’s chest and stared out the window at meaningless patches of color gliding by. Buildings, cars, people, everything blended into a milieu of sorrow.

  “No, baby. No you didn’t.” Adrenaline shudders rattled Genna’s body; she tightened her arm around Maya’s back. “The Authority killed Binks.”

  “Binks’ inability to duck killed Binks,” said Sidiqi with enough of a smile for no one to take it as a serious statement.

  “He got that drone’s attention first.” Carver sighed. “Binks would be happy it got him instead of a little girl.”

  “Yeah.” Sidiqi tapped a fist on his knee.

  Genna’s hand stroked over Maya’s hair in a soothing repetition. Minutes passed in somber silence before the truck came to a stop at a traffic signal. A holographic advertisement on the corner projected another dolled up version of her. The life-sized animation struck a fashion model pose with a box of Chromacin―’Let out the real you’―in her outstretched palm. Digital aftereffects caused her skin to go from pale white to as dark as Vanessa and back again. Maya stared at the window, where her reflection hovered superimposed over the illusion selling lies.

  She dug her fingers into Genna’s shirt. “Ascendant killed him.”

  arver maneuvered the truck down a narrow alley, managing to back it up past walls lit by flashing yellow lights. Maya perked up in Genna’s lap, recognizing the area in front of Integration Ward 4. She bounced with anticipation as beige-painted cinder blocks slid past them on either side. Gate signs grew larger and larger in the side mirrors. As soon as brakes hissed, Maya lunged for the door handle.

  Genna didn’t hold her back. Maya jumped onto the door and rode its outward swing before dropping to the ground. Some of the sick people approached the inside of the fence with suspicious stares and angry grumbles. At the sight of Maya sprinting up to them, they went quiet. A few looked surprised, their expressions giving away they hadn’t expected to ever see her again.

  “Is Doctor Janus here?” she asked.

  Ashley squeezed out from the group and wriggled past the gap in the fence. She dragged her right leg more than walked on it, waving her left arm as if it would help pull her forward. “You came back! I didn’t forget you yet. My head still works.”

  Maya hugged the smaller girl until the tromping of boots came up behind her.

  “Who’s this?” asked Genna.

  Ashley lifted her head. The instant the half-grey face of a five-year-old peered up at Genna, the woman collapsed to her knees, both hands over her mouth. She reached a trembling hand out, touching one finger to the girl’s cheek.

  “Those bastards…” Genna pulled both girls into a crushing hug. “This ends. I’ma burn motherf―Ascendant to the god damned ground. Every last greedy one of ‘em.”

  Ashley gave Maya a ‘help me’ look as the force of Genna’s embrace forced yet more dark yellow snot out of her nostrils.

  “Mom. You’re squeezing her too hard.” Maya squirmed. “She’s leaking.”

  Doctor Janus emerged from the sea of Fade victims and opened the padlocked chain. Carver banged a fist on the truck door, which opened a few seconds later. Jameson, a bloody mess, slumped to one knee. Behind him lay the remains of Binks at the center of a massive puddle of blood. Six square palettes of plastiboard cartons sat at the front end of the trailer, all labeled as A-Profen.

  “Headache pills?” asked Doctor Janus. “They’re going to need something stronger than that.”

  “That’s how we got it out.” Maya smiled. “It’s Xenodril, mislabeled.”

  At the X word, a hush fell over the crowd of sick.

  “Dropping off one,” said Carver. “The rest are slated to go to Miami, Richmond, Philly, Boston, and Atlanta.”

  “That should last awhile.” Doctor Janus smiled.

  Maya looked at Ashley. “How long does it take to fix them? Is she going to be okay?”

  The doctor took a knee and brushed Ashley’s hair away from the grey patch. “If that’s really Xenodril in there, she’s got a good chance. Ashley hasn’t shown any signs of memory loss yet, but I can’t say she’ll ever regain full strength in her right leg and arm. She’s quite young though, so who knows. Children are often surprisingly resilient.” She examined the girl’s right eye. “Too early to say if she’ll see with that eye again.”

  Ashley looked down. “My mommy’s gone to sleep. She doesn’t hurt now.”

  Maya clamped onto her and sobbed. Genna balled her fists in her lap, barely keeping herself from screaming in a rage.

  Doctor Janus picked the little redhead up once Maya quieted. “She’ll be okay. Let’s not make her wait any longer.”

  Maya sniffled and went limp in Genna’s arms. “Okay.”

  “Is it gonna hurt?” asked Ashley.

  “No. It’s only a pill.” The doctor motioned for some of the able-bodied sick to come forward and help unload the pallet. “You’ll feel a little sleepy, but that’s it.”

  Sidiqi backed away as a group of shrouded people approached. Without a jack, it took quite a few hands to drag a pallet to the rear end. Rather than attempt to carry the entire thing out at once, they tore the plastic wrap open and passed the medicine carton by carton in a line of handoffs. Doctor Janus carried Ashley into the compound. The girl waved at Maya with a big grin from the half of her mouth that still moved. Even her milky eye sparkled with hope. The doctor disappeared with her into the main tent.

  Maya whirled and clung to Genna, drowning in guilt. The idea that she shared at least some genetic material with Vanessa Oman made her sick to her stomach. Genna comforted her for a few minutes before grumbling about being a slacker, and set her down to join the handoff train. A palette’s worth of Xenodril flowed into the main medical tent along a human conveyor belt.

  After the last box went inside, the Fade victims clustered around, thanking Carver, Sidiqi, and Jameson, approaching Genna and Maya last. She blubbered through apologies for what her ex-mother did to them. When all the grateful looks, head pats, and hand grasping ceased, the sick went back inside, awaiting their turn to take pills.

  Maya looked up at Genna. “Are you sure no one will try to steal it?”

  “I don’t think they will. One, Janus is giving it away to people who need it―she ain’t chargin’. Two, most people who aren’t sick won’t go anywhere near a Fade ward.” Genna sniffled and wiped a tear. “They don’t pay much attention to what happens here, expecting people to rot ‘til they die. All these poor bastards have been written off. Figure they’ll probably stay here acting sick for a while, enjoying the free food… and disappear one by one. Janus isn’t stupid. Everyone leavin’ at once would get noticed.”

  Two white-shrouded men approached Carver and offered to help move Binks’ remains to the crematorium.

  “There’s a damn crematorium right here?” asked Jameson.

  “Yes.” Maya frowned. “That’s how they are expected to leave this place.”

  Maya clasped her hands in front of herself, gaze downcast. She stood a few feet away from the tray that, in a few minutes, would carry B
inks into fire. Carver, Genna, Sidiqi, and Jameson formed a horseshoe around him. The woman with all the extra skin sagging under her gauzy Fade shroud hovered by the door out. She coughed into her fist a few times while muttering a prayer. Three men who’d already had their first dose of Xenodril joined her, though at only an hour since taking it, none looked any different aside from a little bleariness in their expressions. All bowed their heads in reverent silence.

  “Well Binks, ya never did tell anyone what your real name was.” Carver chuckled. “You made the ultimate sacrifice for the mission. The Brigade will make sure your name is carried into the next century. On behalf of all of us, I bestow the Silver Star for valor in action.” He choked up and made a ‘your turn’ wave at Sidiqi.

  “My friend… You were quick with the wiseass remark and quicker getting around panties. It was an honor to fight beside you. We will meet again.” Sidiqi patted Binks on the shoulder and stepped back.

  Genna suppressed a cough. “I can’t say I’m sorry that I never gave it up to you, Bink.” Her lips curled with a wistful smile. “Suppose I was a bit of a bitch at times, but I had my own demons to work out.” Her lip quivered. “I shouldn’t have dragged a kid along with us on―”

  “Secure that, Genna.” Carver inhaled a sharp breath. “That girl is precious, both because of who she is and… well, just because. She had her ass down and compliant. The drone wouldn’t have hurt her. Binks rushed to open fire knowing the risk. It ain’t your fault, and it ain’t Maya’s fault.”

  “Copy that.” Genna squeezed Maya’s hand.

  “Ya know.” Jameson glanced sideways at her. “Binks was enough of a sick bastard he might appreciate a handie right now.”

  Genna punched him in the shoulder. “You did not just say that.” She cracked up laughing with tears in her eyes. “You know, he might.”

  Nervous chuckles swept around the group.

  “Later, mate,” said Jameson. “We had a good run.” His lip quivered; he sniffled. “Y’always said it’d be me. S’pose I am a bit too cautious after all. I…” He looked down, unable to go on.