The Kota

by Sunshine Somerville

  Evant cursed and turned to run back down the hall.

  Whitewolf followed and had to yell over the shrieks of the gaining beasts. “Where are we going?”

  Instead of answering, Evant pulled up his run and scrambled to open a hatch. Whitewolf looked up and read the sign: ‘Manhattan Diving Adventures.’ Evant threw the hatch open and ushered Whitewolf inside, and they slammed the hatch shut behind them. Evant locked it and turned in the dim light, apparently seeing what he had to work with.

  Whitewolf also surveyed the room and saw five equalizing tanks that lined the far wall on a lower level. On the upper level where they stood, diving suits and scuba gear hung on the wall behind Whitewolf. Evant hurried over to a control counter on the upper level, and this wall held a mural of a happy family swimming with dolphins.

  “You wanna go for a swim?” Whitewolf asked in confusion.

  A wraith shrieked. The pack had gathered in the hall.

  Evant knelt at the control counter and pulled off a panel to hot-wire the system. He pointed to the entrance hatch they’d come through and then the exit hatch beyond Whitewolf. “These doors are airtight,” he explained in a rush. “We’d never shoot them all before they got to us. But, if we trap them in here and flood the room, we can drown them. I’m switching on the diving tanks right now. You need to go over to that exit hatch. I’ll open the entrance and let them in, then close the hatch behind them. Once it’s shut, you’ll shoot out the tanks so the room will flood. Hopefully I’ll have time to reach you at that exit hatch, and we can get out. Got it?”

  “Works for me!”

  Whitewolf drew a weapon and turned to the exit hatch. He opened it a crack and peered out to make sure no wraiths would cut off their escape. Satisfied with the empty hall, he turned to anxiously watch whatever Evant was doing.

  As Evant finished with the controls, he kicked a lever with his foot. The tanks’ gates opened and began filling with water from the sea. A screeching wraith pounded on the entrance hatch, and a claw banged on the plated glass porthole. Evant looked at Whitewolf to make sure he was ready, then opened the entrance hatch wide. He pulled it to cover himself for protection as the wraiths entered.

  Oh, crap, thought Whitewolf.

  The gigantic alpha entered first, followed by the six others. They hissed and slammed around the upper level until they decided to see what was below, and the alpha jumped to the lower level. The others followed.

  Evant slammed the entrance hatch.

  Whitewolf wasted no time and aimed his gun at the tanks. He fired a round that echoed in the metallic room, and the first tank’s glass exploded. Water gushed into the room. Whitewolf fired again at the second tank, then the third, then the fourth. The water surged up from the lower level too quickly to shoot all five tanks. No need, however. The wraiths were swept up by the surging water and tried to claw back to the upper level, but fortunately they were stuck as the water deepened and surged around them.

  An alarm sounded, lights flashed, and Whitewolf felt the exit hatch pull against him to close.

  Shit, he thought. This room has automated safety protocols!

  “Evant, better hurry up!”

  Whitewolf braced himself and used his strength to hold the hatch open. The rising water added to this difficulty as it reached the upper level and quickly deepened. The water swirled around Whitewolf’s calves, then his thighs, and pushed against the hatch as it spilled out into the hall.

  Evant was already running through the water toward Whitewolf as fast as he could. But the waist-high water slowed his progress.

  The flailing wraiths were no danger at the moment, so Whitewolf holstered his gun. With one arm and leg he strained to hold the exit hatch open. With the other arm, he stretched to reach for Evant.

  “Hurry!”

  A wraith’s clawed arm slashed at Evant, but he dodged and grabbed Whitewolf’s hand. Evant lost his footing in the heaving water, but Whitewolf held onto him with all his might. Gritting his teeth, he pulled them both around the hatch. Once clear, Whitewolf released Evant and pulled the hatch closed. It slammed into place, sealed, and the flow of water stopped.

  Safe, the dripping men slumped to the floor. The wraiths shrieked inside the flooded diving chamber, but soon the beasts were silent.

  Evant sat against the wall and stretched out his legs, and Whitewolf did the same. They took a moment to catch their breath. This new corridor was dark, lit only by lights farther up the hall. But it was safe for now.

  “Thanks,” Evant said with his head rested on the wall. “I had no idea you’d be so much help. No offense, but I only contacted you as a last resort when the Underground wouldn’t send anyone. If the rest of your group are like you, I’ll work with your team any day.”

  “Thanks.”

  Evant thought a moment. “I haven’t been completely straight with you.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “You were right about the Dominion planting wraith eggs here to hide something. The Hood member I told you about who came here to visit a sick relative doesn’t really have a sick relative. I made that up. Beathabane’s here.”

  Whitewolf’s eyes widened.

  “We had to keep it an absolute secret because he came here to bring back a Dominion informant. Letting anyone know what Beathabane was doing – or that he was doing it – just wasn’t safe. I couldn’t tell the Underground because they don’t care whether Beathabane lives or dies. I didn’t tell you because I wasn’t sure where your political views lay. I know that seems petty, but that’s how these rebel alliances work – it’s hard to know who to trust, even amongst ourselves. I came over to the Continent alone because I didn’t want to draw attention.”

  Whitewolf nodded in understanding.

  “When we lost contact with Beathabane,” Evant continued, “we knew the Dominion learned about the informant in this colony. They planted the wraiths here to silence him, and they’ll take out Beathabane without even planning on it.”

  “So what does the informant know?”

  “He wouldn’t say until Beathabane came. But, the Dominion’s going through a lot of trouble to kill this guy without drawing too much attention to themselves. Whatever he knows is worth the hassle of planting wraiths on an insignificant sea colony. The Dominion doesn’t want anyone to know whatever they’re hiding. We have to find out what that is.”

  “Then we’d better look for survivors before other wraiths realize fresh meat’s arrived.”

  Evant agreed, and they rose, weapons drawn. Together they hurried through the corridor in the direction of the marketplace. No evidence of wraiths met them along their way, and they eventually once again found the gigantic mall abandoned. Only, now, the shop windows were broken where the wraiths had sprung through.

  I hope there aren’t more in there, thought Whitewolf.

  As quietly as they could, the men hurried to the blockaded doors of the housing district. Here, Evant kept watch as Whitewolf tore away the barricade. He winced with every loud snap of wood or jangle of chains, but no wraiths appeared from anywhere around the marketplace.

  When the doors were open, Evant led the way into the dark housing district. They entered with guns drawn, and Whitewolf closed the doors behind them.

  “Stay sharp,” whispered Evant as he advanced into the shadows.

  Whitewolf swept his suit’s beams as he walked, and he saw apartment buildings against the walls. A wide lane ran down the center of the gigantic exterior structure. The housing district ran for an unknown distance beyond his lights. Nothing moved, and the stillness echoed their footsteps as they walked along the nearest buildings.

  Is anyone alive? thought Whitewolf. These poor people must be terrified no one’s coming to-

  Suddenly, something lashed out around the corner of a building and struck Evant in the chest. He fell backward with a cry and lost his weapon. Whitewolf ran over, but he found a gun in his face.

  “Whoa, whoa! Don’t shoot!” Raising his arms, Whitewo
lf backed away and left Evant on the ground.

  A man’s face appeared around the dark corner and stared at them in surprise. He lowered his gun. In Whitewolf’s lights, the man looked burly and tall with long, brown hair. His clothes were ripped at the edges, and his arm was bleeding above the elbow.

  “I’m so sorry,” the man apologized. He helped Evant to his feet. “I thought you were wraiths. Who are you?”

  Evant winced and held his chest. “We’re here to help. Are there other survivors? We’re looking for someone.”

  The man nodded and motioned to the building he’d been guarding. “Those of us who’ve escaped are hiding in there. The wraiths have killed forty-three colonists so far, but we’re fighting with whatever we can find. I was hurt yesterday when I tried to get out through the runoffs.” He lifted his bloodied elbow, then frowned. “We’re running out of supplies, and we’ve been locked in here five days. A group barricaded the doors and went for help, but we haven’t heard from them since. Did you see anyone on your way here?”

  “No, sorry.” Whitewolf frowned under his facemask.

  The man looked saddened but not surprised. He recovered and turned to lead them into the building. “Well, come on. Let’s see if we can find who you’re looking for.”

  They entered the apartment building’s lobby. This was a large room filled with people on cots and floor blankets. Candles flickered around the room, and Whitewolf saw hanging lanterns and decorative lights. He switched off his suit’s lights so he didn’t shine anyone in the face.

  These poor people, he thought. There must be a hundred crammed in here. They look so scared.

  Their guide announced that Whitewolf and Evant had come to help, and the people cheered quietly. Many came forward. Dirty men, women, and children crowded around, and Whitewolf saw they’d had a hard five days. He tried to reassure the people as best he could, but he noticed Evant looking around the room with a deeper scowl of concern on his face.

  “Evant?” a man’s voice called through the crowd. “Over here, my friend!”

  Evant hurried into the room toward a man on a cot. Whitewolf followed at a distance through the crowds, and he examined this new man as he approached. Of course the man was instantly recognizable, in that he looked exactly like Cruelthor. However, Whitewolf tried to give this man the benefit of the doubt.

  He’s Beathabane, thought Whitewolf. Not Cruelthor. Still, it’s unsettling.

  Beathabane, like Cruelthor, was in his mid-thirties and in good physical shape. He had the same chiseled face. Unlike his twin, Beathabane sported a shaved head and was commonly dressed. The most interesting thing about his appearance was the slashed Dominion tattoo on his left temple.

  Everyone knew the story. Cruelthor had added insult to injury by tattooing a Dominion sign on Beathabane’s temple before exiling him from the Northern Continent. In Cruelthor’s sick sense of humor, letting Beathabane live was his punishment – the younger twin lived every day as the duplicate of the much-hated Lord High Commander. If anyone disbelieved whom they were seeing, the tattoo drove away all doubt. In defiance, Beathabane had gotten a slash-mark tattooed across the Dominion sign. Those on the Mainland who followed Beathabane referred to him as the Poet Heroic to give him a more honorable title.

  “Sir,” Evant was saying, “we thought the worst when Nocturna didn’t hear from you. Is the informant still alive?”

  “Yes, and he’s told me a good deal already. The Dominion planted the wraiths here for him. What he knows…” Beathabane went silent as Whitewolf arrived.

  Evant glanced at him. “This is Whitewolf,” he explained to his leader. “No one else would help. We can trust him.”

  Beathabane looked up at Whitewolf. “I thank you, then. You’re with the Underground? They won’t like that you-”

  “No, I’m not with the Underground. We’re…”

  I guess it’s okay to tell him, thought Whitewolf. Loree and Zaak must’ve given the Underground our transmitter number in the first place. That must mean we’re ready to be official. Besides, Loree might want him to know about us for personal reasons.

  “I’m one of the Kota Warriors,” he said. “We’re…new.”

  Beathabane’s eyes widened ever so slightly. “The Kota Warriors?” He smiled but asked no more. “I suppose you think I’m foolish for coming to get the informant myself.”

  “No, sir. My Leader also likes to take missions on her own.” He wanted to make sure Beathabane understood what Whitewolf thought he did – namely, that the Warrior Leader was his long-missing sister.

  Beathabane smiled with a hint of sadness in his eyes, but he returned to business. Facing Evant again, he now included Whitewolf in the discussion. “Erik – that’s the informant – told me the Dominion has been investigating more and more into the portals. Cruelthor is planning to convert the ancient Capitol House into a factor base. They plan to send prisoners to the base for DRK injection, and the Northern Continent’s DuoPort is not a hundred meters away. Cruelthor doesn’t want to continue wasting kronar by sending factor-filled transports to our Mainland-Euro DuoPort. So, he plans to use this Continent’s portal. If he succeeds in building this base, disposing of factors would be easier than ever, and he could infect ten times as many people without worrying about transporting them overseas.”

  Evant cursed. “And, he’d capture the un-factors who keep coming out of the DuoPort. They’d be factored all over again and sent right back into the portal.”

  Beathabane nodded with a scowl. He told Whitewolf, “We’ve worked for years to save prisoners from our Mainland DuoPort’s factor base, but the Dominion always finds a way…” He sighed tiredly.

  Evant seemed to agree. “We have to prevent Cruelthor from building a base here.”

  “Yes. Erik has within his reach a password-lock device that could give us access to plans for the base. We have to get moving on this.”

  “First, we have to get you out of here, sir,” said Evant. “Erik should come along too. He needs to get us that password-lock device, and he needs to do it quickly since the Dominion knows he’s with us. We can send these colonists help once we’re away. This is urgent.”

  Beathabane looked at the surrounding families.

  From where he stood over the Hood leader, Whitewolf saw the tortured look of decision on the man’s face. And that was all it took to convince Whitewolf that the Underground’s prejudices were unfounded. Beathabane, although a physical duplicate of the most hedonistic man on the planet, was genuinely concerned for these people around them.

  He’s a good man, thought Whitewolf. What would the Underground think if they saw him now? Loree’s right in saying we should work with the Hood. If I didn’t already have an allegiance, I’d follow the Poet Heroic.

  “Sir,” Evant prodded, “let’s go. Where’s Erik?”

  Beathabane pulled himself out of thought and stood. He walked to a lone man in the corner, whispered something in his ear, and led this man toward the exit. He looked back at Evant and Whitewolf and bobbed his head for them to follow.

  People crowded Beathabane as the group tried to leave, and Whitewolf felt horrible about leaving them.

  “We’ll send help,” Beathabane told the survivors. “It’s too dangerous for everyone to go now. Stay here and block the doors behind us. We will send help. I promise.”

  The man who’d found Evant and Whitewolf met them at the door and led them back into the dark. They parted his company at the doors to the shopping district, and they stepped into the relative brightness with guns drawn. Fortunately, no more wraiths appeared.

  At a quiet but fast pace, they advanced through the corridors toward the tower elevator. The informant muttered to himself the entire way, and Evant had to push him along to keep him moving.

  Will he be of any use? thought Whitewolf.

  They reached the elevator and crammed inside. Evant hurried to operate the lift’s controls, and soon it rattled to life and started its ascent for the surface. Erik was p
laced in Whitewolf’s care while the other two men discussed their plans.

  Listening, Whitewolf realized how important this could be. If the Hood could stop this new factor base, they’d eliminate a major threat.

  In fact, he thought, the whole wipe-evil-from-Earth prophetic thing seems to mean stopping the DRK virus – that’s what Zaak says, anyway. The DRK is the key weapon of the Dominion. So, yeah, it’s pretty important that I do whatever I can to help these guys.

  Once they reached sea level, Evant opened the hatch, and they stepped out onto the dock. Near dawn, the sky grew lighter in the east. The cold wind blew into Whitewolf as he turned to climb aboard the boat. Erik and Beathabane joined him to sit, and Evant started the engines. The rocking boat turned sharply, now aimed at the dark shore of the capital.

  “As soon as we reach the docks,” Beathabane yelled to Evant, “get your vehicle. We have to slip away as inconspicuously as possible.”

  Evant’s only response was to push the speed of the boat.

  Erik seemed traumatized, whimpering, “They’re going to slay me. They’re going to slay me.”

  “Calm down, man.” Whitewolf put a hand on Erik’s back and felt him shaking.

  The rest of the ride was spent in tense silence.

  When the boat reached the port, Evant pulled the boat alongside a dock and cut the power. Whitewolf squinted to look for any sign of trouble. The sky grew lighter as the sun rose over the ocean, but they were still veiled in partial shadow where they pulled in beside a larger boat. Ahead, between the warehouses, darker shadows hid dozens of places from which an attack could appear.

  We need to clear out fast, thought Whitewolf.

  He helped the terrified informant onto the dock and kept hold of Erik’s arm to make sure he didn’t run or faint. Evant ran off to find his parked vehicle. Beathabane lifted a hood over his shaved head and pulled it to shield his face. He then stepped beside Whitewolf and took over supporting Erik.

  “They’re going to slay me. They’re going-”

  Beathabane held Erik’s face to look him in the eye. “Erik, listen. What you’ve told me is very important. I know I promised we’d take you with us, but we need you to do something first. You still have access to the password-lock device, correct?”