The Kota

by Sunshine Somerville

  Outside now, he surveyed the scene.

  This might be risky, he thought. But I want to see this mission’s success with my own eyes. And I’m not the only one…

  It was a lovely, sunny day. The parking lot where he’d earlier left his vehicle was full, but most people were already in the crowds in front of Cruelthor’s celebratory stage. A few other late arrivals hurried out of the parking lot, so Whitewolf joined them to walk across the street. He glanced to his left and spotted Rave, dressed in expensive citizen clothes, strolling from where his vehicle was parked.

  ‘Rave,’ thought Whitewolf with a short laugh at himself. I don’t use his real name in my head anymore. I even think of sis as ‘Tigris.’

  He looked along the street again.

  Where’s Bulls? he thought. I’m supposed to meet up with her before I leave. I don’t want to leave her stranded.

  Ahead, a row of drones lined the entrance to the celebration, and they funneled the arriving civilians through a security check. When it was Whitewolf’s turn, he stepped forward, placed his palm on a drone’s waiting scanner, and held his breath until the screen flashed green.

  Entering the main crowd, he heard the oblivious chatter of happy citizens who’d gathered for the ceremony. The citizens tried to peek at the base’s ramp area on the far side of the base, so apparently they’d gotten wind of what they were about to witness. As he looked over the crowds, Whitewolf also noticed a few Underground agents who’d aided in their mission. Of course, none of these people recognized Whitewolf now that he was in civilian mode.

  We’re not the only ones who want to see this through, he thought. These rebels have worked hard on this mission too.

  Whitewolf crossed paths with Rave, but they pretended not to know each other and kept moving through the crowd. Rave went to stand with a group of well-dressed young men where he didn’t stand out. Whitewolf found himself in the front row of spectators before the official stage platform. Too many people packed this area for him to move farther, and he finally spotted Bullseye, where she too was having this difficulty. They were stuck right under Cruelthor’s nose.

  Great, he thought. Oh, well. Guess I should pretend to enjoy my luck and watch the show.

  He glanced over and saw that Bullseye, as an added precaution, slid on sunglasses before allowing herself to look at those on the stage. Whitewolf followed her gaze.

  Cruelthor’s appearance didn’t surprise him. Pushing forty, the tyrant looked only slightly older in person than he did on the public newscasts. He wore an expensive suit, and he gazed over the crowd with cool disinterest. Something about “for the greater good” was coming over the speakers as he spoke, and the holographic teleprompter scrolled as he talked.

  Behind the Lord High Commander stood Crow and Yanka, two members of the Elite. Silver Eye, whom Rave said was Bullseye’s arch nemesis, stood with a group of operatives. A dozen drones were posted behind the operatives, obviously for intimidation as well as security.

  Whitewolf looked over the crowds, and his trained eye identified five Dominion operatives, none of whom were not in uniform. If any attempt was made on Cruelthor’s life, the threat would be exterminated in a second. He glanced at Bullseye, and she signaled that she’d seen this too.

  I hope we get away with this, he thought.

  As a half-hearted cheer rose from the crowd, Whitewolf realized that Cruelthor was preparing to declare the base operational. The tyrant waved to his subjects and walked across the stage to an elaborate switch which connected to the base’s ramp system. This would begin the demonstration.

  Now or never, thought Whitewolf. All our months of planning are about to either pay off or fall flat.

  With a bit of concern, he looked at Bullseye. Her brow was knit as she looked up at her oldest sibling, but Whitewolf knew she’d only do what they’d come to do. If she went the extra step of going after Cruelthor, every rebel in the crowd would be caught and killed. Bullseye wouldn’t let that happen, even if she could end the tyrant’s life right now.

  It’s gotta be tempting, thought Whitewolf. Even after we destroy this base today, our work will keep getting harder. Rave’s too focused on the benefits of this mission’s success to look ahead. Sis is too busy worrying. But I know how this will play out. So does Bulls. Destroying this base will only be a minor ripple in the Dominion pond. Not that this mission isn’t important, but it won’t be the end. Cruelthor’s pet projects will get even more homicidal.

  As Whitewolf watched, Cruelthor moved his hand over the switch. Bullseye reached into her pocket to grab the remote detonator to Rave’s bomb. She looked over the edge of her sunglasses to see when he flipped the switch. Just as Cruelthor’s hand pushed the ramp’s activator, Bullseye must’ve pushed the button on the tip of the remote.

  No one heard the explosion. It wasn’t that kind of explosion. After about five seconds, rippling sound waves shot the windows out of the new Dominion base. Glass shattered across the open lawn, but the crowds were at a safe distance. Then it was strangely silent.

  The holo-prompter Cruelthor had been using blitzed offline, and the Dominion soldiers seemed to be having trouble with their radio headsets. A man beside Whitewolf was no longer able to use his recording device. In fact, none of the electronic equipment in the area was functioning. The explosion had created a scrambled dead zone.

  When the crowd saw a fire in the back of the base, the people grew louder and began pointing and speculating.

  “There must’ve been an accident with the generators,” said a man behind Whitewolf.

  “We invested millions of kronar for this?” an executive shouted at his colleagues by Rave.

  “Yeah,” added Rave angrily. “I want my money back!”

  A few common citizens laughed.

  Whitewolf watched as the undercover Dominion operatives left their positions to learn their new orders. Security began herding the mass of people into the streets, and the flowing crowd continued to chatter in confusion.

  The look on Cruelthor’s face was alone worth the months of planning.

  Whitewolf turned his back to the stage and pushed his way through the crowd. He found Bullseye walking toward the street and joined her casually. Over his shoulder, he saw Rave playing the part of an angry executive by stomping away. Tigris had already teleported to the base after taking Whitewolf and Rave to their vehicles.

  Sis must be worn out, thought Whitewolf. She and Bulls teleported here hours ago to set the final stages of this mission, and she’s been zapping all over the place ever since.

  Whitewolf recognized a few more faces in the crowd. Much to his relief, the Underground agents who’d assisted with their mission were also dispersing safely.

  Good, he thought.

  Whitewolf looked down at his companion and saw Bullseye grinning with satisfaction. They walked together across the street and headed for Whitewolf’s vehicle. He’d parked far enough away to not be affected by the dead zone. But they weren’t out of danger yet. The crowds were likely crawling with Dominion operatives, so he and Bullseye carried on a meaningless conversation and mimicked the behavior of the surrounding people.

  When at last they reached Whitewolf’s hover car, he unlocked it, and they climbed in. After shutting their doors, he started the engine while Bullseye activated the scrambler that would jam any listening devices tagged onto their clothes. When their privacy was secure, they looked at each other and smiled.

  Whitewolf drove the luxury car onto the street. “The scrambler linked to the bomb worked perfectly. The rebels on Solarus 5 can disrupt any future signals and keep this place a dead zone, right?”

  “Yep. At least, if I understand Matsuri correctly.”

  “So no more factor base. No more surveillance for un-factors returning through the DuoPort. This will save a lot of lives.”

  Bullseye smirked and looked at him over her sunglasses. “I’m still not going to tell Rave how impressed I am with his little toy. Remember the mission to that
bunker where his timer was off? How far we’ve come.”

  Whitewolf laughed. He stopped their car at an intersection and looked at her more seriously. “While we’re alone, I want to thank you for letting sis be so involved in this mission. I know she’s not a soldier and this one was particularly dangerous, but she needed to be a part of this. She doesn’t understand her abduction, but she feels connected to the un-factors. I don’t know how much she’s told you, but this meant a lot to her.”

  “I know.” Bullseye squinted out the front windshield. “I’ve been watching her too.”

  When traffic moved again, Whitewolf activated the necessary controls and turned the hover car to exit onto an air street. Traffic was less busy here. Their luxury car floated on the air street without the bumps and jars of the paved streets below, and it was peaceful except for the occasional flashing headlights or honking horn. Since the majority of people who could afford hover cars were Dominion executives, the Dominion didn’t bother patrolling the air streets, so the Warriors could relax. They deserved a break, even if only for the short ride back to Havanahell. Whitewolf even turned on music.

  He thought of something else to fill the silence. “We should let the Hood know everything went according to plan. The password-lock device was their discovery in the first place. The Underground will probably take credit for this mission, but that’s nothing new. Still, I’m glad Beathabane trusted us to do the right thing with the device.” He smiled in memory. “The Poet Heroic. I understand why the Mainlanders call him that. It’s strange to think what things might be like if he’d been born first and Cruelthor second. What if just that one little thing was different?”

  “Yep.” Bullseye looked out the window as they passed a hovering air filter.

  Whitewolf saw that the woman wasn’t going to derail from whatever train of thought she was on. He turned off the music. “Is something wrong? You don’t have to worry about spoiling my enjoyment of the moment. I know we’ve just set off more than one kind of explosion. What will the Dominion do to retaliate?”

  She seemed to appreciate his candor. “Now that we’ve taken out the Dominion’s massive project, they’ll be after us more than ever. They can’t stop the Magi from un-factoring people. And since Cagod discovered that his commanders restarted DRK research, I’m sure Cruelthor’s heard about it to. Then there’s the fuss we’ve been making with the Dominion’s treatment transports…” She shook her head. “Cruelthor won’t put up with it anymore.”

  “So what now?”

  “We have to take steps to protect ourselves, or we won’t last much longer. You know about Remington and the other assassins after me – after all of us, lately – and I’m guessing Cruelthor will add to their numbers after our little stunt today. We made it look like an accident, but they’ll figure it out. You saw those undercover operatives. Someone might be able to identify us. We’ve done pretty good jobs of protecting our identities, but I always knew anonymity wouldn’t last forever. We have to do a few things to cover our rears, or we’re toast.”

  “Should we be worried about our civilian contacts reporting us?”

  “No, I’m confident in the methods we’ve used whenever using our citizen aliases. None of our contacts know we’re the Warriors. But, we should stop going to the apartment in Havanahell or appearing anywhere as citizens. It’s too much of a risk now.”

  “Okay. So how else do we cover our rears?”

  “Well, anyone who does know about us will be found. Cruelthor will either bribe them or torture them for whatever they know. So, if there’s anyone who knows for sure who we are…” She paused. “I have at least one loose end I need to tie up.” She looked over at him expectantly.

  Whitewolf thought a moment before he remembered. “You mean that Dr. Galcon from Free Labs?”

  She nodded. “Did your hacker friend send him a transmission like I asked?”

  “Yeah, I gave Coop the Dominion executive profile you found so he could contact the guy… Are you sure you shouldn’t tell Rave about this?”

  “He’d only slow me down. I’ve let this go for far too long, and now more than ever the Dominion will want us dead. I need to get to Galcon quick.”

  Whitewolf nodded in understanding. “The bribery you mentioned…”

  “Yep. So your hacker sent the transmission?”

  Whitewolf debated if he was doing the right thing. He sighed. “Yeah, Coop sent an untraceable, Dominion-system transmission to Galcon’s office in South Yor. As you requested, the message said you were an executive who’d learned Galcon’s real identity, and you demanded a thousand kronar to keep silent. Galcon responded that he’s up in Chi for a fundraiser this week, so he asked for more time. Coop asked me what to do, so I told him how to reply. Hope that’s okay?”

  She nodded for him to continue.

  “We told Galcon that he only had until tomorrow night to get the thousand in loose kronar. And we demanded Galcon meet you over in El Miret. I said you’d meet at the Shack, a downtown sparring club where I used to fight. The meeting’s at 0300 hours tomorrow night. Obviously Galcon won’t have his security team with him if he’s trying to buy off a blackmailer, and there aren’t many patrols in El Miret. Or an enforced curfew. You should be safe from Dominion interference.”

  Bullseye nodded in satisfaction and let out a breath.

  She’s taken plenty of missions by herself, thought Whitewolf. Galcon doesn’t sound like he’ll be too much trouble to take out. But she’s still tense about this guy.

  He glanced at his Leader. “Should one of us come along?”

  “Thanks, but no. It’s better if I do this alone. And please don’t say anything to Rave. I’m in charge, but you know how he is.”

  “Yeah, I know. I was being trained while you two were sorting out the pecking order, remember?” He laughed as he turned on another air street. Then he remembered something. “Did you know that a year ago today is when we first met? I thought that was interesting.”

  Bullseye jumped on the change of mood and topic. “Is it really? Well, happy anniversary, Whitey.” She lightly punched his arm.

  Whitewolf turned the music back on, and Bullseye returned to brooding as she looked out the window.

  She could use a break, he thought. We all could. I’m exhausted… Hopefully we can get through tonight without a call on that damn transmitter. Just one night off. That shouldn’t be too much to ask.

  Once the others returned home safe, Tigris took a long, soothing bath in her living compartment’s in-ground tub. She’d helped herself to their expensive stash of ice cream too. Tigris knew she was the softest member of the Warrior team, but she didn’t care. Let the others live tough and hard, but she still enjoyed peace and normalcy whenever she could. The factor base mission had taken a lot out of them, and she needed to relax.

  She closed her eyes and used her mind links with her partners. Bullseye had already left on a secretive solo mission, and she was out of range. Whitewolf was watching sports on his terminal screen, but he was nodding off and would be asleep any second. Rave was cooking himself dinner in their living compartments’ shared kitchen.

  “I love modern appliances,” he was thinking. “These guys have no idea how hard it was to cook over flaming palm trees in the middle of a desert.”

  Tigris opened her eyes and smiled.

  When finished with her bath and dressed in pajamas, she cleared her mind and telepathically called for Trok. She wanted nothing more than to slip into bed early, but it was always her duty to fill Trok in on their progress.

  Trok knows our every move anyway, she thought. But, he seems to enjoy our visits. And my one job is to keep him informed, so I might as well do it.

  As she’d vowed long ago, she did what she could to break up Trok’s isolation. He’d become like a surrogate father over the past year or so. The others didn’t always take into consideration that she wasn’t up for their Warrior-ness, but Trok had more sympathy.

  Tigris met Trok in the b
ase’s library. It didn’t take long to explain their factor base mission, and she let the conversation turn to lessons about the Kota texts and prophecies. She was very interested in their long-lost people, and Trok was always happy to discuss the Kota.

  Trok, comfortingly appearing the same as always, leaned his elbows on the table between them. “Remember, I wasn’t exactly an advocate for the Kota people when they were around. Sometimes I’m glad none of you know what a jerk I was back when I lived on Earth. By the time I got my act together, most of the Kota were gone through the portal. I don’t know our history half as well as I might’ve. Yes, I’ve gone back and watched it, but that’s not the same. Even when I interacted with the Kota remnant, I wasn’t really able to live among them. And they’re long dead now. The Kota are a lost race. Since our ancestors chose to be ‘allies,’ I bet we’re missing out because of our lack of fellowship.” He paused sadly. “The long and short of what I’m saying is this: I might’ve lived while the Kota were still a people, but I never lived among them.”

  Tigris knew so little of his personal history, but she did know he didn’t like talking about it. Still, even Trok was in a good mood now that their enormous factor base mission was over. In a rare show of silliness, he stuck out his tongue and rolled his eyes.

  She laughed at him. “Act your age, Bearer.”

  “Not doable.”

  Tigris tried to remember. “How old are you?”

  “Let’s see… Rave is twenty-five, so that makes me five hundred and seventy, give or take. I haven’t aged since I entered the portal, so really I’m only forty-three.”

  Tigris yawned.

  Sometimes, she thought, I hate Trok because he feels no effects of time. He never gets weary because he doesn’t sense anything that physically happens to him. That must be nice.

  She knew she was supposed to be accomplishing something with their scheduled visit, so she plowed ahead. “Well, I still don’t understand how we Warriors are supposed to drive evil from Earth. Everything we do only chinks away at the Dominion’s power. And, it’s like they do something new every time we defeat them somewhere else. Cruelthor always has the upper hand. Destroying the factor base was huge, but now he’ll just cause some new trouble.”