The Kota

by Sunshine Somerville

  Galcon was irritated. “I’m not going to report you! It’s been over a year since I’ve known you were out, but I haven’t reported you this whole time. I don’t plan on doing it now. I’ve learned about the Kota Warriors, and I know the work you’ve done – everyone knows. A lot of people believe the Kota prophecies, you know. The mere rumor of the Warriors’ mission has brought hope. As far as I can tell, you Warriors are the only chance this planet has because you focus on stopping the DRK. You’ve accomplished a lot. Even some of the rebel activity not credited to you has your fingerprints all over it. You’ve destroyed DRK treatment shipments, you’ve taken out patrol posts and drone bases, you’ve killed augmented executives…” That last bit he said with a raised eyebrow. “And, now you’ve destroyed the factor base by the DuoPort. Why would I turn you in when you’re doing all this good?”

  Bullseye had to chuckle. “So what, you’re our number one fan?”

  Galcon remembered something. “Oh, I should warn you. I assume you’ve seen the news about the outbreak in Berlin?”

  She nodded, fearing what he was about to say.

  “That was no random outbreak. A DRK lab in Berlin was ordered to release the virus into the city. Cruelthor knows about a Hood base in that area, and he’s using Berlin as a staging point. Once a significantly terrifying number of factors are on the loose, Cruelthor will release a statement saying that anyone who turns in Hood rebels will receive the treatment. He’s already quarantined Berlin so the virus doesn’t spread, and he’s giving the treatment to the surrounding regions. But he’s going to let Berlin factor unless they turn in the Hood.”

  “He’s using the DRK to terrify the citizens into flushing them out.” Bullseye swallowed. “You said Berlin is a staging point?”

  Galcon looked worried. “I heard on a Dominion transmission that Cruelthor interrogated rebel prisoners and discovered you Warriors’ involvement in the factor base fiasco. Everyone suspected your involvement, of course, but now he knows for sure. In retaliation, he’ll unleash the DRK into major cities across the Northern Continent. I think he’ll start with cities in his own region, since that’s where reports suggest you Warriors are based. What he did in Berlin with the Hood, he’ll do here with you Warriors – he’ll use the virus to frighten the citizens into exposing you.”

  Bullseye nodded, understanding her brother’s mind all too well. “And since everyone here can watch the newscasts from Berlin, it’ll be fresh on everyone’s mind just how terrible a DRK outbreak can be. They’ll do whatever he wants.”

  “Exactly. He hopes that either someone with information about you will come forward or that the virus will factor a significant number of rebels, including you Warriors. It’ll cost millions to repair the damage and contain the resulting factors, but Cruelthor apparently thinks it’s worth it. At the very least, the citizens will get the message that he won’t tolerate rebels anymore. The citizens will be terrified as soon as it’s clear what’s going on in Berlin, and once factors start appearing here… You need to be careful.”

  Bullseye let out a huff at this new danger. “Well, this warning certainly helps plead your case. Anything else you can tell me?”

  “No. Believe me, I wish there was more I knew, but there’s not.”

  Good enough, she thought with relief. I don’t have to slay him. Yay for me. But, somehow…

  A honking vehicle drove through the street below, and a man yelled an obscenity at whatever got in his path.

  This still isn’t very gratifying, she thought. If Galcon is my one good deed, he’s turning out to be a disappointment. The long and short of everything he’s saying is that he doesn’t want to jeopardize his cushy, Dominion life in any way. I can’t think of him in a positive light when he’s like this. I can let him live, and that might make life easier, but… He’s not a threat, but he’s nothing good either. So, no, letting him live didn’t have any sort of grand purpose. It was useless, in the end.

  Tired, emotionally drained, and now dealing with this new disappointment, Bullseye chuckled under her breath. “Okay, you can live.”

  “Thank you.” He let out a short breath but examined her face. “What?”

  I feel responsible for how he’s turned out, she thought. I should at least point out what’s wrong with him…

  She stood against the ledge. “You’ve become one of them, Jett.”

  He made a face. “I may live in the Dominion world, but I don’t agree with what they’re doing. I just said I’m happy you Warriors are-”

  “So you still care about the world, huh? Pretty hypocritical thing to say from where you’re sitting. I’m supposed to believe you’re rooting for the good guys while you work with the bad guys? Talk all you want about hoping we Warriors can save the world, but when the chips are down you have sided with the Dominion, Galcon. This change in you completely baffles me, but I guess I know how seductive the Dominion life can be.”

  Galcon shook his head and faced the night sky in frustration. “You are judging me?”

  Staying unemotional, she looked back at him. “Because of where I’ve been – and much, much more importantly because of how I’ve changed – I can judge you better than anyone. In Monaco, you used to work yourself sick trying to help mankind. What are you doing to help people now, Galcon? You’ve betrayed the one part of you that I actually used to respect. While way back then I would’ve been fine with who you are now, I now like you less than I liked your bland personality in Monaco. At least back then you stood for something. Now, you’re just as self-serving as I used to be. You can’t validate your life by telling yourself that you care. You don’t care, or you’d do something about it.”

  Galcon kept shaking his head. “I’m not the Dominion poster boy you think I am. I do care. That’s the truth. I wasn’t the one in our relationship who did all the lying, Meegan Hunt. Why can’t you believe me?”

  “Oh, I believe you think you care, but the fact remains that you aren’t doing anything about it. You might be less heinous than the rest of them, but you’re useless. What help are you to anyone?”

  Galcon bit his lip, then took steps forward to stand in front of her. “I’m not what you think.”

  “Then get out of the Dominion. That might – might – prove something.”

  “I can’t leave the Dominion.”

  Bullseye rolled her eyes. She thought of one last chance to think positively of him. “If you’re sincere, would you be willing to do something for me from the inside? You say you care, so prove it.”

  “What do you want?”

  “Could you get me intel? Be an informant? We have double agents in Free Labs, but I doubt they’re as smart as you. You must know something that could help us rebels find the treatment formula. You worked on it before, and you’re in Free Labs now.”

  “You worked there too.”

  “Sure, but I only paid enough attention to avoid getting caught.”

  Galcon swept a hand through his hair. “I only know what we did before. I’m certain the rebels know what I do. This virus started when those old geneticists tampered with gene therapy to make a bio weapon. It’s fairly simple. They used controlled, genetically altered viruses to replace specific cellular genes. They used recombinant-DNA technology to merge DNA molecules from various sources and insert them into their subject. All this resulted in radiation infection through the use of electromagnetic light waves to form mutagens. These radioactive mutagens created a retrovirus, which has RNA that permanently becomes a part of the infected cell. This retrovirus reacts to the red blood cells and works backward to infect bone marrow, which then sends mutagenic DNA to cells. This then mutates the host into a factor because the entire system tells the body it’s something other than what it is. According to records that are over five hundred years old, the very first people experimented on should’ve had antibodies – that’s probably what the developers were counting on. But, because the radiation causes the mutations to occur so strongly, the antibodies themselve
s become virulent mutagens. In all my time of research, I haven’t been able to find how the DRK treatment works because radiation used under any scenario only makes the virus stronger. I don’t know how Cruelthor’s ancestor figured it out. Cruelthor clearly knows how it works, but the Dominion terminated the files in Free Labs pertaining to our DRK research. The DRK’s treatment is a total mystery. I don’t know anything more to tell you.”

  She’d understood less than half of what he’d said, although bits and parts sounded as if they should’ve been familiar. “So you can’t do anything for the cause you used to obsess over?”

  “No.”

  So much for that, she thought.

  “Well, then, Galcon, I guess we have nothing else to talk about. Once again, have a great life.” She walked to the fire escape.

  Galcon climbed down right after her. They reentered the small room of the Shack through the window, and Bullseye saw everything was as they’d left it. The light of the lamp was bright compared to the roof, and she squinted as her eyes adjusted. She paused to ensure her wig was in place.

  Galcon flattened his own dark hair where the wind had blown it around. “I don’t suppose there’s any hope for a civil conversation?”

  “People in our situation don’t have heartfelt dialog. Seriously, thank you for not reporting me to Cruelthor, and thank you for the warning about the DRK, but don’t feel like a hero. I still think you’re a…”

  He raised an eyebrow.

  “Well, you’re nothing.” She met his eyes to let him use his mutate-genes.

  No point sugarcoating the matter, she thought.

  Galcon almost laughed in his frustration. “Okay, so you think I have the will of a drone. I’m just supposed to live with that?”

  “Yep. I’ve tried to find something of quality in you, but you’ve shot those attempts down.”

  He rolled his eyes.

  It was time to leave. Her wig secure, she dropped her arms to her sides. “I have no further reason for seeing you ever again. You’ve made your position clear, so you’ll get your wish from South Yor – you’ll never see me again. We’re-”

  Now he laughed. “I only said that because you scared the crap out of me, showing up like that. And I was mad at you for ruining my life. I didn’t know then about the Kota Warriors. I only knew it wouldn’t be safe-”

  “Grr! We’re done!” She walked to the door, deciding to leave that as their final parting.

  Galcon ran up behind her and put his hand against the door. She turned and looked up at him with a smirk, knowing he couldn’t stop her from leaving if she was set on it. He probably had gone through basic training, but few top operatives were a match for her. Also, having arrived at the conclusion that he was a lost cause had strengthened her confidence in being able to throttle him.

  Galcon, his hand pinning the door closed behind her, looked down in her face. Despite his physical stance of assertion, his voice was calmer now. “You’ve changed too, you know. Everything I used to hate about you is gone. It’s admirable, in a way, that you don’t like me because you think I haven’t taken a stand for what’s right.”

  Is he serious? she thought.

  “You want to talk about me, Galcon? Yeah, I’ve changed. But it hasn’t been easy. I found my real name only to throw it back again. I’m working with people who used to be my enemies. But no matter how hard it is, I found the right cause and I’m doing something about it.”

  He shook his head. “I wish you’d entertain the possibility that you’re wrong about me. You had me nailed in Monaco, but you don’t know me now. You don’t. On some level, I owe you my life, and I don’t want you to think ill of me. That doesn’t seem fair. You can’t just write me off as a lost cause.”

  Bullseye flinched, considering this was exactly what she’d thought.

  “You’re the only person who knows who I really am,” he continued. “Even if we don’t exactly get along, I don’t want to go our separate ways and be done with it. You have no idea… I might not be able to convince you I’m a good guy, but you can’t just forget about me.”

  She swallowed hard. “Believe me, I know. But that won’t stop me from trying.”

  Galcon kept talking. “Look, being in the Dominion has shown me things. I would’ve been bored with me in Monaco too, if I’d been you. From what I’ve seen of the Dominion’s world, I’m beginning to understand why you were the way you were.”

  She thought of something clever. “Zaak says I’m still the way I was, I’ve just learned to twist it to work for me. For instance, I use my training on a daily basis. A part of me right now wants to throw you out that window.”

  He wasn’t fazed. “Only part? That’s good. What does the other part want?”

  “The other part doesn’t matter, considering I don’t have a harpoon on me, anyway.”

  Galcon chuckled. “Who’s Zaak?”

  Bullseye made a face and looked at her boots. Mentally berating herself, she said, “A friend.”

  “Bullshit.” His voice changed so she knew without looking that he was smiling. “You’ve already shoved a lamp in my jaw and forced me onto a roof. I’m not feeling particularly coprophagous. I can tell when you’re lying, remember?”

  “Copro-what?”

  “Look it up.”

  She rolled her eyes. “How do you do that?”

  “See when people are lying? It’s like my powers of observation become hyper-sensitive. I can pick up on vocal tremors. People’s neck muscles tighten when they lie, causing veins to be more distinctive, and I can see a pulse quicken if I’m looking in the right spot. Tones change. Eyes shift – eyes are the easiest clue. Besides, my cerebral augmentation remembers pretty much every conversation I’ve ever had, so I can constantly go back and check for discrepancies.”

  “Your wife must hate that, or haven’t you told her you’re a MOB?”

  He waved a finger. “I know what you’re doing. You’re not going to distract me. Try again – who is Zaak?”

  She sighed but confessed. “He’s my brother. Well, half-brother.”

  “Another one? Oh. That means Zaak is Rave. The Kota prophecies pair you guys up by family, so…”

  She went rigid.

  Galcon saw this. “Don’t worry. I won’t report him either.” He grinned. “I am a little proud of myself for figuring it out, though.”

  A siren from a patrol machine outside distracted her from answering as she would’ve liked, so they stood in silence.

  It’s too bad he can’t be an ally, she thought. He’s sharp. He could be so much more than what he is. The fact that he’s not feels like a failure on my part – he was perfectly noble before I got to him. If he was just something honorable now… But he’s not. That’s that. No ally here, only another bleak reminder that the Dominion can infect anything. Somehow I feel worse about him now than I did when I thought I’d have to slay him. Trok seemed to think… But Galcon’s one of them. And it’s my fault. I drove him to this. I did this to him.

  The siren passed, and a barking dog in the street chased after the machine.

  “Well,” she said, “that was close to a civil conversation. Sorry about your jaw.”

  Galcon smiled. “Hmm. Lying again.”

  She bobbed her head at his hand. “Move. From what I hear, Bubbles’ chas are quite high-rent. Time’s about up, and you can’t afford me for another session. Now move.”

  Galcon must’ve seen he’d get no further conversation, so he removed his hand from the door and opened it for her.

  Bullseye stepped into the hall just as the man and woman in the neighboring room also emerged, giggling. An idea popped into Bullseye’s mind, and she turned to face Galcon where he stood in the doorway.

  “You owe me two hundred kronar.”

  The pair from next door watched with curiosity.

  Galcon just looked at her.

  Bullseye held out her hand and wiggled her fingers. She smirked, knowing that both their covers demanded they look convi
ncing. She was sure Galcon had it on him – he had come to pay off a blackmailer – and she could use the kronar to rent a room on her trip back home.

  After a second, Galcon grinned and crossed his arms. “Not without one last kiss, cha.”

  Bullseye’s smirk fell. With a sideways glance at their onlookers, she saw they were still interested. Her plan had backfired.

  Flush me, she thought. I can’t dematerialize to escape because that’d start a commotion, and that’s the last thing I need.

  With no other course of action, Bullseye stepped forward and gave Galcon what he wanted.

  How much do I want to hate myself right now? she thought as they kissed.

  When she had Galcon’s kronar tubes in hand, she left the room and marched down the hall, not looking back. She descended the stairs to reenter the main level of the Shack, stomped over to the man behind the bar, and threw a kronar tube at him. Before he could yell after her, she turned for the exit and tossed open the doors, fleeing the Shack. Her pace bike was still there, so she hurried to it, her hands in tight, shaking fists.

  27

  “The turning point”

  It always bothered Rave that he couldn’t snore without giving himself a headache. Annoyed his own breathing had woken him once again, he rolled over and tried to get back to sleep. After an hour of trying, he realized it wasn’t going to happen. Still, it was midnight before he climbed out of bed to take a walk.

  Yesterday, Bullseye had called to share disturbing news she’d learned from an informant: The virus was being released into the public. Rave and Whitewolf had spent the majority of the day at Undertown, since Bullseye insisted they warn the Underground of the coming viral spread. While there, a Dominion informant confirmed what Bullseye had heard – top-ranking operatives were being sent into major Northern Continent cities with canisters of DRK. Those at Undertown had spent the day sorting out what could be done, with few answers. Discouraged, exhausted, and reasonably concerned, Rave and Whitewolf had left matters in the commanders’ hands and returned to the Warrior base.