The Kota

by Sunshine Somerville

  It took her a second, but Tigris remembered why Bullseye was using their citizen names.

  Right, we’re undercover, she thought. Although…not as much cover as I’d like.

  She answered, “As long as I’m touching all of them, yeah.”

  “Then let’s go. Zaak, did you see where those filter lines started? I saw a woman back there eyeing you. Ask her for a lighter.” Bullseye jumped into a dancing crowd and vanished from sight.

  Tigris stayed at the table. Whitewolf wandered toward the canisters. Rave walked up to the woman Bullseye had spotted, got a lighter from her, and walked to where the pipes, gages, and valves came through the wall. Tigris winced in anticipation and watched Rave flick the lighter.

  Above the ruckus, bursting sounds reverberated around the sublevel club. Flames screeched out the ends of the filter lines, and the old pipes cracked and splintered as flames licked the ceiling.

  The crowd screamed. The band stopped playing and jumped from the stage as fire shot right over their heads. Tigris looked back and saw the bouncer ushering people out, and a mass of bodies surged toward his door. Tigris scrambled under the table for cover. She’d lost sight of the other Warriors. It was growing hotter by the minute, but she stayed put while the crowds ran for the exit.

  “Ahhh!”

  The cry came from across the narrow room. Timber and his operative date fell to the floor where they’d been tackled by an invisible foe. In another part of the room, the lead guitarist crashed into a table.

  Smoke now filled the club, so Tigris stayed low for air. She saw a blur of legs and feet as more people rushed to the exit. She also saw an occasional body drop as Bullseye and Rave knocked out the operatives. In a short time, no more legs ran by.

  “Alex!”

  Tigris coughed but crawled out from the table. “Zaak?”

  “Over here!”

  She headed for his voice. After stepping around a pillar that was burning, she crouched to see Rave piling the five unconscious operatives. Bullseye must’ve already dematerialized and left.

  Rave coughed. “Let’s get out of here!”

  Tigris reached for his extended hand. Then she made a face and climbed on top of the piled operatives, making sure to touch each one. Closing her eyes, she thought of the sidewalk behind the hummer.

  A millisecond later, they teleported to the sidewalk. Rave released her hand, and Tigris scrambled off the operatives. The immediate cool of the night air was a welcome relief, and Tigris leaned her hands on her knees to cough and clear her lungs. She was covered in charred grime, and she wiped her face with the bottom of her shirt.

  “Nice work, sis.”

  Whitewolf’s head poked around the back end of the hummer. He was noticeably less smoky, so he must’ve gotten out with the canisters before the fire spread. From the jostling sounds he was making, Tigris assumed he was packing the canisters.

  Bullseye, also less soiled because she’d dematerialized, stood against the hummer’s hood, looking across the street at the crowds by the hydrogen station. She looked back at Rave. “Hurry and load them in. The locals sent a transmission to the nearest patrol station. Soldiers and water tankers will be here any minute.”

  Rave didn’t need to be told twice, and he hauled one of the unconscious operatives over his shoulder. Whitewolf finished with the DRK canisters and retrieved two operatives, one over each shoulder, to load into the back of the hummer. Tigris helped Rave with Timber and the woman operative, and these two they lay in the back seat.

  “All set,” Rave told his sister.

  “Let’s go.”

  Tigris climbed into the back seat, as did Bullseye from the other side. They sat with the two operatives between them, but it was cramped. Rave was the last to close his passenger door, and Whitewolf started the hummer and pulled away from the curb.

  Tigris looked out her tinted window at the crowd in front of the flaming club. It looked like the operatives were too distracted to notice them leaving.

  Good, thought Tigris. I can’t believe we got away with this!

  Whitewolf looked back at Bullseye in the rearview mirror. “The canisters are still full, so we stopped the virus from being spread in this charming, little neighborhood.”

  Bullseye nodded. “On my way out, I heard them talking about how the new operatives must’ve snuck off with the canisters. No one suspects a thing.”

  “Yet.” Tigris pushed back Timber, who unconsciously leaned against her.

  Rave sniffed at the smoke on his shirt and made a face, but he appeared satisfied with their mission. He looked at Bullseye. “Who’ve we caught?”

  Bullseye examined the unconscious woman beside her before turning to see the three operatives in the rear compartment. Her eyes widened.

  “What?” Tigris turned to look.

  Bullseye reached over the seat and shoved one of the men over on his back. “Malice? Hmm. You got old and fat.” She pinched the unconscious man’s nose.

  “Malice? What’s he doing here?” Tigris looked ahead to her brother. “Isn’t he still the Elite of our region back home?”

  “I thought so.” Whitewolf turned onto a new street as they heard patrol sirens heading for the hydrogen station.

  Timber slid onto Tigris again with the turn. His face was now right in hers, and she carefully pushed up his eyelid to see into his unconscious eye. She scanned for thoughts. She sensed pain. Anger.

  “Uh, guys. They won’t be out much longer. We’ll never get them back to our base in time.”

  Bullseye pulled their suits from the duffle bag under Rave’s seat. “Then we’ll borrow a few interrogation cells from the nearest Underground base.”

  “I’ll call ahead and make reservations.” Rave grabbed the controls for the transmitter. “It might be a good idea to let them know we’re coming, considering our cargo.”

  “Yep,” muttered Bullseye. “By all means, let’s be polite and ask nicely. Everyone on their best behavior now.”

  Let’s just get rid of those canisters, thought Tigris.

  Bullseye made them find time to pull over and change into their Warrior suits, but the operatives were now regaining consciousness. After the Warriors suited up, Whitewolf sped to a condemned parking garage outside downtown Havanahell. This was, in fact, an Underground base.

  They passed through Underground security and parked in the empty bottom level of the garage. The Warriors exited the hummer just as a metal door opened in the nearest concrete wall. Non-soldier, scientist types hurried to the hummer. Soldiers followed.

  “In here.” Whitewolf opened the back.

  The scientists unpacked the canisters and scurried off to dispose of the DRK. While the scientists were at this, soldiers pulled out the operatives.

  One soldier faced Bullseye. “This way.” He motioned to the metal door.

  The Warriors followed this man into a short, concrete hall. This hall led into a wider hall, then another with branching halls. Finally, the soldier led them to a room lined with interrogation cells. Bullseye directed the soldiers behind them to put the operatives in separate cells. She suspected which would break and which wouldn’t, and she’d planned accordingly.

  When the soldiers finished, they stood at attention outside the cell doors.

  Bullseye turned to her team. “I’ll take the first room, Tigris the second, Rave the third, Whitewolf the fourth. Timber’s in the fifth, and I doubt he’ll know anything the others don’t. First priority – find out how many more operatives are spreading the DRK and in which cities. Any questions?”

  Rave turned to look into the concrete hall, and a second later Bullseye heard footsteps approaching. An Underground commander entered with a few men trailing after him.

  Through her facemask, Bullseye whispered to Tigris, “Keep your mind open for anything fishy from this guy. I have a feeling Cagod sent them to do things his way.”

  Tigris nodded.

  The commander’s voice held a southern region accent as he told th
e Warriors, “It’s nice to see you again.” He smiled.

  Bullseye narrowed her eyes to inspect him.

  We’ve met? she thought. He doesn’t look familiar. Still, there’s something…

  The man chuckled and looked at his feet. “I’m Commander Joseph Emmit. From Pitt Prison?”

  “Commander Emmit?” said Rave. “But you look…”

  Now Bullseye saw it. His face was thinner, his eyes blue instead of brown, his skin a lighter pigment, and his nose seemed wider.

  But it is him, she thought in amazement.

  “You’re a MOB?” asked Whitewolf. “What, you change your appearance?”

  “That’s handy,” said Rave.

  “Yes, I can morph my physical features. When you saw me last, that was my prison face.” Emmit smiled, then motioned to the interrogation cells. “But, more importantly, I understand you captured Dominion operatives. Cagod ordered me to bring interrogators.” He looked at the men with him.

  One stepped forward. “We’ll get as much information out of them as they know.”

  Uh, no, thought Bullseye.

  Since having a full day’s sleep in a Havanahell hotel, she was back up to her usual speed and charisma. She crossed her arms at the interrogator. “We brought them in, and we will interrogate them. We only came here because we needed a place to hold them. We’ll handle them – I know how you interrogators deal with captives, and I’d rather not waste any time.”

  “So much for best behavior,” Rave muttered.

  The interrogator looked at his commanding officer. “Sir, this isn’t a good idea. You know who she is.” He glared at Bullseye.

  She tried not to flinch.

  So he’s one of them, she thought. I’m so tired of-

  “Yes, I know who she is,” said Emmit with his own hint of exasperation. “She saved my life in Pitt, so I owe her one.”

  “But sir, Commander Cagod specifically ordered us to interrogate these prisoners.”

  Emmit looked from the interrogator to Bullseye and rubbed his chin with a smirk. “Well, we’re all on the same side, right?”

  Bullseye smiled. “Yep.”

  “But sir-”

  “If Cagod doesn’t like it, he can yell at me.” Emmit faced his men. “Anyone have a problem with that?”

  The interrogators exchanged glances but kept silent.

  “Alright, then.” Emmit looked back at the Warriors. “Inform the guards when you’re through, and we’ll take the operatives into custody.”

  “Thank you,” Bullseye told him.

  Emmit smiled with a salute and turned to leave. With a few last glares thrown at Bullseye, his men followed.

  When they were gone, Bullseye tilted her head in the direction of the cells. Rave, Tigris, and Whitewolf entered each cell as she’d instructed. After taking a breath to calm herself, Bullseye went into the first room, slammed the door, and woke Malice.

  She hadn’t randomly chosen which room to take.

  Malice had gained considerable weight since she’d seen him last, and he slouched in the chair behind the table like he had indigestion. His blond ponytail was gone now, as was most of his other hair. His pointed nose bent where she’d broken it all those years ago at the Elite meeting. Now, he lifted his shackled hands to wipe the tip of his nose. He’d probably re-injured it when Rave threw him onto the floor of the club.

  Great, she thought. I loathe the sight of him. But, this might be useful.

  “Where am I?” Malice demanded. “I’ll never tell you rebels a thing. You might as well slay me and be done with it.”

  Bullseye put on an old mask of confident indifference and sat on the edge of the table. “Aw, poor little guy. I’m not going to slay you. I’m just going to play with you for a while.”

  He glared at her. “You rebels never did know how to interrogate prisoners. At the Dominion, we-”

  “Yeah, good times, good times. I remember you used to brag you could break any man by getting to what he cared most about. ‘Pressure points,’ you called them. I actually learned a lot from you, Malice.”

  He looked at her and squinted to imagine what she’d look like without the facemask. “Who are you, cha? Were you trained in the Dominion?”

  She held up her hands in confession. “With the best of them. I even broke your nose and wrecked your car. You never got your hands on me, though. Ringing any bells?”

  “Bullseye?” His eyes widened. “You treacherous little-”

  She leaned forward and smacked his face into the table. He cursed in pain as fresh blood dripped from his nose.

  “It’s all coming back to you, isn’t it, sweetheart?” She pulled her knife from her boot and held it to see his reaction. Then she ran her index finger along the blade, dematerializing the tip of her finger so she wasn’t cut. “Are you sure you don’t wanna talk? I, unlike the majority of these rebels, have no reason to play nice.”

  “What, you’re going to torture me? I’ll die before I talk. Take your best shot.” He sneered through the blood trickling over his teeth.

  “Malice. I’m not in the mood to ask twice. Do you remember my mission to Yanka’s region during his rebel uprising?”

  “You mean when you failed? You were supposed to interrogate a rebel, and you ended up with a broken hand.”

  “Did you ever hear how I broke my hand?”

  “Do I care?”

  “That’s what happened the last time I had to ask twice. I broke it in that rebel’s ribcage.”

  Malice’s sneer wavered. “In his ribcage?”

  “That’s right. He held out against the usual tortures. I had to get creative. I dematerialized my hand and reached into his chest for his heart. I knew it’d hurt like hell to materialize again with my hand inside his body, but I lost my patience.” She watched him swallow. “Malice, if you have anything to tell me, tell me. I’ll lose no sleep if I slay you. I know what you did to the MOB in your region after I broke your nose. Taking it out on your people…” She clucked her tongue at him. “Shameless.”

  He spit blood. “My Elite status was revoked because I hunted MOB. Cruelthor hired me to distribute the DRK as a last chance to keep my position. I hate that arrogant snake! He should be factored himself!”

  Here was an opportunity. “So tell me something useful and help me bring Cruelthor down. How many operatives are spreading DRK? In which cities?”

  Malice still glared at her, but he was thinking now. “Will you remove my ID tag and bring me into the Underground’s protection? That’s the only deal I’ll make. You’re the Kota Warrior Leader. These rebel people listen to whatever you say, so order them to protect me. Deal?”

  She nodded, fairly certain she could make that happen. How much authority did the Dominion think she had?

  Malice evidently thought she had enough, so he folded. “We were the only team. We were supposed to release the virus in Havanahell first because that’s where analysts predict you Warriors are based.”

  “You’re the only team?” She didn’t exactly believe this.

  “Yes,” he insisted. “Cruelthor’s not going to release any more DRK than he has to. He doesn’t want things getting out of control. He said that releasing the DRK in Havanahell would do the job at the pace he wanted. Something about wind patterns and incubation periods. I didn’t ask. Honestly, I’m not all that disappointed you pinched us – I don’t like the idea of the Continent crawling with factors any more than you do.”

  That I believe, she thought. So we stopped the DRK exposure? At least for now. Once Cruelthor realizes these operatives failed, he’ll send a new team.

  Malice scowled. “The Lord High Commander’s completely snapped this time. He’s determined to release the DRK in the public. If he has to, he’ll make the virus as widespread as it was in the beginning. Soon the citizens’ll have reason to fear him again. They don’t really fear the DRK anymore, you know, since the un-factors keep coming back out of the DuoPort. And now you’ve destroyed his factor base, so peo
ple are starting to laugh at him. He doesn’t like that. So, he’s releasing the virus because he wants to scare the citizens into turning in you rebels.”

  No surprises there, she thought.

  Malice lifted an eyebrow. “But, he’s not just annoyed by the rebels, you know. He still doesn’t think they could ever defeat his forces. That’s not why he fears he’s losing control. The real thing he’s freaked about is how you Warriors are fighting against the DRK. That’s what he wants to stop, because he knows the virus is the only thing keeping him in power. He’s been obsessed about protecting the DRK since you betrayed him.”

  The prophecies, she thought. Cruelthor knows they say we’ll destroy the virus. The more we’ve done, the more he’s feared the prophecies might be right.

  “I didn’t get it at first,” Malice went on. “I mean, the DRK makes the Dominion invincible. So why worry? But he’s been freaking out for a while. When the un-factors started coming out of the Continent’s portal, he ordered an investigation into who knew what about the DRK treatment. Then you Warriors started destroying so much of his work with the virus, including the factor base. And, when he heard about the Underground’s secret research facility, he completely flipped. You’ve scared him into retaliating, and he’s coming after you rebels big time – all to stop you from fighting his DRK.”

  Bullseye nodded at this.

  It has been worse since he found out about the research facility, she thought. Damn Cagod…

  When Cagod discovered his commanders had reopened their research lab, at first the Warriors had feared he’d shut it down. But, Cagod’s commanders forced him to see its value. Thereafter, Cagod had taken control of the facility. And, he insisted the Warriors be left out of the loop because he still didn’t trust Bullseye. Which was stupid. Even more stupid was Cagod’s decision to hold research-related meetings in Undertown – an operative had found out and reported to Cruelthor. Fortunately the location of the facility hadn’t been discovered, but Cruelthor knew it existed.