by Rebecca Rode
“It isn’t safe for you here,” Jasper said in a low voice.
Mom folded her arms and met his gaze with a cool stare. “I’m not a doll you need to coddle.”
The long silence made me tense, but then Jasper spoke again. “I heard about your husband running away. I’m sorry.”
“At least I wasn’t with child this time.”
Jasper flinched. “You deserve better. I hope you know that.”
“I do, and I always did. Now, if you’ll excuse me, this isn’t the appropriate time to hash this out.”
“You know what?” Jasper said. “It’s the perfect time. No matter what happens today, you need to hear this. I know you’ve moved on and your feelings have changed, but mine never have. Those years of pretending with Vallorah and the time I spent in prison—I spent it loving you from afar. It’s important to me that you understand.”
“Yeah, well, actions speak louder than words.”
I stared at my mother, the woman who usually avoided taking any kind of stand during conflict. But today there was a strength in her anger. It seemed we’d all changed a little in the course of the past weeks.
Jasper’s gaze finally slid to the floor. “I suppose that’s true. Forgive me for trying. I see now that it’s too late.”
“You would be correct. Treena, I’m going to help set up equipment, in case you need me.” She stalked away.
Father’s entire body seemed to deflate. He didn’t even bother to smile for my sake. His heart was breaking before my very eyes.
“I’m sorry,” I told him.
“She has every right to reject me as I did her.”
“Can we stop the family waterworks?” Denoux snapped, pushing his way past me to the control panel. “Last I checked, an army was headed this way.”
“Last I checked,” I countered, “you were begging to come back and help, so stop insulting people and let’s figure out how to defend this city.”
“Ah, so this is the part where you tell me your ridiculous plan. I’ll reject it, and we can fight about it until the enemy comes. Or we can skip all that and you can turn over the military operations to someone who knows what they’re doing.”
Jasper actually gaped. “How dare you address my daughter that way. She is your superior, Councilman.”
“And I’m yours.”
“I served on the council for years, so don’t talk down to me. I’ve been on plenty of military councils.”
“Denoux,” I interrupted. “Politics don’t matter today. Make your plans, gather your team, do what you need to do. But I’m approving it before anything is executed.” He blinked, but I rushed on. “Remember, we need to keep them from attacking the lines of people at the wall. Once they get through the gate, they’ll be guided to the entrance of an underground tunnel where they’ll travel a ways to a hidden ravine.” I hoped it was finished. I needed it to be finished. “I’ll expect to hear your plan in one hour.”
“What?” he said. “We have a secret tunnel?”
I turned to Jasper. “I’m putting you in charge of the evacuations. You’ll stay on the radio with Vance’s border wall team. Got it?”
“Yes,” Jasper said, glaring at Denoux.
“Good. I’m going to make a call.”
“They’re here,” Maizel shouted as she ran back inside three hours later.
The room, now full of technicians and war specialists, froze and turned to face her.
“I mean the transport is here,” she said sheepishly. “The empress sent for a few people, and they’re here.”
The entire room glared at her before turning back to their work.
“Sorry,” she muttered.
I stalked out the door to find Coltrane climbing out, a box in his arms. I threw my arms around him, avoiding contact with the box. “It’s so good to see you.” If only our reunion was under better circumstances. There was a lot to talk about.
He blushed. “You too,” he muttered.
“Is this your new EMP device, then?” I asked, examining the box he clutched to his chest, almost like he was afraid someone would snatch it away.
“The Trane 2.0. Let’s get it out of the sun, and then I’ll tell you about it.”
I chuckled at the name as we made our way inside and found a quiet corner away from the buzz of activity. Denoux and Coltrane didn’t know each other, but they had a connection that went back a few months. I didn’t know how to tell Coltrane that the man heading our defensive efforts at this very moment was the man who had killed his mother.
Coltrane explained how this device was six times more powerful than the first and showed me how to lift the safety cover and flip the switch.
“I have to warn you, though,” he said. “This may not work on the ECA’s fighters. The last EMP didn’t hurt NORA’s stuff at all because they shield their equipment against the desert heat. I’m guessing the ECA will do the same.”
His warning made me shiver, but I knew he was right. Of course Chiu would expect this. “So we shouldn’t count on the EMP too much.”
“If we activate this thing, it should be a last resort.”
“Got it.” I stood. “Well, thanks for showing me how it works. It sounds like the healthier settlers are evacuating soon, right? The driver will take you back.”
“Treena. I’m staying.”
“Coltrane—”
“No.”
I sighed. “You’ve gotten really stubborn since I saw you last.”
“You have no idea.” He sat back and grinned like this was all just an exciting show. To a kid who grew up in the desert, an epic battle between nations would be an incredible experience. But he didn’t understand the danger.
“Commander,” a technician said quickly. “Enemy fighters sighted. Eleven hundred kilometers.”
“Put it on the screen,” Denoux ordered, rushing to look over the man’s shoulder, Jasper and I only a few steps behind. A small red mass made its way slowly across the screen, like a crawling insect. A few keystrokes and the image on the man’s screen appeared on a much larger screen on the wall for everyone to see.
The room was quiet as reality sank in. My hopes that we’d misread the screen’s activity dropped with my stomach. This was it.
“How many have made it through?” I asked Jasper, breaking the silence.
“Same as two minutes ago,” he said. “About a quarter of them. It takes time to get millions of people through a gate, you know.”
I ground my teeth. Denoux sank into a chair and began shouting orders to his general into a radio. A few scattered soldiers monitored surveillance and stood by to carry out orders, but it still seemed a poor setup compared to Chiu’s highly advanced airship. My mother sat in the back of the room next to Maizel, who watched the screen anxiously, as if trying to determine whether one of the red dots held Chan. Coltrane cradled his EMP and watched everyone at work. So many people I loved, all in one place. Comforting and worrisome at the same time. How many of us would still be standing when this day was done?
“Three minutes to rendezvous point,” a technician said.
“Understood,” Denoux said. His face was like steel as he watched the panel. He leaned on the table with both hands, every muscle tense. “One minute till launch.”
I took the radio from a frowning Jasper and hit the button. “Vance, one minute till the fighters go up.”
“Got it,” his voice came through. “Moving them out as fast as I can. Do we have a plan for when our fighters get shot down?”
I looked at the others in the room, who watched me with somber eyes. We could only delay the ECA and buy the citizens time to get out. Nobody had said so aloud, but we all knew survival was our objective. Victory was merely a wish, an impossible hope.
“Just get everyone out as planned,” I finally said. “Keep the lines separated, not bunched together to make an easy target. We’ll give you as much time as we can.”
“Fair enough.”
“Twenty se
conds,” Denoux said from the corner. If he was tense before, now he was a coiled spring, a cat ready to pounce.
Those last seconds before we launched the power of a small nation’s military seemed a lifetime. We stared at each other, then at the mass on the panel.
“Three, two, one.” Denoux straightened. “Now.”
Hundreds of tiny blue dots shot out from the very edge of the screen toward the red mass. It would have been a sight to be proud of if not for the heaviness in my heart. Those pilots were on a suicide mission.
The two groups collided within minutes, somewhere in the western desert.
Denoux barked out orders as the blue dots started to wink out. I winced every single time. Some of those pilots were students I’d graduated with, kids who had been excited about their Ratings and Assignments and futures.
“How many have evacuated again?” I whispered to my father.
Jasper seemed glued to it as well. He swallowed and spoke into his radio. After a moment, he cursed. “Still less than a third. People are fighting now, shoving out of line and storming the gate. They must have seen our fighters climb into the sky and head toward the desert.”
“What about those in the hospital? Have they reached the wall yet?”
“Most haven’t left their beds yet. They’ll be moved by transport, but that process is slow. Hours. And with the fighting—well, I’m not sure what to tell you.”
We didn’t have hours. We didn’t even have minutes. “Do you have any followers who can help?”
“I’ve already checked. All your supporters either have their hands full with other assignments or they’re trying to evacuate their own families.”
“Commander!” a specialist cried out.
Denoux tore his gaze away from the radio. “What?”
“A squad is separating and creating a formation. They’re heading for the city again.”
It was true. On the screen, small red lines shot toward the city. It was hard to say how many there were. Twenty? Fifty? The blobs were small, but I knew these would be large ships like the one we’d destroyed in the valley settlement. I couldn’t imagine the damage that many could do.
A deep rumbling in the distance told us the enemy bombers had arrived. I had expected them to head straight for the capital, but they seemed to be bombing the outskirts first. Each blast seemed closer than the last, and each one was carefully placed in residential neighborhoods, as if trying to avoid damaging the city too much.
“Another squad has broken off!”
A second red mass shot toward the city. Moments later there was rumbling in another direction.
“What are they doing?” Denoux muttered. “They have to know there are no citizens out there.”
“They’re herding us,” I said. “Trying to force everyone back toward the north wall so they can take us all out at once. Nice of Dresden to help them out with that.”
A third blob separated now, and the entire room braced itself for the low rumble that meant they’d hit their target. But this blob was slightly different. Same color, same shape. It just . . . moved differently.
I squinted at the screen. “I need a better visual on that formation.”
Denoux, who had been shouting orders at a bewildered soldier across the room, whirled on me. “It’s not like we have floating cameras, girl.”
“Actually, sir,” a specialist said, “I might have something. This is one of the fighter jets pursuing them.” His fingers flew across the screen as I looked over his shoulder.
Twelve enemy airships in formation headed straight for our city. They all looked similar, all a sleek dark gray. But one of them was larger and less pointed in front.
I had seen that one before. It looked to have been painted, but I’d know it anywhere. I’d been inside.
“That’s Chiu’s airship,” I announced. “He’s here. The bomber formation is protecting him, bringing him to the city.”
“The Chinese president?” Denoux scoffed. “Don’t be ridiculous. He’s sitting in his lavish office in Beijing, drinking tea and drawing up plans to remodel our palace. He’d never come in person. It’s too risky.”
“I’m telling you, that’s his personal aircraft. He likes to assassinate his enemies in person. I bet you anything he’s come for Dresden.”
“Ridiculous. I’ve never heard of such a thing.”
“Watch. If it lands near the Council Building, you’ll know I’m right.”
Everyone seemed to hold their breath as the fighters dropped their bombs. Then they flew low and began to circle around for another pass.
“See?” Denoux said.
“Sir,” the specialist said. “I believe Her Majesty is right, because now there are only eleven. One ship has disappeared.” He pulled up another camera view. “The larger one is missing.”
Denoux’s face reddened. Nearly every eye in the room turned to me now. Chiu liked to take his enemies out first because of the confusion it caused down the ranks. It probably made his takeovers easier.
Maybe it worked the other way around. If I could remove Chiu as a threat . . . Without their leader, the Chinese officials and troops might more willing to negotiate. The Russians didn’t seem quite as invested in this battle as the Chinese, so they’d likely pull out. It could end the war.
“I’m going to need a few volunteers,” I announced.
“For what?” Jasper asked, dread filling his voice.
“I’m going to find that ship,” I said. “I’m going to kidnap President Chiu and make him end this war once and for all.”
My father always said there were four levels to a good defense. First, scouts patrolling the forest. They watched for any sign of strangers wandering nearby—old fires, boot prints, animal carcasses.
Second, we built a solid wall with guards to keep out intruders. Sometimes the most dangerous visitors were those who’d do anything for a bite of food. We were happy to share, but not at gunpoint. Hence, the wall.
Third, my father assigned enforcers. These were trained workers who walked around at night on shifts, making sure none of our clan stole things or tried to sneak out into the forest late at night.
And if intruders somehow made it past the first three layers, Father required each family to have a weapon. Large or small, it didn’t matter, as long as they were armed.
“Nobody’s helpless here,” he often said. “Not in Iron Belt’s clan.”
I thought about that as I watched the line of refugees pushing the gate after Treena’s update. One minute left before this battle officially began. These were parents with children who toddled by clinging to their parents’ hands in fear. Even children helped bear the load, carrying blankets or packs bursting with clothes or what few water packets they’d kept in their homes. A little boy, probably no older than four, eyed me curiously as he and his father shuffled past. He seemed excited about this break in his daily routine.
Nearly every person here was helpless. Soldiers lined the wall with their weapons held at the ready. Their hardened eyes scanned the sky, the top of the wall, the people, as if unsure where the greatest threat lay.
Four layers of defense.
First, our military fighter jets. I’d seen them practicing during my time in EPIC, and they seemed decently trained. But none of them had ever fought in a war against other fighter jets. They were used to dropping bombs over innocent mountain settlements and quelling rebellions in the outer towns.
Second, antiaircraft guns similar to those on the rim of my settlement sat stationed behind the mass of people, aimed at the sky. Two giant guns, two teams on each—although I had doubts about their training as well. None of them had battled outside forces before. They were woefully unprepared for this.
And third, a strong military presence at the wall in case of a ground attack. Not nearly enough soldiers to hold them off for long, but nothing could be done about that. Treena had ordered that each group of a thousand leaving the wall have a small contingent of soldiers for
protection. When you had hundreds of groups, that added up quickly.
Fourth—an angry outlander.
I changed frequencies on the radio. “Ready the guns to the southwest!”
“Roger that,” someone replied. Figures scrambled at the base of the massive guns, and I buried my concern. Our defensive strategy relied too heavily on those weapons. They could take down a jet, but they’d also be the first ones targeted by the enemy.
Thunder rumbled overhead. The crowd looked up at the dark clouds, expecting another lightning storm, but it was the formation of NORA fighter jets shooting by. Even farther in the distance was a black mass distinctly different from the dark storm clouds overhead.
It had begun.
I reviewed the defensive levels in my head again. Soldiers, the wall, antiaircraft guns, and a few dozen settlers with weapons—men who had dared leave their families to evacuate while they stayed behind to fight.
It all seemed too much for one man to lead, but I had little choice now. Too many people depended on me to succeed. Treena. NORA’s people. My sisters and the other settlers on their way from the hospital. I’d find a way.
Changing the frequency on my radio again, I raised it to my lips. “Soldiers, initiate double-time evacuation efforts. Keep the line moving no matter what.”
I’d spoken quietly, but even a quiet voice over hundreds of techbands was far too loud. The soldiers received my message, but so did many of the people they guided toward the gate. It took all of three seconds for the crowd to erupt in chaos.
Panicked citizens scooped their children up and sprinted for the gate, shrieking and staring at the sky. Those walking through the gate were shoved aside, stumbling over their own feet. Some fell and succumbed to the crush.
The next group, those who had been waiting in the street, came running over when they saw the mayhem at the gate. Now there were two thousand people trying to escape through an exit four yards wide.