While Captain Smithson went to check on his men, I sat on the edge of the road with my head buried in hands, and tried and failed to get the images of today's atrocities out of my mind. Images of men on fire and shrieking in pain, of men with broken limbs and gunshot wounds, of men burned or hacked to death. And to what end? What had been achieved? Absolutely nothing. If they'd listened to me when I told them that a front assault wouldn't work, none of this would have happened.
I was wondering when I could get to a phone to ring Nanako and tell her I was back safe and sound, when I heard her voice further down the road where Beta Company vehicles were parked.
"Excuse me, sir," I heard her say, "I’m looking for my husband, Ethan Jones?"
"You shouldn’t be out here, woman," a gruff voice snapped back.
It really was Nanako! I immediately set off towards her, threading my way carefully through the milling throng of doctors, orderlies and Custodians. I stepped around gurneys, pushed my way between groups huddled in conversation, and even backtracking a couple of times. As I went, I heard her continue to ask Custodians if they’d seen me. But as it was Beta Company back there, none of them had. She was becoming more frantic each time she asked the question.
I finally caught sight of her, and my heart broke when I saw her walking hesitantly towards those who had been killed in the battle, their bodies laid in a row at the side of the road and covered with black plastic sheets.
"Nanako!" I shouted when I was close enough for her to hear me over the din.
She spun around and with eyes brimming with repressed hope, scanned the crowd until she saw me pushing my way past several Custodians to reach her. She ran towards me as fast as the ankle length, black funeral dress would permit.
We met beside a Bushmaster blackened by Molotov cocktail hits, and I pulled her into my arms and held her tight, resting my chin on the top of her head. She snuggled against my chest and looked up into my dirt-streaked face.
I kissed her gently on the forehead. "Told you I'd come back."
She lay her head on my chest, and as I ran my hand through her silky black hair, I shut out everything else – the moans of the wounded, the frantic shouts of paramedics and doctors, even the memory of today's debacle – until Nanako was the only thing I was aware of.
She had to ask the question a second time to bring me back to the present. "Are you hurt?"
"Just a couple of bruises."
"Better get those looked at. Knowing you that probably means you're sporting a dozen broken bones."
"Seriously, nothing so dramatic."
She nodded, but I could tell she wasn't convinced. "So what happened out there – why did you come back so soon?" she asked.
"The Skel were ready for us. We're lucky any of us got back at all."
"I'm sure you had something to do with that."
I nodded, though without satisfaction. I wished I could have done more.
I slowly became aware of the Custodians closest to us. They were eyeing us with disdain at our unseemly display of public affection. Not to mention that no other wives dared to come here.
"Did you come alone?" I asked, concerned.
"No, your mother is back there. She refused to come any closer." She pointed behind her. "Should I go now?"
"I think that would be wise, we're making a bit of a scene," I said, but quickly grabbed her hand as she stepped back. "Seeing you here, now – I really needed that."
She smiled appreciatively, and then I saw her back to my mother, who acknowledged my safe return with a much more restrained greeting.
After they'd gone, I turned around and jumped when I saw Captain Smithson standing there, watching me.
"The general wants a word with you," he said wearily.
"With me, sir?"
"I hazard to think he may be more willing to listen to your counsel now."
"Very well, sir." I wondered what the outcome of this meeting would be. In the last meeting, I was blackmailed into joining today's ill planned attack, and I had no desire to join another such venture.
The captain led me to an awaiting G-Wagon and we were driven to Custodian Command. We went upstairs to one of the station's briefing rooms, but the captain grabbed my shoulder and turned me to face him before we entered.
"I wonder what could be achieved by a platoon comprised entirely of people like you," he said just loud enough for me to hear.
"Like me, sir?" I asked nervously.
"By people who are crack shots when shooting in the dark or through smoke."
Chapter Twenty-Three
"What exactly are you trying to say?" I was worried now; convinced he knew I was a genetically engineered mutant.
He leaned closer. "Every fibre of my being is telling me to arrest you and hand you over to the geneticists like I'm supposed to, but as much as I am afraid of you, there is one thing I am even more afraid of."
"And that is, sir?"
"That without you, Newhome will fall and we will all end up Skel slaves."
A massive wave of relief passed through me as I nodded to acknowledge his comment. By some incomprehensible miracle, he knew I was a bio-engineered echolocater but wasn’t going to turn me in.
We entered the briefing room, which was a large room filled with white boards, desks, and photo boards covered with hundreds of photos of the apartment block the sniper was using as his base of operation.
Several Custodians were in the room, including the general, Major Harris, and Colonel Kim. They were clustered around one of the photo boards and were in the midst of a heated argument about today's botched attack. I so didn't want to be here.
"I have brought Consultant Jones as ordered, sir," Captain Smithson said, interrupting them.
Ceasing their argument immediately, the officers turned to appraise me, causing my skin to crawl. What did I have to do to get out of this paramilitary force?
"Ethan Jones," the general began as he walked over to a desk under a window. "In recognition of your exemplary service in combat today, I hereby award you the honorary rank of sergeant."
"I see, sir." What, no admission that I was right and they were wrong to launch a direct assault upon the Skel? And a promotion – what was that about? What did they want from me now?
General Lee picked up a sophisticated black rifle from a desk beside him and handed it to me. "You seen one of these before, Sergeant Jones?"
"No, sir, should I have?" I replied, for in all honesty, I didn't recall having seen such a weapon before. My hands, however, told me a different story. The rifle's weight and feel were achingly familiar, just like the Austeyr assault-rifle had been the first time I picked one up. Well, snatched it from King, truth be told.
"It's a Blaser Tactical 2 Sniper Rifle," the general said, "And I was hoping you were going to say the Rangers trained you how to use it."
I didn't like where this was going at all, so I didn't reply.
"This is the rifle that accursed sniper is using," the colonel said. "We have been able to determine this by examining the 0.388 calibre bullets he's firing at us."
0.388 calibre? No wonder the bullets have been penetrating the Custodian’s ‘bulletproof’ armoured vests and helmets so easily.
"So you haven’t been trained to use this weapon?" the general pressed.
"I'm sorry, sir, but as I've told you previously, I have no memory of the year I spent in Hamamachi."
"Shall I jog his memory, General?" Major Harris asked, scowling at me spitefully.
The general nodded, so the major bellowed at the top of his voice. "Bring her in!"
The door swung open and two six-foot-tall Custodians marched a diminutive and somewhat reluctant Nanako into the room.
The shock of seeing my wife dragged into the Custodian's briefing room like this distorted my senses and sent them reeling, and then most unexpectedly, triggered another seizure. The horrible sense of déjà vu swept through me, trying to convince me I'd been in this exact situation before, and then a
memory from my past tore through my mind. I saw myself back in the street on the edge of Skel territory, a raging Skel warrior charging straight at me. A Japanese Ranger stood to my left and I was holding him upright by his collar. He was bleeding from several gunshot wounds as well as gagging and choking.
I could have done without this distraction right now. Another memory fragment I couldn't place or understand. Yet this memory could be my first clue as to who wiped out my Ranger companions – was it the Skel? But if so, how did they manage to pull it off? And more to the point, what were we doing there in the first place?
"We don't buy this amnesia story of yours, Sergeant Jones," Major Harris said, pulling me back to the present. "So before I stick your wife in prison on charges of espionage, would you like to revise your answer?"
Nanako looked at me, her eyes wide with alarm. She didn't know what the question was, but had correctly guessed the answer they sought wouldn't be good for me.
I glared at the major while I rode out the rest of the seizure’s terrible physical sensations. I despised these men and their intimidation tactics, especially considering how much I’d helped them today. All the same, I couldn't invent answers to give them what they wanted.
"So this is what it’s gonna be like, is it?" I asked when the last traces of the seizure faded away. "Every time I don’t play along with your ridiculous requests you’re gonna use my wife to blackmail me?"
"Mind who you’re talking to, Jones!" the major shouted.
Aware I was about to cross a line that would bring dire consequences, I quickly back peddled. "Major, I'll tell you anything you want to hear if it'll keep my wife out of prison, but what's that going to achieve? My amnesia is real. Go ask Doctor Nguyen in the hospital's neurology department if you won't take my word for it. As for this sniper rifle, as I said, I don’t recall ever seeing one before. However, it feel vaguely familiar in my hands, so I can only assume I have used one before."
"That's more like it," the major growled triumphantly. "In that case, you have twenty-four hours with which to re-accustom yourself with the weapon. Then you will engage and take out that Skel sniper."
I suspected this was where they were heading, but all the same, I nearly dropped the gun in shock when they actually said it – for they'd just handed me a death sentence. The sniper out there was a veteran, while thanks to amnesia, I couldn’t even remember if I had received any sniper training.
Nanako knew it too. Her expression mirrored my shock and then magnified it tenfold. "You can’t ask him to do that!" she exclaimed.
"You will be silent unless spoken to, woman!" the major snapped. His voice was tinged with far more anger than the situation warranted, as though her comment had been a personal affront to him.
Nanako shot a fleeting look in my direction and took a step towards the general, ignoring the major completely. "General, sir, if you want my husband to take out the sniper, don't ask him to do it on the sniper's terms, but on his own..."
"You will not speak!" the major bellowed. He turned to the Custodian privates who'd brought her here. "Take her away."
"No – let her finish," Captain Smithson insisted.
The major's mouth worked like a fish out of water while the privates hesitated in carrying out his order. The major outranked the captain, but with the general present, that was kind of irrelevant.
"Go on, Mrs. Jones, what do you mean by ‘on your husband’s terms?’” Captain Smithson prompted.
"Ethan excels at infiltrating enemy lines and taking out the enemy from the rear, sir."
"Is this true, Sergeant Jones?" the general demanded.
"Yes sir."
"I thought you said you couldn't remember what happened in Hamamachi?"
"This is how my forager team and I despatched Skel who tried to get the jump on us when we were foraging," I replied.
"You fought Skel when you were a forager?" the major asked. "With what weapons? Where did you get them?"
"Not now, Major!" the general snapped before turning back to me. "Do you think you can eliminate this sniper using this strategy?"
"Yes sir, I do," I replied, desperate for him to believe me. At least this way I had a chance. One on one against the sniper with a sniper rifle? No chance.
"Very well," the general said. "Captain Smithson, since Jones is in your command, you're in charge of this mission."
"Thank you, sir," the captain said.
I put the heavy sniper rifle down on the closest desk and followed the captain from the room, indicating to Nanako to follow us. When the three of us were in the passageway outside, I breathed a sigh of relief. I couldn’t get away from the general, and especially the major, fast enough. What was the major’s beef anyway?
"Right then, what equipment do you need for the mission – I presume you'll be going alone?" the captain asked.
"No, he's not – I’m going with him," Nanako butted in before I had a chance to say anything.
"It’s far too dangerous, there’s no way I’m gonna risk your life out there!" I declared emphatically.
"All the more reason for me to come."
"Nanako…"
"We’ve had this argument before, Ethan, remember? I’m coming with you, and that’s that."
"But…"
"If your wife wants to accompany you, Jones, then she will do so – and that is an order. I have seen you two in action and you make quite a team," the captain said.
"Yes sir," I said, swallowed hard, though it was to her that I was acquiescing, not his order. She'd saved my life at least twice on the night the Skel attacked the sub, and I knew there was no way in the world I could stop her coming. "I also want my two foragers, David and Shorty. As for equipment, I'd like two pistols with silencers and three bows. I also want to spend tonight in training, and then go out tomorrow night."
The captain stared at me suspiciously. "Your foragers? Bows? What exactly have you lot been doing while you were supposed to be foraging, Jones?"
"Just trying to survive, sir, nothing more," I said sincerely.
He didn't look like he was buying it, but he let it drop all the same.
We spent the rest of the afternoon preparing for the mission. Shorty and David were brought in to Custodian Headquarters, fidgeting and tense, afraid they were about to be charged with some major misdemeanour. However, when they found out why they'd been brought in, they weren’t too happy with me. But as Captain Smithson was with us, they kept their griping to a minimum, though I knew they'd let me have it with both barrels later.
Using Custodian funds we purchased black outfits for each of us – black runners, pants, t-shirts, hoodies, and beanies. Pistols with silencers were signed out of the armoury for Nanako and me to use, and three top-quality recreational bows from North End were provided for Shorty, David and Nanako. I would have given anything to be able to use one too, but my chest still hurt too much to draw the string.
And as if to remind us of the urgency of our mission, the Skel sniper resumed his reign of terror just after midday, targeting Custodians, factory workers, and civilians in the outer apartment blocks.
We made plans to meet at the Recycling-Works after dark to begin our intensive training course, and then Nanako and I traipsed off to my parents' place for dinner – at my mother's insistence. I think she aged five years this morning when Nanako told her I'd been forced to join the Custodian attack on the Skel.
I wondered if anyone had told my father. To be honest, I wasn't looking forward to seeing him again. I hadn't seen him since we had dinner with them eleven days ago.
Chapter Twenty-Four
We knew something was wrong even as we approached my parent's apartment. We could hear my father bellowing angrily at someone. I tried not to eves drop but he was going on about marriage.
Nanako looked at me questioningly. "Perhaps we should forget about tonight?"
I paused before the apartment door. "We've got nothing but some bread and cereal."
"We can dig up some
roots," she suggested humorously.
"Not really my cup of tea."
She shrugged at that, so I knocked on the door, causing my father's ranting to cease immediately. A moment later, he opened the door. A pained expression creased his face as he looked at me. He didn't even acknowledge Nanako's presence. "Come in, Son," he finally said.
My father returned to his seat at the head of the table and stared into space, clearly displeased about something. I sat at his right, as usual, and Nanako sat beside me. My younger sister sat across from us.
When my mother and older sister came into the dining room a moment later to serve a simple vegetable broth soup, I was astonished to see that my older sister's eyes were red and puffy, though from crying or anger, I couldn't tell.
"Are you okay, Ruth?" Nanako asked gently when my sister laid a bowl of soup before her.
Standing beside Nanako's chair, Ruth looked daggers in my father's direction but didn't answer. Wondering what was going down, I glanced at my mother and saw that she wanted to speak. "What is it, Mother? Or am I intruding?"
"You are indeed," my father snapped.
"Someone has asked for Elder Daughter's hand in marriage," my mother said quickly, earning a dark look from Father.
"Why that's wonderful," I exclaimed excitedly.
My sister fixed me with a withering stare. "It's not wonderful – it's a disaster!"
"Why?"
"Because we have to turn him down, of course, and without telling him why," she fumed.
"We will do no such thing," my father said in a tone that brooked no argument.
"I'm barren, remember, Father?" Elder Sister replied with a raised voice. "What man would wed a woman who can't bear him children?"
"As I said before, I will discuss the matter with him and he can retract his offer if he wishes," my father declared.
"Well of course he'll retract it, Father. Please, don't humiliate me like this," my sister pleaded.
Forager - the Complete Trilogy (A Post Apocalyptic/Dystopian Trilogy) Page 38