Infiltration (Infiltration Book 1)

by Susanna Rogers

  “There’s something I was wondering,” I said. General Willis nodded so I continued. “As soon as I returned, you knew immediately that I’d failed.”

  “Of course,” he said.

  “Because if I’d succeeded, the future as we know it wouldn’t have taken place.”

  It was part-statement, part-question, while I was trying to work out what had happened.

  The general nodded.

  If society had stayed on the path it was on, mankind would probably have kept abusing the environment and many of the disasters that ensued would probably still have happened. Nothing Ben or I did would’ve had an effect on the earthquakes, tsunamis and floods that devastated the planet. That side of history would’ve stayed roughly the same.

  That was big picture stuff. Changing history would also change the human details, the way people met and had children.

  It would affect births.

  I held General Willis’s gaze. “Society would have progressed very differently. Your grandparents may never have met, let alone procreated, and your parents may never have been born.”

  “That’s right.”

  “You may never have been born either,” I added.

  “That’s right too.”

  If I’d succeeded in my mission, these men wouldn’t be here. None of us would. That was how the generals knew I’d failed – because they were still here.

  They were willing to give up their lives for the sake of the mission. Hoping to lose their lives, in fact, so that billions of others could live. Hoping to die so there’d be a different world.

  But there was more to it that that.

  According to the generals, Ben was going to create the deadly virus. So if I’d eliminated him, the virus would never have happened, or so these men told me. The billions of people who died would still be here.

  I knew my history. It was after the virus that the Bartley government took supreme control and re-organized society based on the good of humanity. That was when the government consolidated its hold on the people. That was when they replaced the family unit with the current structure and pigeon-holed individuals into their various roles.

  After the virus took hold, choice and human rights had taken a back seat. People had simply needed to survive, and the Bartley government was good at that one thing. Surviving. Then thriving.

  The virus was pivotal to the success of the Bartley government. They needed that virus.

  So how did the role of the generals fit into this?

  How could it fit at all?

  The generals were part of the government, a government that could never have stayed in power without the virus, a government that would never do anything that’d lead to its own demise.

  Yet that was exactly what the generals had been planning – the end of the virus, the end of the Bartley government, the end of New Nation as we knew it. Why would the government have planned its own end? That didn’t make sense.

  Except it did.

  Surprisingly calm, I leaned back in my chair and shifted my gaze from one general to the other. Ben’s words about people not always being what they seem came back to me.

  And I knew.

  “You’re not working for the government, are you?” I asked.

  Silence.

  General Tan turned to the other general and stared at him, a stern expression on his face. The two men whispered something and General Willis nodded.

  Eventually, General Tan said, “It’s not what you think.”

  “I think you’re some sort of rebels with a plan to overthrow the government. Your plan is so ingenious that no one will even know what happened. The ultimate crime.”

  The general’s eyes narrowed, fire in his dark irises. “It’s not a crime to give people back their human rights, to give them some choice in their lives, to give them freedom.”

  I shrugged. I didn’t have all the answers.

  General Willis leaned forward. “You’re right. We’re rebels, dissidents, renegades, whatever you want to call it.”

  My mouth fell open. They’d spun me a story about helping to save the world when their aim had been to overthrow the Bartley government.

  “You’re with us now,” he said, his voice steady.

  “How do you know I won’t inform on you?” I asked.

  “You can’t.” He looked me in the eye. “We’re traitors. So are you.”

  “I’m a soldier.”

  “Not any more. If the government finds out what you’ve done, where you’ve been, what you tried to do, they’ll kill you. They won’t hesitate.”

  “Will they?”

  “Don’t be so naïve, Corporal. They’ll kill you like they kill everyone else who disagrees with them. This government is clever. They don’t make it obvious with public executions. They get rid of people quietly. Individuals who criticize the government have accidents, they disappear, they lose their jobs. But with you, they won’t take your job away. There are no two ways about it.” He paused and spoke slowly. “They will kill you.”

  It all fell into place. There were a few reporters who’d criticized the regime and they’d all disappeared, one way or another. I also recalled a rock band whose songs had ridiculed the government. Band members had died when the vehicle they’d been traveling in had a head-on collision. That was what happened to people who disagreed with the government.

  The general continued. “Ruler Bartley insists you have rights and choices and that you can have your own opinion. He’s very good at giving the illusion of democracy, but that’s all it is. An illusion.”

  General Willis was right. I’d seen the other side of the coin with life in Altabena and didn’t need convincing, not any more. Before, I’d believed in the New Nation government, believed it was a force of good – because that was what they’d always told me. I knew better now.

  But were these men any better?

  They’d used me.

  Put me in an impossible position.

  Taken away my choices.

  It was a knife in my gut.

  I turned to Lucien who was so much more than my superior officer. I’d been speaking to generals Tan and Willis because they were in charge. And Lucien, what was his role in this?

  My heart rose to my throat. No, not Lucien, not the man who’d saved my life, taken a bullet for me, the generous man who’d always taken care of me. Surely he wasn’t in on this deception.

  I’d trusted him.

  Yet now as I stared at the familiar face lined with worry, I saw his concern was not for me, but for the mission. That was all he cared about.

  The knife in my gut twisted deeper. I knew exactly what this was.

  The sharp pain of betrayal.

  I kept my voice even. “You too, Lucien?”

  “It was the only way,” he said. “You’ve got to believe me, Nicola.”

  “I believe you.”

  How quickly I’d become proficient at lying. I’d never give away my thoughts and feelings, not to these men.

  I pressed my eyes shut and rubbed my temples.

  What the hell was going on? Thanks to what my supposedly superior officers had done and the decisions they’d made, I wasn’t even a soldier any more. I was a traitor working against the government and it made no difference whether I was a willing participant or not.

  I didn’t know who I was any more.

  “Are you all right?” Lucien asked.

  “It must be the trip,” I said. “It took it out of me.”

  He wasn’t the man I thought he was.

  How long had he been planning this? How long had they all been in on it together? Lucien had probably seen years ago that I was perfect for the role because of my obedience. Also, like all good soldiers, I was expendable.

  I couldn’t depend on Lucien or the generals or the New Nation government. These things meant nothing to me.

  I didn’t belong with them. I didn’t belong here. I was on my own.

  Screw them.

  I was going
back to Altabena.

  The generals were the ones with the power so I shifted my gaze to them. “Send me back. I need more time.”

  “You failed the first time,” General Tan said.

  “This time I will succeed. I’ve located the target and gained access to the community and I can finish this. I’m still the best person for the job.”

  Tan drummed his fingers on the table.

  My eyes narrow, I leaned forward. “I’m more motivated now. I fully understand the importance of the mission. I know exactly where I stand.”

  He slid something across the table, then leaned back. “We have a new PR device, one that should allow for two-way communication while you’re in Altabena. We can’t know for sure whether it will work until you use it.”

  Was that a yes?

  It sounded like it.

  General Willis’ expression was grim. “There’s a problem. Sending you back in time isn’t something we can do on a whim. It’s extremely complex, and requires incredible energy and resources. The technology is still new and it takes time to regenerate the power needed to send someone back.”

  “It is necessary,” Tan said.

  Lucien reached for my hand, then pulled back. “You know that if you go back, we can always find you, no matter where you are.”

  “Yes,” I said.

  He knew me far better than anyone, far better than the generals. Was it possible he had an inkling of my plan?

  There would be no escape. The generals would always be able to trace me through geopositrons and advanced GPS technology. This would be a visit. Temporary.

  Lucien’s eye twitched. “Make sure you keep taking your vitamin pills.”

  A strange instruction since he was the one who’d forgotten to transport them to me. He knew I hadn’t been taking them. He knew…

  That was when it hit me. The so-called vitamins must be some sort of emotion suppressing drugs. That was why I’d changed so much.

  I nodded. Didn’t give anything away.

  General Willis stared at me. “We can try to send you back but the process puts you at risk. You might not make it. If it doesn’t work, the atoms in your body will be obliterated on the journey. You could die.”

  They’d already proven I was expendable. Why should they be so worried about this now?

  “It’s a risk I’ll take,” I said.

  Willis looked at the other general and nodded slowly. Tan did the same.

  “You can have eight days,” he said.

  The time travel program would be set and there was no way of changing it. The technology simply didn’t allow for it.

  I kept my eyes riveted to Willis and reached across the table for my PR device – my old PR device – and slid it back onto my arm.

  “I will succeed,” I said.

  I was walking a tightrope, but I’d done it. They hadn’t noticed I’d taken the old PR device filled with information about Ben, and left the new one on the table. Now I was going back to Altabena for another week.

  I had to find a way to keep Ben safe, even if I had no idea what that would be. It broke my heart to think of Ben dying before his time. He wasn’t going to create a deadly virus. The Ben I knew wasn’t a killer. I didn’t believe it. The men sitting at this table had lied to me and they were lying about that too. They were wrong.

  When I returned to New Nation – and I had to return – the generals would execute me quickly and efficiently. They wouldn’t hand me over to the government. They’d do the job themselves.

  I didn’t want to die, damn it. I wanted to live.

  Though not here. There was nothing left for me in New Nation.

  In the meantime, I had just over a week in Altabena with Ben, other friends and family, one week as a normal teenager, one week to do anything I wanted.

  One week to live.

  One last chance.

  Chapter Twenty-One

  The shrill electronic sound of dogs barking cut through the air. Who on earth had set such an annoying alarm? I stretched out my arm and fumbled blindly for the phone at the side of my bed. My eyes opened into two slits and I switched off the alarm, staring at the phone’s dark face and bright pink cover. Pink?

  My eyes sprung open.

  I was awake. And alive.

  My atoms hadn’t been obliterated on the journey. How wonderful was that?

  Sitting up, the bedding fell to my waist. I was naked, something we couldn’t have, not in Altabena where nudity seemed to cause such controversy. So I jumped out of bed, grabbed the pastel-colored toweling robe hanging on the back of my door and slipped it on. Pink again.

  I tried to take it all in. My bedroom door, my pink robe, my room with the dark pink feature wall. Clearly I loved the color or I wouldn’t have so much of it my room.

  Hands up in the air, I twirled around on tip-toes.

  “MY ROOM,” I yelled, then covered my mouth. Hopefully I hadn’t woken my parents, not with what I had planned for the start of the day.

  I had the world’s quickest shower, put on my school uniform, pulled my wet hair back into a ponytail and headed for the kitchen. I filled the coffee percolator with water and added coffee grounds, then laid out the ingredients and utensils so everything was ready. The trick was to take it one step at a time.

  Today’s breakfast would be pancakes. Surely I could master pancakes, especially since the process was made easier by the prepared mix you only had to shake up.

  Ten minutes later, Mom walked into the room sniffing the air. “Phil, did you make coffee already?” Then, “Nicola?”

  “Take a seat.” I motioned to the pancakes piled onto a platter in the middle of the table. “Get started while they’re still warm.”

  Dad stepped through the doorway. “Honey, is that pancakes I can smell?” Dropping onto a chair at the table, he looked from the platter, across to Mom, then up to me. “I thought…”

  Why should it be so surprising that I’d made breakfast? What was with these people? I served up the last of the pancakes and joined them at the table.

  “They won’t be the same as Mom’s but I’m sure they’re still good,” I said.

  Mom swallowed a mouthful. “They’re excellent.”

  Shock in his eyes, Dad said, “They’re…”

  “Edible,” I finished.

  “Better than edible.”

  That sounded like a compliment.

  As we ate, I looked at the two people opposite me. They weren’t Jan and Philip Gray, the strangers I’d been sent to live with. They were much more than that, much more than they could know. They’d given me a place where I was welcome despite my moods and cooking skills. I was wanted here.

  I was home.

  This was something I’d never had before and I wasn’t going to take it for granted.

  After finishing breakfast, I sat back. “Dad, I hope you have a good day at work today.”

  He looked confused. “What? Since when have you been interested in my work?”

  Mom reached for his hand. “I think you should make the most of this while it lasts.”

  I stood and gathered their dirty plates. “I’d better start the cleaning up.”

  Dad spluttered his coffee. “What’s going on here?”

  “I’ll take care of the dishes,” Mom said, taking control of the situation as she always did. “I’m not going to work today.”

  Dad’s face clouded over, his voice low. “You didn’t tell her?”

  “Later,” she said.

  “What’s going on?” I asked.

  Mom glanced at her watch, then back up at me. “You need to get going.”

  I deposited the dishes on the sink. “If you’re sure that’s okay.” She nodded so I added, “I wouldn’t want to be late for school.”

  “Nicola, don’t take this the wrong way.” Dad’s brow furrowed. “But has an alien taken over your body?”

  “No aliens,” I said.

  Boy, was he way off the mark? Not even close.

  I ga
ve each of them a kiss on the cheek, then Dad shook his head and said, “Definitely an alien.”

  The walk to school reminded me of my first day in Altabena. In a way, it was my first day again, the first day of my new life.

  It was still early so the sun was low, the air fresh, and though it hadn’t warmed up yet, the day held such promise. My heart swelled in my chest. It felt like the sort of day where anything could happen.

  Ambling ahead, I heard footsteps behind me. I glanced around but couldn’t see anyone. The footsteps quickened. Leaves crunched on the pavement behind me. Someone was following me.

  I stepped off and turned to face my opponent, my hands up so I was ready for whatever would come my way.

  Lauren screamed and backed off, stumbling off the pavement. “Whoa, take it easy, dude.”

  I hadn’t planned on this. Training was a hard thing to shake.

  “I was going to scare you but it didn’t quite work,” she added.

  “Lauren…”

  Doe-eyed and disappointed, she looked so innocent, so unaware of what lay ahead, so deserving of a better friendship than the short one I could offer. I threw my arms around her neck and gave her a big hug. She let out a nervous giggle, then returned the embrace, albeit briefly, before holding me at arms’ length.

  “I’m so glad to see you,” I said. “I missed you.”

  Lauren looked at me like I was an idiot. I was getting used to that.

  “You missed me?” she said. “I saw you on Saturday night.”

  I nudged her so we started walking together. “You have no idea. It has been an eternity. It feels like a hundred years has passed.”

  “Is something going on?” she asked, curiosity in her voice. “Did you go all the way with Ben at the party and didn’t tell me? Is that it?”

  “No, I’m just happy to see you.”

  I was beaming inside and out, and wanted to share my newfound feelings. Was there anything wrong with that?

  “Whatever you’ve been taking,” she said, “can I have some?”

  Horrified, I said, “Surely you don’t think I’ve been taking drugs?”

  “No, I think you’ve always been a bit weird.”

  She kept coming back to the subject of Ben and sex, as if it wasn’t possible for him and me to simply be friends. In one way, she was right. There was nothing simple about the relationship.