“To hell with Gotfrid,” Igor spat. “The man was a traitor. He deserved what he got.”
“You can't sail the ship by yourselves,” Anya said.
“You're welcome to join us,” Pyotr said. Anya looked at Alexi.
“Seems like the best option right now,” he said. “Let's find Lilia and go.”
“And Nikolai,” Demyan added. “We need Nikolai.”
“Aw, I knew you missed me.” Nikolai appeared behind Demyan, grinning. Lilia ran up next to him.
“Oh my,” Anya said as she looked Nikolai over. “What did they do to your arm?”
“Story for another time,” Nikolai replied. “We need to get out of here.”
“To the ship, then,” Anya said. The group turned to head back to the ramp. They were intercepted by Edmund, smirking wickedly.
“Ah, there's my crew,” Edmund said. “I see we had the same idea. Good!”
“We're not your crew,” Alexi told him. “And you're not welcome on our ship.”
Edmund laughed. “Your ship?” Edmund challenged. “You're not even on her yet and you're calling her yours? We'll see about that.”
“Edmund!” Snezhana shouted her brother's name from across the yard. She ran up to the group, a pistol in each hand.
“Edmund, Alexi,” she greeted. “All of you. We need your help.”
“Why on earth would I help you?” Edmund asked. Snezhana ignored him.
“We don't have time for particulars,” she told the group, “but the government has taken custody of Zoya, and plans on using her to activate the full power of the Bronnerush—the gadget. We need you, and the others in this camp, to help us fight. We need to fight our way to Grigory Orlov's lab, that's where they're taking her. We need to get there and stop them, and destroy the gadget.”
“You can't destroy the gadget, Snezhana,” Edmund protested.
“Please, go,” Snezhana pleaded. She pointed to Boris across the yard. “That's Boris, he'll direct you.”
“Alright,” Demyan said. “Let's go.”
Igor and Pyotr looked at each other, at Snezhana, and at the ship.
“Having a rebel force at sea would be useful,” Snezhana said as she followed their gaze. “Grab a handful of refugees and make your crew. Quickly! Just do me the courtesy of firing on Mirgorod’s navy as you sail away.”
“Aye, Captain,” Pyotr and Igor replied in unison, running off to the ship. Snezhana walked to where Boris stood.
“Snezhana!” Edmund yelled. Snezhana turned and sighed. Edmund stood red-faced with a sword pointing at her. She laughed.
“Where on earth did you get that?” she asked.
“One of these so-called supervisors had it,” Edmund replied.
“You know they carry guns as well.”
Edmund ignored her. “I won't let you destroy the gadget,” he said. “I've worked too hard. I've come too far.”
“You've sacrificed too much,” Snezhana told him. She strode up to him until his blade was poking her in the stomach. “You sacrificed me. Your own sister. So I'll be damned if I don't see that gadget destroyed. After what you did to me, I want to see you watch as it crumbles into dust. All you did, all you sacrificed, all for nothing.” Snezhana spat on the ground in front of Edmund and turned away.
With an angry yell, Edmund lunged forward. He drove his sword into Snezhana's back until it protruded out of her stomach. Snezhana gasped for breath, looking down at the bloody blade.
“Oh, Eddie,” she choked. “So old fashioned. Always reaching for your sword instead of your pistol.”
Snezhana coughed up blood as she faced her brother. Edmund's eyes were wide, his gaze flitting from the wound he'd inflicted to his sister's face. He was frozen, breathing heavily. Snezhana raised her pistol.
“Goodbye, baby brother,” she said. She pulled the trigger, hitting Edmund square in the forehead. He fell to the ground, and Snezhana collapsed. Tears streamed down her face as she clenched her stomach.
“Snezhana!” Alexi ran over to her and pressed on the wound to try to stop the bleeding. His eyes filled with tears as his gaze darted between his dead father and dying aunt.
“Alexi,” Snezhana said. “I'm sorry.”
“No, no,” he told her. “It's alright. I'll get Boris over here. We'll get you to a doctor.”
Snezhana grabbed her nephew's hand. “Alexi,” she whispered. “It's alright. You're free now. Just promise me…”
“What?” Alexi asked. “Anything.”
“Destroy it,” Snezhana coughed. “Destroy the gadget.” Alexi nodded.
“I will,” he said. Tears rolled down his cheeks. “And you'll be there to witness it.”
Snezhana smiled. “You're a good boy, Alexi,” she said. “Your mother would be proud.”
“Alexi, we have to go,” Boris said. He bent down next to Snezhana and kissed her forehead.
“Do it,” Snezhana said to Boris. He nodded, sniffling.
“What?” Alexi asked him. “Do what?”
“Alexi, go,” Snezhana said. “Go destroy the gadget and live your life.”
“Snezhana,” Alexi pleaded.
“Go.”
Alexi backed away, looking at Boris, who raised his pistol. Anya ran to Alexi, wrapping her arms around him and directing his face away from his aunt. Boris shot Snezhana between the eyes then bent down and kissed her hand. Alexi held Anya tight, his body heaving.
“I'm so sorry, Alexi,” Anya whispered. “But Boris is right. We have to go.”
Alexi nodded and wiped his eyes. “We need to complete her mission,” he said. “Let's go destroy that damned gadget.”
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Boris led a group of rebels through the underground tunnels toward Grigory's lab.
“Unfortunately, we don't have direct access via our tunnels. But, we can get close, and then we'll have to move quickly above-ground to get there,” he had told his comrades.
“Didn't you say it's heavily guarded?” Alexi asked.
“That's why we made sure you're all armed,” Boris replied.
“Speaking of arms,” Nikolai said, “you don't know how to reactivate mine, by any chance, do you?”
Boris walked around to look at Nikolai's back.
“Ah, yes,” he said, pointing to a small hole in Nikolai's mechanical shoulder blade. “There is a special key to activate or deactivate mechanical limbs. The Vernulaian government wants their citizens strong and able to work, but they don't want to lose control. So, at the first sign of insubordination, they disable any mechanical parts.”
“So, is that a yes, or no?” Nikolai asked.
Boris smiled. “I just so happen to have one of those keys,” he said. He instructed one of his close comrades to fetch the key.
“Thank you,” Nikolai said. “I assume these types of mechanical limbs are common here.”
“Relatively so, I suppose,” Boris replied. “It’s standard procedure to affix a prosthetic when a limb is lost.”
“In Lodninsk the prosthetics couldn’t move,” Nikolai said.
“That sounds very inconvenient.”
“Is Zoya going to be ok?” Demyan asked Boris. “What are they doing to her?”
“If we're lucky, we'll get there before they've done anything to her,” Boris replied.
“And if we're unlucky?” Lilia asked.
“Have your guns ready.”
“Absolutely not,” Demyan said. “We're here to save Zoya, not hurt her.”
“You're mistaken, boy,” Boris replied, getting gruff. “We're here to stop the terror of the Vernulaian government, by whatever means necessary.”
“I'm sure we'll be lucky,” Nikolai said to Demyan. “She'll be fine.”
Boris's comrade approached Nikolai then, a dagger-like key in his hand.
“I’ve heard this hurts,” the comrade warned. He stuck the key into the hole in Nikolai's shoulder blade. Nikolai let out a surprised yell then inhaled deeply. His mechanical arm began to move.
The rebels continued along the tunnel until they came to a door that led to stairs they followed up to street level. The sun was setting, casting long shadows between the buildings outside.
“There it is,” Boris said, pointing to a small, innocuous brick building surrounded by soldiers. “The lab was unearthed in the basement of that building.”
“You expect us to fight through all of those soldiers?” Alexi asked.
“Of course not,” Boris replied. “We've got distractions coming any minute now.”
“Distractions?” Anya asked.
“The refugees?” Demyan said. “You're going to send those poor people in as a distraction?”
“Those poor people are also armed,” Boris explained. “And they have it in for this government as much as any of us. We didn't force the refugees to do anything, if that's what you're thinking. They know full well what they're doing.”
“It's not right,” Lilia said. “You sent them on a suicide mission.”
“And when we gave them their mission, we made that clear,” Boris said, bristling. “This is war. This is our rebellion. This is how we overthrow this government. This is how we rescue your friend.”
The yells of the refugees echoed through the streets, faintly at first, then louder and louder. The soldiers guarding Grigory's lab readied their weapons, but were soon overwhelmed by the sheer number of people attacking them. A continuous rain of bullets fell upon the refugees, taking out a dozen at a time. But still more people came. They tackled the soldiers to the ground, ripping away their weapons and slaughtering them.
“Now!” Boris yelled. “Let's move!”
The rebels hurried toward the brick building. They leapt over the corpses of soldiers and refugees and burst through the door. Immediately, more soldiers ambushed them, but the rebels far outnumbered the platoon. Within seconds, they shot the soldiers down.
“Go that way,” Boris instructed Zoya's friends, pointing to the stairs. “She'll be down there, go! We'll guard up here.”
The friends ran down the stairs then raced down a long hallway.
They saw no soldiers, but the hall was lined with wooden doors. They kept their weapons raised.
“Which one?” Lilia asked, glancing back and forth. A scream rang out toward the end of the hall.
“That's Zoya!” Demyan yelled, sprinting toward her cry. The others ran after him.
“I think it came from in here,” Demyan said. The friends held up their weapons and barged in.
The front half of the room was made up of clean, simple lines. It had a white marble floor and pastel striped wallpaper. The back half of the room, however, was made of old, half- rotted wood. Shelves of antique bottles and scientific instruments lined the walls.
A group of doctors in lab coats stood in the center of the room, hunched in a circle. They turned when the door opened. One doctor pulled his mask off of his mouth and smiled.
“I'd put those guns down if I were you,” he said. “She doesn't want to see us being threatened.” The doctors stepped aside, revealing Zoya in the center of their circle. She lay on a wooden table that had been raised so that Zoya was nearly standing. She wore only rags that may have once been a dress; teal and golden strands hung across her body. The gadget was on her arm, its armor growing and enveloping her. She looked up at her friends.
Her gaze was blank at first, as though she didn't see them. Then her eyes snapped to Demyan.
“You,” she said, her voice slow and scratchy. “You're here…” A sweet smile formed on her lips. One of the doctors grabbed her face and directed it toward his own. In his other hand he had a yellow pendant on a chain. He held the pendant between his and Zoya’s faces and its jewel began to glow.
“You serve the Great Nation of Vernulaia,” he said “You are our sword of justice. You will stop any and all rebellion.”
Zoya nodded, her expression blank, and looked back at her friends.
“Rebel scum,” she said to them. “You think you can undermine this great nation? You have one chance to surrender.”
“Zoya, what are you talking about?” Lilia asked.
“Do you surrender?” Zoya asked. The gadget had enveloped her torso and legs, and was making its way down her other arm.
“Zoya, whatever they've done to you, fight it! Fight back!” Demyan said
“So, you won't surrender?” Zoya said to her friends. Her voice was flat and emotionless. The gadget folded over the top of her head, coming down to cover her eyes with goggles. All but her nose and mouth were covered in metal plates, wires, and gears. She raised her right hand. “Then you will be annihilated.”
“Run!” Alexi shouted, pulling Anya out of the room. The others ran as well, barely avoiding a ball of light that exploded on the opposite wall in the hallway.
“After them!” the doctors instructed Zoya. “Crush their rebellion!”
Zoya's friends sprinted up to the main floor of the building. Boris and his comrades locked in a swordfight with a new wave of soldiers.
“Run!” Alexi shouted at them. “Run now!” Boris and his comrades didn't hesitate. They followed the friends out of the building. A ball of energy struck the corner of the building, which began to crumble. Nikolai looked back and saw Zoya had reached the main floor. She raised her hand.
“Ready your weapons,” Boris shouted at his comrades.
“What?” Lilia protested. “You can't shoot her!”
“I'm sorry,” Boris said. “Unfortunately, you were too late. She isn't your friend anymore; she's a weapon of the Vernulaian government.”
“Rebels!” Zoya shouted as she exited the building. “Lay down your weapons now, and you will receive mercy. Continue to fight, and you will lose, and die.”
“We will never surrender!” Boris shouted. He raised his gun, as did his comrades.
“No!” Demyan shouted. The rebels began to fire.
The bullets bounced off of Zoya's armor. She didn’t flinch. Zoya raised both of her hands and shot two blasts of energy toward the rebels. The force of the blasts sent the rebels flying in all directions. Zoya's friends were knocked to the ground, covering their heads. Then they stood and ran into the nearest building.
“We need to find whatever it is that stops the gadget,” Anya told her friends.
“You go back to the lab and look for it,” Lilia told her. “I'm staying up here. There must be something we can do to bring Zoya back to reality.”
“They’re controlling her with that pendant,” Nikolai said. “I’ve never seen something like that before. I don’t know how it works, how are we supposed to figure out how to stop it?”
“We have to try,” Demyan said. “I'll stay up here with Lilia. Go and look for anything that might help.”
The friends peeked out of the doorway. Zoya was marching down the street, surrounded by soldiers. Dozens of corpses now littered the ground behind her. Some rebels fled down the road, others had run back into their tunnels.
“Are you sure about this, Lilia?” Nikolai asked, watching Zoya.
“If we can make Zoya remember that we’re not the enemy, then she won’t use the gadget against us and we won’t have to destroy it. To destroy her. You remember what Snezhana said,” Lilia said.
Nikolai nodded. He, Anya, and Alexi waited until the soldiers had moved past their building. Then, they sprinted across the street and into the building containing Grigory's lab.
The doctors were still in the basement. They smiled as Zoya's friends approached.
“How do we stop it?” Nikolai demanded, raising his gun.
“There is no stopping it,” one of the doctors replied.
Nikolai grabbed the doctor's throat with his mechanical arm and slammed him against the wall. “That's a lie,” he growled. “We know there's a way to stop it. Tell us how!”
“Nikolai,” Alexi said, keeping his gun pointed toward the other doctors. “They are
n't going to tell us anything.”
Anya raised her pistol and shot one of the doctors in the kneecap.
“How about now?” she asked.
The doctor fell to the ground, squeezing his wounded knee.
“We will tell you nothing,” he told her. “Except that you are rebel scum and you are going to die.”
The third doctor charged toward the friends, a syringe in his hand. Alexi shot him in the head, dropping him instantly. The other two doctors began laughing hysterically.
“What's wrong with you?” Nikolai asked the doctor he held against the wall. The doctor continued to laugh, bubbles and foam pouring out of his mouth. Nikolai let go of his throat in disgust.
“They've poisoned themselves,” Alexi said. “Come on, we'll just have to look through the lab ourselves.”
Lilia and Demyan watched from afar as Zoya and the soldiers proceeded down the streets of Mirgorod.
“Do you have any sort of plan?” Demyan asked.
“Some sort,” Lilia replied. “Probably not a good sort.”
“What does that mean?” Demyan asked. Lilia didn't answer. Instead she darted out of the building.
“Lilia!” Demyan called after her then followed.
“Zoya!” Lilia yelled. Zoya and the soldiers turned, taking aim at her.
“Wait! I surrender!” Lilia shouted. She raised her hands and fell to her knees. “I surrender.”
Demyan ran into an alley and watched. He held his gun at the ready.
“You are making the right choice,” Zoya told Lilia as the soldiers grabbed her.
“Wait, Zoya!” Lilia yelled as the soldiers began dragging her away. “It's me, Lilia! We've been friends since before we could talk.”
“I am not friends with rebels,” Zoya replied.
Lilia laughed. “Of course you are,” she said. “Because you're a rebel yourself. Zoya, they’re controlling you. But you have to remember! Remember me and Demyan and Anya and Nikolai!”
Zoya stood silently for a moment, looking at Lilia then somewhere off in the distance. For a moment, Lilia thought Zoya might remember…
“Take this one away,” Zoya told the soldiers, her body becoming rigid. “Her treacherous ways have obviously driven her mad.”
Grigory's Gadget Page 23