‘And before you ask,’ Freeman said, ‘we’ve deprogrammed her completely.’
‘Oh,’ Jay said. ‘Well, that makes me feel better then. Fucking hell, where’s the coffee?’
‘Downstairs,’ Freeman said. ‘I’ll show you.’
Jay gave Grace another fierce glare, then pushed past Damien, down the stairs. Freeman followed. Damien’s mind raced to think of something to say.
‘It’s … nice up here,’ he managed.
‘Please don’t stand there like that. It’s painfully awkward to watch,’ Grace said. ‘Sitting down is an option, if you weren’t aware.’
‘Yeah, right.’ Damien jerked his legs into motion and picked a seat opposite her. ‘Where have you been all this time?’
Grace squeezed some lemon into her tea. Her fingernails were as short as his.
‘Here,’ she said. ‘And before here, New York.’
‘I was in New York.’
‘You checked out, I checked in,’ she said. ‘The Shadow Akhana elders have a meeting tonight. To figure out what to do.’
‘So we’re done? We’re onto another topic now?’ Damien leaned forward in his chair. ‘Wait, about what?’
Her eyes narrowed. ‘Where have you been the last week?’
‘Under the ocean.’
‘Oh, in that case, you’re a little behind the eight ball.’ She sipped her tea.
‘Please.’ Damien folded his arms. ‘Bring me up to speed.’
‘I wasn’t expecting to have this conversation with you,’ she said.
‘I wasn’t expecting to have any conversation with you. I thought you were dead.’
‘I get that a lot,’ she said.
‘So why are you here exactly?’
He could feel old emotions stirring inside, which surprised him. Until he’d seen her, he’d had no idea he missed her.
‘Just following a lead,’ she said. ‘Same lead as Freeman, as it turns out. Mutual interests and all that.’
‘Mutual interests are scrapbooking, baseball, Clone Wars.’
Grace gave him a dubious stare. ‘Clone Wars?’
‘Those are mutual interests,’ he went on. ‘Not starting a war with a clandestine government.’
‘Really?’ she said, suddenly serious. ‘That’s what I put on my dating profile.’
‘You’re not … That was a joke, wasn’t it?’
‘Yes, Damien, it was a joke. And I suppose you came here for the mountain air? Honeymoon perhaps?’
A hint of jealousy, he thought. Well, he hoped.
‘I’m helping Sophia,’ he said.
Grace didn’t blink. ‘Why?’
‘She’s my friend.’
‘Sophia doesn’t have friends, she has followers.’
Damien kept his composure. She was testing him, but he wasn’t going to bite.
‘Then I followed her here,’ he said.
‘If you’re helping Sophia, then you’re helping Freeman,’ Grace said. ‘Which means we have something in common. Other than Clone Wars.’
* * *
Freeman made coffee in the tiny kitchen behind the counter. The space clearly wasn’t built for a towering six foot six man, but he made it work. Jay watched him add the grounds to the kettle and let it simmer, cowboy style.
‘Won’t that burn the coffee?’ he said.
‘Jesus, one trip to Melbourne and you’re a connoisseur now?’ Freeman said. ‘We’re five thousand feet above sea level. Water boils at a lower temperature.’
He poured some coffee into a ceramic mug and handed it over. Jay brought it carefully to his lips. It was too hot to drink, but he sipped anyway. It had some punch to it but it was smooth.
‘Nice. Not bitter,’ he said.
Freeman didn’t look surprised. ‘My magic at work,’ he said, pouring himself a cup. He leaned against the kitchen bench and nursed his coffee. ‘I’m curious, Jay, what are your plans?’
Jay wasn’t expecting that. ‘Well, we kinda got pulled into this.’
Freeman nodded. ‘That’s why I’m asking.’
‘We’ll … we’ll be moving on soon,’ Jay said. ‘I’m with you guys on this whole resistance thing. But, you know.’
Freeman raised an eyebrow. ‘No, I don’t.’
‘Fifth Column is just so big, they control everything,’ Jay said. ‘It’s just …’
‘Just what?’
‘I think you’re wasting your time,’ Jay said.
He felt bad saying it, but it was true. That’s honestly what he thought.
Freeman nodded. ‘Fair enough. We have a team going to Manila next week to pick someone up. You can ride with them if you’re keen to move on.’
‘That would work,’ Jay said. ‘Thanks.’
‘No thanks necessary.’
Nasira walked in. ‘For what?’ she said.
‘For being awesome,’ Jay said.
She laughed, slapped him on the shoulder a little too hard and greeted Freeman. He directed her up the stairs.
Jay held up a finger in anticipation. ‘Wait for it,’ he said, listening.
Nasira reached the top of the stairs. ‘Motherfucker!’ she yelled.
Freeman chuckled. Jay snorted coffee through his nose.
‘Ain’t you meant to be dead?’ Nasira yelled.
‘I think that went well,’ Freeman said. ‘Anyway, I’ll get some breakfast going if you want to wait upstairs. How many of you are there again?’
Jay counted in his head. ‘Eight. Nine if you count the resurrected.’
He took his coffee and headed for the stairs. His head was pounding after all that drinking in the submarine.
‘It’s easier not to think about it, isn’t it?’ Freeman said.
Jay stopped. ‘What are you talking about?’
Freeman wasn’t smiling any more. ‘You know exactly what I’m talking about.’
Jay put his mug down. ‘They took everything from me, OK? Not just one little thing, not just someone I care about or a part of my childhood.’
Freeman pointed at Jay’s chest. ‘You still have that.’
Jay looked down at the gold chain around his neck, the outline of the cross visible under his T-shirt.
‘My father’s,’ he said. ‘They took everything else. I’m not going to spend the rest of my life trying to get payback. It’s a big goddamn waste of time.’ He could feel the anger in his words and it surprised him.
Freeman nodded with what seemed like understanding, but said nothing.
‘Life is short, you know,’ Jay said. ‘I’m going to enjoy what I have left. YOLO or whatever.’
Freeman fished around in a crumpled cigarette pack for the last cigarette. His silence was starting to piss Jay off.
‘I’m here because I helped Sophia,’ he said. ‘She needed our help, she was in danger.’
‘She was in danger,’ Freeman said.
‘Yeah. And now I’m here. In the mountains.’ Jay held up his hands in admission. ‘Hey, I’m just trying to work with the cards I was dealt.’
‘The kind of people I’m looking for aren’t happy with the cards they were dealt,’ Freeman said. ‘They know the dealer’s cheating and they’ll do everything it takes to get better cards.’
Jay shrugged. ‘I’d rather just not play the game.’
‘Let me ask you a question.’ Freeman snapped open his zippo and held the flame close. ‘How long do you think you have?’
Jay didn’t quite know what he meant by that. ‘Until when? Apocalypse was last year and we’re still here.’
‘Until you can’t ignore it any more. Until you can’t run any more.’ Freeman wedged his cigarette between cracked lips and lit it. ‘With the Fifth Column at the helm, there really is no security in this world.’
‘Yeah, but most people don’t know that.’
‘I know it,’ Freeman said. ‘And you know it. There are no assurances in this world, there are only probabilities. Some people are unable to deal with that. Maybe you’re one of them.�
� He drew on his cigarette. ‘And maybe you aren’t.’
Jay shook his head. ‘You know what? I don’t care what they do any more. I just want to get as far away from that shitstorm as possible.’
He didn’t want to go upstairs while Grace was there, so he stepped outside for some fresh air, leaving Freeman to his cooking. He didn’t have the energy or the patience to deal with a high and mighty do-gooder this morning. He liked Freeman but they just weren’t after the same thing. Plus, he had a killer hangover.
He looked down the street at some kids playing with a dog. This place was woefully unprepared for anything the Fifth Column could dish out. The Akhana had been almost wiped clean. What was there to fight for now?
Nothing, he told himself.
Chapter Sixteen
After an awkward breakfast, Jay was keen to get out of the inn as soon as possible. He made an excuse to leave and returned to his modest quarters. Nasira caught him there and told him she was running a training session in half an hour, at the basketball court by the church. Jay agreed to be there. He enjoyed the training and, as much as he hated to admit it, he enjoyed getting beaten up by Nasira.
It was a group session today so he dragged Damien along. They made their way from their sleeping quarters down a winding back path that ended at a fork in the road. He could see the church ahead, painted a pale blue and trimmed in white. Behind it was the basketball court. It was open, paved in concrete, with a single basketball ring at the far end.
All he’d thought about on the walk down was Damien and Grace. There was something unsettling about her presence that made the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end. Damien meant a lot to him. Jay had lost his little brother not long before he was recruited into Project GATE. His brother had fallen three stories inside a building during a BOPE raid in Rio de Janeiro. Not long after, Jay had been recruited into Project GATE, where he’d taken Damien under his wing.
‘Do you know what happens in the shocktrooper induction?’ Jay asked as they walked toward the church.
‘I didn’t make the cut, so no,’ Damien said. ‘And neither did you.’
‘It sure as hell would screw you up more than an operative induction,’ Jay said. ‘Sophia’s paint-by-numbers deprogramming guide wasn’t designed for shocktroopers. Deprogramming a shocktrooper, that’s next level shit. How can Freeman be so sure she’s clean?’
Damien was looking up at the hills ahead. ‘She seems normal,’ he said. ‘Too normal.’
Jay followed his gaze. He could just make out Grace’s lithe figure in the distance, traversing a steep slope.
‘And that’s enough for you?’ Jay said, stepping in front of Damien. ‘She’s a goddamn shocktrooper. She could snap at any moment. Do you realize you’re flirting with a power keg just waiting to go off?’
‘I’m not flirting,’ Damien said. ‘And I think you mean powder keg.’
‘No,’ Jay said. ‘Whatever. But it’s only a matter of time before she snaps.’
‘Could say the same about you.’ Damien shouldered past Jay and kept walking.
‘Me?’ Jay called after him. ‘What are you trying to say?’
He knew what Damien thought. He wanted to make him say it.
Damien looked over his shoulder. ‘Nothing.’
Jay stormed after him. ‘Don’t give me this nothing bullshit. I know why you brought me to Sophia. I’m not fucking stupid. I see the way you look at me every time I come back from a job. Or every time you come over. It’s always this disappointment.’
He took a step closer. He was inches from Damien’s face. ‘You can say it. You’re disappointed.’
Damien didn’t move. ‘I’m not disappointed,’ he said. ‘I’m worried.’
‘Trying to save the day, huh?’ Jay said, pulling back a fraction. ‘Trying to save me. As though I need saving. As though I can be—’
He stopped. He didn’t like what he was saying any more.
‘I guess you prefer it the other way around,’ Damien said. He looked angry now. But it was a different kind of anger to Jay’s. It seemed to smolder through him, slow and measured. ‘Big brother Jay. Trying to save his little brother.’
Jay grabbed Damien by his T-shirt. He clenched his teeth and tried to fight the urge to hit him. ‘Don’t,’ he hissed. ‘Just don’t.’
He released Damien and stepped back.
‘You know, I was happy to help Sophia,’ Jay said. ‘Check out those construction sites. Work together. Like old times. But not like this. Not with that DC guy watching our every move, and Crouching Tiger Hidden Time Bomb ticking away until she goes boom.’
‘What about Nasira?’ Damien said.
‘Nasira has nothing to do with it,’ Jay snapped. ‘But we’re in way over our heads here.’
‘So now you want to rescue me, is that right? You want to save me? Would that make you feel better?’
‘You know what?’ Jay said. ‘I was happy doing those pissy jobs in those shithole places. I think all along it was you who wanted more. You’re always talking about how you want a normal life with none of this crap, but it’s all a lie. To yourself. What you really wanted was this.’
Damien said nothing. He stood there, his gaze firmly on Jay. His expression gave little, but Jay could see frustration shimmering in his eyes. He knew Damien enough to know the accusation had stung.
‘Don’t try to pin this on me,’ Jay said. ‘You wanted this.’
‘Enjoy your training,’ Damien said. ‘I’ll catch up.’ He walked right past the church and started up the hill they’d seen Grace climbing.
Jay shook his head. He needed to get Damien out of this before things got too crazy.
* * *
Nasira, Big Dog and Chickenhead were already on the basketball court.
‘Nice of you to join us,’ Nasira said. ‘Warm up, then come on in.’
Jay begrudgingly did a few laps around the court, threw in a few token stretches only when Nasira was looking, and then included himself in whatever they were doing — hopefully the cool stuff.
Nasira paired off Big and Chickenhead, then made Jay stand in one spot. Her fist moved slowly toward the side of his face. He saw it coming and, matching her speed, moved to avoid it.
‘Keep it minimal,’ she said.
He shifted his head and her fist went over his shoulder. Her other fist came in slowly, aiming for his stomach. Everything was at half-speed. Jay rolled his eyes and shifted his arm just enough to knock her arm off course. She kept moving it past his torso as though it was really full speed and Jay was stuck in a slo-mo replay. He stepped away, this time at normal speed.
‘This slow-motion shit drives me crazy,’ he said. ‘It’s painful.’
Nasira was treating him like a baby and it was getting annoying.
‘There’s a reason we train at this speed,’ she said.
‘It’s so basic. Feels like a waste of time.’
‘You can’t handle me at full speed.’
Jay grinned. ‘Oh, I bet—’
Nasira closed her fist. ‘Don’t even try to finish that sentence.’
Chickenhead, overhearing her retort, laughed. Jay ignored him.
‘Your brain takes this on at slower speeds and can apply it at any speed,’ she went on.
‘I can see your strikes coming a mile away. It’s boring.’
‘I’m teaching you to not react with your mind,’ she said, circling him. ‘Not with planned combinations. I’m trying to get your subconscious — which I’ve been training intensively for the last two weeks — to take over.’ She stopped in front of him. ‘I’m teaching you to act without anticipation.’
Jay put his hands on his hips. ‘Why?’
‘To free your mind.’
He rolled his eyes. ‘Whatever you say, Morpheus. So what’s up next?’
‘Guys, fall in,’ she said.
Chickenhead and Big Dog stopped their own slow-motion drill and hustled over.
‘Chickenhead, you’re going to attac
k Jay. Not too fast, but fast enough,’ Nasira said. ‘Big Dog, I’m attacking you. Two teams of two.’ She turned to Jay. ‘Now, you’re going to defend yourself during this exercise.’
Jay rubbed his hands together. ‘Sounds legit.’
‘But at the same time you’re going to watch the other team. You’re going to watch Big Dog. Analyze how he moves, how well he defends himself, how he walks, how he reacts, how he interacts with me in combat. And you need to do this while defending yourself. Understood?’
Chickenhead immediately paired off with Jay while Big Dog sided with Nasira.
‘Hold up,’ Jay said. ‘You want me to watch Big Dog while I fight Chickenhead? At the same time? No shit?’
‘At the same time,’ Nasira said. ‘No shit.’
Jay turned his attention to Chickenhead. ‘Right.’
‘No problem, mate,’ Chickenhead said.
‘Yeah,’ Jay said. ‘No problem.’
Chickenhead took three steps and was all up in Jay. He moved desperately, tense, dealing with each of Chickenhead’s blows. Everything that Nasira had taught him went out the window as he fell back on his Project GATE mixed martial arts training. He felt his cheeks flush when he realized he’d hardened up like a goddamn mannequin in a department store. Relax, you idiot, he told himself.
Chickenhead threw in a hook punch. They seemed easy enough to avoid, but the hook made it difficult to judge the timing.
Everything slowed down. Jay brought his elbow up, brushing softly across Chickenhead’s forearm. He sidestepped a fraction and dropped his elbow inside Chickenhead’s. He took Chickenhead’s arm with it, opening up his face for a strike. He almost moved to punch him — nothing too hard — then remembered he was supposed to be watching Big Dog.
Big Dog was low to the ground, his muscular legs visible below his shorts. Jay was actually impressed at how spry the guy was. He managed to cleanly avoid most of Nasira’s strikes. He didn’t even need to—
Chickenhead’s fist clanged against Jay’s teeth. It was a light strike, but light popped in his vision. The blow stunned him, but he recovered quickly, kept his footing and prepared himself for Chickenhead’s next attack. Chickenhead hooked his boot under Jay’s knee and threw him sideways. Jay stumbled to keep from falling over, and when that failed he dropped into a shoulder roll behind Chickenhead. When he returned to his feet, Chickenhead was on him again.
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