Boneyards & Badlands: The Complete FTW Series

by Morgan Hobbes

  “Great. Well what you wouldn’t know,” Aisha pauses to pull the corner of the sheet covering the large object. The sheet falls into a pile on the floor and she resumes talking. “Is that they’re also what is keeping the world from recovering.”

  We all exchange worried and confused glances at each other. Maliah nods as if she knows all of this already. Which in retrospect she most likely does, and probably why we’re all out here to start with.

  Stilwell is the first to ask the question.

  “How so? What is it they do?”

  “We’ve suspected for a long time that these were the cause of everything. A few months ago we secured this one,” Aisha says patting the air scrubber. “We had some of our best guys reverse engineer the technology and software so we could better understand how they work. What they found was mind blowing.

  “It is true that initially these scrubbers were designed simply to clean the air. FTW was the company that came up with the design now installed by the millions around the globe. They locked down the technology, and with no other viable options and the only game in town they became the unstoppable juggernaut they are today. They went on to tear down everything that once was and erected the monstrosities we know as the cities today.”

  “Wait,” I say butting in. “I was always told it was because of the cities the air became unbreathable.”

  Aisha smiles at me and shakes her head.

  “No, the earth was already in peril,” she says. “I’ve heard varying accounts though, so you’re not alone. The truth has become distorted over the years as it’s been handed down. But no, the air scrubbers were built to combat the runaway pollution from the old cities.”

  “So why hasn’t the earth recovered?” Nils asks. “If we’ve got clean air and the polluting cities of the past are gone, what’s the go?”

  “That’s what our engineers discovered,” Aisha says. “When we reverse engineered the technology, we discovered exactly what these things do. They still clean the air, but they also do something else. They’re also designed to pump out a chemical concoction which keeps the moisture from gathering in the air. Basically they stop the rain. So not only do FTW control the air, but the water supply as well. The two most basic needs of all humans on the planet, and they have the monopoly.

  “The good news is we think we can stop the scrubbers from pumping out the extra chemicals. The air purifying components are separate, and we believe if we can get a software update into the network we can shut down the part that pumps out the chemicals while still cleaning the air. Once they’re only pumping out clean air, the rains should return and we give the control of the world back to the people.”

  “So what’s the bad news?” I ask.

  “Well, the air scrubbers are on Jameson’s private network. We can’t hack into it, not from here. We’ve nobody on the inside with enough access either. Getting the software update to deploy is simple enough, but getting in front of a workstation that has access is an entirely different problem.”

  “So I guess that’s where I come in?” I say. I’m fairly certain I can see where this is going. They need me, or more specifically my relationship with Echo, in order to see this through.

  “That was the plan, yes,” Aisha says, nodding. “You’re the only one who stands a chance of getting close enough to Echo to insert the code into one of the restricted systems.”

  “To be honest, that kind of sounds impossible. For a start only yesterday you showed me footage of Echo working for Jameson. That kind of indicates she’s not on our side anymore. Secondly, even if I manage to get close to her, what makes you think they’d let me near a screen?”

  Everyone is silent for some time. I hate being the bearer of bad news but I can’t see a way around this.

  “It’s true,” Maliah says, her voice and face lowered. “We can’t be certain that Echo isn’t compromised and now working for Jameson. But you were the one yesterday who was pressing on us that her turning against us would be impossible.”

  My face heats in response to my own arguments being used against me.

  “Look,” Aisha says. “The truth is we just don’t know. We haven’t heard from any of our sources inside one way or the other. But surely, if there was even the slightest chance, you can see how important it is that we try. Not for ourselves but for the good of the whole planet.”

  I find my reluctance against the mission is eroding slowly. Some of the others make good points as well, and eventually I throw my hands up in defeat.

  “That still leaves us with one problem though. Assuming I get close to a screen, how am I going to get the code in undetected?”

  Aisha breaks into a huge grin.

  “That’s the easy part,” she says and hands me a scrap of paper about the size of my palm.

  There are no words printed on it, just a weird square shape made up of lots of other tiny squares.

  “What is this,” I ask Aisha as she hands it to me.

  “That’s the delivery system. It’s machine readable code that’ll upload the software patch and push it out to all the air scrubbers. It’ll eat through their security measures like acid, then hide any traces of its existence once it’s finished. Just point it at a screen and their systems will do the rest.”

  I stare at the unintelligible mix of black and white squares on the paper. I don’t understand how this could interact with a machine but Aisha tells me not to worry. They’ve tested it multiple times on their systems and it works just fine.

  “Just make sure it doesn’t get damaged,” Aisha adds. “A tear or missing piece will render the whole thing useless.”

  “Great, good thing it’s on this sturdy scrap of paper then,” I reply. I don’t like being sarcastic but it seems they could have put it on something less likely to get damaged.

  Aisha laughs at me and shakes her head.

  “Yeah, I know. But we had to weigh up all options. Once you’ve scanned it, you don’t want them catching you holding it. My recommendation would be to swallow it. You’ll be glad it’s on paper then.”

  I have to agree with her logic. It’d be one thing for them to suspect me... an entirely different matter to be standing there holding the evidence.

  “Okay, that makes sense,” I say. “So... when do I leave?”

  “You’re not going by yourself,” Stilwell says. “Is she?” he asks looking at Aisha.

  “Of course not,” Aisha says. “The Badlands are way too dangerous to travel alone. We will ask for volunteers. Maliah needs to stay here though. I’ve got other things I need her to deal with.”

  Maliah frowns but accepts her sister’s statement. I suspect she’s torn between wanting to help see this through and not being killed in the Badlands. Hell, I’m not real keen on the second bit, but I know I have to do it.

  “Count me in then,” Stilwell says. Nils volunteers a second later.

  “That’s great,” Aisha says. “We’ll talk to some of the others and try to get a few more.”

  “No,” I say. “The three of us will be enough. We should stay as a small group. We’ll be faster and harder to spot than a larger group.”

  This kicks off a debate, with other members being called in for their opinions. Since I’ve already made my position clear I head out of the tent and take a walk to clear my head.

  They’ve settled the matter by the time I return. They’ve agreed to do it my way and have sent someone off to arrange transport for us. Only Stilwell, Nils and Aisha remain in the tent. The others all gone back to whatever they need to do.

  “Walking is too dangerous and we need to make sure you get there with the code in one piece.” Aisha says. “We’ve got something that’ll protect you and get you there much quicker. Come,” she says and leads us further into the cavern.

  The further we walk the less light there is. It was subtle at first, but now there are huge sections shrouded in darkness.

  “Why no lights down here?” I ask.

  “We’ve only got a lim
ited amount of power we can produce. The bulk of it goes to running the lights to help the plants grow and light the common areas. These newer areas we’ve carved out are still mostly unoccupied, so lighting them would just be a waste.”

  A few more minutes of walking and we arrive at our destination. There’s a wide tunnel leading back towards the surface and scattered around are the remains of old aircars.

  “What is this place? It looks like a smaller version of a boneyard,” I say, surveying the heaps of junk metal.

  “This exits out to another safe area up top,” Aisha replies. “You’ll notice the tunnel heading up is wider than the one you came down. We use it to bring down larger pieces of equipment we need and take out what we don’t.”

  “Like what?” Nils asks.

  “Dirt and rock mostly from our excavations. Anyway, the other things we’ve got are vehicles. We salvage parts where we can to make our own. The one you’ll be using will be along shortly. Meanwhile, I’ve had a few bags readied for your departure. They contain food, weapons and medical supplies. Everything you should need to get you to the wall in one piece.”

  “What do we do once we get there?” I ask. The memories of crawling through a collapsing tunnel are still fresh in my mind. If the wall of the west coast is anything like the one on the east, there aren’t a lot of options to get through.

  “We’ve got a way in. There’s a beacon that the aircar can home in on. It only broadcasts once a day for ten seconds though as a safety precaution. You have to get within five miles of it for the aircar to lock on.”

  A grinding noise from inside the tunnel gets our attention. Sounds like something large being scraped along a concrete floor.

  “That’s just the door,” Aisha says. “The aircar is silent.”

  A moment later our aircar arrives. It is indeed quiet, even standing close to it I can barely hear the sound of the engines. But that’s not its most striking quality. That’s reserved for the armor plating.

  This thing looks bad to the bone. Thick metal plates cover every visible inch of it. Welded to each plate are large, sharp-looking metal spikes. It’d be dangerous just walking near this thing.

  I can’t even see where you get in, and I’m used to getting inside aircars from my years of scrapping in the boneyard.

  The armored aircar lowers itself to the ground, the engines humming a higher note as they wind down. It comes to rest on several of the spikes, sitting a few feet off the ground.

  There’s a hiss and part of the side wall pivots upwards and exposes the interior.

  There’s room for about six people plus a driver from what I can see, but inside there’s only a driver. A man twice the size of me swings his legs out of the car and jumps down to the ground.

  Every inch of him bulges with muscle. He scowls when he sees us.

  “It’s okay, Tom. They’re with us,” she says to the giant glaring at us. He relaxes when Aisha steps forward.

  When he walks over to us I’m sure I can feel tremors through my boots. He stands in front of me, looking down. I strain my neck to look up at him. Stilwell and Nils, standing next to me, do the same.

  Tom growls at me. A deep, guttural noise that sounds almost inhuman.

  “K-Kara,” I stumble over my words and hold out my hand.

  Tom looks towards Aisha, ignoring my hand.

  “Good?” he says to her, his voice deep and gravelly as his earlier growl.

  Aisha smiles and moves towards us. She’s the only one of us that doesn’t look petrified at the moment.

  “Tom here doesn’t say much,” she says putting herself between us and Tom. “He’s one of us though. We found him wandering the Badlands in bad shape. Lucky for us we had a medical kit with us, so we patched him up as best we could. Since then he’s been a welcome member of the team, haven’t you, Tom?”

  “Team,” he says.

  “Go on now and get something to eat. You must be starving,” Aisha says to Tom. His face splits into a grin and he nods.

  “Food,” he says as he wanders off.

  When he’s a safe distance away I let go of my breath. I hadn’t noticed I had been holding it until now. Stilwell is the first to say anything.

  “With a few more Tom’s on our side this whole thing would be over in seconds. What is he, some kind of experiment gone wrong?”

  “No,” Aisha says, her tone turning cold. “As far as we can tell he’s a normal human like you or me. He’s just a hell of a lot larger.”

  “You can say that again,” Nils says scratching his head and watching Tom disappear into the darkness of the cavern.

  “Enough about Tom,” Aisha says changing the subject. “This is your ride. Nils, I believe you know how to fly an aircar, so you can teach the others on the way. Grab your bags and load up. I’d like you guys underway in ten minutes.”

  When we’re all inside Aisha wishes us luck. Nils presses a button and the side of the aircar descends and locks with a hiss.

  “I’m a bit rusty, but we should be okay,” Nils says. “The good news is because of all the armor we can’t get that far off the ground, so if I crash we won’t be hurt too bad.”

  “Terrific,” Stilwell deadpans. “What’s the bad news then?”

  Nils throws a switch and pulls on a lever. We’re thrown back hard into our seats as the aircar rockets forward up the ramp.

  “I told you already, I’m a bit rusty,” Nils laughs. The door to the tunnel swings open and we speed out into the Badlands. The armored aircar ricochets off a few collapsed buildings at first but Nils finally announces he’s getting the hang of it. He pushes back on the lever and we slow down.

  Nils looks around to get his bearings, then shouts, “Westward ho!”

  With a gentle push the aircar turns in a lazy arc until we’re pointing west. He pulls on the lever again, and we speed off towards the horizon.

  7 - Echo

  I remember everything. My life in the boneyard, my history with Jameson and how he’s tried to kill me. Most importantly I remember Kara and who she was to me. I did love her, I still do.

  The most recent memory from my old life was being dragged away from her against my will. Jameson’s men attacked us. Killed a lot of us. I remember Kara lying there uninjured but incapable of moving.

  And now it’s entirely possible I’m responsible for her death. I sent Captain Jacobs and his men after them. To kill them. What have I done?

  My head collapses forward into my hands and I sit there crying my heart out for I don’t know how long. The pain of loss makes me ache. My throat constricts and I can only breathe in short, sharp breaths.

  My wrist comms beeps and vibrates. Damn it. It’s Jameson, no doubt wondering where I am. I push the tears from my eyes and take a few more deep breaths to compose myself before answering. Maybe I can bluff my way through this.

  “Echo, are you okay? You look like you’ve been crying,” he says. With my old memories now swirling around my head I can hear the hollowness in his concern. I hadn’t noticed it before, but now I know him better it’s obvious. I try not to let it show.

  “Not really,” I answer, my words almost disappearing in my throat. I come up with a lie to explain myself. “My head... it’s pounding like it wants to explode. The pain is excruciating.”

  Through the small screen on my wrist my father faces crinkles into one of concern. Fake concern, I can’t help thinking.

  “Hmm, it’s not uncommon after such a large information transfer, and after the day you had yesterday, you would have really given it a workout. Rest up for the day. I’ll get April to bring you something that’ll help the pain.”

  “Thank you,” I say adding a wince at the end to help sell the lie.

  I spend the rest of the day lying in bed and avoiding contact with anyone. My mind works overtime between worrying about Echo and the others and trying to figure out how to get out of the grip of Jameson.

  The next day I’m still no closer to having an escape plan, so I force mys
elf to compartmentalize my hatred of Jameson for now and go back to working for him.

  Logically it’s the only real chance I’ve got. By working alongside him I might discover a chance to get away. I hope I can fake it well enough that he doesn’t suspect me.

  I get to my station early in the morning before anyone else and find Jameson is already there. That fits with what I remember from before when we brought down their building back east. He’s always in before anyone else.

  When I walk through the door, he smiles like he’s pleased to see me.

  “You’re looking much brighter,” he says.

  “Thanks. My head is much clearer this morning. I think a day of not doing anything did the trick.”

  “Excellent, because I’ll need you at your best today. We’ve got a few data issues to sort out.”

  “Sounds like I’m your girl. What kind of issues are we talking about,” I say then at the last moment remember to add, “sir?”

  If he notices the delay he doesn’t show it. I scold myself for the pause. I have to remember to talk the same way I used to so I don’t give myself away. I double-tap the screen with my finger and it comes to life.

  “Data loss, mostly. One of the major things we lost during the east coast incident,” he says and I can’t help but think that’s an interesting euphemism for what happened, “was a project we’d been working on for some time. I thought you’d be particularly interested in it because of how you were attacked in the boneyards.”

  He’s still selling me that lie. I play along because I have a sneaking suspicion about what project he’s talking about.

  “Regardless of how you saw them at the time, it’s become plain we can no longer consider those living outside of our world as humans. Their barbaric ways cannot continue to exist in a civilized world, so we’ve developed a quick but deadly solution. It’s called ‘X-71’, or at least it was until we lost most of the research. With your skills though, you can help us reverse some of the damage and help us find that which was lost.”