by Claire Buss
'Why is she so poorly?' Kira asked her mum, but Jean shook her head.
'Children get sick, my lovely. Do you remember burning up with that temperature when you were little? Came out of nowhere, it did. Caught us all by surprise, one minute you were playing happily with your toys, the next you were a droopy, crying little thing. Didn't take you long to throw up everywhere - I never could get the smell out of the old cloth doll you had. Had to throw that away we did, didn't we, Malcolm? Oh, he's asleep. Bless him, he can sleep through most anything. But I wouldn't worry, my love, it'll be a stray sickness bug she's picked up. Could've got it from anywhere. Children do, you know. It's because they're so inquisitive, they love to poke things and prod things and put them in their mouths. It's a wonder any of us make it to adulthood, it really is.' She caught the panicked expression on her daughter's face. 'Honestly, love, she'll be fine - you'll see. It's a twenty-four hour bug. You gave her some medicine, didn't you? So keep offering her fluids and don't let her temperature get too high and she'll be fine. It's sleep she needs now. That's a great healer.'
'But what if she's really ill? What if she's got radiation poisoning from that stupid cave? I should never have taken her in there. I could've killed her!' Kira was on the verge of tears.
'Now listen to me, young lady. You haven't killed your little girl, she's right there on your knee. Sleeping peacefully and looking like an angel if I might add. That's silly talk, that is. We all went into the caves and Grace is the only one who is poorly and yes I know, we are bigger than her but the other small ones are all fine. It could be anything that has caused this. Anything. She might have been harbouring a bug for a couple of days. It's not your fault. Children get sick. Mark my words, she'll be right as rain tomorrow.'
Kira sniffed, feeling useless but trying to take comfort from her mum's words. She had run the radiation wand over Grace, and the other children, several times and it had never alarmed or even come back with any kind of warning reading. Not even borderline. They hadn't stayed at the caves long enough. But her baby girl was ill. And Kira didn't know why. She gently tucked a curl behind Grace's ear and held her close, trying to get some rest.
By the time morning arrived, Grace had been sick twice more and Kira was at her wits' end. She wasn't taking in any advice her mum was trying to give and had decided to use the skimmer's inbuilt refuse system to incinerate all the blankets that they'd used to mop up the vomit, so frightened that she was going to infect everyone else. Luckily they did have a few spare ones, but if Grace continued to be sick, some of the adults would be going cold tonight.
Fortunately, Kira wasn't needed for any kind of driving duty. Instead, she barricaded herself and Grace into the rear of the second skimmer, the one which carried most of the equipment, and only allowed one operative in to drive the vehicle. He was instructed to stay firmly behind the plexiglass window which was not to be lowered under any circumstances. She also ordered Ash to tell Jed what had happened. He wanted to intervene but Jean told him to let Kira get on with it.
'The poor dear is scared witless. Nothing we say will get through to her. Let her be with her little one and she'll soon see that everything will be alright. Make sure she's got lots of disinfectant in there with her so the bugs don't leap from the child to the grown up and everything will be fine. The last thing we want is for Kira to start vomiting as well.'
So Ash left her to it and went to check on Ruth before he sent a message to Jed. He found her with Lucas, Sarah and Peter.
'Are you okay, Ruth? Can I get you anything?'
'A bit more space would be good,' Ruth joked with a smile. She and the children had been squashed into the first skimmer with Kira's parents. Luckily most of the operatives were happy to walk alongside and they'd been able to maintain a steady pace.
Ash nodded and went to make sure they would still make their rendezvous with Jed and the others. Despite Grace's sickness, he didn't want them to be late. The rest of the journey went smoothly, and by the time they reached the other group, Kira was passed out exhausted in her designated sick bay. Little Grace was sleeping off the tail end of her sickness.
Martha rushed to be reunited with Lucas and was hugging Ruth and Sarah, so pleased to see them both again. Dina and Max were entertaining Peter, making him giggle whilst Ash gave Jed a brief report.
'Once we left Hope there were no issues, apart from...' Ash trailed off.
'Thanks, Ash. I'll go see her now.' Jed was concerned by Kira's behaviour and had been worried ever since receiving Ash's message. He gave Peter a quick kiss on the head before he hurried to the skimmer.
The rest of the operatives had gone into Jed's makeshift camp with all the supplies they could carry. They would put all their resources together and get an idea as to whether they had anything worth trading when they went to see Artem. Zac wandered over and started chatting with Ash about tech before Martha brought over Lucas, Ruth and Sarah and the conversation changed to cooing over the children. Whilst Zac and Ruth were chatting, Martha spoke to Jean.
'Ruth seems better,' she said.
'She's come on leaps and bounds, love. It was that scare in those caves that did it, I think. A proper brush with death if you like. Realised she can't go on without caring about life and the people in it. Knows she needs to be there for her little one, she does. It's difficult times we live in, Martha. Difficult times.'
They both turned their gaze to the skimmer where Kira was.
'Do you think I ought to go see if she's alright?' asked Martha.
'Let Jed see to her, love. You introduce me to this new young man and tell me all about your adventures,' said Jean, taking Martha's mind off her friend.
Jed eased the door to the skimmer open and Kira's eyes flew open in panic. The stale smell of old vomit and unwashed bodies hit Jed in the face and he had to take a moment before he could continue.
'NO! Don't come in. It's not safe,' Kira cried out.
'Kira, love. It's me. It's Jed.'
'Jed? Did we make it already? Is that you? Oh Jed, Grace is sick. She's really, really sick and I don't know what to do.'
'Alright love, let me take her. Come on. It's alright. I've got her.' Jed reached in and extracted his daughter from Kira's arms. The little girl felt a little warm but Jed was sure that was from having been held by her mum for hours on end. He used the handheld scanner Max had given him and swept it over their daughter. Kira waited on tenterhooks for the resulting beep.
'Well?' she asked.
'She's fine. No bugs. No radiation. A little dehydrated but we can sort that out. Now let's check you.'
'No, no, I'm fine. I need to be there for her in case, in case...' Kira wilted under Jed's stern gaze. 'Okay, let's do me.'
He ran the scanner again. 'Well, no sign of infection but like Grace you're dehydrated and are suffering from exhaustion.' He grinned at his wife. 'You also stink. I'm sending you to the wash pod.'
Kira looked at him, momentarily overwhelmed by everything that had happened. She began to cry.
'Hey, hey, love. It's alright. It's okay. Grace is okay. You're okay. We're back together and everything is going to be alright. Come on, out you get of the stink mobile.' And Jed helped his wife out of the skimmer, supporting her wobbly legs as she took in the sight of everyone back together again.
'I do stink, don't I?' Kira asked.
'Yes, you do.'
'And Grace is going to be alright?'
'Yes, love. She is.'
Kira allowed herself to be led to the wash pod and hugged her husband gratefully before going inside and getting clean. It was probably the most awkward piece of kit they'd had to carry with them, but easily the most appreciated. Jed went in search of his mother-in-law to put his daughter into safe hands and to find some clean clothes for Kira.
Dina and Max were filling Ruth in on their adventures, while she was trying to simultaneously tell them about everything that had happened to her group. Martha and Zac had taken over the rations check and were trying to
put together some sort of meal everyone could share - it was going to be a bit hit and miss but at least they were all together. The two teams of operatives were greeting each other like long lost family and bragging about the things they'd seen. No-one knew what they would be walking into tomorrow when they went to see Artem. Even Zac hadn't been able to offer up much in the way of information, which bothered Jed.
But for now, for tonight, it was about the group being back together; reconnecting and sharing their stories. Jed looked down fondly at Peter and Grace playing together. It was a time for family bonding.
Chapter 28
'So, Zac, where exactly is this compound?' asked Jed, once the evening meal had finished and the children were all in bed.
'I don't exactly know...'
'I thought you said it was some kind of huge mansion or something. It's got a runway - how can you not know where it is?' Dina was incredulous.
Zac shrugged and laughed nervously. 'I've never actually met him.'
'What?' Jed grabbed Zac's arm. 'You've never even met him?' He glared at the man, fighting the urge to punch him. 'Do you work for New Corp?'
'No!' Zac wrenched his arm out of Jed's grip. 'I would never work for them.' He was breathing heavily now and the two men stood toe to toe, both on the verge of violence.
'Hey, what's going on?' Somehow Kira slid herself between the two of them, forcing them both to back down.
'He doesn't even know this Artem guy. He's never met him. We could be walking into anything.' Jed turned his anger onto his wife. 'Are you ready to risk your family's safety on some random bloke's word?'
'That's not fair, Jed. Calm down.' Kira turned away from her husband, ignoring him for the moment. 'Zac, please explain.'
Zac huffed a little and darted his eyes around, but there was no consolation for him. Everyone was blank faced, watching, waiting to hear what he had to say. He looked at the floor and scuffed his shoes.
'Zac?' Martha's voice was soft yet pleading.
'I have never met Artem but I have sent others, like you, to him and he helps people. He's on the side of the Resistance but he always has a price. I can't tell you what that will be except that it's not tokens. He doesn't need them.' Zac focused on Martha, she alone seemed sympathetic to him. 'He contacted me through my museum years ago. He was impressed with my collection, even donated some bits over the years.'
'And what did he ask for in return?' asked Jed.
'He has, had, a plug-in to my network port. It was untraceable but it allowed him access to the city's sweeps so he knows what New Corp is up to. We can trust him,' replied Zac.
'Oh, we can, can we?' Jed didn't sound convinced and walked away, signalling to his operative team leaders. He wanted to review the security protocols again. He was not going to be caught out unawares.
The rest of the group quickly broke up, leaving Martha and Zac on their own.
'Why didn't you tell us you didn't know Artem?' asked Martha.
'I didn't think it was important. I trust the guy, I thought my word would be enough. Obviously not.'
'Don't blame Jed, he's been through a lot recently. We all have. And...' She paused, uncertain how to continue.
'And?'
Martha flushed. 'We don't really know you, Zac. We're putting a lot on faith here. I mean, you're only with us because I vouched for you.'
'Yeah, thanks.' Zac walked away, hands in his pockets. An operative peeled away from camp to follow him while Martha looked on helplessly. Deciding there was nothing more she could say, she went to find the others who were sitting together discussing what would happen tomorrow.
'This Artem guy, have you got a last name?' asked Ruth.
'Yeah, it's Artem Misner I think,' replied Martha, siting down to join them with a cup of synth-caf. 'Why?'
'Misner... Misner... I think I know him,' mused Ruth.
'Ha! You think you know everyone,' said Kira, making the group laugh.
'Yeah but Misner, that's distinctive isn't it? I'm sure I've heard it somewhere before.' Ruth trailed off.
'Is Zac okay?' Dina asked Martha.
'Yeah I think so. Frustrated that he doesn't know more I think. He wants to help us. It's not his fault he's never been to the complex before.'
'Aha!' shouted Ruth, making everyone jump. 'I know where I know him from. We were, er... friends, back in the early Anti-Corp days.' She was blushing slightly. 'If it's the same Artem then he's definitely on our side. I didn't realise he'd done so well for himself.'
'Yeah, how does one person end up with their own runway, mansion and secure complex?' asked Dina.
'Luck?' suggested Martha.
'More like a combination of smuggling, connections and other illegal dealings,' replied Jed. 'The sort of person I would usually be locking up not running to for help.' He checked his wristplant. 'It's getting late, we ought to try and get some rest. It's an early start in the morning.'
The others murmured agreement and went off to bed. Kira yawned sleepily as she checked on Grace then sighed heavily, getting into bed with her husband.
'How did we get here, Jed?'
'What do you mean, love?'
'We're fugitives, on the run because the spirit of the Earth showed herself to us and asked for help. We're about to go beg some rogue to grant us passage across the ocean to who knows what and New Corp could probably wipe us all out at any minute. I don't know whether to be excited or scared.'
'I feel the same, but we can't stop now. And we can't go back.'
'I know. I wish we had some reassurances that we were doing the right thing,' said Kira as she snuggled into her husband's arms and drifted into sleep. A bee buzzed lazily around their heads before bumbling out across the camp.
The next morning Zac joined them all for breakfast. 'I've received the coordinates for Artem.' He passed his handheld over to Ash who input them into one of the skimmer's pads that he had with him.
'Hmm, not far. Looks like it will take a couple of hours. I'll go tell the team.' Ash handed it back to Zac and with a nod from Jed walked over to the operatives milling in camp. He began to round them up. It wouldn't take long for them to pack away the makeshift camp and be ready to move out.
'Right, let's get ready to go then.' Jed rubbed his hands together and stood up. The rest of them followed, gathering nearby bits and bobs so nothing was left behind. By the time the children were all strapped into the skimmer, everyone was ready so the group moved out.
Ash was right. It only took a couple of hours to get to Artem's complex. And when they arrived, they were met with a closed fence, armed guards and vicious looking dogs.
Chapter 29
'Halt! State your business!' shouted one of the security guards.
Jed motioned for Zac to exit the skimmer and come with him to speak to the guard. They walked forward cautiously, Zac eyeing the rifles nervously. As they neared the fence, Jed gave Zac a little nudge of encouragement. He gulped and took half a step forward.
'Er... it's me. Zac, Zac Ridgley. Um, I'm here to see Artem? He sent me the coordinates. He should be expecting me, um, us I mean.'
There was a tense pause as the guard spoke into his wristplant and they all waited for a response.
'Da.' The guard nodded in their direction. 'Otkryt' vorota!'
Before Jed had chance to ask Zac what that meant the gates started to open. The two men scrambled back to the skimmer as the vehicles then drove into the armed complex.
'This Artem guy is serious, huh?' Dina mused as they looked out the window at the gates closing swiftly behind them.
Nobody responded as the vehicles followed the gravel driveway that led up to an impressive looking house. The entire roof was covered with solar panels and antennae of various shapes and sizes. Huge generators sat on either side of the building and a single figure stood on the steps to greet them. He was a tall, powerfully built man with a buzz cut and chiselled jaw.
'That's Artem,' said Zac as everyone prepared to leave the vehicles. Kira, Mart
ha and Ruth gathered up their children while Dina took Peter. Jed, Ash, Max and Zac went first, leaving Jean and Malcolm bringing up the rear. Jed had already ordered the operatives to stay with the skimmers until they had established their position here.
'Zac!' Artem started to walk down the steps with his arms held wide. 'You made it, my friend. So good to see you.' As he grew closer he held out his hand and grabbed one of Zac's, pumping it enthusiastically. His gaze roamed across the group, taking in the children and the operatives beyond. Then he did a double take. 'Ruthie?'
Ruth flushed and nodded, shifting Sarah to a more comfortable position on her hip.
'RUTHIE!' Artem roared and tried to crush her in a bear hug. The loud noise and commotion made Sarah cry which caused Lucas and then Grace follow suit. Peter looked on seriously. 'Oh rebyonochek, rebyonochek. Hush, hush now, I am sorry little one.' Artem half shrugged apologetically as the mothers soothed the babies. 'Come. Come into the house. We will have wine. And talk!' He swung his body round and threw an arm around both Zac and Ruth's shoulders. 'My Zac and my Ruthie! What a day, what a day.' He steered them up the stairs and into his home. The rest of the group followed behind.
On entering, various staff members bustled around them, taking jackets and ushering them sideways into a reception room which had been prepared for them. There were wash bowls and towels, water and fruit juice to drink and an array of snacks - fresh fruit, biscuits, crackers, smoked sausage and even some chocolate. Dina walked forward enthusiastically but Kira held her back from approaching the food. She remembered what had happened in City 36.
Artem had let go of Zac and Ruth and turned to see why no-one was helping themselves. 'What? You no like? You want something different?' A puzzled look upon his face.