by Ramona Finn
“But when will there be another opportunity?” Syeth asked. “You even said that his security has tightened. Right now, he thinks he’s invincible with just the few safeguards he’s put in place. We have the managers’ help and that of the other rebels in New York. If we wait until he comes back here, we’re in the same boat as we are today. Possibly worse if he feels his life is at all threatened.”
Isra listened to both sides as the commanders picked apart every inch of our plan—even parts where they weren’t involved. Syeth had anticipated that and answered their questions flawlessly and without hesitation.
Isra had remained relatively quiet during all of this, only interjecting comments that questioned either side of the plan. There was a change with her since I’d seen her last. That instinct to strike first and ask questions later seemed to have dissipated and been replaced by a leader willing to listen. I wasn’t sure if I would ever let my guard down around her, but as we persisted in our side of the plan, I had a feeling she wasn’t going to dismiss us without just cause.
When neither Syeth nor the other commanders had any more questions, Isra finally agreed to help us.
My internal celebration momentarily stuttered when she said, “We’ll go forward with your plan on two conditions. One, operational security is paramount. We will not communicate with you about our location or who on our team will travel to New York. Nobody—including Jarid—will know anything they don’t need to know about what my soldiers are doing.”
“Okay,” I said. They had their mission, and I understood Isra’s hesitation about trusting Jarid again. Even though they weren’t directly raiding the stadium, this was her turn to shine as opposed to the lab raid where their ranks had suffered.
“And two,” she continued, “you two and Jarid either come back here successful or you don’t come back at all. This is the final chance I’m giving the three of you, and I’m not going to bend on this again.”
Chapter Twenty-Five
We had a week to coordinate the plan to take out Sledge and gather the teams on all sides before we needed to get to New York. We communicated with Jarid and the managers inside BioPure, who assured us things were going according to plan. Our rebel contact in New Manhattan was Sarah, thanks to Harper, and I was glad to know she was on our side again, ready to help in the stadium. Isra was scarce with her details—as promised—but I had faith in her team. Our team was set to travel at the end of the week, so we had enough time to get there and settle in before the rally.
I spent at least an hour a day with my fully-cured parents. Seeing them again created a renewed sense of purpose in me. Most of the hospitals were cleared out, and only new cases were being introduced and cured within hours of arriving. They continued to house the patients for three days—the allotted incubation period—before sending them off to be with their families. More people filled the streets, giving us a reason to keep going and finally take out BioPure. Humanity could survive without the rigid control of the corporation, and we had proved it.
We’d held a small remembrance ceremony for John, and the town had plans to construct a statue in his honor. I couldn’t wait to see it, but until then, we had a corporate mogul to overthrow.
Saying goodbye to my parents wasn’t easy. Dad had been there for me since we had traveled from New Manhattan, and it was a little strange packing my things and heading off to the train without him, but there was no way I was going to risk them being captured. I wouldn’t have been able to concentrate on the job ahead, for all the worrying I’d be doing over their safety. But now I could leave knowing they would take care of each other.
Mom hugged me harder than she had since I’d known her. We’d had barely any time together before coming to Chicago, and then she’d gotten sick. Even though she remembered everything that had happened while she’d been in the hospital, she told me that the time we’d spent together while she’d been under the effects of New Zero didn’t count in her mind.
After a tearful goodbye with my parents, Syeth and I loaded onto the waiting train for our two-day trip. The Unpaired had commandeered one of BioPure’s commuter trains and decommissioned its tech so that BioPure no longer tracked it. They had also recruited rebels who had worked the trains and would be able to help us by adding our untrackable train cars to the scheduled trains when they came in and out of stations, offloading passengers and supplies. This gave us the best chance of getting to New Manhattan undetected, as no one seemed to notice the additional cars added to the already lengthy train.
The Unpaired kept to themselves in one car while our team, along with Syeth and me, did the same in the other car. Everyone was deep in their own thoughts over the upcoming mission. Syeth and I rehashed the plan once again, with our team asking additional questions and going through various what-if scenarios. We’d gone over it so many times that I was seeing it in my sleep.
When we arrived in New Manhattan, the Unpaired separated from the train, heading to their destination while our team went to meet with Sarah and her teams.
In the time that we’d been away from the city, the rebels had joined forces to create real issues for BioPure. The rebels had sabotaged kiosk centers, and the lines to active kiosks now curved around the prominent BioPure facilities in each district so that citizens could receive their mods.
VaxWell had been wiped out and now it was our turn to do the same with BioPure.
On the morning of the rally, I woke without an ounce of nervousness. Today was the day, and I was more than ready to see it through. Sledge was going down. Grabbing a cold cup of coffee, I stared out the window of the Level Three safehouse at what I could see of New Manhattan and realized that I didn’t belong here in this city anymore. My connection to it disappeared the moment I’d left. It had only taken me months to realize it. I was a rebel through and through now, and I found it hard to think of what my life would look like when this was all over. There was a lot of work to be done to rebuild our society, but I couldn’t imagine where I would end up.
We received word from Isra and her team via a hacked dove, telling us that they were in position before the dove crashed to the ground into unusable pieces.
“Dramatic much?” I asked Syeth. We were both fully outfitted in our tactical gear under thick jackets and making our way out of the safehouse to meet the others. Sarah had set us up a few blocks from the meeting point where we were going to convene before raiding the stadium.
“At least she’s consistent,” he said.
“Have you spoken to Jarid?”
“I received a message from him this morning. He and the other managers will be in position, as well.”
“Good.” Syeth took my hand as we walked together through the streets of New Manhattan. We were connecting with the others a block away from the rally. And the closer we got to the stadium, the more we could blend in with the crowd.
The temperature was still cold, but not as bad as what we’d dealt with in Chicago. We played it up and wore scarves and hats to conceal our identities from the doves, which flew in a grid-like pattern to surveil the crowds entering the stadium. Security was on high alert based on the number of doves and personnel canvassing the streets. With our heads covered, we were confident that we wouldn’t be identified from above, and we were banking on BioPure security not looking for us in New York.
When we made it to the meeting point, we entered through the back of what appeared to be a long-closed restaurant. The interior had been demolished so that the kitchen and dining areas were one room. However, the place was filled with computer equipment and dozens of rebels stopping or walking between stations.
The floors were uneven from the renovation, and the lack of decor left a lot to be desired, but this was all we needed.
A familiar face raced toward us. Jeremy’s hair was much longer and tied back at the nape of his neck, but it was him all the same.
“I never thought I’d see you again,” my best friend said.
“Me, too,” I said, hug
ging him against me. “How are you?”
“Great,” he said, shaking Syeth’s hand. “I can’t believe you orchestrated all this. We’ve come a long way, huh?”
“Oh yeah.”
Sarah came into the room with an older, mousy-looking man and they stood at the center of the room, waiting for everyone to quiet down before they gave out instructions. A memory washed over me, from back when Sarah had run her small sector of rebels and Syeth and I had been new to the cause.
“You each will need a ticket to get inside,” Sarah said. “Check your body for any metal because security will stop you at the entrance if you flag the system in any way. No bags, either. That will slow down the process.”
“Stay with the flow of the crowd and be as inconspicuous as possible.” The scrawny man had a gravelly voice. It seemed as if he strained to speak. “Once inside the stadium, move into position as quickly as possible.”
Sarah separated us into three teams. We were on a team with two serious-looking men named Xavier and Pieter. They were dressed for the tundra, but I imagined their coats were built to conceal the weapons, which Jarid and the other managers had planted inside the stadium already.
“Each team has a designated manager to meet with on each of the floors,” Sarah said.
She assigned us to the second floor and handed each of us a ticket. Her fingers held onto mine a few seconds too long. “Godspeed, Lora. None of this would have been possible without you.”
“You recruited me,” I said, smiling.
Sarah nodded and handed over the ticket. I slipped it into my jacket pocket and followed my team out the same door we’d entered.
Falling back into the moving crowd was easier this time. We had a purpose. Syeth and I stayed together, walking with the growing crowd headed to the stadium while keeping the rest of our team moving along ahead of us, just within view.
BioPure’s elite soldiers paced in front of most of the entrances to the stadium, their eagle eyes on the crowd as they entered. We passed security without much more than a glance passing between us. The metal detectors hadn’t picked out any of us, and neither had the doves.
Inside the stadium, people were filing to their seats while others waited in line at the food stations and biomod kiosks, all of them set up specifically for this event.
“Through here,” Syeth said, catching my attention and bringing it back to the mission.
People filled a stairwell leading to the second floor, walking on either side and heading toward their seats. The rally would take place in less than twenty minutes, and we had to be in place before everyone found their seats. The fewer people around in the hallways, the higher the chance of us getting caught.
On the second floor, we walked as quickly as we could toward a storage room as the rest of our team arrived.
Jarid stood nearby in a suit which was tailored to his frame. His hair was slicked back, making him look like a replica of his father and even more opposite from Syeth.
“Where is Marcus?” I asked.
“He’s covering us,” Jarid said, ushering all four of us inside.
It was a tight fit with all five of us, but we gathered around a bag Jarid retrieved from a bottom shelf and set at the center of our little group. Jarid reached inside and picked up one of the guns. It didn’t look like a typical rifle and appeared to be made from some sort of composite that definitely wasn’t metal.
“How do you expect us to walk around with that?” Xavier asked. He had a permanent frown on his face, which had deepened even more at the sight of the gun.
Jarid grinned. “They separate into three parts, making them easier to conceal.”
He held the rifle in front of him and snapped the three pieces apart; the stock, the body, and the barrel. He then handed rifles out to each of us. I disassembled and reassembled mine twice—being quicker the second time—so I was sure I could do it correctly.
“Here’s the ammo,” Jarid said, handing off a cartridge to each of us. We were only able to get a limited amount of ammo, so you’re being given six bullets each. You’ll need to make them count.”
I looked at the shells in the cartridge. They shimmered green and violet against the overhead light.
“Are we ready?” Jarid asked as his phone pinged from his pocket. “Wait.” He read the screen, his gaze darting across it. “We need to meet the others.”
Jarid opened the door and rushed out. We struggled to conceal our weapons as he ducked into the nearest door on the opposite side of the hallway. The conference room had a panoramic view of the city, with floor to ceiling windows.
A long table and chairs took up the room, and so did three other managers. I only recognized Felicity. Marcus wasn’t there.
A pit formed in my stomach when I saw the sour faces of the managers.
“What happened?” Jarid asked.
“One of the rebel infiltration teams got picked up by security,” Felicity said. Like Jarid, she was dressed more formally in an expensive pantsuit. Her hair was slicked back into a chignon. “The operation might be compromised.”
“It’s too soon,” Jarid said.
I didn’t miss the glance in my direction. I had a feeling he was thinking of his previous failed mission.
“It was one team,” Syeth said. “Let’s try and figure this out.”
Xavier and Pieter held sentry positions, one near the door and the other by the windows.
“We’re still going to the private boxes, yes?” Pieter asked.
“As far as we know,” Jarid said, and then he turned to the other managers. They huddled together and shared their phone screens. It was hard for me to concentrate on anything, though, knowing that a team had been taken down—especially when Jarid hadn’t shared any more information than that.
I was growing impatient, and interrupted Jarid. “What’s happening? We don’t have a lot of time before we have to get to the box.”
“We’re not sure yet. Hold tight.”
He turned away from me, but I grabbed his arm and whipped him around. “I won’t hold on. I have to know if this is happening.”
Jarid glanced at the other managers and sighed. “Marcus is using his security access to track messages as BioPure security decides what to do with the infiltration team.”
“What will they do?”
“If the captured team can convince security they were acting alone, chances are the rally will go on and this will still be our best chance to get Sledge.”
“And if they can’t?”
Jarid pressed his lips together before speaking. “If they can’t, we’ll have to abandon the mission.”
“No! We’ve come too far to bail out now. Everything is in place and Sledge isn’t expecting us. This has to happen today.” I knew I sounded panicked, but there was no way I was watching Sledge walk away again.
“We don’t want that, either,” Felicity said. “But we can only do this if we have the go-ahead to do it safely.”
Messages scrolled over Jarid’s phone screen. He read them off to us. “Sledge is still coming. He doesn’t want to cancel. His ETA is ten minutes. Security’s updating their protocols. They’re putting extra precautions around the stage—” Jarid sucked in a breath and shook his head violently before backing away from the group. “No!”
“What is it?” Xavier asked. A chunk of his dark hair flopped into his face, cutting a shadow across his eyes.
Jarid looked up at me. “We have to leave.” His face had drained of color.
Syeth grabbed his brother by the shoulders. “What’s the matter?”
“They cracked under the interrogation.” Jarid moved away from us, staring at his phone. “Security knows there’s more than one rebel team in the stadium.”
“None of us would have said anything,” Pieter said. “There’s too much at stake.”
“Someone ratted us out,” Jarid said.
“This was a mistake!” Felicity shrieked. “They’re going to kill us all.”
X
avier shushed her. “It will be fine. What else does your phone say?”
“Uh,” Jarid muttered as his gaze darted across the screen. “There’s been a priority message issued for all security teams to find and capture—”
“Capture who?” Pieter asked.
Jarid looked at me again. This time, there wasn’t the same urgency in his eyes. It was fear I was seeing. “Lora.”
“Me? How do they know I’m here?”
“Someone must have told them,” Jarid said.
Syeth glared at Xavier and Pieter. “We trusted you all. We put this together for the greater good.” He lunged at Pieter, and I reached out to grab his jacket to stop him.
“We can’t fight here.” I turned to his twin. “Jarid, you know this place better than us. Where do we go to find safety?”
“We have an evacuation plan if things turn sour,” Pieter said. “Come on.” He didn’t waste any time waiting for us as he opened the door and strode out.
As much as Syeth questioned their allegiance, we were all on the same side. Any rebels caught in the stadium would get punished, and we couldn’t risk any more rebels being caught. As much as I hated the idea, it looked like Sledge would walk away. Again.
“We staked out an emergency exit ahead of time,” Xavier explained.
Felicity and the other managers took off in the direction we had come from. She shouted an apology to us, but it wasn’t sincere. At least not in my eyes. At the same time, I understood. She had a family to protect—as did I.
“On the other side of the concession stands on this level is a utility room that leads to a network of passages that connect all over the stadium; they’ll lead us down to the ground level,” Pieter said as we followed him. “Maintenance workers access them when working on electrical and plumbing. It will be a tight squeeze in some areas, but we’ll make it.”
Then what? That was the question, but there was no time to think about it. One step at a time. We needed to get out of the stadium and regroup. I’d no idea when we would ever have another chance at Sledge, but we couldn’t risk getting caught.