“Again, I express my gratitude for your courage and your willingness to accept the changes that have come under the Republic’s leadership. It hasn’t been easy, and there are challenges ahead that we have yet to conquer, but I have no doubt that we will conquer them. May we all continue to rely on and support one another as fellow Americans.” He raised a hand to the crowd in farewell. “Thank you.”
Seconds after he left the pulpit, the broadcast cut back to Trinity Jones sitting in the newsroom. She dabbed at the corner of her eye with a tissue, but before she could start speaking, Zira shut the projector off.
“Come on,” she said. “Show’s over. We’re going to be late.”
* * *
When they arrived at SIO headquarters, everyone seemed to be in a celebratory mood. While Zira and Cedric went to Alma’s office to present their plan for sending him undercover, the rest of the team divided and began working on their own tasks. For Jared and Dodge, that meant reviewing all the information they’d gathered so far to try to determine how the PRM had acquired the explosives used in the bombing.
They hadn’t found anything significant before Zira and Cedric returned. Across from Jared, Nova all but jumped out of her chair as soon as she saw them. “What did Alma say?” she asked.
“She went for it,” Cedric replied. “You’re looking at SIO’s very first undercover investigations officer.”
“Not quite yet,” Zira said. “You still need some training, remember? Alma liked the idea, though. Good thinking, Nova.”
Nova mumbled her thanks as she sat back down.
“She also suggested we do some training of our own as a team.”
“What kind of training, exactly?” Dodge asked.
“Everything,” Zira replied. “Weapons training, building searches, unarmed combat, team tactics, physical fitness, and whatever else I can think of that might be useful. All the information we’re finding won’t do us any good if we can’t execute a mission properly when the time comes. We’re going to be a man down with Cedric leaving, so everyone’s going to have to be extra sharp to make up for his absence. Starting tomorrow, I want to see you all downstairs first thing, ready to work.”
And so every morning from that point on, they met in the building’s basement, which had been converted to a training center for SIO teams and other tactical units in the National Security Department. Cedric was essentially out of the picture, at least for now. He spent his days with Alma and a few other members of SIO in a crash course on how to be an effective undercover operative. Alma had apparently liked Nova’s idea so much she was sending a total of four SIO operatives to infiltrate the PRM in the areas where they seemed to be most active.
The setup of the basement facility reminded Jared of the unit E-2 training center back at the compound, albeit significantly less flashy. The main area contained weights, punching bags, sparring mats, and other fitness equipment while the far end had been walled off and sound-proofed to create an indoor shooting range. It didn’t allow for any long-range target practice, but short-range accuracy was likely going to be most critical to them anyway.
They practiced shooting first thing each morning before anyone else arrived. Aside from Jared and Zira, the rest of the team possessed varying levels of competence when it came to handling firearms. Josefina was the most experienced. She’d been assigned employment as a police officer in a small town in the South Pacific region for the past three years, a job she’d transferred to after nearly two decades as a firefighter. No one asked why she’d been transferred, but Jared wondered if it had something to do with the burn scar that covered the right side of her neck and shoulder.
Tripp, Nova, and Dodge had handled guns fairly regularly during their time in the rebellion, though their only real combat experience came from the rebels’ takeover of the compound and other Project facilities around the country. Salim, who had just finished training to be a schoolteacher when the rebels overthrew the Project, had only ever seen real guns in the hands of the unit E-1 officers who sometimes patrolled the streets of his hometown. He was more hesitant than the others to even handle the weapons at first, but with some extra guidance and training, he quickly became adequately proficient.
Zira took charge of the firearms training each day, but when it came to close-quarters combat, she invited Jared to take the lead. They also practiced breaching buildings and carrying out mock operations, both as a single team and divided into two smaller fireteams. Zira always led the first fireteam and cycled through the others to take point in the second group, likely an effort to gain an understanding of each person’s unique strengths so the team could be most effective when it came time to carry out a real operation.
As the group’s technical support specialist, Tripp’s main role was to facilitate communications, provide mission information, update the others on changes, and generally stay out of the line of fire. The role was a good fit for his skillset, and he seemed happier doing that instead of packing a weapon and following them all into unknown, dangerous situations. During their training exercises, he usually sat on the sidelines and shouted out random pieces of intel that would impact their simulated missions. The simulation program they ran predetermined some of these, but Jared was certain Tripp made up others just to screw with them. He seemed to find great amusement in watching them all from the sidelines as they scrambled to adapt to ever-changing scenarios. As long as it helped them get better, though, no one could complain.
Every day after lunch and some rushed but much-needed showers, they went back upstairs to their workstations to continue their investigations. Nova and Zira reviewed some of the prison’s security footage to try to figure out how Ryku might be communicating with people on the outside, but they didn’t turn up anything especially useful. Jared and Dodge followed several vague clues hoping to discover where the explosives used in the bombing had come from, but they all turned out to be dead ends. Tripp and Josefina were constantly checking in with other teams on the activities of specific PRM cells SIO was monitoring, trying to construct a model of the group’s network and connected operations. So far, they didn’t have much to go on, but everyone was hopeful that would change once the undercover agents were in place and began reporting their observations.
A few weeks into this new routine, Cedric found them all in the basement at the end of their morning training. “I’m heading out. Just wanted to come say goodbye.”
Salim set his empty water bottle on the bench beside him. “Already?”
“Yeah. We’re all leaving on different days, but I asked to be first. I’m going to the South Pacific region where we think Mallory has been working from.”
“Please find us something about those explosives when you get there,” Dodge begged. “If Jared and I don’t have a breakthrough soon, we might just kill each other out of frustration.”
Jared nodded in solemn agreement.
“I’ll do my best,” Cedric replied.
Nova stood and walked over to give him a hug. “Be careful.”
He pushed her back and wrinkled his nose. “Sure, but you need to take a shower. You stink. All of you.”
Dodge whipped his arm with the end of a towel. “That’s what real work smells like, which you’d know if you hadn’t spent all this time just lounging around upstairs.”
A few of the others laughed.
“You’ll do great out there,” said Zira. “Keep us updated.”
Cedric raised a hand to all of them in farewell. “I’ll see you guys later. Don’t get into too much trouble without me.” He walked back to the stairs, and then he was gone.
As she watched him go, Nova blinked rapidly and ran the edge of her thumb under her lashes. She quickly composed herself when she caught Jared looking at her, then turned away and headed for the showers before he could say anything.
* * *
They didn’t hear from Cedric again until the following week. They’d all just finished eating lunch and were settling in to work on th
eir individual investigations when Zira abruptly stood up from her chair and approached Jared’s workstation. “Dodge,” she said. “Get over here.”
Still sitting in his chair, Dodge pushed off from his desk and rolled over to join them. Zira sat on the corner of Jared’s desk and pulled up a projection on her CL, then flipped it around for both of them to read.
Zira,
Just got some information that should be useful. Will file full report at end of week as scheduled. Members of local PRM cell mentioned possession of military-grade explosives and other weapons rumored to be taken from PEACE Project during rebellion. Specifics unknown.
Tell Dodge and Jared not to kill each other yet.
—Cedric (Logged 9:57 AM, 02/23/2125)
“Look at our boy,” Dodge said as he elbowed Jared in the side. “He actually got us something good. What exactly do you think that last part means? ‘Taken from PEACE Project during rebellion?’”
Jared shook his head. “I doubt he knew any more than what he told us. We’re going to figure it out, though.”
“I’m going to update Alma,” Zira said. “Let me know when you find something.”
As she walked away, Celeste approached their workstation. Tripp, Salim, and Josefina had spent the last hour working with her to update their information about the PRM’s organizational structure based on intel gathered by other SIO teams. It had become something of a routine for the four of them over the past week, and Celeste sometimes seemed to enjoy the time she spent with members of Zira’s team more than she did her own. Maybe she just felt less out of place amongst them. After all, three of them were former Project members like her, and Dodge always went out of his way to try to make his sister feel welcome and included in their conversations.
“Hey,” she said as she leaned against the edge of Jared’s desk. The relaxed posture only enhanced her already uncanny resemblance to her older brother. She nodded in Zira’s direction. “What was that about?”
“Just some new intel from Cedric,” said Dodge. “We think he might have found out where some of the explosives used in that bombing came from.”
Her face lit up with a smile. “That’s great! Are you going to be able to arrest anyone, then?”
“Not sure yet. I guess we’ll see what the boss says.”
“Well I’m glad you found something. It’s about time we made some real breakthroughs around here.” She flashed Dodge one last grin before heading back to her own workstation.
When she was gone, Dodge turned to Jared. “She seems okay, right?”
He cocked his head to one side. “I’m not sure what you mean.”
“I just hope she’s adjusting well.”
Jared shrugged. “She seems to be. You know her a lot better than I do.”
“Yeah, I guess. She’s just so…guarded. Sometimes. Or maybe I just expect too much. I mean, it was probably hard for you, too, right? After the Project was gone.”
“It was at first, but I have people who support me now. So does she. That makes it easier.”
Some of the concern in Dodge’s eyes melted away. “I hope so.” He swiveled his chair around and rolled back to his own workstation. “I guess we should get to work before Zira comes back.”
Twenty minutes later, after reviewing several possible Project-related sources for the explosives, Dodge suggested to Jared that they look up copies of munitions inventory records, both those kept by the Project and the ones the Republic had compiled shortly after taking control of the nation. “If there are any discrepancies, we might be able to figure out what happened.”
“That’s a good idea,” Jared said. “If you want to find the rebels’ records, I’ll hunt down the Project’s.”
Once he’d found the records, he copied them to his CL and went to Dodge’s workstation. They spent the next hour cross-checking inventories from the compound and every other major Project facility known to have held a sizeable store of weapons and other munitions. Many of these had been targeted by small groups of rebels on the same day as the main force’s assault on the compound. They found a few minor inconsistencies between what the Project reported having and what the Republic later reported finding, but Jared attributed that to human error and normal supply consumption, nothing to raise any alarms over.
When they found what they were looking for, though, the discrepancy was obvious. Dodge swore under his breath and looked up at Jared with wide eyes. “Are you seeing this?”
He frowned. They were comparing inventories from a unit P storage bunker in the Mid Pacific region. It was a smaller facility, but based on what Jared was reading, the Project had used it to store some serious firepower. The date listed at the top of the Project’s inventory report read March 24, 2124 while the one Dodge had found was from April 14, 2124, just four days after the rebels had taken control of the compound. There was no reason for two inventories taken just weeks apart to show such drastic inconsistencies.
No good reason, anyway.
He glanced up, his eyes darting around the room until they found Zira looking over some visuals on Josefina’s computer. As soon as her gaze shifted in his direction, he waved her over. She finished up her conversation and headed towards them. “I take it you found something good?”
“Don’t get too excited,” Dodge said. “It’s not pretty.”
She spread her fingertips across his desk and leaned forward to read the inventory list on the display. When she finished, she gave them a puzzled look, and Jared passed her his CL so she could look over the Project’s list. Her eyes moved faster and faster under furrowed brows as she glanced between the two inventory reports over and over again.
When she looked up at them, her wide eyes revealed her dismay. “We think this is where the explosives the PRM used came from?”
Jared nodded.
Zira swore. They all knew exactly what those lists meant.
Right now, the PRM could be running around with enough firepower to kill tens of thousands of people.
CHAPTER NINETEEN
Zira sat across the desk from Alma in the only other chair in her office, watching as she read over the information Dodge and Jared had found just minutes earlier. They both stood behind Zira now as all three of them waited for Alma to say something. After a few more seconds, she stopped reading to look up at them. “Are you absolutely sure about this?”
“Yes,” Jared said. “We checked it multiple times.”
“I tried to call the facility and ask for an updated inventory,” Dodge added, “but everything’s been shuffled around since then. We could track it all down just to double check, if you want us to.”
“But that would take a long time and just give us an answer we already know,” Alma said.
“On the bright side, they weren’t storing any nuclear weapons there.”
She rubbed her temples with her fingertips. “I guess we should be grateful for every little silver lining we can get these days. I just don’t understand how this happened. I remember that facility. It was on the list we sent to the rebels in the North Pacific region. One of their strike teams was supposed to take it over and secure everything inside.”
“I, uh…might have an explanation for that,” Dodge said.
“Let’s hear it.”
“Well, Angie wasn’t exactly thrilled with the list you guys sent us.”
“I remember.”
“Angie?” Zira interrupted.
“Angela Yang,” Alma said. “She was in charge of the rebel movement up in the North Pacific region. You might know her better as one of the candidates running for president.”
An image of a stern-faced woman with black hair and eyes nearly as dark came to Zira’s mind. She’d seen Yang on various news broadcasts, and if she remembered correctly, she was one of the more popular candidates who would be up for election in two months.
“We were stretched pretty thin as it was,” Dodge continued. “That last year, more people joined our cause than ever before, but we lost a lo
t of people, too. Because of all the food shortages and riots and arrests. Angie didn’t think we had the numbers to do everything Chase wanted us to do.”
“They worked that out,” Alma said. “Chase decided to send her more people from the New York base than he’d originally planned on. A lot more.”
“I don’t know anything about that. But I saw her final list of locations to target, and it was shorter than what we were originally assigned. Maybe Chase changed his mind about some of those facilities.”
“Or she did,” Alma muttered. She tapped something into her CL, and for a few seconds, the familiar chime of a connecting call emitted from the device’s tiny speakers.
“Hello,” answered a friendly male voice. “You’ve reached Angela Yang’s office. How can I help you?”
“I’d like to speak to Angela, please.”
“May I ask who’s calling?”
“Alma Rosales.”
The man waited a few seconds before responding. “And you are?”
“I’m the director of the Special Investigations and Operations division of the National Security Department. But there’s no need to drop titles. She knows who I am.”
The frosty tone in her voice filled the room like a stifling fog. This was probably a conversation she’d rather have in private.
Zira started to ease out of her chair. “Maybe we should—”
Alma cut her off with a firm gesture to sit back down.
“Just a moment, please,” said Yang’s assistant.
The line went silent. Alma tapped a single finger against her desk while they waited. The gesture reminded Zira of a cat’s tail twitching back and forth just before it pounced.
After a few minutes, a woman’s smooth, modulated voice came over the line. “Alma, so good to hear from you. What can I do for you?”
“One of my teams here has come across some sensitive information I’d like to talk to you about. In person.”
“Of course. I’d be happy to help however I can. I was planning to do some campaigning in Liberation at the beginning of next week. Can we meet then?”
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