Echoes of War

by Cheryl Campbell

  When Rowan arrived at the ops center, he strode to the corner of the room without a word. He gazed out the windows to the south, then moved to the east-facing windows. All he could see was snow, a few flickers of light, and the periodic burst of more light each time an explosion went off. He turned to Curtis and glared. “How the fuck did this happen?”

  CHAPTER

  46

  “Don’t look so terrified,” Gavin said. “I’ll regen and be back.”

  Dani frowned. “Fine. Hurry up and die, then. I’ll stay until you recover.”

  Gavin shook his head and moved his hand to his pocket. He removed her gloves and handed them to her.

  She trembled from the cold as she put them on. CNA and Warden armor weren’t meant for swimming.

  “Javi,” Gavin said.

  “Jesus, Gavin, where the hell have you been?” Javi said over the comm.

  Gavin coughed, and Dani wiped the spattered blood from his lips. “Delayed. Your location?”

  “At the fixed-wings on the tarmac trying to de-ice the damn things.”

  “Sending Dani to you. She’s still dressed as a Warden. Don’t shoot her. Javi, you have Bravo Company until you hear back from me.”

  “Understood,” Javi said.

  Gavin leaned his head back against the sewer wall and groaned. Dani helped him take another drink from the bottle.

  “You have your orders, Dani.”

  “They suck.”

  He tried to laugh, but it turned into a grimace. “My regen will put me close to your age now. I want to spend my life with you.”

  A lump formed in her throat. She didn’t want him to die, even if he would come back. “Picked a nice romantic spot to spring this on me.”

  Gavin smiled and touched her face.

  Dani leaned forward and kissed him. She tasted the blood in his mouth but didn’t care. She didn’t want to watch him die, so she ended the kiss and prepared to leave.

  “You really do suck at this cloak and dagger shit,” Gavin said. “You can’t even lie well.”

  “I know.”

  “Remember, your name is Walker now.”

  “Got it.”

  “Be careful,” he said.

  “Yeah,” she said, unsure what else to say. She handed him the headlamp so he wouldn’t die in the dark, then put her helmet on.

  He placed his palm on the shield concealing her face. “You’re in there. I can’t see you, but I know you’re in there.”

  “Hattie’s special medicine is addling your brain. You’re starting to babble.”

  “No pain,” he said with a broad smile.

  “Good. Glad you’ll die with a drunken grin on your face. Find me when you’re back.”

  “I will.”

  Dani found her pack and put it on. Gavin was still watching her; she gave him a small smile, though he couldn’t see it. She turned and started picking her way through the sewers. She had a fight to get to.

  After leaving Gavin, Dani had a difficult time keeping her mind focused. She was lost. She finally found a manhole and began to climb. When she eased the lid up, she spotted the flaming wreckage of the air traffic tower twenty yards southwest of her location. She and Gavin hadn’t gotten very far from it when it blew, and her disorientation in the sewers had put her back closer to the base instead of farther from it.

  The CNA troops were bombarding the base with plasma rifles shots. She heard and felt aftershocks as quake grenades exploded.

  A rapid boom-boom-boom came from above. Dani couldn’t see the cannons due to the snow, but she saw the blasts of flame each time one was fired from the roof of the barracks. She was caught right in the middle of the fight; she cursed her terrible luck.

  A helicopter passed overhead and lashed snow into the air as it neared the tower’s wreckage. Not that she knew how to fly one, but a helo would be an effective weapon against a cannon. Dani lowered the manhole cover and removed her pack. She didn’t want to be blasted into oblivion if a plasma rifle shot hit her pack while she wore it. She lashed one of the straps to the ladder to keep it near the opening and then crawled out of the manhole, leaving the lid partially off in case she needed a quick retreat. She stayed low and crept toward the helo as it landed.

  As soon as the bird touched down, Wardens leapt out and went in different directions. Dani jumped up and sprinted for the helo. The whirring of the blades increased as it prepared to leave again. She slipped through the door before it closed and slammed her shoulder into the Warden attempting to close it, sending him flying. Without a thought, she moved to the front and pressed her pistol against the exposed skin between the pilot’s armor and helmet.

  Shit. Now what? She hadn’t thought this plan through. She couldn’t fly the damn helo herself, and if it stayed on the ground, the CNA would blow it up.

  “Javi, I—”

  Dani’s body flew sideways as the Warden she’d struck to get on the helo now returned the blow. Her pistol flew from her hand, and she fell between the two front seats. Javi’s voice sounded in her ear, but she didn’t have time to bother with whatever he was saying. The Warden was on top of her, and the pilot was scrambling for her dropped weapon.

  She wedged her knee up and pushed the Warden off. As he reeled backward, she pulled her knife and slashed the pilot’s arm. Her pistol fell from his hand just as three Brigand volunteers boarded the helicopter. They killed the first Warden then came after her and the pilot.

  Dani dropped the knife and jerked her helmet off. One of the volunteers struck her cheek, and her body collided with the empty front seat before bouncing off and landing on the deck. She couldn’t see straight, but she still put one hand out to protect herself from additional blows while she used the other to scramble away from the blurred, approaching man.

  “I’m in Bravo Two-Three under Gavin Marcus,” Dani said.

  “Aw, shit,” the man said. “Dani?”

  She looked up and blinked at him. She recognized his face but didn’t recall his name. “Yeah.”

  He took her outstretched hand, meant to stop his attack, and pulled her to her feet. “I’m Dresden. Attacking a Warden helo alone? It’s true. You really are insane.”

  The two other volunteers dragged the dead pilot to the rear of the helicopter before hopping into the front seats to prep to leave.

  Dani shook her head to clear the fuzziness.

  Dresden passed her knife and pistol to her. “We’ve got it from here, unless you want to fly in this shit too.”

  “No, I’m good.” Dani holstered the pistol and sheathed her knife. She touched her sore cheekbone.

  “Sorry about that,” Dresden said. “I thought you were one of them.”

  “No harm done,” she lied. She put her helmet back on. “Best of luck, guys.”

  “You too. Try not to die,” Dresden said with a chuckle.

  Dani slipped out the helicopter door and darted for the nearest structure, seeking shelter from the snow and blasts of wind from the helicopter as it left the ground. She circled around behind the building to get out of the wind. She knelt and tried to think, but an explosion overhead sent her running for cover. A Warden helo, shot down by the volunteers in the stolen one, blew apart, and the tail section fell toward her. She dove behind a row of transport trucks. Three of them were toppled by the helicopter’s falling parts.

  She scrambled to one of the trucks that was still standing upright and tucked her body in tightly behind the rear dual tires just before a blast of hot air flooded the area. It seemed the flaming tail section had caused something in one of the toppled trucks to explode too.

  She was alive still, somehow, but she couldn’t focus on anything else. Her battle to control her breathing was a fight she was starting to lose. Her heart raced, and her chest began to tighten.

  “Dani!”

  The sound of Miles’s voice brought her back from the brink of panic. She slowed her breaths enough to be able to speak. “Yeah?”

  “Where are you?”

/>   “Did you see where the ass end of that helo broke off and fell?”

  “Yeah.”

  “I’m here, there, whatever.”

  “Okay. We’re coming to you. Sit tight.”

  Provided nothing else fell from the sky and tried to land on her, she was happy to stay out of the fight for a few minutes.

  “Gavin?” she said into her comm. She waited and was answered with silence.

  Dani’s pack was in the sewer drain, and she didn’t dare try to retrieve it now. She checked the gear she had on her: she still had her three knives and plasma pistol. She pulled the pistol from the holster, and her hand trembled. She reholstered it, then removed her helmet and wiped at the sweat on her face. She had been freezing before; now she was sweating. Her body still felt cold, though, or she thought it did. Maybe she was going into shock; she wasn’t sure.

  Before she hyperventilated and passed out, she drew in deep breaths of the icy night air. She scooped a handful of snow and wiped it over her face. The cold shock of the snow against her skin made her gasp, but it also made her thoughts clearer. She put the helmet back on. After a few more deep breaths, her heart rate slowed to something less than a thousand beats per minute.

  Ten yards away, people began emerging from a hole in a snowdrift. She grabbed for her pistol, just in case, but lowered it when she recognized Zykov’s telltale swagger.

  “Miles, I’m at your nine o’clock.”

  The group turned, crouched, and headed toward her. She counted only six people. Elmore, Lee, and Tamu were missing. Miles reached her first, and she saw that he had a mix of blood and soot on his face.

  Dani was glad her face was hidden by the helmet. She almost cried with relief upon seeing Miles and Mary.

  Miles grasped her upper arm. “You hurt?”

  “No,” she said. Her body would have answered differently.

  Miles gave her arm a squeeze before releasing it.

  “Where’s Gavin?” Mary asked.

  “He should be regenned by now, but I haven’t heard from him. What are our orders?”

  “Get inside the base and take out their secondary power,” Miles said.

  “What about the cannons?”

  “Other platoons are in charge of disabling them. Let’s go.”

  “Hang on.” Rosen slid a crate from the back of the truck Dani had been hiding behind. “Quake grenades.”

  Rosen passed the grenades to the others in between filling every possible pocket in her clothing. Dani took the two grenades handed to her and put them inside the waist pocket of her Warden armor.

  “That’s enough, Rosen,” Miles said. “Leave the rest.”

  Rosen looked like she might weep over leaving the massive stash of grenades behind.

  They slipped around the remaining trucks, Miles in the lead. The cannons continued to fire from the roof of the barracks. He led them to the top portion of the air traffic tower, which now lay on the ground, smoldering. It offered them a cramped area to crouch in while the fight raged on.

  One of the jets they’d stolen was hit, and the wing burned as the pilot guided it to a rough landing on the north-south runway. A few Wardens fired their quake rifles at the jet to destroy it, but the CNA returned such heavy fire that the Wardens retreated.

  Dani reached to wipe the sweat from her face, and her hand bumped into her helmet.

  “Sure you’re okay?” Mary asked.

  Dani nodded.

  Mary squeezed her hand, and Dani tensed.

  “I can’t see your face inside that thing, but I know you. What’s wrong?”

  “I’m trying not to panic,” Dani said through a tightened jaw.

  “Good luck with that,” Mary said. “I’ve almost wet myself three times now.”

  The remaining jet fired missiles at the cannon closest to their position and obliterated the target. The debris sprayed in all directions before falling. Not even an Echo came back from that kind of destruction. Smoke and dust flooded the area.

  “Make that four times,” Mary said and coughed.

  Dani laughed. She didn’t think she should be laughing, but she couldn’t help it. Her nerves were fried.

  Miles ordered them to move, and Dani followed until he made them stop again.

  “This entrance is blocked,” he said. “We have to go underground or move around the building to find another way in.”

  Four Wardens huddled behind the carcass of a fallen helo and fired across the airfield at the CNA troops.

  “Hit ’em with a grenade,” Rosen said.

  “We don’t want to announce that we’re breaching the interior of the compound,” Miles said.

  “I can get in close,” Dani said.

  Miles shook his head. “And get your ass shot? No.”

  “I can lure them away from the entrance.”

  “How?”

  “Since I suck at lying, I’ll tell them the truth,” Dani said.

  “No,” Miles said.

  “Let her do it,” Mary said. “She’s right; she sucks at lying. She has the sewer stench all over her, so she can pull it off.”

  “See?” Before she could lose her nerve or Miles could refuse, Dani stood. She pulled her pistol and placed her other hand against her side. She faked a limp and stumbled away from their cover toward the huddled Wardens. The enemy turned their weapons toward her, but she waved and continued her limping approach, and they lowered their weapons.

  Dani reached their location and dropped to her knees among them.

  “If you die, you’re on your own,” one said to her.

  “I’m not dying yet, asshole,” Dani said. “The CNA is using sewers to move around the base. I fell through one of the pipes when they started blowing shit up. I found a pack of explosives at one of the manholes a hundred yards that way.” She nodded her head in its direction. “But I couldn’t retrieve it.”

  “Why not?” the Warden asked while the other three continued firing at the CNA.

  “Damn thing is tied to the ladder. I couldn’t free the pack. Too much heavy fire.” Dani pointed. “Put a quake rifle shot on the ground a hundred yards over there.”

  The Warden eyed her for a moment before instructing another of the Wardens to shoot where Dani had pointed. On the second shot, the ground erupted in an explosion.

  “Huh,” the Warden said.

  “I found where the fuckers are using a pipe to come in close,” Dani said.

  “Good. The boss wants everyone dead. Show us their access point.”

  Dani fake grunted and struggled to her feet while still holding her uninjured side. The Warden in charge left one person at the door, then followed Dani away with the other two Wardens. She did not have to fake dodging the incoming CNA fire. She led them to a manhole a good distance away, firing her pistol in the general direction of the CNA as she went. She sent her shots high and hoped she didn’t hit any volunteers or CNA troops beyond the front line.

  The manhole cover was askew. The Warden dragged it the rest of the way off, and he and the other two Wardens dropped into the sewers. Dani released her side and pulled a grenade from her pocket. She was about to kill three Wardens; her fingers tightened over the grenade. She jumped when Mary appeared at her side. Without a word, she peeled Dani’s fingers off the weapon, armed it, and dropped it on top of the Wardens.

  Dani and Mary sprinted away from the pipe. The quake grenade shook the ground when it exploded, and both women tumbled forward. They righted themselves quickly and raced back toward the rear entrance.

  “Why did you do that?” Dani asked.

  “Gavin told me a long time ago that you’d hesitate to kill. In case he was right, I followed you out. Call it a Plan B.”

  “I—”

  “Relax, Dani. It’s okay to not be like Rosen.”

  They rejoined the group as Jens finished killing the Warden left to guard the entrance. He stripped the corpse of its upper layer of body armor. Dani approached the door, and the access panel’s light switched fro
m red to green.

  “Miles, report,” Gavin said through the comm.

  Dani smiled to hear his voice again.

  “We’ve accessed an exterior entrance to the base,” Miles said. “We’re going for the secondary power.”

  “Dani with you?”

  “She’s here.”

  “Have her fall back and proceed underground to the fixed-wings,” Gavin said.

  “Why?” Dani asked, her smile fading.

  “Do as you’re ordered,” Gavin said.

  He was trying to pull her out of the fight to keep her safe. “Fuck off. My team needs me to use the Warden armor to gain access through locked doors.” She didn’t bother waiting for his reply before entering the base. Miles and the rest of the team followed her in.

  Jens held up the stolen Warden jacket. “I have this.”

  “Shut up,” Dani growled at him.

  “Miles, send her to Javi at the fixed-wings,” Gavin said.

  “We’re already inside,” Miles said.

  Dani started moving through the corridors. She led, since her stolen uniform gave her access to otherwise locked doors.

  They arrived at a set of lifts. The lights indicated that one of them was descending from an upper level. Dani hurried toward the stairwell and opened the door, and the team rushed through. She hadn’t quite gotten the door closed when the lift stopped and the doors opened. She held her breath as six Wardens poured out of the lift. Their boots echoed in the corridor as they jogged toward the far end of the hall where Dani and the others had entered.

  Once the Wardens were out of sight, Dani eased the stairwell door closed so it clicked shut. “Shit, that was close.”

  “Five times,” Mary said.

  Dani snorted a laugh.

  “Five what?” Miles asked.

  Still chuckling, Dani started down the stairs. They continued down until they reached the lowest level. There, they exited the stairwell.

  “Secondary power should be down here somewhere,” Dani said. “Possibly guarded. There are sewer access points, but they’re a bit scattered. As soon as the secondary is out, we should go underground. The hornets are angry.”