She saw Rook smile. ‘I had hoped this day would come,’ she said and turned to her computer and pushed a few buttons. On the screen in front of them an image appeared, it was a black background with a white circle in the middle. The flag of the old rebellion, the symbol that the lady on the pier had given Evie all those months ago before she had been killed.
‘You’re full of surprises,’ Lil said.
Kit walked over to the screen and looked up at it, she let her finger dance over the outline of the circle and remembered what the Others had told her. She was here to be a weapon, she was created to fight and lead. ‘Rook, is there any way to connect with other Genics out there?’ She asked. ‘Get them to rally together?’
‘I’ve been trying to create a network,’ Rook said. ‘It’s been hard since Hawk declared war on us and the Stacks has gone, we’re all over the place and not everyone has connections to a comms device but there’s still the safe houses,’ she said and then exchanged a quick glance with Lil. Kit looked at them both, they rarely mentioned her ex, only when it was necessary and Kit had done her best to not think about the woman who had tried to lead her down the wrong path. ‘Not to sound insensitive, but is she stable?’ Kit asked.
‘From all accounts,’ Lil said.
Kit looked at her curiously. ‘Have you been in contact with her?’ She asked.
‘Only to find out what it’s like on the ground,’ Rook said. ‘And it’s pretty gnarly from what she’s been seeing.’
Kit nodded as she processed the information. ‘Get in touch with her,’ she said. ‘If she can help rally troops then let her know what we’re doing and we’ll provide any protection we can.’
‘What are we doing?’ Rook asked as she brought out her tablet.
‘We’re going to reignite the rebellion,’ Kit told her. ‘And this time, we’re going to win.’
There was a change in the air and it set Kit alight with energy. She had felt this way after she had first arrived in the Stacks, determined to do something good in this world for those who had been tossed aside by Galen’s government. To protect those who couldn’t defend themselves and to serve a community that needed a voice. She walked into the training room where she saw soldiers were sitting on the bleachers, laughing and joking like they were at some sports match. Evans was to one side chatting jovially to one of the men, as though nothing had happened and Cerkis was up on one of the benches, peering down at them with mild interest. There was an applause when the soldiers saw her and Evans walked over to her. Kit resolved to maintain calm, she couldn’t let him know what she had overheard.
‘I didn’t think you were going to show,’ he said.
‘And miss whooping your ass in public?’ She asked. ‘You know I’d never miss that opportunity.’
He looked at her a little confused but didn’t question her. ‘It’s going to be a simple one on one combat,’ he said. ‘We know your powers normally mimic those of other people so we want to see how they’ve changed.’
‘Do you think it has?’ Kit wanted to see if he had noticed any difference, or if he would slip up and let her know that he was aware of more than he was telling her.
‘I guess we’ll see,’ he said. ‘This is a controlled training event, we’re not looking to maim or injure, just some friendly sparring while the planes are getting ready to depart.’
Kit nodded as she lay her bag down and took off her jumper so she was wearing only a tank top and shorts. She ignored the wolf whistles and strapped her wrists in the boxing glove tape she had found. She was going to show Evans what she could do, they needed to know the power that Genics had and the power that she had. She wasn’t just a poster girl for this revolution and it was time that they saw why.
She turned around and saw Evans limber up, someone somewhere blew a whistle and before a moments breath passed between them Kit had made the first strike. A white energy ball bounced off Evans shoulder causing him to roll backwards. At first, he looked surprised but then turned back with a grin, this is how they worked in training, they followed the rules, but only when it suited. He sent a ripple of energy in her direction that caused the air to change around them and it hit her in the stomach. She had expected to go flying backwards but instead the power absorbed into her and made her feel stronger.
‘Well that’s new,’ she said and charged at Evans. She leapt upwards, landed kicks on his chest and face before going over his head and pulling him down to the ground and pinning him to the floor. ‘Not going to fight back?’ She asked.
Suddenly she was in the air as Evans force sent her upwards, that had always been his skill, he could change the force of world around them to suit his will and it often came in useful when they were being surrounded. Kit came crashing down to the ground below and had the wind knocked out of her. ‘Nice comeback,’ she said as she caught her breath and as Evans looked like he regained some confidence she kicked out at his leg and knocked him to the floor and flipped back up to her feet. In her hand an energy ball swirled, it looked like something Evie would be able to create and she had never been able to generate them herself without using someone else power to help. Now this was hers and she was finally able to wield it. The energy grew in her hand and she fired it at Evans who dived out of the way and the other soldiers quickly ducked and the blast hit the wall. Kit took a moment to look at what she had done before she had been tackled to the ground.
‘You need to yield,’ Evans said.
Kit narrowed her eyes at him. ‘Why?’ She asked. ‘So you can take the credit, let them know that I’m the threat and the enemy?’
‘What are you talking about?’ Evans asked.
‘I know,’ Kit hissed. ‘I know everything.’
Evans' eyes went white and she pushed him away from her and lashed out kicks and punches until he was on his knees and unable to hit back. She was about to strike again when he held his arms up and at that moment she saw him give in to her and she stopped. Her chest rose and fell heavily as she felt her body return to normal. Evans staggered to his feet and she saw him look at her as though she were a stranger but gave her a small nod as if he knew what she wanted to do. ‘The world is changing around us,’ she said as she saw Rook and Lil arrive and try and work out what had happened. ‘And for too long Genics have been shunned to the sidelines, been told we’re not good enough for this world unless we’re following orders from those who created us. We were never meant to have a life away from Volt, we were never meant to live like humans, but here we are. We have two choices, we either join forces and lead our own war against Hawk and the Others with a belief that we can win, or we continue to follow the rules laid out by organisations that were set up decades ago to fight in a world that no longer has a place for them.’ The soldiers were exchanging glances, not quite sure what was going on. ‘The FSA, the Freedom State Army, was created by humans who wanted to restore America to its former democracy, a democracy where we didn’t exist at all. Eventually, they let Genics join their cause as long as they fell into line and did as they were instructed. Ultimately their goal is to still have an America where Genics aren’t equal to humans.’
‘That’s a lie!’ Cerkis called out from behind Kit but Kit raised her hand indicating for her to be quiet.
‘Is it?’ She asked. ‘Yes, you and Evans have powers as we do, but you didn’t come from Volt, you weren’t created in labs like we were. You got your powers from the black market, you were born human but wanted what we had because you thought it would give you power over us while you fought for your own country. You made it look like you were one of us when really who are you? You claim to be Genic but no Genic I know would wish this upon themselves.’ There was a murmur of agreement from the soldiers and Kit could sense she was winning them over. ‘Many of you here share abilities with Genics, many of you have the same DNA code that makes you different to humans, but along the way you’ve been taught how to use it, how to hone the skill so that it benefits this organisation. But if you had a choice, how wou
ld you use your true ability? Would you use it to repress your fellow man or would you use it to give them a future?’
‘We want everyone to be free!’ Someone shouted.
‘Hang the Hawk!’ Another called.
‘Yes,’ Kit said. ‘Hawk is our enemy, she worked with Galen and brought America to where it is now, but we also have enemies within who want to defy us.’
‘Enough of this nonsense,’ Cerkis said as she stormed over to Kit. ‘We have been loyal to you for years,’ she said.
‘Under whose orders?’ Kit asked and Cerkis couldn’t reply. ‘In the Stacks I led an army designed to protect Genics, to give us a home in this world and when the Stacks fell that responsibility was taken over by people who didn’t deserve it. Cerkis here wants to be your next leader, wants to be the next President and you may well choose her but right now, we separate our allegiance. I am not going to fight with someone who wants to send me into the lion's den just to be killed so I can be out of the way. If I go into the arena, I’m coming out alive and so is everyone else who fights alongside me.’
There was a cheer at this and Kit saw Cerkis was practically fuming. ‘Enough!’ She called. ‘You know you can’t make that promise in a war,’ she said.
‘I know,’ Kit said. ‘But I like my chances a lot more than if I was fighting with you. Now I’m going to take the planes and get to Volt, you can either step up and join us, or you’re against us.’
‘These are our planes Kit,’ Evans said.
‘And are you going to try and stop me?’ Kit asked. From the looks on their faces, neither were prepared to take her on, if anything they were surprised by the challenge in leadership. ‘Then we have nothing more to say,’ she said and went to grab her bag. ‘The choice is your's ladies and gentlemen, decide now who you want to fight for.’
She headed towards the exit with Rook and Lil at her side. ‘Is this going to backfire?’ Lil asked quickly.
‘There’s only one way to find out,’ Kit said and part of her didn’t dare to look back but she heard the soldiers get up and felt them follow her.
‘You can’t do this!’ Cerkis called.
Kit turned around, soldiers at her side and smiled. ‘I just did,’ she said.
Chapter Twenty
The great expanse of sea glistened below as Evie looked down from her passenger seat window. The sun bounced off the waves as they rippled across the world, peaceful and undisturbed by the world around them.
‘It’s pretty incredible isn’t it?’ Freddie asked.
‘It’s making me realise how big the world actually is,’ Evie said.
‘Is it true?’ Freddie asked. ‘That Galen made you folks think that America was the only country in the world?’
Evie was quiet for a moment, embarrassed almost by her own foolishness at believing such nonsense, but they had been fed the lies so well, she was beginning to realise she didn’t know what her own truth was. ’She made us believe a lot of things,’ she said.
Freddie thankfully didn’t push her for any more information, instead, he checked a few of the dials and switches. ‘We’re at a safe altitude,’ he said. ‘If you want to take a break and head out back one of the boys can cover.’
Evie gave an appreciative smile and unbuckled her seat belt and as she turned for the door she saw an older soldier there waiting to take her place. She gave him a courteous nod and went to find Sinclair. She was sat at the back with Garrett and as Evie took a seat next to her she sat back and took a moment to relax.
‘That hard up in the driver's seat?’ Sinclair asked.
‘Just awkward,’ Evie said. ‘How are you both going?’
‘I’m doing better than Garrett,’ Sinclair indicated to him and when Evie looked over she saw that he was sitting with his head lagging between his knees and looking pale. Evie went over to him and knelt in front of him.
‘You okay buddy?’ She asked as tried to steady her balance.
‘I can hear them,’ Garrett whispered. ‘I’ve not heard them in so long.’
Evie’s heart thumped. ‘The Others?’ She whispered and Garrett nodded, his pupils were wide an the side of his mouth was quivering as Evie placed a hand on his knee and took his hand. ‘What are they saying?’
Garrett rubbed his temples. ‘They’re angry,’ he said. ‘But it’s all jumbled and I can’t understand them, it’s been so long since I’ve heard from them.’
‘Do they know where we are? Do they know what we’re doing?’ Evie’s mouth quivered at the question and her blood began to race as she looked around them. There must be at least twenty people on this plane and more surrounding them, if they were attacked Evie knew they would be vulnerable.
’They’re going to hit back,’ Garrett said. ’They tried to get someone to join them but they refused, they offered a deal but it was rejected.’
The realisation hit Evie’s hard and her stomach flipped in response. ’They made Kit a deal, they must have done.’
‘She’ll try and sacrifice herself to save everyone,’ Garret told her.
Evie’s breath caught in her throat. Kit couldn’t be a sacrifice for them, she was the one person who had to keep going and had been the one to survive this. A hard lump formed in Evie’s throat and she was becoming lightheaded as she struggled to breathe. There was going to be an attack, that had to be her focus, there were too many people here depending on her to survive that she couldn’t worry about Kit right now. She controlled her breathing as best she could and focused her attention back to Garrett.
‘We’re still a couple hours away from Volt,’ she said. ‘Do you know where they are?’
Garrett shook his head but Evie saw he couldn’t look at her. She went over to one of the windows and looked outside, she could see planes surrounding them and there was no other plane in their air apart from theirs. For now, however long it lasted, they were okay.
She went back to Garrett. ‘I know it’s hard,’ she said quietly. ‘But keep an ear out for them and what they’re saying, they’re not out there, but it doesn’t mean that they won’t try.’
Garrett groaned but Evie couldn’t allow herself to feel sorry for him, he was one of them after all. She wanted to do something to make it easier for him, wanted to help in some way but she had to push the need aside. She couldn’t help everyone. Evie got to her feet and as hard as she found it she walked away and went back to the cockpit to switch seats.
‘How’s everyone doing back there?’ Freddie asked.
‘If there’s any way we can get their quicker it’ll put a lot of folks at ease,’ Evie said.
‘I’ll increase speed but it won’t make them feel any better,’ Freddie said as he adjusted some dials. ‘And we’ll burn through fuel quicker.’
‘Can you tell if we’re going to be attacked through any of these things?’ Evie looked for a radar and saw a monitor in front of Freddie’s seat that had a green tracking system glowing on it.
Freddie tapped it with a smile, ‘I’ve got a radar built into the dash, all I’ve seen on there is our empty sky, if there’s any sign of attack one of us will pick it up.’
That made Evie’s heart settle a little but she couldn’t deny that the idea of going into battle, particularly without Kit by her side made her doubt whether they’d succeed. She tried to shake the feeling away, knowing that now was the time for her to step up and show that she could be a leader and someone that was needed in this war.
As Kit headed to the airfield Evans had chased after her. ‘You can’t do this,’ he told her.
‘Watch me,’ she said and Evans grabbed her arm to try and stop her. Kit turned to him, white electric energy raced down her arm in fierce swirls, causing Evans to take a step backwards. ‘Out of all the people in this world who I thought would stab me in the back, I never thought you would be one of them.’
Evans stopped and looked surprised, then hurt. Kit waited for him to say something. ‘How?’ He asked quietly.
‘I overheard you and her last
night,’ Kit said nodding towards Cerkis. ‘Turns out alien intervention heightens senses after all.’
‘I never wanted you to find out that way,’ Evans said.
‘Because you wanted to protect me or because you knew it would implicate you?’
Kit saw him squirm at the question and her blood boiled, it was like her intuition was telling her to attack but it was Evans, she couldn’t do that to him, no matter how much she wanted to hurt him right now. The electric energy dimmed and Kit’s heart began to slow again. ‘I was trying to protect you,’ he said finally.
Kit couldn’t believe the nerve of him. ‘Whatever,’ she said dismissively and turned on her heels, if she did anything else she wasn’t sure what the outcome would be.
‘You need me!’ Evans called after her. ‘Whatever you may think of me, you still need me.’
Kit turned and went back over to him and saw him step back when she produced a fiery white energy ball in the palm of her hand. ‘Tell me that again,’ she said.
Evans stammered before pointing to her hand. ‘See?’ He asked. ‘You couldn’t do that before, the aliens are making you this way and we need to know why.’
‘No, we don’t,’ Kit said. ‘And you need to step down.’
Kit was expecting a fight, Evans was a soldier after all and he was trained to take out the enemy. But when he took a step back Kit felt the tension ease a little inside her, he was backing down, letting her win.
She headed for the planes and met the pilots, they were young men and women with a sense of eagerness about them that levelled Kit’s energy back to where she could control it. As they turned to her with a look of expectation she could tell that they were keen to fight and get in on the action. She saw a young female pilot ahead of her, the woman had a wiry frame, straggly red hair and was dressed in a green jumpsuit. Kit smiled, knowing instantly that she had found who she was going to fly with. This woman gave Kit a sense of calm, and that’s what she was going to need in the air. Kit saw on her arm there was a patch with her surname Dawson embroidered on the side. ‘Hi,’ she said and introduced herself as they shook hands and made small talk. ‘How long have you been flying?’ Kit asked her as they did a final check of the engine.
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