Redux

by S. A. Stephenson

  Sinclair was quiet. ‘And you believe her?’ She asked. ‘It goes against the intelligence we’ve been working with.’

  ‘We don’t have time to analyse intelligence,’ Kit wasn’t in control of the situation anymore, she was hopeless and fear now nestled itself at the pit of her stomach.

  A loud boom erupted behind them and they flew backwards. The medic truck was overturned and Kit could feel the heat on her back. She didn’t know how long she was on the floor for but when she tried to move her ears were ringing and Volt’s main administration building was in flames. She got to her feet and ran forward but Sinclair held her back as the building crumbled. Kit couldn’t hold back any longer. She let the emotion and the exhaustion take over. She imagined her friends dying, she imagined Evie, the only woman she had ever really loved dead. She’d never see any of them again, Canaan, Rook, Lil, they were all dead. They had to be.

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  The wait was agony. The not knowing was tearing her apart. Kit wished she could go back in time, that she could change things so the outcome was different, that she could say everything she had never said. But she was stuck, waiting in a desperate limbo for the ops team to make contact. All they had was silence.

  Sinclair then raised her head and seemed to be looking for something and Kit followed her gaze. Through the smoke she could see something, someone staggering forward. Was it one of them? Was it one of theirs? It was only as the smoke cleared that she saw her. Lil, her clothes were torn and she had scrapes down her arms and a cut on her face but she was alive. A surge of relief flooded through Kit and she ran to her friend, hugging her so hard they fell to the ground. Kit allowed herself to sob for the first time and Lil was shaking in her arms as tears fell down her cheeks.

  ‘I can’t believe you’re alive,’ Kit said cupping her friends face in her hands.

  Lil took a moment as she tried to speak, it was as though the shock had changed her into someone Kit no longer knew. ‘They executed Canaan,’ she whispered. ‘And…Jack.’

  Kit sat back. ‘They killed Jack?’ She said, her mouth dry and barely able to make a sound.

  Lil nodded. ‘Stabbed,’ she croaked.

  Bile rose in Kit’s stomach, he had gone there because of her, she was the reason why he’d been killed and Canaan… ‘Evie?’ She asked.

  ‘Still there,’ Lil said. ‘I couldn’t get her out. I followed Rook but it was chaos.’

  Sinclair hurried over to them and picked them both up. ‘Thank goodness you’re all right,’ she said but Lil looked like she wouldn’t be all right for a long time.

  ‘What’s happening in there?’ Kit asked. ‘Can we go in?’

  ‘Black ops arrived,’ Lil told her. ‘They were all taken out, the blast distracted them and I ran…I shouldn’t have, I should have stayed. I shouldn’t have left Rook alone,’ she said and turned away from Kit when her expression turned to shock. ‘Rook!’ She exclaimed and when Kit turned she saw their friend staggering towards them. She was covered in blood, her clothes were torn and she collapsed into Kit’s arms.

  Kit took her over to the side of the medic van and wrapped her discarded blanket around her. ‘It’s okay,’ she said as she cradled Rook, she was quiet, shaking, and Kit could only imagine the horrors that she had seen, that they had all seen.

  ‘Evie didn’t make it out,’ Rook said. ‘I was able to dash past one of them but they grabbed her as she tried to follow and she yelled at me, told me to get to you.’

  Kit was about to say something when the ground began to rumble underneath them and as Kit took a few steps back she saw the remains of the administration building begin to fall and a crack began to form from the base of the steps.

  ‘Get back,’ Kit told them as the ground began to crumble beneath their feet. As the building collapsed people ran as quick as they could and Kit could feel the ground begin to fall away from underneath her and did her best to summon any speed she had left to move them all to safety.

  Rook and Sinclair were able to hurry ahead but Lil stumbled and Kit turned to help her get back to her feet. As they went to follow Rook and Sinclair the earth beneath them fell away and they plunged into the darkness below.

  Kit held onto Lil, refusing to let go of her again. This was the end, it had to be. She had been given so many chances, so many near misses that her nine-lives were now up. Something came up underneath them, it was a hard object and it was moving quickly. Suddenly they were sliding down a hard surface. Kit, still holding onto Lil’s hand saw the ground reappear below them and they fell forward. Unable to stop, they kept falling at an enormous speed and Kit was certain they would be killed on impact.

  They hit the ground. Hard. Kit rolled to one side and as a large gust of air shot through them and Kit felt Lil lay over her, shielding her from falling debris. Even in the end, Lil was there for her, protecting her and defending her till their last breaths.

  Kit had to see what was happening, and how it was going to end. She rolled onto her back and sat up on her arms and her breath caught in her throat.

  ‘You gotta see this,’ she said to Lil, who sat up. Kit couldn’t do anything, she could only gape at what was in front of her. The building had collapsed into the earth below and from the large crater, a large circular craft was rising from the ground below. Debris got in Kit’s eyes and Lil lay against her stomach as they watched the aircraft hover above them.

  ’That’s a spaceship!’ Lil exclaimed to Kit over the noise.

  ‘Evie,’ Kit whispered as the craft rose higher into the air. Evie was down there, in the rubble…or she was on the craft. Kit scrambled to her feet and pulled Lil up.

  ‘Evie’s in there,’ she shouted over the noise. ‘They’ve got Evie!’

  Lil didn’t know what to say, there was nothing they could do and as Kit held her head with her hands she had never felt more desperate or alone in the world.

  The aftermath had been unlike anything Kit had ever experience. The devastation of the war was all around them. Buildings that had stood majestically in Volt now lay in ruins. Bodies of Armistice Guards and Genics lay in rubble and there were hundreds more who were injured and Kit didn’t know how they were going to rebuild after this. She stood on the edge of the crater that had been where the administration building once was. Soldiers had been ordered to go down and excavate through the rubble in case they could find any remains but Kit could only watch. She couldn’t feel anything, it was as though her body was shutting down and her mind was blank. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Sinclair come over to her.

  ‘The Armistice Guards who have survived have surrendered and are being interrogated,’ Sinclair said. ‘The excavation of the site will take months.’

  ‘Is there any chance of finding survivors?’ Kit asked.

  Sinclair didn’t say anything but took a few steps closer to her. Kit found herself wanting her to embrace her, tell her everything was going to be okay, Sinclair had so much of the mothering qualities she had missed since her own mother had been killed that Kit found she wanted it now more than ever, needed it more than ever. But Sinclair seemed hesitant and didn’t indulge her. ‘There’ll be an investigation into what’s happened here, a ship doesn’t just end up underground without anyone knowing. This was a planned attack, it was a planned abduction and Evie’s alive. I can’t prove it to you, but I have a feeling she’s alive and on that ship.’

  ‘And out there somewhere,’ Kit said looking up into the night sky as the first stars were beginning to appear across the midnight hues.

  ‘We’ll find her,’ Sinclair said.

  ‘We’ve only just started commercial flights,’ Kit said. ‘Going into space, to who knows where to find one craft is going to be next to impossible.’

  Kit was about to turn away when Sinclair stopped her. ‘Is this you giving up?’ She asked. ‘You see the face of impossible and walk away? We finally have proof, we have proof that Genics come from alien life and that alien life is still existing within our ga
laxy.’

  ‘And that they’re murderers,’ Kit said. ‘They killed Jack, they killed Canaan, they almost killed Lil and Rook and they’ve taken Evie. If they are out there and we do find them, then I don’t want to know about where they’re from or what we can learn from them, I want to kill them and put them through as much hell they’ve put us through. Because if we come from them, then it means we have an advantage, it means we can kill them. And we can put an end to them using our government to rule over us.’

  ‘End the dictatorship once and for all,’ Sinclair agreed. ‘You know it could mean losing your abilities, your life even.’

  Kit was quiet as she contemplated the repercussions. ‘I’m fine with that,’ she said. ‘If it means I get a future with Evie, then I’ll take being human any day. I’m done being a freak.’

  ‘Then I think you need to rally the troops and call them to arms because you can’t do this on your own,’ Sinclair said.

  Kit nodded. ‘Where is everyone?’ She asked.

  ‘In the old town hall getting treated,’ Sinclair said. ‘We’ve not found Hawk, so either she’s on the ship or has fled.’

  Kit couldn’t think about either of them, the thought of them turned her stomach and she didn’t want to waste time and energy being mad at them, it hadn’t done her any good before so she wasn’t prepared to keep letting them hurt her for their own gain.

  Kit had followed Sinclair to the town hall, the building where so many of Galen’s laws and rules had come into effect, the building which had changed so much of America. As Kit walked into the back of the building behind Sinclair she stopped her.

  ‘How many people are inside?’ She asked.

  ‘Three hundred or so,’ Sinclair said.

  ‘Is Astrid Jenks there? Our reporter?’

  Sinclair pulled out her wrist and pushed a button on her bracelet and Kit saw a directory appear. Sinclair quickly scrolled through it until she saw Jenks’ name. ‘She’s alive,’ she said. ‘Whether she’s ready to work or not is a different subject.’

  ‘We need her, and we need Rook to link up the comms network and get this broadcasted,’ Kit said. ‘If we’re going to start this revolution then we need as many people as possible to see and join us. I’m tired of running an army on a limited amount of staff, it’s time humans take part in this battle.’

  ‘I’ll go and find her,’ Sinclair said.

  Kit entered the back of the large hall with Sinclair and kept to the walls as she looked over the crowd. Hundreds of injured people were waiting to be treated, recovering from shock and looked bewildered. She saw Rook in the corner, curled up on one of the beds and trying to treat her own wounds with some supplies she had found. Kit went over to her and Rook hugged her, she was shaking and Kit held her as tightly as she could.

  ‘I need your help,’ she told her. ‘Fancy doing what you do best in the name of getting back at the sons of bitches who did this?’

  ‘I’m listening,’ Rook said.

  Sinclair came over to them with Jenks who looked battered, her hair was a frizzy mess and her suit was torn and shredded and she looked like she needed a stiff drink. ‘Thank goodness you’re all right,’ she said and hugged Kit who gave Sinclair a surprised look.

  ‘And…you,’ she said tentatively.

  ‘We’ve got work to do ladies,’ Sinclair said. ‘We can have joyful reunions later on.’

  ‘Yes,’ Jenks said. ‘If someone gets me a mirror and a washcloth…I might be able to salvage this situation.’

  Kit shook her head. ‘No, you’re not in front of the camera this time,’ she said. ‘I’m the one leading this, I’ve been the face of the resistance for so long that it’s time for me to step into it.’

  Jenks beamed at her. ‘Perfect!’ She said. ‘Its time someone else helped and did this job, it’s hard work looking fabulous all the time…but I’m sure that your demographic will buy into the battered soldier look,’ Jenks said.

  Kit shook her head. ‘Just find a camera and Rook a computer,’ she said. Jenks nodded and hurried past them. Nervous knots of anxiety grew in Kit’s stomach but she ignored it and began to walk down the hall. She saw men, women and children all injured, homeless and with a look in their eyes that told her that hope for their nation was fading fast. They looked up at her and some gave her a courteous nod, others turned away. She was certain they blamed her, that she was part of the reason why this had happened and she couldn’t blame them. She was the one who had escaped so many years ago, she was the one who had inspired so many others and caused such a divide between humans and Genics.

  She thought of Hawk, the woman who had claimed to be her biological mother, Kit never had an answer if they were genetically linked but knew she could never be the daughter of such a tyrant. She didn’t want to have her legacy to be defined by this bloodshed.

  She stopped when she saw a young mother with her two children. Their dark skin was covered in cuts and bruises and the youngest was crying. His lips looked cracked and his eyes were hollow, Kit looked around and found a discarded bottle of water and after taking the top off she handed it to the mother.

  ‘Thank you,’ she said and handed it to her son who gulped the water. ‘Ms Valletta,’ she then said tentatively. ‘What’s going to happen to us?’ She asked.

  Kit thought for a moment before she gave her answer. This woman needed hope, she needed assurance that her children were going to have a world to grow up in and that they were all going to be able to survive. ‘We’re going to revive,’ she said. ‘We’re going to come back stronger than we’ve ever been before, Genic or human doesn’t matter anymore, we’re all united in a fight for our freedom so that we can live in an America that’s available for all of us.’

  Kit looked up and saw Jenks with a camera on her shoulder and gave a thumbs up, Kit hadn’t realised she would start recording without telling her first but when she looked over to Rook behind a computer Rook smiled and gave her a nod. They were alive.

  ‘What happened here is beyond anything any of us could have thought of,’ Kit said. ‘We’ve experienced loss and betrayal on both sides, but what is undeniable is that there’s an extra-terrestrial force who’s wanting to exterminate us. We need to unite and fight back.’

  There was a murmur of agreeance but Kit saw one of the men stand up. He was rugged, his clothes torn, he was leaning to one side as he nursed a wound, he looked like he had been living rough for a while but was undoubtedly human.

  ‘Why should we?’ He asked. ‘They wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for your lot, why should humans, like us, who have no powers like your kind, take up arms against a race that could take us out in a single hit? I say we need to go underground, protect ourselves. You fight them!’

  There was a louder noise of agreement. ‘Division won’t build a united America for the future,’ Kit said above the noise. ‘How long have you been told to fear Genics, been told that we’re a threat and lied to about what our purpose is? How long have we lived in fear of the tests, in fear of being exterminated simply for existing? We’ve been made to fear one another for decades that it’s become normal and now we have another threat that’s affecting all of us. How long are we going to keep letting this divide separate us? Until it completely destroys all of us? And not just America, but Britain, Europe, Australiasia, Asia, everywhere is going to be impacted by this war. So it’s time to put aside our differences and come together as one so we can defeat not only our enemy but rebuild our country.’

  Kit looked around the room and saw families looking at each other, friends turning to one another, then one young girl rose from her bed with her parents looking up at her in confusion. She patted her chest twice with her fist and rose it in the air. A sign used by rebels in the old day, which others around the room seemed to recognise. Though they were tentative at first others rose, raising a fist in the air showing solidarity. Kit humbly watched as everyone in the room followed, even the man who objected looked stunned.

  ‘Ah screw it,
’ he said and raised his hand. ‘We’re going to hell anyway, might as well go down fighting.’

  Kit looked over to Lil, Sinclair, Rook and Jenks. They were with her, even Jenks, and she finally felt ready to lead the revolution. What she didn’t know at the time, was that all across America, people were standing with her, people in bars, people in schools they were changing their history and joining the revolt against the alien force, and were ready for the new tomorrow.

  Afterword

  It’s taken nearly two years to get this book out into the world. Part of it was through writing the thing, part of it was due to moving countries and having life interrupted. A lot of it was due to mental health and the road we go on as writers.

  I think this series was needed at a time of my life that has now come to pass. I first thought of Kit and Evie when I was sat on a beach on Waiheke Island with Piritahi Marae behind me. They found me at a time when I was lost and needed something other than myself to focus on.

  There is one more book left in their story, and it will come in time. Thank you for being patient.

  Acknowledgments

  Thank you to Ian Howie for reading this book and providing constructive feedback. To Michelle for the help and encouragement. To Collette for the compassion and to the ones who have helped made me smile. And to those who have waited nearly two years for this instalment of Kit and Evie’s story, thank you.

  To those who share knowledge, specifically, Joanna Penn, Sean Platt, David Wright, Johnny B. Truant and everyone in the online writing community, thank you. To those who love books as much as me, thank you. To those who help when we have fallen, thank you the most.

  About the Author

  S. A. Stephenson is an emerging author of speculative fiction and thrilling dramas. This is her second book.