The Fractured Prism (The Prism Files Book 1)

by Brendan Noble

  I looked at her blankly. “We should get going, your highness.”

  She made a ticking noise with her tongue. “Think about everything carefully, Ivan. I would hate for you to get hurt.” Was that a threat?

  Helena walked over, ending the confrontation. I opened the door for her before climbing in the passenger seat next to the chauffeur. I looked at Julia in the review mirror, her eyes shut and her head resting against the window. I’m so sorry.

  Chapter 25

  Over the next few weeks, I became more acquainted with my new position and stopped the occasional paparazzi, random suitor, or fangirl. Though, Julia was often accepting of any girls that looked up to her and wanted a picture, especially younger kids; she always smiled the most with them, and that made me happy. The most amazing thing is that she tried to ignore the color of the child’s family’s tag, no matter what. Reds rarely got near her due to area restrictions, but watching her attempt to bridge that divide brought a tear to my eye. If they were going to look up to anyone in the messed-up country that we lived, I was glad it was her. It was hard to think of something more adorable than a little girl dreaming about being a princess and actually getting to meet one, especially when she was a little future Red who was constantly told by everyone else that she didn’t matter. What kind of role model am I? I’m sure some future Red boys dream about fighting in the Militia with people like me. Is that a good thing?

  Isaac was now visiting the Royal Household every other day, sometimes for dinner with the royal family and other times for time alone with Julia. She hated it. It was becoming increasingly evident that we could do little to change her parents’ minds, even after Julia used the champagne and Isaac’s drunkenness as justification for her concerns. We would have to get creative.

  Stopping Isaac, though, would have to wait a bit longer, as Delaware and I had been coordinating an operation to expose the UPF’s invasions of privacy: recording people’s phone calls, tracking their activity on computers, and monitoring their movements on the streets and within their homes.

  One of our connections in the technical division of the UPF had confirmed that the Secretary of Intelligence, a Purple named Vince Heller, kept a hand-written journal of sorts in a safe in his home. It apparently held his observations, thoughts, and plans for the department. The plan was to scan the journal and publish it in its entirety. We would then print thousands of copies and spread them throughout the city. Excerpts of the important parts would also be published in the St. Paul Free Press. It was an ambitious undertaking, but one that could undermine the UPF’s entire political base and make even some Greens and richer Yellows turn their heads.

  Sitting in Julia’s room, I was giving her a rundown of the plan so that she would know where I would be. She paced uncomfortably, still not acclimated to my missions. “Won’t Secretary Heller have some type of security? Even at his home?”

  “Yes. And that’s why it will only be Delaware and me going. It needs to be as covert as possible.”

  “You’ve talked about her quite a bit since you’ve told me about Coyote. Who is she to you?” Why do you ask?

  I crossed my legs, relaxing. “She is the closest thing I had to a best friend back in the Enclave. She is like my little sister. I recruited her into the Militia and have done everything I can to keep her alive since. She is overseeing my team while I’m here.”

  She pondered for a second, scanning the room for the next sentence. “Huh. How many girls are in the Militia? Based off your silly leaderboard it seems like most of you are guys.”

  “Most of us are, but we have a lot of girls spread throughout, even a couple lieutenants, and you don’t know about them because most of them prefer to remain a secret. With Coyote, I chose a more public route.”

  “How many lieutenants are there?”

  “Five in the Twin Cities, Five throughout the rest of the country.”

  She crossed her arms. “Huh, Mr. Big Shot then.”

  I scoffed, though I was glad she was slowly becoming more comfortable with Militia discussions. “It’s not about being in charge. I want to be where I can have the biggest impact possible.” I sighed and stood. “I need to head out to the Enclave. Is it okay if I take the older sedan?”

  She hesitated. “Yes. Just don’t actually use it to cause trouble.”

  “Trouble is my middle name. Wait, never mind, the UPF didn’t give me a middle name…”

  She rolled her eyes and shifted uncomfortably. “Is Coyote going to kill anyone tonight?”

  “Ideally, no. Is Isaac coming tonight?”

  She sighed and crossed her arms, noticing my deflection but ignoring it. “Unfortunately.”

  I smirked. “Well, then maybe one.” Her glare in response sent an icy shiver down my spine.

  I had taken a few independent trips into the city, but this was my first time returning to the Enclave since I had left Delaware in charge of my team. I wanted to visit more often, but I also didn’t want to look suspicious with the UPF having eyes everywhere. Parking the car a few blocks from the bridge, I walked over it and stopped in the middle. I’ve missed this view. The sun was setting over the river and the array of colors across the water was a beautiful sight. I hoped to show it to Julia someday soon.

  Delaware was meeting me at our headquarters, and I wanted to check in with El Capitan while I was there. First, though, I went over to my old house and switched into my black Coyote jacket before grabbing a few spare knives, my bandana, and my nine-millimeter pistol from out of the crevice in the corner of the room, though I hoped I didn’t have to use it. Guns were noisy and messy. I preferred the silent route and, even better, the non-lethal one.

  I looked into the broken glass mirror above the dresser. The mark on my temple was healing slowly. It acted as just another indicator of what I’d been through in my life. It felt freeing to be back as Coyote again, away from the eyes of the world. Is Coyote me, or just Ivan’s escape? Will Julia make me give him up?

  When I reached HQ, Razor was pacing outside the door, deep in thought.

  I flashed a smile. “Hey! How’s it going?”

  He kicked the dirt, sending a haze across my legs. “Something is going on, and Delaware won’t tell me anything. I’m guessing that’s why you’re back.”

  I sighed. “Yeah. Delaware got some intel and needs me for a mission. We need to keep it quiet for now, but you’ll know when it’s done.”

  He lowered his head and crossed his arms. “So, you don’t trust me?”

  I laughed. “It’s not that. After what happened with the flash drive mission, El Capitan is keeping a tight lid on mission info. It’s nothing personal, Razor.”

  He fiddled with his black tag, thinking. “I guess that makes sense. Anyway, it’s good to see you back, Coyote. Delaware has missed you, we all have.” He smiled.

  I gave him a hug. “Missed you guys too. I’ve gotta go, but I’m glad I ran into you Razor. I’ll see you around.”

  Razor nodded as I headed into HQ. He was too young to understand the need for the secrecy of information. We still had no idea who had leaked the information about the flash drive transfer and couldn’t risk more agents getting killed.

  As I turned to head down the stairs, I ran into Zeus, and his smoker voice provided a rough greeting. “So, the Coyote lives. Hopefully you haven’t gone soft on us living with the princesses.”

  “We will see tonight.” I hesitated before being more solemn. “Any news on Southpaw and Bobcat?”

  He scowled. “No. We have given up looking.”

  Shit. I closed my eyes tightly before looking back at him. “I am so sorry. They deserved better, Zeus. It’s on me.”

  He scratched his beard sharply and changed topics. “Hmm. The captain is waiting for you downstairs with Delaware. Welcome back, Coyote.” I don’t blame him for being upset.

  “Glad to be back, even if it’s just for a bit.”

  I walked down the stairs to the command center. Delaware and El Capitan we
re bent over the map, analyzing something. “Glad to see this place hasn’t fallen apart without me.”

  Delaware looked up and smiled before sprinting over and hugging me. “Welcome back!”

  “Good to be back. I missed you Del.” I walked over and gave El Capitan a hug for good measure. “Please tell me Delaware hasn’t gotten my team into too much trouble.”

  He laughed. “Actually, she has done well. She was the one that led the effort to get the intel for tonight, as you well know.”

  “What can I say? I taught her everything she knows.”

  She piped in, a little offended. “Not all of it.”

  El Capitan laughed. “All right. Down to business. First of all, any progress on getting your princess to commit to more public outreach?” My princess?

  I sighed. “It’ll take time. She still isn’t comfortable with me being Coyote, yet.”

  “Okay. If we can get both her and King on board, then we will be in a position to maybe actually change things for once, though we are putting a lot of faith in her.”

  “Trust me, she won’t let us down.” I hope. “How is the coding for Operation Blackout coming along?”

  “Slowly. Their systems are a tough nut to crack, but the tech guys have reassured me they will figure it out in due time.”

  “Okay. Well, hopefully things like tonight will make people more aware of those cameras and the UPF’s spying at least.”

  “Hopefully.”

  Delaware stepped up. “You ready to go? We need to be quick about this.”

  “Of course. In and out with hopefully no one dead.”

  El Capitan scoffed. “Maybe you are getting soft on us.”

  The Secretary’s manor was along the river in Minneapolis, near the University of Minnesota’s campus. We drove one of the Militia’s old beaters to a nearby lot and parked, approaching the manor from down the street and taking mental notes. Two Green UPF guards were posted out front, but the fence around the place was climbable and, from our observations, there was only one other guard on the premises, patrolling the inside of the house.

  We snuck through the neighbor’s backyard and I helped Delaware over the tall stone privacy wall between the lots before following behind. It felt good to be running a mission again. It was late October and the temperature had already taken a large southern turn. We could see our breaths as we surveyed the back of the manor, looking for the best way in.

  A cold wind shook the trees through the yard with a whoosh, and I got goosebumps from excitement mixed with the cold air. We snuck behind the trees to get a closer view. There were a few windows on the second story, where Heller’s bedroom would be, but breaking one would be loud. There was also the sliding back door, but that was likely to be locked, since Heller was out at some UPF gala. A camera overlooked the door as another scanned the yard.

  I whispered to her across the yard. “I’ll take out those cameras. You get the door. Got the lock picks?”

  She dangled one from her fingers. “Let’s roll.”

  I took a deep breath, pulled one of my knives, and turned from behind the tree, flinging my knife into the camera watching the yard. It fizzled out, and we slowly crept up towards the back door. Delaware waited as I grabbed my knife from the first camera and slid along the wall towards the second, avoiding its range. I jumped and cut its cord. “Your turn, Del. We have to move quickly. It won’t be long before they realize something is up.”

  Delaware nodded, and I kept watch as she went to work. It was a little loud, but the guard was on the second floor, so I hoped he wouldn’t hear. After a few moments, the door popped open and Delaware looked up at me, a little too proud of herself.

  “Good job. Let’s move.” We entered a sitting room at the back of the house, and I looked at the stairs off to the right. “Let me go first.” I crept up the staircase as silently as I could, hoping to avoid a creak.

  As I reached the top, I heard the beep of a radio. “All clear upstairs. I’ll see if the noise came from the first floor. Over.”

  The radio crackled. “Roger that.”

  The guard was was walking towards me, and I had just a moment to dive quickly into the open room on the left. As he passed the door I grabbed him around the throat from behind and executed a chokehold that knocked him out as he struggled to break free. Clean and quiet. That’s how I like it. I whispered down the stairs, “Del, Del, we’re clear.”

  After a moment, she peaked her head out and met me at the top of the stairs.

  I motioned towards the guard. “They’re going to be waiting on a report from him about the first floor. We need to hurry.”

  She looked at me like the answer was obvious. “Grab the radio and imitate him if they call in.”

  We found the safe behind a painting in his room. Classic. Delaware went to work trying to crack it while I searched the room for some hints. I shuffled through the desk, breaking open some locked drawers but not finding anything that could be the six-digit code. As I searched, I grabbed an old photo on the desk of Heller with what looked like his dad on some golf trip. It came from one of those old cameras that had the date printed in the corner. I whispered, “Hey, Del. Try 0-7-1-5-9-5.”

  I heard her spinning the dials and then a click. “Holy cow, that actually worked. Nice job.” She grabbed the journal. “Should we take anything else?”

  “What else is in there?”

  She checked the safe again. “Some money and a gun.”

  “Leave it, but…”

  The radio interrupted me. “Is everything okay in there?”

  I grabbed it and imitated the guard’s deeper voice. “First floor is clear. Over.”

  We moved towards the stairs while waiting for a response through the radio. “I saw a light on in the boss’s bedroom. What’s going on in there?”

  I looked at Delaware. “Run.”

  We booked it through the back door and over the fence just as the guards entered the front door to look around. By the time they noticed the guard’s unconscious body, we were long gone.

  Chapter 26

  We had scanned the journal at Aaron’s for re-publishing and were heading back to the Enclave. I let Delaware keep the original as a souvenir. Her intel, her reward. The journal copies would be distributed throughout the night by various Militia members and the St. Paul Free Press; people would be able to read the source themselves. It provided the juicy details that we needed to expose the UPF’s privacy invasions in their entirety. Publishing the full version meant the government couldn’t claim that we had manipulated the journal by picking bits and pieces. It was a genius plan on our part and amazingly stupid for a UPF leader to leave his secrets in a journal, thinking a simple safe could keep it away from prying eyes. No secret is safe nowadays.

  There would be an attempted coverup, but the damage would be done too quickly for them to respond. I looked forward to seeing what the public media would come up with to cover the scandal. The UPF could try to take away our light, but we thrived in the darkness.

  We drove along in the old car as we approached the Enclave. A rattling noise constantly reminded us that it could break down at any second and the smell of way too many cigarettes gave me a solid headache. “How are you enjoying life as an acting lieutenant, Del?”

  She was gazing out the window into the night. “It’s fun to be a part of the big decisions, even if a lot of it is running things through you, but I don’t know how I’d feel if we lost someone while I was in charge.” I hope you never have to learn.

  “Shitty.”

  She shook her head, confused. “What?”

  I looked at her. “You’d feel shitty.”

  She was silent for a moment before responding quietly, “I missed you, Coyote.”

  I sighed before lightening the mood. “Missed you too, Del. Speaking of what I missed, did Snap ask you out yet?”

  An excited grin came across her face and she bit her lip. “Maybe, what’s it to ya?”

  I laughed. “Gla
d he finally had the guts to follow through.”

  She punched my arm. “You knew he would ask?”

  I laughed, proudly. “He was always talking about it, and I’d been trying to convince him to actually do it for months. Took him long enough.”

  Her mouth was open in a kind of faux shock. “And you didn’t tell me? Screw you.”

  I smirked. “What’s the fun in ruining the surprise? Did it go well, or did he decide you were too short for him?”

  She rolled her eyes. “Ooh a short joke, real creative.”

  I just looked at her.

  She sighed. “It went fine. I don’t know. He’s cute.”

  I chuckled. “That’s always a plus.”

  “Shut up.”

  “Oh come on. I can’t be happy that my little recruit is growing up?”

  “Alright, bro.”

  “Seriously though, Del. You’ve come a long way in the past four years since I pulled you out of… you know.”

  “Thanks. It feels like it has been longer than that, though. It honestly is weird to remember life before the Enclave.”

  “Same.”

  She looked surprised. “I thought you’d been here your whole life.”

  “Most of it. I was a kid in the public orphanage out in River Falls until Poseidon dragged me out of there when I was eight.”

  Her eyes narrowed. “You never told me that.”

  “That I pulled you out of the exact same hell hole that I came from? Yeah, it was always hard to get into those places to rescue the kids that wanted out. River Falls was one of the toughest ever since they started the check points after the operation that got me out. Damn, it was tough. It took a lot of persuasion on my part to convince Hades to let me bring a team.”

  Hades, Poseidon and Zeus’s oldest brother, was the Militia captain until a few years ago. He died during the water poisoning caused by the government’s mismanagement of a water treatment plant that just happened to mainly impact the majority Red and Orange Enclave and Eastern St. Paul areas. A ton of people got sick and hundreds died, including Hades. A lot of Oranges who were affected started reaching out to help in the aftermath. In a way, the tragedy had woken up a lot of people to the evils of the UPF.