by Harper North
“What did you want me to do?” I ask. “Every minute counts. Who knows when the EHC will start killing the Dwellers.”
Elias glances back to me. “It’ll be by tomorrow,” he says bluntly. “The EHC don’t play games. If we don’t succeed in communicating our message, we’ll have no choice but to surrender.”
My heart pounds as a second wave of adrenaline pumps through my veins.
“We have to be careful,” Elias tells Jase. “Let’s hide the transporter farther away this time. The perimeter will be fortified now.”
The wheels slow as Jase turns to the left. We climb up a small embankment, then back down on the other side, ending beside a small cluster of trees.
Once the vehicle stops, Drape comes to my side and crouches beside my seat. His face is tense with worry.
“We’ll be okay,” I whisper, trying to reassure him.
“I keep thinking about the people we left underground.”
“One way or another, we’ll make sure we do what’s best for them.”
Drape nods and slowly stands. Elias unbuckles his belt and orders Drape to open the stairs. Once again, Drape’s worried eyes meet mine. He swallows and heads for the side of the vehicle. I hold my breath as horrible thoughts roll through my head; images of operatives lying in wait on the other side play over and over again.
When the stairs click into place, Emma stands and moves toward the exit. She slowly descends and, when nothing happens, all of us, except Talen, follow.
Outside, there’s nothing but silence. The dim light from the transporter illuminates the others’ faces. There’s a half-moon in the sky. It should be enough to see our way, but the whole thing reminds me of how silent it was the day Emma’s settlement camp was ambushed. I brace myself for instant attack and scan for ops concealed in the dark or hidden behind the trees.
“We have to bring him out,” Emma says, urgency in her voice. “We can’t linger around here waiting for them to find us.”
Jase crosses his arms. “I still don’t think it’s a good idea.”
Elias nods to Emma. “We’ve been over this.”
She turns and goes back inside the transporter. Elias refocuses on the group.
“I know you’re hungry and tired. This isn’t the ideal situation, but the message was clear. The EHC means what they say, and they’ll kill the Dwellers if we don’t take action now.”
“I don’t get it,” Drape says. “How can the surface people not understand what the EHC is planning to do to the Dwellers? If the message came to us, how can no one else know?”
“It’s a covert broadcasting channel,” Jase explains. “Meant specifically for our transporter. All EHC tech has digital signatures for identification. But the only way to get the surface people to ever take our situation seriously is to broadcast our message from the uplink station.”
“What about the second option?” one of Emma’s guards asks. “What about surrendering?”
My eyes flash to the older man. His bony cheekbones and tired gaze tell of a man who’s had enough.
“No way,” I say. “I won’t let them torture us, or worse.”
“But the Dwellers…” Drape’s shoulders fall. “They won’t know what’s coming.”
Knuckles moves closer. “Don’t let them scare you, kid,” she says, cocking her gun.
“Why wouldn’t I be scared?” Drape asks. “You already stormed the gate, and it didn’t work. How’s our next plan going to be any better?”
Elias shakes his head. “We’ll have to find another way in, that’s all.”
“Another way?” I ask. “How?”
“Tunnels,” says Talen behind us.
My shoulders stiffen, and I turn to see him standing in the transporter’s door frame, beside Emma, without restraints. Jase holds his gun up. Elias inches in front of me. Drape and the guards back away.
I wanted him out here, but seeing Talen walk toward me brings back the day at Mason’s training camp. I try to relax, but it’s not much use.
Elias looks to Emma. “Is he—?”
“He’s secure,” she says. “I have a remote device that only works with my bio-signature. I can take him down with a flip of a switch.”
Everyone falls silent as Talen comes down the last step of the vehicle.
“What about tunnels?” Knuckles demands.
“There’s a small network of tunnels that operatives use to access the station,” Talen elaborates. “They’re secret, and will get you inside to the uplink station with less resistance.”
Elias lifts his chin. “Sounds too easy.”
Talen steps closer. “It won’t be.”
Jase cocks his gun. The click sends a shiver down my spine. “Take another step, and you won’t ever see your mama again.”
Talen backs up, hands held chest level in the air. Elias turns to Jase and places a hand atop the barrel of his gun, slowly lowering it. It takes a minute for Jase to disengage, but, eventually, he does.
I take a deep breath and try to calm my speeding pulse. “Why won’t it be easy, Talen?”
Talen turns his gaze to me. “The tunnels will be guarded, but with fewer operatives.”
“He’s probably communicated with them,” the battle-weary guard says. “Told the EHC we’re coming.”
Emma casts a dark look on the man. “We don’t know that. As far as I can tell, Talen has been telling us the truth, and seems to have no communication with anyone but us.”
“What does everyone else think?” Elias asks.
“I’m not surrendering,” Knuckles says, “so I guess there’s only one choice. We move forward with Talen.”
“We need to move forward,” Elias agrees. “We’ll take our chances with Talen. I’ll lead the group to the nearest tunnel system access point. No light. Keep your voices low.”
A few of us nod in agreement. Jase and one of the guards stare suspiciously at Talen, but we finally move forward, following Elias downhill toward the outer perimeter.
The lights of the Telhix in the distance and the half-moon gives off enough illumination for me to avoid running into the larger rocks and too many of the prickly bushes. When I turn my gaze to the comm tower, I can make out the destruction we caused earlier. Ten guards stand watch at the outer gate.
“We’ll need to move to the eastern perimeter,” Talen says lowly.
“Can you tell if they know we’re near?” Elias asks him.
Talen smiles, his grin dim in the moonlight. “If they knew, they’d have already killed us.”
I take another deep breath. Elias walks around a piece of metal on the ground, a remnant of a transporter, no doubt. He turns to Talen and whispers, “You miss your family?”
Talen nods. “It’s been a long time—too long—since I’ve seen them.”
“You remember anything about them?”
Talen lowers his chin. “When I was young, my father always woke me up early, before dawn. We’d have long talks about who I wanted to be when I got older. Back then, I said I wanted to do something great with my life.”
“Was this what you imagined?” I ask, sidestepping another large rock.
“Not exactly. I didn’t know what it would be like to lose everything I cared about.”
“Like your family,” Elias says. “I’ve lost family, too, but not to be great. To fight for a life that’s better for everyone.”
It suddenly becomes clear to me what Elias is trying to do. He’s trying to take out a little insurance that Talen stays on our side, keep the connection going. Smart guy.
Talen’s feet plod ahead. He walks heavier than before. After a moment he says, “I think I understand that now.”
My eyes lower. If we survive this, will Talen find his family again, or become a better person? Or will Jase kill him?
Talen points ahead. “There's the access point.”
I try to make out the shape along the continuation of the perimeter wall. Elias stops, Drape, Knuckles, Jase, Emma, and the guards following
suit.
“We need to bring a small team to infiltrate," Elias whispers. "Talen will lead with Fin, Jase, Emma, and myself.”
“Davis, you’re with us,” Emma orders. “We are going to need more firepower.”
Elias turns to Emma. “We need him to stay back with the rest to cover the exit.”
“With all due respect,” Davis says in a deep voice, “I don’t take orders from you. I protect Emma.”
Elias turns and looks up at the tall man. “Fine, you’re in, but you take orders from me when inside.”
Davis looks to Emma. She nods at him.
“What about me?” Drape asks.
Elias sighs. “Not yet. You need to stay behind. We’re already a man short.”
A flash of disappointment crosses Drape’s face and he sulks away from the circle. My shoulders drop as I watch him crouch beside a boulder. I wish there was something I could say to him, but now isn’t the time.
Elias tightens the circle and continues. “Once Emma is through, she’ll link the message to the uplink station. There’s no room for error.”
“What about me?” Knuckles demands. “The action is in that tunnel.”
Elias pulls his gun to the front of his chest. “We need you and the rest of Emma’s guards to come in second on our signal. For now, I need you at the exit.”
Knuckles scoffs and shakes her head. “Listen to Elias,” Jase insists. “There’ll be plenty of fights left in this war.”
Elias looks to the rest of us. “Let’s move.”
We creep along the eastern perimeter, slowly working our way behind Talen and the way of the hidden entrance. There’s no way we’d have seen this if not for him. The outside looks like solid wall. Only an almost hidden opening at the very end leads us into a small, darkened alcove.
I steady myself with one hand against the cold stone wall. Still vigilant, I scan up and down the pathway for movement, sure there’s an op waiting for us, and still unsure if Talen is really trustworthy.
“When we go inside,” Talen whispers. “There will be ops on guard.”
“How many?” Jase demands.
“Three. I can use my ability to take them out from outside if they are close.”
“No way,” Jase hisses. “To take them out, you’d have to use the nanotech.”
“You don’t have to worry,” Emma tells Jase. “I can disable the device he wears temporarily. It’s a ten second time frame and does not turn off the tampering fail safe.”
Elias leans in closer. “How can we be sure he won’t use his ability on us?”
Emma furrows her brow, clearly irritated that we’re still discussing this. “You know the answer to that.”
“It’s too dangerous,” Jase growls. “I say we use our guns.”
“It would be easier to use Talen,” Elias insists. “Less risky.”
Emma nods and taps a button on her control device. I take a step back, hoping she didn’t just make a huge mistake.
Talen turns toward the door that separates us from the operatives while Elias and Jase continue to argue about how to move forward. Slowly, Talen raises a hand to the metal door. A moment later, he lowers his arm.
“Three guards have been disabled.”
CHAPTER 23
Jase shoves the tip of his gun into Talen’s chest. “This guy is a con artist.”
I press myself against the side of the wall. “Jase, what are you doing?”
Talen doesn’t even budge. He glances at the gun, and then back up at Jase. His expression remains the same, undaunted by Jase’s threat.
Davis cocks his gun, raises it, and points it directly at Talen’s head. “Don’t even think about doing anything,” he warns Talen.
“Stop,” Emma hisses to her guard. “You’ll get us all killed. Talen was only disabled for a few seconds. He can’t hurt any of us now.”
Elias takes a step back. “Well, we don’t know what’s going to happen when we open that door. Everyone should be prepared.”
“I’ll just keep my gun on this one,” Jase says to an unflinching Talen. “If we go down, he will, too.”
“Fine,” Emma agrees in exasperation. “Now let’s move.”
We prepare ourselves for whatever might lie behind the door. Davis points his gun ahead, along with Elias. I cling to the side of the wall, hoping Talen hasn’t deceived us. My breath is loud and my pulse pounds in my ears.
“What are the access codes?” Elias demands, shifting his eyes to Talen.
“There are none,” he replies.
Jase laughs lowly. “Really? The EHC is going to just let us waltz in?”
“No.” Talen tries to turn toward the door, but Jase stops him.
“What are you doing?” Jase demands, his voice jittery.
Talen raises his hand to the door. “There’s a sensor. It will read my nano signature.”
Before Jase can argue with him, the hatch pops open. The space inside is dark, nearly as dark as it is outside. My throat tightens, and my chest feels as if it’s weighted down with a hundred boulders.
“Go,” Elias orders Talen first. Jase shifts positions and points his gun at Talen’s back. Together, they walk through.
I squeeze my eyes shut, waiting for the next sound, for shouts, gunfire, the sound of bodies hitting the ground, but when there’s nothing but silence, I slowly open my eyes to see Elias waving me forward. I slowly step away from the wall and follow the others inside. On the ground are three EHC operatives, lying face down, dead. At least, I think they’re dead.
Is it a trick? I wonder, swallowing back my fear.
Elias bends down and feels the first operative’s neck. “No pulse.”
Emma goes to the second man and does the same. “This one’s dead, too.” She goes to the third operative, feeling for any sign of life. “They’re all dead.”
I let my shoulders drop and take a deep breath. “He did it,” I whisper, horrified at the deaths, but relieved Talen kept his word.
“He told us the truth,” Elias says, probably to the disbelievers, but turning his gaze to Talen. Talen’s jaw is stiff, but then a slow grin eases across his face. His eyes are still distant, but there’s a glint of something there—humanity, I guess.
Emma turns to Jase. “Are you going to lower your gun now?”
Jase presses his lips together and steps back from Talen.
“Do you trust me now?” Talen asks him.
“Not really,” Jase says smugly.
I shake my head. “He just killed three members of the EHC. He wouldn’t have done that if the nanotech still controlled him.”
Jase remains silent. His grip on his gun loosens, but not by much.
We quietly move past the access point and into a lit tunnel. Track lighting lines the ceiling. Along the sides are secured wire and tubing which must provide electricity to the whole settlement. It’s an efficient base. There’s a clean, almost filtered smell to the air, like every element of dust and debris from the outside world has been replaced with pure oxygen. It refreshes my mind and clears my thoughts.
Several other access displays, like the one Talen bypassed, line the wall every few feet. With Talen at our side, we move past each one, their red lights flashing to green as he passes by each one. I glance around for cameras or other sensory detecting equipment. As if sensing my worries, Elias asks, “How do we know there’s no breach alert?”
“None detected,” Talen says, like he’s a part of the whole system.
Elias slows the group and turns to Talen. “How do you know?”
Talen marches to the next access point and Jase follows closely behind. He raises his hand to the display, holding it there for a few moments. With each passing second, Jase grows more agitated, chewing on his lower lip.
Davis’ eyes are wide as he stares at Talen. “How much longer?” he demands.
When Talen finally turns, Jase is nearly on top of him. “Well? Do they know or not?”
“Geez, Jase,” I say, irritated by hi
s behavior. “You need to relax.”
“Don’t tell me what to do,” he hisses back at me.
I throw my hands up in the air and move back beside Emma.
“Well?” Jase nudges Talen with his gun. “What’s going on?”
“There’s no breach alert,” Talen says, turning to face him. “We can move forward.”
“See?” I say to Jase. “We’re fine.”
“You’re too trusting,” he shoots back.
I move toward him, but Emma throws out her hand to stop me. “We don’t have time to argue. If we haven’t triggered a breach alert yet, we will soon enough when they’re unable to contact the access guards.”
Jase shoves Talen forward. “Let’s go.”
Talen glances back, but complies. As we walk, I attempt to clear my mind, allowing myself to make some calculations of our odds, but, honestly, the stress of this is winning. I can barely focus.
“How long is this tunnel?” Elias asks Talen. “Are we almost there?”
“Yes,” Talen replies. “Ahead is the uplink station. It will be manned by several guards, and—” He stops, going stiff.
“What is it?” Emma asks, coming to his side.
Talen’s eyes grow wide. He turns his head toward Jase, eyes wide. “Run.”
“What?” Jase raises his gun again to Talen’s chest, but there’s no time. He cries out and drops to his knees, his gun clattering to the ground as his eyes roll up into his head.
My chest tightens as I clutch my gun. Elias rushes to his side, shouting, “Jase!”
“What’s happening?” I scream at Talen. “What are you doing?”
Talen’s face grows pale. “It’s not me.”
“Get back!” Emma yells.
Davis raises his gun at Talen as the rest of us move back. “I told you we couldn’t trust him.”
Talen stands firm, shaking his head.
“Wait,” Emma orders Davis. She looks to the device still fitted securely to Talen’s chest and then to the switch in her hand. “I-I don’t know. It can’t be Talen doing this. Everything is rigged correctly. It must be—”
“It’s from ahead,” Talen announces grimly. “I’m sorry, but they know. Don’t shoot, or you are dead.”