by Harper North
“Do what she says,” he orders, voice shaking. “Guns down. I’ll take full responsibility for disappointing the Savior.”
One by one, the men lower their weapons, placing them on the floor.
“Now kick them over here,” I command.
They do. Eight guns slide along the concrete, stopping halfway to us.
I lean close to General Cho’s ear, the one on the opposite side of his head from my weapon. “Tell us the least guarded way out.”
“Move back,” he tells his men. “Close the door.”
“Lacy, Talen, grab the guns.” I hope I’m not making a mistake. “Don’t shoot them unless you have to. We need to get out of here as quietly as we can.”
“I can kill them if I get closer,” Lacy says. “The fields around here are stopping me right now.”
“Then they might scream,” I hiss.
Lacy and Talen gather the weapons while the SNA ops press against the wall. One closes the door to the main room, the one with the pit.
Weren’t there more than eight ops down by the hole?
The others must be ready to surprise us on the balcony and General Cho knows.
“Tell us the least guarded way out,” I repeat to him. “And not through the balcony where you have ops waiting.”
More sweat appears on his temples as Lacy and Talen return with the guns. Cho gulps. “We found an exit down in the pit. There’s a service ladder that leads to a door, and then a tunnel that runs power through Ethos.”
“Take us there,” Elias says, straightening and wincing. He can walk, albeit with a limp. His wound is already healing, and the blood has gone from a gush to a gradual flow.
“I’ll hold him,” Sky says.
“No. I’ve got it,” I tell him.
“Aura ops, take down any guards we find,” Elias orders. “Fin, don’t loosen your grip. We don’t know what he can do.”
I think of the rigged bodies again and tighten my arm around his neck. General Cho struggles for breath as I force him past the now-unarmed ops. They stand against the wall. Maybe we should kill them, but I glimpse eyes full of fear. Of us, or this ‘Savior,’ I don’t know.
The platform around the pit is bare. Looking up, I spot movement on the grated balcony. Boots appear between the pipe and wire networks. I’m right about the ambush.
“Don’t shoot!” I shout at them. “We have your general. One shot, and his head comes off.” Then I whisper to him, “Do what we say, and we might let you live.”
Cho doesn’t dare struggle. I force him across the room with my strength, making his pace match ours. Heat hits me in the face, and I take a breath of air hotter than outside during the peak of the day.
“The ladder is over there,” he says, lifting a hand to point, his finger shaking.
My neck prickles. I know ops have guns trained on the back of my head. As if sensing my dread, Sky stands behind me, walking backwards and facing the balcony.
“He’s right,” Elias says. “There’s a ladder.”
“How do I know you’re not leading us into a trap?” I ask, shoving Cho forward.
He staggers, but I hold him up. “I’m going down there, too. The service entrance is just ten meters down. If we hurry, the heat won’t damage us.”
“I don’t trust him,” Talen says.
“We have no choice,” I say. Once we reach the ladder, I let go of Cho and keep my gun aimed at his head. With his hands up, he approaches the ladder, crouches, swings his legs over, and climbs down.
“Keep your guns on him,” Elias orders. “Lacy, you next. If he tries to run, kill him.”
She heads down, taking the rungs two at a time. I go next, scaling the ladder in just a few seconds and landing next to them. Lacy holds Cho’s arm, and he doesn’t try to break away. He’s seen what an Impure like her can do.
My skin burns as the others come down the ladder, finishing the trip in seconds. Huge pipes drop into the earth and the orange glow continues far below. This balcony’s solid, keeping some of the heat off us, but it doesn’t help much. Whatever’s down there, Cho fears it, and that might be a good thing. I wonder if the EHC was pumping molten rock from the hotspot to power their cities.
Sky comes down to stand beside Talen. The Aura and the last EHC op follow.
Something clicks.
Sky rams into me, shoving me into the wall. “Get back!”
A muffled pop follows, and sparks fly off the railing where I stood half a second before. Snipers.
“Go!” Elias shouts.
We should shoot Cho and make good on our threat, but he waves us around the balcony and runs through the wavering air. “This way!”
We might need him.
Pushing to the front, I aim my pistol at the back of his head as shots ring out from above, but his footfalls tap metal as he reaches a rusted door and pulls it open, revealing a tunnel with a pipe running along its length. The general darts in first and keeps running. Sky shoves me from behind, launching me into the passage. Bullets ping off pipes and railings as I flail and catch my balance. Sky and Elias let Lacy and Talen enter, and Elias gets one shot off before he closes the door.
Silence falls over us.
“Where is the other op?” Talen asks. “And Tessie X05?”
Grabbing his leg again, Elias shakes his head with a grimace.
They didn’t make it.
“Don’t stop,” Elias says. “The SNA won’t stand for us taking one of their generals.”
He’s right. I face Cho, who bolts down the tunnel. His footfalls echo off the walls. The tunnel doesn’t curve, giving me a clear shot.
“Where are you going?” I call after him. “Stop, or I’ll shoot!”
He obeys, whirling to face me. “You’re going to kill me anyway.”
“Maybe not,” I say. “We can still squeeze some info out of you.” He didn’t kill Drape, I tell myself. Morris did, and he died a horrible death. But I curl my finger around the trigger and point my pistol at him anyway. Cho might have played a part in the first attack on Ethos. “We’ll see.”
“Let me kill him,” Lacy says. “He’s just going to stab us in the back.”
“He might be useful,” I tell her.
“Everyone,” Elias says. “Move out. The SNA might know where this tunnel leads, and we need Cho.”
* * * * *
“Do you have any GPS trackers on you?” Elias asks as we take another fork in the tunnel. Turns out the tunnel leading from the pit leads to a network of tunnels under the city of Ethos. Pipes split, and with them the service passages. What the pipes carry, I’m not sure.
“No,” Cho says. “The Savior doesn’t install GPS on his soldiers.” Sweat drips into his eyes and he wipes it away. The tunnels are nowhere near as hot as the pit, but the heat’s still high enough to get to us.
I swallow, a feat without much spit left in me. We need water, and soon.
Sky keeps his arm around the general’s neck now. He keeps a pistol aimed at his head. I’m glad he’s giving me a break, though I didn’t mind bossing Cho around.
“Install?” I ask. “He treats you like machines?”
“The current Savior’s grandfather saved us from the radiation,” Cho explains. “It was his inventions that allowed humans to continue to live on the surface. Now his grandson is the Savior and keeps our technology up to date. Unlike the EHC, the SNA didn’t force some of its people underground. We are all equals.” Cho talks as if he’s reading off a script. As he does, he eyes his forearm. “We in the Sovereign Nerics Alliance have no need to modify our genetics and become Impure.”
A shudder races over me. We’re the Impure.
“Spout that propaganda,” Lacy says.
“No kidding,” I mutter. “And who is this Savior? How do you survive on the surface?”
“He has no name,” Cho says. “He is the one who allows those dedicated to the SNA to keep living.”
“Why do you sound like you’re saying lines?” I ask.
/> Cho snaps his gaze up at me. “I’m purified.”
“He sounds scared,” Sky says.
I agree. Cho’s acting like he’s afraid the Savior will find out if he dares mess up a word or two, even when he’s in a tunnel with us rats.
“Elias, have you heard from Emma or Reinhart?” I ask. “We need to get out of here soon before we all die of thirst.”
“I can’t get a signal out in these tunnels,” Elias says.
Talen coughs. “The electromagnetic fields here are high and jumble signals. I believe we’re underneath the storage tunnels of Ethos. We should be able to climb into them and have them send a hover if there aren’t too many SNA ships in the area.”
“Must be wires in the pipes,” Lacy says, pointing up. “I feel it too. I could barely kill those guards back in the complex.”
After taking a few more forks, Talen points to yet another service ladder. “Let me climb up first,” he says. He does, opening a hatch at the top and taking a moment to look out. “All clear. We’re in a tunnel. Send Cho up first and I’ll make sure he doesn’t run. The fields are far less up here, so I should be able to stop him if he tries.”
“Did you hear that?” I ask Cho.
He nods.
Sky loosens his grip and Cho climbs the ladder with Lacy at his back. The rest of us climb after them into a wide tunnel meant for moving crates. Some remains of them lie broken, as if people came through and looted for supplies. Sniffing, I pick up the stench of ashes and chemicals. We’re under the bombed section of the city. I step over old wooden planks and wait for Sky. Talen and Lacy stand on either side of Cho. Though neither hold his arms, he doesn’t try to run.
“Try for a signal again,” I tell Elias.
Turning away from me and Sky, he dials on his radio. “Emma? Are you in?”
“I’ve been so worried about you! Have you disrupted the power facility?”
“No, but we have a hostage who might know how we can go for the throat. And we downloaded intel. Send us a hover.” Elias turns to Talen. “Where are we?”
Talen nods and runs his hand down painted letters on a concrete pillar. “Sector 8B in Ethos.”
Elias relays the info.
“Sending one now. Over. Beware. SNA hovers have been spotted in that area and most civilians have fled. They’re likely trying to find computer terminals buried in the rubble so they can open the whole perimeter. You’re close to the former EHC headquarters.”
I look at Sky. “They’re trying to open the border from here.”
He takes my hand and squeezes. “Don’t think about it, Fin. Getting out of here has to come first.”
“We can stop them,” I say. “We’re here, Morris is dead, and we might not have another chance.”
CHAPTER 5
“GOING OUT THERE in the blast zone is suicide,” Sky says to me. “We already have the general, and Emma should be able to help us if there’s any tech in him. The SNA has to have some way to survive the surface that isn’t genetic.”
He’s right, but it’s also true the SNA hasn’t cracked Bellaton’s private networks yet. “If the SNA opens the border all the way, everyone in the EHC area will die. Or they’ll turn these people into slaves.”
“We don’t know that,” Sky protests.
“You heard Cho. The modified are ‘Impure.’”
“Fin’s right,” Lacy says. “If we can find where the headquarters used to be, we can stop the border from opening.” She looks to Talen, as if waiting for him to agree. Talen reaches out to grip Cho’s arm and nods.
Sky sighs and glares at Talen. “See what Emma and Reinhart say, then.”
Elias lifts the radio. “Reinhart. We need you. Over.”
“Yes?” He’s impatient.
Sky bites his lip as Elias speaks. “We’re very close to Bellaton’s office. She had the codes to drop the whole border, right?”
“Correct. But the office is destroyed, along with her computers. Get back to base and I’ll discuss what to do next.” He leaves no room for arguments.
“Wait.” Emma’s voice comes through the radio. “Anyone with intelligence will back up their information and their passwords. She must have if she feared an attack from the SNA. That means if the SNA can bring out coders and hackers, they may be able to access that information.”
Reinhart pauses. Silence drags out. “The SNA can’t access her codes.”
“Are you sure?” Emma asks. “You once mentioned she used underground servers and data storage in case of an attack. They’re isolated to avoid hacking attempts from outside the city.”
Reinhart shuts up for a moment. A smile creeps onto my face, but Sky keeps his lips locked in a frown.
“Perhaps there is a small chance the SNA could access those servers,” he says. “But it is very remote—”
“Put your ego aside! You’re not right all the time!” Emma shouts. “We can have a couple of people bring this general back for interrogation, and we’ll drop off more troops and supplies to back up those who stay behind. After what happened, our teams may never get back to where they are now.”
“Where are these servers?” Elias asks. “If they’re underground, it may not be suicide to reach them.” He glances at me.
“Blowing them up is the best option we have,” Reinhart says. “Do that, and the SNA will never lift the perimeter outside of a complete power failure.”
Now he’s trying to save face and take over. Sky glares at Elias.
“But we are not sure our hover will reach your location or leave,” Reinhart says. “We are sending a civilian hover to attract less attention. Troops will meet you at your location. Tell us when the mission is complete, and we will send another hover to meet you at the same location.”
A click follows. We wait now. Sky paces, saying nothing.
“This is the best way,” I tell him, turning my back on Elias. I know what Elias’s doing. He’s trying to put a wedge between Sky and me.
“People die every time we go on a mission,” Sky says.
“Bellaton’s servers might tell us where this plume is that the SNA wants,” I insist. “We could disrupt them for sure and stop the attacks.”
“True,” Sky says, nodding at me. “But if Reinhart couldn’t even access them, how can we? And we might already have that info from the complex or even from Cho.”
“We’ll find a way. Download some information. Then we blow up the place. It’s possible the SNA has cracked the security doors for us already, and maybe even some passwords on the computers.” I lead him behind a pillar. Overhead, the light flickers weakly. Power out here is unstable. “And Bellaton’s gone now. She can’t stop us.”
Sky takes my arms. “I’m tired of people dying under our watch.” His eyes turn soft. Tender. But his grip is that of a warrior. Sky is a protector—a much better one than me—but now he’s doubting himself. We’re the same.
I swallow. “So am I.”
He kisses me, holding me so tight I can’t breathe, but he chases away the war and the death.
We kiss until Elias clears his throat. I break away from Sky to find Elias leaning against another pillar.
“The troops just got here,” Elias says before he stalks off.
The small hover waits on the surface in an alley between two apartment buildings. When I climb the ladder and step out, I find Talen and Lacy holding General Cho by the arms. An EHC op handcuffs him and pushes him into the hover as more EHC ops get out. He’s going to Emma. Sky also hands his drive to the pilot of the hover to take back to base. Emma can check that out, too.
Another hover hums overhead and briefly blocks out the sunlight. Looking up, I see the SNA symbol flying overhead, but the large ship doesn’t stop for us. The buildings no longer show our wanted faces or label us terrorists. Now they hide us. No people besides us walk around. Many of the windows hang open, busted from shock waves, but no lights shine from inside them. The power’s been cut to the center of the city.
Once the
six new EHC ops have disembarked, the civilian hover rises and vanishes over the apartments with General Cho. Elias passes out water bottles, which we suck down. The headache that’s been forming around my eyes goes away as I drink.
“Back under,” Elias says. “Talen, can you show us the way to the servers? Have you been there before? If not, I’ll have to chat with Reinhart again.”
“I can,” Talen replies. “Lacy and I will lead the way. We have another mile to go before we reach the server room. Since there’s less noise here, we should be able to take care of the SNA guards.”
“And we can sense if they have explosives installed,” Lacy adds. “Soldiers with them feel different to us.”
“Good,” Elias says.
Sky nods. “If the ones by the door blew up, others might, too. Nobody go near dead bodies until Talen and Lacy give the all clear.”
We climb back down through the manhole. Cooler air washes over me, and I breathe a sigh of relief. Talen and Lacy lead us through the storage passages. We walk without problems for about fifteen minutes, and then a narrow passage going to the left appears from the semi-dark.
“Restricted Access,” Lacy reads from a sign above the hallway.
“Then we’re headed the right way,” I say, raising my pistol.
“There will be sealed doors,” Talen says. “The SNA may have opened them already.” He pushes ahead of Lacy as if trying to form a human shield for her. Lacy sighs and follows.
Talen’s right. We pass under a flickering light. On the other side stands a metal door that’s already been cut through, and then another and another. Bloody streaks mark the floor and the air reeks of iron.
“What happened here?” an EHC op asks.
“Bellaton’s servers were always guarded, and with plenty of emergency power supply backups,” Talen explains without emotion. He speaks as if his nanos are blocking his feelings again, but he must be blocking his emotions himself. “SNA ops must have sacrificed themselves to get through. They cut through these doors and died when the lasers shot out of the walls.”
“Why?” I ask. “Why walk into a trap?”