Fugitives (The Silent Wars Book 2), page 16
The mercs were down to two, but that didn’t seem to cause them any concern. They split, one on either side of the corridor, and advanced, firing at the barricades. Eli hunkered down, lying flat on the floor, and watched their shadows. When they had to bunch to walk through the bottleneck Eli and his team had created with the office equipment, Eli pressed the triggering device in his pocket. The desks and tables closest to the mercs exploded, tossing the mercs into the air like rag dolls. Once the dust and debris settled, Eli and Ley moved forwards, rifles raised. They needn’t have bothered. The bodies lay still, their necks at a weird angle. Broken.
Standing over the mercs, Eli asked, “Think they’ll fit us?”
“You want us to wear the suits?”
“When you say it like that, it sounds like a bad idea.”
“I’m just surprised. Mad, but I love it.”
“Maybe we could, like, sneak into their FOB and kill the assholes.”
“You said the magic words.”
Even with Nox tugging on the ankle of the body Eli was pulling, he struggled to move the EV-suited merc. Colter, Jade and Pelle joined them in dragging the heavy bodies. They abandoned the barricaded corridor and moved into a small break room. Pelle bolted the door to the staff room after Eli was through. They had done all they could. Hopefully, it was enough.
“I got eyes on,” Colter said, activating his commpad. Eli looked at the screen. They watched as more mercs entered through the worm tunnels and gathered in front of the final set of blast doors that led to the control room. The additional sheets of metal that Pelle and his crew had welded to the doors made them look like a patchwork quilt from the old world. “The mercs are beginning to drill through the control room blast doors. Shit a brick, they have thermal charges.”
“They’re going for broke. Assholes,” Jade said.
“How long?” Eli asked.
“Fifteen minutes, twenty tops to drill deep enough. A few minutes to set the charges, then kaboom. Everything goes dark.”
“Then we better get these suits on quickly.”
Eli hated to lose. It sucked. More accurately, he hated being powerless to stop the superior force. Their attack on Lincoln had been slow and methodical. Resistance was to be expected. Not that it would do much good. Lincoln’s defeat was inevitable.
“Eli for Colonel Miller.”
“Go for Miller. Sitrep?”
“Delaying the mercs. They’re at the control room doors now. We’re working on something to take them out. Evac?”
“Nice work. Zapata, the kint, is slaughtering us like cattle. Before you ask, no. Faith and your mum are safe. Lucas is holding The Nine out of climate control.”
“How many?”
“No idea. It’s a mess, son. Bodies everywhere.”
Eli was surprised to hear a tremor in his father’s voice. He was used to Noah remaining stoic, whatever the circumstance. “I’m going to make him pay.”
“Give us as much time as you can. Evac is approx ninety percent done. That Patty knows the tunnels like no one else.”
“And the other thing?”
“All set. You have the green light.”
“Get everyone out. We’ll be at the nexus.” Eli went to switch off the radio but heard Noah saying something else. “Sorry, repeat.”
“I said. If things go south, I want you to know that you always made me proud, Eli. And I apologise for our behaviour during the last year.”
“Thanks. It’s nice to hear that. See you in Pitt.”
Turning away from the others in the group, Eli swallowed down the lump in his throat. The words he’d never thought to hear coming out of his father’s mouth still rattled around in his brain. Noah was proud of him, and he had apologised. Bill had been right. Years ago, when Eli had started to frequent The Crow’s Nest, he had confided in the kindly old shopkeeper. Bill had told him not to give up on his family, that everyone was capable of change. That we judge people on our understanding of them in the present, but don’t allow for what they can become, tomorrow.
At the time, it had sounded like a lot of self-help guru-type nonsense. Now that Eli was older, he saw the truth in it. He let the words invigorate him, give him renewed energy to keep fighting until he drew his last breath.
“Here,” Jade said. “I can programme the suit and code it to you. Maybe thirty minutes.” She handed Eli a helmet she had taken off one of the mercs. Eli murmured his thanks and gaped at the merc. It was difficult to determine the gender of the body inside the suit. The skin was pale and washed out, like it was made from concrete. No hair sprouted from anywhere. Its mouth was a tiny hole with no lips. But that wasn’t what fascinated Eli the most. It was the fact the merc had no eyelids, and the eyes were pools of obsidian. He had only seen eyes like that in one other person: Zapata.
“Lets them see in different light spectrums,” Jade said, as if reading his mind. “They’re made for war. Sexless and, some say, thoughtless. They follow orders to the letter and never waver in their loyalty to the mission operative.”
“Charming.”
“Yup. Another example of why I want to destroy whatever Dr Fisher has. With immortality, the Thule would be unstoppable.” Jade pressed a hidden button located in the merc’s collar, and the suit appeared to fold in on itself until it looked like the merc wore a full-body bathing costume. She pressed another button, and the EV suit broke apart, exposing the naked body. Eli couldn’t help but look at the groin area. Instead of genitals, there was nothing. Flesh and bone covered the area, apart from a small hole. The merc was all muscle, as though Michaelangelo had come back from the grave and sculpted the soldier.
Jade moved to the next dead body and repeated the process. Then she beckoned Eli and Ley over. “You two sure about this? These suits are serious hardware. Questions?”
“If it gives us an advantage, then yes, I’m ready,” Ley said.
“Eli?” Jade said.
“Nope.”
“Okay. Strip. You have to be naked for the suit to integrate with your body.”
Eli shrugged and started to remove his clothes. Ley looked over her shoulder at Pelle. The Cabal leader was grinning from ear to ear. Colter stood in front of him. “Eyes to the door.”
“C’mon! And miss the show?”
“Pelle,” Ley said.
“Fine. Spoil all my fun, why don’t ya?”
When he had turned, Ley quickly stripped and stood in front of Jade. The Echo flashed a smile and worked smoothly and efficiently, locking the suit onto Ley’s athletic figure. Eli marvelled at how the Thule suit moulded to her, fitting snugly like a second skin, albeit bulkier. In seconds, the suit expanded, leaving only her head exposed. Jade handed Ley the helmet. “Leave it off for now. It’s still recalibrating.”
Eli took a sharp intake of breath as the suit locked into place over his body. The sensation was foreign. Tingly, like pins and needles over the whole of his body.
The suit had little weight. Spending a few seconds taking in the technological wonder, Eli couldn’t help but feel a sense of power.
“Relax.”
“Okay.” Eli shut his eyes and calmed his racing mind as Nox rested his muzzle on Eli’s legs and let out a contented sigh. It was difficult to stay calm given the circumstances, but Eli understood that to implement the plan, he had to be focused.
Shuffling on her butt to sit opposite Eli, Ley rested her back against the wall and ignored the buzzing sensation vibrating through the suit. She couldn’t believe she had agreed to wear it so readily. Desperate times called for desperate measures. Something her father had often said. Ley had taken them to heart after their deaths, and they had served her well. Given her the fuel she needed to fight. She had fought hard to make the grade to join Falcon Legion, falling just short. Instead of letting that dictate her life, she had then fought to join the Watchers. Colter liked to tease her and say it was because Eli already had, but nothing was further from the truth. Ley had signed up because she wanted to protect others from what had befallen her parents.
Being a Watcher had led her to this moment. Times were indeed desperate, and she was taking the appropriate measures.
“How you feeling?” Jade sat down next to Ley and checked the readout in the helmet’s HUD.
“Exhausted. Tired. A little cranky.”
Jade flashed a grin. “The suit?”
“Strange, like it’s an extension of body. Kinda makes me feel powerful.”
“That’s the idea. Protect the wearer. Give them strength and agility while stopping projectiles.”
“I thought the Thule would have genetically modified natural armour by now.”
“They’re working on it still. I fought some soldiers in Africa who had skin as thick as a rhino. Too slow, though.”
“Weird. This is all so weird.”
“The situation? Or everything?”
“Everything.” Ley snorted. “I always thought I would end up like my cousins. Working in the orchards or farms. Applying to the council to have a couple of kids by now.”
“I know what you mean.”
“You do? I always took you for a soldier or some shit like that. Don’t Echoes get a career chosen for them?”
“Kinda.”
“Explain.”
Jade checked the readout on the suit’s built-in commpad again, and nudged Eli. He opened his eyes and gave a thumbs-up.
“Well,” Jade said, “it’s worse than that. Like you, we have to apply to have children. Take my parents, for example. Good citizens. My father was a university professor, lecturing on computer science. My mother was a software engineer. They met, fell in love. Think we can get married?”
“You can’t?”
“We can, but there is a process. First, when two people want to get married, they have to register at the department of marital affairs. You wait a couple of months, then they test you.”
Ley screwed up her face. “What for?”
“The department tests your DNA for both compatibility and to see your lineage. If you fit within the parameters, then you are given the certificate. It’s stamped, and you’re officially married. Only after you obtain that can you apply to have children.”
“Sounds like a load of bullshit to me. Checking your lineage for what? Your ethnicity?”
“More or less. You see, the department controls everything. They work out what kind of people are needed and where. So, let’s say we’re at war with the Asian Federation. They’ll need a bunch of soldiers with certain characteristics, right? My parents apply. They check their file, see that they’re compatible, and you’re approved to have children.”
“Plural? That’s nice. We only get approval one at a time.”
“Depends. Normally one, but sometimes up to three. And get this. They tell you the gender and, like you said, what their assigned career will be.”
Ley nodded, not quite sure what to think. Like most residents of Lincoln, she had fantasised about being an Echo and living on the surface. Clean air. Oceans. Trees and technology. And above all, not having to live in a mine. But she was beginning to realise that maybe the Gnats had it slightly better. In a way, they seemed to have more freedom.
“This whole thing about finding Fisher and destroying the knowledge. It’s taken me a while to understand it, but I can see why you fight so hard for it.”
“Oh yeah?”
“Yeah. Not sure if this the right time to get into it, though.” Ley gestured to the door leading to the tunnel beyond, and the mercs doing their darndest to break through into the control room.
“Now is the perfect time,” Jade said.
Nodding, Ley got her thoughts in order. “Humans have free will, therefore we desire freedom. If the Thule get what is essentially immortality, then their power would increase a thousandfold.”
“Yup. It’s bad now. The world would be their empire. Then the Moon, Mars, and so on.”
Ley glanced at the helmet’s HUD. The red circle she had seen earlier was now half green. She sucked in a deep breath and tried to calm the building nerves. Fighting The Nine and the mercs was one thing. Wearing a high-grade military suit was another. She needed to take her mind off it.
“Can I ask you something?”
“Sure,” Jade said.
“Obviously, your parents succeeded and had you and Reina. What were you assigned to be?”
“Infiltration. I work for the TSS. Thule Strategic Services.” Untying her red hair, Jade held up a strand. “This isn’t a genetic throwback from my ancestors. I was made, educated and trained to infiltrate the Euro Alliance. Specifically, the British Isles and Scandinavia. Reina was the backup. To the pride of our parents, we both excelled and thrived in the field.”
“I used to read about Europe at school. All the fairytales, and books about wars. Seems like the place was always in conflict.”
“Still is, in some areas. Britain is rebuilding. More land is habitable now. Most of Europe lives in the mountains. In a roundabout way, the TSS sending me to Europe was responsible for opening my eyes. I saw both the best of humanity and the worst. I saw people living in absolute poverty and wealth, all within the space of a few city blocks.”
“Wait,” Ley interrupted, confusion etched on her face. “Echoes have poverty?”
“No. Sorry. I should be clearer. Echoes live in moderate wealth. Gnats live in working slums. The Euro Alliance doesn’t mine the sea floors. Only UCA has the genetic knowledge to alter Gnats to survive down here.”
“Wow. Okay.”
“Europe mines, but in the old-fashioned way. From the surface.”
“And seeing that changed you?”
“Yeah. They don’t teach you much history down here, do they?”
“Not really. The major stuff. Who fought who. Who won. And why.”
“Same. But being an agent showed me the real reason we ended up like this. I met people. Talked. Listened to their opinions and ideas. Gathered bits of information and read a ton of books. It was tough. I was thinking things I wasn’t supposed to. I was educated to be a certain way. Protect the Thule and the United Countries of America. I did that, and it filled me with pride. But something was missing. Something didn’t feel right.”
“Like you’re listening to music that everyone hates, but to you it makes sense?” Ley said. She felt that way about jazz. It sounded messy to most, but to her, the messy all-over-the-place notes were poetry and pure. An ethereal experience.
“That’s a good analogy. Yeah, like that.” Jade checked the helmet and then the commpad before continuing. “The way I figure it, for thousands of years, humans had a shared faith. Where you lived determined what you believed in.”
“You mean religion?”
Jade nodded.
Colter, watching the camera feeds, whistled sharply to get everyone’s attention. “Mercs have finished drilling and are rigging up their explosive devices. We have a few minutes, tops.”
“How long till the suits are ready, Jade?” Eli said.
“Another five minutes.”
“Going to be close.”
Pelle slammed a fresh crossbow magazine into his weapon. “Ready when you losers are.”
“Calm down. All in good time,” Colter said.
Ley shook her head and refocused on Jade. She was interested in what the Echo was saying. Her way of thinking was enlightening. Plus, it kept her mind off what they had to do. “Religion?”
“Right, yes. Religion. Ask most people what religion is, and they’ll say it’s a belief, or faith in a higher being. That higher power loves you and has teachings to guide you. When you die, you will be judged on your life, and either you end up in heaven or hell. Something like that.”
“Right. Plenty of that in Lincoln.”
“I’m sure. Now, I’m generalising a bit for the sake of making my point. During the mid-twentieth century, a culture shift happened. People enjoyed a golden era of peace, and an economic boom. People had an abundance of free time and began to explore different philosophies, expand their minds.”
“I don’t see how that is bad, though,” Ley said. “All nations under God. Religious freedom for all.”
“Agreed, but I don’t think they were thinking about other religions per se — just different sects of Christianity. Anway, I’m going off on a tangent. With all this freedom and security, people lost fear. They didn’t have to be afraid. Our military was the most powerful, and our allies were the same. While our minds expanded from the religious doctrine, we stopped being concerned about faith. We felt indestructible. We didn’t care. Churches closed from lack of members and the focus turned to acquiring wealth and fame.”
“You’re talking about humanity losing morals and a grounding of ethics. I’ve talked about this with Maureen many times. The general population needs religion because it gives them a moral soundboard, in a simple way. Easy to understand. Don’t be a kint.”
Jade barked out a laugh, then unplugged the commpad from the suit’s helmet. “Exactly. Three hundred years ago, most humans were low on intelligence. People screamed when they didn’t get what they wanted, and only thought about themselves. Nearly doomed us to extinction.”
“Nature finds a way.”
“However it can. Ready?”
“I suppose.”
The Echo placed the helmet over Ley’s head. Something snug snapped onto her skull, and she felt a slight sting for a moment.
Jade tapped her right ear. “Can you hear me?”
“Five by five.”
“Try turning on the rifle.”
Ley fiddled with the stock before realising she had to grip it properly. Immediately, the weapon hummed under her touch. In her HUD, her ammunition count showed. One hundred and fifty-five rounds left. “It’s on.”
“Good. That device on your head amplifies your brain waves. The suit should be calibrated. Try selecting a firing rate.”
“How?”
“Think it.”
Ley pushed aside her apprehension and thought of three rounds. In the HUD, a red symbol of three bullets flashed and a chime sounded in her left ear. “Got it.”
