Changing Tides (16 page)

“Brett!” Orion spun on his heel. “I’m willing to die for a chance at true freedom. The freedom spoken about in hushed stories, tales only whispered about. The freedom my family died for! I’ll give up my life so this country can be free. If you can’t, do not stand in the way of those of us who can.”

Orion turned back around and left. He cared about Brett and was certain Brett cared about him too, but in the face of the coming war, it wasn’t enough. He couldn’t go against everything he’d known, everything he’d gone through for one person. He didn’t have it in him to turn his back on the people who were the only remaining connection he had to his family. Tears formed, and Orion blinked rapidly, refusing to let them fall.

Thompson caught up with him before he’d gone more than a dozen feet.

“What about DeMarco?” Thompson asked.

Orion stopped and turned to the bodyguard. “If he wants to fight, give him weapons and put him in a vehicle. If he doesn’t, he’s a liability and needs to be separated and secured.”

“You don’t—”

Orion shook his head. “No, he’s earned his life. We don’t renege on our word,” Orion replied. He wanted to see Brett one more time, wanted one more hug. “He’s a good man, but he doesn’t understand this war and our mission in the same way we do.”

“Yes, Sir.” Thompson nodded. “Paul said the new messages are ready to be released. Including the one DeMarco asked for.”

“Thank you.” Orion looked back through the rows of vehicles and sighed. Paul had told him what Brett had asked of him. That information was to be passed to specific people before the video was released.

Paul hadn’t told him what was on the disc, only that it was horrifying. Orion wanted to know more. To know why this man and these messages were important, but he’d wanted Brett to tell him. To trust him. He hadn’t.

Orion clenched and unclenched his fists. He’d hoped that someday Brett would trust him. Orion only hoped it happened before his heart became too attached to Brett. “Let Brett know what Paul said.”

“Yes, Sir.”

Orion waited until Thompson had turned to leave before continuing onto his vehicle. He probably should have waited for Brett’s answer, for Brett to actually tell him he wasn’t going to fight with them after all. Orion bit hit his lip and climbed into the truck.

No, he decided, Brett was a man of honor. He would fight with them. He just didn’t know the full extent to which Orion’s life was tied to this. Nobody truly did. Most of the people who’d known were dead. It was better that way, lonely, but better.

His parents and several of their most trusted friends had started the CFA when they were young, after reading about what Aelland had been like before and learning of other rebel groups and their fates. Orion was his parents’ firstborn, the one they’d pinned the future of the country on. They’d willingly given him over to the mission when they’d realized that success would be a long time coming. They’d allowed a doctor friend to concoct a drink that would paralyze his vocal chords, stopping parts of puberty and rushing others. He’d been taught all his life of his need to infiltrate and gather information for them. It had been a game at first then it had become real.

Eight months before his mother’s death, he’d been on his way home from soccer practice after school and had seen his mother’s boss kiss then shoot a woman he hadn’t recognized, but who looked similar to his mother’s sister. Two days later, he heard his mother’s boss had committed suicide. Years later, he discovered the woman he’d seen killed had turned double agent against the rebel group she’d been working with and the man who’d shot her was killed after it was learned that he had joined the group he’d originally intended to destroy. He could never figure out if anything he said had made either of the outcomes a reality, or if it was simply being in the right place at the right time, but it did serve to teach him that he wasn’t playing a game.

After his mother’s death, the extent of his parents’ plans was revealed to him. His parents’ friends had continued to use him to gather information, to teach him to use weapons and stay invisible. He’d learned what was valuable to whom and how to get what he wanted or needed through actions and misdirection.

Even his love life was pre-planned. Love, relationships, even marriage weren’t meant for him. They were for others. They would only complicate his life and could be used against him. Until now, he’d been okay with that and had understood their reasoning. They were a person’s vulnerable point. Now though, he wanted more. He wanted to love and be loved. To spend his life with one person. He didn’t need marriage or kids or even to be classified as more than a manual laborer bordering on idiocy for the rest of his life. He needed and wanted Brett.

Metal creaked and groaned, pulling him from his thoughts.

He squeezed his eyes shut then opened them. Dreams were for others.

He turned his attention to the newcomer. Liz. At least, the driver was someone he knew and mostly trusted.

“Ready for this, Sir?” Venom and excitement laced the woman’s voice.

Orion shrugged. “As ready as I’ll ever be.”

Liz nodded and plugged her headset into the console. “Where are your friends? The others?” She asked. “Are we waiting on them?”

“Coming,” Orion answered flatly. He hadn’t waited on purpose. He wasn’t ready to admit how much he’d fallen for Brett, how much the man’s answer would affect him. He had wanted to go into this battle in ignorant bliss, the illusion of Brett’s affection wrapped around him.

The back doors opened and several men and women climbed in, preventing Liz from saying anything else and Orion from expounding on his feelings. Orion wasn’t ready or able to articulate everything that was going on between him and Brett. He wasn’t sure himself.

Bracing himself, he turned and checked that all the members of his unit were with him. It would’ve been easy to swap with someone else or to use the pending chaos to get into another vehicle, but he couldn’t. He had his mission and responsibilities. What happened between him and Brett could not, would not, deter that.

Relief swamped him when he saw Brett sat behind Thompson. Weapons were checked. An ammo can was kicked. One last check revealed there were three radios among the ten of them. Finally, the noise died down, leaving only the rumbling of the truck.

Somebody pounded on the door and yelled, “Go!”

Liz put the truck in gear and headed out of the underground garage. The garage, like the tunnels and buildings, was part of a city buried and long forgotten when Landry Park was built atop it.

Orion’s body tensed. He prayed they would succeed. Whispered conversations silenced as the remains of the old city came into view before colliding with the new city. Angry shouts and noise from the protesters filled the night air. Sporadic gunfire answered. Thunder rumbled, and darkness engulfed the night.

“What the—” someone asked.

“The lights went out,” a woman answered.

Orion ignored the ensuing conversation and stared into the night. Buildings, light posts, signs—everything was dark. Even the telltale red lights on the cameras were out. The question was who had taken down the electrical grid and how far out did it span? The base was self-sufficient, but would the ease of leaving the city mean heavier security once they arrived at their destination?

Gunfire erupted again, the sounds echoing off the buildings. Orion wasn’t an expert, and it was hard to tell what direction it came from and more importantly who it was aimed at. In an effort to minimize causalities and discovery, multiple routes had been mapped out for once they’d left the underground city. If some of their people had stumbled across security forces, it could be catastrophic.

Orion’s stomach flipped, and he continued to watch the roadside.

The radio crackled to life. “Protesters took out the grid. Taking fire from Security Forces. Delta Company deviate and intercept Security Force. Join Foxtrot. All vehicles reveal CFA logos. Avoid friendly fire.”

Chapter Eleven

Brett sat against the stiff, leather seat, staring ahead at Orion. He still wasn’t sure what he’d said or done to piss off Orion. His lover was an intelligent man. There was no way Orion could miss or underestimate his value and importance to these people. Orion’s life was of the utmost importance and not simply because Brett wanted him in his life until they were both old and gray. Thompson hadn’t offered any insightful information when he’d asked him after the other man came to ask him if he was still fighting or not. He’d merely scowled until Brett had answered he would be fighting. Brett wasn’t sure if it was because the other man genuinely didn’t know how he’d pissed Orion off or if he still didn’t approve of him. Thompson had brought along two other armed men.

Tension wrapped around Brett as they proceeded through the city. He jammed a hand through his hair and stared out the window. The ten-passenger, armored vehicle stuttered to a halt, throwing off Brett’s center of gravity as he sat on the edge of the seat.

“Thompson. Jackson. Strip the decal,” Orion ordered.

“Yes, Sir.”

Both men jumped from the vehicle. The woman next to Brett did the same. Brett followed, flipped the safety off on his weapon and watched the roadside surrounding them. They hadn’t cleared the upscale area of the city yet. Nothing moved. There were no shadows. The harsh lights the government used were dark. Explosions echoed around the city as the few backup generators were destroyed. Even the moon was hidden.

From the corner of his eye, he saw Thompson pick at a spot on the door. Slowly, the words “Citizens for a Free Aelland” appeared along with an eagle shredding black, crossed weapons on a background of red. The logos had been painted on the vehicles then covered until the majority of the group got out of the city.

“DeMarco, get in!” Thompson yelled.

Brett nodded and climbed into the vehicle. Jackson and the woman appeared from the other side. The driver shifted into gear, and the large vehicle lurched forward. With two trucks in front of them and an assortment of four more vehicles behind them, they lumbered along the designated route toward the base that had been his home.

Brett forced the thoughts from his head. Security Forces and the government were no longer his family, neighbors or friends. They were the enemy. Live or die, it would be on the side of a free Aelland. Staring out the window, he listened to the conversations around him. The men and women behind him talked quietly about where they came from and how they got involved with the movement. They talked about a side of life Brett had never seen or experienced, one of constant fear and poverty.

Growing up as the son of a Security Forces officer, he’d never been to a city school, had never lived anywhere but on a base and had never gone shopping off-base until he’d turned eighteen. Even then, he hadn’t seen the reality. Phones were tapped, cameras were everywhere, seventy percent of income went to the government and medical care was nearly impossible to access. The discussion behind Brett turned to underground art and literature and the hope that a new government meant less restrictions.

Brett scrubbed his hands over his face as the city disappeared. It bothered him that he hadn’t known the truth. If he hadn’t driven through the city and run through other parts of it, he might have never known the truth. How many others didn’t know? How many simply didn’t care? He wondered what Taren had known or how he would’ve reacted once he’d found out. Brett already knew Orion’s actions. His lover was prepared to die for the people and the cause. Would Taren be disappointed in Brett now? Or would he be proud? He had been close to Taren, but he still couldn’t tell which side his fiancé would have been on. It was disheartening, leading him to wonder how well they’d really known each other. Orion was completely committed to this cause with or without Brett.

He smiled at the thought. Orion might not need him, but Orion had wanted him safe, to understand what was coming. Brett wanted Orion, and for that, their mission needed to succeed. Neither would be free if they didn’t. They would succeed or die trying. Orion’s mission had become Brett’s. As the scenery passed, discomfort became tension and anticipation. Fear and adrenaline coursed through his body. Brett bit his lip. The countryside surrounding them was dark, but he thought he recognized some of it.

“Five minutes!”

The buzz of activity was deafening after the near silence. The hatch in the vehicle’s roof was opened, and Brett climbed up. Once a machine gun was secured and loaded, Thompson passed him up a helmet and a pair of night vision goggles. Brett widened his stance to maintain his balance in the moving vehicle.

The first shots came from in front of them, their distinctive sound cutting through everything. Light filled the night sky. The truck in front of them veered slightly to the left. They went to the right. The truck behind them went straight. The metal fencing hung in a twisted mass on either side of the entrance to the base. The gatehouse was empty, free of bodies or debris. One by one, the floodlights illuminating the area exploded as they were shot out. Darkness slowly engulfed the area.

They pushed through the rubble. Their truck turned sharply to the right, heading for the center of the base. Brett took out lights and cameras wherever he saw them. Sirens from security vehicles echoed through the night, the blue and red lights tossing eerie glows against the buildings.

Brett waited until shots were fired before returning fire. He prayed for the innocent, knowing that if they lost this battle, this war, everyone would pay. Bullets ricocheted off the truck. They veered left, and he realized they were headed for Brigadier General Reynolds’ office. He didn’t know what Orion had planned, but Brett knew the general would never surrender. Light flooded the area as men and women ran from the buildings, and Brett was certain everyone was trying to get to their duty stations. Few people were allowed to carry weapons. It was automatically life in prison for any unauthorized person caught with any weapon. Weapons had been banned over a century ago for anyone outside the government.