Raiders (14 page)

The water rushed over them as it desperately tried to seek the center earth for a balanced state that it would never ever find. And the streaks of soap were no more, washed away.

Whirling, whirling down.

Calliope stumbled out of
The Afterlife
which was a small pub that was socked away in the poorly lit Level Five. Mirabella, Dusty, Kama and Ryan clamored out and onto the road immediately after. A woman in her later fifties pedaled by them with a discounted look followed by a
harrumph
. The girls laughed and then wobbled their way to a nearby access ramp in an effort to reach the Night Markets, two levels higher.

The road was palpably deserted and heavily shadowed up and stretched into the distance. Shoppes numbered few on Level Five since it was a reserved level for future expansion as the City population grew. Levels Six and Seven were completely empty below. They were dark and silent places as they waited for the future generation to fill them.

“So what are we gonna do now?” Mirabella slurred out to the group.

“I’m game for anything,” Dusty said. “I don’t have to work for the next two days.”

“I don’t know. Anyone have any ideas?” Kama asked. Earlier she drank four shots and six beers.

“Oh my God, you know what would be crazy?” Mirabella said. She stopped in her tracks and the group followed suit. They slapped into one another as if they were a vaudeville comedy troupe. Mirabella waved her hands in the air. “Guys. We should just go. Like, go out of the City. .”

Calliope shook her head violently. “No Bella. No, that’s a dumb idea. We’ll get hurt or killed. .”

“Come on,” Mirabella said and then faced Kama. “Who is gonna do anything when Kama's with us? Hell she can probably kill a wild bear from clear across the freakin' City for chrissakes.”

Kama said, “She's right. I’m in no shape for that.” She stumbled to keep her balance in place.

“Oh come on,” Mirabella continued to protest. “We’ll just go out like ten kilometers. It’ll be so fucking cool! None of us have ever been that far out!”

“No. She’s right.” Kama looked at Calliope who still shook her head side to side slowly. “It’s not a good idea.”.

Ryan said, “I think we’ll be fine. I say we do it.”

Calliope said with a huff and a flap of her arms, “Jesus, okay. Fine I’ll go I guess. But we got and come right back. Kay?”

Mirabella said, “Fine. Can you get us out there Kama?”

Kama scrutinized the thought for a moment. For everyone else the Wastes were a forbidden and dangerous place but for Kama it was nothing particularly scary or impassable. “Alright. But on one condition,” she said.

“What?”

Kama said, “I’ll have to get my Coilgun and armor first. You never know what we're gonna find out there.”

Forty minutes later they arrived at Kama’s Pod where they waited in the master room while Kama changed into her leather battlesuit.. She emerged from her bedroom in her leather armor gear, her Coilgun in hand.  “I have seventy three rounds, I think that should be fine for anything,” she said as she inspected the gun’s forestock. She adjusted her headgear and said, “Okay, now I’m ready. Let’s go.”

The group made their way to Gate Six. The gate was guarded by two soldiers. Kama said, “Let me do the talking. Don’t say anything.” The group responded with a nod.. She walked up to one of the guards and said, “Hello soldier.”

The Technical Sergeant saluted her and said, “Evening Lieutenant. Nothing to report here. Gate is nominal. All quiet.” He lowered his voice to a whisper and then asked Kama, “Why are you wearing that ma’am? Just curious.”

Kama matched his hushed tone with her own subdued voice. “See those kids over there? They are potential recruits for Military service. They want to see what it’s all about so I’m gonna take them around the Wall for a few laps.” She paused for a few seconds then whispered, “I’m just showing off But it’s for a good cause.” And then she winked at the guard.

“Think that'll work?” The Sergeant asked. He could smell the booze all over her but said nothing, standard procedure for dealing with a superior.

“Look at them, they’re just kids. One ride inside a transport and they’ll be hooked.”

The Sergeant peeked around Kama’s shoulder and looked at the group. W They stood about twenty meters away near an oversized yellow and black striped line painted onto the floor.

Calliope improvised a wink at the young Sergeant. The Sergeant quickly smiled and then wiped it away. “Okay, fine. I don’t have clearance for anyone to take out a transport but you are my superior officer after all.”

Kama said, “I’ll have it back before you know it. Don’t worry.”

“Yes, ma’am.” He motioned for the group to step forward. They gathered around the Sergeant and Kama. “Welcome to Gate Six, I am Sergeant Hall. As civilians you will be required to wear some extra gear and also sign a waiver. Lieutenant Kama here wants to take you in a transport vehicle. It is very slow and kinda rough. This is a serious machine meant for combat. It is not a toy. The armor plating should keep you safe enough. Follow the Lieutenant’s orders here and you'll be fine. Everyone understand?”

“Yes sir!” They all said together. Sergeant Hall escorted the group into one of the vehicle storage bays which lined the thirty meter wide Gate entrance.

He demonstrated using Calliope as a volunteer on how to put on the armor pieces. “They are totally modular and what I mean by that is that you can remove individual pieces if you have to, or even add them. First you put on the kidney belt like this.” He wrapped the light armor belt around Calliope’s waist and snugged it in then loosened it back a little. “Just push in on this clasp here and you can quickly adjust its fit. Give yourself enough room to breathe and move. All the pieces are flexible so you all should have no issues.” The Sergeant went on to apply the vest and leg pieces onto Calliope. “See that? They all go on the same way. Strap and snap, easy peasy. Everyone got it?”

The group stood silent for a moment then said, “Yes!” except for Kama who stood in quiet observance.

Sergeant Hall handed them the armor from the wall storage unit one at a time. “Whatever you do, do not remove these. It’s for your own protection. Also, grab a cover from the stow.”

“Cover, sir?” Mirabella said to Sergeant Hall while she strapped on the light armor vest.

“Helmet. We call it a cover in the Military.”

“Oh, okay.” As Mirabella, Calliope, Dusty and Ryan continued to don their armor Sergeant Hall opened the Gate. He unlocked one of the transport armorcar vehicles for Kama to operate. Kama opened the small front pilot side door, climbed aboard and then started the onboard systems. A She slowly rolled it out to face the newly opened Gate. Outside the stars shined bright and the air was still. There was no moon out so the dark terrain appeared shaded and murky.

The vehicle’s side access door slid open and everyone piled into the large electrically powered armorcar. The car was completely silent when not in motion. Kama returned to the pilot’s seat as the Sergeant slammed the car door shut. She turned to face her friends and said, “Ready?”

Mirabella adjusted her loosely fitted helmet which rocked to one side or the other.  “Yeah, hit it! Woo hoo! I’m ready!”

“Fix your cover, soldier!” Calliope said and then laughed. She plunked back into her seat as Kama jammed the armorcar forward.

“Oww! Shit.” Mirabella frowned and rubbed her tailbone.

Sergeant Hall stood at the Gate controls. He said to Kama, “You got about sixty kilos of travel energy, so watch your mileage.” Nobody used
miles
to measure anything anymore but it was still easier to say mileage than
kilometerage
even centuries later.

Kama nodded to the Sergeant as she rolled the armorcar out of the Gate. e The Gate slowly closed behind them with a low pitched
tha-bonggg.
In a few minutes they passed the Wall and were soon just beyond the auto turrets’ protective umbrella. Three short beeps emitted from the armorcar's dashboard which indicated they were effectively alone, undefended by the heavy robot guns. Kama squinted into the armorcar’s headlights that threw themselves out in wedges against the darkness.

“This is it. We’re outside,” Kama said. “Okay, onboard assistant, are you here?” She asked.

“Yes. Ready. Please call me Voluga,” a female voice said from the armorcar's dashboard.

"Okay, Voluga. Can you show me an enhanced display over the windshield?” Kama asked.

At once a horizontal compass glowed to life over both windshield glass plates.. Voluga's synthetic Scandinavian voice announced from the dashboard. “Heading fifty two five. Range fifty-eight kilometers. No anomalies detected.”

“Thank you Voluga,” Kama returned without moving her vision away from the road ahead.

Ryan scuttled out of his seat and peeked his head into the forward cabin. “That one of those military Assistant deals?”

Kama said, “Yes. She is part of the armorcar.”

Ryan said, “Awesome! Hey Voluga, how far are we outside the City?”

Voluga responded to Ryan’s question, “Point six kilometers away from Gate Six. No anomalies detected.”

Ryan turned back to face the group in back of the armorcar. “This is so baddass!” He puffed out his chest and smacked his breastplate armor with a subdued
ba-thump.
“Crazy shit, I love it!”

“Yeah shut up and sit your ass down before Kama gets pissed and turns back,” Calliope snapped at Ryan’s bravado.

Ryan plopped back into his chair. “Aren’t you a shitload of fun.” He grabbed Calliope’s hand.”

Calliope adjusted her cover straight and asked Kama, “What are we gonna do now?”

Kama said, “I don’t know. I guess we can stop for a while then turn back.”

“Okay cool.” They drove for another three kilometers. The road was more of a single lane path than anything else and it felt rough and bumpy. The armorcar rattled and bucked against the rocks and downed trees that laid across their path. Branches and blindscrubs reached in and brushed against the armorcar's metal sides,
wwssssshhhh.
The sound effect creeped everyone out.

There were small side windows but they were black and revealed nothing about the world outside except for the diffused headlights. Mirabella thought she saw a pair of eyes deep into the murk but decided that her mind was simply playing tricks on her.

Kama stopped the armorcar and stared ahead.

“What’s wrong?” Dusty asked as he inspected the road coned with light. “What?”

Kama did not say a word but stared away, past the road’s left shoulder. About forty meters ahead and to the left a small hole appeared. It lay silent and empty and altogether forgotten. She recognized it for this was the foxhole where she first engaged Aurelia and her squad. The bodies and weapons were gone. All that remained was a small dimple dug into the earth. She did not move or express anything..

Kama's leather battlesuit groaned and cricked as she took hold of the wheel again. “Voluga, status,” she said.

“Five point one kilometers from Gate Six. Remaining range fifty-two kilometers. No anomalies detected,” Voluga reported.

Mirabella shuffled inside her armor and said, “Something’s wrong. Kama what is going on?”

Kama turned her head. Her face and armor partially reflected the green and amber and white light thrown from the dashboard. “It’s nothing, we’re fine.?”

They traveled further down the ragged and beaten dirt road for two and a half kilometers more. Kama stopped the vehicle. Outside they could hear the faint whispers of waterflow. “This is as far as we should go. Voluga, we will park here. Watch for any activity around us, please..”

Voluga responded, “Park mode active. Range remaining forty-three kilometers. No anomalies detected.” The dashboard lights dimmed down to ten percent illumination and two rows of rear cabin lights brightened them. The sliding side door announced that it was unlocked with a twinked vibration and a metallic sound,
chatta-klunk
. The lights hurt the occupants’ eyes since they became used to the darkness outside for over an hour.

Kama flung her long metal-bound hair back across her shoulders and put on her leather headgear. “Okay everyone out but don’t go anywhere, wait for me.”

Ryan stepped out and briefly skidded as his left foot met small pebbles on the ground. He quietly whispered to himself, “
Yeah I’ll wait for you baby
,” which earned him an abrupt smack on his upper back from Mirabella who was already outside and stood right behind him.

“I heard that,” an irritated Mirabella said. Calliope, Dusty and Kama evacuated the car and stood together in a small huddle. Mirabella looked ahead in an attempt to determine the mysterious source of the water sounds which were subdued roars and gurgles from the darkness beyond. “So where are we?” Mirabella asked.

“We,” Kama said as she took a few steps forward, “Are in an abandoned town. It was called Moosonee I think.. Over there is an airport. There are some wrecked planes inside but we shouldn't go in there.”

“Why not?” Calliope said. She floundered with her body armor to purchase a more comfortable fit.

“Bodies stacked up. Mostly skeletons but some are not.” Kama waved her hand to the North as she said this. “Thousands.”

Ryan looked at Kama and said, “Jesus that’s creepy. What the hell happened here? I think I can smell them!”

Kama said, “No, you can’t. They’re long past that but I don’t know what happened here. I’ve passed this place three times so I know it well enough. We used it as a travel point on our way up to watch your City.” Kama paused and raised her eyebrows with a lowered head in expressed displeasure that she referred to herself as an outsider. “We never stayed in any of the buildings though. Better to sleep outside. Easier to hear the insect hordes or storms.” She raised her Coilgun and rested it on her right shoulder. “Come on.”

The group walked for fifty meters in the path of the armorcar's forward lights. Dusty looked on and saw the great river flow and took in a deep breath.
God that smells so good
, he thought.