Strikeforce (3 page)

5

The charred body of the enemy Drifter lies before us, placed unceremon
iously in the middle of the wide circular table like a sick centerpiece. Nine of us stand around the perimeter of the bunker's tiny war room, staring in at the corpse with a mix of revulsion a
nd curiosity.

The creature is human enough, but even past the darkened patches of flesh, it's easy to tell that it's different. It's not the same kind of “different” as our allied Drifters, either. This is something new.

Its arms ar
e bulky like a body builder's, with strange ribbed indentations from the shoulders to the elbows. I can't tell if they're functional or simply decorative. Its mouth, from what I can see, is wider than any human's. Its eyes are pure gray, dulled of their red glow from last night. It wears a dark tunic a
nd trousers covered in colorless body armor, though much of the clothing has been ripped from its burnt flesh.

Sem, one of the friendly Drifters, stands at the head of the table. “This is an Authority foot soldier.” His thin eyebrows sink as he glances down. “Not every soldier will draw attention to himself. Some will look no different than you or I. This man has clearly been … augmented.”

Cassius rubs his chin. “How did he get in?”

“It appears this base is not as secure as you thought.” Sem frowns.

“
It's unheard of.” Madame crosses her arms as she flashes the soldier's body a look of disgust. “If nothing else, Unified Party bunkers are secure. I wouldn't have suggested we come h
ere if—”

“Nobody's blaming you,” Cassius shoots back.

Avery stands beside me. Her hand moves from my back up to my shoulder. “How are you feeling?” she whispers.

I shrug. Better than I look, probably. A black eye and a thumb-sized scrape across my cheek won't exactly inspire the king of leadership I'm going for. The truth is, the mental effects are much worse than the physical ones. I keep replaying the confrontation in my head—what I could have done differently, how I could have reacted better. The Drifter had taken me by surprise, and I was careless enough to walk right toward it.

But the real question that's been nagging me doesn't have anything to do with my own reaction. Had the soldier attacked on instinct or had he intentionally targeted me? The way things have been going, I can't be sure of anything anymore.

Eva Rodriguez clears her throat. She stands next to Skandar Harris on the left side of the body. They've both been in this with me since the beginning. Fellow Skyship trainees, and now fellow Resistance fighters. Eva's made for this kind of thing—a soldier through and through, and definitely more physically imposing than I am. I know that Skandar would like to think he's equally up to the task, but he's so impulsive. I'm worried that he'll do something stupid and get himself hurt.

The two of them have been chummier than usual these past few days. I don't know if it's the isolation of the bunker or something else, but I've never seen them cling to each other like this before. Maybe they just don't know what their place is in all of this. Cassius and I are Haven-born. So are the Drifters. Eva, Skandar, Avery, and Madame got pulled into this.

“Bottom line,” Eva starts, “is that it isn't safe in here anymore. That's what everybody's thinking, right?”

“Right now I'm thinking about
him
.” Skandar rustles his messy brown hair, motioning to the soldier. “
This
is the kind of thing we're up against? We don't stand a chance!”

Sem glances at his fellow Drifters, one on either side of him, before addressing us. “The crimson in their eyes is the giveaway, but we won't always be engaging them in darkness. In the light, especially sunlight, it will be impossible to distinguish the enemy without getting close. Without seeing the reds of their eyes.”

Cassius clenches a fist. “He didn't like my fire, that's for sure.”

“Odd,” Sem responds. “As a former resident of Haven, he should be accustomed to the heat.”

“I went in full blast. I don't think anyone's accustomed to
that
sort of heat.”

Avery nods. “I was lucky enough to jump back in time. Even then, I felt the flames. Jesse was right under them.”

“I'm fine,” I say.

“But you shouldn't be,” Madame counters. “You should have caught fire. We should be dealing with third-degree burns right now.”

I glare at her. “Gee, thanks.”

“I channeled it well,” Cassius says. “The flames hit what I meant them to hit, and nothing more.”

I glance at him, wondering if he's telling the truth. He doesn't look back.

“If they're gonna start creeping down here,” I start, “I think I'd rather be on the Surface. At least then I'd know to expect danger and be ready for it. They wouldn't have a chance to corner us. We could find weapons … allies … ”

Avery's hand drops to her side. “Are we ready for that?”

Cassius scoffs. “Will we ever be?”

“You don't win wars by hiding,” Eva adds. “Fisher's right. We need to get to the Surface.”

Avery cringes at the word. “But what do we do once we get there? We can't just abandon shelter without a plan.”

Madame rests her hands on her hips, staring at the floor. “I give up. I can't seem to contact the President, and without him I have no line to the Unified Party. If we travel to the Surface, the Unified Party needs to know what we know. We have the means to defeat this enemy, but not the leadership to see it through.”

I take a deep breath. “No. The Unified Party's gotten us into enough trouble already. What we need is the Skyship Community.”

Eva nods. “In an invasion, you attack from higher ground. The Skyships are our biggest weapon. Head up to the Tribunal if you want the government involved. At least we know where th
ey are.”

“I can't go to the Tribunal,” I mutter.

“Why not?”

“I'm the Pearlbreaker. Standing around and talking isn't my thing, and it isn't gonna help. I need to get out there and free more Drifters. We'll have a better chance that way.”

Sem nods. “Jesse is correct. The more friendly Drifters on the ground, the better. Haven's natives are the backbone of this war. We don't need the government to fight. We need the Resistance.”

“There's a framework,” Madame starts. “There is order to war.”

Cassius leans his hands on the edge of the table. “Why not do both? Split into two groups?”

Madame shakes her head. “I'm not sure it's wise to separate ourselves.”

“I'm not sure it's wise to stay
together
,” Cassius counters.

It's silent for a moment as each of us ponders what tactic is in our best interest.

In the end, it's decided that there will be a pair of forces: one to head up to Skyship Atlas and speak to the Tribunal, and one to help me break Pearls, releasing as many allies as I can manage in a short timeframe.

It's decided that my support team will be Avery, Skandar, and a couple of our Drifter friends. A small group, but at least I trust them.

Meanwhile, Cassius and Madame need a loyal Shipper to get them past clearances, so Eva's heading up to Skyship Atlas with them.

It all gets thrown down in what seems like no time. I think everyone's just eager to get out of this bunker, especially now that we know it's not safe. I certainly am, but that doesn't mean that the idea of traveling back to the Surface doesn't bring anxiety. Everything bad that's happened to me has happened up there. I don't see that changing.

Our mission code name: Strikeforce. Get our respective jobs done and rendezvous as soon as we can.

We have communicators. And Unified Party cruisers. It should be manageable, but the thing is, we've got very little idea of what's going on above us. There are a thousand unseen variables—possibility after possibility for something to go wrong.

Still, it gets us out of the bunker, so I'm not going to argue. For now.

Two groups.

Avery clutches my arm. “We're sticking together, Fisher.”

I nod. “There's no way I'm letting Madame close to you, especially when I'm not around.”

She chuckles. “Well, aren't you just the big hero?”

“We'll see,” I respond, staring forward at the wall. “We'll see.”

––––

I head for Cassius as soon as the meeting breaks. He walks through the door into the outside hallway. I follow him.

“What do you want, Fisher?” He marches forward without looking at me.

I match his pace. “You're sure this is a good idea? I mean, if you hadn't have been there last night, I would be dead right now.”

“You can take care of yourself,” he replies. “Besides, you'll have Wicksen and Harris. Plus the Drifters.”

“I just want to make sure … ”

He stops and turns. “We're targets. You realize that, don't you? Matigo's hunting us. Hell, the entire Authority's hunting us. If we stay together, we're a bigger target.” He starts walking again.

“I get it. I get the logic. I guess it's just … you guys have a clear plan. A destination. All I do is go up there and break Pearls?”

“Not just Pearls,” he replies. “Find a storage center. Break as many as you can.”

“Where?”

“A Chosen City. Portland, maybe, since you've been there before. Trust me, the Unified Party's got way more Pearls in storage than the Skyshippers, and the west coast hubs are particularly well-stocked.”

I follow him around a corner. “How do you know that the Unified Party is better stocked than the Skyship Community?”

“How do you think?” He shakes his head. “How do I know anything about Skyship?”

I swallow. “Madame.”

“It used to kill me how naïve you guys were,” he says. “Floating up there like we weren't watching your every little move. I guess we were all naïve, though.” He stops outside his makeshift room. “Suit up, Fisher. We leave in an hour.”

He shuts the door and leaves me standing in the hallway. I close my eyes for a moment and am instantly brought back to my dream two nights ago. I see him bursting into flames, and not coming back from it. I hear the laugh, echoing
in my mind.

We have to do this. There's no choosing. But that doesn't mean it isn't gonna end badly.

6

The row of Unified Party cruisers sits at the far end of the transport bay, five in total. The one we came down in is parked at an awkward diagonal in the opposite corner. The five unused models gleam and sparkle with the reflection of the overhead lights. The one in the corner is too scratched and dirt-caked to reflect anything. Sort of like us.

Skandar stands to the right of me, Eva to the left. For a moment, it seems like we're back in the docking bay of Skyship Academy.

I tap my foot on the ground, mostly to break the all-encompassing silence of the bay. “It's gonna be weird doing this without you, Eva.”

She crosses her arms. “Don't be silly. You've got Harris. Unless you don't want him.”

Skandar frowns. “Of course he wants me. I'm every bit as good in battle as you are.”

“You keep telling yourself that.”

My mind runs through the conversation I had with Cassius. Portland. Last time I was in the city, Cassius had been hunting me down. Avery and I had crash landed, right through the Bio-Net. This time, we'll have to break in from the ground. No small feat.

Footsteps sound behind us. I don't need to turn and look to know who's waiting.

Avery walks up and massages my shoulder. I watch Madame stride in front of us, thrilled to take command even though nobody's officially appointed her. She can do the talking if she wants. I'm not gonna argue.

She stops and pivots, hands on hips. Her mouth's curved in a deep frown. Cassius and the Drifters fill in on either side of us, creating a semicircle. I close my eyes for a moment, hoping to feel any residual Pearl energy from the Drifters' bodies, but they're drained of it, which means if we get into a scrap on the Surface, they'll be as much help as a human.

Madame takes a deep breath. “You all have your com-pads. They will be our only link until we rendezvous again. If anything goes wrong.” She pauses and stares at me. “
Anything
, we all need to know of it as soon as possible. Don't be a maverick. We're here because we want …
need
… to help each other. Even if we don't like one another, we're in this together, and all the stronger for it.”

She clasps her hands behind her back. “We'll take the pair of cruisers in the center. Avery, I'm confident you remember how to operate Unified Party transportation. I know it's been some time.”

Avery's eyes slit. “Don't worry about me.”

“I'm not,” Madame responds pointedly. Then, her expression softens and for a moment it looks as if she's going to walk over and give us a hug. Lucky for everyone, she stands her ground and releases a sigh instead. “Good luck.”

I nod. “You too.” And it's not even completely disingenuous.

“Cassius?” She motions him to her side. He glances back at me before joining her. I watch them all disappear into the cruiser. Eva's last. She turns and gives me a slight nod and a worried smile, but says nothing.

There aren't any long-winded goodbyes. Nobody down here is really the type. It's better that way. It keeps our focus. Besides, goodbyes give the sense that we're not going to see each other again for a long time.

“C'mon, Jesse.” Avery's voice snaps me out of my thoughts.

I swallow, then turn to take one last look at the bunker before boarding our cruiser.

Once inside, we take our seats. Skandar stays in the back cabin with the two Drifters while Avery and I man the cockpit.

I watch Cassius's ship take off first, hovering up toward the ceiling of the bunker, which peels open with slick silence. Soon we've got a chimney of sorts to guide us up to the Surface.

Avery brings our cruiser safely underneath theirs, providing enough distance to keep any of the residual effects of their thrusters at bay. I watch as the sight of the bunker outside my window is replaced with dark earth. Soon we're pushing up through the narrow, claustrophobic tunnel.

Then, the sky.

As hazy and troubled as it is, it's still a relief to see. I've been living under low ceilings for too long. The vast expanse of the Surface stretches all around us—an unending blanket of barren brown. In a way, it feels liberating.

That liberation is short-lived.

As I watch Cassius's cruiser pull away to the left, I spot a red Pearl in the distance. It hurtles toward us, falling faster than any normal Pearl I've seen. And I know that, despite all of my powers over green ones, I can't stop it. When it comes to red Pearls, the Authority's in charge.

Avery tilts us from the Pearl's path, just as it rockets past our port side. I feel intense warmth in my gut that only begins to fade once the Pearl is far enough away from us.

“They're still coming down,” I mutter.

Avery straightens us out, not saying a word. We continue to speed from the bunker door, which has now closed and blended in with the desert surroundings below.

I take a look at the Surface ground. It's quiet and still. That much is unchanged. This far from a Chosen City, there's not much that the Authority could destroy. Of course, that doesn't mean that they won't still be nearby. Waiting.

An explosion sounds in the distance, somewhere off to my right. I glance out the window to see a shuttle—I can't tell if it's Skyship or Unified Party—come bursting through a thin layer of clouds. It's little more than a speck from here, but it hurtles to the ground in a clear diagonal path, too fast for landing.

Seconds later, I watch the shuttle collide with the ground in a second explosion. I don't see a parachute. Worse yet, I've got no idea what brought it down. The skies seem quiet.

The cockpit door slides open, revealing Skandar.

“Whoa!” He runs up to the console. “Did you just see that?”

“The skies aren't safe,” I reply. “I didn't think there'd be so many of them, so close.”

Avery flips a switch on the ceiling. “I wish this thing had some cloaking.”

I grit my teeth. I've crashed before. It can't happen again. “Just get us to Portland. The faster we can be on the ground, the better.”

“Roger that,” she says. “Out of the frying pan, and into the—”

“Don't.” I close my eyes and take a deep breath. “I'd rather not think about fire. I'm sure there'll be enough time for that later.”