Dark Star (19 page)

Alpha’s face tensed with fury and for a moment it seemed he was going to say more, but then he left, slamming the door behind him.

Rosie was too exhausted to speak.

Sulawayo’s expression was hardly warm. “You look terrible,” she said. “Unlock.” The restraints over Rosie’s wrists detracted and Sulawayo helped her back to the cot. “You better lay down.”

Rosie didn’t need to be told. She almost fell onto the thin hard mattress. Muscles in her legs twitched every so often and she lay there just breathing.

“Where’s Gillian?” She was eventually able to ask.

“In another cell. I’ll get her out soon. She’s fine.” Sulawayo dragged the chair beside the cot and sat. “Which is more than can be said for you.”

“I’ll be okay.” Rosie passed one trembling hand across her aching forehead. “Is that Jebediah waiting for Alpha?”

“Yes. Luckily for you, he values your life more than Alpha does.”

“Yeah, so lucky.” Rosie took in several long breaths. “Is there surveillance in here?”

“No.” Sulawayo put the manacle on the floor. “No records mean no explanations.”

“Of course.” Rosie pushed herself up to sitting, wincing at the sharp stabs along her spine.

“We have a problem,” Sulawayo said. “Apparently, there was a breakthrough with the Nation’s MalX cure tests, a possible trial vaccine was produced.”

“Vaccine, how is that a problem?”

“Its efficacy is not properly established. Only the first results have been reported and it is not yet known how stable it is. It may not be quite ready. In fact, I’ve been told it possibly isn’t, that further refining will be necessary. But the biggest problem is that it’s gone missing.”

“Missing, as in stolen?”

“Yes.” Sulawayo paused. “I lied to you. I did send one of my team up to oversee the tech, but she was impatient and as it turns out, not able to handle the pressure. I believe she took the vaccine.”

The brief second of hope Rosie had felt was buried under dismay. “Of course you lied,” she said. “You are Helios, aren’t you? So where is it?”

“She must have taken it to Jebediah. He hasn’t told me he has it, but I’m sure I glimpsed her leaving in a transport yesterday. And since Jebediah is here, bringing him the vaccine would be the only reason for her presence.”

Jesus, Jebediah was in the Enclave and had a possible MalX cure. Rosie pressed the heels of her hands to her eyes. This was not happening.

“This isn’t the end of the cure though,” Sulawayo said. “This vaccine, it won’t be the final result. We will have to keep going; we still need Pip. I’ve investigated and the scientists in Nation have said–”

“Stop!” Rosie raised her voice. “Just stop.” She couldn’t believe how such a smart woman had let herself be used for so long. “You don’t get it, do you?” she said.

Sulawayo regarded her with annoyance. “Get what?”

“That you’ve been used,” Rosie said. “The other night when I was out, I found Alpha’s office and I heard him talking about you to Jebediah Curtis. The rebellion isn’t real, none of it. All the people you think are on your side are only pretending to be because Jebediah wants them to. The only rebellion is Jebediah and Alpha in an alliance against the rest of the Pantheon. They’re trying to take over, and it isn’t to change things like you think. It’s a grab for power and they’ve been using you, us, all along. Jebediah is Pantheon.”

“I know that.” Sulawayo sat very still.

“Did you also know Alpha is? His real name is Tate Mills. He told me. That’s another name on the list. They’re using you and you’re letting them. And now you’re saying they have the cure? If they have that, and the plans for the Equinox Gate, it’s only a matter of time before they take control of everything.”

“Suddenly, you know all the names on the list, do you? Convenient. So this struggle you have with accessing the implant, getting the information off it, has all been a ruse,” Sulawayo said. “Why should I believe anything you say?”

“It’s not a ruse and you know something’s not right, you’ve known for a while,” Rosie said. “It’s the reason you told me about the cure being stolen. You didn’t have to do that, but something made you. You know things are going on that you’re not being told about.”

Sulawayo leaned back in her chair. “Of course there are. I’m not the boss; I’m the second in charge. That’s how the chain of command works.”

“No, you’re a pawn,” Rosie said. “Their puppet.”

“I’m nobody’s puppet.” Sulawayo’s eyes glinted. “And you, Rosie Black, are a child. A smart, resourceful one, but a child nonetheless. And children lie when they are in trouble or scared. They lie to manipulate people into doing things their way.”

“What possible reason could I have to make this up?” Rosie said.

“I’m not sure yet. Perhaps you’ve lost your mettle and want out of here, want me to help get you out.”

Rosie curled her hands into fists. “I’m telling the truth. You’re being used, and you know it. You can feel it!” Rosie had seen doubt in Sulawayo’s eyes when she’d said Jebediah hadn’t told her he’d had the vaccine.

“Perhaps you are the one who has been fooled,” Sulawayo said. “You should know, your friend, Dalton Curtis is here.”

“What?”

“He’s been in a recruitment cell for the last two days. Probably be let out in the morning. I believe he came here with his father – to join us. Thought I should tell you before you saw him. I see this is a surprise to you.”

Rosie didn’t give her the satisfaction of replying. It was hard to believe Dalton had come here by choice. Unless he believed his father was on the side of good.

“I have to say, I’m surprised,” Sulawayo said. “Isn’t he your friend? Odd him betraying you like this, isn’t it?”

Rosie clenched her lips together. If Dalton was here, he had a plan of some sort. He would never in a million years join Helios. “I don’t believe it,” she said.

“No?” Sulawayo’s tone was mocking. “And I thought you were so close.”

“We only met at the Academy.”

“He is a Central. Perhaps he was slumming it, rebelling against his father. I understood they weren’t on very good terms, though he seems happy enough with him now, joining the family fold, so to speak. If all you say about Jebediah is true, why would his son, who we know was also one of Riley’s little helpers, join him so willingly?”

“Jebediah convinced you,” Rosie said. “I’m sure he’s a very good liar.”

Sulawayo looked disappointed. “I think it’s time to get you back to your room.” She stood up. “Come on, I’ll escort you.”

The desert was so quiet compared to the city. It reminded Pip of Mars. It had been quiet there, in the old Enclave where he’d grown up. The landscape was very different. Where Mars had the regolith, the cold and the constant looming shadows of the great Tharsis Mountains, the desert here was all open plains of sand, salt pans and dead or severely stunted trees. But it had the same feel: that emptiness and the sense that he was a speck of a human in a vast wilderness that could kill him if he wasn’t careful.

He revved the bike through some heavy sand, the back wheel sliding out as he cut through it, and a thin grey lizard shot off a rock, disappearing up a dead tree. It was late afternoon and the sun was setting behind him, a distant furnace at his back, sending his shadow out over the dry earth. He figured he was about an hour out from the Enclave, give or take. He’d kept well off the faint tracks he’d seen and switched on his camouflage reflectors a while ago. No doubt Helios had sensors sweeping the area. He only hoped the tech he’d got from Sun to hide him was up to the job. She’d been reluctant to part with it, but she was still Riley’s top tech woman and he’d managed to convince her for a price. As long as Helios didn’t check too thoroughly, he should get around the edge of the Enclave unseen.

The light began to fade, softening the lines of the landscape, turning the horizon a burnished copper. He felt like the last man on Earth.

A half hour later, he spotted a long low shadow against the ground that was too regular to be rocks. There was enough of a glow left in the sky for him to be sure that it had to be the Enclave. He slowed down and began to tack towards it in a wide circle to a small range of rocks beyond it. He took off his helmet and clipped it to his jacket, taking in a deep breath of unrecycled air, warm and musty and scented with baked sand. He pushed the hair off his forehead, drying the sweat. The bike made almost no sound at this speed as it cruised across the ground. He checked the camouflage reading on his wrist. Six sensors were sweeping the area, all being deflected. Good.

He rode the bike down a shallow dip and up again. No lights came from the shape of the Enclave on his left. As he closed the distance to the rocks, he realised they weren’t rocks at all, but ruins. Had to be the rest of the abandoned town. It was a place to hide and a vantage point to watch the Enclave.

Pip reached the outskirts and began winding his way through the side streets, keeping close to the broken buildings. Night had fallen and overhead the sky was bright with stars. The bike sensors on maximum kept it from running into obstacles, of which there were surprisingly few. He wondered if the Enclave used this place. It was possible. Which meant he had to be extra cautious.

He steered the bike down a narrow cut between a line of ruined houses. At the end the town stopped and desert started again. He got off the bike walked to the edge, scanning the area through a pair of night scopes. He could make out the Enclave, the scopes picking up the energy being emitted and translating it into shapes. He’d come right around the back of it. It was U shaped, two arms extending out from a long central portion, sheltering an inner yard. The scopes weren’t good enough to pick up how many bodies were in there though.

He let them fall back to hang around his neck and chewed his bottom lip. He didn’t have much of an idea about how to get in yet, but at least he was here. He knew how these Helios Enclave’s worked. At some time the zeroes inside would be coming out with their trainers, they probably held exercises in the courtyard. He’d watch, learn and figure out a plan. He went back to his bike, rolling it inside one of the broken houses.

A few metres away in a larger building, underneath an old bar that had once served the small town, a sensor light began to flash, machinery whirred and a tiny robotic insect scampered out and towards the Enclave to its master.

“So what if we’re training in the ruins?” Gillian arched an eyebrow at Stefan. “It’s not like they’re supposed to make life easy for us.”

“I know, but it’s the second time this month,” Stefan said. “Usually, it’s just once.”

“Who says ‘usual’ is in Alpha’s vocabulary? Newbie’s not bitching about it, so why are you?”

Stefan glanced at her but Rosie was too tired to answer. Her head was aching and she couldn’t understand why Alpha had let her and Gillian back out into the general population. Again. Was it because Jebediah had told him to? It didn’t make sense.

Gillian said, “It’s going to be a long day.”

Rosie met her eyes. They were waiting in the yard between the wings for the transports to take them to the ruins. Two operatives guarded them. It was a still, hot morning and most of the other zeroes were as annoyed as Stefan. San and Tara, standing in front of them, were whispering, heads bent close. San turned narrow eyes to Rosie, as if they’d been talking about her. Rosie ignored her. No doubt the rumours had already started about her and Gillian being caught. Not much could be kept quiet in this place.

Gillian looked as bad as she felt. Neither of them had got any sleep. Dark circles made Gillian’s brown skin even darker and the usual cloud of energy she carried with her was nonexistent. They hadn’t risked talking since they’d been taken and she really wished she knew what Alpha had said to her.

“Where’s Freddie, by the way?” Gillian asked Stefan. “I haven’t seen him.”

“Dunno.” He shrugged. “He got called for something while I was showering.”

Gillian frowned but before she could say more, Hanto and another of the operatives were back with the transports.

Rosie hung at the back with Gillian and Stefan as Hanto shouted instructions. They piled into the back of two trucks, jammed up facing each other along hard benches on either side. They were given personal shields with sensors to track their movements, a temple patch com and matching ear patch that adhered to their earlobes to allow communication with their designated team during the operation. Each of them had a pulse gun and four poppers on a belt around their waists.