Judgement: The Undergrounders Series Book Three (A Young Adult Post-apocalyptic Science Fiction Thriller) (18 page)

T
he room is strewn
with ossified Schutz Clones. I clap a hand over my mouth to trap the contents of my stomach that are halfway up my throat. My brain spins as I try to make sense of it. The Schutz Clones couldn't all have expired simultaneously. I furrow my brow as I weigh another possibility. Did the deviations attack them? I scrunch my eyes up and scan the room more carefully, searching for any evidence of dead deviations. There's only one way to tell their ossified remains apart from the Schutz Clones. To my relief all the shrunken piles of clothing are black--
Schutz Clone fatigues
. If there were any casualties on the other side they've been removed. It seems unlikely the deviations could have pulled something like this off, even if they surprised the Schutz Clones when they were sleeping.

I cast one last bewildered look around and scurry back along the vent.

Sven reaches up his arms to catch me. I jump down and cling to him a moment longer than necessary to steady myself, savoring the comfort of his warm, muscular hands around me.

"What is it?" His eyes sweep across my face.

"The Schutz Clones are all dead."

He frowns. "Are you sure?"

"The place is full of ossified corpses," I say, breathlessly. "Do you think Jerome had a hand in it?"

Sven shakes his head. "The deviations wouldn't be able to take on the Schutz Clones."

"Did they turn on one another then?"

"There are no dissenters in their ranks. They're bred that way."

I give a wry grin. "Unlike military clones who can be very opinionated."

"Speaking of being opinionated," he says, "it's time we got back to the others."

T
rout and Lou
stare at me wide-eyed when I describe the macabre graveyard in the Sweepers' living quarters.

"Do you think whoever executed them might have eliminated the deviations as well?" Lou asks.

Trout glances across at me with dread in his eyes.

A heavy silence descends over us.

I feel sick to my stomach at the thought of Jerome and the deviations ossified inside Terminus.

"We need to find out what happened," Sven says.

He turns to the military clones. "We're going in. Keep your guard up for shooters."

We ready our weapons and begin inching our way along the tunnel to the Sweepers' living quarters. I slip through the open doors first, panning the room for possible targets.

"Told you they were all dead," I say after we've cleared the space.

Lou shakes her head in disbelief as we pick our way through the corpses.

Trout looks at Sven. "Ever seen anything like this before?"

"Never."

"Could it be some kind of virus?"

Sven shakes his head. "Impossible. Their immune systems are flawless."

Lou kneels down and picks up something from the floor. She holds it out in the palm of her hand. "It's a casing. If I had to guess, somebody ambushed them in their sleep." She gestures at their ossified remains. "Some of them are still curled up in the fetal position."

Sven lifts up the casing and examines it. "This didn't come from a Schutz Clone's weapon."

"There's no one else in the Craniopolis except for the deviations," Trout says.

Lou raises her brows. "This Jerome fellah's been busy."

Trout and I exchange skeptical looks. It's hard to imagine that many of the deviations can shoot straight, if at all. Some of them can scarcely carry out basic tasks.

"The escaped scientists night have had something to do with this," I say. "We still haven't explained the blood in the Biotik Sektor."

"We'd better make sure the deviations are okay before we head to the docking station," Trout says. "If there are killers at large in the Craniopolis, we need to warn Jerome."

Sven directs the military clones to collect the abandoned weapons and ammo and pile them up by the door. "We'll load the Hovermedes with the extra gear when we get back. We'll need every last round to secure the Megamedes."

Once we've finished sorting through the gear we're going to take, we make our way along the dimly lit tunnels to Terminus. True to her word Lou disposes of the lone guard outside the entry door with deadly accuracy. The Schutz Clone topples forward, ossifying before he even hits the ground. Sven positions himself in front of the Optika module. Within seconds, the door is yanked open.

"About time!" Jerome says, peering anxiously over Sven's shoulder.

I let out a relieved breath. Until this moment, I wasn't sure I'd see him alive again.

He directs a couple of deviations behind him to drag the Schutz Clone's ossified remains inside. "I expected you hours ago," he says, ushering us through the door. "What happened?"

"Change of plans." I grimace. "We received a transmission from the Megamedes ordering all surviving personnel from the Craniopolis to return to the ship."

Jerome raises his brows and waits for me to continue.

"We were on our way to the docking station when we came across forty or so dead Schutz Clones in the Sweepers' living quarters."

"Know anything about it?" Sven asks.

"Nothing." Jerome frowns.

"We found fresh blood in the Biotik Sektor," Trout says. "There's someone else here."

"What about the escaped scientists?" Jerome asks. "Do you think they made it back?"

I nod, musing over the implications. "It's possible. But why would they execute the Schutz Clones?"

"It doesn't make sense." Jerome shakes his head. "The good news is that without the Schutz Clones, the Sweepers will be in no position to evacuate us tomorrow. We'll hunker down until you've secured the Megamedes."

He grips Sven tightly on the arm, and the two exchange a look that tells me they're not sure they'll see one another again. It doesn't do much to reassure me as we take our leave, but I knew this was a crazy plan all along.

Once the door to Terminus seals shut behind us, a grim determination grips us. We barely exchange two words as we make our way back through the main web of the Craniopolis. After the gruesome discovery in the Sweepers' living quarters, I'm dreading what we'll find in the docking station--hopefully, no ossified remains inside the Hovermedes. It's one thing stepping over the Schutz Clones' powdery corpses, but I don't want to have to touch them.

As we pass through a junction in the tunnels I catch a flash of someone or something disappearing into the Research Sektor just ahead. I motion to the others to be quiet and tread forward on the balls of my feet.

Sven comes up alongside me. "Did you see something?" he whispers.

I point to the Research Sektor. The doors are lying open.

Sven gives a curt nod and gestures to one of the military clones to move in. The clone noses around the doorway with the barrel of his gun and steps through, scanning the space with his enhanced vision. When he's satisfied it's clear, he motions us forward without taking his eyes off the room.

I aim my gun front of me, advancing in slow motion, as though a land mine might explode beneath my feet at any minute. Apart from the sound of my heart knocking against my ribs, I can't hear a thing. The place looks deserted.

"Sektor Sieben," I whisper to Sven, pointing to the door in the corner of the room leading to the participants' wing. I motion to Lou and Trout to stay put.

Sven follows me across the room. I press the keypad to open the door and slip inside the dim room. Cold steel presses up against my throat, and then I hear a gasp. The blade goes slack.

Sven steps through the door after me. His jaw drops.

I spin around and stare in astonishment at Owen. Over his shoulder, the rest of the homesteaders huddle together, faces pale and weapons drawn. My brain pounds against my skull. I throw myself at Owen and embrace him. "What are you doing here?" I blurt out.

"The sweeps have resumed." His voice sounds hoarse and tired. "They've extracted some of the homesteaders. We came to find them."

I wrinkle my brow, distracted by what appears to be blood on his shoulder. My brain fires on all cylinders. "Did you kill the Schutz Clones?"

He nods, his eyes boring into me. "Do you know where they've taken the extractees?"

The homesteaders behind him shift uneasily.

All at once I realize what he's saying. My skin crawls. "Nikki?" I whisper.

His face hardens.

I touch him lightly on the arm, eying his wound. "We'll find her, Owen, I promise."

"I've searched every inch of the Craniopolis." He runs his fingers distractedly through his hair. "She isn't here."

"They probably took them to the Megamedes," Sven says. "They're rounding up all the survivors in the Craniopolis."

"We're going to infiltrate the Megamedes," I add. "Sven and the military clones will man the Hovermedes as Schutz Clones, and the rest of us will pass ourselves off as surviving scientists being evacuated. We'll find Nikki as soon as we're on board." I search Owen's face, praying my plan has sparked some renewed hope in him.

"It won't work." He stares morosely at the floor in front of him.

"Why not?" I ask.

Owen lets out a heavy sigh. "Because we sabotaged the ships."

I
stare
at Owen as it sinks in. Panic rises up inside me. "Are you out of your mind?" I yell.

"We needed those ships to reach the Megamedes," Sven says, grimly.

"I thought the Sweepers were using them to extract us," Owen says, his eyes flashing.

"Destroying them wasn't your decision to make," I say.

Owen gives a sarcastic laugh. "So now you own the Craniopolis?"

I glare at him, my breathing ragged. "Don't even go there.
I
led the uprising, and
I
lead the factions.
You're
the one who abandoned us in the middle of the night and risked the lives of the Undergrounders. After everything I did to rescue you from the Sweepers, you ditched me when I needed you most."

Owen opens his mouth to respond, but Sven steps between us. "Knock it off! Both of you!"

Owen takes an uneasy step back and wipes his palm across his mouth. "Nikki risked everything to save me. I owe her the same."

"And what about me?" I say. "
I
risked everything to save you too."

Owen's face softens. "Yes you did, but you're not the one who's been extracted."

I take a deep breath to calm myself. "We can help you find her, but you can't play the lone wolf card anymore. Every decision you make affects all of us. It's time you pulled your weight in the same direction as everyone else."

Owen gives a wry grin. "You're right. I should have told you a long time ago you were right about a lot of things." He holds my gaze for a moment and I realize he's trying to tell me he's sorry for all the times he wasn't with me when I needed him before. But it doesn't matter now. It pushed me to become stronger, and for that I'm grateful.

"Mason always said you were a born leader," Owen adds. "You took the risks others cowered in front of."

"I only ever cared about what you thought of me," I say quietly.

Owen holds out his arms to me and this time he embraces me like he means it. "I'm sorry about the ships. I thought I was protecting us."

"We can find Nikki if we work together," I say when we pull apart.

Owen wipes a sleeve across his eyes. "You have a way of making people believe."

"Let me take a look at that shoulder," I say.

"It's nothing. A bullet grazed me."

"I'm guessing that was your blood on the pod chair in the Biotik Sektor?" Sven says.

Owen nods. "We stopped to get some lyophilized food. When we heard a noise, we took off thinking it was Sweepers. I guess it was you in the tunnel."

"We were afraid the escaped scientists had made it back here," I say.

"They didn't." Owen drops his gaze. "We had to eliminate them."

I bite my lip. I can tell by the weight in his voice that he wishes it could have been different. I don't press him for details.

"Maybe we can repair the Hovermedes if the damage isn't too bad," I say. "Let's round up Lou and Trout and check it out."

O
nce the military
clones clear the docking station, we set about inspecting the Hovermedes.

"The damage is all on the outside," Owen says, a hopeful note in his voice. "We didn't have much time."

Sven takes a knee and examines the nose of the first ship. It's riddled with bullets and flattened like the snout of a hammerhead shark. "You did a thorough job," he says. "This isn't going anywhere in this condition."

Owen throws him a sheepish grin. "We found some crowbars by the parts carts."

Sven moves down the line of Hovermedes evaluating each ship in turn. "You ran out of steam right about here." He runs his hand over the body of the last ship. "The damage on this one might be superficial. The circuitry is deep enough that there's a good chance it's unscathed." He straightens up and moves around the side of the ship. "Only one way to know for sure." He presses a spot on the gleaming charcoal body of the Hovermedes. A sleek panel slides open and three steps float down to greet us.

Lou's eyes widen. "I've never seen inside one before."

"Now's your lucky day," I say, with a shudder. "Most people don't volunteer for the tour."

"I'll keep watch with Owen." Trout gestures to us to go ahead.

Lou and I follow Sven up the steps and inside the ship.

Lou whistles as she takes in the egg-shaped, pearlescent-white seats, lined with a matrix-like red cushioning, positioned on either side of the center aisle. "They're like the pod chairs in the Biotik Sektor."

I nod. "Except they're missing the sleeping mode that allows the chairs to tilt all the way back."

Lou walks all the way up to the cockpit and stares in awe at the staggering array of electronic gauges. "Looks like a rocket ship, not that I've ever been in one of those either."

She leans over, poised to press a button. Sven grabs her wrist. "Not the emergency beacon! If the electronics have survived Owen's wrecking ball marathon, it will send out a powerful tracking signal."

Lou grimaces. "Always was a hazard around gadgets."

"You're pretty handy with that bow," I say.

"You do what you gotta do," she says. She averts her eyes and examines the control panel on one of the pod chairs.

I bite my lip. She's used her bow more than once to save my life, but I wonder if the faces of those she killed haunt her like they do me.

"Bad news," Sven says. "The electronics are damaged. If I can locate the parts I need I can probably repair it, but it will take the best part of a day."

"We can't attack the Megamedes with only one ship," I say.

"It's all we've got," Sven says. "And even that's iffy."

"Then we need a new strategy," I say.

"What are you thinking?" Lou asks.

"Dimitri said the Megamedes was outfitted with state-of-the-art weaponry. If we can infiltrate the ship and seize control of it, we might be able to avoid an all-out attack."

Sven frowns. "I'll contact Dimitri and see if the ship's layout is somewhere in Iskra's files."

I nod. "It's our best shot if we're down to one ship."

We exit the Hovermedes and keep watch while Sven fires up the CommCenter in the docking station. A moment later, Dimitri's hologram appears. He stares at us, an incredulous look on his face. "You did it? Are the Schutz Clones dead?"

"The homesteaders ambushed them while they were sleeping," Trout explains.

Dimitri frowns. "What are the homesteaders doing in the Craniopolis?"

Owen and I trade uneasy glances.

"The sweeps have resumed," I say. "Some of them were extracted."

Dimitri passes a hand over his brow. "I'm sorry."

He says it like he's sorry he was ever a part of the Sweepers' agenda to begin with. And he probably is. It has cost him everything.

Dimitri presses his lips into a tight line. "The extractees are on board the Megamedes."

The nape of my neck prickles. "Are you sure?"

He draws his brows into a tight 'V.' "I intercepted a transmission confirming that all remaining extractees were being offloaded to the Megamedes."

"Did Iskra have the layout of the Megamedes anywhere in her files?" Sven asks. "If we can locate the weaponry on board we could try and hijack the ship and disable the outposts at the same time."

"I'll transmit the plans, but they won't do you much good," Dimitri says.

I frown. "Why not?"

"I've been studying the engineering reports," he replies. "The Megamedes was never supposed to be in orbit this long. The directed-energy weapons onboard were designed to target attacking vehicles and disable them before they engaged. Unfortunately, the atmospheric conditions and weather created by the meltdown disrupted the infrared laser beams."

Trout cocks an eyebrow. "What does all that gobbledygook mean?"

"The defensive system has never been operational," Dimitri says. "You won't be able to disable the outposts from the Megamedes."

"So the galactic luxury liner is a lame duck," I say.

"The systems are failing. The survivors are going to have to return to earth before the ship fails entirely."

"Do you know for sure who is on board?" I ask.

Dimitri rubs his brow. "The world government and their family members. And the sovereign leader of course."

I glance around at the Undergrounders, cataloging the fear and despair on their faces.
They need someone to believe in.
I flinch, almost as if Big Ed himself came up behind me and whispered in my ear. Thinking of him gives me the push I need.

"The Sweepers underestimated who took down the Craniopolis." I lift my chin. "They must have lost half their troops in the attack on Shoshane City, and they don't know yet that the Schutz Clones in the docking station are dead. We can take the Megamedes." I turn to Owen. "And free the extractees."

"The catch is that we don't have a ship that's flightworthy," Lou says.

I open my mouth to respond, but a flickering light on the CommCenter station catches my attention. I frown at Sven. "Are we losing Dimitri?"

Sven shakes his head. "It's another incoming transmission." He swirls a few sequences across the screen, then turns toward us, the color draining from his face.

"It's the Megamedes," he whispers.