Legacy (Alliance Book 3) (22 page)

Riley reached over and hugged him, hard, staring at his face, “Promise me you’ll get you back to me too. I need to know you won’t do anything impulsive, rash, Brody-like. I need to know you’ll come back.”

He couldn’t promise him that, and he knew Riley knew it, and that for the first time in as long as he’s known him, Riley was asking him to lie, because the truth would kill him. He nodded, and walked away, not looking at him again, sitting down in the one empty spot he could find.

Ella finally handed him a plate and he ate quickly, silently, hoping they wouldn’t make this any harder than it already was for him. And they didn’t. Nobody said anything when he got up and nodded to Loren that he was ready. Nobody tried to stop him or screamed at him. They stood up at the fire and smiled at him, and he ran into the flier, hoping he didn’t burst into tears in front of them, trying to hold it together for a few more minutes, until the flier was up and their faces blurry. They were waving at the flier until he couldn’t see them any more, until they were high enough up to where he could finally stop looking at them.

He walked into the cabin, Loren calm behind the controls, and slumped into the seat next to him, putting his head into his hands, and was surprised at the feel of stubble on his chin. It seemed like such a stupid thing to have forgotten, it made him want to laugh.

“I forgot to shave, Loren. All this, and I bloody forgot to shave,” and he laughed then, couldn’t help it.

Loren watched him strangely for a while. “You know, Brody, it wouldn’t matter if you shaved. Your hair would keep growing for a long while after you are good and dead. Strange, how that works,” and he was laughing too now.

And he knew that whatever awaited him in Crylo, it would be all right. He would make himself okay with it. That no matter what his father wanted to do to him, it wouldn’t change this. All those people in the clearing they just left smiling at him. Him and Loren laughing. Laurel coming to him last night at the stream. His father couldn’t take any of it away from him.

He closed his eyes, thinking of all the best moments in his life and how most of them had nothing to do with his family, except for Andy.... It was always Riley and Trina and then his crew, these boys he grew to love, and then all those people he just said goodbye to, and Laurel. The one person in the world he would give anything to hold again.

The comm beeped and he heard an unfamiliar voice of Dyrig talking to Loren. He was paying attention now. “I think we got it, Loren, but we’d need a day to make the virus that’ll drop our neuros into their net. I can’t get it done any faster than that....”

He stopped listening. He didn’t have a day. Loren clicked off and looked at him. He shook his head, “We can’t. It’ll be all right.” Loren just nodded, his face tense, eyes straight ahead.

He has wondered about this kid ever since he joined his crew two years ago. He was the shyest of the bunch. Wouldn’t ever wash or change in front of anybody, and he was concerned about it for the longest time, but didn’t want to pry, so he let it go. And suddenly he remembered how Loren was all protective of Lancer when Riley saw those scars on him, and how afraid he seemed, and he hated himself for not seeing the connection earlier. This kid must have been tortured. That’s why he wouldn’t take his shirt off for anything.

“Can I ask you something? You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to....” Loren nodded, not looking at him. “How did you know about Lancer? That he was tortured?”

Loren shook his head, not saying a word. “Were you? Is that why you’d never change in front of anybody?” Loren’s jaw tensed and all the color drained from his face, but he wouldn’t look at him, wouldn’t say anything either. It didn’t matter. He knew it just looking at him, and he felt like an idiot for not realizing it earlier and for not being nicer to the kid.

“I’m sorry. You don’t need to tell me anything. I am truly sorry, Loren,” he whispered, and turned away from him.

It must have been an hour of silence between them after that when suddenly Loren was talking, in the way he never heard him talk before, his voice quiet, and soft, not clipped soldier voice like it usually was. “I was an orphan, Brody, the way I grew up, so I didn’t have any kind of choice about where I’d end up, and they were looking for people for the S-Squads, only I didn’t know what it meant then. I just turned 14 and I was in this little camp at the time with only a hundred recruits in it, most of them like me. I was already playing with computers, hacking into the various nets, for fun. Anyway, I got into this chat that I wasn’t supposed to see and it was this group of people, all with anon handles, talking about their plans to take over the Alliance from within, so they didn’t have to concede to Zoriner Councils and their sympathizers any more. I didn’t understand what most of it meant, not really, but there were all these comments back and forth on how they needed more of these secret groups of well trained soldiers, ones who were good with new tech, who would unwittingly do what they needed them to do. They were talking about the S-Squads, and the way they talked about it... I didn’t trust it, instinctively. A man came to recruit me shortly after that, telling me how lucky to be selected and how it was a very small elite force, a privilege and all that. I told him I wasn’t interested....”

He put his head down for a beat, and then looked at him, eyes shining, wet, and he could see the effort he was making to hold himself together.

“You don’t owe me this, Loren. Honestly, you don’t. I am sorry I asked. I shouldn’t have.”

Loren leaned his head back, switched the flier to auto and closed his eyes. “They put me into this pitch black room two days later and chained my hands to the ceiling. And then they told me that all I had to do was not scream, and if I did, I was useless to them as a soldier, a disgrace, and I’d be on my own after that. I was more afraid of being alone than anything then. I think I would have joined any squad to avoid that.... I couldn’t see anything in the darkness, couldn’t see their faces or what they were going to do to me, and they didn’t talk to me or to each other. I just knew there were two of them there by the way they moved. I still don’t know all that they did to me, couldn’t tell one kind of pain from another after a while. I remember that I kept blacking out and they’d throw water on me to wake me up, and I thought I was drowning until I remembered where I was. They were at it for hours, and I really tried not to, but I guess eventually I did. I couldn’t help it, Brody, I screamed.... I’ve been on my own ever since. They didn’t even bother to let my wounds heal, just threw me out like I was nothing. They made me walk through the entire camp, my friends lined up along this little concrete path we had. It was the middle of the day and I could see all their faces, sneering at me. These were kids I spent the last few years training with, and eating my meals with, and laughing with, and they were throwing rocks at my bloodied back,” he was shaking his head, and he saw the few tears escape from his tightly shut eyes, Loren turning his face away from him, hiding.

He put his hand on his arm and he flinched, “I am so sorry, Loren.... For what it’s worth, I am happy you didn’t end up in one of those squads, that you ended up with me. But you should have told me. I would have never let the other boys make fun of you for being so shy. We all thought that way about you. I am sorry for that.”

Loren looked at him after a while, eyes dry and his face calm again, “I have to tell you something, and you won’t like it. I think Fuller needs to make whatever he wants to do to you public. He is only hunting you down to save his reputation, from all the chatter I’ve seen. There’ve been rumors ever since Trina I guess, so he is not deemed trustworthy by some. I think he’ll turn this into a public execution for you, and likely Lancer, to let the Alliance superiors know where his loyalties lie. The good news is this sort of thing takes at least a quick trial and a bit of planning, so I don’t think he’ll be able to do it today. We’ll be ready to help you by then, is what I am saying. Unless whatever Dyrig and his guys are doing simply doesn’t work, we’ll get you and Lancer out of there alive. You have my word. And when we do, you have to forget everything I just told you, Brody. I can’t have anyone else knowing that about me.”

He was staring at the kid as if he’d never seen him before in his life. “Why the hell didn’t you tell me this before we left camp? I wouldn’t have said goodbye to everyone the way I did. Damn it, Loren. What the hell were you thinking?” He was shaking his head at him, furious now, thinking of how he left everyone and what they must be thinking.

But Loren just laughed at him, a soft laugh, “I didn’t tell you, but the rest of them know. I am not an idiot. I think you needed to feel the way you did when you got on this flier today for you, needed to make yourself okay with it. And I’d rather you had a small sliver of hope for things going well but be prepared to die if they didn’t, than the other way around. It seemed right to do it this way for everybody, Brody. You are free to shoot me for it later,” and he smiled at him, an open, friendly smile.

He lunged for him, hugging him with everything he had, wishing he hadn’t treated him like a bloody recruit for years.

He leaned his head back in the seat after a while and closed his eyes, smiling, thinking of doing to his father what Hassinger did to Trina, if only to watch the horrified look on his face when his own soldiers turn their guns on him. He’d be the one to shoot him, of course, he had to be, after everything he’s done. He was pretty sure he could do it now, could look into his eyes doing it and not feel anything but relief.

Lancer, June 12, 2236, Crylo.

T
he girl was pacing around the room when he woke up, her bare feet not making any noise. She smiled at him, a full on little-girl smile, and he couldn’t help but smile back at this strange kid. It seemed impossible for her to be so unbroken after everything, and he hoped with all his heart he could get her out of this.

The door slid open and Fuller walked in, wearing a regular uniform this time, standard grays. Two guards followed behind him. The shorter one unceremoniously dropped another cot against the wall, and then Brody, face bruised and bleeding, crumpled to the floor in a heap next to him. He gasped, couldn’t help it, and regretted it immediately, noting a satisfied grin on Fuller’s face.

“Let her go, Fuller. You got what you wanted.” The man nodded to him, and motioned to the guards. They walked over to the girl, and the shorter guard pulled out his gun, an old-school one, not a stunner, and without a word shot Tishana in the head. He was too stunned to scream, too stunned to do or say anything. The guards dragged her through the floor, trailing her blood on it, Fuller following them, the door sliding shut.

He crouched by Brody, lifting him up as well as he could with his hands the way they were. His eyes were closed, but he was breathing okay. He lay him down on the cot, and lifted up his shirt to see if anything else on him was broken. There were a few nasty purple spots on his ribs, so he felt around them gently, Brody not stirring. Not broken then. He sat next to him, watching him for a long time, and finally his eyes opened, focusing on his face and the kid smiled at him.

“I am pissed at you, Lancer. Drake too. You had no right to do what you did. It didn’t change anything.” He was still smiling, which didn’t make sense with what he just said. He watched him curiously, waiting, but Brody didn’t say anything more, just lay there looking at him.

“Is there any water in here?” Brody asked after a while, his voice hoarse. He shook his head. He was dying of thirst himself by now and hoped Fuller would at least let them drink something. He could go without food for a few days yet, but his mouth already felt sandy, dry; his lips chapped. The door slid open and a guard came in with a tin bucket of water, shoved it into the room and left without a word. They stared at each other, knowing what it meant. They’d have to whisper or Brody would have to learn to read lips. He could do that easily enough, had to learn when he was held like this before, but he didn’t think Brody could.

He moved the bucket to the cot and helped Brody sit up, and then scooped the water into his hands and drank slowly, enjoying the cool taste of it. Brody just leaned his head in and took a few long gulps. The kid’s face was still bleeding. He ripped his shirt off him and wiped the blood off his face as best he could, noting now that his cheek was split, an ugly gash in it, as if he were hit with a ring. He didn’t want to ask and Brody wasn’t volunteering anything. He didn’t recall Fuller having any rings on him though. The kid was watching him, eyes serious.

He was done with it finally, his face still bruised but at least all the blood was gone. Brody leaned in to him then and whispered what Loren told him, how Dyrig thought he had the code right and was just working on some virus, but that he should have it all worked out in a day. He told him that the flier was fixed and they were all coming here tonight, and that Trelix and Loren would get to them somehow, when his father took them out of here to execute them or whatever it is he had planned and that they just had to hold out until then. He nodded. He always knew Dyrig would do what he could. He just hoped they were right about Fuller needing to do this in public. He thought they were. There was something theatrical about everything he did. He needed a reaction, needed for there to be an audience.

He walked away from Brody and paced, stepping over the blood trail from Tishana. He hoped Brody didn’t see the guard shoot her, that he was still knocked out when it happened. The kid had enough to feel guilty about.

“I know about Loren, Lancer. He told me. I am sorry I made you go through that, I truly am. I had no right to pry like that.” He was staring at him, blue eyes on his, not hiding now.

“I know, Brody. I knew it then. Let it go.” Suddenly the kid was up and walking toward him. “Turn around, Lancer,” voice strained for some reason. He did, and then felt a wet rag on his back wiping at a spot on his shoulder. He remembered it now, that he was shot on that roof. He heard Brody exhale behind him, “It just grazed you. You’re okay,” and he went back to the cot, banded hands in fists on his knees.