Revolution (Replica) (2 page)

Agnes raised her chin. “You think my father would be okay with Paxco forces arresting or shooting me? Synchrony may be small, but I don’t think even Paxco wants to go to war against our military.”

“That would be true if someone other than Thea were calling the shots for Paxco,” Nadia said. “But it’s hard to know just what Thea will do. Loss of human life doesn’t bother her, and she might think disposing of all of us is worth the minor inconvenience of a war.”

“But even if she’s using Dorothy to usurp the Chairmanship,” Nate argued, “the Chairman isn’t all-powerful. She would need the board of directors’ approval before she declared war, and I can’t see—”

“But
she
wouldn’t be the one doing it,” Nadia said. “She doesn’t need the board’s permission to order the border patrol to shoot us on sight, and it’s Chairman Belinski who would actually declare war.”

“So we have my father send a delegation over the border into Paxco,” Agnes said. “They meet us and escort us over the border. The border patrol wouldn’t be able to shoot us without shooting the delegation, and that’s something they won’t be willing to do.”

Nadia wasn’t so sure about that. Thea might guess they’d head for Synchrony, and she’d no doubt have contingencies in place. All it would take was one person firing a gun, and all hell would break loose. It seemed likely the five of them would somehow get killed in the cross fire if something like that were to happen.

“What’s more dangerous?” she mused out loud. “Trying to survive in the Basement with limited money, or trying to cross the border when Thea is almost certainly expecting us to try it?”

“Both choices suck ass,” Bishop said.

“Will you quit with the language?” Nate asked peevishly, giving him a light punch on the arm.

Nadia rolled her eyes. She had long ago become immune to Bishop’s language, and even Agnes seemed to be getting used to it, no longer flinching when he said one of those words that was not used in polite Executive society.

“It doesn’t matter what language he uses,” Nadia said. “He’s right.”

“Of course he’s right,” Agnes agreed. “The important question isn’t what’s more dangerous, it’s what will serve us better if it works. And I don’t think that choice is all that hard to make.”

When she put it that way …

What good could possibly come from hiding in the Basement? Nadia and her friends would be powerless here, with no money or supporters. But if they could make it to Synchrony and cut some kind of deal with Chairman Belinski, they might be able to stop Thea from achieving whatever her end goal was. The idea of conspiring with a foreign Chairman, of potentially betraying her state to one, did not sit well in Nadia’s stomach, but it seemed like the lesser of two evils.

“So,” Nate said, “I guess we’re going to Synchrony.”

Agnes let out a breath of relief, her shoulders sagging. She had to know they had a lot of potentially lethal hurdles still to leap, but Nadia understood the appeal of the idea of going home.

“I’ll have to call my father and see what I can arrange,” she said, looking at Nate and raising an eyebrow. “You have a secure phone, right?”

Nate nodded and pulled a phone out of his pocket. Nadia’s adrenaline suddenly spiked as she remembered something Dorothy had said during their confrontation earlier.

“How sure are we that the phone’s secure?” she asked. “And that Chairman Belinski’s phone is, too? Dorothy said she found one of the videos we made, which means she has feelers all over the net. What do you want to bet she can listen in on phone lines, too?”

Agnes gave the phone in her hand a doubtful look. Then she seemed to come to a decision and stood up a little straighter, her chin sticking out with a hint of stubbornness. “We can’t get to Synchrony without taking risks. Even if Thea can listen in to the phone call and track its origins, at least we can tell my father what’s
really
going on.”

“Will he believe us?” Nadia asked. “I mean, I think it’ll sound pretty damn crazy to someone who hasn’t been wrapped up in it from the beginning.”

“He’ll believe
me,
” Agnes said.

Nadia hoped it wasn’t wishful thinking.

Agnes turned on the phone, quickly tapping in a number. She held the phone to her ear, then frowned and lowered it. “Nothing’s happening.”

Bishop made a little sound of disgust. “Because phone service is out. Happens all the time around here. It’s not like anyone in power gives a shit whether we can use the phone or not. Could be days before they get around to fixing it.”

Nadia met Nate’s eyes, and she could see he was having the same thought as she. Thea knew their first move after this morning’s fiasco would be to run to the Basement, the one place where they could escape the city’s ubiquitous security cameras. Disabling the Basement’s phone service was an obvious way to stop them from reaching out for help—or from telling anyone the truth about Dorothy.

“I guess if we want to call my father,” Agnes said, “we’ll have to go where there’s service even if it means risking being spotted. I don’t think we can afford to wait until service is restored. Assuming it ever is.”

Apparently, Agnes’s thoughts had traveled the same road.

“I don’t know,” Bishop said, frowning fiercely. “Could be exactly what Thea wants us to do. Maybe she’s trying to flush us out, one way or another.”

“It doesn’t matter,” Nadia said firmly. “I want us all to get out of this alive, but the most important thing of all is to get word out about Thea. She’s gained a frightening amount of power, and she now has all of Paxco under her control. She
has
to be stopped, and contacting Chairman Belinski seems like the best way to stop her.”

Synchrony was considered one of the less powerful states because it wasn’t particularly wealthy. However, the reason it wasn’t wealthy was that it spent so much of its money on its military, a military that was well trained and very well equipped. Powerful enough to defeat Thea’s commandeered forces, if it came to that.

“So we’re going on a road trip,” Nate said, trying to sound casual and unconcerned.

“Let’s wait until nightfall, at least,” Bishop suggested. “We’ll be harder to recognize in the dark, and there’ll be more people out and about to give us cover.”

He turned off the stove and pulled the pot off the burner. Nadia’s stomach gave a lurch when she took a quick glance at the contents. Some artificial chicken flavoring packets had turned the water a shade of yellow not seen in nature, and there were chunks of pink-tinted soy meat product and gray green beans floating in it.

“Dinner is served,” Bishop said with an ironic flourish.

Nadia was sure she wasn’t the only one whose appetite had retreated into a corner to hide, but they were all damn well going to eat what they were given.

*   *   *

Until
the moment that he, Kurt, and Agnes headed out into the night, Nate racked his brain in hopes that he could come up with a better plan. Splitting up seemed like a bad idea, and yet there was no good reason to risk letting Nadia, with her famous face and her so-so disguise, be seen out in public. Hell, there wasn’t a whole lot of reason to risk
Nate
showing his face, except that he had put his foot down and insisted on coming along, disguised as his Basement alter ego, the Ghost. No one was going to recognize the Chairman Heir beneath the white wig, the bluish-white face powder, and the pale blue contact lenses. He needed to be
doing
something instead of sitting around thinking. His mind was too full of horrors, his heart too full of jumbled emotions. Besides, he was the rightful Chairman of Paxco. He needed Agnes to reassure her father she hadn’t been kidnapped and to verify their crazy-sounding story, but if anyone was going to encourage a foreign power to invade his state, it was going to be him.

“Stay close,” Kurt said unnecessarily as he and Nate and Agnes merged with the crowd that had started forming in the street the moment the sun went down.

Nate wished there were some way they could get in touch with Chairman Belinski without having to drag Agnes through the streets of the Basement. She was in disguise, of course, and the people of the Basement made a practice of minding their own business, but there was an aura of vulnerability about her that he feared might attract the wrong sort. But she had been adamant that she had to be the one to make the call, and it was hard to argue. He was certain that Belinski thought Nate had kidnapped his daughter, so there was no way he would listen to anything Nate had to say without Agnes there.

He and Kurt sandwiched Agnes, doing the best they could to shield her and make it obvious to any Basement predators that she was not unprotected, as they made their way toward the Basement’s border. It was possible Dorothy had cut off phone service in the low-class Employee neighborhoods just beyond the Basement, but it seemed unlikely. Low-class those Employees might be, but they were still
Employees.
Dorothy could get away with shenanigans that only hurt Basement-dwellers, but she’d have a lot harder time justifying anything that might cause problems for Employees.

Hopefully, within a block or two after passing the Basement’s border, they would be able to pick up a phone signal. Then they’d find somewhere as secluded as possible so that Agnes could make her phone call without being observed. And hope that they weren’t caught on surveillance video and recognized before they could plan a strategy with Chairman Belinski.

“Something seems off,” Kurt commented.

Nate shook himself out of his worries and looked around, trying to see what Kurt was talking about.

“What do you mean?” Agnes asked.

Kurt shook his head. “Not sure, really. Just feels … different out here.”

As soon as Kurt pointed it out, Nate noticed it, too. Here in the “tourist” areas of the Basement, where Employees and Executives came to play, there was usually a palpable buzz of energy in the air. Lots of adrenaline-fueled excitement from the tourists, lots of predatory anticipation in the Basement-dwellers who planned to take advantage of them.

Tonight, the mood felt strangely subdued, even though there were just as many people on the streets as usual, and business was being transacted.

“I have a bad feeling about this,” Nate muttered. But there was nothing to do but keep moving and hope it was all in their imagination.

Unfortunately, it wasn’t.

When the street they were following neared the Basement’s edge, the tension in the air reached such a level that even Agnes felt it, and they soon found out why.

A row of sawhorses had been set up at the border, crossing from sidewalk to sidewalk with only two small openings at the center. Each opening was manned by two uniformed security officers, and it appeared that anyone who wanted to cross the border in either direction was being required to show ID.

Worse, there was a giant video screen set up behind the barricade facing the Basement, its message blinking ostentatiously. Impossible to miss.

First, a picture of Nadia; then a picture of Nate; then
WANTED DEAD OR ALIVE
. And finally, most chilling of all:
REWARD
$100,000
AND EMPLOYEE STATUS
.

Nate stopped in his tracks and swallowed hard. That would be a hell of a lot of money for a Basement-dweller even if it was being offered in
credits,
but in
dollars …

Kurt uttered a string of curses, then took hold of both Nate’s and Agnes’s arms and steered them away in a hurry.

“No talking!” he snapped at them even though no one had tried to say anything. He glanced around him significantly. Nate got the message, and he presumed Agnes did, too. There were ears all around them, and if they said anything that suggested the roadblock was meant for them, someone would be sure to hear. They’d probably drawn enough attention to themselves by their abrupt about-face, although glancing over his shoulder Nate could see they weren’t the only ones doing it. There were plenty of people in the Basement who did not want to parade themselves in front of security officers.

Trying not to look overly furtive, they headed back toward Kurt’s apartment. It was time to come up with a plan B.

CHAPTER TWO

Nadia
hadn’t considered that with Agnes, Nate, and Bishop all heading out to try to reach Chairman Belinski, she and Dante would be left alone together in Bishop’s apartment.

There wasn’t any furniture in his living room—unless you counted the smattering of mismatched, stained sofa cushions that were scattered around the floor. Nadia made herself comfortable by dragging one of those cushions to the edge of the room so she could use the wall as an impromptu backrest. Dante grabbed another cushion and came toward her.

“Scooch forward,” he said, then tucked the cushion behind her when she obeyed. He grinned down at her. “Almost as comfy as your living room couch, no?”

She smiled at him as he joined her on the “couch,” sitting shoulder to shoulder with her and stretching out his legs. “Depends on your definition of
almost,
” she replied. She leaned into him, and he took the hint, draping his arm around her shoulders. She sighed and snuggled against him, closing her eyes and trying not to think.

They sat like that for a few minutes in companionable silence, just enjoying each other’s company and the luxury of privacy. Then Dante kissed the top of her head, and the very air that surrounded them seemed to change. Nadia’s pulse picked up its pace, and her hand somehow found its way to the center of Dante’s nicely muscled chest. He sucked in a hurried breath, his heart kicking beneath her fingertips.

Such innocent touches, and yet they filled the room with an electric sense of anticipation. Nadia turned her face up to his, hardly able to believe the longing that coursed through her. They were sitting on the floor on stained cushions in an apartment that was about one step short of being condemned. They were on the run, their lives in constant danger. It was about as unromantic a situation as Nadia could imagine. But when Dante kissed her, it was as if the rest of the world just fell away.