Skybreach (The Reach #3) (25 page)

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Holger said.

“Almost an hour ago they engaged Enforcers up in Lux directly.  There was a firefight, and the Enforcers came out on top, although they suffered a number of casualties.  There was also a skirmish here in Gaslight, and an explosion in the Plant Rooms.  Enforcers are en route as we speak.”

“So what are Children of Earth up to?” Talia said.

“Coordinating multiple attacks, obviously,” Silvestri said.
  “Trying to cause more panic.”

“Maybe they’ve decided to retaliate for that massacre by the Redmen up on Fifty-Six yesterday,” Remus said.  “The body count keeps rising, and from what I’ve heard, they weren’t just targeting rioters.”

“Yeah,” Holger said.  “Maybe this is what the Redmen wanted, to draw the bastards out.  Get them angry so they could pick them off.”

“This is their endgame,” Lazarus said quietly.

Holger sighed.  “More words of wisdom from the ogre.”

They turned to as one to look at Lazarus, and the Redman opened his eyes and drew himself up to his full height.

“These insurgents would not expose themselves unduly, unless there were some purpose in it,” Lazarus said.  “None of their activities to date would suggest that they are prone to petty acts of retaliation.  They are too methodical, too calculating.  One would assume that they are about to bring the thunder, in whatever form that may be.”

“You’re talking out your ass,” Holger spat.

“No, he’s not,” Silvestri said.  “I was wondering the same thing myself when Iris came to me.  This could be something big.”

“Oh, so
this
is the big thing,” Yun said sarcastically.  “Like those other attacks were small.”

“In comparison, that may turn out to be true,” Silvestri said.

“So where does that leave us?” Knile said.

Silvestri glanced at Aksel.  “When is the next launch scheduled for the Wire?”

Aksel seemed a little caught off guard.  “Uh, let’s see here…”  He tapped on the keyboard in front of him.  “Tonight, just before sunset.”

The hairs on the back of Knile’s neck suddenly stood on end as he watched Silvestri processing that information thoughtfully.

“Silvestri,” he said, “what exactly are you thinking here?”

Silvestri glanced around almost apologetically at those assembled.

“I’m thinking that we need to be on that railcar tonight.”

There was an explosion of voices at that remark, disbelief for the most part
.  However, Knile noted that there were also several who seemed in agreement with Silvestri, including Remus and Holger, and Lazarus nodded his head in approval.  Silvestri patiently held up his hands and waited for the noise to abate.

“Unless I’m wrong, I don’t believe there’s anything that’s standing in our way,” Silvestri said.  “Aksel has verified that our elevator access is still current.  Yun has finished the chips that will get us through the Stormgates.”  He glanced at Yun.  “Right?”

“Well, the last was finished an hour ago.  They’re literally hot off the press.  We don’t know for sure if they’re going to work at this point.”

“There’s no way to test them unless we actually go through the Stormgates,” Silvestri said.  “And if we send someone up there on a dry run – to walk through, only come right back out again – that’s going to raise suspicions.  They might discover what we’ve done with the chips and patch the security hole before we can make it up there again.”

“Wait a minute,” Yun said, “are we actually discussing this seriously?  Heading up there
today?
”

“Yes,” Silvestri said, his voice hard as stone.

“This is beginning to sound like a suicide mission,” Yun said.

“Call it what you want
,” Silvestri said.  He pointed at the terminal.  “Those insurgents are gearing up for something.  They’ve left us with no other choice.”

“Maybe we should wait,” Iris said.  “See how it plays out for another twenty-four hours.”

“Wait for what?” Holger said.  “For the terrorists to rip the Reach in two?  All of this bullshit,” he said, waving his hands around at the room, “will mean nothing if that happens.  All the work we’ve done will count for jack shit.”

“There is one other side to this,” Knile said.  “If there’s confusion and disarray, that could help our cause.  If the Enforcers and the Consortium are preoccupied with what Children of Earth are doing, there’s a greater chance that we’ll be able to slip through unnoticed.”

“Exactly,” Silvestri said.  He
gave Knile a pointed look
.  “What about the EMP?  Is that ready as well?”

Knile nodded
.  “
Yeah, I put it together earlier.”

“So we have what we need to put our plan into action on this side of the Wire,” Silvestri said.  “Thanks to Knile, we also now have
floorplans
of Habitat One.  We can plan what to do when we reach the top.”

“Wait a minute,” Holger said, frowning.  “How the hell did you come by those?”

“I have a contact up there,” Knile said.  “She got in touch with me yesterday, and sent through the
floorplans last night.”

“Who is she?” Iris said.

“She’s, uh…”  Knile struggled to give Ursie an appropriate label.  “An old friend.  She said she knows one of the maintenance people up there.  He provided the
floorplans
.  She’s also working on getting us intel on the Redmen who are stationed in the habitat.”

“So she’s some kind of spy,” Holger said doubtfully.

Knile shook his head.  “Not at all.  That’s why we have to take the information with a grain of salt.”

He omitted to tell them that he still did not trust Ursie completely, although he’d confided as much to Silvestri in private.  They’d agreed not to hang all of their plans on the intel being one hundred percent
correct.

“Aksel has previously gleaned about fifteen percent of the floorplans from the habitat,” Silvestri said, “and the information provided to us was a complete match.”

“I have seen the drawings,” Lazarus added, “and from what I recall of the place, they seem to be accurate.”

An awkward silence fell upon the group at that point, and as Knile struggled with his inner turmoil at Silvestri’s words
, he decided the others must have been doing the same.  It was a huge decision to make, and if they went up there unprepared, the results would be disastrous.  They might
be blowing their only chance to escape.

On the other hand, if they waited longer, and Children of Earth wreaked further havoc, leaving Earth may prove impossible.

“Silvestri’s right,” Knile said finally.  “We’re ready.  There’s no point waiting.”

Talia nodded.  “We can do this.”

One by one their doubts seemed to fall away, and as Silvestri queried each in turn, they all gave their consent.  Yun was the last.  He stood there, looking pale and clammy, seemingly on the verge of falling apart.

Iris stepped over to him and placed her hand reassuringly on his shoulder.

“What do you say, buddy?”

Yun licked his lips.  “I say you’re all fucking crazy.  But I guess I am, too.”

Silvestri smiled at him.  “Then let’s do this.  Let’s activate Skybreach.”

There was something liberating about those words, and Knile felt as though a great weight had suddenly been lifted from his shoulders.  The waiting, the planning, the worrying was over.  Now the time had come to act.  It was as if he had been the gladiator standing on the edge of the arena, watching and nervously awaiting his turn to fight.  Now he was finally stepping into the battle, the place where he could allow his instincts to take over again.

Looking around, he could see that most of the others felt the same.  Faces were draining of
anxiety
and filling up with excitement.  Belief.

“Good,” Silvestri said, satisfied.  “Team Alpha, load up.  We leave in two hours.”

Remus reached out and snared Knile by the sleeve as the crowd began to disperse, then waved to attract
Silvestri’s attention.  Silvestri joined them, an impatient look on his face.

“What’s the matter, Remus?” Silvestri said.

“Knile has been assigned to Omega, right?” Remus said.

“Yes,” Silvestri said.  “What of it?”

“I’d like to take him with me to find the RECS,” Remus said.  “We need them now more than ever.”

“This again
?
” Knile said.

“Wait a minute, Remus,” Silvestri interjected.  “I haven’t sanctioned this.  In fact, I think it’s a waste of time, and this isn’t the first time I’ve told you as much.”

“So what’s the deal with these things?” Knile said.

“Riot Engagement and Containment Systems,” Remus said.  “They were used in the early days of the Reach as a form of crowd control.  They were decommissioned and put in
to storage, but I know where to find them.”

“We don’t have time for this,” Silvestri said.

“C’mon, it’s practically on the way,” Remus said, sounding almost like a petulant child pleading with his parent.  “If it turns out that we can’t get to them, we abort and catch up with the rest of Team Omega.  No harm done.”

Silvestri shook his head.  “I don’t like it.”

“If we’re going to be contending with Children of Earth, Redmen and Enforcers up there, the RECS could really make a difference.  I think they’re worth a shot.”

Silvestri considered for a moment longer, then waved dismissively.

“I’m going to leave this up to Knile.  If he wants to go with you, he can.  Just don’t jeopardise the safety of the others while you’re at it.”

Silvestri moved off without another word, and Remus turned expectantly to Knile.

“So what do you think?”

“To be honest, we need every advantage we can get,” Knile said.  “But I’m not going to risk missing our cue.  We need to meet up with the rest of Omega before they reach the Atrium.”

Remus nodded enthusiastically.  “We can do that.”  He jabbed a finger at Knile, smiling.  “You and me.”

“And me.”

Knile turned to see Roman at his shoulder, a resolute look on his face.

“Roman, you should stay with the brawlers,” Knile said.  “This could be risky.  There’s safety with–”

“No!” Roman practically shouted.  “I’m sick of being treated like the baby around here.  I’m not a child anymore, Knile.”

Knile was taken aback by his vehemence.  “I know that, but–”

“So let me go,” Roman said.  “I can handle myself.”  He glanced at Remus.  “I want to do something that matters.  I’m not a passenger around here.”

“It’s fine with me,” Remus said.

Knile looked back at Roman.  The boy stood there defiantly, he chin jutting out and his lips pressed together as he waited for Knile to try to dissuade him.  The look in his eyes suggested that he would not be swayed, however, and Knile saw no point in continuing the argument.

“Yeah, okay. 
You can come.”

“It’s settled, then,” Remus said.  He clapped them both on the shoulder merrily, then bounced away after the others who had gone ahead to prepare for departure.  Knile and Roman exchanged another glance, and Knile thought he saw a glimmer of satisfaction in the boy’s eyes.

Yeah, you won that one, Roman.  I’ll give you that.

Talia was waiting for them at the door.

“I’m going to join the others in Alpha in a minute, so I’m not going to see you guys again before I leave,” she said.  “Now, I don’t want any goodbyes, because this isn’t where it ends.  Right?”

Knile smiled reassuringly.  “Right.”

She stepped forward and hugged each of them in turn, a little hurriedly, Knile thought, as if she was eager to keep the exchange as short as possible.

“So, I’ll see you,” she said, backing up slowly toward the door.  She p
aused with her hand on the door
frame.  “I’ll see you at the top.”

“See you at the top, Tal,” Roman said.