The Last Mission of the Living (The Last Bastion Book 2) (18 page)

“In other words, not fret over each other’s safety.” Lindsey traced her fingers over his lightly.

“Can you?”

It was a difficult question to answer, but even more so because Lindsey knew that at some point they might have orders that contradicted each other. Yet, she couldn’t allow the SWD to find her friends. And the reality was that it would be easier on her nerves to be near Torran.

“You could stay,” Lindsey dared to suggest.

“But I can’t,” Torran answered simply.

“Because this is what we do.”

“Exactly.”

Sliding her arms around his waist, she stared up at him. “Then we’ll have to do our jobs and do them well so we both come back.”

A faint smile touched his lips. “Nothing about this life is easy.”

“Nope.”

“So we go do our job. Come back. Have celebratory sex...”

“Sounds like a good plan.”

“Then why do you look so worried?” Torran asked.

Making a mental note to hide her feelings better, Lindsey realized she had to lie. Though she was willing to admit she was falling for Torran, she couldn’t discuss what she knew about the SWD mission with him. Or maybe she was afraid to discover he agreed with the secret mission to bring back Dwayne and Maria.

“The food riots today upset me.” It was a half-truth to cover her real misgivings.

“Yeah. But we’ll fix it.” Torran kissed the tip of her nose.

“And be heroes,” she said, smiling.

When he kissed her, she clung to him with a need that frightened her.

The tacos were very, very cold by the time they finally ate them an hour later.

Part 3

The MISSION

Chapter 17

“There is no option to fail,” Lindsey said gravely. “Our success is imperative to the survival of The Bastion.”

The combined squad of SWD and Constabulary soldiers stared at her somberly. Torran was positioned to the side, hands clasped before him, surveying the people gathered in the room. It was shaped like a small amphitheater with a dais in the center where Lindsey and Torran stood. Constabulary gray sat together on one side, SWD black on the other, and a smattering of white Sci-Tech in the middle. Dr. Curran was not in attendance, which didn’t surprise Lindsey. Most likely, the doctor would be busy with her own agenda when out on the field and had little interest in the actual mission.

Torran stepped forward to continue: “The Scrags track humans by movement and sound. They’re also drawn to vehicles that they acquaint with humanity. This is information gleaned from the daily logs of Chief Defender Omandi and Vanguard Martinez during the Inferi Boon Special Ops Mission. Sound stirs the Scrags out of their stupor, and they become immediately restless and hostile. They attacked the Inferi Boon until the Boon removed their helmets and the Scrags were finally able to visually identify them as one of their own. Unfortunately, this did not always stop Scrag attacks. The Inferi Boon soldiers witnessed the Scrags even attacking each other when overstimulated by the perceived presence of humans. The more riled up the Scrags become, the more dangerous they are.”

There was some restless movement among the squad members. A few faces on the Constabulary side worried Lindsey. Some of the original selections on the roster had not made the cut, and replacements had been called. Franklin and Hobbes sat among the Constabulary. Whereas before she’d been glad to be among familiar people, it bothered her now that she was so emotionally invested. She cared about the safety of all the squad members, but her heart was a bit more on the line when it came to friends.

“Therefore,” Lindsey said, stepping to one side to allow the soldiers a better view of the screen behind her, “we will be only be deployed at food depots that have the highest security and are on the outskirts of major cities or towns. The approach of aircraft will stir the Scrags out of their torpor. They will then follow in the wake of the tiltrotors. This phenomenon was witnessed during the recent clearing of the valley on numerous occasions. One tiltrotor was lost when it set down and was instantly swarmed.”

“We’ll have limited time, people. The operations under this mission will be under the gun and we’ll have to be in and out in a short amount of time.”  Torran’s grim tone and expression matched perfectly.

Again, the squad shifted uncomfortably.

“The SWD created stealth armor in anticipation of a mission of this type,” Lindsey explained. “The suits were originally created to clear the valley, but were not viable for close encounters with the Inferi Scourge due to a time limit of their effectiveness. Because aging tech had to be used in their construction, the suits only offer invisibility for ten minute intervals.”

Torran activated the vid screen. “The stealth function of your suits will render you invisible to Scrags from a distance. Up close, they may be able to see through it if you move. The technology is not perfect.” 

Lindsey glanced over her shoulder as the screen revealed a dummy wearing the stealth suit. The armor gave the dummy the appearance of water contained in the shape of a human when it switched on, then blended into the surroundings. Inferi Scourge were dispatched into the testing room a few seconds later. The Scrags were slightly riled from being transported, but soon stilled while letting out mild, questioning screeching noises. The dummy’s legs and arms started to move slowly, gradually picking up speed to imitate the gait of a person. Abruptly, a Scrag let loose a shriek and attacked the dummy. The others instantly followed.

The squad members stared intently past Lindsey and Torran at the screen. Lindsey let them absorb what they’d seen, then said, “If the Scrags somehow manage to remove a part of your armor, you’re dead and a Scrag.”

Torran stepped in front of the screen as it went blank. “The suits were made for the sole purpose of resisting bites and keeping you hidden from the Scrags should you end up in close proximity to them, so you’re not bullet and shrapnel proof. Remember that.”

“It’s not like the Scrags will be shooting us,” someone muttered.

Lindsey and Torran exchanged looks. As far as anyone knew, the Abscrags were now all dead. The valley was close to being completely cleared for resettlement and there had been no sign of the clever variation of Scrags.

“No, not likely, but we should remain vigilant,” Torran finally said. “We will need to clear each food facility before transport of the supplies can begin. If the facility is breached, then you will activate your stealth suits.”

“Your weapons will have the same cloaking ability. A small electrical charge begins the cycle of invisibility. You will be trained on how to use this tech.” Lindsey set her hands at her waist and regarded the group, studying each face. She was satisfied to see they were attentive. “Our goal is to not make the natives too restless. Once the squad dispatches from the tiltrotor, we will immediately secure the depot. Once the storage area is cleared, we will extract as many food containers as possible before the situation becomes too perilous.”

“And it
will
become
perilous
very quickly.” Torran pointed to the screen as it flashed to life and showed old footage of a food depot that had been an evacuation point. Despite the concrete and fortified fences, the perimeter collapsed and the depot was swarmed, thousands of evacuees being lost in a matter of minutes. “This is what we can expect. We are talking about hordes of Scrags that number in the hundreds of thousands. Gates and walls will not hold against them for long. Most of the food depots were built to keep out marauding humans, not creatures that don’t give a care as to whether or not they’re crushed to death in a stampede.”

For the first time, Lindsey saw the squad reacting with frightened looks. Maybe it was memories of their own skirmishes with the Scrags that made them uncomfortable, or maybe it was sympathy for the long lost victims, but they looked disturbed and maybe a little afraid. “Do not waver from your assignment. We must work like the intricate pieces of a machine. Dependent on one another to make all the forays into the dead world a success.”

Stepping closer to Lindsey, Torran said, “Forget the SWD and Constabulary rivalry. This is about more than petty squabbles. This is about saving humanity. The Inferi Boon Special Ops were both Constabulary and SWD and they’re the reason we’re about to finally start to resettle the valley. Soon, farmers will be harvesting crops because of the sacrifices of the Inferi Boon. We honor their memory by making this mission a success. By ensuring humanity survives.”

There was a solemn silence among the squad members. No sarcastic comments or mocking looks were exchanged. It was a nice shift from the usual hostile atmosphere that existed when Constabulary and SWD were in close quarters.

“Training begins tomorrow at 0800 hours. We’ll see you in Training Room Five. Dismissed.”  Torran’s Scottish accent was heavy, and the usual twinkle in his eyes was missing.

Lindsey stepped aside to observe the departing squad. The faces of the soldiers of all genders and various races were sober and thoughtful as they filed out.  When the doors shut behind the group, Torran pivoted toward Lindsey.

“Fuck, they look young,” he groused.

“Or maybe we’re prematurely old,” Lindsey suggested with a wry smile.

Torran pulled his pad out of his pocket and irritably stabbed at it with one finger. “At least they were all attentive. I didn’t see any wandering eyes.”

“I’m concerned about the Sci-Techs though. Did you see them shifting uncomfortably during the discussion of the armor?”

“Yeah, but that could be based on the fact they’ve never had to
wear
armor before. Or because they’ve never been in any sort of battle. Tomorrow will give us a better idea about how they’ll cope.” Torran shook his head. “We’ve got six days to make it work.”

Tugging her own pad out of her pocket, Lindsey called up the preliminary reports gathered for the mission planning. “I hate that we’re going to Beta City first. There’s going to be a high concentration of Scrags around the depot due to it being near the final evac site.”

“There will be two fence lines between us and the Scrags. It’ll slow them down.”

Lindsey’s fingers glided over the slick surface as she ran various time estimates. “The fences will come down for certain.”

Torran studied the information she beamed at his pad. “I see where your concern is.”

“We have three aircraft entering the area. The two cargo transports and a tiltrotor. They will draw a lot of attention. I see a definite weak spot on the north side facing the evac site. In the last images taken by the evac aircraft you can see where one fence was already listing. It may have come down already.” Lindsey skewed her lips to one side, concentrating on images and how they translated into the plan.

“The good thing is that the Beta City depot won’t have as much to transport as depots in major cities. We can make it work.”

“We need to be in and out in twenty to thirty minutes, MacDonald.”

“We can attempt to push another location as our first mission,” Torran suggested.

Lindsey regarded him through her eyelashes. “You really think they’ll let us go for a bigger target?”

Exhaling through his teeth, Torran pondered her question. Finally, he said, “No. They won’t. The further out we travel, the more likely we are to run into unexpected complications. They will not want delays.”

“My thoughts exactly.”

“We do think a lot alike, Rooney. Kinda scary.”

“Great minds, huh?”

Torran shrugged. “I wouldn’t say great… Scheming maybe.”

Lindsey gave him a sharp look while wondering if he knew about the secret mission that would be launched at some point during their excursions into the dead world. If so, what were his thoughts?

“What’s that look for, Rooney?”

“What look?”

Torran pointed at her face. “That look. Very intense. Very pointed.”

The corner of Lindsey’s mouth twitched upward. “Just estimating odds of success.”

“And how are we doing?”

“Are you a betting man, MacDonald?”

Running his hand over his hair, Torran lifted a shoulder. “Sometimes.”

“The odds aren’t exactly in our favor, but we’ll make it work.”

“Because that’s what people like us do.”

“Exactly.”

The doors opened to reveal a short woman with dusky skin and wavy black hair streaked with silver chopped short at her chin. In Constabulary gray, she had chief defender markings on her collar and arm.

“I’m Chief Defender Solomon. I’ve been assigned to lead the mission.”

“It’s good to see you again, sir,” Torran said.

A smile tugged on the woman’s thin lips. “And good to see you. Though I’m saddened that you’re not in a Constabulary uniform, MacDonald, I’m glad we’re working together again.”

Shifting his attention back to Lindsey, Torran said, “The chief defender and I enlisted at the same time. We were even in the same squad until just before the final push. She was promoted and transferred to her own squad.”

“It’s good to meet you, sir,” Lindsey said.

“Vanguard Rooney, I’ve heard a lot about you. All of it glowing and impressive. I look forward to getting to know you and working with you. I’m a little behind on the mission specs due to the length of time it took to select me for the job, so please bring me up to speed.”

“Should we adjourn to the mission prep room?” Torran gestured toward the door on the opposite side of the briefing room.

“Lead the way,” Solomon replied.

Inside the room was a bank of consoles, vid screens, and a table with a holographic image floating above it. Lindsey and Torran had spent much of their day studying all the intel and creating the mission dossier. Solomon glanced at some of their work, then settled her gaze on the image hovering over the sleek black table.

“Our first objective,” she observed.

Lindsey docked her pad into the side of the table as Torran gestured for her to take over. For the next hour, she gave a briefing on the mission parameters set by the higher ups, and the plan that she and Torran had been piecing together.