The Last Revolution (22 page)

Alden wasn’t sure how much time had passed; it had been a blur of broken bones and blood. Someone tapped on his shoulder; Kira stood smiling behind him. There was a mix of dirt and blood on her clothes, but for some reason it just made her more vibrant. Her bright green eyes sparkled and Alden’s breath grew shallow for a fleeting moment.

“You don’t look too worse for the wear,” Kira said. “How’s everything going over here?”

Alden shrugged. “As well as can be expected. We’ve taken care of the most critical cases and now Dr. Klaus has moved on to the less critical ones.”

“No one new hasarrived in over an hour. I’m sure those that were able to make it back have, and the rest, well hopefully they’ve found someplace safe.”

Alden waited for her to continue. Despite the rough exterior, he sensed genuine sorrow. Was she truly feeling bad for these people, or was it just another act?

He touched her arm. “I’m sure they’ll be okay.”

They wandered past endless rows of patients; most were sleeping now. Near the other end of the cavernous room, Alden noticed a giant crevasse in the distance. A thin metal rail was all that stood between them and a long, cold fall into oblivion. The other wall had to be at least fifty yards away.

Alden leaned against the railing and stared out into the great abyss. He was tired, it had been too long since he’d gotten a good night’s sleep. It was impossible to tell what hour it was down here. Kira rested beside him but with her back to the darkness, facing the muted crowd. She nudged Alden. “Here, try this.” She was holding a small liquid container.

“What is it?” Alden asked.

“Something I acquired from a lonely old man,” Kira responded.

“Why are you taking things from lonely old people?”

She shot him a dry look. “He pinched my backside while I was helping him out. I think he knew he was in trouble because he handed it over as a peace offering.”

Alden wasn’t sure how to respond. “Random.” He took the container, unscrewed the top and took a swig of the liquid. It was warm and tasted terrible. It took every ounce of his energy not to spit it back out.

She must have expected his reaction because she burst into laughter, “Ha-ha, you okay?”

“Yeah, I’m fine,” Alden choked out. “It’s good.” He was sure that his face was bright red and poorly concealing the desire to puke over the ledge.

“You’ve never had alcohol before, have you?”

Alden shook his head. “It does burn a little bit.”

“That’s how you know it’s the good stuff.” She smiled, tipped her head back and took a drink.

“There you are.”

Alden and Kira turned. The stranger from the bar strolled towards them. “I apologize for leaving, but there were some things I had to deal with.” He came to a stop beside them. “I’ve been told you were both invaluable today. Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Thereon.”

Apollo City. Green Dragon Pub. Thereon.
They’d found him! Alden was one step closer to finding Alexander and avenging Father McKinley’s murder. If Kira understood the importance of the moment, her eyes betrayed no acknowledgement. Alden wanted answers now, but how to get them? After a moment, he realized an awkward silence had settled on the group.

“I doubt it’ll be safe for you to show your face in public for awhile,” Thereon said. “To return the favor, I’m happy to offer you solitude within our walls.”

“That would be most kind,” Kira responded.

“Would you like a tour of the area?”

He would have preferred the direction to Alexander’s location, but now wasn’t the time. He’d gained access to the terrorist network, but if he pushed for anything unordinary it would raise suspicion. Alden wanted to contact his friend and figure out how to leverage their situation to his advantage. Unfortunately, all he could do now was go with the flow.

“That’d be great. You can start with what this is.” Kira pointed at the crevasse.

“Ah yes.Most people think the moon is long dead, but it’s actually quite active. This crater happened hundreds of millions years ago during a thermal quake. We believe it occurred around the time the surface fractured, creating the primary crevasse which Apollo City was eventually built into.”

He moved away from the railing and headed back into the city. Alden and Kira followed his lead. “We honestly stumbled upon it by accident when we were drilling these tunnels. Almost lost an entire drill rig over the side,” Thereon finished.

“How deep is it?” Kira asked.

“We’ve never actually reached the bottom, but our sonar equipment tells us that it’s about a kilometer deep. Basically, that means don’t fall over the railing.”

“That seems pretty dangerous to leave it open like that,” Alden responded.

“We thought about closing it off or building a giant nano-carbon barrier, but enough of our lives are spent clustered together in small spaces. Everyone felt that it provided us with some much needed space and breathing room. You’ll regularly see people sitting over there just looking out into nothing.”

“Why’d you choose to build down here, under the city, when you could have expanded out to any place on the moon’s surface?” Alden asked.

“I’m not sure how the resistance started where you’re from, but our original goal was humanitarian. As tensions rose and things became more complicated between the colonists and the Three Nations, protests occurred regularly. Those eventually led to riots and mass demonstrations. People got hurt, individuals disappeared and our comfortable world deteriorated around us.”

Thereon came to a stop in the middle of the room. Directly in front of them was the medical area, still littered with the wounded. Beyond that was the tunnel entrance they had first arrived through. Behind them was the crevasse, and to their left were several exposed levels, each with a railing for protection.

He pointed at several tunnels that looked more like hallways. “These passageways will take you to the common areas, a fully staffed medical center, mess hall and shops set up by the inhabitants. You’ll find the living quarters on the second level.” They followed Thereon up a set of stairs. “Our original mission was simple; provide shelter or medical care to those that are in need. Eventually this turned into smuggling as we attempted to get people out of the city. We hoped they would be able to live in peace, hidden amongst one of the other colonies. As things became more perilous we found ourselves on a slippery slope to providing armed protection for those in our care.

During this time the Council continued to consolidate their power. It didn’t take long for us to be labeled enemies of the state—terrorists. We were forced underground in order to protect ourselves. We probably could have left, but these colonists have as much right to this city as those above. For many of the younger ones, this is the only place they’ve ever known.”

Alden knew what it was like to be forced out of the only home you’d ever known, but that didn’t make murdering soldiers and civilians acceptable. “If you consider this your home, why do so many civilians end up getting killed along with the soldiers? Seems like a pretty steep price to pay, and one that will only embolden the government’s cause.”

“I completely agree with you. Unfortunately, we are far from the cohesive group the Council and the Three Nations make us out to be. I’m not claiming we don’t have blood on our hands, but we never attack civilian targets. I can’t say that about the government.”

They turned a corner and were suddenly confronted by several armed resistance fighters, including Dr. Klaus.

“What the hell is going on?” Alden stepped forward and nudged Kira to get behind him.

Thereon turned and pulled out a handgun, pointing it at Alden. Several more fighters appeared behind them. “I’m sorry, my friends, but it’s time to cut the crap. You’re not from L9. I saw the way you handled those guards in the pub. You’re obviously military and probably special forces. Given the fact that your appearance coincided with the arrival of the police and military, I’m going to guess you were involved with the bombing.”

“What are you talking about?” Alden asked. “We saved your life!”

“Did you get people killed so that you could save my life, knowing I’d bring you down here?”

“No!” Kira yelled.

“Don’t lie to me,” Thereon said through gritted teeth. “I will not let any more harm come to these people. This would not be the first or most ill-conceived attempt by the government to infiltrate our ranks.”

Alden was still holding Kira behind him. He squeezed her leg to let her know he’d handle this. He could attack; overpower Thereon and then use him for protection. But Kira would surely die in the crossfire. He’d then be running from two groups, with no chance of ever finding Khasim.

“Wait.” Alden held out his hand for them to stop. “You’re right, we’re not from here.”

Thereon flicked the safety off, a bright red light blinked to life. “Speak quickly.”

Alden made eye contact with Thereon. Talking slowly he said, “We’re wanted fugitives.”

“You’re lying again!”

“No! No, I promise. Check the Western Coalition’s database, you’ll find both of us in there.We were in the military together, on Earth.”

“I knew it!”

“We were on assignment in the North and given orders to purge a building used by squatters. But once we got there, we realized there were dozens of families and children living inside. We explained the situation to our superiors, but we were still given orders to burn it down. They told us it would teach the others a lesson. At that moment we knew if our leaders were willing to give an order like that, something somewhere had gone horribly wrong. We didn’t want to be part of that kind of world any longer. We did the only thing we could think of, we dropped our weapons and ran. We were able to catch one of the shuttles out of Munich and landed in New Tranquility yesterday. Once again we were in the wrong place at the wrong time. If anybody found out who we are, they’d kill us. The only thing we could think to do was come here. You’re right about one thing though,” Alden said.

“What’s that?”

“The raid was more than likely an attempt to find us. Now we’re at your mercy. If you still don’t believe me, then hand us over and collect the reward.”

Kira stepped out from behind Alden. “Do you know Caleb West?”

He didn’t waver from his position, but nodded. “I know him well.”

“Call him, he’ll vouch for us. We arrived on his plane from New Tranquility.”

Thereon stared at them for several moments, until the young woman who’d pulled him away when they’d first arrived moved up from the firing line. She whispered into his ear. With the deathly quiet environment, Alden figured everyone could hear what she said.

“Their story checks out. The warrant along with the reward looks legitimate. We could feed a lot of people with that money.”

Thereon leaned away from her, but continued to study them for several moments. He flicked the safety back on and holstered his sidearm. “Lower your weapons.” Alden felt a massive weight lift from his shoulders.

“We won’t turn you over. We’re all bound together through a mutual desire for peace and freedom. If we turn on each other, sell one another out, we’ll never see that peace; we’ll lose the dignity that separates us from them.”

“Thank you,” Alden responded.

“Now we’re even. I’ve been to Traterous before.” He tapped the skin next to his eye that had looked off in the tunnel. “I’ll never go back. Nor will I willingly send anyone else there.”

With that, the resistance fighters lowered their weapons.

“You’re always welcome here. That was our purpose at one time, and as long as I’m in charge it will continue to be.” Thereon turned back to the soldiers and waved them away. “A lot of lives are riding on the decisions I make and I’ll do anything to keep them safe.”

Kira nodded. “We completely understand. Thank you for your compassion.”

“It’s late and I’ve got a splitting headache. You must be tired too. I’ll take you to a set of spare quarters.”

A few moments later they were alone inside a small room furnished with a bed, a couch, some small end tables and a little bathroom in the back.

“Nice job.” Kira smiled and squeezed his arm.

Alden smiled back, but somewhere, buried deep down he felt something entirely different: guilt.

Kira frowned.

Alden shot her a quizzical look, “What’s wrong?”

“I completely forgot, but you were shot in the bar.”

“I’m fine, it was just a scratch.”

Kira gave him a disapproving look. “You’re a good liar, but not that good. Now sit down and let me take a look at it.” She forced him onto the couch. There was clearly a bloody hole on both sides of his shirt. It marked the bullets path through his shoulder.

She lifted the shirt up over his head. “It’s almost entirely healed,” she said in surprise. Her fingers felt smooth as she ran them over his skin. “How?”

Alden stared off into the distance. He could feel the restraints around his wrists once more. An ancient pain flowed through his body as the memories returned. Kira sat waiting for him to speak. “There was this program on the Island, it involved genetic modification.”

“How is that possible? You were in the Council military. They were the ones that pushed to outlaw thattype of scientific research.”

Alden shrugged. For the first time he realized a simmering frustration towards the Council and their violation of his body. “If you can take it away from others, and then you’re the only one that has it…”

“Are there others like you?”

Alden nodded. Kira ran her hands over the wound, and then his chest and abs. His senses went crazy.

“That must have been terrible.” Kira continued to caress his skin.

Alden wanted her, needed her more than anything else in the world. Her breasts were right in front of him. She must’ve been thinking the same thing because she leaned down and placed a kiss on his lips. Alden grabbed onto her side, slowly pulling her down.

She climbed on top of him, straddling his lap and pressing her lips into his. Alden squeezed her tight against his body. She was so soft; his heart was pounding.