“How?” was all I managed to say.
Kent couldn’t even get that much out. He stood there with his mouth open staring at Olivia with a stunned expression that I couldn’t read. I didn’t know if he was overjoyed or if his head was about to explode.
“Obviously that shot didn’t kill me,” Olivia said. “But don’t let that take away from the fact that I took it for you, Tucker Pierce. You still owe me.”
I stammered out a lame, “But—”
“Attention,” an amplified voice boomed.
Everyone spun and looked up to see a dark, ominous mechanical device floating closer to us from above. It was a miniature version of a Retro attack drone with a wingspan that was maybe four feet across. The faint musical tone it emitted proved that it was powered by the same advanced engine as their larger counterparts.
“This is an unauthorized operation,” the voice from the plane commanded. “Drop your weapons and step forward to be scanned and identified.”
There was a frozen moment. This drone wasn’t after us, it was after the Retro soldiers. The Sounders. We all stood in the middle of a wide-open rooftop, totally exposed, with nowhere to run for protection. There was only one possible choice.
Olivia lifted her baton and fired at the plane.
Yes, Olivia.
The impulse of power blasted the hovering craft and spun it away from us.
“Let’s go,” the woman commander ordered and ran for the door we had first come through. The Sounder carrying the unconscious soldier hurried after her while the others dropped to their knees, lifted their weapons, and shot a steady stream of impulses at the craft.
Olivia was one of them.
Tori, Kent, and I stood there, stunned. For all sorts of reasons.
“Olivia?” I said, numbly.
“Go!” she barked in a commanding voice that was both familiar and impossible. “We’ll catch up.”
Tori snapped out of it and pulled us both to get us going.
“We gotta move,” she declared.
Kent pulled away from her and knelt down next to Olivia, who continued to fire on the hovering craft.
“You were dead,” he said in a voice that was loaded with confusion and fear.
“You really want to chat about it now?” Olivia shouted.
I grabbed Kent at the exact instant another hovering craft appeared over the edge of the roof, rising up from the street below. It fired.
One of the Retro soldiers screamed as he was blasted off of his feet. The guy wasn’t just stunned, he was killed instantly. These drones weren’t there to take prisoners.
“Drop back,” another Retro soldier commanded. “There’s bound to be more.”
The small squad might have been able to battle one craft, but not multiple predators. Retreat was the only smart move. That made it easier for me to get Kent moving and we all sprinted for the door. Olivia and the Retro soldiers moved backward, spraying the air with charges from their weapons as . . .
Boom! the first drone exploded into a spectacular fireball that sprayed molten bits of flaming material over the surface of the roof.
“That’ll draw more attention,” the second Retro soldier said.
On cue, a third craft swooped in, focused on our position, and fired.
The surface to my right exploded so violently that I felt the roof give way beneath my feet. Tori grabbed me and pulled me forward, keeping me from falling through.
“Move!” the woman commander shouted from inside the door.
The three of us ducked inside, followed right behind by Olivia and the rest of the soldiers.
We all scrambled down the stairs as the door we had just come through was blown off of its hinges. It crashed around inside of the service hallway, slamming into the fleeing soldiers.
“We can’t go down there,” Kent shouted above the echo of footsteps as we all charged down the stairs. “The place is full of Retros.”
The Sounders were way ahead of him. When we reached the next floor, rather than continuing down the stairs, the commander led us through a door that opened onto a long, brightly lit corridor.
Every last Sounder suddenly slowed to a calm walk as if they were casually passing through. It was almost comical how quickly they went from fleeing in terror to taking full control of their emotions. Or at least of their appearance.
The corridor was lined with sealed windows behind which people sat wearing white shirts and dark pants. They were at high-tech workstations with flat panels on the desks that their fingers slid across expertly to manipulate 3-D images that hovered over each screen. Some were working on complex calculations. Others seemed to be manipulating detailed designs of machinery. I had no idea what any of it was but I was no longer amazed or surprised by the advanced technology the Retros possessed.
“Bring him directly to the medical unit,” the commander ordered authoritatively.
The soldier who was carrying his unconscious pal moved ahead of us quickly. The other Retro soldiers were behind us, including Olivia. They held their baton weapons across their chests and walked shoulder to shoulder, as if escorting their prisoners.
Us.
“Bring these natives to Security Six,” she commanded. “Wait for me there.”
She was putting on a show for the benefit of the eggheads who were working behind the glass. She needn’t have bothered. They were all so focused on whatever they were working on that they didn’t notice the group of soldiers and prisoners passing by outside.
We all walked quickly—but without panic—to the far end of the long corridor, out the door on the far side, and then through another service stairwell, where the soldier carrying the injured soldier was waiting for us. Once through, the boss-woman immediately shed the casual act and started pulling off her clothes.
“Wake him up, now,” she ordered. “Secure the door.”
One of the soldiers pulled out a small hand-tool and jammed it into the lock. I had to believe he had just destroyed the mechanism, making it impossible for anybody to follow us. Another soldier dug into his pocket and took out a small glass vial, cracked it open, and jabbed one end into the arm of the unconscious soldier like an injection, right through his sleeve.
Everyone else pulled off the small backpacks they had been wearing and began tearing off their camouflage uniforms.
“That’s why I’m still here,” Olivia said, pointing to the vial of medicine.
“That brings people back from the dead?” I asked.
“No, but it can bring them back from the brink.” She slammed her backpack into my stomach. “Here. We brought you clothes.”
I took the bag numbly and flipped it open to find a pair of black pants and a green shirt.
“You too,” another soldier said to Tori and gave her a pack.
A third soldier did the same for Kent.
The three of us were too stunned and confused to move.
“Or you could keep wearing those snappy orange outfits,” Olivia said.
That was all we needed to hear. The three of us instantly joined in and stripped off our clothes. There was no time for modesty as each of the soldiers peeled off their camouflage uniform and put on black pants and a green shirt.
“Hurry please,” the commander said.
“I hope I guessed right on the sizes,” Olivia said.
“You arranged all of this?” Tori asked, incredulous.
“I knew you guys would end up here sooner or later.”
“Olivia, what the hell—” I said.
“Shhh,” she replied. “Not until we’re somewhere safe.”
I dressed quickly. There were even black leather shoes and dark socks for all of us.
Kent moved as if in a daze. He couldn’t take his eyes off of Olivia, as if not believing she was actually there.
For the record, I was having trouble believing it too.
There was absolutely nothing that made sense about her presence. We watched her die after she jumped in front of me to take the charge that was fired by a Retro soldier. Though I can’t say which was more surprising: the fact that she was still alive or that she was a Retro soldier.
At least one mystery was finally solved: Captain Granger had been right. One of my friends who escaped with us from Pemberwick Island was indeed a Retro infiltrator.
I had befriended her months before and spent an incredibly fun summer showing her around the island. When SYLO invaded, we had been thrown together by circumstance and eventually made our escape. We then traveled across the United States, seeking survivors who wanted to fight back against the Retros.
The idea that she had been playing us the whole time was mind-blowing.
I heard a groan. The soldier Tori had shot was coming around. Whatever was in that glass vial really did bring him back from the brink. The other soldiers didn’t waste time offering him sympathy. They were too busy tearing off his uniform and redressing him in the civilian clothes.
“Walk out casually,” the commander said. “We were all here to attend a lecture on herd management. Leave the gear but slip the pulsers up your sleeves.”
Pulsers.
I finally knew what those baton weapons were called.
“I don’t have to remind you that we’re going to have a very small window of time to get out of this building before the place is locked down,” she continued. “Once outside, separate and make your way to Safe House Tango.”
“Uh, what?’ Tori asked.
“Stay with me,” Olivia said as she finished tucking in her shirt. “It’ll be just like old times.”
“You were killed during those old times,” Tori said.
“Yet here I am,” Olivia said brightly.
The three of us could only stare at her in disbelief.
“Are you with us?” the commander asked the soldier who was being treated.
The guy stood up, took a deep breath, and said, “I’m good.”
“All right then, everybody ready?” she asked.
I raised my hand to ask a question. I actually raised my hand. For a moment I felt like I was back in kindergarten, being swept along in a flurry of activity that I had no control over or understanding of.
“Yes?” the commander said patiently.
“What exactly is happening here?” I asked. “Are we your prisoners?”
The commander started to answer quickly. I’m sure she was ready to say something bold, like “Shut up and keep moving!” Instead, she caught herself and took a step back.
“You are not our prisoners,” she said thoughtfully. “We may be in the Air Force but we’re doing everything we can to prevent the invasion.”
“Good enough for me,” Kent said.
“And you’re going to help us do it,” the commander added.
She stood staring directly at me.
“Oh,” Kent said, sober. “Didn’t see that coming.”
I didn’t break eye contact with the woman. I wanted her to know that we wouldn’t be manipulated. By anybody.
“If you want us to help you,” I said. “You’re going to have to trust us with a whole lot more information than we have now.”
“That’s a deal,” she said without hesitation. “Can it wait until we’re someplace safe?”
I looked to Kent and Tori.
Kent shrugged. He was too stunned to have any other comeback.
Tori gave me a reassuring nod and said, “Let’s get the hell out of here.”
“We’ll follow you,” I said to the commander.
“All right then,” she said. “Stay calm. Don’t hurry but keep moving.”
The woman started down the stairs, followed by the soldier who had been unconscious only minutes before. We went next, closely trailed by Olivia and the rest of the Retros.
The commander moved quickly but with control down three flights of stairs until we hit the bottom floor. She stopped at the door and looked back to us.
“Remember, act like you belong and nobody will stop us.”
She yanked the door open and a flood of sound rushed in. The lobby was loaded with people moving about like high school students during a class change. It was the perfect situation to blend in unnoticed, though I felt like a fat fly buzzing through a pack of hungry spiders.
Olivia stepped up behind me and put her hand on my shoulder.
“Breathe,” she whispered.
Easy for her to say. She knew how to come back from the dead.
The commander walked boldly into the mass of people.
Olivia had to give me a shove to get me going. Once we were in the crowd, Olivia pushed her way to get in front of us and announced, “C’mon, we’ll head out on the north side.”
The tension could not have been higher, yet Olivia gave such a casual performance that I truly believed she would be able to get us through. It also made me realize how fully capable she was of coolly infiltrating Pemberwick Island, becoming our friend, and traveling across the country pretending to be someone she most definitely wasn’t.
The question was, who was she really?
We moved in a loose group, following Olivia. It was a constant traffic-ballet as we moved through the crush of people . . . and soldiers. I kept telling myself to act normally, but didn’t know how to do that in a place that was so completely different from anything I was used to. The harder I tried to be casual, the more awkward I felt.
Everyone else seemed to be headed somewhere important. There were no conversations and definitely no laughter. It was the same as with the people we saw outside. There was no interaction. Every so often we’d cross paths with a Retro soldier and my back would stiffen. Though we had only been to the prison camp in Nevada for a short time, I was already conditioned to fear our captors. Back there, one wrong look meant severe punishment. Or worse. I had to keep telling myself that these people didn’t know I was a prisoner. A native, as they called us. They weren’t going to zap me . . . unless I gave them reason to.
A few times I made eye contact with a soldier and had to force myself not to look away too quickly. I could only hope that they wouldn’t recognize me. I made a point of not smiling because, well, nobody else was smiling.
We made our way across the vast lobby to a set of doors beside the main entrance. Just twenty more feet and we’d be out.
“Olivia Kinsey!” a guy called.
Olivia stopped short. Her whole body stiffened. If you didn’t know her as well as I did, you might not have noticed.
The rest of us slowed down and drifted apart to find a spot to stand and wait for her. I stood beside a massive column that looked as though it helped support the roof.
Olivia turned back as a Retro soldier hurried up to her.
She instantly put on a big, dazzling smile as if running into him was the highlight of her day. Olivia was good at that.
“Hello, Alec,” she said sweetly. “So good to see you.”
Olivia was strangely formal with the soldier, though they were obviously friends.
I threw a quick look to Tori and Kent. They both had their eyes focused on her. If they were like me, they were also holding their breaths.
“When did you return?” the soldier asked. He too sounded formal, like Mr. Spock or something.
Alec didn’t look any older than Kent. He had short dark hair and was built like a defensive end. He was handsome too, a fact I’m pretty sure wasn’t lost on Kent.
“Just a few weeks ago,” Olivia said brightly. “How is your training proceeding?”
The guy shrugged. “Adequately. It’s nothing I haven’t heard a thousand times before. I’ve been assigned to the first group that will land on Catalina Island.”
“Congratulations,” Olivia said. “That’s a dangerous assignment.”
I knew she was trying to act as though nothing was wrong, but her manner was strangely stiff. Was that how Retro friends acted with each other?
“Not really,” Alec replied. “They won’t know what hit them.”
My stomach twisted. There was a SYLO ark on Catalina Island off of Los Angeles. This guy was talking about an invasion.
“What about you?” he asked. “I thought you were on Pemberwick?”
She shrugged and said, “I was. I got homesick.”
Alec gave her a surprised look. It was the first time he showed any emotion. “You were homesick for this dump?”
Olivia reached up, touched his chest, and with a flirty smile said, “No. I was homesick for you!”
That was the Olivia I knew. She was a master when it came to manipulating guys.
I think the soldier blushed, which is exactly the response she was going for.
He said, “Maybe we can get together tonight and—”
Olivia backed away from him, heading toward the door. “Ooh, not possible. I haven’t finished my report about Pemberwick and it’s overdue. Another time?”
“Any time,” he said. “But, uh, it should be soon because, well, you know.”
That was ominous.
“I promise! Bye!”
Olivia spun around and practically skipped toward the door. It was yet another technique she used to attract attention, and drive guys wild.
The enchanted soldier named Alec watched with his mouth open until she reached the door. He may have been robotic, but it was hard to resist Olivia Kinsey. Compared to the other emotionless types who were moving through the building, Olivia stood out like, well, like Olivia. Playing her part to the end, she turned to give him a flirty smile and a wave. With a giggle, she headed out.
Alec waited a second more, probably hoping she might change her mind and come back.
Grateful the diversion was over, I walked straight for the door and marched outside.
Olivia was there waiting. The flirty smile was long gone.
“Keep moving,” she commanded. It was back to business.
Tori and Kent were right behind me, as were the remaining soldiers. Or Sounders. As we made our way through the busy courtyard headed for the street, my hope grew that we were not only going to find out what the Sounders were all about, but we would also learn about the Retros and what was going on here. Olivia had known exactly who they were all along, but of course she didn’t share it with us. How could she? She was an infiltrator. An enemy. I was torn between feeling angry at her, bewildered as to what her true intentions were, and afraid of the truth.
She led us quickly through the silent crowds until we reached the sidewalk. Without hesitation she moved across the street and turned down a narrow side street where two white vans were waiting.
In the driver’s seat of the front van was the woman commander. She was the first and only one to have arrived.
“Jump in back,” Olivia said to us.
We obediently piled in.
Olivia sidled into the shotgun seat next to the woman commander, who sat with both hands gripping the wheel.
“We’ll move as soon as the others arrive,” the commander said, matter-of-fact.
Olivia looked at her as if wanting to say something to her superior but not sure if she should. It took her a few seconds to finally make a decision.
“I’m sorry about Conner,” she said with compassion. “I know what a good friend he was.”
“He was with us from the beginning,” the commander said. “He’ll be missed.”
It sounded as though she was trying to keep her emotions in check. I had to believe they were talking about the Retro soldier who was killed on the roof.
“There’s nothing they can use to trace us through him,” the commander added.
“I wasn’t even thinking that way,” Olivia said.
It was odd hearing Olivia speaking with such sincerity and respect. I was more used to her complaining. Then again, it was odd seeing her shooting down an enemy drone too.
“Here they come,” the commander said.
I was hoping she meant the other Sounders, but instead there were several more small drones that swooped by overhead on their way to the building we had just escaped from. They were soon followed by dozens of armed Retro soldiers who sprinted for the building and set up in the courtyard, their eyes trained on the entrance. The drones hovered overhead, keeping a watchful eye out . . . for us.
“We got out of there just in time,” Olivia said.
“Maybe,” the commander said, ominously.
Thankfully, the rest of the Sounders arrived and hurried to the rear van. The commander fired up our engine, but rather than the throaty roar of a gasoline engine coming to life, the cabin was filled with the familiar musical tones that came from the Retro jet fighters.
The commander stepped on the gas, or whatever it was that they called the accelerator here, and the car rolled forward. We were under way and nearly home free when a squad of Retro soldiers appeared from around the building in front of us. Their leader, a tall dark-skinned guy with probing eyes, raised his hand for us to stop.
The other soldiers with him took up positions in front of the car, blocking our way.
Olivia calmly pulled her pulser out from her sleeve and held it close to her thigh, out of sight but ready.
The commander lowered her window as the squad leader strode up to her.
“Identification,” the leader said curtly.
The commander handed him a plastic ID card that the squad leader took and passed it over his own handheld device.
“Make this quick,” the commander said with authority. “My team is deploying in ten minutes.”
The leader looked at his device with a scowl, then to the commander.
“Colonel Pike?” the leader said.
“Yes?” the commander, Colonel Pike, replied.
“You aren’t in uniform,” the leader said, suspiciously.
“As I said, my team is about to deploy,” she said curtly. “And you’re wasting my time.”
The leader didn’t flinch. “There has been Sounder activity in the Academy. They destroyed one of our security craft and tried to escape with three native prisoners. I need to see everyone’s credentials.”
That wasn’t going to happen.
Olivia gripped her pulser tighter, though it wouldn’t help us much seeing as four other armed Retro soldiers were standing directly in front of us.
“Tried to escape?” the Colonel said. “That means they’re still inside?”
“We believe so,” the leader said. “We’ve sealed the building.”
“Then why exactly are you wasting my time by checking my team’s credentials out here?” the Colonel said with disdain. “If we miss our deployment window you will need to explain that to your commander. Is that how you want to spend your evening?”
The squad leader looked shaken. His eyes shifted to us, then back to the Colonel.
“Your choice,” the Colonel added.
The squad leader handed back the Colonel’s ID card and waved for his men to move aside.
“They’re clear!” the squad leader said.
The Colonel stepped on the accelerator and we lurched forward, barely missing one of the Retro soldiers who hadn’t moved away fast enough. We quickly picked up speed and drove away from the building called the Academy, which was now under total lockdown . . . a few minutes too late.
“Idiot,” the Colonel said with disdain. “I should report him.”
Olivia laughed, but quickly held it back since her Commander wasn’t really the joking type.
We sped along the narrow streets of the filthy city, passing hundreds of soldiers and civilians that clogged the sidewalks. There were very few vehicles. Most everyone traveled on foot.
Kent continued to stare at Olivia. Or at least, at the back of her head. I had to think he was still in shock over her resurrection. I knew the feeling.
Tori reached over and grabbed my arm. She needed the support. I did too. I wanted to trust these people but everything was happening way too fast.
“Olivia?” Kent finally said in a small voice.
She turned to look at us.
“Why aren’t you dead?”
“I couldn’t feel your pulse,” I said. “You were past the brink.”
“Apparently you don’t know how to take a pulse,” she said. “I was hanging from a thread, but I wasn’t gone.”
“I gave your body to some of the other survivors from Las Vegas,” Kent said.
“And they were ambushed by a squad of Air Force personnel from the base,” she explained. “Lucky for me they actually knew how to read a pulse, and shot me with the field meds.”
It all seemed plausible. If Feit could come back from the dead, twice, why not Olivia?
“I was back here before morning,” she added. “Good as new.”
“And where exactly is here?” Tori asked.
It was the simplest, most straightforward question possible.
It meant everything.
Olivia gave a questioning look to the Colonel.
The Colonel waited several long seconds before saying, “Your call.”
Olivia nodded. I felt as though she was bracing herself to deliver some very bad news. The pained look in her eyes only made it seem worse. She looked to me, then to Tori and to Kent.
“I know this will be hard to believe,” she said. “But I love you guys. I truly do. I hope I’ll be able to prove that to you.”
“Answer the question, Olivia,” Kent said, his voice cracking with emotion. “No more lies. What is this place?”
Olivia took a nervous breath and said, “That’s the wrong question. I think you already know what this place is. What you really need to know is . . . when it is.”
I felt Tori stiffen.
Kent shot me a confused look.
“What does that mean?” I asked, though I wasn’t sure I wanted the answer.
“We’re not aliens,” Olivia said. “We’re not from another place. We’re you. We’re from The United States of America . . . in the year two thousand three hundred and twenty-four. This is the twenty-fourth century.”