CHAPTER 31

 

Dane’s runner returned a couple of hours later with a message from Rose. “She’ll meet us,” Dane reported to Ray. “Luckily they haven’t taken her to the barracks with the others. She is still living in the CDSE compound. We managed to sneak in a message. She’s gonna sneak out to the forest trail in the back of the meeting glade. The one where we used to go when we were teenagers to hide from work.” Ray nodded that she understood.

“When?”

“Four thirty, which is forty-five minutes from now. We’d better get a move on.”

“Nettle and Sparks have gone with the marines to look at Town Hall, so I guess it’s down to us. Can you grab me something a bit more camo than this?” Ray asked Dane.

“Yep, the marines managed to bring a few extra sets of their camo gear. I got one and I’m sure someone else will lend you theirs. Dane skipped out returning after five or so minutes with two long jackets, covered in familiar forest camouflage, slung over his shoulder. “Don’t know who’s this is. Found it on a cot. I guess we’ll return it when we get back.”

Ray shrugged into the gear. Too big but good enough. “Let’s go then.”

They exited the cave and traversed the valley floor staying under dense forest canopy as much as they could. Ray had no idea what the range of the thermal cameras on the shuttles was, but she figured there was no reason to take chances.

They moved slowly, trying to be as quiet as they could and checking the way ahead often. The two days of Haemo-Tabs that Ray had enjoyed since being picked up by Jonah were kicking in now and her wounds were starting to heal. The regen gel worked pretty well even though the stuff Ray had was not personalized with her stem cells.

It felt good to be back outside and moving despite her stiffness and sore gut. The sky was bright, generating high contrast shadows for them to move between. Letting their camouflage jackets do their work. Ray felt like a ninja from one of her movies. Nettle was right, it felt good to be doing something other than running.

They travelled that way for thirty minutes, finally intercepting the walking trail that meandered out the back of the glade. It was overgrown. Clearly the population of Atlas had other things on their minds and little opportunity for recreational walking.

They stopped at the trail and listened for movement or the sounds of machinery or shuttles. The trees rustled back at them, lush leaves rattling quietly against one another in the gentle breeze. No other sounds interrupted the forest noises, so they carefully continued, shadowing the trail some distance into the trees. Rose came into view soon after.

She was dressed in tight white pants and a loose top with flared sleeves. White strappy high heeled sandals poked out from the cuff of her pants. She looked like she was about to meet somebody for an afternoon of sailing or polo rather than a clandestine meeting with rebels. Rose glanced around furtively as Ray and Dane approached. She couldn’t have looked more out of place if she were wearing a clown costume. They got remarkably close before she saw them, making her jump and clutch at her chest in fright.

“Shit you scared me,” She signed. “You could have made a noise or something.”

“Sorry Rose, practicing our ninja skills.” Ray quipped wryly which drew a hint of a smile from Rose. “Good to see you.”

Now that they were closer Ray could see that Rose had lost weight. Her cheeks were more prominent than she remembered, and her hips bones stood out plainly against the seams of her fitted pants. Her right cheek bone hinted at an old bruise, faded to yellow now and covered with makeup which Rose wore in abundance.

“We haven’t got long,” Rose signed, “I’m supposed to be meeting my boyfriend. We sometimes meet at one of the empty homes in Atlas. Gives us a little more privacy and all that.” Rose winced apologetically, “He’s expecting me in thirty minutes.”

Ray looked at Dane and made a decision.

“We need your help. CDSE tried to kill me and we think they are trying to kill all of us.”

Ray waited to gauge Rose’s reaction.

Rose’s chin dropped forward, and Ray noticed her hands were shaking violently.

“There’s definitely something going on…” She admitted reluctantly, “I heard Mike…my boyfriend…talking the other night. The Life2s have been evacuated to the Golden Hind. I guess that means they are expecting trouble. Then he said something about hitting the forest with bug bombs. What does that mean?” Dane and Ray exchanged glances.

“I don’t know Ray answered but I’m sure Jonah will…Rose…we need your boyfriend’s access codes to get into the mainframe in Town Hall. We have a way to take back control. Level the playing field.”

Rose was shaking her head to herself. “He sometimes logs on at home, usually when he thinks I’m asleep. I could get up and try and look over his should I suppose. If he suspected me though…” Rose’s hand subconsciously moved towards her bruised cheek and tears threatened to overflow the corners of her eyes.”

“Could you bait him? Get him to show you something about the nets or the Golden Hind?” Dane asked. Ray detected a hitch in his voice as he spoke and his look bored into Rose, full of jealousy and regret. Rose wouldn’t fully meet his eyes. Glancing at him only occasionally as she answered.

“I…I could try…Look I’ve got to go. Send that runner again in about four hours. I’ll be home by then…” Rose’s mouth twitched with anxiety and she jumped as a gust of wind moved the bushes around them. She walked a couple of stiff steps down the path and tugged at her sleeve nervously. She turned one last time and looked straight at Dane.

“Dane…I sorry…I’m such a fool.” And she turned and walked down the path as well as could be expected in the inappropriate shoes. Dane stared after her longingly his face full of mixed despair and hope at her last words.

“Come on Dane, let’s go,” Ray signed and gently pulled Dane around by his upper arm. Dane nodded but his eyes followed Rose until she disappeared around a bend in the forest trail.

 

Back at the cave, Ray and Dane waited until the marines plus Nettle and Sparks returned from Atlas. They were all in good spirits and confident they had not been spotted. Jonah filled Ray in briefly. They had staked out a good position to watch Town Hall and had good information on numbers of guards and access points. Ray filled in Jonah on their rendezvous with Rose. He was annoyed that she had gone out without him but pleased with the outcome.

“Let’s hope she comes through.” He signed.

“There was something else,” Ray added. “Rose heard her boyfriend say that the Life2s are being evacuated and she thought she heard him say bug bomb.”

Jonah’s face fell as soon as the words were out of Ray’s hands.

He bit his lip pensively and shook his head looking despondent.

“Well I guess it makes sense considering how illegal everything else they are doing is. Bug Bombs are long range gas weapons. They are high altitude cluster bombs that spread gas canisters over a huge area, just one will kill everybody within a five click radius. Like the bug bombs you put in your house for ants on Earth. We have no gas masks and neither do the people remaining in Atlas. There will be very few survivors if they use a few of them. Did she say when?”

Ray shook her head, fear spiraling up into her gut.

“Would they do that?”

If they are evacuating the Life2s then my guess is yes…they would. They will spin some bullshit story about an uprising or else just pretend that everything is fine. If we can’t communicate, then how would Earth know any different?”

“If Rose is with her boyfriend now, at least we know they are not planning to bomb this afternoon, but I don’t think we can afford to wait. Perhaps we go for Town Hall tonight. Hope that Rose comes through with a code and be ready to go in immediately.”

Jonah nodded. “I can’t see that we have any choice. As soon as the last of their troops are off the ground they could attack almost immediately. Within half an hour probably.”

Jonah and Ray looked at each other sharing the fear the both felt.

“What do we tell the others?” Ray asked.

“Nothing… when we are about to hit Town Hall we tell the marines and Nettle and Sparks but nobody else. If we fail, there will be nothing anybody can do to stop it.”

“Ok,” signed Ray, “I feel like I’m betraying them all, but I think you’re right. What now?”

“Now I go talk to Pham, get the marines ready and you should tell Nettle and Sparks. After that, unless there is something you need to do, encryption wise, then we wait.”

“Go talk to Pham then,” Ray agreed. “But come straight back, “There is something we need to do before we go.”

Jonah gave Ray a speculative look and then nodded. He held Ray’s hand for a second and then exited turning left into the main cave corridor, towards the communal area. Ray headed the other way towards the kitchens, guessing that given a choice Sparks would be eating. Her assumption proved correct as she brushed the fabric curtain aside and entered the makeshift kitchen.

Sparks and Nettle were both hunched over small plates of food, eating with determination. Ray sat beside Nettle opposite Sparks and waited till they had cleared their plates enough to engage in conversation.

Ray broke the ice, “Jonah tells me you have a plan of attack for Town Hall?”

Sparks nodded, “Hit both the front and back doors simultaneously taking out the patrol guards and storm the place. Jonah is confident the marines can do it. As long as they don’t get many reinforcements from the compound we should be able to hold it long enough for the three of us to do our jobs.”

“Good,” Ray offered. “My news is, we are going in four hours.” Nettle and Sparks looked up surprised.

Ray related her news about Rose and the possibility that a catastrophic gas attack could be imminent.

“Jonah thinks we can’t wait. We need to take Town Hall and close down shuttle access quickly. Before CDSE know what’s happening. They only have to effectively drop a few of these bug bombs and we are all dead and Diana is theirs to do with as they wish.

Ray could see the hollow fear she felt reflected on the faces of Nettle and Ray.

“You read about things like this in history books,” Nettle observed, her eyes wide, “They could kill all of us and nobody would ever know. It’s hard to conceive how humans can be so brutal. So cruel. It’s horrifying.”

Nettle and Sparks looked at each other and Sparks reached across the table to hold both of Nettle’s hands.

“You guys look after each other, we leave in two hours. I’m going to spend that time with Jonah. It may be the last chance we get.”

Nettle nodded, her face serious and her eyes full of compassion. No ribald comments or crass jokes this time. Ray placed her own hands on top of Spark’s and Nettle’s and then made her way back out the curtain.

 

Jonah returned less than thirty minutes later. Ray had strung a towel across the entrance to the small room for privacy which Jonah moved to the side as he ducked through the low stone arch. He pulled the curtain closed and smiled at Ray who was dozing on a blanket she had lain out on the sandy floor. Jonah walked over and sat cross legged next to her on the sand.

Ray had planned a little speech for him but now that it came to it, she didn’t want to talk at all. She was frightened, tired and sore and Jonah was here.

Ray reached up and pulled him down so that he lay beside her. He draped his arm loosely across, careful not to press on any injuries. She clung to his arm and they stayed that way for the longest time. Ray’s eyes closed tight, and her face pressed into Jonah’s chest.

Nothing needed saying. Eventually they both gave way to sleep. A last sleep before they fought a final fight to save their home.