Dark Star (20 page)

Rosie squinted against the harsh morning sun. Sweat was gathered quickly by the nanos in her clothes, but the temperature regulators only helped a little out here. She was hot and tired and tingling pains kept coming and going along her spine. She wondered how Dalton was, where he was. She hadn’t seen him and didn’t dare ask.

The transports stopped at the edge of the ruins and Rosie was surprised to see Sulawayo step out of the cabin of the lead vehicle. She paid no attention to her or Gillian and watched as the operatives used readers to download each team’s instructions into their temple patches for starting positions and tactic possibilities.

Rosie blinked her right eye once, and a grid map of the ruined buildings with her team marked by a red dot appeared in her vision, overlaying reality like a semitransparent visor.

“Zeroes!” Hanto barked. “If you get hit, you leave the operations. Any attempt to change results will be reflected on your record and delay advancement to full operative. Initiatives taken to go beyond the set boundaries to win will be judged on ingenuity and success. Failure to participate fully will result in punishment. Operations begin in three minutes. Move out to your positions!”

“Stick close,” Gillian whispered to Rosie as their team of three, the two of them and Stefan, jogged towards the ruins.

Gillian led them to the outskirts on the south, following narrower back streets. Their starting position was inside a massive old water tank that lay half buried in sand in the backyard of a house. Rosie couldn’t see how this could lead to anything good. It was a bad position. Their backs were to the open desert and there was very little cover between the tank and the paltry ruins of the house.

“We’ve got to move as soon as it starts,” Gillian said as the three of them crouched behind the tank. She jerked her chin at Stefan. “You’ll flank me right; Rosie you’re left. We’re going to jump yards, go to the next one.” She indicated the broken fence that led to a neighbouring house. “We’ll head towards the main street, using the backyards as cover.”

“Pity Freddie’s not here,” Stefan said. “He’s a good back man.” He was crouched beside Rosie, looking like a praying mantis with his skinny arms and legs. Personally, Rosie was glad Freddie wasn’t with them. A beep sounded in her ear patch, signalling the start of the game. They ran from yard to yard, vaulting fences, guns held ready, searching for other teams. There were the distant sounds of firing and a few voices shouting out short orders, but nothing too close. On either side of them were old buildings and in front, an open road, with more broken buildings and a few piles of rubble lining the sides of the street. They crouched behind the low rubble of a fallen wall, listening.

Gillian whispered, “Movement across the street – in that abandoned shop.”

“I see it.” Stefan’s voice was taut. Rosie felt vaguely sick. The tingling along her spine was worse and her chest ached with each breath.

“I’m going to sneak out and get to that mound,” Gillian said. “Watch for movement. Stefan, you follow when I give the signal, then you, Rosie.”

She crept away. Rosie peered around the end of the wall, watching the street. She thought she saw a shadow shift in the building.

“You see that?” she whispered to Stefan.

He was quiet, peering at the building. He frowned. “Can’t see anything.”

A low whistle sounded from Gillian. Stefan swivelled, boots crunching on grit and crawled away. Rosie followed him to the edge of the wall then waited, gun poised as he ran in a crouch towards where Gillian hid behind the rubble. He’d almost made it when Rosie saw movement again in the building.

Suddenly, a barrage of pulse fire spat at her, ricocheting off the debris and pinging the ground near her feet. She ducked as a shot hit the bricks near her cheek, sending shards shattering over her head.

“Stay down, Rosie!” Gillian yelled over the com. “We’ll get you out.”

But Rosie couldn’t see how that was going to happen.

“You go,” she said into her com. “I’ll make my own way.”

She was so tired, she considered chucking it in and surrendering. It wasn’t like she cared about being an operative, but the most stubborn part of her refused to give up. If Alpha and Jebediah had sent her out here to make her even more miserable, then she was going to defy them.

She lay low in the dirt, then counted to three and crab crawled as fast as she could back to the house. Pulse blasts began pinging off the rubble she’d left and followed her progress, but she made it to the gaping doorway and lunged into the shadows, just as a popper exploded at her back. Dirt scattered against the pitted walls of the house and Rosie ran down the leaning hallway and out the back door to the yard. Checking no one was there, she jogged to the back and leaped over the fence. Behind her she thought she heard sounds of pursuit. Light footfalls. She had no idea who was after her, possibly San and Tara, but there was no time to check. She ran through three more yards back to where they’d started. The house here was barely more than a few broken walls. She paused, back to a remaining wall panel, breathing hard.

“Rosie what’s your position?” Gillian’s voice came over the com.

“Back at the start.”

“You’ve got a tail; get out of there!”

A burst of fire came again from behind her and Rosie took off. Keeping low, she sped across the flat ground of the front yard and hit the street, her boots crunching on the loose gravel. Across the road, the buildings were larger, several storeys. She dashed into the closest one. Three storeys with the top level exposed: no roof, only two walls. It leaned towards its neighbour like a drunk. Inside, it was dark, and Rosie ran through, listening for the pop and snap of pulse shots.

More hit the front wall of the building. She clambered over a pile of debris in her path. Around her, the walls creaked like the whole place was going to collapse at any minute.

A hall cut straight through the building, and she followed it past a broken set of stairs to a back exit, the door still half attached. A drop of a few metres separated her from the ground, like there’d been a verandah there once. She jumped down. A structure that had caved in was a few metres away and beyond that the back of another tall one. On either side were collapsed fences and more buildings. The sound of pursuit had stopped.

Cautious, Rosie stepped forwards then paused, heart thumping. Something had moved on her left. She turned towards it, gun raised. There was a smaller building there, more intact, two storeys, a rail-less balcony running around the top. A gaping dark window on the lower level faced her.

She ran to it, leaping over the remains of a low stone barricade and pushed her back against the wall beneath the window. She listened, but couldn’t hear anything. The hairs on the back of her neck prickled, like someone was watching. A faint scrape of sound came. Her heart vaulted and she gripped the gun with both hands and began to edge away from the window to the corner of the building and peered around it. A doorway that would have held double doors was the only access. Two boarded-up windows flanked it, the balcony overhead casting shadows. Rosie slipped around the corner and headed for the opening. It would be hard to see inside.

Rosie stopped at the edge, but no sounds came. Maybe it was a rat. Taking a deep breath, she crouched low so she’d come in at an unexpected angle and, leading with her gun, swung around the edge of the doorway, preparing to fire.

Before she could squeeze the trigger, someone grabbed her wrists and yanked her inside. She stumbled, trying to pull back, but whoever it was, was stronger and knocked the gun from her grasp. It skittered across the floor. An arm went around her, pinning hers to her sides and she was dragged back and off her feet. A hand pressed over her mouth and she froze in shock as warm lips closed over her earlobe and teeth gently scraped the ear patch off her skin, spitting it out. “Rosie, it’s okay, it’s me.”

She knew that voice. She pulled the hand off her mouth.

“Pip?”

He let her go and she spun around.

He smiled, blue eyes glinting. “Surprise.”

For a second she was too stunned to move, then she threw her arms around his neck and hugged him tight, almost knocking him off balance.

“Hey,” he murmured, hugging her back. Relief coursed through her. He was alive. After weeks of being always on her guard, of being alone in a hostile place, seeing him here was overwhelming. She clung to him, burying her face in his neck. He was warm and smelled like dust and sweat and his heart beat against her.

“So you missed me?” He chuckled and pulled back enough to see her face. It was like a dream, but real. Here he was, laughing at her, tall and lean, his dark hair curling in the heat and sticking up on one side, a smudge of dirt on his cheek. He felt so solid, his arms around her so good.

“But … what are you doing here? You shouldn’t be here.” She stared at him.

The laughter faded from his eyes. “I knew you’d say that.” He let go of her waist and caught her face between his hands before she could move. “I came to get you out, so no arguments, all right?”

“But–”

He cut her off with a kiss. His lips were soft and firm, and she’d missed him so much. Too much. For a few brief seconds, she gave in. She swayed towards him, touched her fingers to the warm, rapid pulse on his throat, felt the tension in his body against her own. But then reality pulled her back. She broke contact, forcing herself to step away. “Stop.” She held him at arm’s length. “You have to go. You can’t be here; it’s dangerous.”

“Dangerous?” The light that had been in his eyes faded. “It’s dangerous for both of us,” he said. “I know about the implant, Rosie, about how bad it is. Cassie told me. You have to come with me. I’ve got a bike waiting.”

Cassie had told him? He reached for her but she backed away.

“I can’t, not yet.”

Anger and something else blazed in his expression. Hurt? “Don’t do this, Rosie. We got a lead on Riley. He might even be back now. Being here is stupid.”

She backed up another step. Stupid? She’d given up so much to be here, tried so hard. “It’s not stupid.”

He exhaled and grabbed her hands, trying to draw her closer. “Okay, sorry, I didn’t mean–”

“No.” She snatched her hands back. “I found things out, Pip. Dalton’s dad and the man in charge here, Alpha, are working together. The whole rebellion thing is a con. But that’s not all. I saw more of the files on the MalX. They were planning to use it as some kind of population control all along. It was always going to be released on Earth – just not as early as it was. And there’s something called Dark Star they’re working on. I know it’s something big, and I won’t be able to find out about it if I go.”

She willed him to understand but he stood there, his face set in stubborn lines. “We can figure out what to do about all that when you’re safe. I’m not leaving without you.”

“Pip!” She was frantic. He was exposed here, surrounded as they were by Helios zeroes and operatives. “I’ll be okay. Plus Dalton’s here. I think his dad has forced him to come.”

“Dalton?” His gaze darkened.

“Yes, and I can’t leave him here alone.”

“And if you stay, that implant could kill you.” Pip took her roughly by the arms like he wanted to shake her. “When are you going to understand staying here isn’t going to help you find out any more or a way to stop them?”

God, why was he making this so hard? It broke her heart that he made it so hard, didn’t he know that? “Pip, I have to stay,” she said. “Sulawayo threatened my dad. She had a man in Greenview with poison. They’ll do it; you know they will.”

He hesitated, and a range of emotions crossed his face: desperation, anger, sorrow, but then his lips formed a thin line and defiance won. “I’m not leaving you here, Rosie. We’re getting on that bike and we’re out of here.”

He pulled her to the opening and in that moment they both heard a sound coming from the depths of the building behind them. Pip let her go, spinning towards it, and Rosie reached for the gun at her hip that wasn’t there.

Freddie was standing in the doorway, expressionless, considering. His eyes fell on Pip. “You’re the one they’ve been looking for,” he said.

Rosie’s heart leaped in fear. “Go!” She tried to push Pip outside and lunged for her weapon. But it was on the floor metres away and Pip was slower than he should have been, worried for her safety, she supposed. She fell to her knees, fingers closing on the gun and Freddie’s shot sizzled over her head. Pip grunted. She heard his boots scuffing on the floor, and turned back to see a black mark from the pulse singe his shirt. He fell backwards through the doorway, clutching his side in shock. Another shot took him in the chest before he hit the ground.

“Pip!”

Forgetting about Freddie, Rosie bounded from the house and fell to her knees at his side. He was on his back, staring at the sky, fingers clenched in the dirt, his body twitching from the pulse shock. She tried to pick him up, pulling his shoulders onto her lap. “Pip!”

His eyes rolled to hers, wide and afraid. “Rosie?” It was a rasping whisper.

“It’s okay.”
God, no
. She didn’t know what to do. She pressed a hand to where he’d been hit. His skin was hot.

“Rosie, I can’t …” He was struggling for breath, his chest heaving under her hand.

“It’s okay. I’ve got you.” But then his eyes rolled back in his head and fluttered closed. He stopped breathing.

“Pip?” She put a hand to his face. It felt like time had stopped. It was like her dream all over again, but real. Pip was in her arms dying and she could do nothing.

She sensed Freddie in the house above her. He was standing, watching, gun dangling from his hand and an odd smile on his lips. Like he thought it was funny Pip was dying. Something broke inside her. She aimed her gun at him and pulled the trigger.

“Rosie, no!” Gillian grabbed her arm from behind and the shot punched harmlessly into the sky.

“Let go!” Rosie struggled to throw her off. But then more people were there, dragging her away. Operatives in black surrounded Pip. She lunged, desperate to stop them, but was tackled again by someone larger, stronger. A sound tore from her throat like something had come loose inside and then she couldn’t stop screaming. She tried to get to him again, but someone had hold of her, their arms like a vice. Through vision blurred by tears, she watched Pip being lifted up, his head lolling back, eyes closed, one limp hand trailing. A sound came from her that she didn’t understand, high and inhuman. Something cold touched her neck and then, nothing.