Divided Worlds Trilogy 01 - Disconnect (13 page)

Within the enclosure, Zachary’s lungs reeled in the humid air. He wondered how this thing worked? Was it automatic? He pushed the red dial protruding about waist high. Blistering water pulsated outward like bullets. Gasping, arms stretched, he blinked. Faster spurts thumped his body. Zachary batted away the tickling water that brought a strong alkaline taste to his mouth. The sting set in his eyes. He turned, and pulled the dial out to end the water.

The rush of heat startled Zachary. Taking the fluffy towel handed to him by a nearby man, he wrapped it around himself quickly and pulled the hood down.

“He’s just here, General.” With an open helmet, the first Panther beckoned Zachary to a table with the blue-tinted image of a tall, wide-shouldered man hovering above it.

Masim Sokolov’s chin turned before the rest of his frame. Hands clasped across his waist with his thumbs pressed, he nodded. “Your actions have impressed me.”

The Russian accent made Zachary shudder with displeasure.

“The House of Representatives gives you respect. You shall be decorated for your efforts.” The General stroked his chin. “You would make a fine bodyguard for Ambassador Kade’s daughter when they return to Assayer.”

Rosa.

“Continue to demonstrate courage and you’ll be duly assessed as a suitable candidate for the Souls Programme. Until we meet.”

The transmission switched off.

“Is that it?” asked Zachary.

“Yup – you’re clear to go, and, once you’ve freshened up, make sure you attend the party we’re holding.” The Panther gripped his arm. “It’d be wrong to dance without the chief guest.”

Zachary’s boots squeaked on approaching the lift. Snake Three, a young man, sat on the floor running hands through short hair. Not a good situation.

“And here comes the hero,” sang a spiky-haired soldier on the lift’s platform. “You two are the only ones to make it back. I’m glad I wasn’t desperate enough to put my hat into a suicide mission. Number Three’s told me he did it because he’s worthless up there, but, now, you can be
proud
of being worthless.”

Diego’s reason struck Zachary; he’d done it for his sister, someone he cared enough for to put himself at risk of being caught. Would he have done the same for Rosa?

“Do you two know each other?” asked the soldier.

“I didn’t bother with anyone when they selected us.” Snake Three kept his head down. “I just want to go home. I’m tired.”

“
Tired?
Of what? All you did was mix with dirt,” scoffed the soldier.

“That was enough.” Compassion filled Three’s tone. “They weren’t bad people. They didn’t deserve this.”

The soldier typed on a display screen attached to the platform. “I’m sure you won’t say that when a couple of chicks jump on you. Right, let’s get going.”

“
Wait!
” A man in grey overalls ran to them, waving a hand-sized bag. “I need this to be examined, immediately.”

The soldier groaned. “I haven’t got time. We’re off to see the General.”

“Make time,” said the grey man. “We found it on a District One resident who’d stolen it from one of the Snakes. I want full diagnostics of any communication made in
and
out of Underworld.”

The soldier pulled a circular screened-device, the size of his hand, and an Intercom from the bag. “Seems like one of your Snakes got sloppy with losing his Intel-Depository. I wouldn’t want to be in his dead shoes.”

Zachary gazed at the intact Intercom. The Raptor’s wet parts crumpled with a rummage of his pocket. If he could get the new Intercom then he had the chance to repair his Raptor. But doing so would jeopardise General Sokolov’s wish for him to guard Rosa. Who was he trying to convince; the moment he reached the top, he’d be dead.

The platform jumped up an inch into a slow ascent amidst the metallic grind. Open pipes within the wall passed them. Above, Zachary saw a grated platform littered with figures. Lots. More soldiers. Bigger guns.

Now what? Think! Knock the soldier over. Grab the bag. And what about Three? Little threat appeared in the glazed look of the other Snake. Zachary had to take the chance. Fists tensed he strained a stare at the soldier.

“What?” scowled the soldier.

Zachary jumped, wrapping the towel over the soldier’s head, then pulled him down. Giving Snake Three a cautious look, he snatched the bag off the platform. In a second, he’d enter a part of
Galilei
that he knew nothing about and might regret.

The next open pipe approached.

“
What the hell!
” The soldier spun Zachary round.

Punching with the bag clasped in his hand, he sent the soldier rocking backward onto Snake Three, who hadn’t moved.

Zachary dived into the open pipe.

A shot echoed behind.

Something smacked Zachary’s back sending him onto his front.

Adrenaline pressurised Zachary’s head. Eyes widened, he blinked off the blurs and touched his damp back. He arched upright in the large pipe to inspect himself. A small hole in the bag indicated the bullet’s path. Unclipping the top of the bag, he heaved a sigh at seeing that the bullet had scuffed the edge of the Intel-Depository.

Outside, from higher up, the soldier from the lift called for attention.

Zachary’s palm skated along the moist pipe as he ran, hunched. Pockets of steam ejected in short bursts overhead. Coughing, he heard a humming noise drawing close. The lift was returning. Zachary ran deeper into the curved pipe. Where did it lead?

A thud behind him sent chills down his spine.

“I see him,” wheezed a voice.

Zachary bounced off a hard dead-end in the pipe. His kick reverberated instead of shifting the panel.

Damn.

A water droplet trickled onto his nose. Zachary looked up at the small hole above him. It’d be tight. Leaping up, he squeezed into the upright tunnel. Steam tore at the skin of his neck. Why did the steam here prove so toxic compared to the slush he’d waded through in the Wastelands? He continued upwards towards an opening.

Not slowing after he passed through it, Zachary moved to another dead-end with a hole leading down. He pressed his temples. If correct, then this would bypass the last path and place him close to the lifts. Was that dangerous? What if the soldiers had predicted his route? Maybe the soldiers assumed his movement to be forever up and so to go down would seem … stupid.

Boots sliding, Zachary landed into a new pipe. Whirring sounds muffled his movements. Loud bangs pounded in a sequence with second-long gaps. Crawling under the thickening white smoke, a thirty-foot grate presented passage over a deep chasm. Zachary rushed forward. Jolting, he stayed on course and dived into another pipe, without smoke, but a dead-end soon arrived. He gasped in shock that he’d made it alive. Not a single soldier was in sight. Yet.

Zachary removed the Intel-Depository from the bag. He guessed it to hold important information. Could it provide something for him to use? A sparkling circle illuminated in the centre followed by the buttons of a keyboard appearing under four empty boxes, and the words, ‘Enter Password’.

Zachary smacked the dead-end wall.

Taking the Intercom from the bag, he suspended his thumb over the recognition-pad. He had no idea of the password he needed to operate it, and he didn’t want the device to lock. Zachary pushed into the rear-grooves of the Intercom’s underside, removing the lower shell. Intact inner components glistened at him. Although this wasn’t a Raptor, the green circuit boards appeared the same. He pinched between two layers to remove a red chip – the identity of the Intercom. With light prodding, he separated the crumpled components of the broken Raptor out of his pocket. There he found a bent, but similar, red chip. Zachary blew flakes off the chip’s mangled edges. The Raptor’s chip slipped into its new home.

Zachary rubbed the pad. “F – A – I – L.”

A vibrant flash of blue ejected from the Intercom, then it shut down. The same outcome followed on his second try.

“No.” Zachary drifted onto his side, stroking the Intercom.

Did wanting to tell Rosa that he was alive too much to ask for? Shivering, he imagined her lying on her bed in a similar pose, grasping her own Raptor.

The Intercom vibrated.

He almost didn’t believe it.

Rolling onto his front, Zachary answered, “Rosa!” Silence from the Intercom. That was odd. With calmer tone, he tried again. “Hello. Rosa?”

“Who is this?” responded a stern male voice.

Zachary tensed. Had the army intercepted the Intercom? No – how could they? He’d swapped the Intercom’s identity.

“Who is this?” asked Zachary.

He tried to activate the viewer setting. Text materialised on the upper screen, ‘Images not permitted by caller’.

“Are you Zachary?”

How did he know his name?

“Did you steal my daughter’s Raptor?” said the man.

Zachary gulped. It was Rosa’s dad; Jordan. “No, Mister Kade. She gave it to me. My dad helped to clean the infected shells around your home.”

“And you’ve been calling her ever since?”

“No – she called me.” Zachary’s mouth filled with grimy spit. He swallowed every few words. “She wanted me to wipe the Raptor’s memory, but I didn’t, and we talked now and again, because she wanted somebody to talk to, because she doesn’t have anybody else.”

Goose bumps chilled him. Why was Rosa’s dad calling him? Where was she?

Jordan’s sigh crackled. “Your account is similar to my daughter’s. I will accept your acquisition of her Raptor, but I do not approve of your continued contact with her, and especially of how you have coerced her.”

“Coerced? What do you mean?”

“How old are you?”

What a strange question. “Sixteen.”

“The same age as her. How convenient,” said Jordan. “You remind me of the arrogant bullies that I knew when I was young. They’d take on personas that matched their prey to lure them in. What you’re doing isn’t new. Gaining my daughter’s trust by pretending to be her age, from Underworld, and to understand her, is a plan that you’ve executed rather well.”

“You think I made it up?” Zachary bit his lip. “I’m not a pirate. I never stole her Raptor, or attacked your home.”

“Count yourself fortunate that I have not turned this over to Hadrian Tower.” Finger clicking sounded. “They’d have you by now in a small cell, tried for theft, conspiracy, attempted murder and the spread of vicious lies, but the compassionate side of me wants to give you a chance to explain yourself.”

Zachary’s neck stiffened. “Do you really think I’m that bad?”

“Explain.”

Zachary couldn’t suppress the rage. “
If I
wanted to use Rosa against you, I’d have done it when I was at your home. I could have hurt her then. I’m sixteen. Do I sound older? Do I? I don’t have any friends. Okay. I’m a loner. I’m a scavenger. Rosa gave me her time. More time than anyone’s ever given me. She wanted to be my friend. I let her, and I’m glad I did.” He inhaled aloud. “
Where
is she?”

“Don’t use that tone with me.”

“I will,” snapped Zachary. “If only you had let her out, and let her make her own friends, then none of this would’ve happened.” Zachary’s stomach churned. What was he saying?

Jordan’s tone cut through the Intercom. “A pathetic scavenger. Do you look at my daughter as a trophy?”

“
No!
” Why did her dad not understand? “Please, just tell me that she’s okay.”

“You sound concerned.”

Zachary held the Intercom from his face. “Allow the Intercoms to transmit images. Then, you’ll see me. You’ll see that I’m just a kid.”

“You will have
no
contact with her. She will not call you, and neither will you call her. If you commit to breaking this, I will have you dealt with. My daughter does not belong with anyone, especially an Underworlder.”

Zachary growled. “Where is she?”

“Did you really think that she would fall for you? Is that what you wanted? Do you want to move up here? Do you want money?” Jordan’s tone lowered. “Was it her interest in your sad life that drove you to lie?”

“Lie about what? I’ve told you, I know nothing about the pirate attack.”

“How about the lie that Underworld is under attack?”

Zachary panted. Everything inside his stomach turned. “But we are.”

“You don’t sound like you’re under attack?”

“I escaped. I got out. Sokolov’s army attacked us.”

“Listen to him.” A faint female voice came from the Intercom.

Rosa?

“I’m not so gullible that I can’t see how you’ve used the announcements of expansion and the movement of your Districts to spin yarns to my daughter,” said Jordan.

“B-b-but.” Zachary squeezed the Intercom. “I’m not lying. You’re the ones who’ve been lying. There were no negotiations. You dropped papers, orders, telling us to move, but you never explained why, and then your soldiers attacked us. You’ve destroyed the Districts.” Zachary’s face felt rigid as rock. The tears he’d managed to hold for a minute flowed. “Your soldiers killed people. The Panthers. The Pumas. Sokolov. Commander Paver. Rock-Walkers. Fire. Dad. They shot him.” Sniffling, he continued, “I did lie. I admit it. I pretended to be Snake Seven, so that I could escape, and now I’m trapped.”

“Snake,” muttered Jordan. “Masim had a file on his table called ‘The Snakes’.” Then he said more directly, “Are you telling the truth?”

“Yes.”

“Overworld soldiers came down and attacked you?”

“He’s already told you that they destroyed the Districts,” came the woman’s voice. “The boy isn’t lying. I can feel it.”

“It doesn’t make sense, Amelia. Masim made clear there’d be no bloodshed.”

Zachary kneaded his neck. “Blood is all I saw, Mister Kade. I can see it now.”

“How many soldiers did you see?” asked Jordan.

“I don’t know. Three hundred, maybe more, and lots of Rock-Walkers.”

“That’s the entire army,” said Amelia. “Masim sent in the whole army, and he has your name as the one who commissioned it.”

“We don’t know that,” said Jordan. “The boy could still be lying.”

Amelia puffed. “I suppose he thought up the name Paver? How would he know him?”