The Two Towers

Science Fiction Romance by Jamie A. Waters

One hundred and fifty years after the earth was ravaged by war, the two self-sustaining towers built by OmniLab continue to offer a safe haven for those who paid the hefty price to assure their family's survival. But on the surface, there are others who have survived over the years struggling to barter and trade artifacts found within the ruins of the crumbling cities in exchange for critical supplies.

When Kayla, a ruin rat skilled in computer hacking and scavenging, discovers a strange artifact known as The Aurelia Data Cube, she finds herself inadvertently caught up in a series of events that threatens the lives of the mysterious and elusive people within OmniLab.

Carl, an unorthodox negotiator with a head for business, is determined to eradicate the corruption amongst his OmniLab brethren and has no qualms about using Kayla to do it. Unfortunately, he wasn't counting on the vastness of the corruption or his own feelings for the headstrong woman who turns his life upside down.

Caught between the life she knew and a dangerous world that's claimed her as their own, Kayla learns the fearful truth behind just how far one man will go to obtain power and how far she'll go to survive.

T
HE
T
WO
T
OWERS

The Two Towers Series: Book 1

J
AMIE
A. W
ATERS

MuseItUp Publishing

www.museituppublishing.com

The moment her foot touched the ground, Kayla knew she was in trouble. Feeling the floor give way beneath her boots, she tucked in her arms, forcing her body to relax to minimize the impact. She crashed through the floor, bringing down building debris around her.

With a loud thump, she landed hard on a lower level of the ruins. A cloud of dust obscured her vision. She swore when a rough voice sounded from the earpiece attached to her helmet.

“Kayla! What the hell’s going on? Your vitals spiked and you dropped almost five meters.”

Kayla shifted slightly. Thankfully, this level appeared stable. She moved her limbs to gauge the extent of her injuries.
Nothing broken, just my pride
. She’d have plenty of bruises tomorrow, and she was sure she’d never hear the end of it.

“Floor collapse in Section 12. I’m fine, Leo. Thanks for asking.” She rolled her eyes at his lack of concern.

There was a moment of static before the angry voice came back over the frequency. “You’re supposed to be in Section 4. Section 12 is still being mapped.”

Another voice interrupted Leo’s impending tirade. Kayla recognized her spotter’s calmer tone. “Leo, this is Veridian. We detected Carl’s team on another frequency and it sounded like they were headed toward Section 4. We thought it best to avoid them.”

“Dammit,” Leo swore. “They weren’t supposed to be back working this District for another four days. Get out of that hole and get your asses back to camp. I don’t have time for this shit.”

“Understood,” Veridian replied. “Kayla, are you secure?”

Kayla grimaced and glanced around the room. Her helmet light shone as the dust settled. Thinking fast, she replied, “I’m almost ready for you to pull me up. Let me get into position. I hope you’ve got some hydrating packs. I’m parched.”

She flipped open her wristband and switched channels on her comlink. Trusting Veridian would remember the code phrase that would let him know she wanted to speak with him on an unmonitored channel, she said, “Go ahead and lower the cable and harness, but give me ten minutes. Carl’s people are going to swoop in here the minute we pull out. I’m not going to give him that satisfaction. Let me see what I can scavenge.”

Veridian’s voice was strained, but he agreed. “Try to make it five, Kayla. Your vitals are out of sync and Leo’s monitoring. He sounds pissed.”

“That’s nothing new,” Kayla muttered and switched back to the main channel before flipping her wristband unit closed. She rolled over and got into a crawling position, wincing from the pain. Once she was confident the floor would support her, she stood up and looked around.

The building was several hundred years old. Neglect and the elements had taken their toll. Faded wallpaper peeled from the walls. A thick layer of dust coated the floor. Most of the furniture had either been scavenged or had rotted over the years.

Kayla closed her eyes for a moment and visualized the way the room used to be. In her mind, she saw a large bedroom with an ornate bed against the wall in front of her. A low bookcase sat on the far wall with two overstuffed chairs. A strange painting hung over the bookcase and seemed to beckon her. On the opposite side of the room was a dresser with a large mirror where she imagined a woman modeling a silly looking hat.

Kayla shook her head to clear the image from her mind.
Keep it together, Kayla. It’s only your imagination.
Even so, she trusted her instincts. Veridian frequently joked that the ruins spoke to her. In a sense, she guessed it was true. Her instincts never let her down.

She moved across the room, drawn to the dilapidated painting hanging over the bookcase. The painting was unsalvageable, rotted and covered with mildew. Kayla pulled the painting off the wall and set it on the floor.

I know you’re here. I know you’re here. Aha!
She bit back a grin as she felt a niche in the wall. Pulling open the false wall, she stared at an old metal safe. Unconcerned, she opened her backpack and withdrew a long, cylindrical wand-like instrument that also doubled as a handheld drill. With her other hand, she took out her frequency detector and pressed it against the door to the safe.

She drilled a small hole and then jimmied the cylinder inside the locking mechanism. Watching the detector’s display, she moved the wand until she heard a click. Tucking the tools back into her toolkit, she carefully opened the door.

She ignored the worthless stocks, bonds, and other papers piled in the corner of the safe. Instead, she focused on the small box tucked in the safe.

Kayla flipped open the lid of the box. A ruby necklace and a pair of earrings, along with several other valuable pieces of jewelry, winked at her under the light from her helmet. She stuffed the box into her backpack before turning back to the safe. Rifling through the papers, she discovered a small cloth pouch. She opened the pouch and shook the contents out into her gloved palm.

A small green sculpture of a strange looking creature with a long snout and a pair of wings sat in the palm of her hand. It was slightly larger than the length of her thumb, carved from a mineral she didn’t recognize. She shook her head in resignation.
You people should have paid more attention to survival rather than collecting stupid trinkets.

Veridian’s voice came over her headset again, sounding agitated. “Kayla, time’s up. We’ve got company. Three bikes are headed this way.”

“Dammit,” Kayla swore as she unscrewed the false bottom of her frequency detector. She pushed the small carving inside, snatched the jewelry box from her backpack, and dumped out the contents. Shoving most of the jewelry inside the secret compartment, she closed the opening. She unzipped her jacket and stuffed the ruby necklace into her shirt before tossing the empty box in a pile of debris in the corner.

Kayla zipped up her jacket, and then made her way back to where she had crashed through the floor. She climbed into the harness and hit the indicator button to let Veridian know she was secure. “Ready, V, pull me up.”

The engine came to life. The cable harness slowly lifted her out of the ruins, giving her a chance to evaluate the depth of the building. She had been scavenging about four levels down and she suspected there were at least a few more levels below her.
Something big is down here
.
I can feel it.

The moment she passed through the roof of the building, a hand reached out to help her. She gripped the offered hand and pulled herself the rest of the way out of the ruins. When she saw the owner of the hand, she yanked her own back as if burned.

“You lousy, blood-sucking, rat-dicked bastard,” she spat as she pulled off her helmet. Tossing back her short dark hair, she glared at the man standing in front of her.

“Ah, Kayla, still as charming as ever,” Carl’s smooth voice replied. “We intercepted your transmission earlier and I’m sure you can imagine my surprise when I heard you were in Sector 12. I thought it might be a good idea to take a short trip to see what you’ve been up to.”

Kayla scowled at the man. Easily over six feet in height, he towered over her shorter 5’2” frame. Kayla guessed his age somewhere in his mid-twenties. His shoulders were broad and his muscles well-defined in tribute to the time he spent navigating the ruins. His long dark hair was pulled back into a ponytail and accentuated his incredible face. He had a square jaw with a rough bit of stubble that gave him a rugged appearance. Dark, penetrating brown eyes focused on her and his lips twitched into a teasing smirk.

Like Kayla, he wore the special UV protective pants and jacket to shield himself from the harsh sun. Since the last war, the world had changed and the environmental conditions were deadly without several protection measures. Even now, they stood under a portable UV Guard that encompassed the area where Kayla and Veridian had been scavenging.

As good looking as he was, the man was a pain.
If he weren’t so damn pretty, I would have clocked him months ago
.

The thought was still tempting. Determination in her gaze, she dropped her pack on the ground and unhooked the harness. When she yanked off her gloves and started to take a step toward him, Veridian made a small pained noise. The warning look he threw stopped her in her tracks.

She pursed her lips and let out a long exhale. Okay, so maybe wiping the smug look off the trader's face wasn't the best way to handle the situation. As though sensing her thoughts, Veridian gave her a slight nod of approval before turning back to pack up the metal cabling and the rest of the equipment. In an effort to calm herself, she reached for a hydrating pack and took a long drink before turning back to the uninvited guests.

As usual, Carl wasn’t alone. He had brought with him two of his lackeys, Corsin and Cruncher. Cruncher was a short, stocky character with a knack for electronics. She had admired his skill on more than one occasion when they managed to “borrow” some of Carl’s equipment. Corsin was fairly new to Carl’s crew and she didn’t know much about him. He had sandy blond hair and a wiry build, leading her to believe he was one of Carl’s scavengers.

She wiped her mouth with the back of her hand. “Nothing better to do than to listen in on other people’s conversations?”

Carl smiled. “I have to protect my interests, don’t I? You two are scavenging in a claimed sector.”

“You must be mistaken. We came here to tour some ruins and see the sights.”

“I see.”

He gestured to Cruncher and the large man picked up Kayla’s discarded pack. He pulled out her frequency detector and other tools and gave them a cursory glance before putting them aside. Cruncher shook his head to indicate it was empty. “It’s only her equipment, Boss.”

“Like I said,” Kayla said sweetly. “We were touring the ruins.”

Carl raised an eyebrow and asked, “With a frequency detector and hand drill? Take off the jacket, Kayla.”