Warden: A Novel (42 page)

“Now go!” he yelled.

The Exiles bolted away, sprinting off in three different directions just as quickly as they could run. Bad news travels fast, and Barent was confident that word of his arrival—and his threats—would soon reach the ears of every Exile in Le’sant.

As he brought the blade back down to his side, Barent recalled another time he’d sliced a man’s throat to send a message. When he’d killed a fellow guard for shooting a defenseless child—a little girl whose only crimes were looking out of a window at the wrong time, and being the daughter of someone too powerless to protect her.

Five hundred years later,
Barent thought to himself,
and remorseless killers are still stalking the streets of Le’sant.

He wondered if thing would ever change.

“Animals!” Tana spat. “You should have killed them, Barent. Every last one of them.”

“I wanted to,” he replied, sheathing his knife. “But by letting them go I hope to
save
the people of Le’sant.”

“I understand that, but still…”

Barent noted the anger on her face, but he knew Tana agreed with his reasoning.

“We’d better get moving,” he told her. “Dura’s men still need our help.”

They ran back to the waiting APC and used the recessed foot placements to climb up the side of it. And once they were both safely standing on the turret platform again, Corporal Ennis threw the vehicle into gear, sending them on their way.

They spotted the remains of several more skirmishes as they moved through the city—evidenced by the bodies of dozens of dead Exiles, numerous horse carcasses, and the corpses of Collective troops left behind when the fighting shifted to other areas. The fact that the Collective forces weren’t gathering up their dead spoke to the confusion and chaos this war had brought to Le’sant. And as they skirted around a horse and rider lying dead in the road, Barent’s senses alerted him to the sound of some of that fighting—just up ahead.

“We’re nearing the outskirts of the markets,” Ennis yelled from below.

The battle abruptly came into view, and Barent saw a Collective unit stationed just around the corner from a small building, viciously slicing through the structure with plasma beams and conventional weapons fire. Unfortunately, for the coalition troops trapped inside it, the Collective had placed themselves brilliantly. They enjoyed an excellent firing position, but barely presented any target at all for retaliation.

The Collective troops heard the APC approaching from behind them and turned to look back, but they just assumed it was another vehicle bringing reinforcements and returned to the fight. They paid for that assumption with their lives as Barent caught the unit completely by surprise, frying the soldiers with the plasma turret before they understood what was happening.

When the shooting stopped, the coalition forces cautiously stepped out of the building. Barent noticed that they were mostly Olin, but there were a few Exiles too—as well as a single Warden. When they saw who’d saved them, the soldiers all shouted Barent’s name loudly, and then went off to rejoin the battle at another hotspot.

“Should we follow them?” Corporal Ennis asked.

“No,” Barent replied. “Hold here for a moment.”

He opened up a channel and called Sergeant Dura. “We’ve handled the situation at the markets, Sergeant. How’s it going on that end?”

“Not good, sir. We’re in full retreat. I didn’t have to go looking for General Malves, he found me. He arrived a few minutes ago with a large contingent of Collective commandos, and has already taken out most of my forward line. I have reinforcements coming in from other parts of the city, but I think we’ll have to abandon the progress we’ve made into the Middle District and retreat back to the Common Ring. We’re just too damned scattered around, Sergeant Barent. And I’ve lost a lot of troops.”

Barent knew the main battle was still too far away to see from their position but he gazed off in that direction anyway, trying to catch a glimpse of the violent struggle unfolding over the open comm channel. As he’d suspected, he couldn’t make out anything more than smoke, or the occasional explosion, but Barent did notice something else—something he’d spotted earlier.

And it gave him an idea.

He toggled the comm. “Sergeant Dura. It looks like the entire Outland to the south of your position is a solid wall of flame. Is that an accurate assessment?”

“Yes, sir; it is. Some of the fighting spilled back into the Outland earlier, triggering a few fires. And since the downtrodden’s shacks were mainly built out of scrap-wood and fabric, it didn’t take much for whole place to go up—and fast. Most of the inhabitants escaped to the Common Ring when the fires first broke out. Most of them… But I don’t know how safe they’re going to be, Sergeant Barent, because we have a lot of fires in that part of the city now as well. And they seem to be spreading.”

Barent thought about all of the innocent people caught up in the war against the Collective and grimaced.

“Do just as you planned, Sergeant Dura. Take the forces you have left back into the Common Ring, and pull General Malves and his commandos right along with you. But first, call
everyone
in the coalition back, and have some of those reinforcements attack Malves’ flanks as soon as they arrive—so they can draw the other Collective units away and isolate him. Let Malves chase you all the way down to the flames, Sergeant. And once you reach the Outland—up to the very edge of the fires—disperse your army through the alleyways in the Common Ring and escape. Then you can meet up with the bulk of your reinforcements and close in on General Malves from behind, trapping him between your troops and the flames. The fire will make one less side you have to secure, Sergeant Dura. And it might leave you with a large enough force to move in and take Malves out.”

“As much as I like the plan, sir, I don’t think I can collect enough coalition troops together to both isolate
and
trap General Malves.”

“Send some Wardens out on horseback to make contact with the rogue Exiles. I think you’ll find them much more amenable to your orders now. And if not, they soon will be.”

“Sir?” Dura remarked, confused by Barent’s assurances.

“Just trust me on this, Sergeant Dura. You’ll get them back. And keep me informed of your progress, I have another mission in mind for my own team before I can join you.”

“Yes, sir.”

There was an audible click as the connection was severed, and then Barent yelled down inside the APC. “How far are we from Le’sant’s data hub, Corporal Ennis?”

The Warden glanced at the multi-colored display in front of him before replying. “About ten minutes, sir…unless we run into trouble.”

“Normally in situations like this I go looking for trouble, Corporal. But in this case, I need to get there quickly. So as fast as you can, please, and try to
avoid
any engagement with the enemy.”

“Understood, sir.”

“What’s your plan?” Tana asked him.

Barent leaned back against the turret and crossed his arms. “Ever since I woke up, everyone’s been telling me how influential my memory is, and how important my writings and speeches are. I intend to test that notion right now, Tana, by speaking directly to the people of the city. I’m going to use the datanet to rally the citizens of Le’sant to our side.”

Tana frowned. Her lips parted to respond, but she seemed unable to find the right words, clearly struggling to explain the thoughts racing through her mind.

Barent noticed her difficulty.

“Can I take it from your expression that you’ve been exaggerating the value of my legacy?” he said.

“No!” Tana exclaimed. “No. It’s not that. You have to speak to the people. That’s exactly what we wanted from you…what we
need
. But they’ve seen savage, fur-covered invaders fighting their own army now. And they probably believe that we’re the ones setting fire to the city; it’s an easy assumption to make. At this point, Barent, I think it’ll be difficult for you to convince the people that it’s all been done for their benefit. That
we
are somehow the good guys in all of this.”

Barent gazed out at the immense destruction left behind by the fighting, watching as the glow from dozens of fires lit up the night sky. In some areas, the light from the infernos was so bright that it even eclipsed the illumination spilling out from the nearby buildings.

He took a deep breath in through his nose and smelled the soot and ash polluting the air—tasted it in the back of his throat. And then Barent heard gunfire in the distance as the struggle for the city continued on, unabated. It was as if all of his senses had conspired to sober his enthusiasm.

“You’re absolutely right,” Barent said, the resignation in his voice almost palpable. “I agree with everything you said. But if we do somehow win this war, Tana, it will be a useless victory without the backing of the people. We might, against all odds, be able to conquer them. But if they come to our side willingly, it will be an enduring peace.”

“I know that,” Tana said softly. “And if anyone can reach them, Barent, it’s you. But you need to understand…to prepare yourself. Because no matter how much you want this, it may never happen. It’s easy for the poor to follow you because they have nothing to lose. But the wealthy in the central rings have no reason to trust you, and
everything
to lose if you’re lying to them. Revolutions are seldom kind to the rich.”

“Then I’ll just have to convince them that I’m telling the truth,” Barent said. “And that this really is for the good of everyone.”

He gave Tana a confident grin, but she knew Barent well enough now to see the depth of worry hidden behind it. Tana shared those concerns—and more—but one source of her apprehension faded away as they pulled up to the data hub, pleasantly surprised to find the building unguarded. The side of the APC swung open, and despite the apparent lack of danger, they all filed out with their weapons at the ready.

The rest of the group stood guard as Tana easily picked the lock on the front door and pulled it open. Then she tossed her comm unit to one of the Olin, and the pair positioned themselves on either side of the door to stand watch. Barent, Tana, and Ennis, bolted straight inside, swinging their guns around the open atrium in every direction, looking for hidden Collective troops. But the building was clear. In fact, it looked like the entire hub was deserted.

“Apparently,” Barent whispered, “they didn’t expect anyone to attack their communications center. Sloppy and short-sighted.”

He jerked two fingers down sharply, pointing straight ahead, and the three of them moved up an open stairway to the second floor. The trio methodically crisscrossed the plant-filled antechamber, and the hallway just beyond it, examining each of the small signs above the doors until they located the broadcast center.

Tana yanked the door open, and then ducked aside as Barent and Ennis swept into the room. But other than an impressive collection of equipment, the studio was just as empty as the rest of the building. The lighting system detected their presence and automatically flashed on, sending the blinking displays of the electronics fading into the background. And then the soft and peaceful hum of the machinery also vanished, as Corporal Ennis slid a heavy chair away from the main control panel and plopped himself down into it. He scanned the layout for a moment and then looked up at Barent.

“Seems simple enough, sir. There’s an active emergency channel telling everyone to stay inside their buildings. All I have to do is exchange a live broadcast for that, and we can reach the entire city.”

“Then let’s do it,” Barent told him.

On the other side of the room, Barent spotted a dais with cameras positioned all around it. He strode over to the platform with Tana at his side. Barent placed his pistols back into their respective holsters, and then Tana straightened his rig, pulling his combat jacket down tight as well. She licked her hand and used it to wipe away some black soot from Barent’s forehead, and he looked at her strangely.

“Appearances, Sergeant Barent. You’re not a prison guard now, or even a soldier. You are the Great Betrayer. Remember that.”

“Understood,” he replied.

Barent gently grabbed Tana’s arm as she began to move out of camera range. “And Tana,” he said in a sincere voice, “thank you.”

“We’re a team,” she replied, placing her hand over his. “Remember?” Then Tana smiled at him before stepping away.

They watched Corporal Ennis go over the controls one more time, making doubly certain he knew what to do, and then he announced, “Ready.”

Barent nodded and the feed went live, sending his image throughout the city. He knew the message would be broadcast to every stationary and hand-held device connected to the datanet, and be seen by the people implanted with datalinks as well.

“People of Le’sant,” he began, his voice calm and authoritative. “My name is Sergeant Barent. But I assume that most of you know that already. Five hundred years ago, I began a war to free this city from oppression. And now, after lifetimes spent in cryo-suspension, I’ve returned to finish what I started. I know there have been rumors that I’m not real—just a clever fabrication created by the Wardens. But that is a lie. And it’s not the first one the Collective told you. They’ve been lying to you for centuries, deftly using my name and memory to prop up their illegitimate government. The Collective has betrayed you, twisting and tainting what your ancestors truly wanted for this colony into something unrecognizable. Corrupting what they…my friends, fought and died for. And I don’t care how long it’s been, or how many centuries have passed. Those deaths meant something. They certainly meant something to
me
. I refuse to let those sacrifices be in vain, and I intend to make things right.

“That happens today.

“I know that many of you have seen strange looking soldiers in the streets—people with physical characteristics and clothing very different from your own. You’ve also probably observed the unfamiliar animals they’re using…the horses. They are all from the
Olin,
man and animal alike. The second ship survived the journey to Torvus and I found it. I know how fantastic this all sounds, and it’s only reasonable to harbor doubts, but I assure you that the people battling the Collective army are my allies. And they’re yours as well. I know that you are afraid; I understand that. But we are not here to conquer you. We are here to
free
you. You must believe me when I say there’s so much you just don’t know—and so much more the Collective has lied to you about…