Chapter 5
DAVE
Dave had loved the days at the Cottage. He felt like he had stuffed his head with knowledge, everything from economics and history to math and physics. And still he craved more. He was delighted by the fresh perspectives and noticed that, rather than rote learning, the Warden scientists encouraged curiosity and free thinking. They encouraged initiates to question the truth and what the scientists taught. There were limits, such as whenever someone questioned by which right the Moon people ruled, or what lay beyond the Rift, but except for the obvious taboos, the everyday discussions tended to be enlightening.
Back at the camp, the learning centered more around practicalities, and though he liked those parts, as well, he often found himself longing to return to the Cottage. He had begun to consider his specialty and knew that he had a decent chance of becoming an assistant scientist or maybe a techie, both paths that, given time and hard work, could lead to scientist positions at the Cottage. He lifted his gaze from the textbook, Intermediate Materials Technology, and looked out at the quiet part of camp where he had sat down next to a thick tree trunk to study. A couple of initiates were studying nearby, engaged in hushed discussion over something on their infopads. A Warden, a few years older than Dave, was telling a small group of initiates a tall tale, with the initiates staring wide-eyed at him. Two other Wardens were smoking, their futile attempts to suppress their giggles only making them look all the more stupid. Kissweed, he thought.
Discipline among the Wardens was generally lax, completely different from what he had expected. Compared to school back in Charlestown even. It normally suited him just fine. He couldn’t imagine himself surviving the strictness of Janissary life, or the back-breaking Corpus serfdom. He had a hard time understanding why the Covenant needed such an institution as the Corpus, but every time he mentioned it, the scientists would tell him it was necessary to preserve the integrity of the Covenant. And though he didn’t fully agree, he understood their reasoning. Also, he knew there were things he wasn’t told, and that only as a full citizen would he be privy to some of the secrets that the Moon people held back from the English, and that everything would make sense to him one day. Once he learned the truth.
There were some aspects of the lax discipline he didn’t like as much, though. He had noticed already on his first day in camp that Wardens openly smoked kissweed. Few initiates did, but as far as he could tell, almost every seasoned Warden did from time to time. He shook his head. He couldn’t imagine how otherwise bright young people, citizen prospects, with an eternity of discovery ahead of them, would consume something that would dull the senses, and over time make you as dim as the neighborhood drunk.
He turned his eyes away, trying to concentrate on the subject at hand. He enjoyed the lectures, and he had a knack for learning, something the scientists were already noticing, he knew. But as he sat there, focus seemed to elude him. He kept thinking about what was soon to happen. The Wardens were tasked with protecting the Covenant from what lay beyond the Rift. As much as it was the reason for their existence, it was something no one discussed in detail. Whenever a discussion touched upon this, the final words were something along the lines of “You’ll see” or “Give it time, you will learn soon enough.” Dave had a hard time settling for that, but he knew he’d get no answers.
He had a few ideas, though. He’d heard talk of the infected. And the skirmishes and the patrols. And some of the older Wardens had a particular stare. As if they had seen things that were impossible to put into words. He knew there were some things you couldn’t “un-see.” And even if he got his choice of specialization, which would be far from physically demanding, front-line duty, he knew that every scientist, every steward had been out there at least once, and had seen whatever it was no one would talk about. That was the way of the Wardens. No one was to remain innocent. Everyone shared whatever burden they had to carry. Though he thought it sounded like a nice idea, he often wondered what it all meant. And there was something unsettling about it, as well. As if, once he crossed some particular line, there would be no going back.
SUE
Sue shook her head and wiped dirt from the outside of her visor. A scream pierced her ears from the helmet comms system, before it was muted. Brad. She glimpsed the enemy in front of her withdrawing, and turned half way around. Brad was lying on the ground, cut almost in half by the explosion. Dead or dying, it didn’t matter. Even the fabled Janissary suit couldn’t save him from such a blast. Quinn was also down and lay motionless. She saw Tac Hordvik crawling toward him, firing short bursts every few seconds. She couldn’t see what he was aiming for, but she threw her weapon around and fired a long burst in the general direction he was firing, before getting up. She ran over to him, followed by Julian, while Keisha stayed back, covering their backs. There was a low dip in the terrain, where they would be safe from direct fire. At least for a little while.
“I’ve already called for backup,” the tacticus said. “But unless we take out that rocket launcher, the airship will not come. They’re not risking an airship for a bunch of green initiates.” Sue could see he was gritting his teeth, and for a moment, she thought it was anger at their superiors who would sacrifice them so easily. But then, she saw where his suit had been penetrated. The nano bots were already covering the hole in the suit, just above the knee, but there was no hiding the blood soaking through.
“You’re hurt,” she said. He nodded.
“Yes, but the bots are stitching me up as we speak. Hurts like hell, though. AI won’t give me anything but weak local anesthetic, either. Have to stay alert.” She nodded, thought for a second, before she spoke.
“Tac, you stay here with Quinn and Keisha. Julian and I will take out the launcher.” The tacticus stared at her and seemed about to say something. She cut him off, a bit too harsh.
“Tacticus, sir, we have no choice. You are incapacitated whether you like it or not. This is the only way.” She didn’t wait for an answer as she motioned for Julian to follow her.
“Now,” she said, her voice calm, though her thoughts raced. She had just relieved her superior of command. If they survived, which was anything but certain, she could face dire consequences. Nevertheless, this was their only chance, and looking at the remains of Brad, she didn’t think they’d get another.
Sue and Julian leapt from cover simultaneously, firing everything they had while they ran. The ammo in the magazines would only last for a few more steps. When she estimated they were down to the last twenty rounds, she shouted, a little too loud, for Julian to take cover. As soon as they hit the ground, she turned a switch on the side of her weapon, lifted it to point up in a 45-degree angle, and fired. A blast of heat passed to the side of her helmet. The heat-seeking missile should search out their attackers within seconds. She craned her neck to see, knowing she was exposed, waiting to see where the missile hit.
A blast just to the right of where she had expected it told her the location of their attackers. Both she and Julian took a knee, fresh magazines clipped onto their weapons, and blasted away. Fifty rounds each, give or take, before they stood up and moved forward, firing short bursts with every step. As they reached the tree line, she knew she would soon be out again. They both took a knee as soon as they stepped into the shade of the forest.
“Keep firing. I’ll switch first,” she said. Julian just nodded. Once she was done, he did the same, while she covered. Once they’d both reloaded, they moved forward again, slower now. After twenty or thirty meters, they came upon the remains of the enemy position taken out by the heat seeker. The dead lay strewn, and some sort of off-road vehicle still burned.
“Let’s hurry. They can’t be far away,” she said. “The launcher must be slowing them down. See the mount?” She pointed at the burning vehicle. It had clearly been fitted with a weapon.
“Those weapons are powerful, but cumbersome. I can’t believe they plan to carry it off,” Julian said.
“Yeah, I guess they would have a hard
time replacing it,” Sue answered, knowing well that the northerners didn’t have nearly the resources of the Covenant.
They ran through the forest, knowing that they could be running into an ambush at any time. But if they didn’t take out the launcher soon, Quinn would be dead. And if that airship wouldn’t come pick them up, they would all die.
The air was crisp, and outside of a few rays of light coming through the canopy of the forest, shadow covered the ground. The visors adjusted swiftly between light and dark, though, so Sue had no problem seeing.
“Careful,” she heard Julian whisper inside her helmet as something snapped. She cursed quietly and pulled her foot from the broken branch. The enemy didn’t have the equipment of the Janissaries, but they still had ears. She took a moment to look around. Nothing. Then they kept walking, a quick pace, but more careful with where they put their feet down. Julian took the front, while Sue tried to cover both sides. They needed to move fast, but if they came upon the enemy without the element of surprise, it would be two against who knew how many. And not even Janissary suits or their superior weapons could be relied upon to keep them alive through that.