Reforged

By Britt Ringel

Kat has declared war on her former masters. Once the prized operative Pre-Cat in the Pelletier's Society of the Sunthetic Union mega-corp, she's been hunted since the night of her escape into the slums of Waytown. Still struggling to fully regain her memories and powers, she's determined to reforge not only her future but the rules under which psi-positives like her must live.

But with only Sadler by her side and Teki as a new ally, Kat must figure out a way to gather forces willing to stand up to the Society's seemingly limitless power. Tess insisted that Pre-Cat was the key to uniting the defectors, but Tess is dead and the Society has her communications device. Without it, Kat can't contact other operatives and agents who might join her fight. Even if she musters a team, how does one topple a secret organization that is key to Sunthetic's future?

Reforged, a suspense thriller in a dystopian setting, is the final novel in the Scorched trilogy and follows the story of one woman’s struggle to overcome her past and create a new future.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Britt Ringel
• Release date: Jun 1, 2023
• ISBN: 9798215928844

Britt Ringel

Britt Ringel has been a windsurfing instructor, Air Force captain, attorney, and teacher, but his passion is building galaxies and the characters who inhabit them. When not writing, or reading, he enjoys military documentaries, building model ships, and spoiling his golden retriever, Jengo.

Book preview

Prologue

The trio entered the fetid alley, their confident steps kicking up dust clouds from the dry earth. The trailing man held nothing but a single sheet of paper. The younger man and woman escorting him gripped pistols.

Get outta my alley or I’ll… Rat trailed off as his eyes took in the weapons. He struggled stiffly to his feet and his voice sank with resignation. Whadda ya want?

The trailing man with greying hair answered. My associates and I are looking for someone. Cold eyes swept over Rat’s pathetic belongings before dropping to the blue tarp that served as the vagrant’s water reservoir. It was no more than a quarter full.

I ain’t seen him, Rat spat while taking a protective step toward the tarp. We need this water, he added and his gaze darted among the three. He stuffed his hands into gaping tears in his filthy trousers.

She’s not here either, stated the younger man. He was dressed in a grey and black suit, a hybrid of a corp-sec officer’s uniform and an executive’s attire. The black body armor over his chest, however, made his violent intentions clear. His voice filled with frustration as he turned to address his superior. We’re never going to find her this way. This is a waste of time.

The female agent spoke to the older man as well, echoing her partner’s sentiment. Peecho, we know where she works. She jutted her chin at the Porter Employment Application in the older man’s hands. We can take her there.

Consider yourself volunteered to lead that assault, the grey-haired man replied acerbically. He folded the application and stuffed it into a pocket. We know she lives sixteen blocks from the Trodden flea market. We need to find her out here, where there’ll be no witnesses, no questions to answer afterwards. A slaughter at that mine is the worst-case scenario. President Parker hasn’t even authorized such an assault yet so we’ll keep up this search. He gestured toward the blue tarp and addressed Rat. I need only to touch that. Believe me when I tell you that I have no desire to ingest any of that filthy water.

Rat hobbled in front of the tarp. He cautiously brought a hand from his pocket and braced himself against the nearby fire barrel. You got the guns. You get to do what you want but—

The woman’s pistol thundered inside the alley. A spray of flechettes erupted from the muzzle to nearly tear the vagrant in half. Rat’s body staggered back before collapsing into the water reservoir. The pool quickly turned crimson. The gunshot seemed to echo for an eternity through Shantytown’s maze of alleys.

When silence finally returned, Peecho demanded quietly through clenched teeth, Why?

Look! The Society agent marched to the tarp and kicked a booted toe at Rat’s left hand. A tiny paring knife slipped from the clawed hand and splashed to the bottom of the bloody pool.

Peecho shook his head but remained silent. He knelt delicately at the edge of the tarp and pressed a hand to the ragged plastic. He gasped almost immediately. Oh my. He swallowed several times. She was parched, nearly dying of thirst. He worked his throat silently for several moments before rising. Spread out and search. This is it. She was here.

The agents began to tear the alley apart as Peecho moved to the fire barrel. His hand touched the rusted side before pulling away as if burned. He gagged while staggering to the nearby brick wall. She… ate vermin. He pressed a hand against the shattered wall, doubled over and retched.

The male agent merely snorted with disgust as he began to kick trash away from the walls of the alley. His counterpart offered, Of course she did. Pre-Cat would turn cannibal if that’s what it took. She’s a survivor.

Here! the younger man shouted in triumph while pointing at a knife resting on a neatly folded pressboard container next to the far battered wall. Hidden behind a pile of trash.

Well done, Agent Andrews, Peecho said as he wiped his mouth with the cuff of his sleeve. The carton first. He walked quickly to the side of the alley and held out his hands. Taking the container, he nodded immediately, Yes. His eyes closed. She walked a long way with this. I can feel sand inside my shoes. The man shuddered before cocking his head toward the mouth of the alley. His brown eyes opened and he turned to the alley’s outlet with a patrician’s smile on his face. Why hello, Cat. We’ve been looking for you.

Chapter 1

Kat? Sadler shook her gently. Kat, wake up. You’re having a bad dream.

Kat’s eyes fluttered open. They focused on the forest green of Sadler’s own eyes and a long, steadying breath escaped her lips.

He swept locks of hair from her face and smiled. Are you okay?

She looked past him and her eyes locked on to the blue tarp now serving as a makeshift roof over the alley they’d slept in. She exhaled softly again before her expression hardened. Yeah, just a dream, she lied. Though Sadler knew about her ability to pick up post-cognitive visions based on location, she didn’t want to share the story of Rat’s demise. Instead, she rolled to her side and stood. Overnight, the hard alley had played havoc with her back and she stretched like her namesake to soothe it. Except for Sadler, Teki and herself, the narrow alley was deserted. A glance toward its entrance found Joseph Tory playfully swinging around the pole of the solar streetlamp. The little boy seemed not much of a lookout, just the child that he was. Dawn had broken although the sun had not yet cleared the short buildings in the crumbling neighborhood that was her former home.

Except for the dream, how did you sleep? Sadler asked while stretching his legs.

Well, Kat answered with a smile. It was much easier with you next to me.

Kat… Sadler looked around the confines of the alley. Crushed brick and rotting debris lined the collapsing walls on either side of the dead end formed by a trash heap that divided the length of the alley in half. If I’d known this was where you were sleeping, I’d never have let you get out of the aircar after our first date.

Kat felt heat rise in her cheeks. Living in the alley had been routinely brutal, often terrifying and always humiliating. Why do you think I didn’t let you fly me here that night?

Still… He chewed his lower lip and shook his head. After some time, he changed the subject. It’s Wednesday. I’m missing the midweek status meeting at the mine. He rubbed his eyes and muttered, I wish I could get word to Mom. She must be worried sick. He dropped his hands to his side. Dirt and grime covered them but he was used to that from the mines. I know contacting her isn’t possible.

Kat narrowed her eyes in thought and tapped her chin. Actually, maybe that’s a good idea. She smirked lightly under her furrowed brow at Sadler’s puzzled look. We can’t do this alone. I’ve learned that much, she explained while reaching for his hand. A warm smile supplanted her harder expression. You’ve taught me the value of good help, Sadler. She pulled him close and rose onto her toes to reach his lips with her own.

Behind them, Teki cleared her throat as she rose from her spot against the alley’s wall. Sorry to break up the tender moment, Pre— she cut herself off and paused a moment before trying again. The, um, tender moment, Kat, but you know as well as I do that the Society will have an Infinity tap with Snoop software monitoring his mother’s comms. If we contact Ms. Wess, they’ll know.

Sadler pulled away from Kat and focused on the short, blonde woman gathering her hair into a ponytail.

The program will alert the Society when it picks up any of our voices, or even key words like our names or mentions of associates, places or the like, Teki explained.

We can beat it, Kat insisted. Her right hand patted her pants pocket. The bulge of a silver coin there, called a large in the slums, gave her a measure of reassurance. Her fingers brushed the outline of a second, smaller coin and she plucked it from her pocket. It was indeed a small, a thumbnail-sized silver coin of lesser denomination. Strange, she thought. I don’t remember having this. She examined the coin while wondering how long it had been stashed inside her pocket. There was a gouge along its edge and she ran her fingernail over the groove before stuffing the coin back into her pocket. Let’s move out. We have another long walk ahead of us.

They gathered their belongings and marched toward Joseph Tory still playing in the street. The Trodden child caught sight of them and sprinted over. Kat felt her lips curl upward at the youth’s energy. Once the boy skidded to a stop, she knelt down and leveled her gaze at him. What’s your report, Spymaster Joey?

The child’s back straightened at the words. Just the usual people, Miss Missy. Dad told Frank last night that this was our alley now and he an’ Jessie would have to go through our new gang if they wanted it.

No strangers poking around? Any aircars that seemed to be hovering overhead for a little too long?

The boy’s mouth twisted in thought. Not really but the corp-sec patrols came more than normal. He looked to the sky and added, Kind of made for a quiet night on the streets. His attention refocused on Kat. Do you still have your gun? His voice became innocent. Can I see it?

Yes and no, Kat answered while standing up. She was moving down the street a moment later.

Sadler and Teki looked at each other from her wake, shrugged and then walked quickly to catch up.

Kat? Sadler said quietly. What’s the plan today? How are we going to contact my mother? With Teki’s FLAT?

Kat felt herself flinch at the mention of the now destroyed communications tablet. Uh, no. I broke Teki’s FLAT last night after making a call, she admitted as she stepped over a foul-smelling liquid running from the corner of a building into the street.

To whom? Sadler asked.

Em.

For God’s sake, why? Teki exclaimed. Her voice carried down the street. When Kat ignored the question, she placed a hand on her shoulder and forced eye contact. Why would you do that, Kat?

Kat shrugged while looking back at the entrance to Rat’s alley. Joseph was swinging around the streetlamp again. It was a moment of weakness on my part. I was angry and… well, it doesn’t matter. She knocked Teki’s hand off her shoulder and continued forward. They’re not going to be able to stop what’s coming.

What’s coming, Kat?

We are.

The trio reached an intersection. A right turn would take them toward the Beggar’s Market, the Eastpoint gate and then Waytown itself. Kat continued straight through the intersection.

Sadler looked in the direction not taken before stating, We spent the night in the alley because the Society’s agents are in Waytown, using the Trilink Center as a base. You said that most of the agents would clear out during the day to continue their hunt for us, which would make our assault on Trilink easier. But if you told Em last night we’re coming, won’t they be waiting for us?

No. Kat shook her head. I told Em I was going back to the campus.

Teki blew out a breath of relief. Oh, thank God. But, isn’t the town that way? She pointed back to the intersection.

We’re going to walk all the way around Shantytown and call Aileth from the Westpoint gate comm consoles, Kat explained. I think they’ll have human surveillance on the Eastpoint gate. They know I live in this part of Shantytown.

That’s quite a walk, Sadler noted. He looked up at the brightening sky. Sunlight now streaked over the tops of the squat, shattered buildings.

Well, it’ll give your mom time to get to her office.

They skirted around Waytown, walking through many of the worst sections Shantytown could offer. With daylight, the potential for muggings and worse diminished but down every alley and side street lay graphic proof of the violence and evil that desperation bred. Outwardly, Kat seemed inured to it, confident that her skills and revolver were more than ample protection. Inwardly, the suffering she saw clawed forcibly at her heart. Every blistered, calloused hand reaching out for charity, every child’s wail or adult’s anguished cry cleaved pieces from her. Maybe as Pre-Cat I wouldn’t have looked twice at any of this misery. Or even cared about these people if I had looked, she thought. Maybe it’s easier that way but I can’t pretend to not see it now that I’ve been one of them. She retreated behind the insulation of her own thoughts. She was not alone in the tactic. Sadler and Teki also withdrew into a quiet cocoon as they waded past the despair and squalor.

By the time the gate leading into Waytown’s western neighborhoods towered above them, the morning sun was high in the sky. The breeze had turned stale and heat had taken firm hold over the day. Westpoint gate looked nearly identical to its eastern counterpart by Kat’s eyes. The group leaned against a dilapidated concrete building a block from the checkpoint, breathing heavily from their trek. Sweating and picking up the swirling dust from the streets, they were becoming indistinguishable from the Trodden around them. Kat scanned the immediate area around the bank of communications consoles near the checkpoint. Teki, do you see any agents?

After a measured pause, she answered, No but the instant one of us talks to Sadler’s mother, the Snoop software will recognize us and alert the agents monitoring the program. And you can’t just disguise your voice, Kat, to ‘beat it.’ None of us can. You know this.

Kat nodded in agreement and pulled out the two coins from her pocket. We’re not making the call. She separated the silver, stuffed the smaller coin back and then slowly turned the large over in her hand. Sadler, the software will also ping if it hears certain names. What’s a different name that will still get your mom’s attention?

Dad’s. Thomas Wess.

Teki wiped the sweat off her forehead. ‘Wess’ will probably ping the software.

Kat’s shoulders rose and fell. Maybe, maybe not. I mean, don’t the secretaries address Aileth as Ms. Wess? Still… She looked back to Sadler. Can you think of something else?

How about Thomas Heckler? That’s my dad’s first name and mom’s maiden name put together.

Blonde eyebrows knitted together as Teki asked, Will she make that connection?

Yes, both Kat and Sadler replied in unison. They smirked at each other.

Kat scanned the people near the gate a final time. Okay, you two will wait here and provide overwatch for me. I’m going to be focused on the call. If you see something, provide a distraction and then run. She waited until Sadler and Teki nodded and then pushed off into the busy street.

There were plenty of candidates to suit Kat’s plan but she narrowed her selection to four provocatively clad women lingering at the nearest corner, soliciting their company to anyone who dared to look their direction. Kat made eye contact with a petite twenty-something who immediately returned the attention with a rapacious smile.

The woman walked jauntily toward Kat. Hi, sweetheart. Lookin’ for company?

Kat flipped the large coin in her hand into the air before catching it. Sure am. Come walk with me.

The woman followed obediently. They walked toward Westpoint in silence before Kat’s companion began to grow suspicious. Her gait faltered. Where’re we going?

Kat slowed with her. I don’t need your usual services, Jenny. Kat had learned during her month in Shantytown that prostitutes were colloquially named Jenny. She held up the coin again. I just need you to make a call for me and this is yours. Three minutes of your time for one large.

Jenny’s pace resumed. Who ya calling? No corp-sec, she insisted.

Nope. Not corp-sec. Just a friend. They stopped in front of an unoccupied console. Kat fished her last credit stick, holding 1,000 credits, from her front pocket and plugged it into the console. She glanced at the time in the upper right corner before entering the Porter Mining Enterprises main number. After she stepped to the side of the console, she directed, When they answer, you’ll say you’re Thomas Heckler calling for the Vice President of Finance.

Do I look like a man to you, sweetheart?

It’s a wonderful, enlightened age we live in, Jenny, Kat deadpanned and initiated the call.

A man answered on the second ring. Good morning, Porter Mining Enterprises. Mark speaking, how may I help you?

Jenny looked apprehensively at Kat before speaking stiffly. Um, hello, this is Thomas Heckler lookin’ to talk to the Finance President.

Thomas Heckler? Kat could clearly hear the doubt in the man’s voice.

Yeah.

One moment.

Kat saw the screen freeze as the receptionist put the call on hold and she wondered if he would ever return. She looked to the enormous chronometer embedded into the Westpoint gate’s wall and waited. Jenny, when a woman appears, tell her your name is Thomas Heckler and you need to move up your meeting with her to ten thirty this morning.

The woman nodded and wiped her brow. She began reciting the sentence to herself.

A minute later, the screen unfroze and Aileth Wess’ formidable image appeared. She looked decidedly unhappy. Who is this? she snarled. Her malevolent gaze through the monitor dropped the temperature of Shantytown several degrees.

Jenny looked like she wanted to run from the console as fast as possible. Um, hi, she squeaked. I’m Thomas Heckler and, uh, our meeting is pushed up to ten thirty, okay? She reached to disconnect the call.

Wait! Aileth commanded.

Jenny’s hand trembled and her lower lip began to quiver. Her eyes glistened.

The voice through the speaker softened noticeably. Where’s the meeting, honey?

Oh! Panic shot through Jenny and she stared again at Kat who mouthed an answer to her. Um, the other side of Westpoint gate. She closed her mouth and inhaled a calming breath through her nose. The West-town— the Waytown side of Westpoint, please, she repeated slowly.

Okay, Aileth answered. And thank you, dear. She ended the connection.

Jenny continued to stare at the blank screen.

One scary bitch, huh? Kat asked through a smile. She was rewarded with a giggle.

I definitely would’ve preferred sleeping with ya, Jenny replied. Her eyes tracked to Kat’s hand holding the large. I made your call.

Kat placed the coin in Jenny’s dirt-stained hand. You did well. Spend it on food, okay?

Jenny rolled her eyes, her apathetic demeanor rapidly reasserting itself. Yeah, sure. The woman wheeled away from Kat and began the walk back to her corner.

Kat stayed near the console and searched the crowd for anyone paying her undue attention. She swept her head in an arc slowly, doing her best not to stare directly at Sadler and Teki. As her eyes moved over her companions, Teki flashed her four fingers— a code for All is well.

She walked a circuitous path back to them, doing her best to make anyone following her stand out.

How’d it go? Sadler asked when she reached them.

She was initially not happy about the name, Kat clipped with a fair amount of droll. She turned to face Westpoint gate. But she figured it out quickly and we’re meeting her in half an hour on the other side of that wall.

Teki brightened. Oh, I get to witness apportation again, don’t I?

I think you’re going to see more than you want of it before this is over, Sadler said under his breath. He looked at his Jamison pistol tucked into his waistband and recalled the gunfight at the Mura Convention Center two weeks ago with a slight shiver.

Chapter 2

Twenty minutes later, the group stood under the shelter of a Waytown cafe’s awning, half a block south of the Westpoint gate. It had been easy to apportate a section of wall and pass through from Shantytown undetected. Corp-sec patrols ensured that Trodden did not inhabit the Shantytown streets along the wall that encircled Waytown, separating the citizens of the settlement from the CINless. Unlike the first time Kat and Teki had snuck into Waytown, Kat had managed to apportate the nearest street camera along with the wall section. Apportating the camera ensured their entry was not recorded. By now, the Society would be running facial recognition programs on the standard security feeds around the settlement.

Sadler, what’s your mother’s aircar look like? Teki asked while staring up at the cloudless, blue sky.

It’s a green Marza.

She turned to him, raising an eyebrow. That’s an extended range model. Who’s your mother exactly?

She’s a vice president in Porter Mining with an impeccable corporate reputation, he explained. She’s also the widow of a decorated Aegiscore veteran.

Teki nodded, suitably impressed. That’d do it. A grin slowly broke over her face as she looked past Sadler to Kat. We’re going to use her aircar, aren’t we? That’s how we’re getting out of town. You really have it all planned out, don’t you?

Kat felt the corners of her mouth pull upward but she continued to search the sky silently.

Teki looked on approvingly. No wonder Tess was desperate to bring you to our side, into the defectors. She kept saying how vital you were.

Kat searched her memories. Many had returned since she initially scorched her powers away on the night she fled the Society: general memories of past assignments and her own ruthless efficiency in completing them, specific memories of her single mission with Teki and her life-long friendship with Lolz. However, Tess’ spot in her psyche seemed to be a black void as dark and empty as the rest of her past. She considered the pieces she had. I’m certain that Tess knew I was post-cognitive. She had to be the one who taught me the meditation method I used to trigger my vision in Porter’s office. She wanted me to master my ability but to what end?

There! Sadler called while pointing to the north.

Kat followed his finger. North of Main Street, a green, luxury four-door aircar glided slowly above the rooftops. Kat squinted. Other than the driver, the vehicle appeared empty. Teki, be ready just in case.

Sadler stepped away from their cover and onto the street. He waved to the floating aircar as it drifted over Main Street toward them. The whine of its engine changed from a whisper to a scream as the vehicle pitched up slightly and began to descend.

Kat tensed, her instincts causing her to double the speed of her scans over sky and street. She doubted that Aileth would turn her son in even if she knew he was a fugitive but there was every chance that the Society was following her. Kat crossed her fingers, hoping that the slaughter in the Beggar’s Market had depleted the local manpower available to her adversaries. If she was lucky, Bowen now faced hard decisions about resource allocation. More agents must be heading our way from the campus but it’s been less than 48 hours since the Beggar’s Market massacre. Still, she kept her eyes peeled for any sign of a trap.

The aircar touched down in the middle of the deserted side street and the front passenger door lifted. Sadler leaned into the vehicle. After a beat, he turned toward Kat and Teki and waved them forward. The pair jogged to the Marza, heads on swivels.

When Kat reached the rear of the vehicle, the back doors swung upward invitingly. Teki hopped in but Kat took a final look down the narrow road. They wouldn’t even have to ambush us, she thought with an overwhelming sense of dread. A simple bomb attached to the bottom of the car would do it. Would the Society murder an important citizen in good standing? Kat shivered as memories bombarded her with the haunting answer. She reluctantly slipped onto the backseat of the Marza.

The doors closed. In the front seat, Aileth was hugging Sadler. Teki watched with an intense interest. Thank you for coming, Aileth, Kat offered.

Where am I taking you two? Aileth answered curtly.

Two. Not three.

It’s not that simple, Mom, Sadler countered from the front seat.

Sadler, Kat warned him, cutting him off quickly. Aileth, would you be willing to fly us to the parking garage at The Lucky Gun?

Aileth snorted but boosted the throttle. I can drop you off there but then I have to get back to the office for Brooke’s going away party. It’ll be noticed if I don’t show up for it.

The garage is covered and should be relatively empty, Kat explained to Sadler as his eyes asked the silent question.

The aircar lifted off quickly. Once it cleared the buildings of Waytown, it dipped forward and began to thrust toward the center of town. They rode in an uncomfortable silence. Kat wondered if Aileth was demonstrating incredible patience, incredible restraint, or simply felt there was nothing worth discussing. Back in Tabitha Carter’s apartment, Tabitha had remarked that she thought Aileth actually liked Kat. The waves of frost rolling over her from the front seat cast that assertion into serious doubt. Kat felt a tug on her sleeve.

Does she hate you or something? Teki mouthed.

The irony suddenly struck Kat. We’re super-agents fighting to stop a corporate-wide evil organization and I’m in the backseat of my boyfriend’s mother’s car feeling like a scolded teenager.