Into The Fire: Freedom Fighters, #2

By JA Carlton

America is teetering on the threshold of a new dawn, but there's a storm brewing. 

 

When U.C. Director Pecho launches a nationwide attack against NUMA and its Underground allies, everything changes. 

 

Lieutenant Commander McKay sets off on an assassin's mission to take out the man most directly responsible for the destruction of the United States. 

 

There's just one problem, he's expecting her. 

• Language: English
• Publisher: JA Carlton
• Release date: Mar 3, 2024
• ISBN: 9798224675982

Book preview

Gratitude

Once again I am truly blessed with a great many people to be thankful for!

Carol Lloyd, for the faith and ever steady hand that gives me whatever intellectual or emotional ‘petpet’ I need, as well as the occasional kick in the pants, Thank You!

Mrs. Katherine Schon, my editor and chief boo-boo finder who doesn’t mind sweeping up my excessive use of... elipses and replacing them with her never ending supply of commas wherever needed. Not to mention all the other punctuation marks you keep up your sleeve (and the knowledge of how to use them... astonishing!) I thank you ma’am.

Katrine Wang Svendsen, who inspires me and challenges me with expectations that are just a little scary, thanks... I think?

Jodi Gill, my anchor and first advocate. Kyurra Gil (no relation to Jodi, I just wanted to put their names side by side).

The SPN FaNily.

The Kast and Krew of Supernatural: All of whom work so hard to keep inspiration flowing. Love and Gratitude! As always special love to Jensen and Jared.

And though last, truly the ones I owe the most gratitude; You. The reader.

Thank you for coming along on this journey. I am eager to see you again!

1

Jade pulled her bike into the garage next to the half-repaired NUMA semi. The Unders had abandoned it in favor of the party whose ruckus sang through the rock-hewn corridor.

Her passenger spoke, maybe reading her very thoughts. Was it really only day before yesterday we took the truck? Stone Rivers, her C. O., asked incredulously, but he made no move to get off the bike. He was quite content sitting behind her with their bodies close and his arms gently wrapped around her torso.

Yeah, seems like it’s been a lot longer. I didn’t think you’d go along with hijacking one of your own trucks, she said softly before leaning back. She loved the feel of his body so warm and firm behind her.

An image of him standing in her quarters with his black cat-suit pulled up only to his hips came to her, making her flush. He would never understand the effect he had on her.

I told you before, I was just along for the ride, he sighed, his warm breath tickling her ear.

On Todd’s orders, she stated.

In the span of twenty-four hours, her life had gone through massive upheaval. Admiral Todd Peterson was part of it. They’d been friends for years. She’d pretended to be his subordinate to help bring the people here, in the Underground, into an alliance with Todd and Stone’s people, the New United Military Alliance, or NUMA. What started, in part, with Stone’s own grandfather as a ‘handshake’ deal, now had the possibility of becoming contractual. Stone told her he’d asked Todd to file her paperwork so her rank and service with NUMA would finally be legitimate.

I asked him if I could go with you, he said, pressing her further into himself. I couldn’t let you go so soon after we just got you back.

He was referring to her captivity at the local Upper Command, or U.C., compound. Though the memory of what had been done to her was still as fresh as the scars on her wrists and ankles, it seemed incredibly far away. That’s just because of the ‘other’ memories, she reminded herself.

She turned around and faced him, still sitting on the bike, her legs casually thrown over his, her eyes piercing his. What did you see? she asked.

Stone’s heart raced and he felt a familiar and pleasurable heat spread through his loins and lower belly. He had a brief mental fantasy of taking her right there, savaging her with all the love he felt, but he knew it was best not to try just yet. No matter how well she seemed to be dealing with everything that had happened in the last two weeks, she’d been traumatized repeatedly. No way was he going to add to it.

He rested his hands on her hips and returned her gaze, I saw that bastard Tyrell hook you up to a generator and nearly kill you... His teeth clenched, remembering how she’d screamed in anguish and even pleaded with her captor not to do it again. I saw him pump you so full of adrenaline that Dana and I thought your heart might explode... He swallowed hard, shaking his head. Why are you asking me this? Why do you want to hear this? he asked, searching her eyes for an explanation.

Is that when you guys first found me? she asked.

Stone nodded. Yeah, why do you want to know this? he asked again.

She wrapped her arms around his neck and held him tightly for a moment before smiling a little, I don’t want you to know what else he did to me.

Stone’s heart fluttered. He knew Tyrell had used his image against her, but he hadn’t let himself go into that place that wondered what else the son of a bitch might’ve done did to her. He grabbed her firmly by the shoulders, holding her at arm’s length, searching her eyes again, Did he, he didn’t...?

Her eyebrow raised and a half smile cocked her mouth, What? Rape me? Not that I’m aware of.

She was smiling almost the same way she did at Lisa and Tim, the conjoined twins in the infirmary who were dying from the latest powder drop.

Thank God, he breathed in a gush before pulling her back into his sheltering embrace. I’d kill him myself.

Done and done, Commander, she sighed softly. Tyrell’s dead, and anyone who’s ever tried it has lived to regret it, she was smiling freely now, the wave of melancholy he’d sensed seemed to have ebbed for the moment.

Like Hank? he asked, remembering what Luiz, one of her Underground teammates. had said to the man with the grizzly trophies sewn to his flak vest. He went after children and teens who wouldn’t speak out against him, so there was no way to prove he was a rapist, let alone a pedophile. The saving grace, such as it was, was that the night before last, after they’d stopped a backup dust drop, he’d tried again. He’d tried to poison Jade with the U.C.’s weapon, then poisoned himself instead. Hearing the sounds of a scuffle from Jade’s room, Stone found Hank doped up and with his dick out, trying to pin her down.

Yeah, she smiled, remembering the first, not this last time he’d tried it. She’d been somewhere between fifteen and twenty, and she’d broken his jaw in four places.

Never without my permission, she grinned, wrapping her arms around him once more and pressing their bodies close.

She could feel his arousal against her while she hungrily pressed her mouth to his, her lips sealing around his lower one, pulling it gently before she took possession of them both again. They sighed together as he returned the kiss, giving as much as she would take.

Hey guys! They’re here! Fat Joey’s euphoric shout pealed back from the entrance to the garage.

Reluctantly, Jade and Stone unlocked their lips, dismounted, and moved into the first trickle of revelers who coalesced around them.

In their exuberance, Stone, who had defended her at the trial, and Jade were swept back down the corridor toward the party.

Hey, Greenboy! Joey addressed Stone. You were great, but who’da thought Maxwell himself was our contact, eh? Sorry, boy, but Hawk stole the show right out from under you.

Jade stopped suddenly and grabbed Joey by the ear, causing him to squeal in surprise more than pain. Where is he? she growled, too low for anyone but him to hear.

Joey, never having had her use that tone on him, shuddered and looked for Stone, who had been swept into the crowd toward Laura, Todd Peterson, and Tim and Lisa. The twins were in violation of bed rest orders, and had been all day. They were the ones who put the party together to celebrate their small victory over the U.C. They were looking for Jade, but were content to speak with Stone, rather animatedly Joey could see.

Where?! she growled again and tweaked his ear a little.

In the infirmary, darlin’, you saw his face. Someone mangled the hell out of it.

From a corner vantage point Hawk, General Ethan Hawk Delgado to everyone but Jade, found his sister bending Fat Joey’s ear literally. He stepped into the throng, only peripherally aware that there seemed to be an almost equal mix of Unders, Civilians, and NUMA staff. He knew Darien would be proud if he’d lived to see this day. It was the beginning of the bond between them all that Darien had orchestrated, with a little help from himself, Todd, and Commander Harold Mitchell, the man his sister had just been cleared of murdering.

Curious as to why she looked so angry in the midst of a celebration that was purportedly in her honor, he closed in on their location. When he arrived, only Joey remained, holding his ear gently and looking into the crowd for someone to go hang with. Where’d she go Joe? What happened? he asked, clapping the enormous man on his ample back.

She remembered Maxwell. The fat man smiled then added, There anymore of that bean dip left?

Hawk chuckled, Plenty, my friend. He patted Joey’s bulging stomach and took off at a jog toward the infirmary.

Jade burst into the infirmary where Mike, one of her first friends in the Underground, was just bandaging the broken face of the man who had represented the enemy for the last twenty-odd years. President Clayton Maxwell. The man from whose office came execution orders en masse.

Her hands, seemingly of their own will, shoved Mike aside, grasped Maxwell by the collar and swung him around, slamming him against the wall. Her arm pressed tightly, but not crushing, against his throat. Give me one reason to let you live, she demanded softly.

The ex-president goggled at her in stark terror; his body quailed under the force of her presence.

Jade, what’re you doing? Mike asked, rushing forward to pry her off the man Hawk charged him to care for.

Back off, she ordered, her eyes never leaving Maxwell’s. She pressed a little harder on his throat and he had to hold back a gag. No one noticed Hawk standing in the doorway, his arms crossed over his chest, watching her at work. The sight never failed to enthrall him.

I....ah... Maxwell gagged, unable to give her what she wanted.

When he went from red to purple, she eased off some of the pressure, but slammed his head against the wall, sending lances of pain from his broken cheekbone to his brain.

Just one reason, you son of a bitch, she glared into his face, making him cower yet again.

I, I might be able to help... he stammered weakly. When she pulled back, he cringed again, expecting another slam to the wall. Instead, she swung him around and tossed him onto the bed, then leaned over him as he tried to shrink into the sheets.

You owe your soul, she snarled and wheeled around, striding from the room past Hawk.

The General followed her into the hall and grabbed her by the shoulder. Without hesitation, she rounded, striking an uppercut to his jaw that sent him reeling into the wall.

He shook it off, sprouting a smile as he looked at her. Feel better? he asked snidely. Then remarked,he helped save your ass, you know.

How many did he kill!? she demanded.

He sent us the schems before Harry found them... what he said at the trial was true. He’s been growing a new FDA, and although he did commission the weapons, he said they were for us... there’s evidence to support that.

The FDA is more than half the reason it all went down! she yelled, then shook her head silently, demanding he tell her more.

Hawk frowned. He didn’t understand what she meant, but sighed, Right after you left to save Darien, our D.C. contact told us the Whitehouse computers had been compromised and sent us the schems for the weapons. For twenty years before that, all our best information came from the D.C. You know that as well as I do.

She nodded; it was true.

Over the last two years, which you also know, D.C. has been alluding to weapons that allies were building for our use, right? he prodded, and again she nodded.

He’s been D.C. all along. He let it sink in then added, He gave us every code, channel and password he’s ever used with us, recited jammed transmission sequences nearly verbatim. Yeah, he’s a coward. Yeah, he’s gonna have a lot of making up to do, but he swears he never signed a single order of execution. He was used by Antoine Pecho as a figurehead.

Do you believe it? he asked.

The guy doesn’t have two balls of his own to come with, so, yeah, I do.

Jade huffed doubtfully. Keep him out of my sight, she ordered, heading back to the party while Hawk returned to the infirmary to smooth Mike’s ruffled feathers and calm Maxwell. He didn’t care much for the guy, but as he told Jade, he did believe him.

—

Back at the party, Jade suffered herself to be congratulated almost continually. Fellow soldiers from NUMA and her Underground strike team were the first to crowd around her. Then more Unders and topside suppliers, and finally topside strangers, who were moved enough or frightened enough by what she’d spilled to want to do more. Strangely enough, it wasn’t the ‘everything’ she’d alluded to that was the topic of the night; it was Maxwell’s defection. Over and over again, they asked her opinion about what he’d done; but even if they’d stayed to listen to her response, she wouldn’t have known what to say.

After a time, she found herself sitting at a table in the corner, near the stereo someone had set up that was now pouring forth strains of Crosby, Stills and Nash. Soon enough, her spirits started lifting. The nearly, hundred-year-old superband sounded oddly comfortable next to more recent artists. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw friends from both camps mingling freely with civilians who’d come to celebrate even a minor victory over the powers that be. She smiled, knowing how proud Darien would have been. They were accomplishing what he’d outlined. What he’d begun. But how did he know?Really? she wondered, slugging back her second bottle of beer. Her head was spinning with questions, most of which may never be answered but still deserved contemplation.

She caught a glimpse of Stone dancing with Laura and Dana and smiled, though her mind turned yet again to his grandfather.

Her heart ached, she’d loved him so much and to lose him only so recently was still painful. Could I save him? Should I? she wondered, watching nearly perfect memories of the times they’d shared play in her mind.

She first met him when he was an older man, an icon to the survivors of a slaughtered nation. She hadn’t understood why he watched her so closely, or took such a deep, albeit covert, interest in what she and her team were doing. And she’d certainly never understood why he’d insisted Harry bring her in on their secrets. But she’d have done anything to make him happy. It was only now, many years later, and a couple after his assassination that all the pieces came together so she could really understand.

Before the upheaval, or ‘the split’ as it was called, when the military branches defected from the rule of the Commander-in-Chief, the U. C. arm of the government had been working on a time travel project, a portal to the past. They were the ones that perfected both the portal and the microchip that had so many unforeseen uses.

The chip was a technological wonder. Smaller than the head of a pin, it homed in on the portal, ensuring her return to her own time and even acted as a recorder via a direct link to the optic nerve. There were drawbacks though, like the interference that recipients experienced that sometimes drove them crazy. Jade had been subject to that interference firsthand while on an assignment in the past that took a year and a half to complete. Fortunately, she was the only one left alive that had it and, as far as she could tell, she was no longer any crazier than she’d been before the whole thing began It’s what I was engineered for, she reminded herself.

When Todd told her last night that she’d been genetically engineered, it wasn’t the shock he thought it would be. She’d always known she was different from everyone else. It did, however, explain the U.C.’s persistent interest in her and that they’d tried to frame her for her C.O.’s murder in order to demand her extradition.

They’d been through so much together, Harry, Todd and Jade. A smile turned up the corner of her mouth. If they’d known she was going to steal the portal information and kill the scientists responsible for building it, she couldn’t help wonder if they still would’ve gone along with her.

Still, when they got home to NUMA, their scientists built a second portal to safeguard history in case the U.C. was able to do it again. And they had.

Jade was the only consistent operative in Project SAF. Her duty, when necessary, was to go back in time and maintain the integrity of their history.

It was during one of those missions when she met Darien as a young man. She was actually on the trail of a psychopath who somehow wound up killing the mother of a man who helped develop the chip. Instances like that were considered ‘hiccoughs’ in history. She’d been sent to ‘cure’ this ‘hiccough’, and wound up with a secondary mission, too.

In a town just a few miles away, Darien Rivers was about to be captured by Federal Marshals for a murder he didn’t commit.

She sat at the diner where he would be arrested and waited until the supposed ‘Good Samaritan’ made the call. Once that was done, she walked outside, approached Darien, his business partner and best friend, Kyle, and tipped them off. Every now and again, putting history back on track could be astonishingly simple.

She smiled softly to herself, remembering how she’d been drawn to him until she stopped only inches away. His presence left her awestruck. Even now, her heart skipped several beats and warmth flushed through her belly at the memory.

As her mentor, the only way she’d really known him before she went back for that assignment, Darien was still good looking and athletically powerful for his almost eighty years, but the young man standing before her on that day was utterly stunning.

Still, when she returned to her own time, she figured she’d been seen as a stranger who happened to give them a piece of advice. And if it’d ended there, there’d have been no reason for Darien to remember such an instantaneous encounter. But it was the trip after that one that changed everything and nothing at all.

Her gaze roamed the dance floor where Stone and the team were shuffling around in a cluster and making her smile. And I’m in love with not just Darien, but his grandson as well. Tangle-y.

Two weeks ago, she was sent to save Darien from a bullet that had missed the first time around. She’d also been given a week’s leave. She spent that time watching over and getting to know the man who would become her hero. That he took to her like a fish to water wasn’t something she’d intended, nor had she intended to fall in love with him. And though it broke her heart, she told him where to look to find the woman who would be his one and only wife, the mother of his children, and the only woman he would ever be linked to again.

Who was that sonofabitch that tried to shoot him? she wondered now that she had the chance. The sniper who’d taken that shot was undoubtedly male. He’d been dressed in black from head to toe. Mask and all.

His fingers on arms were like iron clamps, and when he’d stuck his hand into the shredded flesh of her shoulder, she could’ve sworn he was ramming pitons into her arm. Strong. Too strong, too fast, too sure. I could find out. I should go. Now. Swallowing down the last bit of beer she started to rise.

You’re not supposed to be thinking, you’re supposed to be partying your ass off, Stone grinned, flopping into the chair across from her. His eyes were shining brightly, the sight brought a smile to her.

Dana and Laura are pretty wild, aren’t they? she asked, settling back in the chair for a moment, wondering whether or not to run the idea by him. No. He’s been under enough pressure lately.

He huffed and leaned back opening another bottle of beer, You have a gift for understatement, they’re maniacs! You all are.

She shrugged, cracking open another. You should see us at Christmas or New Years, this is actually pretty tame.

Are you kidding? he asked. Dead serious, she chuckled.

What were you daydreaming about just now? he asked.

She shrugged, Just wondering how much of our destiny is really in our own hands.

Heavy, he breathed. Don’t you ever just go with the flow? Just then the music stopped and a loud burst of feedback assailed their ears. Jade was yanked from her chair by Lisa and Tim. They pulled her to the stereo, thrust a microphone into her hands then looked pleading into her eyes.

Just one for us... Lisa asked Numbly, she nodded, Which one? Angel. they chimed together.

She looked at them gently, This is supposed to be a party. You want everyone to cry?

They won’t... just a slow dance...please.

They won’t... just a slow dance...please, they pleaded.

Jade shrugged, whispering and giving them a gentle shove toward the table, Go ask Stone and Dana to dance, she gave a quick nod to Luiz who was manning the stereo and obviously in on their plan.

Alright, everybody, grab your partner and don’t blame me. This one’s for the rugrats that shoulda been to bed hours ago, she chided good-naturedly and nodded at Luiz who started the music. She sang the sad song as requested then, after taking a moment to breathe, typed in Someday and smiled, relieved when the tempo surged through the cafeteria and the party kicked back up again.

After kissing the kids goodnight, Stone sat back down, listening and watching as she stood by the stereo with her eyes closed, singing, it seemed, directly to him. There wasn’t a moment of it that he didn’t cherish.

When she was through with the far more uplifting number, she tossed the mic to Laura, who grinned and leaped playfully into center stage. It’s karaoke time! she grinned, motioning to her brother, who set a haunting goth metal melody loose.

So you were saying? Jade asked, reaching for her beer but staying on her feet.

You’re in good voice tonight, Hawk said from behind her,   Mind if I join you, or is this a private party?

Please, Stone motioned to an empty chair.

It was only a split second of hesitation before she sat with them, but Hawk caught it and eyed her knowingly.

She gave a faint shake of the head and sat back, How’s Mike?

Okay... Hawk shrugged, Maxwell shit his britches.

Jade chuckled as he turned to Stone to explain, She asked for a reason to let him live.

Stone chuckled and shook his head.

He really doesn’t have two balls of his own, does he? she smiled. Nope, it’s a miracle he survived defecting.

He had inside help... she waved off-handedly, you know we’ve got spies deeper than we ever were... HEY! Did Hank die yet? she asked, almost hopeful.

Nah... fucker’s gonna pull through. Hawk shook his head, Too bad.

She shook her head, then looked him dead in the eye, Can I kill him on general principle?

Why bother? For the time being, he’s helpless. There wouldn’t be any challenge to it. Hawk shook his head, I still can’t believe he tried to poison you with that shit. I mean, I knew he wanted to settle the score, but...

She nodded and polished off her beer, Good for me he never paid much attention to the air flow schems. She looked at Stone and explained, I’m on the exhaust side, so air actually gets sucked through my quarters from the hallway. He put the shit in the vent and poisoned himself instead of me.

Speaking of which... how did you know what was happening, Stone? Hawk asked.

Stone shrugged, I didn’t. At first, I thought she was just having a nightmare; then I heard the scuffle and went to check on her. I can’t believe... the image of Hank with his dick out trying to get at Jade came to mind again and his temper flared. The son of a bitch!

Easy tiger, she soothed, patting his hand. His blood boiled in part because of the quantity of alcohol he’d consumed, but mostly because of his love for her.

Must be the beer, he muttered, looking sheepishly at her. How’re you holding up? I mean, I’ve never seen you drink this much.

Fine, she smiled. I metabolize alcohol better than most.

Shit! Hawk scoffed loudly and laughed, alcohol doesn’t affect her. She’s never been drunk in her whole life.

Huh? Stone asked.

Jade shrugged and nodded, I get mellow. But other stuff, like the powder and other narcotics, hallucinogens, she smirked, wondering how much the U.C. had to pump into her to keep her under the VR influence while she’d been their prisoner. You know. And he did. He and Dana had been the ones to pull her out and bring her home.

"Is that why you don’t drink?" he asked.

Jade nodded, That, and I’m a control freak.

Just before sun-up, with everyone passed out wherever they’d landed, Jade stood at the twins’ bedside. Their heads leaned together. Puffs of steam hit their oxygen masks with their shallow sleeping breaths.

They amazed her. In the course of the evening, she found out that they’d played a major part in getting the whole party together.

Life itself had conspired against them, and still, here they were. They’d survived multiple radiation pulses while in the womb, which she believed were responsible for them being conjoined. They’d survived more dust drops than she could remember. She looked up at the shelf over their bed at the trophies they’d won three years running for best Halloween costume and grinned. They lived every day as if it was their last and they held nothing back- not the truth, not the endless depth of love they had for their Underground family, nothing. And now they were dying.

The last successful drop, which had happened either while Jade was in the twentieth with Darien, or in the hands of the U.C., had caused their lungs to partially collapse and they showed no signs of recovering.

Despondent beyond words, Jade sat on the edge of the bed and swept shanks of sand colored hair from their faces. Tears stung her eyes, and her head swam with memories over two decades old. She could see it clearly, even though she hadn’t had the chip at that time.

News of a fourth citywide radiation pulse in two days came in from frantic Top-siders who didn’t know what to do. She was on shift, monitoring the encrypted e-transmissions, seething with fury that containment protocols wouldn’t allow the affected to seek refuge in the catacombs. Instead, they had to be routed to the nearest topside hospitals, many of which had only just begun to incorporate radiation units into their services. By the time her shift ended, she’d routed over three hundred civilians to the nearest facility for treatment. Even the Unders weren’t yet equipped to handle the situation. The infirmary barely had enough supplies to handle the everyday problems of Government-created junkies, victims of arbitrary gunfire and basic medical necessities.

When Ian Fellico, whom she’d known since she was eight years old and living in the Community Dorm, (he later ran away with her to the underground and even joined NUMA as her squad communications officer), took over the computer, she requisitioned a radiation suit from munitions and headed out on her bike to clear her head. The ride never happened.

She got as far as the end of the culvert that would take her up to street level when she spied a pregnant teen hobbling toward the ditch. By the time she made it to the young woman, she was already half dead. Her wrist, caught in a diamond shaped opening of the chain link fence, was the only reason she hadn’t fallen.

Skidding to a halt, Jade hopped off the bike and lifted the woman enough to unhook her hand, then helped her sit. The once pretty face was mired in dirt and sweat and contorted in pain, presumably from the burns that just started to blister.

Her eyes pleaded with Jade through the faceplate of the suit. Please, save my babies, she choked out before being racked by an explosion of vomit.

Can you sit on the bike? Jade asked.

When she saw the doubt in the girl’s face added, For your babies, sit on the bike. The girl nodded and rose with help.

Are you in labor? Jade asked and propped her up on the seat behind her.

The last pulse, she nodded just before another ropy glut of blood and bile issued forth. Jade hopped on and forced the teen to wrap her scarred and blackened arms around her waist, even as she alternately apologized for being sick and pleaded for the lives of her unborn children.

As she looked down to re-start the bike, Jade realized that she was risking everything by bringing a contaminate back. She activated the mic inside the suit and got Dana Rodriguez, a student med tech whom she’d met in the tunnels earlier in the year.

Dana, it’s Jade. I’m coming in with a hot pregger about to pop. Get an incubator into the garage and whatever else you need to seal off the area around the southeast air duct.

ETA? Dana asked.

Minute and a half, she was at the end of the culvert. In the background, she could hear the shift Commander, Barry Tarlek, telling Dana not to even think about it. She also heard the distinct sound of flesh impacting with flesh.

Way to go, D! Jade shouted excitedly and careened as carefully as possible into the garage where Dana already had a team setting up an isolation tent. She drove straight into the tent and held still while Dana and Fat Joey, already in their own suits, grabbed the mother from the bike and laid her on a mattress. Dana immediately began pulling and cutting the woman’s ruined clothes off. Her water had broken at the culvert, and all she wanted to do was live long enough to bring her children in the world. The radiation burns were all over her body. They’d spread like a plague once they’d been exposed to air, blackening and bubbling tissue that had once probably been flawless.

Push, mamasita! Push those ninos out, darlin’; we’ll take care of ‘em. Dana urged, both terrified and excited. Jade simply slid behind the woman and held her up, watching curiously. The mother did as ordered and began to cry just as her heart gave out and she died, unable to do more.

Dammit! Put her down, she’s dead. Get over here and help me, Dana ordered turning to find a scalpel while Jade did as she was told, clearing the clothes away and wiping the distended belly.

Seconds later, Dr. Burnit, a frequent volunteer, came careening into the tent with an incubator as Dana cut into the woman’s womb. A set of whimpers and a couple small peeps later, Dana withdrew Lisa ‘n Tim, who appeared, for the moment, to be healthy conjoined twins.

Later, Barry Tarlek refused to let the children be put into the infirmary for fear they would contaminate others there.

We’re short on space as it is, McKay. What the FUCK did you think you were doing, jeopardizing the lives of everyone here for the sake of a couple of cooked kids?! They’re not gonna make it anyway! He railed at her in the communication center, so anyone within a three tunnel radius could hear him.

These kids, cooked or not, are people! Maybe if you were a little more human yourself, you’d understand that, she spat angrily.

Insubordinate bitch! he hissed. His hand slid across her face like he was trying to sweep it from her skull. Get your shit and get the fuck out of my tunnels! Take those wastes of space with you!

You’ll never get another raider like me, you sanctimonious son of a bitch! she yelled back at him and strode off, blinded by fury.

In her haste, she’d run face first into Darien Rivers’ chest. She remembered him grabbing her shoulders and holding her still. His eyes fell to hers, and he gasped so sharply, she thought she’d hurt him. He bored into her with his gaze for several long seconds before he shoved her to the side and continued on toward the door she’d come from, as if she hadn’t been there at all.

Ten minutes later, she was packed and ready to go, with the incubator loaded into the passenger seat of a Jeep she’d captured a couple weeks before, and her bike tied down in the back. The few friends she had were gathered around her. Dana, Ian, Fat Joey, Neil, Luiz and Laura Madera, and a dirty- faced kid named Phil Redmond were there to say good-bye. The girls were holding back tears and the boys were shuffling their feet awkwardly.

I’ll let you know where I am when I get there, she said harshly and hopped into the Jeep, grinding the engine until it started.

Hooleee shit! Luiz huffed pointing toward the corridor where a much younger Hawk, then a full bird Colonel, strode to the Jeep and shut it off.

With me, McKay, he ordered then turned toward Dana. Pick up that kid, he looked harder at them, those kids, and follow us. The rest of you, back to work.

Dana and Jade followed Colonel Delgado down the hall where most of the Officers’ quarters were located, and entered an empty room. Put the incubator on the desk, Rodriguez. Then turned to Jade, They’re your responsibility, McKay. Until we can get proper equipment to take care of them in the infirmary, consider yourself their mother. He turned on his heel smartly and headed for the door.

Colonel, Jade addressed, stopping him in his tracks. Am I still to leave when they die? she asked, causing him to turn around.

If you think they’re going to die anyway, why are you willing to leave to take care of them? he asked, eyeing her suspiciously. She shrugged and rolled her eyes, as if the answer should be a ‘no-brainer’, They’re alive now.

The room’s yours as long as you want it, he said matter-of-factly before leaving the two young girls and newborns alone.

2

WASHINGTON D.C.

He what?! Antoine Pecho asked, genuinely believing he hadn’t heard Commander Derrick Mallory, one of the attorneys charged with bringing Jade McKay back, correctly.

Mallory looked from Greg Wingren to Eleanor Garvey, his two co- counselors, then back to Pecho, the man behind everything. Maxwell turned, he showed up...

I know he showed up!! Pecho hollered, I watched the broadcast! His computer files are empty?! Is that what you said?

Mallory nodded, swallowing harshly around a lump in his throat, He dumped everything. Twenty years worth of tapes, disks, files. The office looks like it was incinerated, but there’s not a shred of evidence that he torched the files. He had to have taken ‘em.

Antoine turned to the phone on his desk, his head reeling with the news. He figured Maxwell might defect one day, but never thought he’d have the guts to bring everything with him.

Antoine Pecho had been backed into a corner by a man he’d known for over two thirds of his life, one he never suspected might have a backbone. On one hand, he knew it would only be a matter of time before Maxwell cracked; but that, in doing so, he’d risked over sixty years of planning, was unthinkable. Give me the Madison outpost, he ordered over the secured land line, his voice queerly soft.

Seconds later, he gave the order for genocide in the Central Midwest corridor of the country.

I want every man you have on the lookout for Clayton Maxwell. Raid every Underground outpost you can find. Use heat sensors. Layer every outpost and known sympathizer from St. Paul Minnesota to Springfield Missouri with continuous drops until Maxwell is handed over to us. If anyone runs across him, or Jade McKay, I want her brought to me alive, he paused to catch his breath. As for Maxwell, his head will do. A faint smile touched his lips before he nodded, Yes. The upstairs one. Spread the word and call me back once you’re mobile.

He hung up and looked at the three incompetents behind him. You’re dismissed, he waved officiously, leaving them to scramble out of the office counting themselves very lucky.

UNDERGROUND. NORTHERN MIDWEST.

Shhh, you’ll wake her... a hazy voice broke through the fog of her dreams. She played possum.

I am... another voice answered. It seemed to have a smile in it.

Jade couldn’t contain her own smile as it spread across her features. What’re you two up to? she groaned and stretched, wrapping her arms around the kids.

Jade! Jade, you in here? Uh, Hawk slid into the infirmary, his expression desperate. Now, he said softly, leaving just as quickly down the corridor.

Jade was up dropping kisses on the kids’ cheeks and holding them as tightly as she could before racing after the General.

Not good, Tim shook his head. Nope, Lisa agreed. In the hallway, Hawk pulled her aside.

There’re trucks everywhere, they’ve mobilized. St. Paul was hit a couple hours ago; they’re coming in from the North, East and South. Madison captured a truck, nothing but dust. Get your team outfitted and topside. Engineering’s replacing filters and covering the intakes. My team’s already headed for Midway. The jets are being prepped; I gotta go.

They can’t hit everywhere! she protested in horror. That’s exactly what they’re doing.

Maxwell, she hissed.

Most likely, and your bull’s eye.

The color drained from her head to her toes, God, no... It’s not your fault.

Yes it is! she grumbled, dashing down the hall toward the garage.

Our sector’s in fair shape! Everyone’s still here!