The Constant Star (71)

THE STORY SO FAR

He moves forward with silent grace as his followers attempt to mimic his path, the occasional fearful eye of a resident peers out behind boarded-up windows before disappearing back into hiding.

Lucas pauses and moves to the side of the street where a rod of steel lays cut and thrown away. He reaches down and picks it up, feeling the lightweight strength of it. He holds it in his hand and leans on it, seeming to approve of its build. He takes a piece of ashen leather from his clothes and wraps it around the base of the rod to soften its impact on the ground, then looking back to make sure his followers are still there, he continues his path-making, now with a walking staff.

They come up on the building and Lucas motions for them to wait. Grem ducks behind cover as do the other pilgrims. Lucas launches himself up the wall and through a broken window, there is no noise nor sign of life for a good few minutes before the front door opens and Lucas beckons them in. They rush from cover into the warehouse and find exactly what they were hoping for, “Damn, Lucas, nice job! There’s plenty of food in here for all of us.”

“None of this looks like food to me. You’ll have to show me what is good to eat.”

“Sure, no problem.” The other pilgrims are already stuffing their pockets, packs, and mouths, “Right here.” Grem tosses Lucas a package, “That’s A-grade protein and vitamin mix. And this?” he tosses him another, “This is mixed fruit.”

Seeing how the others are breaking into their meals, Lucas copies and takes a bite of the mixed fruit, “Much needed and delicious. Thank you Grem.”

“No problem. I reckon we shouldn’t stay here long though, it’s not normal for a place like this to be unguarded.”

Lucas nods, “Gather what you can, and let’s keep moving. Which way next?”

“We’re not far from the Needle, maybe a few hours.” Grem leads Lucas to a window and they crouch beside it, “We gotta head that way, through those parks is the fastest route.”

“Okay, tell everyone to get ready, I’ll start scouting out a path.”

56

What have I gotten myself into? Oh shit oh shit oh shit. Macy just killed them. She just — oh shit oh shit. They’re killers. They just kill. What am I doing here? I just wanted freedom.

“Here, put this on.”

Siff snaps out of it and catches the gear Addy tosses to her. She is sitting in a prep-room, and Addy’s team is gearing up for the mission. Siff takes off the civilian clothes she found earlier while with Lucas and puts on the military gear she thought she would never have to wear again. Why me oh why me oh why.

“Stop your panicking, it’s just a recon mission. We all know you’re too much of a spoiled bitch to do any fighting. Here’s your long-range communicator, Macy wants to be able to tap into our comms while on mission.”

Siff takes the collar and puts it on, a green light blinks three times and then turns off. She puts her helmet on and stands to join the team. The eight of them line up in front of Addy, “Alright team, here’s the mission. Macy’s been having a hard time fighting for AI control over the levels we’ve been taking. Upper Level counter-intel has been sabotaging our sites. It’s our job to recon level X-243 and hotwire the AI cables in the floor with this comm-box. We don’t expect any resistance, that’s why we’re keeping the team small, but all the same be prepared for anything and stay quiet. Comms only when necessary.

“Siff, your job is to just be there, shut up, and don’t touch anything. And try not to run away again; if you do, I will take great pleasure in shooting you.

“Okay team, the transport is waiting for us. Let’s move.”

Siff follows the now veteran Addy and her team out the building and into the awaiting transport vehicle. A flyer: they must have captured some more tech from the upper levels. Siff sits opposite and in between silent soldiers as they take off over the city and rise toward one of the walls. It is less than a minute before they come alongside a missing panel and the side hatch opens, “This is us team, lets go!”

They jump from the craft into the hole in the wall, Siff can’t help but notice Addy’s slight disappointment that she didn’t fall the several hundred meters to the ground below. The interior of the wall has been retrofitted with fast transport gear, probably leading to places they were never allowed to go before. Addy leads them to a transport lift and they squeeze uncomfortably into its interior. It’s standing room only as the grav module kicks in and the lift begins to move into an opening in the wall. A door closes behind them and the sudden jerk lets Siff know this grav module isn’t fully functional. The acceleration is somewhat bearable and she tries not to look out the window as lights flash by indicating changes of direction that if the grav module fails will mean all of their immediate deaths. No-one there seems perturbed, all stone-faced, and Siff tries to put forward the same visage. She’s pretty sure she is failing.

The movement stops and the grav module ceases its humming. The lift doors open for them and the team steps out into a small outpost on level X-243. They are greeted with nods from the troops stationed there, but they do not stop to swap pleasantries. Addy leads them straight through the fifteen-man outpost and into the war-torn city beyond. She looks at the hologram intel on her forearm and starts the team jogging down empty streets. Eerie calm over what must have been a few short days ago a bustling small city of people working, living, and playing together. Siff doesn’t see any bodies here, like the

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