Swan Song (Book Three of the Icarus Trilogy) (22 page)

So Jenkins became the messiah figure again; he was retired from the field.  And to make matters worse, Atlas forced Carver into the same position.  The old man had never meant for it, didn’t even think about it, but he had become propaganda as well.  His status as a hero of the games was enough for people to join the revolution; it was a huge selling point for recruitment.

Two of the men most willing to fight for the revolution were effectively retired and it was killing both of them.  All they could do was watch from their alley while their allies and new recruits died for them.  At least this time it seemed like the casualty count was not going to get very high, though it was far from over.  The distraction had emptied the base of most of its officers and Carver only saw one Sparrow get taken out by the remaining guards.  The veteran had felt that one, but as he watched his young friend he could see that the toll was much more.  He wished that Ryan would take him up on his offer; he wished that he could shoulder some of that immense responsibility.

“What the fuck is that?” Jenkins asked from the edge of the alleyway.  Carver walked up to his comrade and saw exactly what he was talking about.  There were about fifty men walking down Honeysuckle Street with signs.

Right into a warzone.

-

“Our City!  Our Streets!” Charles shouted along with the rest of his friends.  None of them were word-smiths, but that didn’t matter.  It was enough to just show up.  They had been walking down from the warehouse, but they didn’t start chanting until they were a few blocks from the base.  Charles had thought it was a good idea if the EOSF could hear them before they were able to see their approach.

They were still chanting when they neared the base and Charles had seen what had happened.  There was a massive hole in the gate and dead bodies were scattered along the walls of the base.  Charles Kane was confused at first, not expecting to encounter death on his peaceful protest, but as they stood outside the gates Charles was able to piece together what was happening.  The EFI must have had the same idea, except they were going about it in an entirely different way.

His heart sank as he realized that he had led all of his dissident friends into extreme danger.  Not only was it a battlefield, but when the EOSF showed up they would not discriminate between them and the EFI insurgents nearby.  They would shoot on sight, and these peaceful men would be gunned down without a chance.

Charles turned and looked at his friends.  He had stirred up a fury in them, and although he appreciated their fervor, Mr. Kane realized they weren’t very bright. 

“Guys, we need to turn back!  We need to get back to the warehouse RIGHT NOW!” he shouted at them, but he saw that they weren’t looking at him or the base.  They had started walking into a circle and were chanting as loud as they could.  Even if they would have listened to him, they wouldn’t have been able to hear his pleas.  It was fifty voices to one.  Charles Kane felt helpless.

He felt even worse when he saw the armored transport flying down Honeysuckle.  The black, curved transport opened up and five EOSF officers piled out of the sides.  They started to rush at the circle of men, unaware that they were just trying to protest peacefully.  It meant nothing to the men in the black armor raising their guns to deal with the threat.

Charles grabbed the men nearest to him and dragged them away from the circle, shouting at them all to run away.  He looked over his shoulder just in time to see Louie walk towards the incoming soldiers and brandishing his sign.

“Our City!  Our Streets!” he shouted just before the five officers opened fire on the group of men.  Louie looked like he was having a seizure as the bullets passed through him.  Charles could only watch as Louie and three other men were riddled with bullets, their lives stolen from them as a direct consequence of Mr. Kane’s actions.

He felt like the worst person in the world.

“Get back!”  Charles looked towards the source of the shout and saw two shrouded figures running impossibly fast towards the group of men.  He wished he could have obeyed the voice, but the guilt and confusion of what was happening was too much for Mr. Kane.  The older man only watched as the two cloaked figures passed by, their hoods sweeping back behind them to reveal helmets that Charles had seen a hundred times before.  The two men each threw a grenade on the advancing officers, which they only noticed at the end of their very short lives.

The two explosions were enough to kill the three officers in the front, but almost immediately the last two EOSF switched their priorities over to these new warriors.  Fortunately for Charles and his friends, the two insurgents were skilled enough that they were able to aim at the weak points in the black armor.  After only a moment of gunfire, the EOSF officers were all lying on the pavement, dead or dying along with the peaceful men they had killed.

“Who?” Charles asked to the empty air, but as soon as he did one of the insurgents walked hurriedly over to him and removed his helmet to reveal short brown hair and a look of anger and disgust.

“You in charge?” the man asked, shocking Charles into nodding.  For some reason the young man looked entirely familiar.

“Then get your people out.  I appreciate what you’re doing, really, I do, but this is not the right fucking time, this place is about to get even more dangerous.  Get out of here; protest some other day.  I’m sure you don’t want to see any more of your people die,” the young soldier said before glaring at Charles.  The older man nodded again, betraying the nervousness that he felt speaking with a man half his age.  “Good,” the young soldier said before placing his helmet back on and nodding to the other insurgent.  They ran back to the alley, muffled orders coming from their enclosed helmets.  Charles only stared for a moment before looking to his men.

“Umm, guys....” he started, trying to think up the right words, but he just shook his head and waved his hands to the men, “get the fuck out of here!  Let’s go!” he shouted at his men, pushing the stragglers back towards their warehouse.  As they ran, one of the last men to leave turned to Charles Kane.

“Did you see what they did to Louie?” he asked, opening the wound for Charles.  He sniffed, remembering the dirty man with the easy smile.

“I did.  Did he have any family?” he asked, wondering how he was going to apologize for his stupidity.

“Not really.  He kinda said that we were his family,” the dissident said, causing Charles’ heart to sink even further.  “God, who were those guys?  What did that one guy look like?” the man asked between breaths.  Charles looked over his shoulder and saw that the two soldiers were nowhere to be seen.  That’s when it finally clicked for Charles.  He looked forward, determined to look out for any incoming EOSF.  He wouldn’t lose any more people today.

“That..... that was Ryan Jenkins.”

-

The fire erupted from the top of the base and Jenkins watched as the smoke billowed out.  The EFI wasn’t going to be able to maintain this position; all they could do was take the ordnance and remove the EOSF base of power.  The remaining private officers would be crippled by having their headquarters out of commission.

That didn’t stop Ryan from wishing they could just take the base.  It would be so nice to live above ground.

He and Carver were making sure the remaining EFI were getting out of the area quickly.  They would have to scatter and regroup back at the base, but Jenkins considered the plan a success.  It was just time for cleanup at this point.

The messiah figure sighed as he looked at all the dead bodies.  Most of them were EOSF, career soldiers that were likely just working for a paycheck.  Ryan felt guilty about that, but it was the price of war.  He felt worse about the EFI corpses lying on the pavement.  He knew that two Sparrows had not made it through, Ikari had fallen towards the end, and there were half a dozen civilian recruits who would no longer be contributing to the fight.  Ryan remembered the look on Gerrig’s face as he carried one of his soldiers under each arm.  The Mastodons numbers had been cut in half, and when Ryan was able to see the brute’s face he could see sorrow and anger.  The captain didn’t need to say a word for Jenkins to know what he was thinking.

It was Ryan's fault.

The worst casualties were the four civilians that were just trying to protest.  They didn’t belong there; they didn’t deserve to die.  Ryan and Carver had sprinted forward, trying to get to them in time, but the two Crows were just a little too late.  Now there were just four more corpses to mourn.

As his soldiers left the area, Ryan's eyes were drawn to the bodies once more.  He would have liked to live in a world where that kind of protest would work, but he knew that humanity was far past that.

Jenkins turned from the destroyed base and hoped that they would be able to return to that line of thinking; to a world without blood in the streets.

-

Elizabeth watched as the condensation dripped onto the napkin underneath.  The rocks glass was empty except for ice and if she was having a nice time she probably would have ordered another one.  The thing was that she didn’t want to order another one if she was going to get stood up.

The young woman had been waiting in Gillespie’s for about thirty minutes and she was starting to regret agreeing to meet this mystery man.  He was cute, awkward and earnest, but he was also very, very late.  James had been so willing to see her again that she wouldn’t have considered the older man would not be punctual.  She was still debating on just returning home to her mother when she saw the awkward man bursting through the entranceway.

Elizabeth wanted to be angry with him, she wanted to be completely annoyed with him and tell him off, but when he saw the relief in his face her heart melted a bit.  There was something about James that completely caught her off guard, especially in his disheveled state.  It looked like he tried so hard to make himself look nice, but the buttoned-up shirt was wrinkled and only half-tucked into his slacks.  James rushed up to her out of breath and came a little too close before he realized they didn’t know each other at all.  The soldier stopped suddenly and then caught his breath for a second before launching into a hurried explanation.  Elizabeth tried to follow, but after the hundredth detail she put out her hands and interrupted.

“Hey, take a breath.  Then try again.  Slower this time,” she said, emphasizing that last part.  James breathed in rapidly a few times before nodding and then sitting on the bar stool next to the young woman.  Kaspar caught his breath and then looked at the woman he had let down.

“I am so,
so
sorry.  I .... my....”

“Your appointment ran a little late?” Elizabeth offered, which eased the older man’s mind for just a second.

“Well, yeah, and, well,” he stammered before he looked into her green eyes.  He expected hatred or annoyance, but he found understanding and amusement.  He breathed in and looked at her apologetically.

“I have an excuse for you if you want,” James said while shrugging, but the young woman just laughed and shook her head.

“You’re here, now.  You can make it up to me by buying me a drink,” Elizabeth said while pointing at her empty, sweating glass.  James nodded and then motioned for the barkeeper, a hunched-over old man, to come over.

“You want the same thing?” James asked, causing the young girl to nod at the question.  “Could I have two of those?”  The bartender gave him a strange look and then turned to the young girl, who was giggling at the request.

“I think you want to order something else,” she said with a smile, but James puffed his chest at that.

“I’m sure I’ll like it,” he said, keeping eye contact with the girl, but he could see the bartender shrugging before walking off.

“I .... doubt that, but it’s cute,” she said as she looked down at the empty glass in front of her.

“So .... tell me about yourself,” James said as he put his forearms down on the bar.  He immediately regretted the action when he felt moisture along his sleeves, ruining his attempt to look somewhat presentable.  The young girl was wearing exactly the same thing as earlier, but James thought she looked wonderful.

“You really are terrible at this,” she said as she turned and smiled at him.  “Didn’t you ever learn how to charm the ladies?  You’re certainly old enough,” she said while propping up the side of her head on her right hand.  James gulped in empty air at the act; everything she did made his stomach turn just a little bit.

“I never.... I never really got the chance,” James said as he looked away from the green eyes and into the slightly-less-moist bar in front of him.  He had been thrown into the games six years ago and had worked every day of his life before then.  What relationships he had before being recruited into the Lions were mostly accidents.

As he was trying to overcome his difficulties with his charisma the old bartender arrived with their drinks.  James looked at the glass and was slightly confused.