The Biomass Revolution (The Tisaian Chronicles) (21 page)

An hour later
Spurious began to doze off on the old, but comfortable, mattress. He awoke in a daze shortly after, realizing Lana was still not there.

Something must have gone
wrong. I should have come with her
.

Images of Lana being taken by
the Knights or worse, raped by Varius, began to play out in his anxious mind. A knot formed in his stomach and a wave of nausea passed over him. The world began to spin; reminding him of all the times he had laid in his bed in the orphanage, wondering why he would never see his parents again.

“
Damn it!” he yelled, kicking one of the candles across the room. He watched the wax spread across the wooden floor, contemplating his next move. It was late, but he knew he had to look for her. He couldn’t sit and wait any longer. If she was out there he was going to find her. He blew out the remaining candles, leaving the mess and racing out the door.

***

A loud grumble from a vehicle vibrated through the cobblestone streets. Spurious
immediately recognized the sound. As he rounded a corner he could see the outline of a massive RRAD truck. The blue glow from the unmanned cockpit appeared ghostly in the darkness. It was the same blue the Knight’s goggles emitted. For a second he forgot about Lana and watched the machine slowly creep down the road on massive caterpillar tracks. Chemicals shot out of the two rotary fans attached to the roof of the truck, filtering radiation out of the air. Another pair of fans swept the streets below the tracks, cleaning the poison from the ground and healing the earth one street at a time.

Spurious
pulled himself from the sight of the extraordinary machinery and continued down an alleyway, combing the darkness for any sign of Lana. He peeked inside pubs, and eateries, but to no avail. For hours he followed the glow from the street lights before they flickered and turned off, indicating morning was rapidly approaching. His heart sank as he headed back to Lunia.

She must have been caught
. There wasn’t any other explanation. Spurious wasn’t sure which was worse; Lana changing her mind about him or the Justice Knights arresting him and taking him to prison. Either way, his life would be over, but at least he would have something to live for if the situation was the latter of the two. Deep down, somewhere beneath the misery boiling inside his guts, he knew he would see Lana again. He had to believe it, and repeated it over and over in his mind as he made his way back to Lunia.

His eyes finally spotted the copper roofs of the Commons building
, and he slipped into his building without being noticed. 

The sound of Anya’s familiar voice greeted him as he entered his apartment. “
Did you complete your project sir? Would you like me to prepare the rain room?”

Spurious was too fatigued to decipher her words. Was she toying with him? Did she know?
There was no way to tell. She didn’t have human emotions—she didn’t frown, sigh or sweat. Her tone never deviated.

Spurious
took in a deep breath and trudged through his apartment, leaving his muddy shoes on the rug before flopping down on his mattress. “Yes, the project is now complete. Don’t bother. I think I’d rather go straight to bed.”

But sleep didn't come. Spurious couldn't stop thinking of Lana
, and his eyes wouldn't obey. Every time he closed them images of her emerged. The terror deep in his gut began to increase as the horrid images continued. He had lost her, just like he lost his parents.

Chapter 10: The Silo

“
Only our individual faith in freedom can keep us free.
”

~Dwight D. Eisenhower

Time
: 6:00 a.m. February 21, 2071.

Location
: Junkyard. Rohania, Tisaia

Lightning tore through a thick layer of smog lingering above Rohania. A series of thunder claps shook the roof of Squad 19’s shelter. They watched as the brilliant flashes of electricity ripped through the clouds, a mirage of colors flowing like waves across the poisoned skyline.

Obi should ha
ve remained inside with his men but he wanted to watch the lighting in solitude while he contemplated their next move. He wasn’t sure if anyone else had survived the attack. And there was no way to know if any survivors would actually head to the pre-arranged rendezvous point, assuming the CRK didn’t already know about it.

Another flash of electricity slashed across the sky, the yellow glow so intense it remained frozen in Obi’s vision for several moments.
The glare slowly faded and disappeared as he walked back inside.

The soldiers sat
huddled around a small fire, warming their hands in silence. Obi was worried. And he didn’t like to worry, but he had never seen his squad so distraught. He knew how important morale was in a military unit, especially after a battle.

“Listen up,” Obi
said, limping over to them. “I’m going to leave this one up to you. We got out safe, and we’re all together now. I figure we have three options ahead of us.”

The soldiers stared up at their commander, ready to fulfill any request he would ask of them.

“Option one is head to the rendezvous position now. I’m sure you’re all aware this could be a trap and the CRK could be waiting for us.”

Ajax’s lips quivered as if he wanted to respond, but he remained silent.

“Option two is head to Rohania and find a safe house, recruit some new TDU members, and meet up at the rendezvous point. If the Knights are waiting for us, we would have a fighting chance with more men. And that brings me to option three.” Obi paused again. “You have all fought valiantly with me for years now. And I won’t be ashamed or judge any of you if you want out. This is your pass out of the TDU. If you want to disappear into Rohania, you won’t be considered a deserter.”

None of his men
said a word until he had finished. Creo was the first to rise, resting his rifle against a chair.

“There’s really just one option. I joined the TDU becaus
e I believed we could restore equality in Tisaia. I believed immigrants have a right to the same benefits as those born within the Tisaian walls. Even more importantly, I joined the TDU because I believe Biomass is a human right and should be shared with other countries. I don’t want to give up now. I’m still willing to give my life for this cause.” Creo sat back down, tears swelling in his eyes.

“We lost so m
any brothers and sisters, and killed so many innocents over the years, but we must continue to fight. We must head to the checkpoint and pray there are others waiting for us. If they are not, and instead the CRK is waiting with their guns, then at least we’ll all die honorable deaths,” he said, grabbing his rifle and raising it into the air.

Ajax put
an arm around Creo’s shoulder. “He is right; we don’t have any other choice. Life in Rohania is a worst fate to me than dying in battle. I’d rather take my chances at the rendezvous point than give up now.”

“An
d you Nathar, what do you think?” Obi asked.

“You know I’m in this to the end
, brother,” he said, laughing.

Obi smiled
. “Then I believe we have some work to do.” He coughed and sat down on an old folding chair.

“Here is what I have in mind. I have a contact in Rohania. He knows TDU sympathizers in Lunia, many of which work for the State. Ajax and I will meet with him and see if he can put us in
contact with someone who has access to the tunnels leading to the CRK headquarters. This was always my plan, but Commander Heri never bought it. He said it was too risky. Maybe he was right, but we don’t have any other choice now.”

“What about us
?” Nathar asked.

“I want you and
Creo to travel to the Boondocks and recruit several more TDU members. We’ll meet back here in 48 hours before heading to the rendezvous point. Any questions?”

The three soldiers shook their heads simultaneously.

“Let’s move out. Be careful, men,” Obi said, grabbing his rifle and following Ajax out into the muddy junkyard. He froze as a crack of lightning broke through the silence of the night like a gunshot, and he was reminded of the fragility of their cause. Squad 19 fighting against an entire army wasn’t the type of odds Obi would ever gamble on, but his squad hadn’t survived this long just by getting lucky.

Obi jogged to catch up to Ajax, cracking a smirk. If anyone could take down the CRK
, it was Squad 19.

Time
: 11:00 p.m. February 21, 2071.

Location
: TDU Headquarters Pantry, Tunnels. Tisaia

The view from the hideaway was much clearer than days before, when a smoky haze still lingered in the ruined headquarters. Ran crouched in the corner of the small room, his eyes glued to the small hole he had used to watch the slaughter. The Knights appeared to be gone, but the destruction and stench of death remained.

Ran turned away from the hole and crawled back over to Nordica
, who was sleeping. He grabbed a piece of stale bread out of his knapsack and stuffed it down his dry gullet, chewing as fast as possible to get the disgusting nourishment down.

“When can we get out of here?” Juliana asked
, her back against the concrete wall.

“Technically
, Nordica is in charge now,” Tsui whispered.

The three soldiers looked down at Nordica as
she slept, her chest heaving slowly up and down. They all knew her as one of the most barbaric soldiers in the TDU. She killed for fun. Some of the soldiers dealt in credits and cash, but Nordica dealt in calibers. Her currency wasn’t in paper notes or credits, it was in lead. Some of the other soldiers dreamt of a time where they could have a savings account again, a time they could rent an apartment and go to the grocery store. Nordica did not.

Ran often wondered what would happen if the TDU won the revolution. Would Nordica be able to assimilate into society? Sometimes it seemed Nordica liked the life of a rebel too much and didn’t want to win the war, kind of like a prisoner who had been behind bars for so long they were terrified of rejoining society.   

Nordica stirred and woke.

“What the hell are you guys looking at?”
she asked, rubbing the sleep from her eyes.

Tsui brought a finger to his lips. “
We’re deliberating. What are your orders?” he asked bluntly.

Nordica sat up and brushed a few dreadlocks out of h
er face. “If Ran is convinced the Knights are gone, then we head to the rendezvous point.”

Juliana and Ran
nodded in agreement, but Tsui remained silent until Nordica was finished.

“How do we even know
there will be a checkpoint?” he asked.

“Because there will be one, and y
ou’re an asshole for asking that,” she grumbled.

Ran and Juliana looked at
one another, their eyes gleaming with fear. They both shared Tsui’s concerns, but were too afraid to voice the obvious.

Nordica stood up, pulling h
er locks back into a tail. “When is the last time you heard any movement, Ran?”

“It’s been 12 hours since I saw the last guard. And the cleanup crews left around 24 hours ago. It looks clear to me.”

“We need to get to the rendezvous point. Let’s find some weapons, grab some supplies and get moving,” she said, ordering the three TDU soldiers out of the room.

With the help of Ran and Tsui, Nordica was able to
move the massive pantry shelves. Together the four soldiers entered the pantry, where the stale air reeked of rotting food and death.

“See if you guys can salvage anything,” Ran
said, as he followed Nordica up the stairs and back into the complex. They were headed for the armory, knowing the chances the CRK overlooked anything or left any weapons behind were remote. Nonetheless it was worth a try, and any weapon was better than the two small pistols Ran and Nordica held at ready.

The two
walked cautiously down the hall, covering each other with their weapons through each pass. The challenge was to avoid stepping on fallen glass or tripping on anything that might alert anyone to their presence.

As they
covered more ground inside the complex, Ran recalled one of the many times he and Nordica robbed food trucks in Rohania. It had been years ago, but this specific time was still fresh inside his mind.

The
driver radioed in for help and moments later a single Knight responded, assault rifle blazing as soon as he spotted the two TDU thieves. Ran and Nordica had been armed only with their pistols.

Ran
immediately dove for cover behind a couple of trash cans, while Nordica stood her ground and fired her 9mm at the Knight, the rounds bouncing off his armor harmlessly.

What happened next was something Ran would never forget. One of Nordica’s rounds
hit the Knight’s right goggle, the blue glass exploding in a spray of blood, glass and metal. The Knight’s lifeless body slumped to the ground.

H
er heroism gave them just enough time to escape back to the tunnel, along with two sacks of food and a pack full of grenades that Ran took off the dead Knight. It wasn’t the first time she had saved his life, and he knew it probably wouldn’t be the last. 

“You need to keep up,
” Nordica whispered from behind a concrete pillar a few feet ahead.

“Sorry,” Ran whispered back, his
attention returning to his task.

He
squinted, vaguely making out the entrance to the armory. Several downed electrical wires shot out sporadic bursts of electricity, faintly lighting the hallway. There was still no sign of the CRK.

The two soldiers simultaneously ran into the smoking ruins of the armory, their guns drawn. Their eyes fell on a smoldering heap of twisted weapons.

“Damn, that must’ve been
what we heard.” Nordica said, kicking a ruined rifle across the concrete floor.

“The CRK decided to destroy the weapons instead of hauling them out of the tunnels,” Ran replied, gazing upon the smoldering concrete room, pieces of rifles and burnt shell cases littered across the ground.

“Come on
, let’s see if we can salvage anything,” Nordica said.

Ran ducked under
the loose electrical wires and began combing the room for anything they could use. He watched Nordica pick up pieces of a table and door, quietly tossing them to the side. Digging through a pile of concrete, Nordica found a charred shotgun. She quickly examined it and, satisfied she tossed the strap over her shoulder and continued with the search.

In the east corner of the room
Ran uncovered a submachine gun, burned severely but appearing to still be intact. He peered down the sights and released the safety.

“I think I found something worth saving,” he shouted over his shoulder.

“Me too,” Nordica responded. She pulled another shotgun from the blackened pile of weapons below her.

By the time their search was over they
had salvaged three shotguns and four cartons of ammunition. They also found three 9mms and two assault rifles, in addition to the small machine gun Ran tucked away in the back of his belt.

Balancing all of h
er newly found weapons in her arms, Nordica followed Ran towards the exit of the room. “Let’s head back to pantry and see what Juliana and Tsui were able to recover,” Nordica ordered.

A small glimmer of hope crept into Ran’s thoughts as they made their way back. He knew how many times he “hoped” in the past, only to be disappointed. Most of his
comrades and friends were dead. He wondered if Squad 19 was still out there. They were the most important unit in the TDU. Without them, the TDU would surely be lost.

Time
: 2:05 a.m. February 22, 2071.

Location
: Tunnels, Tisaia

Nordica sat perched on the concrete surface of a tunnel platform. The night vision goggles she took off a dead TDU member emitted a warm orange glow into the darkness. They were heading south through a tunnel once used to transport supplies to and from Rohania.

“We better get going,”
Juliana said, throwing her backpack around her shoulders and grabbing her rifle. “We have a lot of ground to cover and we don’t know if there are still Knights patrolling these tunnels.”