The Last Mission of the Living (The Last Bastion Book 2) (13 page)

Taking another long sip, Lindsey straddled his hips and grinned down at him. This time she did the pouring, and he lifted his head to catch the stream running off her elongated nipples.

“I’m really, really drunk now,” Lindsey confessed.

“You don’t have duty tomorrow, right?”

“No, do you?”

“Not until the afternoon.”

“Plenty of time to sober up then.”

Lindsey shook out her hair, finally freeing it entirely. It was still a bit damp, but looked insanely sexy. Her wetness against his stomach was making him hard again. He was convinced she was going to be the death of him.

Their wristlets chiming simultaneously startled them, and Lindsey accidently spilled some liquor on her as she quickly activated the screen. Torran sat up and licked her arm to catch the trickles of tequila before checking his own wristlet. The saltiness of her skin tasted good with the liquor.

It was a city-wide announcement.

“So he surrendered,” Lindsey said, relief in her voice.

“It’s the right thing to do.” Torran read the release from the government swiftly. It was carefully worded, but it was clear President Cabot would not be swayed from portraying Admiral Kirkpatrick as a traitor.

“Who’s Legatus Martel?” Lindsey glanced at Torran curiously.

Catching up with her reading, he said, “That was the title Admiral Kirkpatrick was supposed to have before they granted him the right to keep his former rank. Martel is a name I’m not acquainted with, but she must be the new leader of the SWD.”

“Marilyn Martel.” Lindsey frowned. “So is this one of President Cabot’s appointees?”

“Most likely.”

Lindsey ran her fingers gradually through her hair. “It’s a familiar name though.”

“No inclusion of her bio. Weird.”

Lindsey lifted her eyes and pouted. “Very.”

“We’ll worry about it tomorrow,” Torran said, his fingers tracing down her arm gently.

“More unknowns. I hate not knowing something.” She frowned, her fingers tightening on the neck of the bottle.

Carefully selecting his words, Torran said, “Well, sometimes the unknown isn’t bad, right?”

Cocking her head to regard him, her somber expression was a little unsettling. Then he realized she was actually quite deep in thought. Her eyes were fixated beyond him. It was a look he’d seen on her face when they’d been outside the wall. It was almost like watching a computer at work: cold, aloof, dealing with the facts. She blinked once and her focus was clearly back on him.

“Well, I like the known better,” she said teasingly. “Like when I wondered what was in those jeans of yours and now I know.”

Torran melted into her kiss. He didn’t even mind when the tequila bottle toppled over and soaked the blankets. Dragging her into his arms, he told himself he was just having fun, but already the cracks around his heart were letting her essence slip in.

* * *

Lindsey awoke with a start. It took her a second to comprehend it was her wristlet vibrating that had awakened her. Activating the screen, she saw the message was incoming from her secret program. Instantly, her heart started to beat wildly with excitement. Still a little tipsy from the tequila, she edged out from beneath Torran’s long leg and arm and scooted to the ladder.

Once on the main floor, she sat at her computer array beneath the elevated bed, and she logged into the program. After several long, excruciating seconds, the message downloaded. It was from Maria. Twisting her mouth, Lindsey quickly scrolled through it. The message was short, but worrying.

Lindsey, Dwayne and I need to talk to you and Commandant Pierce ASAP. Call tomorrow at exactly 1600 hours.

Realizing she needed to be careful with how many times she contacted Maria, Lindsey hesitated, weighing whether or not she should respond or just wait until the designated time. Finally, she typed in a short note signaling she’d received the message and logged out of the program. Gnawing on her thumbnail, she stared at the screens. She wanted to hack into the SWD and government sites and search out information on the new Legatus, but didn’t dare do it while Torran was around.

“You look worried.”

Lindsey gazed upward to see Torran peering at her over the rail of her bed.

“I’m always worried in the back of my mind.” With a sheepish smile, she shrugged slightly. “Well, not worried exactly. I’m always got some fixation lodged in the gray matter.”

“Sort of like you got a computer program running in the back of your mind sorting things out?” Torran ventured.

Surprised that he got it so right, Lindsey gazed at him in awe.

“You get a look in your eyes. Like you’re processing something.” Torran slipped over the side of the bed and dropped down. “Considering your very nice computer display, I’m going to guess that you’re good at working with them, too.”

“My father was a programmer. He taught me everything I know.”

“But you had the natural talent, too, huh?”

“You can say that.” Lindsey uneasily shifted her weight on her chair, not willing to let Torran too far into her personal headspace.

“But you’re a grunt. Not a programmer.”

Lindsey swiveled toward him and shrugged. “I wanted to do something different. I didn’t want to follow in someone else’s footsteps but make my own path.”

With a slight nod, Torran rested his hands on the edge of her bed and stretched. It was very provocative and she was distracted by the muscles shifting beneath his skin. She wanted to be distracted. Fear was a tight knot in her gut.

“And you don’t want to talk about it.”

“Nope.”

“Is this where we draw lines?” Torran asked, tilting his head.

“Yep.” Lindsey slid to her feet and ran her hands down his chest. “We’re getting to know each other. We’re getting to be friends. But not only did I lose the stupid ex, but my best friend. I need a new friend.”

“A friend with benefits.” Torran stared into her eyes somberly. “I’m there with you.”

“Are you?” Lindsey really hoped he was, because she liked him.

“This life is too uncertain,” he said at last. “Better to keep things simple. Uncomplicated.”

“Let’s enjoy the rest of the night before we have to go back to the real world.” Lindsey rubbed her lips against his chin softly.

Torran cupped her face and kissed her lightly. “I better go.”

“Torran...”

“No, Lindsey. I should. You see, if I stay any longer I won’t want to go back to the real world.”

Frowning, she feared she’d made a misstep with him.

“The thing is this... you’re a great girl. And I think we’re going to be great friends. But we need boundaries. Sleeping here tonight... a little too much over the line.”

“So don’t sleep.” Lindsey gave him the beguiling look that seemed to affect him so much.

“Oh, that’s playing so dirty.” Torran laughed.

“One more time, then you can go home.” Lindsey turned up her flirty look, her fingers lightly touching his hip.

“Fine. But... boundaries.”

“Right.”

His kiss rendered her breathless.

* * *

Hours later, Lindsey woke to an empty bed and flat. Her bed was still damp from the tequila she’d spilled, but she didn’t mind so much. Torran had helped her past the heartbreak of Vaja and given her something she’d been missing for a long time.

Friendship and understanding.

Now she just needed to find a way to distract herself during the long wait to find out what Maria and Dwayne needed from her and Commandant Pierce.

With a sigh, Lindsey wished Torran had stayed.

Chapter 12

Commandant Pierce paced her office with her hands tucked behind her back as Lindsey finished securing the room in preparation for Dwayne and Maria’s transmission. The small implants under her fingertips vibrated as she performed her final scan. It was the one thing Vaja had done that she could still appreciate. He had put her in contact with a black market surgeon who had made small modifications to her body. If Lindsey didn’t have to deal with regular health checkups, she’d be tempted to make more modifications. There was only so much she could hide from the medical sensors.

Lindsey’s search revealed that someone had imbedded more spying devices in the commandant’s office. These were clever little bugs that constantly changed frequency channels to evade detection. Lindsey had deactivated all of them and removed one for further study. Every time she extracted one, Commandant Pierce’s frown deepened.

Tucking the extracted bug into her small tool kit, Lindsey pulled out one of her modified pads and checked the suppression system she’d installed. It would take someone a few weeks to bypass it, but by then she’d have something new to confound them with. Excitement burned inside her as she worked. She loved outwitting other techs.

Commandant Pierce stopped, turned, and tilted her head, eyebrows rising in a question.

Lindsey held up three fingers and continued working on her pad. She’d been avoiding hacking into The Bastion system out of fear of detection, but now she regretted that decision. There were a lot more security locks in place, and it took her longer than usual to slip through them without leaving a trace. She had to make sure that no one could hack the wristlet signal when the secret program activated.

It was difficult to describe what she actually saw while foiling the security nets. Though her eyes were concentrated on her pad, her mind translated all the incoming information into a surrealistic panoramic view that enabled her to spot exactly what she needed to accomplish any of her set goals. Vaja had once tried to get her to describe what she envisioned in detail, but she hadn’t been able to. Vaja had labeled her an artist, not a hacker. She suspected he was right. Tapping at the screen, in her mind she saw a dark mass of information separate into malleable parts that she reconstructed to her needs.

With two last keystrokes, she saw the new configuration start to perform the task she assigned it.

“Done.” Lindsey climbed to her feet and hurried over to the commandant’s desk.

“Just in time. They transmit in two minutes.”

“I’ve been staying out of the grid,” Lindsey replied. “So it was messier than usual.” Hooking her pad up to the commandant’s vid screen that was used for conference calls, she made sure all the connections were working properly.

“We’re all being cautious,” Commandant Pierce replied wearily.

The strong lines of her beautiful face were tight with worry. There was obviously much going on that Lindsey didn’t know about. It was time to start sleuthing again.

The last thing Lindsey did was redirect the feed from the hidden program in her wristlet into the pad. “Everything is set.”

“Good.” Commandant Pierce pushed a chair toward Lindsey. “Take a seat.”

Lindsey obeyed and Commandant Pierce settled into her leather chair. On the corner of her desk was a photo of the Commandant’s teenage daughter. For some reason, Lindsey had a tough time imagining Commandant Pierce as a loving mother. She was so intimidating it was hard to visualize her as anything other than an officer. Lindsey deactivated the pads in her fingers and tucked the stray strands of her hair back into her bun. It was a little strange to realize she wanted Dwayne and Maria to see her as a dignified soldier. After a second, she realized it was because they’d both seen her at her worst, and she wanted them to be consoled with the idea she was fine in their absence.

The secret program activated and immediately redirected itself to the pad. Lindsey leaned forward and answered. Instantly the vid screen filled with the image of Dwayne and Maria seated side by side. Dwayne’s arm was draped over Maria’s shoulders, and she leaned into him slightly. Behind them was an array of consoles. The couple appeared to be in an aircraft or city control center. Both were clad in plain black t-shirts and Maria grinned the second she saw Lindsey.

“Linds!”

Forgetting all about protocol, Lindsey grinned and waved. “Maria! It’s good to see you.”

“As you can see, we’re alive,” Dwayne said with a broad smile.

“Castellan, you’ve never looked so... young.” Commandant Pierce lifted one eyebrow in surprise and glanced at Lindsey. “Am I right?”

Dwayne appeared to be in his early thirties. The gray was gone from his brown hair and the lines in his face were diminished. Instead of a handsome man in his early fifties, he looked just a little older than Maria.

Affectionately, Maria laid her hand on his cheek. “A perk of the virus Dr. Curran gave me.”

Dwayne kissed her palm, then leaned toward the camera. They, too, had rigged their vid screen to capture the wristlet’s transmission. “Though we’re happy to see both of you, we wouldn’t be breaking our radio silence if we didn’t feel it was of dire importance to the city. We accept that we’re on our own out here.”

“You appear to be doing well,” Commandant Pierce noted.

“The Scrags don’t even look at us. We’re fine,” Maria answered. “We’ve been receiving your messages, Linds. And we have some concerns about what’s going on with Admiral Kirkpatrick.”

“He surrendered last night,” Lindsey said.

Dwayne frowned. “That’s even more worrisome then. It’s probably a part of whatever plan he’s concocting.”

“You think he’s planning to somehow continue his coup d’état?” Commandant Pierce folded her arms across her chest.

“There have been pulses emanating from The Bastion activating the surveillance grid in the outside world,” Maria answered. “They’re looking for us.”

Sickened at the thought, Lindsey pulled out a smaller pad from her uniform pocket to take notes. “Are you sure?”

“We’re in Beta City until this transmission ends, then we’re leaving. The pulses are weak, so they have limited range. We plan to be beyond their reach,” Dwayne answered. “There were four pulses yesterday that activated the grid for two hours. We’re in a secure spot, so we weren’t detected.”

Beta City was actually an enormous evacuee camp with all the luxuries of a small city. It had been a holding area for the civilians that were eventually moved to The Bastion. That meant Maria and Dwayne were closer to The Bastion than Lindsey liked.

“We’re actively shielding ourselves from all types of scans.” Maria lifted both hands to reveal that the wristlet was gone. “We’re going to have to keep them off and in a shielded container. One of the pulses delivered a program that attempted to hack through any we’d installed to hide ourselves or allow communication with the city. Lindsey, you’re the best, but they almost got through.”

Scribbling down notes with her stylus, Lindsey nodded. “Can you send me a copy of the pulse and the program?”

“Already on its way,” Dwayne answered. “We got four more minutes on this transmission, then we’re leaving.”

“And you can’t tell us where,” Commandant Pierce instructed somberly.

“We’ve accepted that we can’t go back to The Bastion. Especially after the pulses yesterday,” Maria said, sadness in her big dark eyes. “They’re looking for us, which means they know we’re alive, and that we have a different virus in our veins than the others.”

“Dr. Curran talked.” Commandant Pierce shook her head. “I knew that woman couldn’t be trusted.”

“If they find us, we’ll never see the outside of a SWD lab again,” Dwayne said pensively. “We have transportation with stealth tech. In a few hours, we’ll be gone. It took us two weeks to get this old girl up and running, but she’ll keep us safe until we’re out of the reach of the pulses.”

Though Lindsey was relieved that her friends were alive and together, she realized they weren’t truly safe yet. It would be up to her to make sure they were.

Silence fell over the four people as the enormity of the situation weighed down on them. Maria scooted forward and placed her hand on the vid screen. Lindsey slid out of her chair and placed her hand over Maria’s.

“Linds, we know you’ll do your best. We will, too. But we want you to know that one way or the other we’re going to be okay, and we want you to be, too.”

“Maria, I’ll stop the fuckers from finding you,” Lindsey vowed.

“I fucking love you, my sister,” Maria whispered with emotion.

“I’ve got your back, sister,” Lindsey answered.

With a very dour look on his face, Dwayne also bent toward the screen. “Lindsey, Commandant Pierce, if they do find us, we’ll transmit our location to you so you can dispatch a Constabulary team to destroy our bodies. We’ll take care of our exit ourselves when they get here. Though the virus in our veins has been... miraculous so far, we have no idea how it will continue to evolve or change us. The Bastion must survive as humans, not as Scrags. Boon or not.”

“Agreed, Castellan. Honestly, I wouldn’t let you back into the city anyway. We can’t risk an outbreak.”

Dwayne nodded. “You’re wise, Sir.”

“I’m paranoid, Castellan. But it does sound as if the SWD is not finished with its attempt to take over the Bastion. That being said, let’s not ever receive that final transmission,” Commandant Pierce replied.

Staring into the eyes of her dearest friend, Lindsey felt her own eyes filling with unshed tears. With their hands pressed against the vid screens, it was almost as if they were touching. It had been foolish to believe the SWD wouldn’t turn their attention toward the missing castellan and vanguard. They were listed as MIA, not dead. That made them a valuable resource of The Bastion in the eyes of the SWD.

“The Bastion’s reach is going to be limited, but we can’t be sure of how far the SWD will try,” Dwayne continued. “We’ll be far away by nightfall.”

Lindsey finally dropped her hand and started to scribble on her pad again. “I’m going to make a quick program for your wristlets. It’ll redirect the transmission to a node where I will drop all the city updates. It’ll be a floating data cloud, so they shouldn’t be able to track it back to you. I’ll have to work out the kinks and—”

“Linds, we trust you,” Maria said in a soothing tone.

Raising her eyes, Maria could see her friend’s concern. “One month intervals. Okay?”

Dwayne directed his attention to Maria, who met his worried look with a slight smile. “Lindsey can pull it off, babe.”

With a short nod, Dwayne agreed to the arrangement. “We won’t be sending anything back unless it’s of vital importance. If things go to shit, we’ll send a direct transmission on the open frequency.”

“We could always try to persuade the population to side with you and Maria,” Commandant Pierce suggested.

“I’m sorry, Commandant,” Dwayne said, “but we can’t put our faith in a public outcry. These are our lives. And if the virus in us mutates, or even if there is a slight chance it would adversely affect another person, we can’t take the chance of returning to the Bastion.”

A faint beep sounded on the other end and Maria reached out to touch a control panel out of sight. “We need to go. A pulse just hit the outer junction.”

Before Lindsey could even utter goodbye, then screen went dark.

“No more playing by the rules,” Commandant Pierce said in a fierce voice. “Hack into the SWD and rummage through their guts. I want to know what’s going on. Immediately. It’s obvious they haven’t given up yet, and neither are we.”

“Yes, sir.” Lindsey stared at the faint imprint of her hand on the vid screen and wished fervently she could have said goodbye.

* * *

Gnawing on a chalky protein bar that was supposed to taste like chocolate, Lindsey stared at the computer in front of her. Tucked into a tiny unused office, she was occupied with peeling away all the layers of secrecy inside the SWD. Her mind plucked the words from the screen and transformed the data into images within her mind that made it much easier to collate and process.

Fingers tapping over screens, Lindsey pieced together a story that chilled her to the bone. A cup of coffee was ice cold at her elbow, and she set the bar aside without finishing it. Leaning forward, her fingers flew across the display.