Age of Redemption, page 6
part #2 of Titan Code Series
Finn smiled, “We could always use more tech.”
“Stand back.” Tessa reached down deep and harnessed her energy. She seized two birds with her energy glow and tugged them down. The pilots failed to compensate for the force she applied, and the choppers began to spin out of control. Tessa held on with her power and touched both vessels down in a grassy patch between runways. There would be some damage, but it would be minimal.
The other two bogies pulled back and exited the airspace. Tessa hoped she sent a clear message to H.I.V.E. Or they could keep sending her equipment to take. Either way, it was a win for her and her friends.
Finn and Tessa approached the downed craft with guns ready. When the H.I.V.E team exited the helicopters, they took the enemy into custody. All six H.I.V.E personnel survived the crash with only minor bumps and bruises. They returned to the concourse and locked them up in airport security cells which Tessa found earlier in the day.
She didn’t have a plan for these captives, but she didn’t plan on letting them loose. There might be valuable information they might provide about what happened in the aftermath of their escape. Tessa wondered what new orders H.I.V.E would issue in the wake of their daring escape. Would their priority be to recover the escaped prisoners? Or to re-establish Project Genesis?
For now, Tessa settled for salvaging the two downed helicopters. They recovered food, water, and weapons from the interiors, and Finn could harvest the tech or repair the bird and repurpose for their use.
The Evo refugees celebrated their win. H.I.V.E attempted to reclaim them, but they thanked their protector for keeping them safe. It was an odd feeling for Tessa. She always clung to the outside of groups, not wanting to be a leader. This whole experience changed who she was as a person. Her power gave her newfound confidence. It was the tool she used to help people.
Tessa realized her Evo gifts were a blessing and not the curse she once believed they were. She had potential do so much good now that she had this power. Tessa remained optimistic that she might get the gangs on board to work together toward a common goal. The trick would be to convince them to work with humans. Tessa had to be the beacon of peace and offer security to all of humanity. It was the right thing to do. It was the only thing to do. Otherwise, the only other option was to die a slow death as the Earth fell apart beneath their feet.
9
The day following H.I.V.E’s attack, the Syndicate Gang returned to the airport. Their lack of assistance during the attack annoyed Tessa, but their return didn’t surprise her. She hoped they were in the mood to negotiate because Tessa wasn’t in the mood to argue. The Syndicate didn’t attack the H.I.V.E aircraft and allowed the airport attack to happen unimpeded. It upset Tessa that Cyclone attacked her H.I.V.E craft on arrival but did not attack the craft from yesterday. That action raised a mountain of suspicion and told Tessa a lot about his motives.
Cyclone’s lack of action painted a clear picture showing all his true colors. Finn was right to advise her not the trust him. Cyclone might have called a truce with Tessa, but he saw her as a threat. Tessa figured Cyclone was betting H.I.V.E would eliminate his competition for him. Tessa hoped to convince Cyclone to abandon that line of thinking and join her cause. Part of her realized that even if he did, there would always be a part of him that would resist. It was in his nature. And part of her would never trust him, because that was her nature.
Just before Cyclone and his crew arrived in the terminal, Sam presented a few orders of business. Sam and Finn brainstormed ways to increase supplies. The boys wanted to raid H.I.V.E supply chains, but Tessa hesitated to hijack H.I.V.E supplies. It jeopardized lives, and it would prevent human settlements from receiving their rations. Sam suggested attacking supply lines on their way to Cheyenne Mountain instead of human settlements. They could target the supplies destined for key H.I.V.E bases and not ordinary citizens. Tessa took the suggestion under advisement but tabled the conversation for a later time.
Cyclone arrived providing food, water, and additional supplies. Tessa saw the gesture as an offering of goodwill, and she gratefully accepted the donation because they needed supplies. They only had enough to last a few days if they rationed.
Tessa knew Cyclone was aware of their H.I.V.E attack; there was no way he could have missed those choppers on approach. Since four helicopters flew in and only two flew back out, he also knew Tessa won and she gained two H.I.V.E choppers in the aftermath. That meant new equipment and tech, which was valuable to Evos living off the grid.
With the goodwill and pleasantries out the way, Cyclone got down the heart of his visit, “You mentioned H.I.V.E intel yesterday?”
Tessa gathered her crew, and they sat down with Cyclone’s gang members in a cozy little boardroom behind terminal security. Cyclone brought with him a blind woman and a few thugs. Tessa began to explain what she learned, “We have stumbled upon a H.I.V.E scheme called Project Genesis. An arc designed to transport humans off this rock. My friends and I stole copies of their plans and planted a virus in its place. We plan to build our own arc right here based on the H.I.V.E designs and technology. Only we plan on saving all of humanity and not just the human elite.”
Cyclone seemed both intrigued, “So we turn the tables and leave the humans here to rot? I like it!”
“You miss interpret my definition of humanity. I’m taking everyone, both humans and Evos, on my arc.” Tessa clarified her intent.
Now Cyclone was confused, “Why? H.I.V.E has tortured, experimented, and exterminated our kind.”
Tessa interrupted his tirade, “H.I.V.E has done these terrible things to Evos. Not humans. There are humans in the world just struggling to survive. H.I.V.E offers them food and medicine. All the things they need to survive. They have little choice in this world. They need H.I.V.E to survive. I will not allow them to be abandoned by us and H.I.V.E. An arc should represent a wide diversity of what Earth genetics has to offer.”
“We’re not helping humans.” Cyclone leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms in front of his chest in defiance.
Tessa copied his body language, “Then you can remain here on Earth to die.”
“So, it’s like that. I bring food and water, and you leave us here to die. Your own kind?”
“I was human first, and so were you. It’s easy to forget where we came from. Evos need to abandon this unnecessary hate that all humans are evil. I won’t take hate to the stars with us. This genetic disparity needs to stay behind. Leave it as a relic of our past. Something we learn from. We need to move forward toward healing.”
Cyclone attempted to press his dominance, “You need us to survive here.”
“No, we do not.” Tessa cut him short.
Cyclone scoffed at her, “You can’t protect everyone.”
Tessa shrugged him off, “We did just fine yesterday all by ourselves. I didn’t need any help while you hid in your bunkers and safe houses, hoping H.I.V.E. would neutralize your problem. Don’t pretend to be the good guy here when you have an ulterior motive. If you cared about this group so much, why did you remain hidden while they attacked us? You’re playing a dangerous game. One that I have no intention of playing.”
Cyclone slammed his hands on the table and stood in anger. His voice turned to shouting, “Why would I stick my neck out for strangers?”
Tessa remained calm in her seat, “Why would you not help one of your kind? See you are spinning my mission as a failure to help my own kind who aren’t on board with human equality. The problem with that is, I recognize this is about power. My power threatens you. There is no need to fear me. I have no intention of abusing my power to become a dictator. I want to use my power to right some of the wrongs in this world. You can be on the side of progress, or you can keep to your old ways, but either way, that choice is up to you and has nothing to do with me.”
The blind woman next to him pulled on Cyclone’s sleeve, and he sat back down. The woman whispered into his ear, and Cyclone took a moment to construct an answer. “Natalie thinks we would be foolish not to agree to join this venture. She is my wife, and I trust her judgment.” He seemed aggravated but agreed to tow the line to appease his wife.
“We are happy to have you onboard.” Tessa wasn’t sure if that was a good thing having him on board or not. “Your knowledge of Chicago is valuable, and we offer you a seat and a vote on our council. But be warned that just because you have a vote on the council, it does not mean you have a guaranteed seat on the arc. I won’t even guarantee myself a seat. That will be for the people to decide.”
Cyclone paused for a moment of thought, “I accept, and hope we can work together.”
Tessa and Cyclone rose from their seats and walked to the center of the room. Meeting to shake hands, “As long as we are at peace with one another, everything should be fine.”
Cyclone seemed ready to get to work, “First order of business?”
Tessa looked to her council of friends for suggestions. Arica spoke first, “We need to scavenge for supplies.”
“We know of good places, but some are near rival gang territory,” Cyclone warned.
Tessa found the prospect optimistic, “We hope to contact the other gangs and pull them on board.”
“Not sure how much luck you’ll have there,” Cyclone remained pessimistic about Tessa’s dream of recruitment.
“You leave that to me.” If Tessa convinced Cyclone, then she might also persuade the other gangs. She just had to leverage the right motivation.
Finn added to the list, “We need equipment and tech, including more hands to build. You got any mechanics in your group?”
Cyclone looked to one of his companions, “We have some talented folks in our group.”
“We should sit down and take an inventory of abilities. Not just Evo abilities but any useful survival skills. We can do a better job of putting the best people in the right jobs.”
There were a series of handshakes and cordial formalities, and then the meeting broke up into small groups to discuss the finer details. The gang agreed to her terms, and claimed to be on board with the mission, but she realized there was another agenda for Cyclone. Tessa needed to figure it out before he did. He would search for a way to exploit their partnership. Tessa would need to watch him. She figured she would need to watch all the gangs.
Norine approached Tessa after the team disbursed. She wanted to make Tessa aware of a dangerous Evo now in their midst. Norine picked up on psychic energy radiating from the blind woman at the table. Norine poked around to determine the nature of her power. From her best guess, she figured the woman was an empath. That meant she had one of two potential powers or both, which was far more dangerous. She could either sense other people’s emotions and intent or manipulate emotions. If she could do both, then she might cause potential problems down the road.
Tessa assigned Norine to observe and report if this woman used any of her abilities to alter her teams’ emotions. Tessa couldn’t afford for someone to be playing mind games with her team. She wouldn’t tolerate it on any level.
Tessa tasked Sam with arranging some scavenging missions with the Syndicate. For now, they would wait to plan H.I.V.E raids. Tessa wanted to see how well the Syndicate worked with her team before committing to a more dangerous mission. Sam extracted information from Cyclone and his crew regarding prime locations, and they outlined routes and logistics together.
Finn waited for the room to clear so he could have a few moments alone with Tessa. He beckoned her to follow him for a surprise. Tessa couldn’t resist what the technopath had to show her, and he did not disappoint. When he was searching the airport grounds, he came across a master control room for the entire airport.
Finn secured the central control room with the ability to communicate within the terminals and to the control towers. This room was perfect for security as a master command room. Tessa would have Sam man the towers and staff the master control room to keep constant lines of communication open. They could use mobile comms to keep everyone safe and in the loop and set up cameras to watch the grounds day and night.
Finn walked Tessa through the control room, which was on the second floor of the building overlooking the main concourse behind a two-way bullet-proof mirror. The room was protected behind a blast door and shielded from any potential assault attempt and lined with control panel walls, and computer screens on workstations mounted to the walls.
Finn pointed to a massive server built into one wall, “With this server, I can make almost anything happen. We can reach out and hijack any signal with the tech in this room.”
“Can we get back into H.I.V.E’s network?” Tessa wanted to continue to spy on the enemy. She wanted to discover what their next move was.
“I said anything.” Finn recognized his skills were valuable to the team. “We can hijack propaganda signals here too. You can introduce our mission to everyone.”
“Do you think people will want to help?” Tessa still had self-doubt. She thought she was doing the right thing, but still unsure if people would follow.
“I think more will join than you think.” Finn had so much confidence in her.
She wondered why. “Finn, why is it you believe in me so much? You haven’t known me very long.”
Finn pursed his lips, afraid to speak at first. After a long breath, he stepped toward Tessa. “When I first met you, you blew me away. I’ve seen a slew of new Evos come through Stonewell’s operations, and he’s trained them all to use their power as a weapon. Every single one came to the group scared and lost, and after they harnessed their power, they became arrogant and cocky. Every one of them, Tessa. It’s like their power made them better than everyone else, and they all developed an attitude — everyone except you. After I helped you discover your powers, you were humbled. Instead of acting invincible, you worried about hurting other people. Not yourself, but other people. You worried about your friends and family. You didn’t let the power go to your head, and you’re an Alpha. Most new Evos can’t wait to go on a mission and kill H.I.V.E soldiers, but you didn’t want to, you wanted to observe. It's why I got so angry when Stonewell allowed the adrenaline. He turned you into all those other Evos and ruined what made you unique. Your humanity. And that’s why I follow you.”
Finn stood uncomfortably close to Tessa and gazed into her eyes. For the first time, Tessa sensed there was something else there between the two of them. “Is that the only reason?” She wasn’t nervous to hear the answer but needed to know.
Finn sighed and stepped back, “No, it’s not the only reason.” His face turned a shade of red for a moment, and he tried to walk away before she noticed.
Tessa seized the initiative and stepped toward him, and they locked lips in a quick kiss. Afterward, she waited for a response, and the longer she waited, the more awkward the moment became, “I’m sorry. I must have misunderstood that conversation.” Now she was embarrassed and backed away. She would prefer to hide from him for eternity.
This time Finn acted swiftly and folded his arms around Tessa, bringing her in for a more prolonged, more passionate kiss. Tessa began to feel herself melting away. It was funny how they were so focused on surviving the mission that they missed the natural chemistry between them. Tessa was always attracted to Finn. They seemed to understand one another.
After the kiss, Finn held her for a few minutes longer than they both processed their new relationship. He spoke first, “We can’t let this affect our mission.”
“It won’t.” Tessa believed she could keep this relationship separated from their professional one.
“We have to be careful here.” Finn recognized that the relationship might be dangerous if anyone thought he had more influence over Tessa than others. She wanted to structure their group, so she didn’t wield all the power. Tessa hoped that would shield them from those accusations, but they would have to move forward carefully. For now, they would keep the new relationship secret and see where it went from here.
10
Cyclone fulfilled his obligation to help Tessa set up a scavenging raid through the city. She wanted to scout the areas with the highest potential for resources first. Cyclone inform her that downtown area was the most supply rich environment. He prefaced that claim by revealing that area as the deadliest.
The Nightstalker gang held a large chunk of territory downtown and were best known for savage guerilla warfare tactics. Cyclone and other members of the Syndicate gang described firsthand accounts of brutal traps and clever ambushes. The Nightstalkers don’t take prisoners and take heads for trophies. Tessa got the feeling Cyclone tried detouring her from pursuing her present course of action.
Cyclone labeled the Nightstalkers as the most dangerous and unpredictable gang in the Chicagoland area. It surprised him when Tessa seemed unphased by his attempts to detour her. Tessa knew how to handle the Nightstalkers and figured the bully tactic applied here. Pick the biggest guy in the room and take him down first to send a message to the rest. Cyclone and his crew seemed apprehensive, but Tessa remained determined.
Cyclone still tried to change Tessa’s mind, but she already put together a salvage crew. A few jeeps and several scouts on motorcycles should be sufficient. Tessa divided her crew into teams of muscle and brains, and Sam began planning logistics and issuing gear to the volunteers. Tessa had no intention of assigning anyone to the mission. She wanted people to know the risks upfront and volunteer of their own accord.
Cyclone thought her stark raving mad for taking anything with an engine into the downtown region. He suggested she should shout their arrival from the top of the tallest building. She considered the option, and Cyclone nearly crawled out of his skin, thinking she was serious at first.
The team geared up, and Tessa handed out comm earpieces while running through her mission parameters and expectations. She expected an attack and wanted everyone prepared for that eventuality. The goal was to establish contact with other gangs but on their terms. The group would not surrender and would only use deadly force as a last resort. Cyclone continued to think she was out of her mind.
