The Hallowed Cure, page 20
“How long ago did you sent Hahna back?” I asked. “A month?”
“Just about,” Caitlyn agreed. “She went dark after two weeks, which is when I first grew concerned. We’ve kept in regular contact ever since I sent her to look for Doctor Sharpe. Yet after a week of silence, she sent this.”
Caitlyn spoke now to the building’s AI. “Nine, play the message I received from Captain Sato a week ago. You have authorization to reveal it to all eyes here.”
The map of Singapore with the glowing red dot vanished. In its place, a window with a weird jagged line appeared. Captain Sato started to speak, and the line started to jiggle like crazy. I recognized my old commander’s voice instantly despite it being spoken at almost a whisper.
“I’ve found the target and her operation,” Hahna said quietly, like she was speaking somewhere where she risked being overheard.
“I’m prepared to complete the mission, but per our agreement, I’ve attached the coordinates to this message before moving in.” She paused as if catching her breath, then continued. “Send help. I’ll meet you where I’ve attached the coordinates to this message.”
The jiggly line ended. The message did too. From across the table, Caley scoffed. “That’s a trap if I’ve ever heard one.” She grinned wide. “And you want us to spring it, don’t you?”
I glanced at her. “What do you mean?” I knew Caley liked getting people’s hackles up, but given the situation, I didn’t have the patience for it tonight.
“It was weird,” Mia agreed. “Especially that last part.”
“What was weird?” I demanded. “You don’t think that was her?”
“It’s the repetition,” Mia said patiently. “Do you recall when we were all locked in that underwater bunker? The message Chief Dixon hacked together from Captain Sato?”
“These might be her words,” I agreed, as I remembered. “But someone might have chopped them up and rearranged them, like Chief Dick did with Captain Sato’s graduation speech.”
“She used the exact same phrase twice,” Caitlyn agreed. “The words ‘I’ve attached the coordinates to this message.’ It’s a strange way to word something in the latter part of the message, and the inflection is identical. It’s also more verbose than I’d expect from Captain Sato.”
“She was always a bit taciturn,” Lincoln agreed quietly.
“So what’s going on with this message, then?” I asked Caitlyn, but also, everyone at the table. “Was that actually Captain Sato? Did she actually find Doctor Sharpe? Or did she get captured or compromised, and then Sharpe sent this message to lure us into a trap?”
“I don’t know,” Caitlyn said. “If someone was attempting to send us a false message, I feel like the way this one came together is careless. It’s almost as if they wanted us to realize it was fake, perhaps to ensure the debate we’re having right now. To paralyze us into inaction.”
“It might not even be Captain Sato at all,” Lincoln said. “Right? It might be generated.”
“Generated?” I asked.
Caitlyn smiled at Lincoln. “You’re quite right. Even a moderately advanced algorithm can replicate human speech provided it has a large sample size, and we have terabytes of combat data and
speeches from Captain Sato to draw upon. Doctor Sharpe and her team have access to computational resources almost as powerful as those we have here. They could easily fake a message from her.”
Caley looked genuinely disgusted at this news. “So either Captain Sato’s alive, and can’t split their heads without our help, or she’s compromised and needs us to rescue her. Either way, we’re going in fucked. We can’t just let Sharpe twiddle Sato in a tube somewhere, but they’re probably waiting to shoot us as soon as we land. So we help her, or free her, or kill the bawbags who killed her.”
“And we’re all walking into a trap,” Lincoln added. “Let’s not forget that last part.”
The fact that Captain Sato could actually be dead hadn’t even crossed my mind until Caley mentioned it. It still didn’t seem, to me, like anyone could kill her.
Yet if anyone could take out someone as powerful as my old commander ... it would be the woman who spent the whole year treating us all as her personal guinea pigs. Doctor Emilia Sharpe knew everything that made us all tick, so could make us not tick, either with AP gas or some sort of new kind of Hallowed poison she’d made from scratch.
Still, Caley was right. We couldn’t just abandon Captain Sato, especially if she might be in Doctor Sharpe’s clutches. Yet as many questions as I now had, there was one I needed answered right now.
“So why us?” I asked, then raised a hand to forestall Caley’s outraged stare. “Hold on a sec, Caley. By why us, I mean, why send four Hallowed? Why not send in one of Saul’s Special Tactics teams to investigate? We’re good at killing Mutes, but they’re better at being sneaky.”
“Speak for yourself,” Caley said caustically. “I can be plenty sneaky.”
“You carry a claymore the size of me,” Mia said tartly.
“Well it’s not like I’d bring Wulvie if I was being sneaky! ”
The way Caitlyn’s face paled when I asked about a Special Tactics team answered my question for me. I sat back as I swallowed a pill I wasn’t really prepared for. “You already sent in a covert team, didn’t you? And they’ve gone dark, just like Hahna.”
“Saul’s missing?” Mia asked quietly.
“He and his whole team,” Caitlyn said. “Just as all of you have speculated, I knew there was a good possibility this was a trap. So yes, sending in a covert tactics team led by Saul Bishop was my best option for finding out what happened to Captain Sato, until they too vanished.”
Of the two of them, I was a lot more worried about Saul dying than Captain Sato. The poor guy only had one eye. “So we’re the reinforcements for the reinforcements?”
“We are much harder to kill,” Mia said darkly.
“You’re not simply the reinforcements,” Caitlyn said. “You’ll be my personal escort when I fly to Singapore to handle this matter myself.”
I stood before I could think better of it. “Hold up. You can’t go yourself.”
Caitlyn smiled sweetly up at me. “Do you think I need protection?”
I resisted the urge to kick my chair. “I need protection from anyone who could take down Captain Sato and Saul Bishop. Also, we can’t risk you getting killed. Dios would survive if one of us went down, or all of us, but not without you.”
“Wow,” Lincoln said. “That hurts.”
I ignored his attempt to lighten the mood. “Dios would go to shit without you heading up Cloud Nine. No one else can keep it on the straight and narrow. And for that matter, how do we know those fucks on the City Council aren’t working with Doctor Sharpe? What if they set this up?”
“Ooh, good point,” Caley said.
I walked around my chair and gripped the back with both hands.
“They know you know they all signed off on Jack’s plan to mutate people with panacea before the war. That’s why they haven’t raised a fuss while you ran all over them and their stupid edicts. They can’t touch you inside Cloud Nine, but it’ll be much easier for them to kill you if they draw you into some foreign country.”
“He’s right,” Mia said. “You can’t go. We’ll go.”
I was grateful Mia had backed me up on this, though I shouldn’t have doubted she would have. “Conspiring with Sharpe to draw you
out of all of your layers on security and kill you on some island I’ve never heard of would be the perfect way for them to end your threat to them. In fact, that may be the whole reason they put together this trap in the first place.”
“So we’re all agreed it’s a trap,” Lincoln said, looking around for agreement. “Right? Sorry, there’s just a lot of discussion.”
“It may be a trap,” Caitlyn said calmly. “But Grant, you didn’t let me finish.”
“I didn’t need to.”
“Will you let me finish?” Caitlyn asked patiently.
I knew I was scowling, but didn’t care. “Sure. All right. Finish.”
“I’ll fly to Singapore with you four as my escort. Or rather, that’s the story we’ll spread internally, throughout Cloud Nine. There’s simply no way the CEO of Cloud Nine and four heroes of the Hallowed War can leave Dios without drawing some sort of attention.”
“You think Sharpe still has spies in the building,” Mia said. “And you want to feed her some bad intel. So what are we actually doing?”
“Oh,” I said, somewhat mollified. “Well, sure, I guess faking them out is a good plan.” I released my death grip on the back of the chair.
“I am going to Singapore,” Caitlyn said.
Before I could complain, Caitlyn raised a hand.
“But not to the island where Captain Sato and Captain Bishop disappeared,” Caitlyn continued. “That, as you’ve so generously pointed out, will be your job. The one factor you may have failed to consider in all this, Grant, through no fault of your own, is how sending four Hallowed soldiers into a foreign country could be viewed by others.”
“Okay,” I agreed. I was a bit inexperienced at international diplomacy. “What am I missing?”
“They could very well see our arrival as an act of war,” Caitlyn said. “That’s why what I’m actually doing is leaving Cloud Nine, with you as my escort, to personally meet with the Prime Minister of Singapore. I’ll assure her that me sending you to track down our rogue assets is not an act of war.”
“Bollocks,” Mia said. “There’s no one else who can go in your place?”
“No one the Prime Minister won’t consider an insult,” Caitlyn said calmly. “Remember the news I’m going to deliver to her. ‘Sorry, we smuggled a mad scientist who’s researching human mutation in your country, and also, I sent one of my best Hallowed soldiers in to find her, and also, I just sent a bunch of black ops commandos and four more Hallowed to find out where she went.’”
I could see the logic behind Caitlyn’s thinking, but it still felt way too dangerous. “There has to be someone else who can go.”
“Your concern means a great deal to me, just as it always has.
Yet I won’t be in any real danger. I’ve already floated the idea of an official diplomatic visit with the Prime Minister of Singapore, and she’s absolutely thrilled by the idea. Both my biological father and my adopted father had deep ties in her country. After many years of having those ties severed, the Prime Minister is eager to woo me and, more importantly, Cloud Nine’s resources back.”
“So she can wield our panacea against the other mainland nations, right?” Mia asked.
“So she can protect her country,” Caitlyn said evenly, “as we protect ours. There’s no one I can send who will carry the same weight I do, not even Reese. Though Reese, of course, will be coming with me as my personal bodyguard, as well as Captain Mason.”
“That does make me feel better about your visit,” Mia agreed.
“They and others will be coming to meet the Prime Minister, along with a significant security squad from Cloud Nine. All people I trust.
Between my people and the Prime Minister’s own impressive security, I doubt even Doctor Sharpe or her allies will be able to harm me.”
“So where is Reese anyway?” Mia asked. “Why didn’t she join us for dinner?”
“She’s prepping our flight and your Hallowed armor,” Caitlyn said.
It only then sank in that I wouldn’t be heading back to our place to pry Mia’s dress off. We couldn’t all just go home and relax while
Captain Sato and Saul were being tortured or killed by Doctor Sharpe. “We’re leaving Dios tonight, aren’t we?”
“Only if you’re willing,” Caitlyn said. “I’d never order you to undertake a mission like this, and as you all now clearly understand, it could be exceedingly dangerous. I’ll be enjoying a pleasant flight followed by a couple of days of wining and dining the Prime Minister in one of the technological capitals of the rebuilt world. You will be scouring an outlying island for any sign of Captain Sato, Saul Bishop, or Saul’s team, while possibly getting shot at by Sharpe’s forces and whoever’s working with her.”
“Least I’ll finally get to use Savagery on something other than a hologram,” I said. I’d always wanted the opportunity to slice a tank in half. Maybe I’d find one on the island.
“So the question I must ask now, officially, is if you’re willing to do this,” Caitlyn said. “And please understand I will not think less of you if you cannot. In fact, in your case, Jeff...”
“I’m going,” Lincoln said firmly.
I kept my tone calm and measured. “What about Cam and the kids?”
I had Mia to worry about, of course, but we were both Hallowed who’d risked death countless times. More importantly, we had no kids. Caley had her boy toys and girl toys, but no one serious. But Lincoln? Lincoln had a whole family, all of whom would be very sad if he didn’t make it home.
“I’m going,” Lincoln said again. “Captain Sato was my commander too, and I respect her as much as all of you. More importantly, I’d never let my friends face this kind of danger alone, and you’re my friends.” He looked around the table. “I love you guys.
Remember?”
“Aww,” Caley said, and leaned over the table. “Marry me, Jeff.
Right now.”
“Hands off my cousin’s husband,” Mia said, though I heard the amusement in her voice. “And I suppose I’d better make it official, too. I’m in, for Hahna and Saul. We can’t leave them hanging.”
“Obviously, I’m in too,” I said. Then, I glanced at Caley.
She gave me the evil eye. “Don’t make me shove a sword up your ass.”
“Thank you,” Caitlyn said. “There’s more to explain about how we’ll be inserting you onto the island, but I’ll brief you about all that once we’re on the plane. I have a van prepped in the garage to drive us to the airport. News that we’ve all left suddenly will spread like you’d expect. With luck, the news will reach who we want it to reach.”
She meant Doctor Sharpe’s spies would get it wrong. “This can work. It’s doable, I guess. The only thing I don’t like is we won’t be going in with a full squad, but I guess that can’t be helped.”
Caitlyn motioned to the door. “You will have a full squad, actually, because there’s one more person who will be joining your team. I’m also sending Frank.”
“Oh, nice!” Lincoln said. “I love Frank!”
Caley smirked his way. “You sound like a bloody Mutagen.”
“I do not!” Lincoln protested.
I slipped an arm around Mia. As she pressed against me, we walked toward the express elevator that would take us to a van, then a plane, then my first combat mission in eight months.
I’d be walking into danger again with my fiancée, my best friend, and a drunken pain in the ass to back me up. That would never stop being nerve-wracking, but at least we’d have Frank to back us up.
Even though we’d known each other a few months, I really did like Frank.
[ 22 ]
I HEAR IT’S GREAT FOR YOUR S IN
Six hours later, I was back in a suit of Hallowed armor and strapped into a drop pod, waiting to land in a foreign city on a foreign island for the first time in my life. In the past, these heavy-duty pods had been carried by Cloudhoppers and dropped into areas of Dios that weren’t safe for aircraft landings.
To my knowledge, this would be the first time we’d shot drop pods into a foreign city. Captain Sato had come in a commercial flight, and Saul’s team had snuck on a commando boat. While the plane Caitlyn had charted to fly her to Singapore looked like any other commercial jet, on the outside, it actually had ports in its belly that would allow it to drop these pods—and us—straight down onto the island below.
We couldn’t actually land the plane without risking Doctor Sharpe figuring out we were coming for her, so the plan was to make a low level flyover of the island where Doctor Sharpe had set up—in the city of Neo Tao Payoh—on our way to the capital.
We’d fire the pods off as we flew over a long beach outside the city, away from prying eyes. While I didn’t feel great about falling out of the sky in a metal coffin, I couldn’t think of a quieter way to insert us onto the island. I just wished I didn’t have to be in command yet again.
Like it or not, I was the ranking Hallowed on this mission. We’d spent the first five hours of the flight going over our insertion, rescue, and extraction plans from every angle we could come up with. We’d
run dozens of scenarios, including one where we encountered
“Godzilla.” He’d been a giant lizard featured in Kaiju Beatdown, the fighting game we’d played when Dixon took us captive.
We weren’t going to run into Godzilla in Neo Tao Payoh, of course, but I’d let Lincoln and the others wargame it out anyway. It took their minds off the fact that we might be dropping to our deaths.
Godzilla obviously won the fight, since he was a twenty-story nuclear tank monster, but we gave him a good run despite his nuclear lightning breath being stupidly overpowered.
The comm in my Hallowed armor inside the drop pod crackled, and the voice of an old enemy—who now felt more like an old friend
—came across my feed.
“Five minutes to drop,” Captain Amber Mason said calmly. She sounded like she was actually taking her responsibility as Caitlyn’s chief of security and pilot seriously. “You’ll feel your ears popping as we descend, but that’s normal. Just swallow and you’ll be fine.”
I knew that statement was directed at me, but I didn’t feel insulted. Amber knew I’d never flown before. While her assuming I didn’t know shit about flying would have felt personal back when we were both under Jack’s thumb, I felt like she was looking out for me now.
Amber had certainly proven herself a decent ally when she helped us invade Cloud Nine Engineering, and in the eight months since, she’d been nothing but loyal to Caitlyn and civil to us. I no longer had any reservations about her. I even wouldn’t mind having her in our squad, though having her protecting Caitlyn was obviously the better choice.
