Fate of Devotion (Finding Paradise Book 2) Page 13

  “That’s some ability,” Trent said, letting his hand drift to his gun. He really hoped he didn’t have to go through with shooting someone.

  “I don’t get you, bro-yo,” Terik said with a puzzled look. “Are you for real?”

  Trent opened his mouth to formulate a response when one of the troopers said, “Finally, trek.” The troopers started forward.

  “See? Didn’t blow up,” another trooper said to the vid watcher. “You’re an idiot.”

  “Figures. I joined the Rebel Nation, and my life still isn’t anything like a vid. They never send me with the important missions, that’s why.”

  Rhett gestured everyone toward the craft, impatience lining his movements. “Let’s go. Headquarters says there was a notice posted on Toton’s intranet. They’ll probably be coming by to check this place out before long.”

  “Okay, we got everyone?” Trent asked.

  Billy ran at Trent before punching him in the leg.

  “Goodness! Why does he do that?” Trent stepped away. “Ouch. He’s got a hard punch.”

  “He’s always been like that. I think he’s stronger than other kids his age. Come here, Mira.” Terik picked up the toddler. She wrapped her arms around his neck.

  “You’re telling me. That’ll give me a bruise.” Trent rubbed the offending spot.

  “Are you coming, or what?” Rhett yelled at them as everyone else hovered just inside the doors, waiting.

  “I meant, I think in addition to his premonition ability, he has super strength. Or will.” Terik reached down for Billy’s waving arm. “C’mon, Billy, we have to go.”

  Billy danced away. He threw Toad Man into the air and then kicked him. The poor stuffed animal bounced off the wall and plunked onto the ground. Billy cackled.

  “Grab that kid!” Rhett hollered at the waiting troopers.

  “Billy has a hard time with focus,” Suzi said, running to grab him.

  “He’s just a little boy.” Trent noticed the troopers’ annoyed expressions as Suzi wrapped her arms around Billy’s upper body and tried to drag him toward the exit.

  Billy shot his arms up, easily breaking the hold of a kid twice his size and age. Terik might’ve been right about that super strength. “Toad Man!” Billy shouted. “Run, Toad Man! Bang!”

  Terik’s head whipped around.

  A black vessel rose up behind the bay. Its bared guns pointed at the building.

  “RUN!” Trent screamed, grabbing Suzi and Billy and sprinting toward the nearest corner.

  Blasting guns lit up their world. Large chunks of ceiling fell like deadly rain. The walls puckered and exploded, blasting the people standing next to them.

  Trent didn’t look back. He didn’t look up. He held the children in his arms and ran for all he was worth. Something hot sliced through his leg. A dull object punched his back, making him stagger. He hit the wall and then pushed away, urging his legs to move faster. The spot he’d touched on the wall exploded behind him. Someone yelled. The air clogged with dust and smoke.

  “Run, Trent!” Suzi said in his ear, a small voice filled with fear. “Keep going!”

  Ignoring the pain vibrating through his back and the sharp agony on his leg, he pushed even faster. Gave everything he had. Only hoping for survival.

  A zip of fire passed him. It barreled into the wall just in front of him and exploded. Huge pieces flew out toward him. There was nowhere for him to go. Something struck his head and all went black.

  Chapter 12

  “We clear to go in?” Ryker asked after about an hour of circling through the city. Only once had it seemed like someone was tailing them, based on something the operator had glimpsed while going around a bend. But they’d found a secluded place to camp, and they hadn’t seen anything or anyone moving through the open travel way. Most likely, the operator’s eyes had been playing tricks on him, fueled by fear.

  They got the all clear, and the vessel lowered through the sky, aiming for the headquarters near ground level.

  Millicent rubbed her eyes and looked out the window, still standing at the console. Marie lay to her immediate right, taking up two seats and kicking Sinner, who was seated next to her, in her sleep. The grayish-brown air turned slowly to muddy black as they descended.

  “The feeds have all been disabled on this side of the city,” a trooper said. He turned in his seat to look out the window. “But they keep cropping back up.”

  “So they obviously know the annoying humans are hunkering in this area,” Millicent said as she analyzed Toton’s firewall. Someone was patching it up from their earlier entry. Toton was playing defense. There was no finesse in their rebuilding. Millicent would be able to tear it down in a matter of minutes, Marie in even less time. The problem would be in hacking through the next layer, and the next after that. Millicent hadn’t ventured far enough in to see what sorts of defenses they had, or if they had traps. She wanted Danissa’s help for that, and her sister was currently sleeping with her head on Dagger’s muscular shoulder. Sleeping on that hard surface was a testament to her utter exhaustion.

  “We routinely take out their camera feeds all over the city,” a man with bushy hair on his upper lip said. “Moxidone does, too, but with explosives. So there is no reason to assume—”

  “There is every reason to assume,” Millicent cut in. “They will know the difference between the weapons I used today and the weapons I designed before leaving this planet, which is most likely what Moxidone is still using. They’ll know something is going on in this area.”

  “So why haven’t they moved in?” the man asked, immediately defensive.

  “That is another question for the list.”

  “Your designs are genius,” Dagger said, staring at Millicent. “If they’ve been after Danissa—don’t look at me like that, she said I could call her by her real name if I wanted.” Millicent gave a noncommittal shrug. “As I said, your designs are genius. You’d be a prize to capture. So why haven’t they been trying to find you?”

  “They’d think I was here. Which leads us back to the question of why they haven’t yet invaded the rebel headquarters.” Millicent stared out at the darkening environment. “Or, at least, tried.”

  “Hold on, this will get bumpy,” came a voice over the loudspeaker.

  In confusion, Millicent gripped the bar on the side of the console.

  “Grab the child,” Dagger said, a command in his voice. He was looking at Sinner.

  “Why?” Millicent asked. “What’s going to—”

  The lights blinked off. The console sputtered and the screen went blank. The noise from the engine ceased as people finished buckling themselves in.

  “Hold on, cupcake, we’re falling,” Ryker said from the rear, gripping a seat.

  “We set up EMPs all around the headquarters.” The wind rushing past them made Dagger hard to hear. He wrapped his arm around Danissa, glancing at the dead man next to her. “With this entrance, you have to hit it just right so you don’t hit buildings before the craft’s systems turn back on. It’s the only way for a vessel to get safely in. And safety is relative, of course.”

  “And you figured this out, how?” Millicent asked, slamming against the wall as the craft tilted. The whole thing shook.

  “With their dicks,” Ryker said with glee in his voice. That meant this was dangerous.

  “Yes, you’d have to be stupid to think this is a good solution.” Millicent pursed her lips. “I am not pleased that my child is involved in this.”

  “Only way in.” Dagger grabbed the dead guy to keep him on the seat and leaned into Danissa for the same reason. “Probably should’ve woken her up.”

  “She’s not going to be thrilled when that beau of hers slaps the ground with his face,” one of the troopers said.

  “Thanks for helping, slack ass,” Dagger growled.

  The guy shrugged. “She’s got to come to grips with that dude being dead sooner or later. You’re just putting off the inevitable, big daddy.”


  “I hate your guys’ slang,” Millicent muttered as the craft kept tilting, now at about a forty-five degree angle. “This is not good.” Marie was starting to wake up, but Sinner had a tight hold on her. “Should we jump?”

  “Almost there, bossy lady.” Dagger grinned, his arms and legs bulging with muscle to keep his two charges on their seats. How Danissa hadn’t woken up was beyond Millicent.

  “Using your head for that nickname, huh?” Ryker asked with a laugh.

  “You know it. She can’t chastise me for that one.”

  “I’ll give you a bossy lady,” Millicent said as the motor roared to life. Lights blinked on. The vessel surged, swinging her around and slamming her shoulder into the door. Ryker reached over to steady her.

  “A little late on that one, mister hero,” she wheezed as the vessel righted, swinging her the other way. The dead man slid off the seat and flopped onto the floor. Dagger grabbed Danissa with both arms, his whole body flexing.

  “I like to give you a little independence.” Ryker laughed.

  “Keep laughing. See how that works out for you.” Millicent’s knuckles were white around the metal railing attached to the side of the craft.

  “Made it,” Dagger said, reaching toward the crumpled body.

  Millicent looked away. She didn’t need the reminder of how fragile life was. Or that there was a dead body responding to gravity the way a live one would. Something about that was creepy.

  “Can someone set this guy right so she doesn’t wake up and start screaming?” Dagger asked.

  “I got it.” A younger guy unhooked and then fell out of his seat. He hit the aisle face-first. With a red face and amidst raucous laughter, he struggled up against the swoop of the craft and helped rearrange the body.

  Through the gloom, Millicent could see lights randomly placed on the outside of buildings, like a landing strip. Wherever the glow touched a wall, a red circle with a line through it advertised what this place was.

  “I want those rebel insignias painted over,” Ryker said in a harsh tone. “The lights have to stay, but change them to a sort of rustic yellow. Anything that looks new or updated needs to get rusted out or beat on. We’re all but advertising ourselves.”

  “Yes, sir,” men barked, though the confusion was plain on their faces. They thought their EMP defense was good enough. It was naive thinking, and Ryker had seen through it immediately.

  Farther down, at about level ten in the city, the environment was so oppressive it coated the glass. The craft shuddered as it docked in a well-maintained bay. Overhead, there was an electric whine as a cover slid into place, shielding them from the rain or anything falling from above.

  “I assume this craft will be moved once we are let out?” Ryker asked.

  “Yes, sir,” Dagger barked.

  He scooped up Marie and stopped near Millicent. “We don’t have a lot of time. It must’ve taken time and manpower to set this place up. It’s stable in a world that is extremely unstable. Toton will know it exists. They’d have to, with all their surveillance. You need to figure out why they haven’t invaded already. Move that up on the list of priorities.”

  “I will.” She glanced at Danissa for the umpteenth time. “Without help, though, I’ll need to sleep for a few hours. Or I could take an upper . . .”

  “No uppers unless we have no other choice. We’ll settle you in for some rest. We all need it. Then we have to hit it hard. We need a plan and we need to get said plan under way. Time was running out before we landed on this planet.”

  “Yep.”

  Ryker lifted her chin as the door opened and slid his lips across hers. Even after so many years together, tingles spread across her skin at the contact. “Maybe we’ll sleep together for a while,” he said. “I could use some time with you, pretty lady.”

  She couldn’t help the embarrassment heating her face. It felt like everyone around them could see the rush of desire flood her body. That was the thing about lust—the surrounding circumstances didn’t matter; when Ryker was involved, her desire was as ardent as it was immediate.

  “Fine,” she said, giving him a little shove. “Just . . . get moving. We have a million things to do and war to wage.”

  Ryker’s wrist lit up. Shifting Marie on his hip, he looked at it as he exited the craft. Millicent followed, leaving the others in the vessel to get organized and file out. “Roe checked in,” Ryker said. “He’s bringing in a lot of clones, but doesn’t think they’ll be as useful as he’d hoped.”

  “Damn,” Millicent said, standing in front of the building’s grand entrance. She shook her head, looking at the glass doors that could easily be blown to hell. Behind that, a walkway, filled with quickly striding people with stern faces and somewhere to be, passed in front of a guard station. Everyone was completely defenseless from the bay. “Who set this up for Roe, and why weren’t we consulted?”

  Ryker looked up from his screen. His brow furrowed as he took in the glass doors.

  An entry pad glowed beside the door. Millicent tapped it with a knuckle to bring up a prompt. All it took was a few moments of analysis to be certain she could hack her way in. She didn’t get the chance, however.

  Ryker put Marie next to Millicent before stalking up to the glass double doors. He slammed his boot against the glass. One of the doors cracked, knocked off its hinges. A spiderweb of fissure lines spread from point of contact. He hit it again, and this time the whole thing crumbled, the glass shatterproof but no less broken. It tinkled across the ground at their feet.

  The people on the walkway flinched, stopped in their tracks, and looked at the doors with wide eyes. The guards at that station stood around with equally wide eyes. No one made a move to intercept the man now striding into their midst.

  “If I had used a gun or an explosive, you’d all be dead,” Ryker said in a loud, hard voice. His gaze took in everyone on the walkway. “I just broke in with my foot. Ms. Foster could’ve let herself in quietly. I doubt you would’ve noticed before she killed you all.”

  The troopers from the craft gathered at the doorway, their faces grim. Even Dagger, carrying a lethargic Danissa, had a stone face and somber eyes. If anyone had forgotten who Mr. Gunner was in a past life, they were no longer under any misconception. He’d been a security director for a reason. He’d been the best. Clearly he still was.

  “Toton may have some stupid tech running around, robots that look like spiders and humanoid cockroaches,” he continued. “But I am positive they have other tech we haven’t seen yet. I know this because I saw some of that tech firsthand the last time I was on Earth. The more advanced the apparatus, the less they want to risk it in our corrosive environment. When a stupid robot does the job, they’ll keep using that. But the stupid robots stopped working today. We made sure of that. Ms. Foster will keep making sure of that. Do you know what this means?”

  The sound of rain hammering on the metal overhang filled the silence that followed his words. A larger crowd had gathered, all staring at Ryker with slightly widened eyes and thinned lips. No one answered.

  “It means that we just upped the stakes,” Ryker continued. “We’d better be ready for Toton to rise to the occasion. I have no idea why they haven’t taken this place out yet, but there is a reason for it. They know about us. We’ve been more than a thorn in their side. Besides them, we have the most advanced tech on the planet. Being that they were chasing Ms. Foster’s sister all over the city, they’ll want whoever designed . . .” He cut off. His gaze hit Millicent’s with the force of a bomb. “Shit. They were waiting for you.”

  “What?” she said, stepping closer.

  “They never bothered with the rocket. They didn’t mind that we were taking people off-planet.” He shifted as menace crept into his gaze. The troopers shifted with him, probably seeing what he did, or maybe sensing the sudden feeling of violence wash over the mood in the room. “Each time that rocket came back, or after one of my updates, a slew of new tech came with it. The network
got better, more advanced. I’m sure the defenses did. Each time Toton established something new in this world, the next update or rocket saw that thing disabled or tracked. That, or we sent programs via the long-term zip communications, also traceable with advanced tech—which even Moxidone and Gregon have. Toton knew you were off-planet, they must’ve. They’ve left our transportation alone because why not? They figured you’d come back if they waited with enough patience. You did.”

  “If she didn’t?” someone asked.

  Still staring at Millicent, Ryker said, “They were after Danissa, who thinks so similarly to you. If that worked out as well as we all know it would’ve, then they would’ve gone after the other brilliant mind—you. We were right in coming here to crush this threat.”

  “They’ll want you, too, Gunner,” Dagger said.

  Ryker shook his head slowly, his gaze rooted to Millicent’s. A possessive gleam lit his gaze. “Not like her. Not like her sister. Their brains work a certain way that jives with systems. And these ladies are trained. Genius. They can beat Toton codes and redesign them to make them better. Millicent and Danissa would make the best supercomputers man has ever known, smarter than any human. Ten times more powerful.”

  Millicent shivered. But it wasn’t cold that dripped down her spine. It was fire. Her fists curled and she felt a strange grin tickle her lips.

  She was responding to the challenge.

  “I am already ten times more powerful, and after I get a few hours’ sleep, I’ll prove it.” She turned to Dagger. “I need to see my room, and I need you to do whatever you can to get Danissa back online. She fell asleep on your shoulder, so she must trust you. Work with that.”

  “I don’t think that’s what that meant . . .” Dagger said in confusion.

  “Touching to Millicent means intimacy,” Ryker said. His teasing tone didn’t reach his hard eyes.