Hell divers x fallout, p.30
Hell Divers X: Fallout, page 30
She had always had pale skin, but at first glance, X felt as if he were looking at a ghost. That was what losing someone so close to you could do. He had stood in her shoes many times.
X went over and enveloped her in a hug. “There will be a time to mourn,” he said. “Right now, though, we have to save our home. Let’s go talk to Yejun.”
They walked to the door, where Miles sat down on his haunches to finish off his treat. X opened it to find Yejun sitting at the table and Lieutenant Slayer standing guard.
Yejun shot up from the chair.
“Relax—we just want to talk to you,” X said into his wrist computer. The device translated, but that didn’t seem to calm the youngster.
Magnolia tried. “I’m sorry to hold you here, but we couldn’t leave you behind.”
Yejun shook his head, talking fast. The device translated his angry words.
“I wanted to stay there, on my ship, my home.”
“Your ship is coming with us, and you are, too,” X said.
Yejun’s distrustful eyes narrowed at X, then went back to Magnolia.
“We need you to tell us what happened after the vines, and if anyone survived,” X said. “That’s all. Then you can go home.”
Slayer shifted, drawing Yejun’s gaze. The boy was clearly nervous, blinking rapidly and shaking.
“Lieutenant, please leave us,” X said.
“I’ll be right outside,” Slayer said.
After the door shut, X said to Yejun, “Were there any other survivors before you fled?”
Yejun ran a hand through his long, greasy hair.
“Please,” X said.
“A group of soldiers,” he said. “They ran when the vines came.”
“Where did they go?”
“The other people killed them.”
“The firewalkers?” Magnolia asked.
Yejun shook his head and pointed to the sky.
“Rolo,” X said. “Slimy bastard.”
The anger in his voice seemed to bother Yejun, who backed away slightly from the table.
“I’m sorry,” X said. “You’re safe with us.”
He went through more questions, asking Yejun what had happened that day and growing angrier with each answer. Rolo had indeed landed and taken supplies from the outpost before returning to the islands.
After thirty minutes of asking Yejun everything he could think of, X pulled Magnolia aside. “Do you mind spending some time with him?” he asked. “See if you can get anything else out of him.”
“Where are you going?” Magnolia asked.
“I have something I’ve gotta do.”
X thanked Yejun and left.
Breathing in deeply, he tried to let his anger subside. Miles looked up at X, tail whipping.
X pulled a piece of jerky from his vest, bit off half, and tossed half to Miles. The dog caught it in midair.
“Yeah, good stuff, isn’t it,” X said, slowly feeling his energy return. His perpetual headache was still there, but the swelling had gone down. By the time he got back to the islands, his swollen eye would be open. That was good. He wanted to have binocular vision when he watched Rolo die for his crimes.
Soon.
But they weren’t back to the islands yet, and when they got there, they would face another massive fight. X had to plan their next moves carefully to have any shot at winning.
That meant avoiding another mutiny, preparing his troops, and coming up with a strategy to defeat the enemy.
Having the Osprey would certainly help. X was already coming up with a plan on how to use the ship when they got back to the Vanguard Islands. Whom to trust with this information, however, was another question. It was imperative he figure out if he could trust certain soldiers.
X went over to Two Skulls. “How’s it looking, Captain?”
“We’ll be in the Caribbean in three hours,” he said.
“Keep me updated,” X said.
He went to General Forge next. The man was looking over maps of the Vanguard Islands. X filled him in on what Yejun had said.
The unscarred side of the general’s face turned red.
“He will pay, General, don’t worry,” X said. “Come, I’m going to eat with the troops. I’ve always believed breaking bread with another man—or woman, for that matter—is the second-best way to relate to them. The best being to fight beside them in battle.”
“I agree, sir.”
“Let’s go see who I can still trust.”
Miles trotted with them out of the CIC.
They went belowdecks to the mess hall, where the cook was preparing the crew’s first real meal in a week.
So far, everyone had eaten just jerky and other snacks to get some calories and kick-start their digestive systems. Dr. Keller explained that easing back into it would keep them from getting sick. Soon, the cook would serve a stew that the doc said would be easy to digest.
Walking down the corridor to the mess hall, X heard laughter. Morale was way up since they’d discovered Yejun and his cache of supplies.
Forge and X entered the mess hall side by side. Maybe fifty people were sitting at tables across the space, talking, laughing, and drinking. The scent of a salted potato stew wafted from the kitchen.
All over the room, conversations died. Everyone rose from their seat and saluted.
X stopped in front of everyone, flanked by Miles and Forge. For a moment, he debated sharing news of what Rolo had done to the Cazadores at the outpost, but he decided not to ruin this moment. Now was a time to celebrate.
“Who’s ready to eat?” X boomed.
Shouts rang out all around, with glasses hoisted in the air. X realized that the soldiers and crew weren’t drinking water. They were drinking ale and shine from Yejun’s supplies.
X led Miles over to Gran Jefe. The big Cazador was sitting at the head of a table filled with six male Cazador soldiers. They had just sat back down, but hopped right up again as X approached.
“As you were,” he said.
“As qué?” Gran Jefe asked.
X gestured for them to sit. They didn’t.
“You sit,” Gran Jefe said.
X moved to the other end of the table to take the chair opposite Gran Jefe. The burly Cazador still looked bad, with yellow bruises and cuts across his forehead and chin.
“You look like shit,” X said. “But hey, so do I.”
The men around the table looked at Gran Jefe, waiting for him to react. The Cazador warrior cracked a smile, then laughed.
Everyone at the table chuckled nervously.
Gran Jefe took a slug of his drink, then wiped his mouth.
“Big bug try to bash your brains in,” he said. “Big monkey try to bash my brains in.”
A bell rang, drawing all eyes to the kitchen. The three crew members commandeered by the cook put the first bowls of soup up in the window.
“Come and get it!” one of them yelled. “Line up, though—no stampeding, ya damned animals!”
X remained sitting while the rest of the table emptied, all but Gran Jefe. This was a perfect opportunity to get a read on him.
“We’re lucky to be going home,” X said.
“Sí, lucky for la comida.”
“Indeed, we need our strength.” X scratched his beard and said, “When we get back, we’re going to have the upper hand against our enemy, but we will be vastly outnumbered. We have to be united to defeat Rolo and the others.”
Gran Jefe took another drink. “I said I fight,” he said.
X looked into his eyes, trying to read him. Gran Jefe seemed to have been hiding something for a while. But exactly what, X did not know.
A soldier brought a bowl to Gran Jefe and one to X. Another brought mugs of ale.
X stared longingly at the foamy liquid. He could almost taste it. But the moment he did, he would lose control. And considering what awaited them, he couldn’t afford to do that.
He lifted a spoonful of the steaming potato soup to his mouth, savoring that first bite.
All around him, men were shoving food into their mouths. The talking had quieted, replaced by slurping and contented sighs as the starving warriors scarfed down the first substantial food in a week.
X watched them, imagining how bad it might have been if they hadn’t discovered Yejun’s stash. There were few things in this world more dangerous than a starving man with a weapon.
As bellies filled and mugs emptied, the soldiers around the table began to loosen up. Some of them looked at X with respect in their gaze. Others, like Nicolas and Sebastian, no doubt felt guilt for what they had done. But others still didn’t seem to trust him.
X didn’t blame them for that. After failing to find the Coral Castle and failing to see Captain Rolo’s betrayal coming, he didn’t quite trust himself. Maybe it was all the talk of X being an immortal. Maybe he had begun to believe it.
“¡Un brindis!” Gran Jefe exclaimed. The Cazador lifted his mug into the air, ale sloshing over the side. “¡Viva el Rey Javier! All hail King Xavier!” Gran Jefe shouted. “The Immortal!”
X picked up his mug, not wishing to show disrespect. Across the room, the ship’s crew and warriors stood toasting a man whom many had wanted to see dead.
Perhaps some still did.
X couldn’t help wondering if this was just Gran Jefe trying to regain his trust. But it also didn’t matter. Gran Jefe knew the truth that there was no point in denying. X needed him.
He raised his mug up and nodded at the Cazador fighter.
“Fill your bellies; then rest,” X said. “In a few days, we will once again draw our swords—one last time.”
Shouts rang out, voices hungry for revenge.
Gran Jefe tipped back his mug and sucked down the contents, then dragged his wrist across his mouth. He stared at X, who had yet to take a drink.
X tilted his back and took a gulp. The ale went down smoother than he remembered. Laughing and shouts echoed across the room.
X felt revived, but he also felt a lingering dread. This moment was as fragile as life in the wastes. It could lead them to victory or end in death.
That wasn’t the only threat. X could also slip back into the darkness of the bottle. He couldn’t let that happen.
Sitting down, he pushed the mug away and pulled his bowl of soup back under his chin. But before he could begin, General Forge walked over.
“Sir,” he said. “We need to go to the CIC.”
X looked up, knowing it had to be an emergency. He excused himself with a nod and then tapped his thigh for Miles to follow him out of the mess hall.
“What’s this about?” X asked when they were in the corridor.
“We’ve picked up a broadcast, but it doesn’t make much sense.”
X double-timed it back to the CIC with Miles and Forge.
A group had gathered around the comm station, where Tiger was leaning over a screen.
“What do you got?” X asked.
“A broadcast, sir,” replied the corporal. “I’m working on it. Please stand by.”
“Who from?”
“Vanguard Islands, we think . . .” After a few agonizing minutes, Tiger straightened in his chair. “Okay, let’s try this.”
He tapped a button and turned up the volume. A voice crackled from the speakers.
“To the subjects of the Sun Empire, this is King Rolo with the daily address. This morning, the jury reached a verdict in the murder trial of Michael Everhart.”
X stepped closer to the comms station. The huddle broke to let him in.
“The former chief engineer, council member, and Hell Diver has been found guilty of murdering Oliver and his son, Nez,” Rolo continued. “I have sentenced Michael to be executed in three days for this atrocious crime as my first act toward achieving a peaceful future. There is no room for violence in the Sun Empire. We are all children of the same home.”
X stared at the radio, not wanting to believe his ears.
“How far from the islands are we?” X asked.
“Sir, several days, at best,” said Tiger.
X had already known the answer. The realization filled him with a rush of something he didn’t recognize. This wasn’t anger or dread. This was fear. His worst fear.
There was nothing X could do to save Michael from the evil that had taken root back home.
TWENTY-THREE
Coughing from the back of the troop hold woke Kade from a deep sleep. His eyes adjusted to the sporadic flashes of lightning outside the cockpit. The Sea King rattled violently under storm clouds, passing over the ocean.
Kade had dozed off despite the turbulence, the noisy aircraft, and the fact that they were searching for the king. The Forerunner wanted to find the hostiles responsible for their current plight. Which meant he wanted the people responsible for the radiation now poisoning their home. Sitting in the chopper seemed like a betrayal because Kade was, in a way, helping the knights hunt the Frog. But this was a potential opportunity to help X and his people. This was his ticket back to them.
Whether it was a betrayal or not depended on what the Forerunner planned to do. Kade had spent the past day pondering the mysterious cyborg’s intentions. Were they to engage in a conflict for food? Or to negotiate some sort of trading pact?
Only one person would tell Kade the truth . . .
He looked across the hold to Lucky. The knight was bent over, vomiting into a bucket. For most of the flight, he had been clutching it in his lap.
Lucky glanced up with swollen red eyes, snot dripping into his mustache. He wiped it away, dragging a strand across his half-moon scar.
There was still a lot Kade didn’t know about this man—how he’d gotten that scar, for instance. Maybe he could gain Lucky’s trust enough to ask what activating the Trident meant. His gut told him it was a beacon that would notify the Forerunner when they found the king so that the knights would know his location. But maybe it was something more than that. Maybe it was a call to arms. And if so, was that a fight the knights and the Forerunner could win?
Back at the Coral Castle, Kade had seen ten more of the elite knights, and a handful of guards who seemed to be less for fighting and more for security. All in all, the forces were not nearly enough to mount an assault against the forces King X controlled on the Frog alone.
Moreover, this chopper wasn’t exactly a war machine. It had a machine gun and some ammo, but not nearly enough to put up a fight against the Frog. The fuselage sounded as if it were coming apart at the seams, and he didn’t exactly trust the ancient-looking batteries in the back either.
Still, if somehow Lucky and Bulldozer did have intentions beyond finding the king—perhaps even trying to reach the Vanguard Islands—then Kade would stop them. Even if that meant using violence.
He hated thinking about that, but damned if he would lead them to his home.
Lucky said something, but Kade couldn’t make it out over the racket. “Can’t hear you!” he yelled.
“How the hell did your people live up here for so long?” Lucky shouted back.
“It wasn’t this bad. And you get used to it, mate.”
“Like I could get used to being kicked in the yarbles!” Bulldozer yelled from the cockpit. “It’s like being cramped inside a Tasmanian devil’s pouch, but with lightning trying to fry us.”
Kade unlatched his harness and started toward the cockpit. “How much farther?” he asked Bulldozer.
“Not long. Maybe an hour to the southern entrance of the canal.”
“Mind if I sit?”
Bulldozer shook his head. “Knock yourself out, Hell Diver.”
Kade took the copilot’s seat and fastened in. He searched the ocean on the horizon, using the flash of lightning to scan for land. So far, there was no sign of it.
King Xavier and the Frog were out there somewhere. Kade hoped they would find the ship before they made it home.
Home . . . That was what the Vanguard Islands were to him now.
Memories of the past billowed up in his mind like passing storm clouds. He knew how lucky he was to survive all that he had. But surviving without those you loved was a curse too.
A hand gripped the back of his shoulder and snapped him out of his daydream. Lucky looked as pale as a ghost.
“Something wrong?” Kade asked.
Lucky shook his head. “I don’t think I got anything left in my guts.”
“You should try and eat something,” Bulldozer said.
He tilted the nose down into another patch of turbulence. Lucky held on to his seat as the pocket rattled the chopper. He heaved again into the bucket wedged between his feet.
“Don’t chunder to death, mate,” Bulldozer called back.
Lucky groaned.
They flew another thirty minutes before the knight staggered up into the cockpit.
“Better?” Kade asked.
“Yeah, I think I got it all out.”
“Good. We’re five minutes out from the remains of Fort Kobbe,” Bulldozer said. “That’s where this outpost is, right?”
Kade nodded.
“Anything else we should know before we get there?” Lucky asked.
“There are—or were—fifty Cazador soldiers stationed there, plus the same number of civilians.”
“Do they have any antiaircraft weapons?” Lucky asked. “Anything that could take us out?”
“With a lucky shot, a rifle could take us out,” Bulldozer said.
“Then you best keep clear of any sharpshooters.”
“Aye, aye, sir.” Bulldozer threw up a half-assed salute and muttered something about having carnal knowledge of a kangaroo.
Kade couldn’t help but chuckle. The pilot was a weirdo for sure.
“Hold on,” Bulldozer said.
The chopper picked up speed as they flew over the last stretch of ocean to Panama. Kade watched the horizon like a hawk until he finally saw the dark outline of land.
