The Last Revolution (31 page)

“We need these suits fixed before we can make our next move. I don’t have the time to assist you with them, but Alden has agreed to help. I’ll be in the command center, but don’t hesitate to ask if you have any questions.”

Alden watched him leave. “So, you’re not in charge anymore?”

“Nope, I was relieved of my command last night.”

“That’s an odd way to show appreciation for what you did.”

Thereon smiled. “It’s not like that. I never wanted the position in the first place. My wife and I couldn’t be happier that he’s taken over.”

“You’re married?” Alden was a bit surprised; how’d he miss that?

“We don’t exactly make it public.” Thereon picked a tool off the bench and handed it over. “Unscrew plates here and here.” He gestured to several different locations on the chest. “If the Council had found out, they would have used her to get to me. We married in secret, and have only told a select few. I won’t let anything happen to her.”

“Why are you telling me then? Not that I don’t appreciate it.”

“Things are different now. The General has returned. They don’t need me to lead troops any more. I’d much rather work with my hands on things like this.” He pointed at the suit. “If I never have to give another motivational speech about not giving up, it’ll be too soon.”

Alden felt an invisible weight lift from his shoulders. He would never admit it, but since their arrival, part of him had felt like he was competing with Thereon for Kira’s attention.

“Your secret is safe with me. So, what do you know about these suits?”

“In another life I was an engineer. When the leadership role fell into my lap, the first thing I did was try to get these suits working again. Unfortunately I was never able to bypass the security protocols. In my haste, I tried to force a manual override of the white suit, but it tripped the fail-safe and fried the system. We were never able to power it back up. As you can see, I left this one alone. Stone explained the security system to me earlier this morning.”

“Do you know what he has planned?” Alden asked. “He seemed pretty fired up last night.”

“He’s a machine. Didn’t sleep a minute, had me set up calls with resistance fighters across the lunar surface and even some on Terra.”

Alden pictured the masked soldiers on the Island, buildings engulfed in flame. They had to have been based on Earth to mount that type of attack. The reactor was obviously not in Apollo City, but it could easily be hidden in one of the other colonies. However, it would have been difficult to smuggle off the surface. It had to be back on Earth or with Alexander.

“Will we be required to attack Earth?” Alden asked.

“Have family back there?”

Alden nodded.

“I can’t say for sure, but I doubt it. The attack on Traterous took everything we had. It would be next to impossible to mount any form of credible attack on Terra. They’re just too powerful. We have a hard enough time getting people to and from the surface as it is.”

“What about from one of the other colonies?”

“Even more doubtful. You’ve seen what we have here and we’re one of the most well-equipped of all the resistance movements. I hear there are food shortages in New Beijing. If they can’t even feed themselves, how would they launch an attack on Earth?”

Something wasn’t adding up, he’d seen firsthand what the colonists were capable of on the Island. Thereon wasn’t telling him something.

“That should do it.” Thereon lifted the metal chest plate off the suit, and set it aside. They pulled several other components off the chest and lower abdomen area. Securely placed at the back of the suit was the small core. It was visibly scarred and showed signs of damage. He twisted the charred energy canister until it was released from the chamber. Suddenly there was a loud clanking sound as something dropped behind them.

They spun around towards the entrance, but no one was there.

“We already heard you, come out now,” Thereon commanded. Despite giving up his leadership role, he still demanded attention and respect. A teenage boy walked out from behind the corner. “Naiad! What have I told you about sneaking around while I work?”

“Who’s this?” Alden asked.

“This is my…son.”

“Really, you have a son too? Well he umm… looks just like you.” He knew it was an awkward thing to say the moment he said it. Thereon’s pale skin was a far cry from the kid’s dark complexion.

“That’s kind of you to say, but we adopted him.” Naiad approached the table.

Thereon looked over at the boy. “If you want to help, grab a tray from the bench and pick up all the small parts from the suit. We don’t want to lose anything.”

He smiled and then hurried off to do what he’d been asked.

“Good kid.”

Thereon nodded. “I shared a cell with his father in Traterous. His wife died during childbirth. He made me promise to look after him when I was released.”

Along the far wall, the boy picked pieces off the floor.

“When will his father be released?”

“He passed away during an interrogation session not long after I was let out. His father was the only reason I survived. I love that kid more than anything else in this world.”

“Does he know about his parents?” Alden had spent more nights than he cared to remember imagining what his parents looked like; who they were, where they came from. For as long as he could remember, it had just been him and Father McKinley.

“Every day, I fear he will come and finally ask me where his parents are. Idon’t know what I’m going to tell him, or how he’ll respond.”

Alden’s grip tightened around the tool as he maneuvered a bolt into the suit. “I’m sure you’ll think of something when the time comes.”

“Careful,” he cut in. “Any tighter and you’ll fuse that bolt into the metal.”

“Sorry.” He picked up another piece and ratcheted it into place. “So, with General Stone back, will Alexander return now?”

He shrugged. “If this comes to war, Stone will want every asset he can pull together. It doesn’t get bigger than Alexander Hawkins.” Thereon looked up from his work. “You should have seen the general last night, everything he did had purpose. The man was on fire. The look in his eyes...if the war came tomorrow he’d win it himself, just like Helsinki.”

Since they’d returned from Traterous the only thing anyone had talked about was war. Alden had seen war; it was ugly and devastating. He seemed to be the only one in the colony that didn’t want the world to fall into chaos. It was imperative he learned when the attack would begin so he could warn the Council. To stop this he would need a lot of support.

Whoever betrayed the Council was still out there. Once he discovered the timeline for the attack he would have to pass it onto someone he could trust. The Polemarch! He’d known him since he was young. Vasentus trusted him; he was about to appoint him to internal affairs. Not to mention, as Polemarch he was in charge of the Council’s military. He’d be able to send him the troops required to quell the rebellion. Unfortunately, he still didn’t know if he’d survived the assassination attempt during the attack on the Island. Not to mention how he’d get in contact with him.

Naiad dropped one of the pieces he’d picked up. It clanked against the cement.

If he brought the Council back here, this would all go away. He could stop the increased hostilities before anyone else was lost, but what would happen to Thereon and Naiad? He could try and persuade the Council to be lenient on Thereon, but deep down he knew that wasn’t possible. Naiad would grow up without any family, another angry colonist unable to release his rage in a positive way. The downward spiral would continue. Would he be sent back here in ten years to fight another rebellion? Was it possible for the lunar colonists to live in peace with the Three Nations and the Council? Was freedom the best option for peace?

The next few days passed in a blur of unending work. Alden barely slept and he spent every available moment in the shop rebuilding the suits. Kira came by regularly with food and often stayed to help. Despite the long hours, he hadn’t felt this good in a long time. On the Island he’d loved to spend time in the hangar, working on his plane. He was always trying to find a way to make it faster, deadlier.

Thereon and Naiad worked tirelessly with him on both suits. It was as if the project brought purpose back into Thereon’s life. Something he could control. Groups of soldiers, and other visitors, stopped by regularly and checked in on his progress. This was usually followed by some congratulations or unsolicited offers of advice. He was thankful for the breaks in the silence. When he was left to his thoughts, they always returned to the same place. The events replayed over and over in his mind like a broken record worn past its useable life.

He was back on the Island. It was a beautiful day and he walked down the sidewalk at the edge of campus. Students were forbidden from leaving the grounds except for exercises and combat practice. It had been a week since his fight with Gabriel, and several months since they’d returned from Hyperion. It was time to go. Alden glanced over his shoulder to make sure that no one had followed him.

The coast was clear. He’d timed it with the period change. When he returned, he’d come up with an excuse for his tardiness. Alden turned right and jogged up the dirt road that climbed up the side of the central mountain. A switchback path had been carved through the jungle. He hoped they had a nice view up there.

“Where are you going?”

He reeled around, but all he found was the empty path behind him. The trees swayed in the tropical wind. It gave the jungle a sense of unease and restlessness.

“Who’s there? Who’s following me?”

An odd sense fell over him. It was as if he was being watched, but no response came. He had made it far enough up the path that he was out of earshot of the campus. Until this moment he’d been sure that his absence had gone unnoticed.

Alden increased the speed of his jog and continued up the mountain. He was surrounded by ghostly apparitions of Daniel, Mary, and Gabriel. Years and years spent running up and down this very path. He could picture them as children playing tag or racing each other to the summit.

Crack!
He jumped and turned to his left, but there was nothing. He had definitely heard
something
this time. “I know you’re out there, stop messing around and come out of the bushes!” There was only deafening silence.

“If you don’t come out here, I’m going in after you!” More silence.

“Assholes!” Alden sprinted the rest of the way up the trail. Even alone amidst the dense jungle, he couldn’t get any peace. No matter where he went, the comments, taunts and judging followed him.

“Screw everybody!” Alden yelled at the air as he ran. He hated this place!

At the fork in the trail he ran to his left down the dirt path until it opened up onto a small clearing. Beyond the outer edges of the field, the mountain sloped away to the campus far below and the ocean beyond that.

In the middle of the open space were two simple graves. He used his sleeve to wipe the sweat from his forehead. He approached the headstones one slow step at a time. He made sure to give them a wide berth. Slowly rounding the edge of the plot, he knelt, and for the first time since the mission, was reunited with his teammates. Running his fingers over the stone, Alden felt each groove, almost as if reading them without seeing. Daniel, Mary…

He tried to keep it suppressed, push it down, bury the feeling, but it was so strong. His eyes burned and his head throbbed with uncontrollable pain. “I’m sorry, I’m so, so sorry,” was all he could manage between quiet, dry gasps for air.

“What are
you
doing here?” Gabriel stood several feet behind him, his fists firmly clenched at his sides.

“So you were the one who followed me here!”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about. I just walked up from class. I come here every day! Hearing voices in the woods are you? You really are crazy.”

The hair on the back of his neck rose up. “It was you! You’re the one spreading the lies about me!”

“Lies? Lies!” Gabriel shouted back. “Your arrogant, sociopathic desire for acceptance got Mary and Daniel killed! The only lie is this school letting you back in! You’re a disgrace, a cancer on us all!”

Alden wasn’t sure if he should attack Gabriel, or puke. “How could you do this to me, we were friends…we were brothers!”

“Brothers would never put themselves before those they cared about!” Gabriel shoved Alden in the chest. The force sent him sailing through the air and he landed with a thud.

Alden sprang back to his feet. He tackled Gabriel and lifted his fist to throw punches. The sun glinted off the gravestones. They wouldn’t want this.

“It’s not worth my time, I’m outta here.” Alden lifted himself up and walked away.

“That’s right, walk away, you coward! That’s what you’re best at!”

After all these years, the words still stung as if Gabriel had just said them. Alden was back in Apollo City, under the domed park at the bottom of the canyon. Earth was just rising over the edge of the rock walls. The great blue oceans reflected the distant sunlight. There was such comfort in the familiar sight. Although he’d interacted with Gabriel on a few other occasions, that was the last time they’d really talked; if you could call it that. Some part of him had always hoped they might eventually work past it, but now he was dead and that was no longer an option.

“I thought I might find you here.”

Alden turned. Kira walked towards him. They were surrounded by dozens of ancient rockets that had been used in one form or another to advance human space flight. It was the closest thing Apollo City had to a museum and he enjoyed spending time down here. There were few visitors and it allowed him space to think.

“How’d you find me?” Alden smiled.

“It’s the middle of the night, what are you doing out here?”

“Couldn’t sleep.” He peered through the glass roof at the black space above. “There are so many people inside the colony…it just feels good to get away from everyone once in a while.”

“Including me?”