Occupied Earth Read online

  Adeline waved this away. “It’s all right, agent, this isn’t an inspection. Though,” she ran a finger over the shelf, collecting a thread of dust, “the house could stand a cleaning.”

  “What can I do for you, then?” Harper said as he pulled off his coat and tossed it onto a ratty Chesterfield. “I’m afraid we haven’t gotten any more leads since Jo and I saw you this morning.”

  “I need you to tell me where I can find the local Red Spear cell,” she said, as much of a command as it was a request.

  Harper briefly pinched his lips together. “I’m afraid I wouldn’t know anything about that, ma’am.”

  Adeline gave him a crooked, knowing grin, and said deliberately, “Come now, agent. Remember what I said this morning about my access? How do you think I was able to find not only your home address but the key code to unlock your door?”

  Harper looked back over her shoulder at his front door. “My family will be home soon. My wife… she’s picking the kids up from school.”

  “Boy and a girl, yes? I understand your son has made some… interesting remarks in regards to our Mahk-Ra masters.” Adeline let the silence hang between them for a moment, relishing the anger that flowed beneath Harper’s face, before cheerfully adding, “I wouldn’t worry, though. Thirteen, by Mahk-Ra standards, is still considered pliable, so I doubt the Talon will take any notice. Inflammatory rhetoric only becomes a problem when someone reaches fourteen.” She smiled. “When is your son’s birthday, by the way?”

  Harper stuck his tongue in his cheek and let out a quiet, angry laugh as he shook his head. “Red Spear cells don’t exactly put their addresses on the internet. And, as I’m sure you’re aware, they keep their cells tight, so they’re pretty damn hard to pin down.”

  “Yes, but something tells me you know more than you let on.”

  “I’m an agent of the Federated Bureau—”

  “You’re also human.”

  “And you’re not?”

  “Some think otherwise.” She stepped closer to him. “I know you have formed a close friendship with agent JoHannas, which is admittedly rare between our two species, but even so, I still see a… resistance behind your eyes which tells me you have a lot to lose… Agent Harper,” Adeline said with an amused tone, “are you a member of the Red Spear?”

  “I ain’t suicidal.”

  Adeline tilted her head to the side. “But…”

  “I hear things.”

  “Do you, now?

  Harper turned away and began pacing the room, a hand over his mouth. He was turning back round to her when he paused by the family portrait. “You two had a falling out, didn’t you?” he asked suddenly.

  “We did,” she confessed without moving her gaze from him. Her heart hammered. “It was years ago.”

  “What was it about?”

  “She found out who I was,” she admitted. She felt the layer of dust still clinging to her skin, and began rubbing her forefinger against her thumb. “What I had done. She couldn’t forgive me.”

  Harper didn’t stop himself from letting out a curt laugh. “Can’t say I blame her.”

  “Yes, well, it’s a pity not all of us are angels.”

  “If you’re asking me to apologize…”

  “Isn’t that what you’re asking of me, agent?”

  “I’d be a fool to ask anything of the woman who sold the world.” Harper let out another curt laugh and glanced to the ceiling with a bemused expression. “South Lucile Street and Fourth Avenue South. There’s a factory, what used be a factory, at least. You might want to drive by there in an hour or so.”

  “Need some time to send out the homing pigeons?”

  “South Lucile Street and Fourth Avenue South,” Harper repeated. “I recommend you travel light.”

  “Hm,” Adeline sounded. “Thank you, agent. That will be all. And don’t you worry. This conversation never happened.”

  She began to leave when Harper called after her, “Candle, Redwood, May.”

  Adeline stopped and looked back at the agent, his hands stuffed in his pockets.

  “Maybe if you say it to them they won’t shoot you,” he added.

  Adeline nodded. “Thank you, agent.”

  Her car had returned outside, her chauffer standing by the passenger door. Adeline could see the latent concern on his face, but he simply touched his cap and moved to open the door. “Ma’am. Are we heading back to the Magistrate?”

  “South Lucile Street and Fourth Avenue South.”

  Her chauffer hesitated and gave her a nervous smile. “I’m sorry, ma’am, did you say South Lucile and Fourth?”

  Adeline raised her chin. “Is there a problem?”

  “Ah, no ma’am, no. None at all. It’s just—It’s just the area, you know. It isn’t exactly the safest for someone of your… standing.”

  “I was quite clear with my instructions. If I had wanted your opinion I would have granted you permission to give it.” Impatient, Adeline opened the door herself and began to climb in when she saw Harper’s wife walking up the block with their two children, the daughter’s hand holding on to her mother’s. Her small, little hand.

  Adeline slammed the door close before the other woman could recognize her.

  Adeline rode the entire way in silence, her mind drifting forward, measuring every step she needed to take, while considering every danger ahead of her, every landmine she would have to avoid. It reminded her of the days before the war, when every waking moment had been secretly dedicated to the Mahk-Ra, before the world had even known of their existence. Adeline felt a wave of bitter nostalgia, as if a pleasant childhood memory of one’s parents had been suddenly soiled by an adult realization of infidelity.

  The car moved off the highway, down a poorly maintained ramp into what had once been referred to as Greater Duwamish. The tires rattled over twisted and broken train rails causing Adeline to clutch the armrest. With so much of North America’s—and for that matter, the world’s—industry shifting toward aiding the Mahk-Ra interstellar war effort, there was little need for the sort of production that had once filled the area, leaving it to ruin. To Adeline’s eyes, it almost seemed as if everything had been drained of its color before washed in brown and grey. Or perhaps that was simply her mind.

  “I’ll be getting off here,” she announced as the car pulled up to the corner of Fourth and South Lucille. A forlorn, crumbling factory sat across the street, its windows boarded up, a padlocked chain covering the door.

  “Ah, ma’am… Are you sure?” the chauffer asked through the rearview mirror. “This is a really dangerous neighborhood.”

  “I believe I was quite clear. This should only take an hour, make sure I’m not waiting.” She opened the door and stepped out.

  She stood in the middle of the street, her hands clasped behind her back as she stared at the derelict building, feeling a dozen hidden eyes staring back. The car hung there for several moments before slowly driving away, the chauffer’s hesitation palpable. Adeline paid it no mind. She was a patient woman. She would wait here as long as she needed.

  As it turned out, she only needed to wait a half-hour.

  They appeared all around her, moving out from behind broken brick walls, shattered doorways, and dilapidated cars. At first glance, none of them looked like freedom fighters, they were grandparents, mothers and fathers, young men and women; dressed in the sort of everyday clothing one would see in a major metropolitan area. It was only the hate in their faces and the guns in their hands, that told where their alliance truly lay. She kept her gaze forward as they closed in and stared at her in silence. A small bead of sweat trickled down the back of Adeline’s neck, more from the sun that broken through the clouds than any sense of fear.

  Several moments passed before the chain linked door in front of her creaked open. An older man, dressed in stained camouflage fatigues, an arm resting on the rifle strung across his chest, ducked under the chain and slowly walked toward her. His booted heels crackled agai
nst the shattered pavement. Adeline recognized his scarred visage instantly from her recent Red Spear Intel reports. Duncan Briggs, the former London-based terrorist responsible for more attacks on Mahk-Ra interests in Europe than any other human. The Mahk-Ra had tried to have him assassinated more times than she could remember. There had been some shake-up in the local cell after the incident with the Overseer ship. Briggs had been brought in to clean house.

  “I see you got Harper’s homing pigeon.”

  Briggs frowned. “Harper?”

  Adeline smiled coyly despite herself. “Quite the reception,” she said with the air of visiting dignitary. “I always appreciate an armed response.”

  “Pretty ballsy you comin’ out here all on your own,” Briggs said, his Scottish accent tinged with a decade of London.

  She smiled. “I pride myself on my initiative. Though for someone of your notoriety I am surprised that you took the time to answer the door.”

  “When your houseguest is Joanne Adeline, you roll out the red carpet.” A handheld scanner was passed over her body by one of his crew, checking for surveillance devices.

  “Why’re we talking when we should be shootin’?” an older man said from Duncan’s left, his gun already aimed at Adeline’s sternum.

  “We’re talking because you know who I am,” Adeline said to Duncan in response.

  “It’s because of who you are that my friends’ trigger fingers are itchin’,” he said, broadly waving his hand at his compatriots. “Most of ’em might not be old enough to know firsthand what you did, but they know the stories quite well.”

  “I can imagine.” Adeline shifted her feet slightly, relieving a bit of tension in her calves. “Besides, they should be hard pressed to not know my face. I am the Director of the North American region. I’m certain they’ve seen me on the net or television.”

  Duncan gave her a lackadaisical grin and shrugged.

  “But the real reason why you haven’t done what I am certain you all wish you could do is because you know why I’m here.”

  “Do we now?” Duncan said, frowning theatrically as he began to pace around her.

  Adeline took a deep breath, feeling surprisingly nervous. “My daughter was part of your cell.”

  “She was,” Duncan said at last.

  Adeline looked to her shoulder as Duncan rounded his way in front of her. “She told you she was my daughter?”

  “First words out of her mouth.” He leaned in close, their noses almost touching. He was trying to scare her, but Adeline wouldn’t give him the pleasure flinching. “It was like she was sitting in a confessional and I was her priest.”

  “Good. Then let’s continue the familial tradition and go inside for privacy.” She gestured to the sky with her eyes. “There is always someone watching.”

  Duncan glanced up to the clouds, knowing there would be drones passing over soon. “There is. But, why do you think we should trust you, of all people?”

  Adeline took a deep breath and said, “Candle, Redwood, May.”

  Duncan stared at her placidly before he pressed his tongue to the inside of his cheek and nodded. He gestured to the abandoned factory. “Bring her in.”

  Two rebels stepped up on either side of Adeline, grabbed her arms, and pulled her toward the door. Adeline didn’t bother to resist, she knew there was no point, they would kill her or they wouldn’t. It was ultimately up to her which outcome would occur.

  The inside of the factory was as derelict as its exterior, with an angled pillar of light cutting in from a large gaping hole in the ceiling, dust and soot glimmering. The concrete floor was lined with gravel and a thick powder, while the mechanical remains of some lost industry dotted the space like Terracotta soldiers. A part of her was almost impressed with the Red Spear, their fortitude and outright stubbornness at remaining a potent counter-force this long.

  Duncan sat down atop a small, dust-covered table, leaving one foot firmly pressed to the ground. The two men holding Adeline let her slip free and stepped back, their guns ready, while the remaining freedom fighters surrounded them in a semi-circle. Adeline brushed the grit off her sleeves.

  “So you’re here to talk.” Duncan opened his arms expectantly. “Talk.”

  “I want you to help me take down the Talon.”

  She had expected laughter, which made the silence that came all the more discomforting.

  “Oh, that’s just bloody rich, coming from you,” Duncan said with an angry grin. “You shoulda gone into comedy you should. Probably woulda made a better livin’ than you do now.”

  Adeline didn’t bother to retort.

  “Tell me why?” Duncan asked sounding almost amused by the absurdity of it all. “After all this time. After all you did, why would you bring the war back to their front door.”

  Adeline arched an eyebrow. “Does it really matter?”

  “Of course it fucking matters!” he shouted, slamming a palm down onto the table. “The woman who sold out her planet, her whole fucking species to the mocks. The woman who has more blood on her hands than any other monster in human fucking history, walks in telling me she’s suddenly gone turncoat? Knowing why is the only fucking thing that matters right now!”

  Adeline inclined her head, looked him in the eye, and calmly said, “Because they killed my little girl.”

  Duncan placed his hands on his hips and let out a sigh that might have been a laugh. “Is that all it really takes?”

  “They beat her to death,” Adeline said, her lower lip quavering. “Brutally, leaving her little more than a bloody sack of pulp. And when they matched her genetics and discovered who she was, they took her body and tossed her into the bay like she was trash. Then they did all they could to cover their tracks, going so far as to pretend my daughter didn’t exist. They killed my daughter and then they lied to me. They lied to my face.”

  Duncan’s eyes narrowed, deciding whether he believed her or not, but Adeline knew the balance was beginning to tip in her favor. “That’s touchin’. Real touchin’. But you’re still the one who handed them the world on a silver platter. For all we know, you’re just staying true to form and selling us all up the river again. Why should we believe anything you say?”

  “Because I have something to offer.” Adeline carefully reached into her pocket, mindful of the guns that were quickly aimed in her direction. Her fingers wrapped around a small plastic and metal stick, warm from her body heat. It made everything suddenly become all the more real. There would be no turning back.

  “Whatever it is, you best bring it out slowly.” There was a smattering of guns engaging, safeties being switched off. Duncan held out his hand. “Like I said, you make my friends real itchy.”

  Adeline kept her eyes locked on his as she leaned forward and placed the hard drive in his palm.

  Duncan rolled the drive onto his fingers and caught it between his forefinger and thumb. He held it up like a teacher holding a student’s note up in class. “What is this?” he asked. The smirk on his lips indicated he already knew the answer but wanted Adeline to say it aloud.

  “A back up of my system at the Magistrate. I took the liberty of copying it before I came here. Proof that I am legitimate. It has everything you could ever want to know about the Mahk-Ra in this territory. Arms locations, passwords, key codes, troop deployments, both Earthbound and extraterrestrial. Even the identities of undercover agents in your organization… Any question you need answered,” she nodded at the drive, “is in there.”

  Duncan delicately turned the drive over. “For all we know this could be all lies, or at the very least, half-truths to gain our trust. Worse, it could be a bomb or a tracking device that turns on when inserted into a computer. All we need to do is put it into one of our computers and… Boom. There goes the Seattle cell.”

  “There’s always risk in revolution,” Adeline said with a smug, lopsided grin. “I should have thought you would have known that by now, seeing as you’re the professional.”

  His
fingers curled around the drive. “In this industry, the only way to become a professional is by stayin’ alive. And one way I do that is by not trusting Joanne fucking Adeline.”

  “The Mahk-Ra did and look where it got them,” she said, turning back toward the door. “Go through it, double check it. Triple check it. Once you’re satisfied, use the number I’ve given you on the drive to contact me.” The two men that had dragged her in stepped up and blocked her way. She waved her hand dismissively at them. “Call off your watchdogs, Briggs, my ride should be waiting outside.”

  “Let her go,” Duncan said with reluctance.

  The guards and surrounding rebels parted like the Red Sea. Adeline marched through, ignoring the tingling sensation she felt in the back of her head. She just needed to put one foot in front of the other as if she were walking through her kitchen to make herself tea. They couldn’t let them sense the trepidation, and oddly, the fear that had begun to boil in her stomach.

  One of the rebels pushed open the chained doorway. Daylight spilled through the narrow opening, looking, briefly, like a cut in the fabric of reality. Adeline ignored the scowling, twisted look of disgust on the soldier’s face, ducked beneath her outstretched arm, and the chain beyond. Adeline blinked as her eyes adjusted and saw her car waiting across the street. Her chauffer was in the driver’s seat, leaning up against the steering wheel. His expression of abject dread and panic reminded Adeline of a circus clown from her youth. The driver jumped out of the car and made his way around to the passenger side in quick, tight, jogging steps.

  “Ma’am, please hurry,” he said in a hushed breath. He watched the factory door, anticipating gunfire. “Are you all right?”

  “Get back in the car,” Adeline snapped.

  “Do you want to head back to the Needle, ma’am?” he asked after he had peeled out and launched the car down the street.

  “Home,” Adeline said, massaging her right temple. Her hands were shaking. From the adrenaline, she told herself, knowing it was a lie.

  Harper and Duncan had both called her the woman who had sold the world. She had heard the term before, had even relished hearing it. It elevated her, placed her, rightfully, above every other human in the galaxy. But then why did it suddenly feel like a curse? Why did it feel like salt poured on a wound? She knew the answer, but she refused to admit it.