Chapter Twenty-One
Bren’s finger tightened on the trigger, ready to squeeze off a shot, when the running crunch of footsteps sounded right behind her.
She didn’t know whether to keep her aim or swing around to face the new threat. But then it was too late. The CS soldiers behind her were demanding she lower her weapon, while four others materialized from the darkness in the forest around her.
The chances of fighting their way out of three-to-one odds were not good, so she lowered her arm as the two soldiers behind her came forward and wrenched the gun from her grip and shoved her down to her knees.
A few feet away, Cam was getting the same treatment, except he was patted down for his weapons before they cuffed his hands behind his back and then forced him to kneel. He looked furious, like he was ready to take on all six soldiers single-handedly to escape or die trying. She didn’t think he’d do anything so reckless—at least she hoped he wouldn’t. Honestly, she didn’t really know what he was capable of when backed into a corner. And this was one hell of a corner.
“What do you want with us?” Cam demanded, pushing back to his feet, gaining the attention of all the soldiers.
“We heard rumors there were rebels in these woods,” one of the soldiers answered.
“We’re not rebels,” Cam answered heatedly, taking half a step forward.
“No? Well I don’t believe you.” The soldier rammed the butt of his rifle into Cam’s midsection, making him double over. Her heart slammed against her ribs, and she would have been at his side in an instant if not for the soldier holding her down.
The soldier nodded to another nearby, who tried to force Cam back to his knees, but he refused to go down, arguing they didn’t know anything about the rebels and had been trying to sneak across the border to claim asylum with the UEF. An Ilari citizen admitting they were trying to defect was almost as bad as being a rebel. And the soldiers didn’t look like they were about to give Cam any less trouble over it.
While they were distracted, she shoved her hand into her pocket and wrapped her fingers around her comm, pulling it free and stealing a glance at it, tapping her thumb on the distress icon. She wasn’t expecting a rescue team, but without any clues, Alpha and Yang would be left wondering what had happened when she didn’t call in the air strike.
She covertly shoved the comm into her bra. Not that she had any illusions it wouldn’t eventually be found. But at least this way, her people on the Valiant Knox would be able to track them until it was discovered.
One of the soldiers finally cuffed her, then gave her a rushed pat down, taking her knife, but luckily not discovering the comm. She’d taken a gamble on the fact many front line CS soldiers weren’t very well trained and had won. For now.
The man who seemed to be the leader ordered them to move, two soldiers taking the lead, while another two walked on either side of them, and the last pair brought up the rear.
“Don’t suppose you have a plan to get us out of this?” she murmured to Cam as low as she could.
He didn’t answer, didn’t even glance in her direction. The only sign that he’d heard her was the tightening of his jaw, where a muscle pulsed. He was clearly pissed about this, but giving her the silent treatment wasn’t going to help anything.
There’d been little chance they were going to get out of these woods without running across the CS soldiers—she’d worked that out shortly after Cam had left to scout the two soldiers he’d thought were following them.
She’d soon identified another pair closing in from the opposite direction, and after waiting the five minutes Cam had allocated her, started moving toward the rendezvous site. Despite knowing she might not make it on time to meet Nieman, she hadn’t run. She couldn’t have, not without drawing attention.
She’d stumbled on yet another patrol, nearly stepping right out in front of them. At the last second, she’d dropped behind a tree trunk, plastering herself against the bark and making herself as small as possible.
The CS soldiers hadn’t seen her as they’d passed, but she’d heard them talking about how CSS forces had intercepted a shuttle coming here, and arrested the CSS pilot for treason. They were looking for the rebels in these woods the traitor had been coming to meet. Somehow, they’d found out about Nieman, but at least the patrols only thought they were rebels. If the truth about them being UEF had been revealed, the soldiers would have very different orders. Probably kill on sight.
The shuttle wasn’t coming for them. They needed to find a way to join with the rebels, and Cam had thought there were only two soldiers in the forest. There’d been no other option but to try and warn him.
When she’d finally found him, almost by accident, she’d realized he was so focused on the CS soldiers he’d been tracking, he hadn’t noticed another two soldiers coming up behind him.
No doubt he had questions about her actions, but for better or worse, she’d done what she thought was right.
The CS soldiers walked them for almost an hour, more and more pairs joining the patrol until they were escorted by about sixteen enemy soldiers. They reached the edge of the woods where two shuttles were waiting.
“Where are you taking us?” Cam demanded as they were hustled inside one of the shuttles and then cuffed to their seats.
“The Vatica Center, outside the Holy City,” the soldier in charge answered. “You’ll be interrogated and tried there. Whether you really were trying to defect or are the rebels we were sent to find, you’ll need to be reminded of the Ilari way of life before your release.”
The Vatica Center was the CS soldiers’ name for their reeducation camp, the same one the rebels were planning to hit.
Well, she’d wanted a new way to join the rebels planning to strike. On the chance no one found her comm, she’d have to make a decision about ordering the air strike while Cam and she were still inside the building. But if it made the difference between the rebels losing or finally breaking the CSS hold on this planet, there was no debate to be had. Sometimes war required sacrifice. She’d learned that from Jordie.
…
By the time the ship touched down at the reeducation camp, Bren’s stomach was tense and heavy like it’d turned to stone. She wished she could have blamed the slightly ill feeling on the substandard pilot who had barely managed to keep the shuttle steady for the entire flight. But flying had never made her sick, so it had more to do with trying not to think about what would be in store for them once they reached the camp, and what would happen when the rebels attacked in a few hours.
The other thing making her nervous was the fact that she hadn’t gotten a chance to talk with Cam; they hadn’t been left alone for even a second. In fact, she hadn’t even been able to catch his eye. He was locked down, his expression a hard mask, a little like he’d been when she’d first started on this mission. Except this time, something about him was also stone cold. She didn’t know what the hell was going on with him, but it worried her.
They were marched off the ship and across the empty yard, all the fences around the compound laced with razor wire, soldiers patrolling on the outer side, spotlights sweeping back and forth in what could have only been an automated pattern, while the buildings themselves were austere—all plain concrete and metal.
Most of the soldiers stayed on the ship, and once their three CS soldier escorts had walked them clear, the shuttle’s hatchway closed and the ship took off again, blasting them with dust.
She went to raise an arm to cover her face, but the soldier closest to her grabbed her wrist and wrenched her arm back down again, telling her not to make any sudden movements. The soldier didn’t let go of her but used his grip to roughly steer her inside the building.
Her eyes hurt for a moment at the bright sterile light, after being out in the darkness for so long and the dim interior of the shuttle. Down a short corridor and through a barred, wire-mesh door, they were pulled to a halt. A high counter ran the length of one side, with several CS soldiers working behind it.
“Names,” one of the soldiers behind the desk asked, sounding bored.
Neither she nor Cam answered, and while she glanced at him, he kept his gaze trained straight ahead and expression motionless.
The CS soldier behind the desk looked up.
“Names,” he repeated, tone edging toward annoyed.
When they didn’t answer for a second time, the soldier standing closest to Cam hooked a fist into his abdomen. Cam started to double over, but the guard wrenched him upright again.
“Name, traitor,” the soldier practically growled. “The less you cooperate, the harder it’s going to be. Not only on you, but anyone you care about. We’ll find them, and we’ll bring them here to join you.”
“Ronald Martin,” Cam finally muttered through clenched teeth. It took the soldiers a minute, but as the one behind the desk started typing, they belatedly realized he’d used the name of their Pontifex.
The CS soldier next to Cam punched him again, this time in the face, then shoved him to the floor.
“What about you?” the soldier demanded, stepping over Cam, who was being held down by another soldier standing with his boot poised on Cam’s neck. “Do you have some smart answer as well, or are you ready to tell me your name?”
She glanced down at Cam, who was still frustratingly avoiding her gaze.
“My name is Leena Raymond,” she replied, hastily using her mother’s name before she was married.
“Good.” The soldier seemed somewhat appeased. “And are you willing to cooperate?”
She nodded, though agreeing left an uneasy feeling in her stomach when she didn’t know exactly what she was agreeing to.
“Strip them both.” The soldier clasped his hands behind his back, taking a step back.
“You already took our weapons,” she said, not wanting them to find the comm. But worse, the fear that he literally meant strip every article of clothing and ending up naked in front of a room full of men clawed into her, making it hard to breathe.
Everyone onboard the Knox had heard stories about these reeducation camps, but she’d never let them sink into her mind, because the fear of getting caught might have outweighed her sense of duty, and she wouldn’t have been an effective pilot.
Cam was pulled to his feet by the soldier who’d been ready to crush his windpipe, while the other soldier who’d been standing at attention behind her moved closer.
Without even realizing what she was doing, she closed a hand around the neckline of her shirt, as if that alone would keep anyone from taking it off her.
“You just promised to cooperate,” the soldier in charge said in a quietly menacing voice. “But this is going to happen whether you fight us or not.”
“Have some decency,” Cam said in a hard voice. Though he still hadn’t looked directly at her, his expression had gone from hard and cold to downright furious and freezing. “At least call a female soldier here and take her into a private room.”
“Traitors don’t deserve decency.” The soldier nodded to his companion, who started tugging Cam’s jacket off. Cam didn’t exactly resist, but he also didn’t make it easy on the soldier. In the end, the CS soldier ended up taking a knife to Cam’s shirt.
The leader looked over at her. “You can either remove the clothes yourself, or one of my men will do it for you.”
Her body shut down, panic rising. Her mind was shouting at her to do something, anything, but she couldn’t move a muscle. The soldier next to her began pulling at her jacket, but he’d hardly yanked it half off when Cam exploded into action. Despite being cuffed, he managed to put down the soldier who’d started stripping him, and as he closed the distance between them, knocked out the second CS soldier who came at him with a head butt.
The soldier who’d been pulling at her jacket was ready, but his apprehensive expression as Cam made a move for him probably meant the fight was already lost. The CS soldier started to pull a knife, but Cam kicked out at him, following the initial blow with a knee to the head, then leaving the unconscious man to drop to the floor.
Rounding, he put himself in between her and the only soldier left standing in the room, the one who’d been giving the orders.
“No one is touching her.” Cam’s words were low and lethal, with a chilling finality.
The CS soldier didn’t appear particularly worried about the fact that Cam had put down three of his men, even with the disadvantage of being cuffed. Another door opened, and several more CS soldiers came in, these ones with guns trained on them.
The soldier in charge took one of the guns off his men and walked over to press the barrel into Cam’s forehead.
Her heart screamed to a stop, free falling into nothingness and leaving her unable to breathe. The fear over her own fate was nothing compared to the utter terror that swamped her now.
“Please, don’t hurt him. I’ll do whatever you tell me.” She shifted forward, trying to get the man’s attention.
“How about I put a bullet in your head and then we do whatever the hell we want with her?” The CS soldier ignored her and pressed the gun harder against Cam’s head, forcing him down to his knees.
“It’d be a waste to kill me.” Cam sounded more pissed about the gun at his head than afraid.
“Why? Because you’re a rebel, not a defector? Tell me something I don’t know.”
“Because I’m UEF,” Cam shot back.
“No!” She went to take another step forward, but two other soldiers yanked her back.
“UEF?” The leader finally pulled the gun away from his head.
“My name is Colonel Cameron McAllister, United Earth Force military. Service number nine-nine-three-zero-six-three-eight-one.”
Triumph edged into the leader’s expression. “And her?”
“She doesn’t know anything about my mission.”
The soldier simply stared at him, and she could see him weighing things up, but she couldn’t tell whether he believed Cam or not.
“Put her in with the others,” the leader ordered his men without taking his eyes off Cam. “The colonel and I are going to have a little chat.”
When the soldiers holding her started tugging her toward the door, she resisted.
“No. Wait!” A new terror had taken hold of her—that she wouldn’t ever see him, again. That they’d torture and kill him. That he was sacrificing himself for nothing, because it probably wouldn’t even save her.
Except maybe it would. In only a few hours, the rebels were going to attack this facility. If the CS soldiers spent that time focused on Cam, if he strung them out, they might leave her alone. But how was she supposed to live with herself if she quietly let them lead her away, only able to imagine what horrors he was being subjected to so he could protect her?
“Go with them and don’t say anything,” he ordered, not even bothering to look over at her.
“No! You can’t—” One of the soldiers smacked her in the ear, nearly sending her to the floor. But they held her up and then dragged her when she didn’t get her feet moving fast enough.
“Our deal was no one touches her!” Cam had surged to his feet, yelling at the leader. The last thing she saw before the door swung closed was Cam getting pistol-whipped and dropping to the floor like a stone.
Oh God, what was she going to do? She considered telling them she was UEF as well, but all that would do was land her in the same kind of interrogation Cam was about to face. He’d sacrificed himself to save her.
But it wasn’t just her life at stake. Though he didn’t realize, he’d also prevented the CSS from finding the comm she’d hidden in her bra. Not only would the people on the Valiant Knox know she was behind the walls and fences of the camp, but if the CS soldiers didn’t find it before the rebels attacked, she’d still be able to call in the air strike. Without knowing the movements of the rebel troops on the ground, she couldn’t exactly coordinate like she’d planned. But she could call in the jets at the right moment, and Alpha would be able to take it from there.
So, she kept quiet as the soldiers led her through two more corridors, then stopped in front of a door. One of the soldiers uncuffed her while the other unlocked the door. As she was hustled in, four male figures rose from where they’d been sitting around the room. For half a second, a low swell of anxiety rushed up that the CS soldiers were locking her up with some unknown men, but then the faces registered as familiar, leaving only relief.
“Seb!” She rushed forward into his embrace, hugging him tight.
“Damn it, Bren, you weren’t supposed to end up in here, too.” He pulled back to grin down at her, though the expression didn’t reach his eyes. He was looking worse for wear, as were the others. Clearly the CS soldiers had interrogated all of them.
“Do they know?” she asked in a low, quiet voice, not sure if the CSS had the ability to hear whatever was said in this room. It was definitely some kind of interview or viewing room, with one entire wall looking to be a one-way mirror.
“That we’re UEF?” Seb asked in a normal tone. “One of the rebels betrayed us.”
Then she’d given away her hand by hugging Seb if anyone was watching on the other side of the glass. But the leader had clearly guessed the truth anyway. Why else put her in here?
“Where’s Colonel McAllister?” Harlow stepped closer, looking concerned.
“We got captured at the same time. He told them he was UEF to protect me.”
“Of course he did,” Bartlet muttered.
“There’s something else,” Seb said. “It’s Shen. She’s here. I saw her in another cell just down the corridor.
Hell. She couldn’t work out if this was great news or terrible news. They knew where she was, but they had no way of getting to her. And in a few short hours, their own squad was going to bomb the heck out of this place.
If they were being watched, she couldn’t tell Seb and the others about her comm or the air strike. It wouldn’t just give away a hand, it’d give away the entire game.