Eventually, after two long, fretful hours, the entrance to the sewers appeared. I stopped for a moment, hiding in the crumbled ruins of an old townhouse on the open, suburban street, searching the area for any traps or hidden soldiers. I scanned, switching between the settings in my headset, focusing in particular on my thermal and newly developed X-Ray vision. It looked like the coast was clear.

  Tentatively, I crept out onto the street, moving swiftly now towards the grate, hidden among the undergrowth at the side of the broken road. I stopped and scanned once more, looking down into the sewer from the street above, using my X-Ray function to search through the thick asphalt floor. Again, I spotted no signs of a trap. I bent down, gripping the ridges in the grate, and heaved it to one side.

  It was heavier than it looked, scraping loudly as I dragged it along the tarmac. Lenny, clearly, was stronger than he looked. He'd made it seem easy.

  I checked up and down the road once more, before stepping down into the sewers, lowering myself into the darkness using the rusted metal ladder. Stopping at the top, I reached out and pulled the undergrowth back into place over the grate, before returning the grate itself - with some effort, I had to say - into position. Then, I quickly descended the ladder, stepping onto the damp, cold concrete of the tunnel.

  I stopped, taking a moment to scan once more. I'd been told several times that this path out of the city remained a secret, used only by the VLA, but times as they were, I still needed to be careful. Confirming that there was no enemy presence ahead, I set off on my subterranean journey, night-vision activated, audio enhancer helping to listen out for possible threats.

  My focus remained intense as I worked through the labyrinthine sewer system, trying to recall exactly which route Lenny led us on several days ago. There were a number of crossroads and branching routes, a couple of which I had to stop at for a few moments of reflection before venturing on. And all the while, my nerves began to build, and the questions - those I'd been trying to hold at bay - began to bubble up in my mind.

  Are they safe? Did Mantis find them? Did I truly reveal the location of the safe-house to him?

  I cringed, as I had so many times over the past two days, at the possible ramifications of it all. A single slip of the tongue might have gotten the man I loved killed. It might have gotten my father killed. It might have gotten our leader killed, and the Empress of Neorome killed. It might have led to the discovery of Ares and his men, destabilising our entire operation.

  In the end, what Mantis did to me that morning, and what he forced me to reveal, may just have lost us this war.

  I stopped in the cold, dark tunnel, growing lightheaded at the thought, pressing my hand to the stone to steady myself.

  Maybe that's why Henry has been so confident over the last two days, I thought anxiously. He knows just how much damage I've done...

  I gritted my teeth, firming myself against the bitter notion. I'd been down that road already, during my time alone in my cell, and didn't need to return there again. I drew a breath and looked down the tunnel.

  You're close now, Paige, I told myself. Enough dour hypothesising. Go and find out the damn truth.

  I nodded to the firmer voice of my conviction, and continued on, working through the underground maze until the exit came into view. I gave no further mind to the probing concerns, putting them aside as I rushed for the ladder, scanned the world above, and emerged back into the familiar streets of Southbank, out in the old ruins where Ford and I once trained.

  It was a world I knew like the back of my hand, every street and crumbled building familiar, every fixed and hidden camera position known. I hauled the grate back into place and sped to the cover of a nearby building, getting into position to perform another scan before moving on.

  Once more, I found that the streets were clear, this part of city - now within the main city limits - ever abandoned and forgotten. I quickly drew up the map before my eyes, utilising the navigation function on my headset, double checking the route back toward the basement safe-house. I noted my path, before deactivating the map, clearing my vision once more.

  I continued on, keeping to the shadows of the buildings, following the same path as Lenny had led us on several days before. To better conceal my identity, I re-activated my mimic tech, changing my face and hiding my combat suit beneath the illusion of a large overcoat I'd scanned before.

  I moved swiftly, darting between cover, sticking to the blind spots between camera and surveillance positions. As I neared the neighbourhood where the basement safe-house was situated, I noted that the streets were entirely empty. Given the hour, that wasn't too surprising. Even though curfew wasn't being actively enforced anymore, pretty much everyone would be sleeping at this time of night.

  My nerves began to flourish once again, and I slowed my step to be sure I wasn't being followed. I did so randomly, darting into cover on occasion to check behind me. Nothing. I got no sense that I had any pursuers. Despite my feelings for the man, I trusted that Brutus hadn't set me up.

  It isn't a trap, I thought. But I need to be careful anyway.

  Memories came now, memories of only several nights before, when Mantis and his creeping cohort cornered me in that alley. I hadn't seen them coming, yet I hadn't been focusing properly either. I made sure to do so now, stopping and searching as often as I could, making absolutely certain that no one was nearby as I slowly, surely, made my way toward the safe-house.

  I rounded a final corner, turning down a wider street, my eyes darting left and right to make sure no one was nearby. A few lights shone out from the buildings around me, but mostly all was dark. I scanned the interiors and found that people were in their beds. No one was out on the streets. No rebels. No kids. No custodians or Reapers.

  I'm alone, I thought, staring now up the street. There, I saw the narrow entrance to the alleyway, where the secret door to the safe-house was waiting. There's no one here but me.

  I stepped out onto the road, moving for the mouth of the alley. A vague scent of smoke filled the air as I drew near, a faint mist swirling lightly out from the narrow lane, clinging to the floor.

  Another memory flashed in my head. That of the docklands base, billowing with smoke, pouring out from the subterranean safe-house after it was attacked by the agents of Northbank.

  My chest clenched tight at the thought. I sped quickly on, sprinting now up the road, rushing for the mouth of the alley. I reached it and, without stopping, plunged into the shadowed lane. My eyes zoomed in, hurrying halfway down...

  No...

  Smoke was softly emptying out into the open air, a few wisps and trails gently swirling from the broken wall. The secret door wasn't secret anymore. It was smashed and caved in, the safe-house exposed.

  No...

  I paced on, sprinting, losing my sense of focus as I rushed immediately for the broken door. I drew back my telescopic vision, scanning the interior, looking down into the basement using my thermal and X-Ray functions. I saw no one inside. No figures. No bodies.

  I let out a rushing breath, stopping at the threshold. I stared in through the broken brick door, down the corridor toward the stairs at the end. All was blackened and scorched, licked at by long-dead flame. The light smoke seemed to be coming from down the stairs, down in the basement itself.

  I moved in, speeding down the corridor, leaping down the steps toward the door at the bottom. The door sat open, though didn't looked to be damaged. I moved in and turned my eyes around. The entire place was a wreck, the living quarters at the rear burned to a crisp, the workstations and monitors to the side smashed and turned over.

  I stood there, staring blankly upon it all, my worst fears finally realised. The damage wasn't fresh, the flames now gone, only a few areas smouldering lightly. It looked like it had happened a day or so ago.

  Right after I was tortured, I thought. Right after Mantis extracted this location from me...

  I dismissed the illusion around me, and pulled up my headset. I felt numb as I moved deeper into the chamber, turning my eyes around, searching for bodies in the wreck. I reached the living quarters at the back, where the large dining table had been burned to its metal frame, the bunk beds collapsed and melted into a heap. The walls were still intact, somehow containing the blaze. I pulled my headset back down, and turned to my thermal sight once more, looking up through the building. It looked to still be occupied. The walls seemed to have been coated in something to prevent the fire from burning through into the floors above.

  The thought was idle, as I continued to scan, my heart thudding with a gentle, forlorn beat. Yet among the wreckage of the base, I saw no bodies, no signs of blood, no suggestion of a fight. I searched the walls and saw no bullet marks. I turned back to the doorway and saw nothing to suggest there had been a battle or firefight down here.

  I frowned, trying to think. Had they all just been captured without a fight? I wondered. Perhaps the enemy had used a nerve agent of some kind to knock them out? Who had even been down here when Mantis and his soldiers came?

  I stood, a ray of hope shining through the darkness of my thoughts, turning my eyes back to the section of desks and security monitors toward the front. If Lenny was down here, wouldn't he have spotted Mantis and his crew coming from a mile off? I'd seen those monitors, and knew that the streets and nearby neighbourhood here was well watched and surveilled. Perhaps they'd had some warning and had managed to escape? Not all, maybe, but some? Some, at least, might have managed to get out, just like they did at the docklands base...

  A noise sounded suddenly, my audio enhancer running in the background and picking up the light sound of footsteps in the alley up above. I tensed immediately, and rushed instinctively off to one side, finding cover behind an overturned table. Staying down, I flicked to my thermal vision and searched forward, through the door and up the stairs.

  The outline of a figure came into view, his body hidden within heat-resistant armour, his face uncovered and exposed. It glowed bright against the dark background, moving quickly down the corridor and stairs, heading right for the door.

  I tensed, reaching for my pistol, though something held me back. The shape of the face, the outline of the body. The suggestion of the pistol on one hip, knife sheathed on another.

  And then, in a flash, I knew.

  Before he even spoke, I knew.

  I stood, staring at the door as Ford came rushing through. His eyes sped around the room, finding me in a moment. His eyes widened in a shock as mine did the same.

  "Paige." He stopped, staring at me, as though thinking it a trick, some cruel illusion. "You're...really here?"

  I felt a swell of tears, as I inched around the side of the overturned table, body trembling.

  "We thought you were captured," he went on, staring at me. "Where...where have you been?"

  I didn't answer. I couldn't, not now. In a sudden burst, I sped right toward him, rushing into his arms. He stayed where he was, taking me in, wrapping me up.

  And suddenly, all the pent up fears I'd had were purged, all the terrible memories of Mantis's torture blown away like the morning mists. I gripped him as hard as I ever had, and gradually he did the same, arms strengthening around me like pythons, hugging me so hard I could hardly breathe.

  I didn't care. What was breath, anyway, when in the arms of the man you loved? I could lose a few of those right now. I couldn't live without air, but I wasn't sure I could live without Ford either. And right now, he took priority.

  We held one another in a passionate embrace, before our lips crashed together, merging into one. Smiles bloomed on our faces, our confusions and questions held at bay for now. My tears fell and dried just as quickly. Tears of impending grief became tears of relief, before finding their final form as tears of joy.

  Ford was alive, and safe, at least. I drew back, my emotions now settling, my mind returning to the questions that so tormented me.

  "The others?" I asked, the words rushing out. "Are they..."

  He nodded immediately. "They're safe," he said. "We're all safe, Paige."

  I almost crumbled to my knees at his words, my legs weakening, my guilt and anguish at what I'd told Mantis suddenly cast aside. Ford stepped in and held me up, before walking me over to one side, pulling an overturned table back onto its legs and perching me on the edge.

  He stood ahead of me, peering into my eyes. "What happened to you, Paige?" he whispered. "We've been trying to track you but..." He shook his head. "You just vanished."

  I nodded, satisfied - for now, at least - with the knowledge that the others were OK. Ford needed to hear my story first. The look on his face made that clear.

  And so, drawing a breath, I told him.

  11

  Ford paced ahead of me, shaking his head, trying to come to terms with everything I'd just said.

  Mantis's capture of me. My brief imprisonment at the facility outside the city. My time with Henry Vance, and his warped and dangerous philosophy. My heritage, and direct link to the original Worldkiller, the first telepath who triggered the global collapse.

  And finally, my escape with the aid of Brutus, the most unlikely knight in shining armour imaginable.

  "It's...it's a lot to take in, Paige," Ford said, shaking his head as he marched left and right. He seemed to have a hundred questions on his mind, though knew that now wasn't the time to ask them. Even being here didn't seem to be sensible. I still hadn't been told just what had happened. "Are you sure you can trust him?" He stopped, turning to me. "Brutus, I mean?"

  I nodded. "He's broken, Ford," I said, still perched on the edge of the table. "He's scared that we're going to win this war, and wants to get out before that happens. All he cares about is escaping with Artemia..."

  "And avoiding judgement," Ford said, voice a semi-growl. "The man's a goddamn coward. He has no honour at all."

  I nodded, my thoughts flourishing with the memory of Brutus, sat in the mud, stripped bare of his power and influence.

  "And these instructions he gave you?" Ford went on, drawing my eyes back up to him.

  I slipped a hand into my pocket and drew out the small envelope. I hadn't actually opened it yet. "Right here," I said. "He just wants Artemia delivered to a specific time and place on the mainland. He'll join her and then disappear east. That's what he told me."

  "If Domitian allows it," Ford grunted. "There won't be anything to stop him from having Brutus executed right there and then."

  "Nothing but his honour," I said. "Brutus may not have much, but Domitian does."

  "Yeah, well he hasn't tied himself to any such promise," Ford countered. "The deal was struck between you and Brutus. Brutus's job was to free you. Yours was to pass on the message. I'm not sure the Emperor is bound to any of that, not by honour or anything else."

  I thought for a moment, seeing that he might be right. But as much as I despised Brutus for what he'd done, a part of me still wanted to speak out on his behalf, and see the deal we'd struck fulfilled. Execrable as he was, there was some truth in what he'd told me when he'd pleaded for his life in the mud. That what he'd done had been under orders, first from his brother, then from his nephew.

  Should that earn him any clemency? I wondered. I suppose that's not for me to judge...

  "I guess it's not in my hands anymore," I said, vocally summing up my thoughts. "I'll pass on the message, and report what Brutus did for me. It'll be up to Domitian to determine what to do next."

  Ford nodded. "We can get a message to the bunker base soon," he said. "Then they'll be able to contact the main army on the mainland from there. As you say, it's not your concern anymore..."

  I stared at him, any thoughts of Brutus quickly dismissed by other, more pressing concerns. "So they're in position?" I asked, hopeful. "Cash and the others? They're at the bunker base?"

  He smiled, realising it was his turn, perhaps, to inform me of what had been happening. "They reached the base shortly after we arrived down here two nights ago," he explained. "They've been putting in preparations, scouting the Dover base, and getting ready to strike. It sounds like it's going well so far."

  "And the custodians there? The garrisons nearby? Do we know how well manned they are yet?"

  "To be confirmed," Ford told me. "Numbers appear strong, but plans are already being made to start an uprising here and draw some forces from the southern garrisons." He looked at me. "Your disappearance has been our main concern, so there's still a lot to do. We've all been searching night and day for information about your whereabouts, Paige. Your father's out there now, along with Kira and a couple of the VLA soldiers. Your dad, he...he hasn't slept." I saw, now, how tired he looked. "Neither have I."

  I slipped from the table once more, and drew him into a hug. "I'm sorry, Ford," I said quickly. "I was stupid. I shouldn't have gone off alone like that. I just..." I stopped, a dark cloud drifting through the clearing skies of my mind. "My mother," I whispered, mentioning her for the first time. I looked into his eyes. "They have her, Ford. They were using her as bait..."

  He began shaking his head, drawing a gentle smile. "They don't have her, Paige," he told me quietly. My eyes slowly opened, widening at his words. "We do."

  I drew back, confused. "But...Henry, he...he threatened her life. He used her to force me to work..."

  "He was bluffing," Ford said immediately. "He only told you that because he knew there was no way of you finding out otherwise." He reached out, squeezing my shoulders. "She's OK, Paige. We took her in as soon as we realised you were missing. We weren't going to take a chance."

  Tears leaked from my eyes, re-wetting my cheeks. It was so much more than I'd expected, so much more than I deserved. I'd been freed, and everyone I cared about was safe. Lady Luck, it seemed, had looked upon me favourably tonight.

 

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