Metal and Ash (Apex Trilogy) Read online

  ***

  “Give me details,” Jenny said as she sat down at the control panel and watched the sensor screens. “They just blipped out?”

  “Yeah,” Marcus Conroy, the new lead tech for the train, replied. “There then gone. But spotters can still see them.”

  “Dog’s up top and watching them for us,” Jenny said.

  “I thought he hates being called that,” Marcus said.

  “He does, but I’m sure as shit not going to call him Rookie forever. And Razor is out of the question. He doesn’t ever want to be reminded of his cage fighting days.”

  “You can’t come up with some cute nickname?” Marcus smiled.

  “Like what? Pookems?”

  Marcus held up his hands. “I don’t know. That’s between you and Pookems.”

  The sensors chirped for a second then quieted.

  “Did you see that?” Marcus asked. “They were back on the screen for a moment. Why?”

  “I don’t know. Let me check in with, uh…”

  “Your boyfriend?” Marcus smiled.

  “Oh, shut the fuck up.”

  ***

  “You see anything different?” Jenny asked over the com. “We had a reading for a split second.”

  The Rookie kept his eyes on the ATVs that were following them. “Nothing new. They’re still there, keeping their distance, but holding pace.”

  “Those aren’t normal ATVs,” Jenny stated. “They wouldn’t be able to maintain that speed for this long.”

  “I’ve seen some fast ATVs,” the Rookie responded. “You get a mechanic that knows what they’re doing and you’d be surprised.”

  “Not on that terrain,” Jenny argued. “I don’t care how good the mechanic is. We’re on a smooth track and their bouncing around the wasteland. There’s something going on.”

  “You want to get gunners ready?” the Rookie asked. “Just in case.”

  “Not yet,” Jenny said. “I don’t want to provoke them. Maybe they’ll slack off when we’re out of their territory.”

  “What territory?” the Rookie asked. “There’s no one out here. The only survivor pocket that has ever been here was… Oh, fuck.”

  “What?” Jenny asked, hearing the fear in the Rookie’s voice. “What is it? You know who this is?”

  “It can’t be,” the Rookie whispered to himself. “No fucking way.”

  “Rookie? What the fuck are you muttering about?”

  “I thought it was Pookems?” the Rookie asked.

  “Oh, shit, you heard that?”

  “You kept your com on,” the Rookie smiled, hoping to joke the chill from his bones. “Just for the record I really do prefer Rookie.”

  “Ok, fine, Rookie it is,” Jenny said. “Now about those ATVs?”

  The Rookie hoped he was wrong. He would give anything to be mistaken.

  “Rookie?”

  “Yeah, yeah, I have an idea,” the Rookie said. “But it can’t be. The Boss ran them off and wiped them out. Every last one of them. He raped half our village to celebrate the win.”

  “What the fuck are you talking about?”

  The Rookie saw a flash from one of the ridges and instinctively ducked, waiting for the bullet to either hit him or whiz by. But that flash was followed by three others then nothing then two others.

  “Fuck!” the Rookie yelled. “They’re signaling each other!”

  The Rookie turned around, but didn’t see any ATVs on the ridges to the other side. Then he heard them. He slowly made his way to the edge of the train car and peered back behind. He didn’t see any behind the train.

  But he did see three right below him next to the tracks.

  A hairy man, his teeth black and broken, smiled up at him. His eyes were covered by black goggles strapped to his head. His hair was pitch black and hung all the way past the middle of his back in a greasy braid. His torso was naked and covered in filth. Under the filth were thick scars and blue-black tattoos.

  The Rookie tried to scramble back from the edge as the man pointed at him, but it was too late. The lines were fast, the hooks were sharp, and they yanked the Rookie from the train like a deader skin kite in the wasteland wind.

  ***

  “Rookie?” Jenny shouted into her com as she ran through the train cars to the hatch. She climbed the ladder and slammed the hatch open, hoping he was just having com problems. “Rookie!”

  Jenny stood on the train car, her body swaying as the car rocked back and forth on the tracks. She was a Railer girl and was born and raised on the train so she didn’t even notice the thumps and bumps that would have thrown anyone else right off. She hurried to the end of the car and leapt to the next, racing back towards the rear engine.

  “ROOKIE!” she yelled against the wind when she ran out of train to run down. “ROOKIE!”

  “The sensors picked them up again,” Marcus said. “Just for a second.”

  “Where are they?” Jenny asked as she searched the landscape around the train.

  “The last reading showed them about two miles east,” Marcus said. “And moving fast. They’re gone.”

  “Stop the train,” Jenny said.

  “What?” Marcus asked. “A Railer train never stops.”

  “Oh, shut the fuck up!” Jenny said. “This train has stopped and it’ll stop again. LIKE RIGHT THE FUCK NOW!”

  Jenny knew Marcus didn’t need to be told again as the squeal of brakes filled the air. She set her feet and waited for the rock back. As soon as the train was still she climbed down into the rear engine. Jenny double checked all systems then booted up the mech.

  In seconds the rear engine went from train car to full-blown battle mech. Jenny made sure all readings were in the green and then turned to scan the ridges.

  “Give me an exact heading,” Jenny shouted.

  “Fuck, calm down,” Marcus said. “I just sent it to your nav system.”

  “Got it,” Jenny said as she walked the mech across the wasteland.

  “Can I just say this is a bad idea?” Marcus said. “You haven’t tested your Reaper chip thoroughly. Didn’t the mech base doc say you still needed tests before cerebral integration?”

  “Has my head exploded?” Jenny asked.

  “No, but--.”

  “Then shut your fucking train hole!”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “Fuck you.”

  “I’ll be here if you need me,” Marcus said, resigned to Jenny’s abrupt departure. “Any specific orders?”

  “Everyone armed and alert,” Jenny said. “If it isn’t me or the Rookie then it dies, got it?”

  “Got it.”

  “Good,” Jenny said as she slammed one of the mech’s fists into cliff face next to her then reached up and slammed the other one in. She pulled up, kicked a foot into the cliff then the other. Massive metal hand over massive metal hand, and massive metal foot over massive metal foot, Jenny slowly climbed the mech to the top of the ridge.

  “Oh, I fucking got this,” she said as she opened her scanners to full once she crested the ridge and pushed the mech into a dead run aimed at the heading Marcus had given her.

  Six

  “This is Masterson,” Blue said as he activated his com. “That you Capreze?”

  “It is,” Capreze said over the com. “How’s the ocean looking?”

  “Still fucking green,” Blue said. “Getting a little sick of it.”

  “You run into anymore of the Three’s forces?” Capreze asked.

  “Every damn day,” Blue said. “Getting sick of those guys too.”

  “Casualties? Boats lost?”

  “Hell no,” Blue laughed. “They’re just sending the B team at us. Testing our defenses, keeping us on edge. I don’t think they’re going to truly engage until we hit the coast.”

  “Which I’m guessing is what you needed to talk to me about, right?” Capreze asked.

  “It is, Commander,” Blue said. “We’ve been in contact with the Canadians and they are telling us that som
eone will have to flip the switch at the coastal shield station. They can’t override it from their end. Too much time between maintenance. Like a couple hundred years.”

  “Whoa, wait, what?” Capreze asked. “Switches? You lost me, Blue.”

  “I thought you guys had the UDC database there in that mighty Stronghold of yours?” Blues asked, puzzled. “Right?”

  “Most of the data was fried when Johnson went down,” Capreze replied. “Jethro is still trying to piece it together.”

  “Jesus Christ,” Blue muttered. “So are you telling me you have no idea about the shield in place?”

  “Gonna have to plead ignorant on that one, Colonel,” Capreze said. “Is it along the coast? Set up to block people from getting out or in?”

  “It’s covering the whole damn wasteland!” Blue nearly shouted. “This is just crazy. I assumed you knew. What the hell bullshit was the UDC feeding you people?”

  “Quite a bit,” Capreze said. “We’re still digging out of it.”

  Blue rubbed his temples and looked about the ship’s bridge at his crew. He didn’t have a lot of time to get one of Capreze’s people to the coast to help with the shield shutdown. They would be in place in less than a week. If they couldn’t come ashore then they were sitting ducks.

  “Colonel?” Capreze asked. “You still there? Dammit, Jethro! You lost him again!”

  “No, no, I’m here, James,” Blue said. “This just changes things. Let me get in touch with the Canadians and get back to you. We’ll work it out.”

  “I look forward to it.”

  “Me too.”

  ***

  “Whoa, whoa, whoa!” LaFrance shouted into the com. “Calm the hell down, Masterson!”

  “That’s COLONEL Masterson, you glorified babysitter! How the hell can Capreze and his people not know about the environmental containment shield?” Blue screamed. “Didn’t you explain all of that when you made contact?”

  “I never made contact,” LaFrance explained calmly. “Control decided that if we reached out to Capreze now we may jeopardize our operative. They feel she is still valuable as deep cover. Control was supposed to have worked this all out with you.”

  “They haven’t worked out shit with me,” Blue said. “I haven’t heard a peep.”

  “That’s not good,” LaFrance said. “And not normal.”

  “Mother fuckers,” Blue muttered. “The damn bureaucrats screw it all up.” He massaged his temples as the ever present tension headache cranked the pain up a notch. “Do they really think we have time to keep our cards to our chests? Ridiculous.”

  “I agree with you fully, Colonel,” LaFrance replied. “But even if the UDC is defunct and the LOM is reduced to nothing, I’m still bound by Control. They have jurisdiction over all of North America. They’ve been in charge since day one. I can’t go rogue and disregard orders.”

  “Then how the fuck do we get that shield down?” Blue yelled. “If my ships get there and we can’t come ashore then we’ll be pressed against an invisible wall. We’ll be sitting ducks!”

  “I know, I know,” LaFrance said. “That’s why I’m doing an end around. I have been told to hold tight and keep my people here until Control gives the word to send a team to deactivate the shield. But I have someone that isn’t on my team ready to go.”

  “What? Who?” Blue asked. “How can that be?”

  “Can’t say yet,” LaFrance replied. “He needs to get through the tunnels and into the wasteland before I reveal that to you or Capreze. I play this wrong and Control takes over my outpost. Who knows who they’ll put in charge then?”

  “I hate this,” Blue sighed. “So fucking close, but feels like we’re getting further away each time I talk on this fucking com.”

  “I know, Colonel, I know,” LaFrance said. “But please know I’m on your side. Just have your folks ready.”

  “Oh, they are ready,” Blue laughed. “That’s for sure.”

  ***

  “How do the modifications feel?” Melissa Bretton asked the shock troops before her. “Any suggestions? Alterations?”

  The shock troops all checked their suit systems and moved about the deck of the AFS Silverthorn, testing the new capabilities that Melissa had designed for them. Before the Three had launched an eradication campaign across Europe, the American Shock Troops had been the elite of all fighting forces. Their specially designed shock suits could actually connect with their physical integration points that had been created in vitro. The Americans had pioneered biotechnical and genetic manipulation in the womb in order to give them the upper hand. The integration points, known as jack points, had also led to the cultural slur of “jacks” for all Americans.

  But once the Three had attacked, nearly killing every American Family Combat Unit, leaving the Americans left to scavenge ships they could escape and regroup on, Colonel Blue Masterson’s goal was to once again find the upper hand. Melissa Bretton was a Ghost, genetically manipulated to be able to control and create anything from BC just by physically touching it.

  She put that skill to use to create new shock suits for the few troopers left alive.

  “Way more fluid,” Charlie Masterson, Colonel Blue Masterson’s son, said as he lifted his visor. “It’s more like skin and less like armor. I don’t even notice the jack points. You cut the discomfort down to almost zero.”

  “That’s the point,” Melissa said. “In the old design, the one the Three’s forces will still be using, you were weighed down by the biochrome. The suits had systems in place to compensate for the weight. I’ve stripped those systems and weight. You shouldn’t even feel it now.”

  “I still feel it,” Trooper Ingrid Ballentine responded. “But Charlie is right, it isn’t as weighty.”

  Beth Laughlin, the only Vessel known to exist, looked at Ingrid’s shock suit and waved her hand. The BC rippled slightly and then settled. Beth was a cloned person, created to be able to control biochrome on a level that had never been seen before. And as the only Vessel that had ever survived creation, she doubted any more of her would ever be seen.

  She had also been designed to house other personalities that could be uploaded to her brain. This made her the perfect carrier for sensitive information. It also made her mental state slightly unbalanced. And the shock troopers a bit wary of her.

  “What the hell?” Ingrid snapped.

  “Run full out,” Beth said, pointing towards the bow of the ship. “Tell me how that feels.”

  Ingrid looked over at Charlie and he nodded. She took off as fast as she could then slid to a stop before hitting the edge of the ship. She turned and sprinted back.

  “And?” Beth asked.

  “Better,” Ingrid smiled in spite of herself. “A lot better.”

  “Then line up, folks,” Melissa ordered. “Beth’ll adjust the molecular configuration of your BC. We need your suits to be perfect. Flaws will get you, and possibly everyone else, killed.”

  The two dozen shock troops lined up quickly and Beth set to work customizing the mass, weight, and structure of the BC so each suit was individually tailored for the trooper inside.

  “Hey, tough girl,” Lieutenant Desmond Hale smiled as he came up on deck and headed straight for Melissa. “You coming to the mess for lunch or what? Don’t stand me up again.”

  “Can’t, Des,” Melissa frowned as she watched the shock troops test their suits. “Got too much work to do.”

  “Bullshit,” Desmond said as he leaned in and kissed her cheek. “Beth can handle it.”

  “Already handled,” Beth said, waving them off without turning around. “Go have a romantic lunch over mashed potatoes and fish. The never ending fish.”

  “I’m not pushing this all on you, freak,” Melissa protested. Beth gave her the finger even though she didn’t really mind the nickname any longer.

  “I think that’s your answer,” Desmond said as he pulled Melissa to the hatch. “I know you didn’t eat breakfast so you have to eat lunch. Otherwise I’ll tell
Masterson that you’re unstable and need to be pulled from duty.”

  Anger flashed in Melissa’s eyes. “Don’t even joke about that,” Melissa warned. “Or I’ll toss your one-eyed ass overboard.”

  “Calm down, sexy,” Desmond said, instinctively touching his eye patch. He’d lost his eye in one of the many sea battles with the Three’s forces. “I was just joking.”

  “Not funny, asshole.”

  “Okay, yeah, you need to eat,” Desmond laughed. “You’re uber-grouchy. Let’s get that blood sugar up.”

  “Don’t make me kick your ass, Hale,” Melissa snapped.

  “Maybe later?” Desmond grinned and pushed her forward. “But you’ll have to eat first.”

  “Fuck off.”

  ***

  “Jesus,” Nancy Wilkes swore as she picked at the greasy fish on her plate. “I can’t keep eating this.”

  “See,” Melissa said as she and Desmond took a seat across from her at one of the many tables in the mess hall. “There’s a reason I’m not eating.”

  “Hey Mel,” Nancy said. “Des.”

  “You okay, Nance?” Desmond asked.

  “No, she’s not okay, dumbass,” Melissa scolded. “She’s sick of the food. Aren’t you paying attention?”

  “That’s not it is it?” Desmond asked, ignoring Melissa. “Something up with you and Charlie?”

  “Oh my god,” Melissa said, shaking her head. “You are in everybody’s shit on this boat, aren’t you? Leave her alone.”

  “No, it’s okay, Mel,” Nancy said. “It’s nice to be noticed sometimes. Being a civilian in this bunch can be a bit lonely.”

  “But you and Charlie are good?” Desmond pushed. “Or is it something else?”

  “My da,” Nancy admitted. “He’s slowly going down hill since we left the UK. He’s not an American. He thinks I yanked him from his home just for some jack.”

  A few heads turned at the slur, but everyone quickly went back to their business when they met Melissa’s glare.

  “He does get that most of Europe has been obliterated and the populace has been turned into techno-zombies by the Three, right?” Desmond asked.