Turncoat: Turncoat Trilogy Book 1

Chapter 6.3

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I started into my armor, wrapping the stomach protection around my torso and waiting for the discomfort that came from my bionic spine pressed against my skin. As I felt the pressure bands tighten to conform to my torso, I felt a small pinch, but not the pressure I expected. I reached around to check the armor, make sure it wasn’t on wrong and felt my bionic spine where the armor’s spine should have been. I twisted around, trying to get a look at it. The armor had conformed to my augmentation, casing it nearly perfectly.

“Tawny is why you refuse to check gear anymore,” Nick whispered. “You were on her team.”

I barely heard him say it but it was just loud enough that I caught it over the hum of the engine.

“I checked her gear,” Vicki responded. “The commander checked her gear, too. Both of us said she was good to go, then I watched her hit the ground. I remember it in better detail than her and you didn’t hear her when the flaps didn’t work or when the air brakes stopped working. All she remembers in the feeling of terror. I remember every word she cried out, every, single, word. I remember the fear in her voice, the panic. I remember the crunch when she hit the ground. Have you ever heard that, Nick? The sound of almost every bone in someone’s body snapping. It was horrible. Her knees were bent the wrong way and she could just barely twitch her fingers. The worst part was when one of the medics accidently nudged her leg, she didn’t even seem to notice. She couldn’t feel it. I understand why she didn’t want the gear, but it’s for her own safety and you’ll check it for her.”

I put my armor on piece by piece as I listened to Vicki. I never realized how much my fall affected her. I could hear the tears choking up her voice as she spoke. She glanced over at me and must have caught me looking at her, because she looked away instantly.

“It wasn’t your fault,” I muttered. “My gear malfunctioned in the software, you couldn’t have found that with a physical check.”

 “Everything worked in the hovercraft,” Vicki said.

“Proximity triggered,” I said. “Hooked into the proximity sensor so that when the suit hit a certain altitude, the virus was released and everything malfunctioned. It’s not your fault.”

Vicki smiled weakly. “Good to know. You need help with the jump suit?”

“I’ve got it,” I said. I secured the clips around my ankles and knees. As I hooked the belt around my waist, I clipped my boots into the clamps. Vicki pulled the chest portion of the suit up and hooked it around my torso and began affixing the elbow clips and wrist clips.

“I know you don’t blame me,” she said as she clipped on the right wrist piece and I ran through the finger pads activating every flap and airbrake on my right side. “But I blame myself and Otto. We checked your gear, we were supposed to help you and we did nothing. I didn’t even try to grab you as you fell, so I blame myself and one of these day’s I will make it up to you. I promise.”

I nodded and she touched her lips to my cheek. “Kai, eta?” she asked.

“Ten minutes,” Kai said.

Vicki nodded and moved back to her seat next to Nick. I began to run through my premade hacks on the tablet. Black outs, communicator jams, electromagnetic pulses, squealers and a half dozen other small trinkets that would stick to walls and could be hacked from my wrist interface. I glanced out the window to see the mountains rising rapidly.