Triplicity

Chapter 14 - ISAAC

I didn't expect to get such an easy pass to the rebel bases. It's almost too easy...but I've got no time to be suspicious. I leave early to give myself more time. With Resalia's directions keyed into my bike, it's only a matter of slipping through the road defenses (which are built the same way as the dome) when no one's looking.

Well, it's not like anyone sees me. Resalia sending me was merely a precaution; an invisible rider could pass by the scanner undetected. However, Valerie might be watching me, so I don't activate any cloaking tech until I've officially left Apex. Then, I speed up until I'm zooming along the highway. No one gets a travel pass unless they're on business, so the stretch of road I'm on is empty. I'm able to fade away and blast through the defense wall without detection.

From a distance, the cliff face looks like a solid rock wall. As I near it, its appearance doesn't change. I follow Resalia's directions and line myself up with an inconspicuous-looking rock that juts out just a bit more than the others.

According to Resalia, there's a passage through the cliff. The Jarkian rebels installed the same force-field defenses at the entrance and disguised it as a large rock. Assuming she's right (and I found the right rock), I should break through without becoming a pancake.

I hit the blue button below my dashboard and my bike's boost activates, sending me streaking forward. I smack the red button to open the defenses at the last second before impact.

By now, I've done this enough times that fear doesn't consume me. I know exactly what to expect as I seemingly slam into the rock, and it isn't pain. What I don't see coming, however, is a rock spire behind the force field.

Instinctively, I swerve, barely missing the obstacle. I lower my speed until I'm basically crawling along, then glance behind me. Anyone who wasn't alert as they passed through would be in a smoking wreck at the foot of the spire. I'm going to have to tell Resalia about that the next time I see her.

When I turn back, I realize I'm in a narrow passage through the cliff. I accelerate to a speed I'm more comfortable with and begin to make my way through. It's quiet—no, it's silent—and I don't like it. After a few seconds, my dashboard begins to let out an annoying beeping sound. My eyes are trained on the path ahead, and I don't know how to turn it off, but it's starting to really annoy me.

Just as I'm wondering where the security is, I hear a small clank—the sound of metal on metal. A moment later, my bike freezes in midair. My momentum sends me flying forward. One of my hands loses its grip on the handlebars, but I tighten my hold on the other one just in time. I slam into the side of the bike and am left dangling by one hand from a handlebar, feeling like an idiot. From both sides of the passage, a total of six rebel bikes appear. Their riders are hooded and have cloths covering the bottom halves of their faces, like the ones from Apex.

Well, at least I've figured out what the beeping means.

"Don't move!" one of them yells.

I groan—my side isn't fully healed yet from the gunshot wound. "I come in peace!" I call back. My arm's burning with the effort of hanging on, but I don't dare try to get back onto my bike. "I'm with the Apexian rebels!"

A guard behind me shouts, "It's an officer!"

I sigh internally and try to tighten my grip as an argument ensues.

"An officer?"

"On a rebel bike?"

"He stole it, didn't he?"

"I wonder who he killed to—"

"I didn't kill anyone!" I take the risk and climb back up. Luckily, I don't get shot. "This is my bike. I come in peace, and I need to talk to your leader."

Some time later, I'm standing before the Jarkian rebel commander. He's shorter than me, and a little pudgy. He frowns as soon as he sees me. "What's an officer doing here?" he asks the guards.

As they explain the situation, I try not to strain against the handcuffs that bind my wrists together. (Yes, handcuffs. Which I was fine with them putting on me, until they stunned me with an electricity gun and marched me blindfolded through the passage, not caring to point out the hundreds of rocks I tripped on.)

When the guards finish, the commander seems somewhat less hostile. He orders that my handcuffs be removed, much to my relief. As I rub the sore areas on my wrists, I notice that I'm in a large cave inside the cliff wall. This seems to be the only room, and everything's a mess. I watch a grenade (which seems to be an empty shell, thankfully) fall off a table, rolling across the floor, and I decide that the Apexians are much neater.

"My apologies for the harsh treatment," the commander says, dismissing the guards with a wave of his hand. "Anything my people don't know about that can get through the defenses is a threat. I'm sure you understand."

"No. I mean, yes. It's alright," I reply, although my mood has turned quite a bit. "Um, I'm Isaac."

"Commander Westford. I presume you're here to talk about the attack?"

"Yes. Um, what did Commander Chan tell you?"

Westford leans back in his chair. "'We're invading November 29th to kidnap.'"

I wait for more, but he remains quiet. "That's it?"

"Well, that's all she could get through to us. Then she got cut off. I'm assuming they cut the call so they wouldn't be tracked. I'm guessing that by kidnap, she means kidnap the Chancellors?"

I nod.

"All of them?"

"Yeah."

He exhales. "Well, we had other plans, but we can make it work. Commander Chan had mentioned it once as an idea, before the Triangle thought of tracking our comms." He squints at me. "You have more information, don't you?"

I give him all that I know. When I'm done, he stares at me for a while to the point where I begin to feel self-conscious. Then he stands (I'm still a head taller than him, though) and goes to stand in front of me. He lowers his voice. "You're that young man, aren't you?"

I frown. "Um..."

"The man on the podium," he says. "You introduce the Chancellor before her speeches."

"Oh. Yeah, I am." So everyone really does know who I am.

"Are you guys close?"

I'm not sure where this is going. "I—"

"Be honest," he orders.

I hesitate, then sigh. "Yes."

Westford looks at me for a few more seconds without saying anything. "Well, this might not be good news for you, then."

"What?"

"We'll kidnap the Jarkian Chancellor," he says. "The Theldish rebels should do the same for their city's leader. But Chancellor Chan is too powerful. We're going to send a team into Apex."

My brain begins to put the pieces together, but not fast enough. "Why?"

He looks directly into my eyes. "We're placing a bomb in the Center. We're going to kill your Chancellor."