The H.E.S.P. soldiers retraced our route back to the convenience store. I followed at the back, unable to get the image of Alek’s head snapping backwards from the force of the shot out of my mind. The Captain, on the other hand, seemed to be in a good mood after seeing the efficacy of Alek’s music turned against him. He was trying the radio he had strapped to his tactical vest.
“Command, this is Squad Six. Come in.”
He let the talk button go and garbled audio buzzed out of the radio. Beyond the electronic noise were faint voices. A younger boy’s voice, saying something I couldn’t quite make out. With a shock I realized I could also faintly hear Nell’s voice as well. It was the interference the captain had been talking about. Transmissions from the Tree. Whenever the Tree pulsed, the voices became audible for a split second, spitting incoherent phrases.
“Repeat- logical- can’t be helped- hurts- Quiet!”
The words were feelings more than coherent statements. Still, Nell’s voice sent a pang through my chest.
We passed a corpse that looked like it had been hit by a car and I stared into its unseeing eyes. Most people would pray that when it was their time to go, it would at least be quick. But what did it matter? When you’re gone, you’re gone. It didn’t matter if Alek suffered. He would never get to hear Helen’s voice again.
Man, get it together. Alek was not a good person. But despite that, I felt awful that I’d taken part in his demise. It felt like a betrayal somehow. All that anger I felt for him dissipated each time I saw the life go out of him.
Aren’t we supposed to be the same? That’s what you keep saying. Our Witches were more important. Nell was more important. I would sacrifice Alek again and again just to make sure she was safe. He would do the same.
Helen had wanted Sillwood’s destruction and she had succeeded. The once familiar streets where I had gone to cultural festivals and music events were now empty. Screams echoed through shattered windows and smoky fires choked out the vibrant signage. I could have imagined it as a warzone however, the buildings were mostly intact, other than bullet holes and car crashes. There were no marks from explosions or heavy artillery. The city seemed uncaring as bodies lay broken and twisted underneath the towering skyscrapers, as if the buildings themselves were the cause of the deaths.
I passed by the body of a man with long reddish tendrils coming out of his mouth. A Cast transformation gone wrong, a bullet in his head. He may have even been shot by his friends, too disturbed by the horrific change and the Tree pushing them to reach for each other’s throats.
Sillwood would never be the same and at this point I wondered if anyone would even try to rebuild a community here. Helen had ended what she thought was a farce, but it was just these people’s lives. Those that remained would have to change their “mask”, as Helen put it, to adapt to the fact that their bodies were forever slightly inhuman.
I wondered if there was any news coverage of this catastrophe. No helicopters circled overhead. If there had been any fighter jets, I had missed them during the time I couldn’t hear.
We arrived at the convenience store. I noticed that they had found a camping chair for Graham, who sat heavily in it, the legs barely holding under his weight. The captain motioned and a soldier sprang to his feet and approached.
“Treat their wounded,” he ordered the soldier.
The soldier shot me a look before turning to comply. The captain spoke to me, “I’m going to try to get a hold of Command or Squad One to discuss our next move. I need you to ensure that your friends are either coming with us and obeying my orders, or leaving before we act.”
“They’re coming,” I stated, staring the captain in the eye. “We’re seeing this through. All of us.”
He nodded and moved over to an operative who was working on a larger field radio. I walked towards my team.
Zola was getting his flayed arm dressed with gauze by the soldier. He winced as the bandages were tightened into place.
The soldier glanced mistrustfully at me again. He turned to Graham and handed him something. “For the swelling,” he said. “Other than that there isn’t anything I can give you.”
“How about an apology?” Terry asked, holding a hand to his temple.
The soldier stiffened. “We did nothing wrong. Be thankful we were using nonlethal munitions.”
“How benevolent.”
The operative bristled further at the snide remark. “You don’t understand. Every engagement is a great risk to my team. We’re under orders to only use riot tactics until met with demonstrable intent to kill us. Every second we waste trying to analyze the degree of threat is a second that could cost us lives. We won’t be saving anyone if we tried to talk down every monster we found out here, especially the ones that look harmless,” he glanced at the rest of the crew as he said this.
“And we thank you for that.” Graham’s voice carried gentle authority despite his condition. “I don’t resent the people, only the system that forced itself into a field it had little understanding of.”
“H.E.S.P. has been doing this for a lot longer than you might think. We know the rules. Casts, Phages, Ortum, Aberrants-”
“People,” Graham said, his tone severe. “Just people who don’t know any of those ‘rules’. Any understanding we think we have about this field is tenuous at best. We’re breaching something vast here. And no one is prepared, not even those who believe this to be just a new avenue for warfare.”
“When a gun isn’t needed anymore, I’ll drop mine and listen to what they have to say,” the soldier stated, meeting Graham’s eyes stubbornly.
The Captain approached us, his team falling in behind him. The soldier stepped quickly to join their side.
“I made brief contact with Squad One. They are in agreement that the divergence from our mission is necessary given what we know now. We’re going to rendezvous with Squad One and execute this as a united effort.”
He gestured to Graham’s crew. “Moving forward, treat these individuals as probationary class F’s.”
“What does that mean?” Terry asked.
“It means we treat you as allies unless you exhibit behaviour that threatens my team. Obey my orders if you truly care to stop this madness.”
He waited for any rebuttals. Our team exchanged looks, but everyone appeared to be in agreement.
Richard raised his hand and spoke, “Give me my gun back. I can fight with you.”
The Captain shook his head. “That’s not gonna happen. You all are not to engage with any hostiles we come across. No using Shaping abilities period, unless I say so.”
“Even in self-defense?” Terry drawled.
“Yes. If such an event does take place where we are no longer able to protect you, then you may of course act in self-defense. Just know that I give my team permission in such a scenario to act in their best interests as well.”
The implication was clear. The alliance was tenuous and I didn’t like how it seemed both parties would be limiting their effectiveness.
“Captain,” I said. He turned to me with a hard look in his eye. “When the time comes, I hope you don’t hesitate to ask for our help. I suspect you will need it.”
He turned away without any acknowledgement and addressed his squad, “We pack up and move east in three groups. Scouting, escort, and main force. Formation A-11, you all know the one.”
“Wait, east?” I asked, confused. “The Tree is in Old Town. We need to head north.”
“We’ve already confirmed the location of the Beacon. The Old Town is a death trap, full of Rings and Shapers. H.E.S.P. has driven more of them into Old Town in an effort to clear the city. Heading there was never the plan.”
“Then what is the plan?” I asked dangerously. “We agreed to attack the Beacon.”
“Squad One has secured the gondola. We wrap around through the forest to the cliffs. You aren’t thinking in three dimensions. We are going to attack the Beacon, just not from a predictable angle.”
It sunk in what he meant. “We’re going to scale down the cliff?”
“Bingo. The Beacon couldn’t be built indoors and still have the range it does. But it doesn’t show up on our satellite imagery. Those bastards have it under the Sill, using the cliff like a satellite dish to direct the signal at the city.”
“A vertical attack.” I said, grinning for the first time in a while. “That’s my specialty.”
“We’re going to drop on their heads? That’s so cool!” AJ exclaimed.
“Not you,” Zola scolded.
“What?!”
“The only reason you are here is because we needed to get your mom to a safer spot to wait for this to blow over.”
AJ looked crestfallen. “But…”
“Your mom will still need your support after this,” Graham reminded him gently. “You should keep yourself safe so you can look after her.”
“But you guys are all going to go.”
“I’m not so sure,” Graham responded while gesturing to the innumerable bruises on his body. “At some point, I must let my students run ahead of me. I don’t want to inhibit anyone from achieving their highest potential.”
AJ looked down and grumbled, “What about my potential?”
I fell in step with the rest of the crew as the squad began to move out. AJ dragged his feet next to me.
“I think everyone just wants to make sure you have the time to grow,” I said to AJ. “I’ve seen how brave you are, Ajna. You don’t need to prove yourself to us.”
AJ straightened up a little as he heard me use his ‘hero name’.
Our path to the gondola was relatively clear. We moved swiftly, H.E.S.P. agents scouting ahead and returning with intel that allowed us to avoid threats. After half an hour of walking, we arrived at the faded green entrance to the gondola, with a sign depicting the view from the top. It was a bit of false advertising, as the camera angle shown could no longer be achieved without crossing over safety fences and nearing the unstable edge of the Sill.
Operatives entered the control room and the engine that pulled the cable cars shuddered to life. The crew was separated into different cable cars, each of us joined by two soldiers. I found myself accompanying the Captain and another soldier.
The Captain stared me down intensely. “So tell me about yourself, Nick. You were at Cathrow? I read that report. You weren’t in it.”
Mac was covering for me. I didn’t want to say anything that would make him lose his job. So I shrugged and said, “I don’t know what to tell you. I was there. The Beacon was in an old church.”
“And you just happened to be there?”
I’d wondered this myself. Had Chase known about what was going on at Cathrow? Why had Aaron shown up when he did? “Even I don’t have an explanation I’m satisfied with,” I said. “I don’t really believe in fate but… that’s how it felt. Too big of a coincidence.”
The Captain didn’t respond, so I looked out at the city we were leaving behind as we ascended. There were fires all over the place, bright flickering candles in a miniature city. The fires were even larger in the Old Town, covering entire blocks. The light of the fires cast crazed dancing shadows along the cliffside in a performance of shadow puppetry like nothing else: alien shapes dancing in jittering patterns, as if revealing the monsters that lurked in the city.
Usually a city will incorporate pre-existing settlements into new development, but not Sillwood. It left its old skeleton behind. Those bones had harbored the unhoused, the discarded that the city had tossed away, and the endless violent squabbles of the Rings. If felt like all that resentment and bloodshed had accumulated into a curse.
I saw the furthest point of the cliff of Sillwood. It didn’t extend that far, most of it had already collapsed into the Old Town in years past. Many of the buildings underneath were leveled, but one building remained standing tall. An apartment complex, square and ugly. Nothing worth keeping for heritage aesthetics. There was a square opening in the roof, indicating some sort of space in the center of the apartments.
I stared at that building. Nell. See you soon.
A pulse of anger hit me and it came with a gust of wind, rattling the cable cars, sending them swaying side to side. I could feel the signal emanating from the Beacon within that building. Like an airborne acid, making the very air feel hostile.
I turned back to face the Captain. “I don’t understand something. Why was Squad One securing the gondola? If rappelling down the cliffside was in the plans all along, then why did you say we were diverting from it?”
“There is a simpler answer here that you aren’t seeing,” the Captain said impassively. “Why would we risk sending men down there to shut down the Beacon.”
“Is there another way?” I asked.
“One that doesn’t endanger my men. I hope you appreciate the risk we are taking with changing that plan. Granted, we weren’t confident that it would work and if we failed to destroy the Beacon, we would lose our easiest angle of attack.”
I realized what he meant. “You were going to blow up the cliffside and collapse it on top of the Beacon.”
He nodded gravely. “And it’s still a possibility. If the Beacon isn’t dealt with by sunrise, we’ll fall back to Plan A in an effort to minimize civilian casualties.”
A cold feeling spread through my stomach. “Even if we’re still down there?”
He gave me a hard look. “Yes.”
I looked again at the cliff. So I was on a time limit to find Nell and get out.
We reached the top of the gondola and disembarked. Squad One was here to greet us with sights aimed at our heads.
I noted the small symbol on their uniform that differed from the one on the first squad.
The Captain raised his hands and stepped forward.
“Squad Six,” an operative said through his helmet. “Have you been compromised?”
The Captain didn’t miss a beat in responding, “Threshold. Basin. Twenty-six. Ignorance. Belly.” Some sort of code?
“Do you consent to questioning to assess the state of your mind?”
“Yes.”
“Then come with me. The rest of you stay here.”
The Captain followed him further into the camp. I stepped out of the way so that the next cable car’s passengers could step out. Graham emerged and I gave him a small smile. The rest of the crew arrived one by one. Squad Six’s soldiers remained where they were next to us, seemingly aware of the protocols in place. Each of the soldiers were motioned forward in turn. Finally the Captain reappeared alongside a woman who had her visor raised on her helmet. She motioned and the soldiers stopped aiming at us.
Squad Six’s Captain spoke to us. “We’re going to discuss our next step. You can talk amongst yourself until we are ready.”
Graham, Richard, Kent, AJ, Terry, and I sat down on a patch of grass a short distance from the gondola, under the watch of Squad One. We all looked at each other in silence, save for Terry who lay down with his eyes closed.
Graham was the first to speak. “Nick. I heard you helped Bailey get away from an Alek. You’ve been quite brave, I’m grateful.”
I shrugged. “They’re my friend too. I’m not gonna leave anyone behind.”
Graham shook his head. “And to think this all started with a chance encounter in the rain. It was sad to see you in such dire straits, forced to come to criminals for help.”
I shook my head. “I don’t blame any of you for what happened. I don’t even blame Alek anymore. He did actually help me figure Shaping out. It hasn’t helped me to dwell on why any of this is happening. Better to focus on what I can control.”
Graham nodded slowly, eyes set on the distance. “Perception of control and choice… That is something I would do well to remember too.”
Zola spoke up, holding my gaze with his soft eyes, “Hindsight is 50/50. We have all been in dire straits. That is what brought us together. And we will get through this one too. All of us. We do it for Vanessa and Bailey.”
I nodded. “For Nell.”
“For my mom,” AJ declared.
“For my wife. I’ll keep living,” Richard said.
“For my students, I am in their debt forever,” Graham rumbled, looking at each of us.
I watched the dark forest, trees swaying in the wind. The hiking trail stretched out into the abyss, the same one I’d walked down with Nell. I hadn’t known that it would be the last time I’d see her before the abduction. I shivered, feeling the ache in my heart.
Whatever it takes, I’ll see you again soon.