Final Days: Colony Read online

  “You need to get that checked,” she said.

  “I’m fine. It’s just a scratch.”

  “Guys,” Roland muttered.

  “What?” Andrew looked over to see him staring at the tablet as he ran. He turned it so they could see. A blinking red dot appeared on a blue grid, with a zagging red line snaking out behind it.

  “It’s already on the move,” Roland said.

  Andrew picked up the pace. “Then we’d better hurry!” Harper’s ten-minute rendezvous was beginning to sound like an eternity. They couldn’t afford to let that creature advance too far ahead of them.

  THIRTY-ONE

  Kendra

  Kendra was at the edge of camp, almost as far as you could be from Eden One, at Eden Sixteen. That was where the few supplies they’d given her as the head of the local PD were stored. She felt like her sister had found her four outcasts to train, and had shoved her to the side to keep her occupied while Carrie and Keller attempted to direct some sort of flow with the colony.

  She suspected it was much more difficult on everyone than they’d expected. There were somewhere around a hundred of the blue-uniformed workers and crew of the old ship, but Kendra was fully aware now that most of them had only arrived in the last six months. A lot of them were desperate for a place to live, or were former soldiers like Harper.

  Only a few hand-selected members of the crew had been there for the long haul, and Kendra had a feeling not all of those original people had made it this far. Kendra guessed there were numerous skeletons in Eden’s closets, if she was to dig deep enough. But she didn’t have time for that. They had more pressing matters.

  Kendra opened the door to her compact office area and sighed. She’d spent a total of two hours in the Eden section, and was already running away from her duties. She didn’t have an obligation to the colony quite yet, but she did feel that responsibility to her friends. Andrew and Valeria, Roland and Tony, as well as Diane. They were all that mattered in the short term. Once they were safe, she’d expand her safety net. There was one thing she’d learned a long time ago with the agency: she couldn’t save everyone.

  The office was neat, formerly one of the starship’s computer control rooms for the section, and it had a tablet, as well as a bolted-in chair that swivelled. It reminded her of her old office in San Diego: bereft of anything personal, or that might show she was a real human with family and feelings.

  They’d given Kendra a Taser, and she took that now, shoving it into the black backpack along with her police-issued flashlight and handcuffs. She didn’t know when those would be needed, but she wasn’t taking any chances out there. They might encounter some resistance along the way.

  She wondered how Andrew was faring with his clandestine meeting with Harper. It seemed all of their business was covert these days, and she hoped they’d get to the bottom of this mess so everyone could move on.

  “What are you doing?” Carrie’s voice asked from the doorway.

  Kendra’s heart raced, her hand jamming inside her pack to settle on the Taser. This was her sister. She couldn’t harm her.

  “We’re leaving tonight,” she said.

  “Where the hell are you going?” Carrie asked, stepping briskly into the room. She stopped next to Kendra, grabbing hold of her shoulders.

  “Andrew and I are tracking one of the predators. We’ll follow it through the ridge,” Kendra told her sister.

  “And what will that accomplish? We have a thousand people here, and…”

  “It’s all going to shit, isn’t it?” Kendra asked. The silence from Carrie’s lips was enough of an answer.

  “We’re having some issues with the crops and acidic soil. Then there’s the predators.”

  “Don’t forget the absence of your illustrious leader, Carrie,” Kendra said as softly as she could.

  “Lewis will return. He does this sometimes,” Carrie told her.

  “Wait. He’s done this before? Left without telling anyone where he was going?” Kendra asked. Something about the news struck a chord with her training.

  Carrie nodded. “Twice since I’ve been around. He disappeared for almost a year about halfway through. When he finally showed up, he told us it was none of our business, and that it was for the good of the colony and mission.”

  “And you didn’t think it was odd? That you might want to press him on it?” Kendra said.

  “It wasn’t my place.” The wind had left Carrie’s sails, and she lowered to the only chair in the room, spinning to face Kendra.

  “You’re in love with him.” Kendra made it a statement.

  “I… yes.”

  “He’s not who you think, Carrie,” Kendra said.

  “Then who is he?”

  “I don’t know, but I intend to find out.”

  “And this reckless mission with you and Andrew, that’s what… going to solve everything?” Carrie asked.

  “It’s better than sitting around waiting for more people to be picked off. Like the body we found in the lake,” she said quietly.

  Carrie’s jaw went slack. “What are you saying?”

  Kendra leaned against the desk, letting her hands fall behind her to support her weight. “The woman from Eden, the one who warned Andrew. Who was trying to warn me. She was in a cryopod, caught in the filtration intake.”

  “Jesus, Kendra. Why didn’t you tell me? How long ago was this?” Carrie asked.

  “A few days ago.”

  “A few… where’s the body? I have to see it.”

  “Gone. She’d been shot with some sort of laser,” Kendra said.

  The room fell silent. “She was killed with a laser, then found in the lake in a cryopod, and now the body is gone. Do I have this straight?”

  Kendra didn’t like her sister’s tone, and she stood up straight, hands resting on her hips. “Exactly what are you trying to say? Ask Roland,” she said, a little too quickly.

  “The conspiracy theorist with mental health issues? That Roland?” Carrie asked. Kendra could feel the tides of the conversation pulling away from her, nearly dragging her below the current.

  “Andrew was there,” Kendra said.

  “Oh, the alcoholic Marine with PTSD?” Carrie’s words cut deep, and Kendra felt the anger welling in her gut.

  “Watch how you speak about my friends,” she said.

  “Friends. Here you were judging my feelings for Lewis, and now you’re defending these castaways over your own flesh and blood?”

  Kendra closed her fist, her nails digging into her palm. “They’ve been there for me more in the last few weeks than you have your whole life.”

  That was it. Carrie rose from the chair, her face contorted in anger. “Fine. Go on your stupid mission to cross the ridge. See if I give a crap. You were always like this, you know.”

  “Like what?”

  “Crying wolf. As a kid you’d come up with these crazy concocted tales of danger lurking within every shadow. Sometimes a single old man living down the street is just a nice man who passes out popsicles on a hot summer day. Sometimes the mailman asks if your father is home because he wants him to sign for a package. Jesus, Kendra. Don’t you see? You’ve always seen the darkest in everyone, and you still do,” Carrie told her, and Kendra felt as though she’d been slapped.

  “You haven’t witnessed what I have. You’ve been holed up, hiding from your life with Hound, while I’ve fought tooth and nail to bring stolen children home. Stopped human trafficking rings and pursued kidnapping victims. And do you know what?” Kendra asked.

  “What?”

  “I continue to believe we can move beyond it. This entire operation is so sketchy, and it’s covered in lies. I’ll solve it, and when the dust settles, you and I can finish this conversation.” Kendra grabbed her pack, nearly forgetting the tablet on the desk. She picked it up, and the screen popped on. Their target was on the move, heading through the forest toward the mountains beyond. She slid the tablet into the bag, and shouldered past her sister
without another word.

  It was dark outside, and she was so flustered with her sister that she nearly lost her bearings once she left Eden Sixteen. Her heart racing frantically, she tried to calm down as she searched for Andrew.

  An old man watched her, nodding once as she passed him. He didn’t speak, but when she thought about it, she’d seen him around the training grounds over the past few weeks. His name was Evan, she recalled. She wanted to stop him and ask why he was snooping around her business, but she couldn’t. Not now.

  It was time to leave.

  THIRTY-TWO

  Andrew

  Andrew found Val with Tony standing next to his sleeping bag. He pulled her aside. “We need a minute.”

  “No problem, Mr. Miller,” Tony replied.

  Andrew half-dragged Val away by her arm, driven by the time pressure and his dislike of Tony.

  “Hey, what’s going on?” Val asked, twisting out of his grip as they reached a secluded area stacked with spare bedrolls, blankets, and toiletries.

  “I’m leaving,” Andrew whispered.

  Val gave her head an incredulous shake. “Leaving where?”

  “Shhh!” Andrew placed a finger to his lips and glanced around quickly, but no one was paying any attention to them. He took a breath and explained in a hushed voice about the drugged creature and their plan to follow it home.

  “That is beyond stupid,” Val replied, crossing her arms over her chest. “It’ll lead you to its nest. There could be hundreds of them there!”

  “Maybe, or maybe it will show us how they’re getting into the valley so that we can stop them.”

  “Have you thought that it could be they don’t need to get in, because they’re already here?”

  “It’s possible,” Andrew conceded with a shrug.

  “So? What will this accomplish?”

  Suddenly he felt like the kid, and Val the parent. The reversal of roles brought a grin to his lips.

  “This isn’t funny, Dad. If you’re going then I am, too.”

  That wiped the grin away. “Not in a million years.”

  “I’m not letting you do this alone.”

  “Kendra’s coming. We’ll be armed. We’ll watch each other’s backs.”

  “What if something happens to you?”

  “It won’t.”

  “But if it does.”

  Andrew left that question hanging for a moment. “We have to do this, Val.”

  “If you don’t return, I swear I’ll marry Tony and have ten kids just to spite you.”

  Andrew snorted a laugh. “Fair enough.” He pulled Val into a crushing hug and kissed the top of her head. “Love you, kid.”

  “Me too,” Val whispered back.

  They broke apart, and Andrew flashed a fading grin before jogging off through the aisles of sleeping bags, heading for the spot he shared with Val. He found his survival pack, scooped it up, and slung it over one shoulder before racing for the exit.

  One of the guards stopped him, grabbing his arm on the way out. “Hey! Where are you going? Curfew is in effect.”

  Andrew turned to the man. It was Private Taylor.

  “Oh, hey, Miller,” Taylor said, recognizing him. “Sorry, but orders are orders.”

  “I just need to speak with the sergeant. She asked to meet with me.”

  Taylor frowned. “I’ll have to check on that.”

  “Go ahead.”

  Taylor touched a comm piece in his ear. “Sergeant Harper, Taylor here. I have Andrew Miller on his way out of Eden One. He says he’s going to meet with you, please confirm.”

  Silence answered; then, Taylor’s eyes lit up and he nodded. “Understood, sir.” To Andrew, he jerked his chin and said, “She’s already waiting. Don’t be long.”

  Andrew smiled tightly. “I won’t.” He took off at a run, heading for Eden Five. The bold black letters on the side of it shone in stark contrast under the camp’s spotlights. He raced around the end of the section and found both Sergeant Harper and Kendra already waiting in the shadows.

  “You’re late,” Harper growled as he stopped in front of them.

  “Sorry.”

  Harper thrust a heavy pack into his chest. “Guns and ammo. Use them wisely.”

  “I owe you for this,” Andrew said.

  “Damn straight you do.”

  Andrew traded his survival pack for the gun bag, slinging it over both shoulders with a noisy clattering of metal on metal. Kendra took his pack and zipped it open, rifling through it on the ground.

  “What are you searching for?” he asked.

  She produced a knife from her belt and cut out a square of fabric from the bag. “Your tracker,” she said. “We don’t want Keller catching up to us before we get anywhere.” She zipped the bag up and slung it over one shoulder, right beside hers.

  Andrew shook his head and took it away.

  “You can’t take both,” she objected. “The guns are heavier.”

  “It’ll balance me out,” Andrew replied as he strapped the survival pack over his chest.

  Sergeant Harper nodded and checked a glowing wristwatch. “You have seven minutes left before the guards from the next shift move into position. Right now there’s a gap in the perimeter.” Harper turned and pointed to a shadowy line of trees rising in the distance. They were already standing at the edge of the colony, so it was a straight shot from there. Andrew judged the tree line to be nearly a mile away.

  He turned and nodded to Kendra. “How fast can you run a mile?”

  She hesitated. “About eight or nine minutes, I think.”

  “Make it six.”

  “Good luck,” Harper said.

  “Thanks,” Andrew breathed. “Kendra, are you—”

  She flashed by him, already sprinting for the trees. He caught up easily, both of his bags jumping and skipping as he ran. Grass rustled loudly past their legs, the noise striking a furious cadence and making their progress sound like a freight train.

  “Any movement on the tracker?” Andrew whispered.

  “Yes.” Kendra patted the voluminous pouch in the front of her jumpsuit. He noticed a rectangular outline poking out over her abdomen. “It’s headed for the ridge.” She pointed above the trees to a ragged black line of mountains in the distance.

  Andrew nodded. “Guess we made it out just in time.”

  They raced through the camp perimeter, darting by Roland’s motion sensors. Flashing lights strobed out a warning as they triggered them.

  “Shit,” Andrew muttered. At least the lights were too weak to illuminate them from afar. “I thought Harper would have disabled the sensors.”

  “She didn’t need to,” Kendra replied. “There are dozens of false alarms every night. The sensors are practically useless.”

  They heard distant shouts coming from the direction of the camp.

  “If they’re useless, then why does everyone sound so worried?” Andrew countered.

  “Just keep running! We’re almost there,” Kendra hissed.

  Another four hundred meters. Andrew’s legs and lungs were burning, and his back felt bruised from the guns repeatedly slapping him through the pack.

  Dead ahead, the shadows of spiky trees inched steadily higher against the night’s sky as they plunged into the forest. Andrew took the lead, guiding them blindly through a mess of fallen logs, branches, and underbrush. After a minute, he stopped and leaned heavily against the nearest tree, his head bowed and lungs heaving for air.

  Kendra’s gasping joined his own. “I’m out of shape.”

  Andrew turned to scan the way they’d come. No sign of the lights from the camp, nor any sign of pursuit. “We made it away safe.”

  “Safe is a poor choice of words,” Kendra replied, glancing around with big eyes.

  Andrew shrugged out of his two bags, and dug around in the survival pack for his shoulder light. He produced it and fastened it to his jumpsuit, the beam illuminating a carpet of dull black and purple leaves from the trees.


  Kendra followed suit, clipping on her light while Andrew checked the gun bag that Harper had given them. He expected to find nothing but sidearms and spare clips. Instead, he discovered an entire arsenal. “Holy crap,” he muttered.

  “What?” Kendra asked, crowding in to look.

  He pulled out a piece of an M4 carbine. “She field-stripped a pair of rifles and stuffed them in here with the M9s.”

  “Good. We could use the extra firepower,” Kendra replied.

  Andrew pulled out a sidearm, checked the clip, and then passed it to Kendra. “Cover me.”

  She nodded and immediately began scanning the shadows as he pulled pieces of the rifles out and began re-assembling the weapons in his lap.

  “What did you bring?” he asked her.

  “Spare clothes, a raincoat, rations, my Taser, cuffs... a canteen for water. Not much else.”

  “You didn’t bring your sleeping bag or tent?” he asked.

  “There wasn’t room. I didn’t think we’d be camping out here.”

  “It’s fifteen miles to the ridge. We’ll definitely have to stop for the night.”

  “Shit. I didn’t think...”

  “Doesn’t matter. We’ll share.”

  Kendra flushed red at the suggestion.

  Andrew went back to work. “We can’t both sleep at the same time, anyway. One of us will have to stand watch.”

  “Of course,” Kendra replied as she withdrew the tablet from the front pouch of her jumpsuit.

  “Our target’s still on the move?” Andrew asked as he screwed the second gun barrel into place.

  “Yes.”

  He finished assembling the first rifle and passed it up to her, followed by a belt and holster for her sidearm. A few minutes later he was done with the second rifle, and he stood up and strapped on a belt and holster for the second M9.

  “Better catch your breath,” he said as he transferred spare clips and mags to his belt and passed the remainder to Kendra to slot into hers. He left the empty bag on the ground and slung his survival gear over his shoulders. “We’re going to have to run again,” he added. “You up for that?”