Broken Read online

  The North Jersey Anarchist Force had a few things to say about his use of the term “Dune Coons,” but the old man shouted them down. "I’m not finished! You can talk later! I’m not finished, damn it!" He huffed and puffed as his face turned a glorious shade of crimson. Michael hoped he might have a heart attack. "We used to have the best tech, the strongest army, the smartest men and the best government on the planet! What the hell happened?"

  "The Last War, idiot," retorted one of the women. "President Greenleaf went crazy. Remember?"

  "You’re damn right I remember!” Sarge shouted in her face. She flinched. "I was there. I fought in that war. You weren’t even a dirty thought in your old man’s head yet! But I was there, I know. Everything they say about that war is a lie. We had to fight because Europe and China were ganging up on us! We had to protect freedom and democracy! And look what’s happened since we lost! Crazy UNPers and aliens have been setting policy for the entire world, that’s what!"

  "A crazy man," one of the anarchists said, laughing.

  "Shut up!" screeched Sarge. "Now it’s time for us to get some of our own back, while the Confederation is busy eating itself! The Second American Revolution is on! We gotta take to the streets and recruit as many able-bodied young men as we can, right now! Then we gotta go back to the hills and strike ‘em every day until we’re a free nation again!"

  The other old man clapped. Everyone else rolled their eyes. Wayne cleared his throat. "Sarge, we’re here today to talk about taking the fight to the Confederation. If we bring down the government, we’ll all be free! Right?"

  "Right," echoed a few of Wayne’s men.

  "I ain’t done yet!" Sarge bellowed. "I ain’t done."

  They waited. "America!" he said, pumping a fist in the air. Then he sat down, winded.

  "I guess he’s done," said an anarchist. His group giggled.

  "So," said one of the women. "Australia. Are we going?"

  "Let’s talk about it," Wayne said.

  "Let’s not," the anarchist leader replied. "We’re staying put."

  "Then why did you come to this meeting?" Wayne asked icily.

  "Wanted to meet everybody," the green-haired anarchist grinned. "Maybe find some new trouble to cause. But Australia? No way. Dangerous."

  "The fight is here," Sarge said, still breathing hard. "You should join up with us."

  "You gonna call us ‘coons?'"

  "Naw, I save that for Ay-rabs only," he replied.

  The anarchist leader shrugged. "All right, sounds like fun."

  "Hang on!" Wayne said. "Hey. Hey, we need to go to Australia. I got transport and guns and everything. A bunch of other organizations are going, too! We’re all going to land north of Terra City and march down there to take it over."

  "How do you know other organizations are going? You talk to other people?" the UNP leader asked.

  "No, I saw it on the Net," Wayne said. Everybody groaned.

  "You idiot," Sarge said. "The Net is monitored by the government!"

  "The Net is run by the government," one of the UNP woman said scornfully. “I should know. I used to work for them.”

  "Not this Net," Wayne said proudly. "It’s something new. No one knows it exists but us."

  "So how’d you find out?" an anarchist asked.

  Wayne’s smile drooped. "The original Net. But this is the real deal!"

  "Government can and does monitor all communications off or on a network," Sarge said. "The UNP did that. Lieberman Act, 2062."

  "That was to help find Rogarian spies!" the UNP leader exclaimed.

  "Yeah, well, that’s what you say," Sarge growled.

  "It would require millions of people looking through an unbelievable amount of information to look at everything," she insisted.

  "You don’t know shit. Why do you think they got big, fancy computers?"

  "Look, look, just trust me... trust me, this is going to happen," Wayne said frantically. "We all have to go. There’s going to be an army of tens of thousands!"

  "ConFedForce has what, twenty million troops? Great plan!" laughed an anarchist. A few of his friends started clapping. Broken grinned and giggled.

  "We expect support from the Army," Wayne said. "A lot of their generals used to be UNP."

  "True," said the UNP woman. “That's the first reasonable point I've heard here.”

  "If we link up with them, we’re unstoppable. Terra City isn’t defended at all, so it’ll be easy to take. Come on, are you all afraid of a fight?" Wayne asked.

  "What?" howled Sarge, leaping to his feet. "I’ll break you, boy, for saying that about me!"

  "Well, are you coming?" Wayne taunted. "Or what?"

  "This is insane," said an anarchist. "I ain’t going."

  "They stay, coward," hissed Wayne. "And you too, old man! I’m going to Australia tonight to fight for freedom!" He pounded on the table. "I’m going to go fight for your freedom, you cowards, and you won’t come with me!"

  Sarge rose and advanced on Wayne. He stood toe to toe with him, staring him right in the eyes.

  "Go get killed," Sarge recommended. "Do us a favor." With that, he and his buddy stormed out of the room.

  "Well," the UNP woman sighed. "We might as well go with you. We have pretty good support down there; we ought to be able to at least link up with them. Better than staying here."

  "How about you?" Wayne asked the anarchists.

  Their leader shrugged,.

  "Nah, we’re staying here. I said that. But we’ll drink with you before you go, all right?"

  Wayne smiled. "Yeah. That’d be nice."

  —He had stolen all the anarchists’ weapons and plunked them down in the hopper’s hold. The anarchists were cussing him out from the tree to which they were tied.

  "Not a bad idea," UNP woman said.

  "Thanks," Wayne replied.

  Michael wondered if he ought to warn them. Maybe later.

  [CHAPTER 20]

  Sky Ranger’s comm chimed. He sighed and toggled the switch. A man with an extremely thin face and a bent nose stared, vulture-like, back at him.

  "Sir," Sky Ranger greeted him, automatically rising to his feet.

  "I’ve located the boy," the thin-faced man said. He had a slight Australian accent. "He is with a specific-contact prescient and a speed-healer. They’re in the woods of New Jersey."

  Sky Ranger scratched his head. "Is this the same boy who you said—"

  "Yes. I’m sending precise coordinates. Go alone."

  "Another LED member ought to—"

  "No. You alone."

  Sky Ranger nodded. "Got it."

  "And wear your new uniform."

  "Yes, sir."

  * * *

  The anarchists popped opened a few beers with the UNP women and the American Liberation Army, and everybody sat around for an hour or two bitching about the government. Michael watched, transfixed, as they all slowly descended into drunken stupors. Wayne cursed and threw a few things, but overall he seemed to be feeling pretty good. Amazingly, Broken hadn’t touched a drop, although she laughed and joked just the same as everybody else. She held a beer , but she never seemed to actually sip from it.

  When they seemed out of it enough, he signaled subtly to her. She caught it on the first try, and nodded. He rose, praying that he was inconspicuous or they were too drunk to care, and edged slowly towards the door to the basement. No one stopped him as he opened the door and slipped into the stairwell. A moment later, Broken joined him.

  He gave her a hug. "Good to see you. I knew you’d get out alive."

  "Yeah," she said simply.

  "Nice outfit." She was still wearing the black clothes the anarchists had given her; they set off her silver hair to stunning effect. She smiled. "Ian and Monica are downstairs." He led the way. Banner was sitting outside the door, looking very bored.

  "Hey, Banner," Michael said.

  "Hi, Mike," Banner replied. "Who’s your friend?"

  "Just someone I know. So, Ban
ner, we need to get going."

  "Oh. I thought you were under arrest."

  "Well, not anymore. Can you open it up for me? Monica and Ian are coming, too."

  Banner’s eyes narrowed. "Says who?"

  Michael sighed, and thought of ways to reason with him.

  Broken put a pistol to his head. Where’d she get that? Michael wondered. "Please," she said.

  Banner stared down the barrel of the gun for a full thirty seconds. He seemed to enjoy being right on the edge.

  "Okay," he said finally. "You were nice to me, and I don’t think Wayne is going to care."

  "Nah," Michael said. Banner opened the door, and Monica, holding Ian, sprinted out, making sure to keep Michael and Broken between her and Banner.

  "Thanks," Michael said, putting out a hand. Banner shook it. "Hey, when you’re on board the hopper, remember, don’t arm the bomb until it’s in the air. Okay?"

  Banner smiled. "I always had trouble with that in training. Thanks."

  "No problem. You can sound the alarm whenever you like. Let’s go."

  Banner sat back down in his chair and waved as they ascended the staircase. "Goddamn, that was easy," Michael exhaled.

  "Never easy," Broken reminded him, shaking her head. Overhead, they could hear the whine of a hopper’s engines.

  They burst through the door into an empty room. Everyone had rushed outside at the sound of the incoming aircraft. Broken still had her pistol; she checked the clip and held it at the ready.

  Michael led the way. He poked his head out the front door of the cabin. A gray, beat-up hopper settled gingerly onto the lawn. The anarchists had already been tied to the tree; their weapons were in the hands of the American Liberation Army and the UNP women, who had begun to climb into the hulking hopper.

  "We can sneak away," Michael said, grateful for the convenient distraction. "They won’t see." They trotted lightly away from the house. They were halfway to the forest edge when Ian decided to let out an ear-piercing shriek.

  Crap.

  All heads turned their way. "Hey!" Michael could hear Wayne shout.

  A white-hot bolt sizzled past him, detonating at the treeline. Several sharp cracks followed.

  "Stop!" called Wayne. "I won’t miss next time!"

  They froze. Wayne had already covered most of the ground between them, running full tilt. The plasma rifle he was carrying was trained on Michael.

  "Fucking ungrateful son of a bitch!" Wayne screamed. "I take you in and feed you, and you run away!" He slowed to a trot and carefully aimed the plasma rifle. "You’re dead. Got anything to say before you become a cinder?"

  Michael had never seen this moment before.

  Broken’s head jerked up. Her mouth formed an ‘O’.

  "Wayne!" several of his comrades were calling, panic in their voices. "Wayne! Come back! Hey!"

  Wayne looked up at the sky and started back. "Oh, fucking shit!" he said, eyes wide. He took off at a dead run towards the hopper.

  Michael scanned the vast blue sky, squinting against the weak winter sunlight.

  He finally made out what they had seen. A man, flying without any vehicle, bearing straight towards them.

  "Sky Ranger," he breathed.

  Someone grabbed his arm. He turned to find Broken staring, horrified, up at the approaching figure.

  "Oh, no," she whispered. "No, no. No. Please."

  "Come on," Michael urged. "The woods. He can’t see us there."

  "No ," Broken said, her voice shaking. "He always finds who he’s looking for."

  "Run anyway," said Michael , pulling her.

  Monica clutched Ian. "Oh, Jesus, I see him," she wailed. "Let’s go!"

  "No," murmured Broken. "I’m staying." She walked forward.

  "B!" Monica called.

  "Come on!" Michael made up his mind, grabbing Monica and bolting towards the woods.

  The trees were getting closer. He felt like his lungs would burst. Monica clung to his hand with the arm that wasn't cradling Ian.

  A whoosh of air almost knocked them down. When they managed to look up, a huge, powerfully built man, black cape swirling around him, blocked their path. Under the cape, he wore the uniform of a Black Bands commander.

  "Your government needs that baby," he said, pointing a gloved finger at Ian.

  Monica held him close, falling to her knees.

  "No," said Michael . "You’ll turn him into a monster."

  "You don’t understand, son," Sky Ranger said, not unkindly, "He’s special. He can do great things. He can be such a boon to humanity. He’ll be our strength."

  "I know that," Michael told him. "He’s going to save humanity from you."

  Sky Ranger shook his head. "I don’t have time for this. I need to take him now. I won’t hurt you, and I don't need you. You're free to go."

  "Maybe… maybe you should go away," interrupted Broken, walking forward. Her face had a strange expression on it, glazed and faraway, as if she was looking at a different scene entirely.

  "Go away," he commanded, barely glancing at her. "This doesn’t concern you."

  "Little Hawk," she whispered. "It does."

  Sky Ranger’s eyes grew wide as he took her in. After a long moment, he began, "You,... and broke off, studying her intently.

  She stood there, subjecting herself to his scrutiny, her face unreadable.

  Sky Ranger forced a smile. "Hey… so it was you! Silverwyng."

  Broken looked stricken. "Yeah," she managed. "I don’t go by that name anymore."

  "I’ve missed you. Did you know that?"

  A light gleamed in her eyes. "…Really?"

  "Of course! We all did. It was terrible. First Crim died, then you vanished, then Lucky left… Do you remember?"

  She nodded, speechless.

  "You shouldn’t have gone, Sil. You should come home to the Tower. Come back with me now."

  "No. I don’t think I want to…"

  "Well, you have to," he said, voice low and persuasive, almost beguiling. Michael himself wanted to do what he said, go where the imposing man commanded. "You’re in violation of the law, sweetheart. Both of you are." He glanced at Michael. "You’re a Prescient, I’ve heard."

  "I’m a what?" Michael asked, stunned. "Broken…"

  "Is that what you’re calling yourself? ‘Broken’?" Sky Ranger laughed. "Sil, you’re not broken."

  "I can’t fly," she said, close to tears. "I used to be able to fly."

  "I bet Doc can help. He’s still there, you know. He was so worried when you left, and then Lucky went away not long after. Were you with her?"

  Broken looked at the ground. "Jane’s dead."

  "Oh." Sky Ranger sighed. "I see. Look... I have to take the baby. And you, Sil, you can come with me, too."

  "Um," Broken stammered, torn. "I…"

  Michael looked at Sky Ranger, and saw cold calculation behind his bright eyes and loving smile. He opened his mouth to speak, but the leader of the Union beat him to it.

  "Sil.” He reached out to her. "Come back to me. Fly with me again."

  She looked into his ice-blue eyes, and walked to him, as if in a trance. He took her arms.

  "You’ll come home with me," he said softly. "You were always welcome to come home."

  Michael shook his head. "This isn’t fair," he said simply. "Broken…"

  She detached herself. "I’m sorry. Michael, I’m sorry. I want to go home. I… I’m sorry." She gently took Ian from Monica’s arms.

  "Don’t listen to him, Broken," Michael warned, but he knew it was too late.

  "Traitor," Monica hissed.

  "Sorry," Broken repeated. Ian wiggled, but did not cry. He trusted Broken. She carried him to Sky Ranger’s waiting arms. He cradled the child in one arm and took her in the other, then, with visible effort, lifted himself off the ground.

  "Hold on," he told her.

  "Broken!" Michael called desperately.

  She didn’t look at him. Instead, she looked across the sloping la
wn at the hopper, still idling and ready for takeoff. The American Liberation Army had fled inside it, hoping not to be noticed.

  "Goodbye," she called, still not looking at Michael. Instead, she gazed up into Sky Ranger’s handsome face. He smiled down at her.

  "You did the right thing," he said. "Good for you."

  He lifted up into the air, and moved off towards the east.

  "No!" cried Michael. "No! Come back!"

  Broken looked back at him as Sky Ranger sped into the distance… and, finally, he saw what she was planning.

  Monica was crying. "How could she? I don’t understand!"

  Michael looked around wildly. There, far across the lawn, the hopper still idled. He ran towards it, waving his arms and shouting.

  "Hey!" he called. "Hey! Open up!"

  A hatch popped open. Wayne, Parker, Banner, Kent and the others glared at him, weapons pointed at his head.

  "Fuck off," Kent said.

  "Please, you need to help," Michael said. "That baby is the best chance we have for the future. He’s the only one who can take Peltan down. Please! Please, help me!"

  Monica ran up behind him, wheezing.

  "We’re going to Australia," Wayne said, voice shaking a little. The close encounter with Sky Ranger had rattled him.

  "To do what? Die? No one will remember you when you spill your blood out on the sands, no one. It won’t matter. You help me save Ian, you’ll have saved the entire fucking world." Michael stared defiantly at them. "Please," he said again. "Please."

  They looked at each other hesitantly. "I don’t know," said one of the UNP women.

  "Yeah," agreed another. "This is stupid. We should go."

  Michael pointed. "They’re planning to run away the first chance they get. Don’t trust ‘em."

  "You rat!" said one of the women.

  Wayne glared at them. "Is that true?"