Wasteland: Rebirth Read online

  Wasteland: Rebirth

  A Novel by Ann Bakshis

  Copyright © 2016 by Ann Bakshis

  This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the writer’s imagination or have been used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to persons, living and dead, actual event, locales or organizations is entirely coincidental.

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission from the author.

  Published by Ponahakeola Press, 2016

  Typeset in Garamond, PT Mono, and Andale Mono

  For my ‘sisters’ Megan and Katy.

  Table of Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 1

  Braxton

  The airship takes a sudden dive. I have to brace my body against the frame of the door so I don’t go tumbling into the pilot’s lap.

  “We’ve got one on our tail,” the pilot says.

  “Is Eretria within radio contact yet?” Artemis asks.

  “No, we won’t be in range for another five minutes.” The ship swings dangerously to the right. “You might want to buckle in, Captain Braxton,” she says to me.

  I do as I’m told, taking the seat next to Lehen, but not before noticing Grainne holding tightly onto Vier. We climb almost straight up before banking left.

  “Does this thing have any weapons?” I call out.

  “Yes, but they’re not the ones you’re used to,” the pilot answers.

  “Lark,” Artemis calls to the pilot, “we may not have a choice if we’re to get to the barrier.”

  I hear her grumble.

  I wonder if she’s as much of a fan of Artemis as the rest of us are.

  “Behind your seat is a ladder leading up to the weapons hold,” she says to me. “You’ll find a high-powered Gatling gun, primed and ready to be used. You’ll want to put on the headphones to protect your ears. It’s going to get loud in that small space.”

  I unbuckle, try to gain my footing as we dance around the air, locate the ladder, and climb. The opening is sealed with a hatch that I open and close once I’m inside. The space is tight with the massive artillery nestled between a couple of monitors and one chair. The headphones are dangling from a clip on the wall. I slip them on and Lark begins talking.

  “It’s easy, Captain. Just look through the firing scope using the monitor to your right for a more precise target. Pull the trigger and don’t stop until either the gun is out of ammunition, or the ship goes down.”

  I sit in the chair, having to cradle part of the weapon between my thighs. The trigger is on the underside. I lean forward, look through the scope, and make my adjustments using the touchscreen. There are now three aerial units behind us. Each trying their best to shoot us down with their Levin cannons. I select the lead ship, focus the scope until it locks onto the target, and pull the trigger. Shell casings spew out the other side of the gun, clanking hard and loud onto the metal floor.

  This is an odd weapon. I bet it’s an old world one, something that hasn’t been made in Sirain for well over a century.

  The aerial unit behind us splits apart after several rounds hits its wings. The parts fly off, knocking into the two units behind it. They break off from us.

  “Nice shooting,” Artemis says in my ear.

  We climb higher before finally leveling off. I hang the headphones up, open the hatch, and climb down.

  “Sentry One, this is Recovery. We are thirty minutes from the border,” Lark says into a microphone hanging from her ear.

  “Recovery, we have you on radar. Stay on this path. If you deviate we will shoot you down,” is the response.

  “Copy that,” Lark replies.

  I buckle myself back in next to Lehen. The thirty minutes seems like hours. I look out the window by my seat and see the border we’re approaching. The wall stands approximately three hundred feet tall, covered in weaponry blinking red, meaning it’s active. The cannons swing in our direction, following us as we pass over the massively thick wall and into Eretria. I let out a deep sigh. I hadn’t realized I’d been holding my breath. Everyone else does the same.

  “How long until we reach the estate?” Neo asks.

  “A couple of hours,” Lark responds.

  Anxiety weighs heavily on Neo’s face. He wants to get there sooner, as do I, but the further we put Sirain behind us the more relaxed I feel. There isn’t much to do to pass the time, so I continue to gaze out the window. My eyes grow heavy and eventually close. Nightmares invade my dreams. Trea comes for me, a Pugio blade glowing blue in her hands. She attacks as I try to fight her off. She pins me down, presses the blade against my throat. My fist flies in her direction, but I wake to find Grainne shaking me, and stop myself moments before hitting her.

  “We’re here,” she says.

  I unbuckle and walk down the open hatch to see that everyone is waiting outside in a small transport. As we pull away from the helipad, the aerial unit descends into a hidden bay. Lark drives up a small hill along a path made of crushed rock. A large marble fountain sits in the center of the circular drive. We stop under a portico, Artemis leads the way into the massive house, while Lark takes the transport over to a small garage across the courtyard.

  Granite tiles cover every inch of the foyer, right up to the thick carpeting of the living room. The structure is semi-circular with only columns separating the spaces between the living room, kitchen, and media room. Tall windows line the walls, but they don’t have any covering. As it’s still night, they’re frosted over from the cold. Artemis directs Caitrin and Grainne to a hallway off the media room on the south end of the house, and over to a wing that has six bedrooms and baths.

  Once they’re settled in, the rest of us take the hallway off the kitchen to another wing with the same number of bedrooms and baths. Artemis places me in the last room at the end with an empty room between me and Vier. The bedroom is enormous. A king size bed leans against the far wall, a small lounge with an ottoman sits in the opposite corner, a full wall monitor next to that, a large chest of drawers loaded with new clothes across from the bathroom, a walk-in closet also completely stocked, and a full bath with shower and sunken tub.

  I’m still caked in mud, so I take a long hot shower before putting on a pair of cotton shorts and tank top, then crawl under the covers and sleep.

  I stumble out of my room almost a day and a half later. Neo is in the kitchen cooking, but I don’t see anyone else.

  “We thought you’d never wake up,” he says to me as I take a seat on a bar stool in front of the island Neo is standing by.

  “Where is everyone?”

  “Grainne and Caitrin are outside in the pool, Vier and Lehen are down at the outer building with the security team, and I have no idea where Artemis is. I haven’t seen him since we landed.”

  Neo pours me a bowl of soup, then takes a seat next to me and we eat our meal in silence. I can’t stop thinking about Trea.

  What has she gotten herself into? Is she lost forever? Is it even possible to get her back?

  Caitrin and Grainne come in with towels wrapped around their waists. Grainne gives me a hug, and the two of them go to dry off and change. We’re just about done wit
h our second helping when Vier’s voice rings over the intercom.

  “Neo, I’ve got the footage,” he says.

  Neo gets up, goes over to a speaker on the wall by the fridge, and presses a button. “Send it to the media room. Braxton is finally up, so we’ll watch it in there.”

  “Give me five minutes and it’ll be waiting for you,” Vier responds.

  “What footage?” I ask, clearing our plates.

  “Vladim’s speech from the other night. Artemis records all transmissions sent from Sirain into Eretria. He also uses Tyre’s satellites to spy on the country, just like his father.”

  “Has Artemis been able to locate Trea and the others?”

  “No, but I don’t think his security team is actually looking.”

  “So, they’re not doing anything?” I almost shout.

  “It’s not their fight, Braxton. They’ve said as much to the rest of us.”

  “We need to make it their fight.”

  “You can’t be serious. We’re safe now, we don’t have to worry about Vladim and his Antaeans anymore. I know you’re upset about Trea, but she’s one of his now.”

  “No, I won’t believe it. She’s not. If he has done something to her, I can help her. We need to get her out of there.”

  “Enough, Braxton,” Artemis says behind me, holding a tumbler filled with ice and some brown liquid. He sways slightly while trying to stand still. “She’s gone, you have to accept that. There’s no going back.”

  Stepping in front Artemis, I knock the drink out of his hand. It breaks on the floor. “You’re wrong. All of you.”

  I walk past him, through the foyer, and into the media room. Grainne is wearing her nightclothes, sitting on a couch by one of the seven monitors that fill the wall. Caitrin is sitting opposite her, scrolling through a tablet. I take a seat next to Grainne as Vier and Lehen enter through the patio at the back. Neo joins a few minutes later and queues up the video.

  “Citizens of Sirain,” Vladim begins, looking very comfortable in his seat. “I call upon all of you tonight to stand with me in our fight for freedom and a united country. We must persist in our daily struggle to remain a unified nation. Sacrifices will be made, but only in the Boroughs. No citizens will be affected. Laics will need to work longer hours so we can meet the demands our new troops require. I’m increasing the number of Regulators who patrol outside the Tyrean territory, to better aid in the capture of dissidents hiding in the Wasteland and the Acheron territory. We’re building an additional Barracks in the old Trade Borough to increase our army’s numbers. We’ve also managed to safely preserve fetuses long thought destroyed during the attack on the Dormitories. In a few months, our new batch of Antaeans will be ready and they will bring the long-awaited peace Sirain has desired. I implore you all to bear with me as we wait for this great army to be completed.”

  Vladim takes a deep breath before continuing. “Though we’ve taken extra precautions in securing our safety with the added defenses around our borders, we continue to underestimate our opponent. This allows them to enter into our peaceful nation undetected. So, it’s with great regret that I must inform you of an assault that is currently underway in the Textile Borough in the northern section of Tyre. Spies from Eretria have managed to sneak their way into Sirain and are currently bombing the Borough. I continue to hope and pray for the safety of all those innocents who are trapped in this conflict. I’ve sent a squadron to defend the Borough, but I don’t know how successful they will be given the distance they have to travel and the advanced weaponry our enemy is using. My commanders and lieutenants are keeping me updated as best they can and I will provide you with this information as soon as I have it.”

  He takes another deep breath, tears welling in his eyes. “I promise you all that we will do our best to be victorious. But if we fail, it is because I fail. To guarantee this doesn’t happen, I will put my own life on the line. With the Antaeans by my side, I will lead the army into battle to ensure our success.”

  The transmission ends. No one speaks for several minutes. We’re all too busy trying to absorb what we just saw.

  “More Antaeans?” Neo asks, breaking the painful silence. “How is that possible?”

  Vier answers. “A couple of years ago, I caught several Regulators removing vials of embryos from under one of the housing units. These must be the ones he’s referring to.”

  “That can’t be right,” Caitrin says. “We scoured that place and only found three vials that were salvageable.”

  “Artemis,” I call, “get in here. We have a question for you.”

  He saunters in the room, a new glass in hand. “What?”

  “How is it possible for your father to have more Antaeans? Weren’t most of them destroyed in the fire?” I ask.

  “I don’t know, nor do I care. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have an engagement to keep.” He exits through the patio door.

  I think back to the other day when I was looking through Trea’s tablet. My mind flashes to the file I located, titled “Next Generation”.

  Are these those Antaeans? The next generation? Surely they would’ve perished when the power finally went out at the Dormitories. Were they kept somewhere else that wasn’t affected by the power loss? Why wait so long to retrieve them?

  “Here,” Caitrin says to me, passing me the tablet she was looking through. “I’ve located something that might interest you.”

  The tablet is the one I gave Trea, only the file open isn’t one I’ve seen before. “Where did you find this?”

  “It was under the record labeled “Warnings” under the “Research” file.”

  The file open in front of me is labeled “Possible Flaws”. I have to read through it twice, making sure I didn’t miss anything.

  Concerns: Although the Antaeans show tremendous healing ability, there are structural flaws in the genetic make-up of the Quarum. Giving too much Quarum to an Antaean can lead to a cellular breakdown, resulting in death from Quantum Stream poisoning. The Quarum works not only as a healing agent, but protects the cells from degradation caused by the Quantum Stream. Too much Quarum causes the cells to break down, which then allows the Quantum Stream to penetrate vital organs. Any previous injuries are now magnified and the Antaean dies an extremely painful death.

  Resolution: With the creation of Sanar, we can now prevent any future Antaeans from being sickened or dying from Quantum Stream poisoning. Sanar is a binding agent that guarantees cellular integrity, and assures the Antaean’s ability to survive all injuries caused by a Quantum weapon.

  I look over at Lehen, remembering the extra vial of Quarum I injected him with a couple of months ago. I begin to wonder how much time he has left. He wasn’t given Sanar like Trea and Grainne were. With the injuries he sustained, the plate in his chest and the metal strips along his legs, his death will be horrific.

  Do I tell him and hope he takes it well, or keep the information to myself?

  I choose not to say anything. I need him to fight with me against Vladim, and if I tell him, he may decide to end his life early. I know it’s selfish, but that’s how I feel. I’m only thinking about what’s the best plan for me to get Trea out of Sirain. I don’t care what the others think or believe.

  I look over at Grainne, who’s fallen asleep. I hand the tablet back to Caitrin, rouse Grainne enough so she can walk back to her room, and I follow. As I’m tucking her under the covers, she opens her eyes. Sorrow weighs heavy in them.

  “I miss Trea,” she says.

  “Me too.” I kiss her on the forehead and leave.

  Neo is the only one still in the media room when I return. “We need to talk,” he says to me.

  “I’m not in the mood,” I snipe back.

  He grabs my arm as I pass. “You don’t have a choice.” He shoves me down on the couch across from him. “You need to let her go. Trea is lost now, she’s part of Vladim’s Antaean army. From what the leader of Eretria has been able to gather from his spies, she’s been r
econditioned, a process that removes all former identity to build a new one. She won’t have any memory of you, or Grainne. Face it Braxton, Trea might as well be dead.”

  I take a swing at him, catching him in the lower jaw. He falls back onto the couch behind him. I raise my fist again, but he blocks my blow. He grabs my arm, swings it around my back knocking me to the floor, and placing his knee in the center of my spine.

  “It’s over, man. You need to grieve for her and move on. Grainne will need you more than anyone when she finds out. You have to get it together…for Grainne.”

  I don’t want to get over Trea. She means everything to me! How can I just forget about that? Acting like she’s dead will kill me, and I refuse to let that happen, so I decide to play along, nodding my head in agreement. Neo gets up, and helps me to my feet. He pats me on the back before retreating towards the kitchen. I exit the door just off the lounge and walk onto a brick patio that encircles an in-ground pool, the lights at the bottom causing the water to glow.

  “He’s right you know,” Artemis says, slurring his words as he sits on a lounge chair in the corner. “She might as well be dead. I never should’ve taken her to Tyre. I should’ve returned her to the Wasteland. It’s the only place that was truly a home for her.”

  “Neo’s wrong, and so are you.”

  “Why, Braxton? Why are you so adamant about this? Trea probably has been tortured and reconditioned to view you as the enemy now. She’ll turn on all of us, including her sister.”

  I ignore his remark. “Where’s Lark?”

  He chugs what’s left of the contents of his glass before responding. “She’s down in the outer building a half-mile down that slope.” He points to a ridge behind the house and over to the left. “My security team lives there, so you’ll find her with them.”

  I leave him as he bends over to open a small fridge by his chair. Probably to refill his glass.

  There’s a path made of crushed rock leading away from the house, over the hill, and down into a valley. The outer building sits half-way down the hill, partially built into the land, and the other half is supported by stilts. The top floor is brightly lit, while the bottom floor is completely dark. The path leads right up to a side door for the top level. I push a buzzer and wait.