Vengeance Unveiled

Chapter 1-1

Chapter 1 Abandoned Warehouse, Outer-City: Freya

Death was three meters behind her. If she could make it fifteen more meters without alerting her pursuers, the mission would be a success. As far as her handlers knew, then she could focus on the real reason she’d taken this assignment. The last obstacle standing in her way was a pack of women hunting her to avenge their boss who she’d just eliminated. ARI, the organization Freya worked for, determined the target was a threat and marked her for termination.

Easing forward, she crouched over and placed soft footsteps on the grated metal catwalk. With her cloaking device keeping her invisible to the eye and most tracking devices, her last remaining concern was noise. Looking at the chains suspending the catwalk from the ceiling, she counted out the right pace to remain silent. Halfway through, a loud creak broke the silence. A glance over her shoulder revealed one pursuer was closing in fast. Even this close to death and her adrenaline remained steady. She begged it to peak at the threat of death, but nothing came. Without it, there was no thrill to the chase. Every thought, every move, every second of her life she kept controlled and thought out, just as the scientists had made her.

Pushing away memories she didn’t want to think about, she continued her journey to solid ground. Once there, she turned to watch the only woman close enough to be a threat. She stood in the middle of the hanging industrial catwalk waving around a useless tracking device. As a precaution, she pushed out with her telepathy and confirmed none of the women knew where she was. Reaching into her jacket, she used her handheld to scramble the track chip that her handler used to monitor her. A quick survey of the area confirmed to her that this abandoned warehouse had been the right choice to ditch her pursuers in. Devoid of working security devices, it made the perfect blind spot. Broken windows left plenty of places for her to escape through, even if it meant debris and broken glass were scattered everywhere.

Returning to the window she’d selected earlier when she’d scouted this location, she eased herself through the window catching none of the shards of glass, and slid down a drainpipe to the ground level. She listened with her telepathy to ensure no one was around, then sprinted towards the perimeter. Her mission was in the outer-city while her Resistance contact was in the inner-city. When the Sovereign remapped the city several years ago, they’d divided it into two parts, the inner and outer portions. Many citizens moved within the inner-city while those who remained had to deal with the rampant crime and harsh ARI lockdowns and raids. Crossing the perimeter meant entering guarded check points, providing papers, and several other requirements she didn’t have.

The Resistance had a few permanent access ways, allowing her to cross through undetected. Remaining cloaked, she sprinted past several empty derelict buildings until stopping in front of a familiar rickety door. Picking the lock, she slid in, and resealed the door. With a flick of her finger on the handheld hidden in her jacket, she heard the soft mechanical hum of the cloak turning off. Approaching another door, she pressed her hand against the wall just to the right. A hidden biometric screen appeared five seconds after contact. Blue light scanned up and down her hand until the entire display lit up green and then disappeared. The hissing sound of the pneumatic door announced it sliding open.

Stepping inside, she descended the flights of stairs that lead to barely lit underground tunnel to cross under the perimeter, then up several more flights of stairs. At the last step, she came to a flat wall where she repeated the process to open the door. On the other side, she walked through two more doors and entered her rendezvous point.

Violet Five was more than a clandestine meeting spot for Resistance members, it also served citizens of the inner-city a place to imbibe in secret. Even though the Sovereign forbade any substances that altered the mind or inhibitions, the tenders offered a selection of foods, drinks, and puffers that had various desired effects. It also provided a great place to trade information. If she ever used the items here, ARI would find out right away with the required regular checkups to ensure no one was using. Besides, anything that affected her judgement would get her killed.

She slid through the crowded building, careful not to bump into anyone. Antique wooden tables and booths lined the right wall with women crowding the bar on the left. Out of the way, a lone booth sat in a dark corner. Sliding into the booth, she waited for Nova to find her. The blue, green, and red lights decorating the bar grabbed her attention as she counted how many months it had been since she’d last met here. Since the most recent set of regulations passed down through the ranks of ARI, it’d been impossible to find a way here without risking her cover.

A taller woman with black hair framing her jawline slid into the booth across from her, vibrant purple eyes gazing back at her matched her own.

“Just like you to be early, Ya.”

“Don’t call me that, you know my name is Freya.”

“A nickname never hurt no one, besides, you could lighten up a bit. I’ve never seen no one so serious all the time, even from your group.” Freya knew Nova was referring to ARI, but it made her think of the experimental program they were both born into. The only difference was they pulled Nova out of the program and erased her memories of the brutality, then planted her into the Resistance as a spy without her knowledge. Last year when Nova’s sister had revealed the truth, Nova continued to support the Resistance to take down the Sovereign, and it’s corrupt army, ARI.

“I’m not here to chat.”

“Fine, have it your way.” Nova sighed, “Word from Alastor is they are sending over transfer orders as we speak. You’ll go to Sheri’Na Base.” Every time Nova mentioned Alastor, it made Freya pause and wonder what it would be like to meet a real man. Not reading about a mythical being in history books from before the virus killed off every living man in the year 3421. Five hundred years later, there had only been two males born, and they were too genetically corrupt to reproduce. When the virus struck and women realized they weren’t affected, scientists developed a way to make sperm from female genetic material. Since then, the Y-chromosome remained elusive and men remained extinct, or so most women thought.

“Sheri’Na Base? That is no closer to the Sovereign than where I am now. You know the only chance I have to find what we need is to get into Ray’Nia Base.”

“I know, but we don’t have a way to get you there yet. Also, we haven’t been able to get anyone inside Sheri’Na Base.” They both paused for a long moment before Nova spoke again. “We are working on a plan, but I’m afraid we will have to drop communications for now. We will get word to you when we have something. Until then, do nothing that will risk your cover.” Nova punctuated the last sentence by beating her fist on the table.

“Keeping my cover is easy, they don’t suspect me.”

“Don’t do anymore searching, we won’t be able to cover you if you raise flags.”

“If I see an opportunity, I will try.”

Nova opened her mouth to reply, but Freya talked over her.

“I will not pass on a chance because your team is lacking.”

Nova glared at Freya for a long while before she spoke, “Do you remember where the safe house is in that sector?”

“Absolutely.” Freya didn’t tell her she’d hacked the Resistance database, gaining all their data and locations.

“You can trust Del’Re to keep you safe.”

Freya nodded at Nova and slid from the booth.

“Be careful, I don’t have to remind you what’s on the line if you fail.”

Without another word, Freya returned the way she’d come. She recloaked herself until she returned to the warehouse. The women had left and after a brief telepathic search, she learned that her handler and team were outside searching for her. Grabbing her handheld, she turned off the cloak and unscrambled her track chip, now instead of it reporting the same location, it would show her movements again. Despite knowing it was a death sentence to alter her chip, she had to keep her cover. Within seconds, her handler was stalking towards her. Raising an eyebrow at her, Yi’ara cursed and ushered her towards a hover transit parked on the street. As usual, the ride back to base was full of threats and screaming from Yi’ara.

As she walked through the long metal hallways of Lay’ata Base back to her barracks, the base major’s shout echoed. “El’Sandsa, report to my office!”

Spinning on her heel, she headed to the major’s office instead of the lumpy cot that called her name. Once inside the doorway she snapped into a tight salute and watched the pissed off major pace the room, her footsteps echoing off the grey metal walls. Major Lena barked a command for her to sit, so she sat on the ugliest green chair she’d ever seen. Her body protested the chair that was made to be uncomfortable, a common tactic ARI used to keep the soldiers on the edge of breaking. They only wanted the strong, and anyone that wasn’t would be beaten until they were tough enough or dead.

“I heard about your little stunt out there, an hour? A whole f*****g hour off the grid. What do you have to say for yourself this time?”

“Off the grid? According to the logs, my chip was active and reporting a location the whole time.”

The major let out a deep growl and slammed her fist on the boxy metal desk. Freya didn’t blink as she counted how long it took for Major Lena to regain her control. Usually ten seconds, twenty on a bad day. Today was worse than bad, she made it thirty-four before the major broke the silence.

“I’ve looked forward to proving that you are altering your chip, just so I can experience the satisfaction of your execution, but I won’t be the one to destroy you.” She pulled a tab from her desk drawer and tapped on it a few times. “As of an hour ago, you’ve been reassigned.” Major Lena smirked, “You’re not my problem anymore, say goodbye to Zay’Lah Base.”

She dropped the tab on the desk in front of Freya. With a glance, her heart punched in her chest while the mechanical noises of the surrounding base disappeared. Nova had been right about the transfer, but wrong about the location. Freya’s new post was far more remote than Sheri’Nah Base. It was Lay’ata Base which lay outside of the city in a wilderness area known as No Woman’s Land. The base was small enough to not register on most maps and in the opposite direction of where Nova was expecting her to be. It could only mean one thing, the Sovereign suspected her of being a spy, and the Resistance wouldn’t know where to find her. Freya was on her own.

Hiro Resistance Camp: Bash

“Bash! Bash, where are you?” A singsong voice cooed for him to come out. He shrunk further so they wouldn’t see him, he couldn’t take the pressure anymore. If one more woman demanded he sleep with her for the good of humanity, he would go insane.

Never would he find peace from the women at the camp who demanded him. Since he was a child, every woman around him proclaimed him the male who defied a nation. His great defiance? He was born with a Y-chromosome.

Bash squatted behind a horse-drawn cart to escape the three pursuing women. He could never find peace from the pressures of their small camp. Peaking around the edge of the cart, he saw the women head off in a different direction. Muscles relaxing, he leaned against the cart. He couldn’t live this way anymore; hunted every second of the day.

Bash jumped when a blonde woman appeared in front of him.

“Deja on the prowl again?”