Turncoat: Turncoat Trilogy Book 1

Chapter 17

She wasn't lying either, within a day I had three square meals, water whenever I wanted it and had slept twelve hours straight. And as promised by Becker, when I woke up from that sleep. Four guards escorted me, walking under my own power and unrestrained to a waiting hovercar. Lieutenant Prat sat across from me in the back and smiled. "Don't worry, you'll be taken care of, sergeant. I've heard a lot about you, you're rather infamous among the hacker ranks."

I smiled. "Not many people broke through the firewall during their test," I said.

She nodded. The hovercar lifted up and I tried to look out the window only to see it had darkened and the interior lights had come up. "Where are we going?" I asked.

"I can't tell you that, Sergeant," Prat said. "Don't worry, you'll be treated humanely, better than Otto did." She pulled a tablet out of her brief case and began working on something. I settled back into the seat, relishing the feel of the warm leather. The trip started to drone on, stretching out. Now in a hovercar, my wrist interface synced back with the time and date but my transmissions were still blocked out.

Suddenly the car began to descend and Lieutenant Prat raised her head from her work. "What's going on?" she demanded.

"Sorry, Lieutenant, engine trouble, we'll be airborne in a few moments again, I promise," the driver responded over the intercom.

To this day, I will swear on my life that a smirk crossed the Lieutenant's lips before she responded. "Well get it fixed, Becker will have my ass if we don't arrive with the prisoner!" she snapped.

"Yes, ma'am," the driver replied hastily.

"Engine trouble?" I asked, thinking back to what I knew of hovercars. There was a certain weakness in the engine that wasn't on the schematics nor well known except to the mechanics who dealt with it daily.

"Happens all the time," she said. "You should know this, considering you're a mechanic."

"I work on the 'bots," I shrugged. "Not the vehicles."

She returned to her work with a shrug. Something metallic rapped on the window a time later and a brisk "Open up," came from outside.

Lieutenant Prat reached over and opened the door, only for a rifle barrel to enter the interior of the car. "Get out of the car," the man behind the rifle instructed. "Both of you."

I stepped out of the car into the oddly empty street. Four other men stood around us armed with rifles and crude gear.

"On your knees, Lieutenant," the man in front of us growled.

Prat carefully got onto her knees as if taking care not to dirty her uniform. I started to follow and the man shook his head. "Nope, Sergeant, you're going to come with us."

I looked to Lieutenant Prat who shrugged. "I would listen to him, we have no way to outfight them," she said.

One of the men walked over to me and motioned for me to follow him. I started to walk away, feeling the rifle barrel digging into my lower back. I looked back to see the Lieutenant struck over the head with the rifle butt and collapse. I was ushered into an alleyway where a ground car awaited us.

"I know you're tired of being blindfolded, but put this on, please," a man said handing me a bag.

I took the bag cautiously, raising a questioning eyebrow at the man. "Where are you taking me?" I asked.

All five men looked around, two of them climbing into the front seat of the truck and starting the engine. "You're going to have to trust that mutual friends sent us," the one who handed me the bag said.

I looked between all of them and back in the direction we had come. Dead Heads would be able to find me in minutes if I left the alleyway, which appeared to be a blind spot. I put the bag over my head and felt a pair of hands take me by the shoulder.

"Good choice, watch your head," he said. He manipulated me into the truck, sitting be down in the seat. Someone sat on either side of me and I heard the doors slam shut. A banging sound came from the roof and we started moving. I heard a ding as my wrist interface connected to the system and then alerts started rolling in, it took everything I had to not look at them.

I don't know how long we drove around, but I know there were several circles and we switched vehicles twice. The heat of the sun vanished from my face when our final vehicle came to a stop. Doors opened and I was removed and led away. A door opened and we began to descend stairs. I could hear tings and hissing as I walked, gurgling in water pipes and plinking from leaks. Someone's boot splashed a small puddle. We must be in the maintenance tunnels. I stopped keeping track of the twists and turns, and then I heard a constant gurgling and the revolting stench of sewage struck me.

And now the sewers.

I continued to walk, trusting the hand on my shoulder and head, that ducked me under low obstructions and kept me from slamming into walls. The stench slowly vanished as the ground below my feet changed as well.

"You can remove the bag now," one of the men said.

I reached up and pulled the bag off of my head to be greeted by a very familiar sight. The slums, the only place in the city you could vanish into and the dead heads couldn't find you. I looked to the men as they removed their helmet and tied them to their belts. I didn't recognize anyone. "Welcome home, sister," one said.

"Thank you, brother," I responded. "Will you take me to my friends?"

"Mother and Father would like to see you first, but then we can go to your friends," brother said.

"Of course, thank you, brother. I am forever in your debt," I said.