Now that we were free, the captain and two Custodian privates strode for the door. In typical form, they did not apologise even though they were about to murder us a moment ago. I was overwhelmed with relief that we were still alive, but also incensed with anger at yet another Custodian injustice. How much longer did I have to live in this prison-town?
Ignoring wrists sore from chafing handcuffs and knees aching from kneeling too long on a hard wooden floor, I stood and helped Nanako to her feet. Like me, she was relieved but angry. She was also shivering uncontrollably from the cold.
But before I could even take stock of our situation, King was back in my face.
"Mention this little ‘misunderstanding’ to anyone, anyone at all, and there'll be a little accident when you're out foraging one day. You reading me, Jones?" he hissed in my ear.
I wanted nothing more than to smash my fist through his pockmarked face, but that would just give him the excuse he needed to lock me up. With a monstrous amount of self control, I focused on breathing in and out and glared back at him without answering.
King turned and sauntered after his companions, but just as he reached the apartment door, there was an enormous, thunderous boom, which shook the building to its very foundations.
The captain steadied himself against the doorframe. "Earthquake?"
"No, an explosion," I said.
The Custodians rushed onto the walkway and looked about to check if my observation was correct, but they couldn't see anything from there.
All of their radios suddenly sputtered to life. "Code 906. All Custodians report to North End in full battle gear immediately, repeat, Code 906." The message was repeated every few seconds.
"You've got to be kidding!" King exclaimed.
"What's 'code 906?'" I called out as I dressed quickly into trousers, t-shirt and hoody.
"Let's go!" the captain ordered, completely ignoring me.
"Captain Smithson, wait!" I shouted as I darted onto the walkway after them. Again he ignored me, so I reached out and grabbed his sleeve.
"What, Jones?" he practically shouted in my face.
"What's 'code 906,' Captain?"
"Skel have broken into North End," he snapped back.
"What could the Skel possibly gain by doing that?" I asked, trying to prompt him to think things through rather than rush off impetuously. I was working on the assumption that the Skel were much more organised than we had previously thought, and that besieging Newhome was the first stage of some insidious plan. This was obviously stage two. But what was its goal – to cripple the town perhaps? And to such an extent that the population would be forced to leave? If that was the case, then I could think of only two possible scenarios in which the Skel could achieve that end. One was to destroy our electricity supply, and the other was to cut off our water.
Snatches of frantic dispatches bled through the Custodian radios:
"...used a captured Bushmaster to break down the gates..."
"...Skel everywhere..."
"Sir, we've got to go." King pressed.
The captain waved him back and answered me, "Supplies, livestock, slaves, the usual, how would I know?"
"They can get those from any Victorian country town without having to go head-to-head with a few hundred well armed Custodians," I pointed out.
"...taking casualties..."
"...medic!"
"If there's something you want to say, Jones, out with it!"
We could hear the staccato sounds of guns firing in the distance. Custodians were fighting back.
"...building's on fire..."
"...fleeing civilians are blocking my line of fire..."
"Call the security detail guarding the sub and I'll wager my bottom dollar they don’t answer," I said quickly, deciding to put my hunch to the test. The Skel were going after the electricity, they had to be.
While the captain made a call to Custodian Headquarters on his radio, Nanako joined us on the walkway. She was dressed in black over-knee socks, shorts and top, and looking a lot warmer.
The captain rejoined us, and was clearly not pleased with what he had heard over the radio. "HQ says they're not responding," he said darkly. "Okay men, we've got a sub to save. Virtually everyone else is already in or on the way to North End, so HQ is sending a couple of squads back to meet us at the western gates. Then we go in and go in hard."
"...bravo company unable to enter North End, gates – the road is clogged by civilians..."
"...get these blasted civilians out of the way..."
"You rush out through the main gates to save the sub and you're all dead." I raised my voice to make myself heard.
The captain was not pleased at my constant interruptions. "And why would that be, Jones?"
"Because they'll have set an ambush outside the gates, expecting you to do exactly that, Sir. May I be so bold as to suggest a strategy?"
"Jones, this is Custodian business!"
"How many times have you fought the Skel, Sir?" I asked, risking a verbal slap down.
"...requesting permission to retreat..."
"...Skel have guns, repeat, Skel have guns..."
The captain glared at me, confirming my suspicion – the answer was never. "Well then, what strategy do you propose?" he finally asked.
"I presume the city has a secret entrance on the west wall?"
"How do you know about the secret doors?" he demanded, shocked.
"I saw a squad of Custodians using one once."
"Well, you're right, there is one on the west wall. It's opposite the bridge, a hundred metres south of the western gates and sub."
"In that case I recommend you send your force out the secret entrance, advance to the river bank and then follow it to the sub. That way you'll come up behind the Skel who are waiting near the gates. When you find them, fire a flare so that you can see them and take them out."
"Sounds good in theory, Jones, but how are we supposed to find Skel hiding in the dark?” he demanded.
I wanted to keep my mouth shut and let the Custodians deal with the situation to the best of their ability, but with such small numbers they'd fail and I knew it. And although my conscience wouldn't be pricked if these particular Custodians met their end out there, what if the city lost power? That would be disastrous for ten-thousand civilians, since we had no alternative power supply. All of the power stations had been destroyed during the war. Without electricity to provide lighting in the green houses, the town would only be able to generate a fraction of the food it needed.
"...we're pinned down here..."
"...fall back, fall back..."
"Put me with the lead squad and I'll take point," I offered.
"You think you can find Skel in the dark, do you, Jones?" the captain asked.
"...walked right into an ambush..."
"... my squad’s wiped out!..."
"Yes Sir, no question about it. I know how they operate."
"Sir, I believe he can. He had no problem locating David Chen when the Skel abducted him," King said, surprising me by confirming my abilities. Apparently, he didn't like the idea of fighting Skel in the dark without me.
Nanako pulled me away from the Custodians. “Why do you want to help them, Ethan, after what they just did to us? And you haven't recovered from your wound," she whispered fiercely as she clung to my arm.
I cupped her face in my hand and whispered back. “It's not for them. If I don't do this we may not have a town by morning.”
"Then I'm coming with you so I can watch your back."
"There's no way I'm gonna risk you out there," I declared, alarmed by the very thought of her trying to fight Skel ambushers in the dark.
"You don’t need to worry about me, Ethan. When we were in Hamamachi you taught me how to fight Skel. I have experience fighting them too. So I'm coming with you whether you like it or not. I just got you back and there's no way I'm letting you go out there against those things without my support."
I saw that arguing would get me nowhere so I nodded my consent, reminding myself that she was in the Hamamachi Militia – which was such a foreign concept to me.
The captain seemed to be weighing up his options, and finally said, "Okay Ethan, let's go. We'll kit you up with a vest and gun when we get to the barracks."
"I'm coming too," Nanako informed him as we hurried down the walkway towards the elevator.
Captain Smithson didn't even bat an eyelid with his speedy response. "Absolutely out of the question."
"Why, because I'm a woman?" she asked as she hurried to keep up with our longer strides.
"Fighting is men's business," he snapped back.
"Not in Hamamachi, Sir. All of our women serve in the Militia one month each year. I am experienced with Austeyr assault-rifles and have fought Skel and raiders both," she said as she stepped into the elevator with us and stared up into his face. "Besides, you need all the experienced fighters you can get."
“As much as it irks me to say this,” King butted in, “She’s right, Sir.”
The captain looked at King, and then back at Nanako. "Fine, you can kit up too then."
I glanced at King, expecting to see gratitude or relief in his countenance, but instead saw cunning anticipation. No doubt he was hoping the Skel would kill Nanako and rid him of a thorn in his side.