We continue walking in the ditch, heading east, towards an old barn the group is using.
“I’ve made a map of their defenses, they’ve turned McIntosh into a prison,” James says. “There’s a network of motion and heat sensors along the north and west perimeter that wouldn’t let a rabbit slip through.”
I have to alter my course slightly to avoid a circle of large stones that’s been placed in the middle of the ditch. The stones are scorched black, but there are no ashes in the bottom to indicate a recent fire.
“We’ve been trying to reach Hank over the Four network; but we don’t have the right parts or equipment to tap into the old fiber-optic lines,” Misty says.
The end of the ditch is marked by ancient concrete and rusty metal. When we climb the embankment, I see that the metal is a gate that’s holding back water from a marshy area on the other side. The marsh acts as a central hub for many old gates and ditches. Above the marsh is an even larger gate that’s holding back a pond. A spillway is allowing a small stream of water to continue feeding the marsh.
“So now we’re trying to use the local agricultural monitors to get a message to Zip, but they’re not designed to carry a voice signal,” James adds.
The barn has a warm light shining out of the cracks and knotholes in the old wood. The group has partially cleaned the inside; but one corner is still heaped with old blankets, pillows, and various containers that once held pleasure drugs. There’s also a sizeable store of stolen food and water, all of which is marked with the cult hunter Corps emblem.
After we eat, the talk turns to a technical discussion of how to defeat the sensor network. As always, the team ignores me as they begin to speak at both a higher technical level and volume. I walk around the barn, and find myself in the corner heaped with trash. On top is a shirt that says: “McIntosh Tigers.”
Kids.
I poke through the pile with my toe.
These containers all held pleasure drugs approved for kids.
I look back at the group and find that Martha is staring at me. She holds up her hand and the group stops talking.
“Cephas, what are you thinking?”
“Why doesn’t the sensor net cover the south side of town?” I ask.
“Because the tube line acts as a wall,” James replies.
“Where’s the first place kids go to have fun?” I ask.
There are blank stares for a moment, before Cindi says: “Wherever you tell them they can’t go.”
I point to the pile of trash.
“How do kids cross the tube line?” I ask.
“There are three tunnels under the tube line for the grain trucks,” Cindi says. “Maybe they sneak through between trucks.”
“That would be dangerous,” James says. “Grain trucks aren’t predictable like a hover bus, and they don’t have all the safety sensors to stop them if someone is in the way.”
The group descends into a discussion of how kids could hack the system to stop the trucks while they walk through the tunnels. I look back at the pile of garbage.
This stuff is all old. They had most of the summer to hang out here, before Michael arrived and the town got locked down. Why didn’t they hang out in the barn this year?
The patter of rain begins on the old roof.
“More rain for McIntosh,” Blake says.
“Babylon!” I say.
My conclusion results in bewildered looks.
“Babylon was protected by a giant wall, but the Euphrates River flowed through the city. The river was too deep for an army to cross; so Cyrus diverted the river. Once it was shallow enough, he marched his army into the city.”
The bewildered looks continue.
“Cindi, project the map of McIntosh onto the wall. Look, the tube line defines the south side of the lake, but the outflow passes under the tube line and into the marsh. Normally, the lake level drops in the summer, as the water is used for agriculture, and the kids can walk under the line in the channel. This year has been rainy; so there’s too much water for the kids to use that route.”
“That’s great, Cephas, but the lake is still full,” James says. “We’d need to hack every irrigation controller for a hundred square kilometers to use enough water to lower the lake. The system would detect it.”
“The automated irrigation systems are all tied to a central pipe that was drilled up into the bottom of the lake,” I say. “Before the system was built, the farmers would open those metal doors and flood the ditches, like the one we walked in to get here. All we need to do is open the gates.”
Cindi is doing a rough calculation in her head.
“Based on the surface area of the lake, we’d need to drain thirty to forty million liters to drop the level a half a meter. It would be deep, but we could make it.”
“Then we’d better get started.”
*****
The old metal gates protest, but eventually relent. We limit the flow so the water is moving quickly, but doesn’t sound like a waterfall to the men in the watchtowers. We watch them all night and the next day, and they pay the water no heed. By noon, we can see the opening of the outflow channel. By dusk, we can wade through.
“Is it smart for you to walk into a prison run by The Corps?” Martha whispers to me, as I wade into the water.
“Martha? Not today,” I whisper back.
We emerge cold and muddy inside McIntosh; then walk along the tube line until we find a place where there are enough trees to provide cover. The houses are close enough to the tube line that we can reach them without being seen from the watchtowers, but the town is completely dark, and we don’t know where to go.
“The power is still on,” Geoff says. “Zip must have ordered the lights out.”
“Any idea where Zip would be?” Martha asks.
“The newest part of town,” I say.
“What makes you think that?”
“She was in an old brick building when an armored drone smashed right through the wall. She won’t make the same mistake again. Besides, if Zip was going to attempt a breakout, it would be to the north, and that’s where the newer houses are.”
We move from house to house towards the north. There’s a lot of stumbling because it’s so dark. We’ve reached the corner of Third Street and Third Avenue, when a sliver of moon peeks above the horizon, providing us with some light. I see something move in front of us.
“James? Does a heavy combat team from Four carry night-vision equipment?”
I speak in a normal voice rather than a whisper, and practically hear our group cringe at the broken silence.
“Usually.”
“Then we’re surrounded.”
I put my hands up. Men and women in black start creeping out of the shadows, with guns drawn.
“We’re Four. We’re from Bethany House,” Geoff says.
“The cowards,” a voice says from the dark.
“Or traitors,” another says.
“I’m Cephas Paulson. I need to speak with Zip.”
We surrender our weapons, and are led further north and east, into a house in a new neighborhood where armored drones can’t ram through the walls.
“You love being right,” Martha says.
While the rest of the team is left in a room on the first floor, Martha and I are taken into the basement. Zip is looking at a map of the Corps defenses that is being projected onto the wall.
“James has a more detailed version of that map, if you’d like it,” I say, as we enter.
Zip spins at the sound of my voice.
“I’m not taking prisoners,” she says.
“I’m sorry to say it, but - yes you are,” I reply. “You’re taking yourself prisoner - a prisoner for our Lord.”
I look at the guards who brought us in.
“Zip is under the Lord’s protection now. You can leave.”
They don’t even look to Zip for approval before going, causing Zip and Martha’s jaws to drop.
“The fact that we’re here is proof there’s a way in and out,” I say. “You can filter a few dozen people out of town each night and leave Henry with any empty trap. The catch is that you’ll need to stay here until the end and keep broadcasting, so he doesn’t catch on. I’ll keep him focused on me from the outside.”
“How will you do that?” she asks.
“You’ll know it when you see it.”
She thinks about it for a moment; then shakes her head.
“We’ll run out of water long before we get everyone out. I’d rather die fighting. Besides, what’s in this for me?”
“There’s nothing in it for you, Zip. I’m asking you to do it for the memory of your brother, Zach. When he was captured, they let him record a final message to you. There was no way to send it to you; so it was placed in a file and forgotten. Here it is.”
I reach into my pack and take out a small storage chip.
“We’ll let you watch it in private,” I say, and we leave the room.
When she opens the door five minutes later, she makes no secret of the fact that she’s been crying.
“He told me to take care of our people,” Zip says. “So I’ll do it for Zach - but not the way you want. We’ll sneak out half and use them to attack the Corps line from the rear in a breakout.”
“Even if you break the line, you won’t make it a kilometer. They’ll rain missiles down on you from drones,” Martha says.
“I can’t do it his way!”
Zip points at me.
“It would feel too much like…”
She sighs.
“… too much like forgiving him. I swore I’d never do that.”
“Finding forgiveness is up to you; but you do need to trust Cephas, and do this his way,” Martha says.
“There’s nothing you can say that’ll change my mind.”
“I know, Zip; but there is something I can show you,” Martha says.
Martha digs through her pack and brings out her com; then puts it into her ear and interfaces with Zip’s projector.
“Display image ‘Cephas one.’”
“That’s the fractal you downloaded from my room,” I say. “I called it ‘Cloud.’”
“That’s because you drew it sideways,” Martha replies. “Computer, display an image of Zip’s back.”
I feel like I should look away, and I definitely don’t want to ask why there’s an image of Zip’s naked back in the system; so I focus on the fractal pattern that Zach drew. It starts at her neck, covers her left shoulder, and trails down her back.
“Now rotate image ‘Cephas One’ by ninety degrees clockwise and superimpose on the image of Zip, on her right shoulder,” Martha says.
The result makes both Zip and me gasp in surprise.
“Angel wings,” I whisper.