“Take me instead,” Weslan said angrily, his irritating red face flushed with righteous zeal. “Leave them alone.”

Kayla sighed. “I don’t need you for anything. I need an IT guy.”

“I’m more valuable to you. They’ll—”

“Wes, shut up! Not everything is about you, okay? Leod, I can be polite, or I can be impolite. Your decision.”

Leod rose on shaking knees and approached slowly. Kayla led him outside, and once the door was shut, took his ident and checked it carefully. She cut his cuffs and began to explain.

“Director Tensall is locked in his office,” she said. “We want access to your security system so we can figure out how to get him out of there.”

He stared anxiously at her. “What… er… what do you need him for?”

“Because he knows where Divine has gone, and we want her. And someone else he knows.”

“Um… are you sure?”

Kayla nodded and tried to sound reassuring. “Absolutely. We won’t hurt him at all.”

“Oh, God.”

“Listen man, I know this sucks, but it’s not about you, or anyone else back in that room. Divine is responsible for everything that happened today, and she needs to be stopped. You might not believe me, but, you know, I am in charge.”

He relaxed a little. “I know. I don’t want any trouble. I don’t exactly love this corporation, but…”

“But you think I’m lying and maybe I just want to kill everyone because I’m a psycho?”

Leod shrugged. “It’s not impossible.”

Kayla thought for a moment. “You’re not being complicit if someone threatens to kill you. Anything you’re forced to do is not your fault.”

“You obviously don’t know VennZech that well.”

She laughed. “Yeah, you have me there. What a bunch of A-holes.”

Leod smiled. “You don’t seem that bad. Maybe you can let me wipe the logs when we’re done, and it won’t be a big deal?”

“You got it.”

Gaz looked up when the man entered the lobby. Kayla was surprised to see that both he and Sal had removed their masks, along with the rest of their crew, who had returned from clearing the building. Off to one side, Ray waited for her with the others.

“Guys, meet Leod,” Kayla said. “Leod is an IT director, and will hopefully have the access you need.”

Gaz extended a hand. “Leod, my name is Gareth Slake. You may or may not recognize the name. You might know our organization; Eagle Rescue Services.”

Leod shook his head.

“Okay,” Gaz said, unperturbed. “We rescue trafficked victims from their captors.” He withdrew a photo from his jacket and handed it to the man. “This is Milani; sixteen years old. Director Tensall has been holding her against her will, and we want to get her back.”

Leod glanced at Kayla. “She promised you wouldn’t hurt him.”

Gaz nodded. “We’ve uncovered our faces so the world can see who we are. We’re not ashamed of anything. All Tensall needs to do is tell us how to find Milani, and Divine, and he’ll be free to go.”

Leod nodded. “I guess I should admit that we all kind of knew what he was up to. It’s disgusting, but you know there’s nothing anyone can do about the way of the world.” He looked up angrily. “Or does that make me your enemy too?”

Gaz’s smile was warm and forgiving. “The difference is, right now, you can do something about it.”

Leod shrugged and moved over to the computer.

“We’ve been at this all day,” he said. “Nobody can figure out a way to unlock the security system.”

“We have power tools and explosives,” Gaz said. “If we can find a weak point in the structure, we can break through. But first, we have another problem. There is a network of transmitters broadcasting a signal wave throughout the city.”

“I don’t know anything about that. It’s probably a classified project.”

“Would you be able to shut it down anyway? Do a little IT magic?”

Leod thought for a moment. “If it’s running from our master server, then probably, yes.”

As he worked, Kayla checked in with the squad, and they arranged a plan to watch the streets outside. Ray was sent off to replace Jess, while the others went to take up observation positions, as the Marines patrolled the building in pairs. With that taken care of, Kayla returned to the front desk with her heart in her throat.

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“Okay,” Leod said as he finished tapping. “That killed it.”

Kayla’s hand shot to her radio control.

“Any call-signs, this is Viper 2-1, do you read me?”

“Oh!” Thandi’s voice said in her ear. “I can hear you in my earpiece. It’s working!”

Kayla repeated the call, and for a few minutes heard nothing. Then there was a hiss and crackle.

“Viper 2-1, this is Banshee, we read you, over.”

She yelped, and her hand flew to her mouth. Once she composed herself, she responded, “Banshee, stand by for sitrep.”

“With bated breath, Viper.”

She raced into an empty office, and began to recount everything that had happened over the previous few hours. As soon as she paused to collect her thoughts, another voice broke out onto the net.

“This is Tiger six. Put that sitrep on hold, break. Every call-sign on this net, check in immediately.”

The calls came quickly—an uninterruptable choir of voices. Kayla silenced her radio and began to cry.

The radio traffic soon transformed from a jumble of chaos into an organized pattern, as teams gave their status, and began to co-ordinate how to find each other. Soon, a voice Kayla had been waiting desperately to hear chimed in.

“Viper 2-1, Viper 2 actual. Move to platoon comms.”

Kayla made the switch.

“Viper 2 actual,” she said, dreading the moment. “This is Viper 2-1, awaiting traffic.”

“What’s your sitrep?”

For a moment, Kayla almost struggled to speak. “2-1 actual is KIA,” she managed eventually. “We are seven vipers, located in the VennZech operations office. Situation secure.”

There was a pause. “It was you who cut out the jamming?”

“That’s affirmative. We have made contact with local assets and are effectuating a plan to track Rayker’s location.”

“Outstanding work, 2-1. We’re trying to link up our platoon, but I want you to hold your position. Continue as planned and check back in within the hour, out.”

“Copy that, out.”

Kayla punched the air, then switched back to squad comms. “It’s okay girls, we’re back in business.”

The dreaded casualty calls soon came through. At least seven were dead in total, although all the task force’s objectives had been neutralized. Kayla wondered what acts of desperation and heroism had played out across the city, never to be known by the world they were trying to save.

Finally, the worst of the news was delivered. Christie was missing, as were a squad from the company’s weapons platoon. Hot lead settled in Kayla’s stomach as she contemplated the possibilities. Were they dead? Captured? Would Rayker torture them? Would she ever see her friend again, or would she become another sapling in the ground, a testament to Kayla’s failure to protect those she loved?

Though the mission was complete, and the Raiders and ODTs were working miracles pulling the scattered Rangers out of danger, Kayla hoped in her heart that the battle was far from over.

She tried to remain positive as she returned to the main lobby.

Gaz looked up from the computer. “Did you find your friend?” he asked.

Kayla shook her head. “I think Rayker took her. Wherever the hell she went.”

“Maybe Tensall will know something about that,” Gaz said with an encouraging smile.

“These ducts under the floor are a weakspot,” Sal said as he pointed to a map on the screen. We can maybe cut through there.”

“Is he likely to have a weapon in there with him?” Gaz asked.

Leod chuckled. He seemed to be more relaxed. “We uh… don’t allow guns in the building—apart from security. And an executive? No way—Tensall is a soft bully, if you know what I mean.”

“Sure do,” Gaz said.

He spoke into his radio, and a few of his men raced for the vehicles outside.

Leod started when he saw Kayla. “Why are you still wearing a mask? Aren’t you supposed to be the good guys?”

She paused as she searched for a believable response. “Because we’re Calderans. If we’re identified it will create blowback on the colony.”

Leod nodded skeptically. “And you were just chatting with your small army of resistance fighters, or what?”

“We didn’t attack the city,” she insisted. “I’ll prove it to you. Do you think you can access the surveillance systems?”

“Good idea,” Gaz said. “It would be nice to keep an eye on the troop landings. It won’t take too long before people start showing up here.”

“Then what happens?” Leod asked nervously.

“Hopefully we’ll be long gone by then,” Gaz said.

“And if you aren’t?”

“If we aren’t,” Kayla cut in, “then we will definitely need as much situational awareness as we can get to plan an exit.”

Leod nodded, and turned back to the computer. “I was keeping an eye on their feeds when things were going down earlier. Didn’t trust the company alerts that told us everything was under control.”

Kayla felt her hopes rising. “And did you happen to see any giant robots walking around blowing shit up?”

Leod looked up. “Yeah, a bunch of cameras caught them. What the hell was that?”

“They’re an experimental VennZech weapon. Ray—I mean Divine used them to attack civilians. Did you see… people fighting back?”

“Yes. I thought they were cops, though.”

“That was my band of freedom fighters. We were trying to protect the city.”

Leod nodded slowly. “I think I believe you. We—the smart ones—always knew the terrorist angle was overexaggerated. Especially with the company’s connection to the cartel.”

Kayla’s thoughts raced and she almost jumped on the spot. “Do you think you could cut together some of that footage while we’re waiting?”

“I probably could. But why?”

“The news feeds cut all clips of the mechs. They’re using the attack to justify a Helvet takeover of the whole planet.”

“Okay, well that’s insane,” he said again, though he looked puzzled. “But what good is a couple of video clips going to do?”

Kayla suddenly realized that all three men were looking at her blankly. “I want to show people the truth,” she said slowly.

“Who?” Gaz asked.

There was a long pause while Kayla tried to figure out what was happening. “Everyone?” she tried.

Leod shook his head. “Okay, I understand. You’re a colonist—you don’t really get how it works.”

“But—”

“League citizens can’t watch unapproved news sources. Only tech-savvy underground guys know how to access the dark feeds. And information doesn’t leave that circle, because nobody wants to be betrayed to the authorities. Nobody would believe us anyway. The League has the monopoly on truth.”

“You’re an underground guy?” Sal said with a grin.

Leod blushed. “Sometimes. I’m not hardcore or anything.” He caught sight of Kayla’s confused expression. “Look, I can send this footage out to my circle, and I’m sure it will get some traction, but the rest of the world will only know whatever the League wants them to know. That’s how it works.”

Kayla felt embarrassed, depressed, and furious at the same time. “But…why did you guys take your masks off?” she asked Gaz.

“For VennZech’s benefit,” he said. “We want them to know we’re not afraid of them, and that we won’t stop hunting anyone who traffics children. But we’ve been at this a few years and there’s no chance we can get the outside world to care. I tried everything.”

“I guess the colonies talk about whatever they want,” Leod said. “Some of my uh… contacts always said things were better on the other side of the fence.”

Kayla nodded. “And when someone breaks the law, everyone finds out about it.”

Leod smiled. “It sounds nice, but the League always wins in the end.” His voice carried a slightly condescending tone.

Heat rushed through Kayla’s body. The pressure of the day was beginning to weigh on her, and she felt herself losing control.

“Come get me when you’ve broken Tensall out,” she said coldly, and stalked off to lose herself somewhere in the building.