Psion Omega (Psion series Book 5) (23 page)

“Both rooms must be
activated with the cubes from inside in order to initiate the signal,” Khani
growled. “Extensive and expensive means were taken to put the two rooms on an
isolated and secure network. They cannot be hacked or breached. The job must be
done at the terminals inside the rooms. The signal will broadcast out of a dish
located at the Hive, so it is imperative that the Hive stay intact until
transmission of the signal is complete. Fortunately, Diego has given us access
routes to control security and block the communications and weapons systems of
the Hive during our attack. This should prevent any internal interference from
the Hive during the mission.”

“So we’ve got to
access both white rooms,” Thomas said, “
and
prevent the Hive satellite dishes that broadcast the signal from being
damaged.”

“Yes,” Khani took a
deep breath, “How you do all that, I leave up to the soldiers to figure out.”

“This is our
opportunity,” Commander Byron stated, planting his finger onto the table. “This
is our window to strike. Not only will the blow cripple the CAG, but a large
scale, high profile distraction will help provide cover for our teams hitting
the Rio and Orlando towers. NWG air strikes will keep valuable CAG resources
away from the Hive. This could be
the
decisive battle.”

“Teams will be easy
to draw up,” Anna said. “Send two small teams of Psions into the towers, send
the rest of the Psions, the Ultras, Elite, and civilians into the high profile
strike. The exception, of course, is the pilots. They need to be in the air.”

“Small teams?”
Duncan Hudec said. “You must be kidding. Send as many men and women as we can
into the towers to make sure the white rooms get activated. That’s the most
important part of the mission!”

“You send in too
many people and you draw all the attention to yourself,” Sammy advised. “A
small team is more likely to reach the white room if they go unnoticed. A large
team may never make it there. Two well-trained Psions can access
and
hold a room with the right
equipment.”

Lara nodded. “Plans
will need to go to subcommittee, but I think those ideas are a great start. Do
we have a motion—”

Khani stood up
straighter. “I’m
still
not finished.”

Frowning, Lara
said, “Okay. Continue.”

“The Orlando white
room and the one in Rio de Janeiro have one more major difference. The Rio room
was designed to be the end of Diego’s service to the fox. The activation of the
kill code in Rio will trigger a failsafe mechanism. Twin blast doors will
close, and a bomb will detonate, a bomb powerful enough to ensure that whoever
activates the code from this room will not survive the blast.”

“Wait,” Thomas
said. “What are you saying?”

Khani rolled her
eyes impatiently. “I’m saying whoever activates the room in Rio will not survive.”

Anna stood so
suddenly that her chair smacked the wall behind her and tumbled over onto the
floor. “And you’re just now telling us this?”

Khani didn’t blink
an eye. “Yes.”

“Let’s—let’s
focus on the general picture for now,” Thomas said before Anna could unleash
her wrath on Khani. “Details will only distract us. This all has to be done on
the same day. It’s going to require an immense amount of work and planning.”

Sammy rubbed his
forehead. “Wow. That … logistically—”

“A total freaking
nightmare,” Justice said. “But what a wild day.”

“This is it,
folks,” Thomas said. “If we do it right, the war may end. To even be able to
say that is incredible. We actually have a shot to win it, despite the odds we
faced when it started.”

“And all we have to
do is ask someone to die voluntarily,” Lara said. “Or a whole team of people,
if that’s what it takes to hold the kill room until the signal is sent.”

“I will do it.”
Thomas said, standing. “
I’ll
go.”

“Sit down, Thomas,”
Lara barked. “Don’t be absurd. What use are you going to be in a room full of
anomalies? Target practice? You’re pushing seventy and aren’t even a
sharpshooter.”

Sammy wanted to
laugh until he saw Thomas’ face.

“To not go would be
immoral,” Thomas told his wife. “It would be passing the sins of the fathers
onto the sons. ‘Who sleeps soundly through the night whilst boys and girls
toil? Bearing our burdens on their back, bleeding on our furrowed soil.’”

Lara’s response
came fast and sharp, “‘My friend, you would not tell with such high zest, to
children ardent for some desperate glory, the old lie: Dulce et decorum est pro
patria mori.’”

“Are you suggesting
I would do this for some kind of glory?” Thomas asked.

“You certainly
won’t be going to help the cause, so you tell me why.”

“I can’t stand by
while others die for my faults—the mistakes of my generation!”

“We don’t need to
decide who’s doing what today,” Justice said. “Let’s save that conversation for
another time. Preferably one with lots of booze.”

A heaviness fell
over the room. Tough decisions were coming. Decisions no one wanted to make.
Sammy looked at Anna, her jaw set, her eyes fixed on the blueprints of the kill
room in Rio.
What are you thinking?

“I don’t agree with
this,” said Lorenzo Winters. “We can’t ask people to walk to their deaths. We
have to find another way. Any other way.”

Thomas rested his
elbows on the tablet and leaned forward. “This is the kind of mentality we have
to overcome—that we can accomplish our goals without the loss of some
lives. We have spent weeks talking about a so-called endgame. We all know what
has to be done, and yet we’re not willing to ask someone to do it if it means
sacrifice.”

“I have no problem
with people risking their lives,” Lorenzo Winters said, “but suicide? That’s
what this mission is.”

“They aren’t the
same,” Thomas said.

“It has to be
Psions,” Anna offered. “Anyone else—even Ultras—could be walking
into a death box.”

“Weren’t you
listening?” Justice said. “It’s a death box no matter who goes in.”

“Doesn’t matter how
many distractions we arrange on that day, though. When … not if … but
when
the fox realizes what’s happening,
they’ll try to intercept the mission.”

“It’ll be like the
Ride of the Valkyries.”

“So what?” Sammy
asked. “You think our best team of fighters need to go to the kill room?”

“I think two very
capable Psions could do the job,” Anna said. “It’s possible.” She looked Sammy
in the eye. He knew what the look meant.

Me?
he asked her silently.

She nodded. Then
she mouthed. “And me.”

* * * * *

Friday,
April 25, 2053

“Dad, I have to go to prom,” Katie
said. She was trying not to shout, but the way her parents looked at her was
unbearable. Disappointment. Hurt. Confusion. Prom queen at her school was an
incredible honor, not only because of the prestige and the crown, but because
the winner earned scholarship money to pay for a year of college. Katie, whose
parents were by no means wealthy, had already paid for two years of a four-year
school by winning the prize her freshman and sophomore years.

“No,” her dad
responded, “you really don’t.”

“I’m
ineligible—”

“I’m aware of the
rules for prom queen, Katie,” her dad finished. He chewed on the end of his
glasses. His eyes squinted when he didn’t wear them, which made him look
sterner. “Your mom and I don’t think your actions represent what a prom queen
is supposed to stand for, do you?”

“Dad … I have tried
to be the kind of person you expect me to be all year! I made a mistake. If I
don’t go, Bobby John—the other kids … I can’t back out. I organized this
whole thing for Mrs. Hepworth. Why can’t you pick a different punishment?”

“Are you serious,
Katie?” her mom nearly yelled. “You beat a girl up.” The more emotional her mom
grew, the more shrill her voice. It was a sound Katie detested. “There has to
be consequences.”

Katie sat in her
pajamas on the couch, her head bowed. She fidgeted with the fabric of her
pants, thinking about how messed up everything was. Mark had dumped her via
text after school. Her parents weren’t standing by her. Priyanka was winning.
Not just winning the crown, but life.

You’ll never be good enough for them. Be free from all these
cares. Parents, school, peers. Let it all go.

The words both
creeped her out and enticed her.

“Katie?” her dad
said. “Are you listening to me?”

Katie nodded
without looking up. They needed to see her cry, so she contorted her face and
held her breath until the tears flowed. Then she looked up.

“You’re right.
O—okay? You’re right. There needs to be consequences. I—I know. But
p—please listen. Priyanka posted those …
horrible
pictures of me. It doesn’t matter if they haven’t proven
it, she taunts me every chance she gets. And I’m just supposed to deal with
that. It sucks.”

Katie’s mom nodded.
“Yeah, it does suck. But you know what? The part of life you’re in now, no one
remembers it once you’ve graduated.”

“Everyone remembers
it now. I still have a full year of school left!” Her fist tightened on a
pillow. She wanted to hurl it at her mother’s stupid face. “It’s like you don’t
even care about what she did to me!”

“You don’t think we
want to see Priyanka get justice?”

Katie made a rude
noise with her lips. “It doesn’t seem that way.”

“It’s more
important to us that you don’t get dragged down to her level,” her father
added. “Revenge or retaliation will only get you in trouble.”

Oh, she will get justice
, Katie silently vowed.
The gnawing in Katie’s gut told her it absolutely would be the worst thing in
the world. But she couldn’t say that. She had to convince her parents that she
wanted to bury the hatchet between herself and Priyanka.

THAT’S an idea … bury it right between her eyes!

Katie tried to
shake away the thought.

“Katie?” her mom
pressed. “I asked you a question.”

Katie sighed. Her
mom and dad wouldn’t understand.

What is the point of having parents if they don’t have your
back? Free yourself
.

“No, Mom,” she
finally said. “It’s not the worst thing. Can we make a deal? If I apologize to
Priyanka and make things right, will you let me go to the dance?”

Katie’s parents
looked at each other before her dad answered, “It’s a step in the right direction.
Do that and we’ll talk it over.”

It was the best
answer she could hope for. Katie hugged her parents, but imagined herself
squeezing them to death. Then she went to bed. Two hours passed before she fell
asleep, and during that time she pondered how to regain her status in the eyes
of her classmates. It would have to be something subversive yet effective.
Something that couldn’t be traced back to her.

That night, when
the dream began, Katie knew exactly what to do. She ran to her shadow, touched
it and got the knife. Ignoring the brightly lit home where her parents waited
for her at the table laden with food, she hurried to the cave, plunging into
its depths for the first time.

The darkness was so
perfect and absolute that it seemed to touch her skin with cold, breath-like
fingers. She spread out her hands until she touched the rocky, slick wall, her
bare feet skimming along the smooth damp floor. The cave was narrow enough that
both hands could touch the walls as she walked forward. After walking almost
one hundred meters through pitch cold black, she felt the floor drop.

Katie froze when
her foot touched nothing but air. The skin behind her ears grew hot and her
breaths shaky. The air was so cold that goose bumps raised up on her legs and
her toes curled to stay warm. Something unnatural and ethereal pulled at her,
yearning and beckoning her to descend.

Just a little farther. Freedom is near. Everything you want is
right down the stairs. Come down. One at a time. Your freedom awaits
…

Katie took the first
step down the stairs. Then another. And another. And another. And another. Each
more deliberate than the last. At first she counted the steps until there were
so many that she lost count.

The air cooled as
she descended. At first it was pleasant, then a little uncomfortable, and
finally so cold that her breaths came in thick puffs and she shivered
violently. Katie kept going, determined to find the bottom, but suddenly
stopped when she felt a vibration through the air—a sort of pulsing that
rippled and tingled her skin.

There’s something wrong here
. She sniffed from
the cold, and caught a hint of something rank and foul. Perhaps even evil.

Come down, Katie. Almost there. Come to your freedom.