Enemy Lines (2 page)

He had just finished a grueling two weeks of
interrogation at Rebel Headquarters. Not too many could afford to defect from the Sovereignty, especially an officer, so naturally they were suspicious, but he had too much to offer them - information of Sovereignty tactics, compounds, weapons, and ops… the Rebels would let him serve his purpose, then take him down.

He was ushered off the transporter and outside. His eyes adjusted to the light. This was like no training facility he had ever known. It was actually a war zone, or had been. Twisted metal and gnarled beams attempted to raise their scarred fists to the blue sky in defiance - all their power and glory stripped. Fallen demolished concrete formed chalky mountains of rubble. He didn't know if
the Sovereignty or the Great War had caused this destruction.

Who the hell cared? He thought. The only thing that mattered was now.

A tall athletic woman in full uniform and gear - including a Glock 40 at her hip, bullet proof vest, utility and weapons belt approached them. She looked pissed, Connor thought. Her eyes searched each of the faces waiting and landed on his. She stopped directly in front of Connor as if he were the only one there.

She leaned close and breathed into his ear, "One wrong fucking move and I'll separate your neck from your shoulders. Got it, Connor?"

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

She stepped back. Her uniform was
camouflaged for city fighting: concrete whites, creams, and steel gray.

"I am Lieutenant Lawton." She already hated him and everything he stood for. Why didn't
Headquarters just obtain the intel he possessed and be done with him? No, instead someone was playing a dangerous game and she was dealt this fucking hand!

"You're my responsibility, Connor. Congratulations to me. I don't trust you, I don't like you, and I don't want you. I was hoping the Sov would bomb your bus so I could carry on with the way things were. But, now that you are here, they will never be the same again, will they Connor?"

He knew better than to look her in the eye. She looked strong and capable and also like an angry cornered animal. Connor had the feeling she was just as trapped as he was.

"We'll check in with Commander Webb," she said
out loud.
Who has dedicated himself to making my life a miserable hell.

She turned on her heel and strode away. Connor fell in behind her. He imagined her sinking her teeth into the front of his throat and biting down so hard she had to spit out his Adam's apple, and he didn't blame her. He was a bastard and he knew it.

She led them to a descending staircase where they went down about three flights and through a threshold to a hallway of doors. She stopped in front of one and knocked.

"Enter,"

Webb's office was clean and neat with minimal luxuries, desk a chair and papers only for him. No wall décor or windows. Webb barely looked up from his papers, "Well, Connor, you've finally arrived. Lawton will show you the ropes. She'll run drills with you, although I doubt you'll need them." Webb's eyes met Connor's face. "Your reputation as a soldier proceeds you. My superiors were more than glad to envelop you in our fold. We move into the Midwest Territory in seven days. Connor, you will of course be expected to participate and win. That's all."

When they stepped back into the hallway, Lawton shut the door behind her and gritted her teeth against all the words she wanted to fire against Webb. Instead, she eyed Connor and said, "I suppose the Sov doesn't outfit defectors, so I guess that responsibility will fall to me too."

She led Connor to the clothing supply room.

"Size?" Lawton quipped.

"34 by 36" Connor replied.

"Shirt?"

"Large."

"Shoe?"

"13 wide."

Lawton grabbed a
gunnysack, and shoved uniforms inside along with other necessities.

"There, everything you need to take down the Rebellion." Lawton snorted and took long strides out of the room.

They walked the opposite direction from which they came and passed Rebel guards standing outside of a massive armory, rooms stockpiled with canned goods, rations, and bottles of water.

"Pay attention Connor, this is the only tour you're getting." She led him down several flights of stairs, then through a massive chow hall. Connor was amazed at how many people were there. Uniformed Rebels and civilians ate together. That kind of societal mixing didn't happen in the Sovereignty.

They stepped through a rough-hewn doorway into a large tiled tunnel. Hundreds of people were walking around and hurrying about in this thriving underground city. Metal rails ran in straight lines at the very bottom of the tunnels. On either side, vendors sold food, civilian clothes, baskets, water, tools, artifacts as well as sex. Connor was shocked by the amount of people down there.

"Show you a good time, soldier boy?" one of the half dressed women approached them and spoke to Connor.

"Not tonight," Lawton answered flatly and kept walking.

After walking two miles through the crowds of people, Lawton led him through a section that was quiet and un
-crowded. "These are the Rebel housing units," she said as a matter of fact.

Being underground there were no windows and minimal electricity illuminated the area.

She finally stopped at a door, unlocked it with a key and walked in.

"Just throw your shit over there," Rachel pointed to a cot on the other side of the room. "You have a nightstand and that steel bar is for your uniforms. We aren't horribly
strict about the whole tight and white thing. Just don't look like you slept in them."

"Yes Ma'am," Connor said.

She turned on him, "Look, as you may have guessed it I'm your full time babysitter - and trust me, I didn't want the job. I don't know how things are done in the Sov, but here you'll shadow me. Go where I go, do what I do, eat when I eat, fight when I fight. Webb made sure you were mine. I'm sure he can't wait to see both of us fall to our demise. Basically, we are a pair - you know, we'll have each other's backs… and I'm sure you'll have my back just like Webb does." She straightened. "Bathroom's down the hall, clean up after your self. My bedroom is across from the bathroom and off limits to you. In the next seven days the only time we'll be apart is when you sleep, shit, shower, or shave. Change into your uniform, there is more for you to see."

Lawton stalked toward the small kitchen. She was filled with fury and the run hadn't helped. If she survived it, this would be the worst week of her life.

Connor walked into the bathroom and closed the door. Detecting his motion, a light flickered. He undressed and leaned in studying himself against the sink in the mirror. He was muscular and bulky. His blonde hair was cropped short according to Sovereignty standards. That Sovereignty branding tattoo on his upper arm glared at him, reminding him of his responsibility and allegiance.

She knew he was here to kill her and betray her division. He was sure of it. Why had Webb put them together? Webb should have been the one to shadow him, not her!

The Sovereignty’s military was highly organized. Men and women did not train together. In fact, military personnel weren't allowed opposite company of the opposite sex. They weren't permitted to marry until they turned thirty-five - if they lived that long - most did not. Connor changed pants and pulled the new t-shirt over his head and made sure the sleeve covered the tattoo. He washed his hands and face, laced his boots and met Lawton back in the sitting room.

"We're leaving." She said.

No wonder the Sovereignty forces couldn't find this section of resistance - even with their satellites. They had everything they needed underground in the space and safety of the old subway tunnels under the fallen city - and had made themselves invisible along with the people that called this place home.

"What does the city call itself?" Connor asked.

"Like I'm telling you." Lawton snapped and pushed him into an empty doorway. "I know why you're here, you son-of-a-bitch! You keep your fight with the Rebels - and leave the innocent civilians hiding here out of it. Damn it I hate you! Don't fucking talk to me."

She released them and they walked in silence to the chow hall. Rachel barely chewed her food, instead she gulped it down in chunks to get the meal over with.

"Webb wants me to give this to you." Rachel spat over the table. "Just what you've always wanted - a detailed map of the underground city and its fortifications. Tuck it into your pocket nice and neat, you won't want to give it to Kain all wrinkled." Lawton looked disgusted, got up and walked over to the coffee machine.

How perfect for Webb, she thought. Have Lawton give Connor the map, have Lawton show him where everything is, it was Lawton who was the closest to him, they were probably sleeping together - I mean who knew what went on behind the closed door. If she could just contact the Northwest division where she had come from she might be able to warn her former command about what was going down here. Maybe they'd send in reinforcements, but Webb had a strict call out policy, all messages had to be approved. He was worse than the friggin'
Sovereignty. And Lawton felt sure he was a turncoat for them. She had no one to trust in Northeast. She'd only been here a month and the only sort-of friend she had made was with Smithy in the Bot Shop - he was head of the tech and gadgets. Would he believe her? Was he in it with Webb? How many more here were? Were they getting tired of all the mouths to feed? Had they been offered some great treasure?

Everything was now laid before Connor - the tunnels, the buildings, the communities
… the subway lines encompassed over two hundred and forty miles of an underground hidden world. Kain must have been drooling to find out about it! Lawton looked over her shoulder and watched Connor fold the map and slide it into his pocket.

When Connor's eyes looked back across the room his gaze locked onto that of a young girl. She had long blonde curls and bright blue eyes. She was about nine years old and a reflection of the girl in the photos he was here for. She smiled at him and in that moment she became Emily.

He wondered
how is one person's life more precious than another’s?
He wondered.

~ ~ ~

Once they were standing in the armory, Lawton crowed sarcastically.

"Awe me with the your weapons knowledge."

Her mind churned as Connor went through and named the equipment, its specs and how to utilize it. Lawton wished she had been in this division longer, she may have had a stronger friend she could have confided her suspicions about Webb and Connor to. Now it was just her against the world.

"Great. So you know everything." She said when he was in the middle of a spec. "Your next task is to field strip each of these
assault weapons and reconstruct it - go."

These people had no place to go! The populations from all of the Selections that had been recovered from the Northeast Territory came here to Old Manhattan - it had been easier that way. They were able to reunite many family members, give medical care, and readjust them to independent responsible life. But until the Rebels recovered further Territories and disabled the Sov's forces more thoroughly, these people would be sitting ducks in the outer world.

The fragile Midwest Territory, however, was the focus for the Rebels in the next op. Seven Selections had been freed from Rebel forces - mainly grain farmers. The people had been relocated into Old Chicago's Metro transit tunnels. It had worked here and there. They had been safe for over a year.

In seven days, the Northeast forces would join with the Midwest Rebellion, and take over the remaining animal raising Selections. This would take out the most crucial and powerful Selections under Kain's dominion - namely his food sources.

When she turned her attention back to Connor, he had placed everything back together and was watching her with his piercing blue eyes.

"Why are you standing there? Get out there and set up the targets
… Oh, unless you would like it if I just marched myself out there and stood in place of the paper. It would make your job easier, right?" Lawton chided.

She was relentless,
Connor thought as he clipped the human sized paper targets at the farthest distance to shoot the Glock 40s.
What the fuck? It would have been so much easier with Webb!

He came back over to the booth and loaded his pistol. Lawton raised hers without warning and fired into the target. Connor watched stunned. He had seen some excellent shooting, but damn she was good! When she finished she pushed a button on the wall and the automated target retrieval slid the paper towards her.

Funny,
thought Connor. She had made him walk out there to set them up.

"Holy shit!" He said out
loud breaking Lawton's no talking rule. All sixteen bullets from the clip had gone through the same hole, right between the eyes.

"Yeah," Lawton said admiring her work. "I just imagined it was you."

She turned and stood by the door not bothering to watch his round. After he finished firing each bullet into the targets vitals, he retrieved his paper and looked to Lawton, who hadn't even turned around.