Revolution Rising: Rebirth (Revolution Rising Series Book 1) Read online

  “And being here in Alpha Sect makes that any better?” Maverick asked harshly.

  “Yes, better than if we were still living on the other side of the fence.”

  “You think those people care about us? You think the Administration would do anything to protect us? They aren’t going to a damn thing for us!” Maverick waved an arm toward the civilization behind Sawyer before his shoulders slumped, his eyes and expression taking on a defeatist aura. “Nobody can protect us, so we have to protect ourselves.”

  “Yes, yes, protect yourselves.” Carl motioned for them to join him, opening the door and looking back over his shoulder at their filthy states. “Just don’t touch anything.”

  As Maverick walked into the building, it occurred to Sawyer their values may not be so different after all.

  Chapter 3. purpose

  The room once served as a locker room – indicated by the aluminum cabinets lining each wall and broken benches scattered in between. Dust covered every surface, mixing with the stale odor of abandonment. The door offered a symbolic privacy as he dressed, its panel swinging by a single hinge without a latch. Sawyer shrugged into his jacket; he’d wiped the worst of the mud from its thickness, but brown splotches still dampened the material. The reminder of his altercation with Maverick was on his mind when the boy entered.

  “Hey, feeling better?” Maverick shuffled anxiously, his eyes averted from meeting Sawyer’s.

  “Much,” Sawyer’s expression hardened at the sight of his brother; his khaki pants and black tee shirt standing dark against the pallor of his flesh. Sawyer sensed a deeper tension in Maverick’s bearing than guilt or discomfort from their argument. “What’s wrong?”

  “Promise you won’t get mad,” Maverick shifted with uncustomary anxiety, as if their earlier argument left a mark on his confidence.

  “What did you do?”

  “Not me; well, not exactly me. I wasn’t going to tell you unless we found something, but we did; so, I’m telling you.” Maverick hesitated beneath Sawyer’s suspicious glare; “Carl hacked into the Terran Space Station surveillance signal.”

  Sawyer’s temper resurrected into a flurry of curses; “What in hellfire is that man thinking?”

  “He was trying to help.”

  “Help?” Sawyer asked incredulously. “Hacking an Admin system is illegal; it’s treason. Why would he do that?”

  “Because I asked him to,” Maverick’s admission silenced Sawyer in an instant. At his continued speechlessness, Maverick continued with an explanation. “I heard you and Wil talking about Beta Sect.”

  “What about Beta Sect?” Sawyer felt his face flush with anxiety. It was no secret the neighboring Sects were unhappy with Alpha Sect’s continual growth and productive crops while their own failed. It was common for Sects to share their spoils, but with the TSS supply drops dwindling from once a week to once a month, the less productive Sects struggled more, and Alpha offered less. Desperation led to resentment and unrest among the Sects and threats of civil war were prominent.

  “That they are amassing a larger militia by combining with other Sects and villages; that they might attack us for our supplies.”

  “That’s just rumors,” Sawyer’s voice cracked from the acid eroding his throat; he cleared the roughness before speaking. “It’s nothing you need to worry about. It doesn’t concern you.”

  “It doesn’t concern me?”

  “No, it doesn’t. You’re fifteen, Mav, you need to be focused on your lectures, not on what’s happening outside the fence.”

  “My brother is going to war with the largest armed militia on Flamouria; that concerns me!” Maverick’s eyes glazed with moisture and he cleared his throat through quivering lips as he pulled a slip of paper from his pocket. “They aren’t just rumors.”

  Sawyer looked down at the harsh print Maverick handed him, straining to discern the image through the static. The overhead image of Beta Sect showed a similar layout to Alpha Sect; a dwelling zone, agricultural areas, and storage buildings surrounding larger administration buildings. Though larger in size than Alpha Sect, the Beta Sect compound maintained one fatal flaw: there were no highlands on which to grow crops or raise livestock. Their fields were barren wastes during the day and swamp by night; their animals were malnourished and sickly. There was discussion of moving the compound many times through the years, but it was always met with immediate refusal by the Sect’s Senior Administrators. Beta Sect’s only salvation was its militia training facility, which sat on top of the only functional ore mine known to exist on the planet. The mines offered materials for building tools and weapons, but denied them any opportunity for a reliable food or fresh water source.

  “That’s what you’re up against.” Maverick pointed at the highlighted areas on the image: weapon ranges, bunkers, and forges; the size of their militia assumed by the dotted, black mass surrounding and infusing the area. “You said it was ‘only a matter of time’. You said the TSS supply drops are too infrequent to sustain all the Sects on the planet. Desperate people do desperate things, right?”

  “That’s a last resort, the Admins are trying to work out a compromise.”

  “Compromise?” Maverick snorted in disbelief. “Like those pompous asses in command give a damn about anyone but themselves. So, why fight for them?”

  “It’s my duty.”

  “Your duty to whom? To the Administration; to Alpha Sect? Fine, then look away and hide. You know how to do that.” Sawyer winced at Maverick’s subtle jab.

  “That’s not fair, Mav.” Memory made his voice harsh, pulling him through dark places he didn’t want to explore. He felt the heat of flames, smelled the char of burning flesh, and tasted the tang of blood on thick air. The worst was the sounds; the anguished, desperate shrieks of innocent colonists and then silence as their voices were mercifully muted. “We were kids. Dad told us to run.”

  “I’m sorry,” Maverick lowered his voice, looking away from Sawyer’s distressed expression in regret of his words. “You know I don’t blame you.”

  “I know,” Maverick assurance didn’t expunge his guilt, but Sawyer cleared it from his voice. “Conflicts between Sects are common.”

  “Conflicts,” Maverick’s tone heightened again with the return to their discussion. Maverick’s arm swung out, pointing at the image. “Look at that, Sawyer. That’s not a conflict; it’s a massacre.”

  “Gee, thanks for the vote of confidence little brother,” Sawyer attempted levity fell flat. “It’s my duty to protect the people on this base, including you, and it would be a lot easier if you weren’t always causing problems.”

  “Sorry, I didn’t realize my breathing was a problem for you,” Maverick pouted, showing the spectacle of his angst.

  “Stop being so dramatic; you know what I mean!” Sawyer’s voice rose as Maverick rolled his eyes. “Come on, breaking into Administration buildings? Stealing Administration property?”

  “Are we still on that?” Maverick groaned. “There are more important things to talk about here!”

  “More important than your future?”

  “Well, I’d say yours is more in question right now, wouldn’t you?”

  “Do you want kicked off the base? Do you want to go back out there, to the wilds, to the savages?”

  “Yes!” Sawyer cursed his brother’s swift response, prompting Maverick’s explanation; “If it means you don’t get your head blown off, then damn right I want it!”

  “Seriously, enough!” Sawyer tossed his arms out to his sides, all attempts of reasoning gone in the fury of his frustration.

  “Exactly! Enough! I’ve already lost everyone else; Mom, Dad, Ella, all my friends, my home. I won’t lose you too!”

  “You’re not going to lose me, Mav. The Lieutenant is a smart man, I’m sure he knows about Beta Sect and has a plan of action.”

  “There is no plan, Sawyer! The Lieutenant isn’t even going to be on-world!”

  “What are you talking about?” Sawyer’
s brow furrowed.

  “Carl intercepted a brief from the TSS,” Maverick sighed, his voice shaking with the emotion he clung to. “They’re evacuating all Admins and senior militia ranks. The TSS is scheduled to leave orbit at the end of the cycle.”

  “That makes no sense; they can’t do that,” Sawyer shook his head. “Flamouria doesn’t have enough resources – no fuel, no reliable agriculture, no workable metals – we can’t survive without the supplies the TSS provides.”

  “Carl thinks they’re abandoning the planet because they know it will never be sustainable.”

  “Well, Carl’s crazy, and not in a fun way,” Sawyer snorted. “They wouldn’t kill an entire civilization of their own people. Besides, Earth is dying; they need Flamouria.”

  “No, they don’t,” Wil spoke softly from the doorway, the paper he held in his hand creased and shaking with his grip. “The Tritons region.”

  “What’s the Tritons region?” Maverick voiced the question before Sawyer could.

  Sawyer moved to the doorway beside Wil, concerned at the fury and fear emanating from him. The pallor of Wil’s complexion grew more pronounced as he answered with a quiet, “plan B.”

  “Plan B, there’s always a plan B,” Carl moved through the building with a brush and tray, scooping up the remnants of dirt they tracked in after their disagreement. He straightened up as if lecturing in a classroom. “The Tritons region: home to three hospitable worlds; Eos, Helios, and Selene. Settlements have proven prosperous and peaceful, despite their distance being twice that of Flamouria from Earth. With these reports, it can be concluded that the Tritons region is a more logical choice for future settlements.” His lecture concluded, Carl mumbled unintelligibly under his breath as he circled the room.

  “What is that?” Sawyer kept his tone low as he motioned toward the paper crushed in Wil’s hand.

  “It’s true,” Wil stated as he handed the paper to Sawyer for examination. “They’re pulling the TSS; sending it to the Tritons region.”

  The paper backed up Wil’s statement; orders for senior personnel to be evacuated by several transports over the next several days. “I don’t understand how they can do this. There has to be some mistake.”

  “My dad sent me a message yesterday, he pulled me from the squad. Mom and Marian were already taken to the TSS.”

  “He pulled you? Why didn’t you tell me?”

  “I was going to when you got home, but we got a little sidetracked.”

  “This is a mistake. If we talk to Lieutenant Pierce, I’m sure there’s an explanation.” Sawyer ran through possible scenarios in his head, settling on expressing the most logical he could surmise; “Maybe it’s just temporary. They are sending a new station, or they are resupplying and returning.”

  “Then why pull senior personnel?” Maverick’s brow raised in expectation of Sawyer’s excuse.

  “Maybe, they are replacing them; most of the senior staff is overdue for reassignment. I hear the command heads complaining all the time.” Sawyer ignored Maverick’s shaking head as he finished his statement.

  “So, they are just going to remove everyone before replacing them; and right before civil war is expected? Don’t be ignorant.” Maverick’s commented prevented Sawyer’s assumptions on his initial questions. The boy shook his head again, his eyes cold and distant as he spoke over his shoulder; “You can’t change the truth just because you don’t like it.”

  Sawyer stared after his brother until he disappeared, his temper flaring irrationally toward the man who served as his brother’s mentor. “Why did you hack the satellite? Why did you let him see this?” Carl ignored his question, rushing his filled tray to the door and pushing through to dump the mess back into the night.

  “Hey!” Sawyer followed, focusing for the darkness before looking to the man who preceded him outside. Carl crouched and stared down into the mud; his breath sharp and shoulders shaking – the tray discarded at his side – as his hands cupped something in the puddle at the base of the step. “What is it?”

  “It’s back, you brought it back,” Carl glanced over his shoulder at Sawyer, his eyes filled with grateful reverence.

  “Brought what back?” Carl twisted and pulled his hands out of the water, holding them out to reveal several small rocks. “Rocks?”

  “No,” Carl brought his catch to his chest, cradling them close. “Not rocks; seeds.”

  “Seeds, for what? Nothing grows out here.”

  “Nelumbo Noctis Ignus,” Carl sighed and stared down at his hands in wonder. “Night Fire; a water flower.”

  “Seems overstated.”

  “It deserves to be.” Carl agreed, standing beside Sawyer and looking out into the dark expectantly. “The Night Fire only blooms in the dark when the waters rise. Its petals match the moonlight. It sinks below the mud and hides during the day; it’s too hot for them you see.”

  “A flower.”

  “Not a flower; hope,” Carl clarified cryptically. “Night Fire is Flamouria’s salvation; it’s the reason we settled here – in the swamps.”

  “I don’t understand.”

  “Every piece has purpose; its stem as twine, its petals an antibiotic, its leaves and seeds are sustenance. Every night it blooms, more of each is offered; an endless supply from a single ‘rock’.”

  Sawyer raised his brow at the reminder of his initial claim, wondering if the man’s mind was sound enough to offer accurate information. “If that’s the case, then why haven’t I heard of it before?”

  “The marsh is too shallow for them to grow and humans have polluted the deeper pools. They only bloomed for a cycle once humans interfered. They were thought extinct.” Carl’s eyes narrowed in contemplation as he pointed at the deeper puddles created by Sawyer, Maverick and Wil rolling on the ground. “Your emotional responses left an impression and nature has answered your cries.”

  “My mother was a botanist; surely she would have known about it.”

  “Maybe she did, and you don’t remember; maybe she was blind to the purpose of the ‘rocks’ like you. Look there,” Carl pointed excitedly toward the puddles scattering the immediate area; the indented remains of Sawyer and Maverick’s fight earlier that night. Several bulbs were floating on top of the muddy pools, the same seeds Carl held floating with them. He didn’t turn away from his find when he spoke again, despite the intensity of his voice. “I told him the truth.”

  “A truth he didn’t need to know.” Sawyer denied.

  “No,” Carl stood and faced Sawyer in the dark, his hands grabbing Sawyer’s tightly. “Truth is all we have; it’s all that matters. Truth ensures our survival.”

  “He’s a kid; kids don’t need to know everything.” Sawyer tried to pull his hands away, but the man showed unexpected strength in holding on.

  “He has suffered for the inaction of ignorant fools; don’t infect him with their disease,” Carl opened Sawyer’s fingers, letting the seeds fall into his palm. “If you knew nothing of these seeds, you would condemn them as useless. Your fathers took them for granted and condemned this world to Earth’s fate. I gave you knowledge – I gave you truth – and now you know; they have purpose. Without purpose, there is no life.”

  Sawyer looked down at the dozen small pebbles in his hand as Carl released him. His head wrapped around Carl’s words with ribbons of uncertainty, as if on the verge of a great awareness he hadn’t mastered. Carl turned away and stared out into the darkness; “So many! They will bloom tonight.” Carl’s awed tone drew Sawyer’s focus to the buds floating in the puddles.

  “They bloom that fast?” Sawyer slipped the seeds into his pocket.

  “It doesn’t take time for life to bloom,” Carl’s eyes were filled with a knowing only those with a lost reality could understand. “It only takes the right conditions and a little spark to get it going.”

  A crack and echoing rumble punctuated Carl’s point, rippling through the puddles he stared into. A flicker of light in his peripheral vision and the slight, pu
ngent odor of smoke touching his nose drew Sawyer’s gaze toward their source. A harsh, orange glow surged up from the center of civilian dwellings. A whisper of screams circled, winding the suffering and pain of others around him like a vine. Carl’s vice-like grip around his torso kept Sawyer from racing toward the maelstrom in the distance. No, I can’t run away this time, Sawyer’s mind screamed the denial as he was pulled into the building.

  “What in hellfire is going on out there?” Wil glimpsed his answer before the door slammed shut, creating a sickening dread on the young man’s face.

  “Firebombs,” Sawyer whispered, his body running on autopilot as his mind took a trip back eight years to the last time he’d seen them used. “They’re firebombing us.”

  “Who?” Maverick entered from the hangar, his body shaking with dread and fear.

  “Beta Sect, maybe another Sect; does it matter?” Sawyer returned, moving toward the door as if he were a marionette at the mercy of his master.

  “What are you doing? Where are you going?” Wil demanded, stepping between Sawyer and the door.

  “I’m going to help,” Sawyer blinked at the man’s questions, not able to process how he didn’t know already what his intention was.

  “Hellfire, you are!” Wil denied, his eyes brimming with a firestorm of his own.

  “We can’t just sit here,” Sawyer’s shocked numbness faded, his senses returned with intensity; sounds sharpened and images crystalized.

  “That’s exactly what we can do,” Wil argued. “We aren’t going out there.”

  “We need to help the wounded and begin evacuations.”

  “And I’m sure that’s exactly what’s happening,” Wil assured.

  “I’m not a deserter!” the emphasis in Sawyer’s voice held a personal defense. “I won’t run.”

  “Sawyer, listen!” Wil demanded Sawyer’s attention as he directed his senses outside of their sanctuary. “Do you hear sirens; do you have orders to report? No, you don’t. And, even if you did, we’re too far away to be of any use right now. By the time we get there, whoever is launching those firebombs will be ready to go again. We’re safer here.”