The Last Mission of the Living (The Last Bastion #2)(23)

It was a very sobering truth.

Cocking his head, he watched the tiltrotors approaching from the south. There were still fires on the far side of the valley from where the last Scrag herds had been blasted with fire bombs. There was aircraft moving over the fires, long curtains of water flowing out behind them. It’d been years since he’d seen emergency fire control vehicles of any type.

The job wasn’t done yet though. There were large portions of the valley where firebombs were not allowed due to coal deposits and the underground fuel refinery. Would he be sent out again, too? Given a new squad of fresh eager recruits? Or would he be found guilty of not making wise choices for his squad and be relieved of duty?

There weren’t signs of Scrags near him, but along the foothills to the north the wooded areas could easily be hiding some. It wasn’t the Scrags he was worried about anymore, but the Abscrags. What if Alkan and Reese had made more?

His wristlet chimed, surprising him. Glancing down, he saw multiple files rapidly downloading and unpacking.

A second later, a computerized voice said, “Details on the Coup d’état organized by Admiral Kirkpatrick have now been downloaded to your device.”

“What the hell?”

Torran touched the screen and immediately a simple, but detailed menu popped up. All sorts of files had been sent not only to him, but appeared to be copied to every citizen of The Bastion. It only took him a few minutes after reading two files for him to finally understand why the Constabulary had not been involved in the clearing of the valley. Admiral Kirkpatrick, the leader of the SWD, had made a grandiose play for power and someone had uncovered it.

A message dinged into his wristlet. It was from Vanguard Rooney. He quickly opened it and her face appeared.

“You knew,” Torran said.

“Your tiltrotor is being redirected to the Constabulary.” Lindsey hesitated. “I’m sorry, Torran, but all SWD officers are under suspicion and are going to be debriefed by the Constabulary. If you like, I’ll be the one to escort you.”

“No. Don’t do that. Keep your distance,” Torran answered. “I’m not a part of this treason. I’ll be fine.”

“Very well,” she said in a gentle tone. “Good luck.”

The sound of the approaching tiltrotor nearly drowned out her voice.

“I’ll see you around,” Torran said, hoping that it was true.

Vanguard Rooney was gone.

Standing slowly, Torran waved to the approaching tiltrotor pilots.

In one night, so much had changed. The valley had been reclaimed and there was hope for the future once again.

Viewing the dog tags still clutched in one hand, Torran wondered if he’d ever really know the full truth.



*



“Vanguard Rooney, excellent job,” Commandant Pierce said when Lindsey entered the Constabulary Command Center.

Barely able to walk even with the help of her cane, Lindsey saluted. “Thank you, sir.”

Commandant Pierce returned her gaze to the display of monitors in front of her. “President Cabot is safely in his office. Constabulary forces escorted him there with the media in tow. Admiral Kirkpatrick is sequestered within the SWD Facility and is denying the details transmitted by the worm. He’s also refusing to give himself up to the Judiciary Authority.”

Scanning the Command Center for Vaja, Lindsey couldn’t help but beam a bit. It was her sleuthing and her worm that had protected the rightfully elected government, even if President Cabot was a jerk. Not spotting her boyfriend among the uniforms, she focused instead on the surveillance feed coming in from around the capitol building.

“Commandant, we’re in control, aren’t we?”

“To some degree. SWD forces are still returning from their mission and there are squads occupying The Bastion City Command Center. It’s touchy, but we’re gaining the upper hand through the media coverage. The Inferi Boon are receiving a lot more sympathy and coverage than we anticipated.”

That allowed Lindsey to relax with some measure of relief. She wanted people to look at the list of Inferi Boon names and feel sorrow. She’d never see Maria again in this life and it cut her to the core. The Inferi Boon had given their lives to save The Bastion and she wanted the population to feel the weight of that loss.

“I’m sure that makes you happy,” Commandant Pierce said, glancing at Lindsey again.

“Do you think they would’ve felt the same way if Admiral Kirkpatrick had told the citizens that the Inferi Boon willingly gave up their lives to save us all?”

“They would’ve felt pride in the Inferi Boon, Vanguard.”

“But what if Kirkpatrick said that they had to be killed to stop a possible infection? Do you think the population would have agreed with him about killing our own people?” Lindsey hated that she believed that the citizens of The Bastion wouldn’t have felt grief.

“I guess we’ll never know, will we?” Commandant Pierce gestured toward the myriad of screens. “The social networks are filled with irate citizens protesting the abuse of power by the SWD. That’s exactly what we wanted. You’re a hero, Vanguard Rooney.”

“No one will ever know that.” Lindsey rested one hand on her waist and leaned on her cane. “And that’s how it should be. The real heroes are Maria and her squad. All those names up there. Omondi, Denman, Martinez, Mikado…”