The Vagabonds (The Code of War Book 4) Read online

  Her eyes were barely open—streams of tears poured down her face.

  “Jade! Oh God, hold on, please!”

  “Joe…”

  “I’m here, Ladybird. I’m here. I’m not leaving you!”

  “I’m…sorry I…didn’t tell you…”

  “It’s okay, there’s nothing to be sorry for…”

  “I…can’t see…”

  “Jade, open your eyes, honey!”

  “Too…cold…”

  “No! Oh…Please…don’t…”

  “Joe…I…love…”

  Her eyes stared through him—frozen and empty.

  Gone.

  Joe held her tight in his arms. He kissed her forehead—watched his tears drop onto her ashen face.

  I’ve lost her.

  He threw his head into the air and let out a primal scream of anguish that echoed over and over inside the Core.

  Part of his world had ended.

  Nothing else seemed to matter.

  A voice behind him sounded like muted white noise. It called his name.

  “Joe! I found you! We need to get out of here!”

  He wasn’t listening. Joe was a thousand miles away from reality.

  A hand clutched his shoulder, shaking him from his grief.

  Turning, Joe recognized the face in front of him.

  Krieger.

  His comrade checked Jade’s neck for a pulse.

  “She’s dead, my friend,” the Russian said, “We have to go now! This tub is going to sink in a minute!”

  Upon saying that, the bulkhead behind the large viewscreen ruptured. Water sprayed into the Core by the metric ton.

  “I don’t want to leave her…” Joe said as he felt the cold water pooling around him.

  “Come on, Joe. She wouldn’t want you to die as well, da?”

  Joe looked at the big Russian, his eyes filled with pain.

  “I can’t face a world without her.”

  “There is always vengeance, Joe. This is not time for you to die. Now come on!”

  The water was up to their knees now.

  Krieger held his hand out.

  Pushing the pain down into his soul, Joe took it.

  Together, the two men dashed through the seawater toward the port door.

  Before leaving the Stream Core forever, Joe looked back to where Jade lay amidst the rushing water.

  One day, I will find you, Titus.

  I swear to all you hold precious…

  I will end you.

  He turned away and followed after Krieger.

  * * *

  THE EMERGENCY hanger bay was located two decks beneath the bridge. A simple sliding recess in the bow bulkhead of the Titan, it housed a single hypersonic Hyperion for the Brotherhood leaders to make use of in crisis situations.

  After the events in the Stream Core had gone so wrong, Titus, Vorena and the old Elder, Cicero, had made a dash to the emergency bay, where they were met by Falco. The one-eyed Tribune waved for them to get aboard as the Titan began to violently lurch on its axis.

  A moment later, they were rocketing away from the dying submarine, under the radar of the Peacemaker aircraft buzzing like enraged gnats in the skies above. Ascension Island was alerted that the new Imperator was returning, minus a significant amount of personnel.

  Titus sat sullenly off to the side.

  Across from him was Tiberius, bound securely for the ride back to Ascension Island.

  “So,” The Legate said, leaning back in his seat, “Your first hour of command was an unmitigated failure, Titus. I’ve got to say, this doesn’t bode well for your future prospects within the Brotherhood, my Imperator.”

  “Gag him!” Titus barked at Falco.

  With far less enthusiasm as he would have expected, Falco did as he was told—wrapping a gag around Tiberius’s mouth.

  Titus leaned back in his chair.

  They’d lost the Code of War.

  The Stream Viral A.I. had failed.

  And now he’d lost the Titan.

  You can work through this, he told himself. He was still the Imperator. Olympus and the Brotherhood were still his.

  He would weather the storm, rebuild that which was lost.

  Olympus would have its day again.

  * * *

  CLUTCHING DANNY between them, Agrippina and Orchid exited the darkness of the flooding hallway and burst into the daylight of the open hanger bay of the Titan. The clouds overhead had parted, allowing the warm rays of noonday sunshine to pour down.

  The hanger was a complete mess. Scattered throughout the slowly flooding area were the writhing bodies of Centurions, still reacting to the loss of the Stream. Pieces of machinery were sliding dangerously across the bay as the ship tilted dangerously on its axis.

  Hovering above the center of the hanger bay was a single Vagabond Fenrir. Hoisting Danny along, the two women moved through the rising water—trying to keep their feet as the massive Titan groaned in its death throes.

  Reaching the ducted fan aircraft, they saw the door slide open.

  Curtis Walker was waiting for them. “Come on, get in! This thing is going down any second!”

  From the co-pilot seat, Orchid heard Lennox shout, “Where’s my son?”

  Agrippina shook her head, “I don’t know!”

  The Vagabond commander hesitated before saying, “We can’t wait,” said Lennox, “Get on board!”

  The two women helped Danny up and into the aircraft. He slumped weakly into a seat, mentally exhausted. At that moment a massive cascade of ocean water spilled into the Titan as the open maw of the sub dipped into the sea. In a few seconds, the vessel would be completely lost under the blue waters.

  Orchid had just pulled herself into the Fenrir when Curtis Walker pointed toward the bow and shouted, “Look!”

  Joe and Krieger were charging across the rapidly flooding bay, trying to stay ahead of the water that in a few seconds would fill the Titan like a giant fishbowl.

  Lennox said to Caedra, “Prepare a line down to them now!”

  “There’s no time!” Orchid shouted back, “Bring us as low as you can!”

  Together Orchid and Agrippina stepped out onto the ski of the Fenrir. As the waters rushed in, overturning crates and any remaining aircraft, the VTOL hovered down as close to the deck as it dared.

  Orchid held out her hand as the two men came underneath the aircraft, fighting against the powerful updraft from the ducted fan engines. Reaching up, Joe grabbed Orchid’s outstretched hand. Krieger did the same, grabbing hold of Agrippina’s arm.

  “They’re on,” Lennox said to Caedra, “Take us up, now!”

  The stoic Vagabond pilot maneuvered the Fenrir into the sky, where it hovered over the sinking Olympus submarine. Orchid pulled Joe into the cabin. Agrippina did the same, except Krieger lost his balance and fell on top of her.

  The Russian looked around as if amazed to still be alive. “Oh thank you, thank you!” he said to the woman beneath him, kissing her full on the cheek.

  “Get the hell off me!” Agrippina yelled, throwing the Russian clear from her prostrate form.

  The Fenrir rose up to join the other aircraft, waiting in a holding pattern above them.

  “Alright, Strike Force Alpha,” Lennox’s voice came over the intercom, “Time to return home. I think we’ve done our good deed for the day.”

  * * *

  JOE SLUMPED down onto the floor, exhausted.

  He felt a hand on his shoulder. Looking up, he saw Orchid kneeling over him.

  “Jade?” she asked, somberly.

  Joe shook his head. “No.”

  Orchid closed her eyes in sadness. “I’m so sorry Braddock.”

  Below them, the Titan groaned a final time as its massive bulk slipped under the Caribbean, taking with it a lost dream.

  Olympus’s dream.

  The Code of War would rest forever at the bottom of the ocean, where it belonged.

  “Joe…”

  A voice Brad
dock had almost forgotten spoke to him from across the Fenrir cabin. Opening his eyes, Joe saw a man he’d spent a year searching for.

  A friend.

  A brother.

  “Danny,” Joe said, the name a quiet sound on his lips, “Danny Callbeck.”

  “I knew you’d come for me, Joe.”

  Krieger, still lying on the floor of the Fenrir, said, “Oye. I’ve had it. I think I need vacation now.”

  Chapter 35

  Brothers

  The Harbinger, Caribbean Sea, October 7th

  THE SICKBAY of the Harbinger was nearly full-up from the many wounded suffered during the long night. Once the strike team had arrived back from the attack on the Titan, Danny Callbeck was rushed to a makeshift room beside the infirmary, where he was guarded at all times by three Harbinger security personnel.

  Danny lay in the bed of the small room, trying to recall memories long forced from him. The Navy doctor that examined him was at an absolute loss for words. Once the Chromium armor was stripped away, he’d discovered that almost thirty percent of Callbeck’s body was now synthetic. Parts of the old Whisper suit he’d worn a year ago were still grafted into areas on his torso—the Olympus doctors being unable to separate them. His entire left arm was a synthetic prosthesis—highly advanced. The biological changes made to his body had given Danny heightened physical abilities and perception, explaining why he was capable of fighting without his sight. While the Stream probably had a good deal to do with that, Danny still felt as if his senses were on overdrive.

  The Harbinger’s doctors couldn’t explain how the multitude of changes were possible, given current medical advances. Danny had remained mum about the whole process, stating simply that he’d been experimented on by the highest minds of Olympus.

  After the Doc had left, Danny sat in the bed—his mind swirling. After the Stream had collapsed, everything had snapped back together all at once inside his brain. He could no longer feel its influence—giving him near omnipotent battle awareness. For Danny, it was a relief like nothing he’d ever felt—to be free of the Stream.

  His mind was his own once more.

  The Peacemakers on the Harbinger didn’t have a pair of his eSight glasses that allowed him to see. So he sat there, in darkness.

  Waiting.

  For what?

  A new beginning, he hoped. Olympus had taken so much from him. He needed a chance to get it back.

  The sound of a door opening pulled Danny’s gaze toward it. He smelled the air. “Agrippina?”

  “How did you know?” her voice replied, not quite surprised.

  “Your scent. It’s hard to forget.” He could hear other people in the room, “Who’s that with you?”

  “My…escort.”

  “Oh. Marines?”

  “Lieutenant Brick’s idea.”

  Danny sat up and asked the men for a moment alone with Agrippina. They were hesitant but agreed to stay just outside the door. Danny realized that was probably as good as he was going to get. He felt the woman approach to within a few feet of him.

  “I, uh,” Danny stammered, “I wanted to thank you.”

  “For what?”

  “Saving my life.”

  Agrippina scoffed, “You mean beating the shit out of you?”

  “I guess you can say it knocked some sense into me. What’s going to happen now, to you I mean?”

  “I don’t know. Lennox wants nothing to do with me after I violated his trust. And it’s looking like your Lieutenant Brick is going to try and bring me up on charges, or some such nonsense—kidnapping, murder,” she sighed, “Lucky me.”

  “I’ll talk to him. No matter how you accomplished it, you saved my life. Maybe I can smooth things out a bit.”

  He could sense Agrippina didn’t put much hope in that doing any good. “Thanks, but I knew what my decision would bring when I made it. I failed to kill Tiberius, but I found you. Oh, before I forget, I have something of yours.”

  There was a rustle of movement. Then, the woman placed a smooth object into his hands.

  The caribou necklace.

  Danny clutched the small charm, rubbing his fingers along the carving.

  A warm feeling rose through him—a feeling he’d almost forgot was possible.

  He shook his head. “You know, when I was in the thrall of the Stream, they put me through these horrible visions meant to mold my psyche into something they could control. I became something I didn’t want to be—a killing machine.” He held up the charm, “All I had left was the discipline my culture and loved ones gave me, to keep me sane.”

  He clasped the charm, holding it to his mouth in silent prayer.

  “Thank you,” he said, “Thanks for not giving up on me.”

  “Thank Joe, not me,” Agrippina replied, “Without him, we may have never found you and disabled the Code.”

  “Yeah, how did that work anyway?” Danny asked, curiously.

  He felt Agrippina shrug. “From what I could understand, their scientist, Cairncross I think, managed to break past the Code disc’s firewall and implant a virus capable of bringing down the Stream network. Everything crashed afterwards, including the system controlling you.”

  Danny shook his head. “Amazing.”

  “How do you feel?” Agrippina asked, curiously.

  “Like I just woke from the worst nightmare of my life. Everything feels…off, like it’s all still sort of not real.” He chuckled quietly, “The least they could have done is give me a pair of artificial eyes, like yours.”

  There was a pause. Danny could sense what Agrippina had to say next was difficult for her.

  “Danny…I…need to tell you something.”

  “You don’t have to say anything.”

  “No, I do. I know your people think I betrayed them—acted for myself, and maybe to a point, I did. But you have to believe me when I say I did this for you. All of it. I had to find you…to tell you—”

  He put his hand out, searching in his blindness for her arm. He found it.

  She placed her hand against his bare chest.

  He pulled the dangerous woman close, meeting her lips with his.

  In that moment, he could almost see again.

  KIM YUANZA rushed through the narrow corridor of the Harbinger, heading to the sickbay. She’d gratefully shed the ruined husk of the Whisper suit, leaving it for the poor technicians to wonder what kind of war it’d been through. Despite her exhaustion from the day’s conflict, she stepped with lightness at the thought of seeing her comrade again. She was just coming up to the entrance into the spare medbay room when she looked inside—and saw the two embracing one another.

  Danny and Agrippina.

  Orchid’s smile faded. She moved away from the door, listening to the end of their conversation.

  “I’ll see you around, Callbeck,” Orchid heard Agrippina say.

  “Promise?”

  “Well…maybe in ten to twenty.”

  “Don’t worry, I’ll do what I can for you.”

  A moment later, the assassin and her marine guard exited the room. Agrippina noticed Orchid. She stopped mid-step.

  “So, I guess you and I weren’t such a bad team after all, huh, Yuanza?”

  Orchid folded her arms, “I still recall saying I was going to kill you if you ever betrayed us.”

  Agrippina held up her cuffed hands, “Don’t worry, I intend to stick around with you guys for a little while longer.” There was a mischievous glint in the assassin lady’s eye.

  Orchid shook her head. “You have everyone fooled, don’t you?”

  The assassin frowned. “I have no idea what you mean.”

  “Just be glad things happened the way they did, Aggy. Because the next time, I won’t be so forgiving.”

  Agrippina sniffed, “Hmm. Some gratitude,” she turned to her Marine Corps minders and said, “Come on you twerps, get me out of here!”

  Orchid watched as the Marines led the woman away. Sighing, Orchid entered the medic
al bay.

  Danny’s sightless eyes looked in her direction. “Kim. Kim Yuanza. I know it’s you.”

  Her fight with Agrippina momentarily forgotten, Orchid walked forward and gave Callbeck a long hug.

  “I’m so glad you’re okay, Danny,” Orchid said, letting him go.

  “I heard about all of the things you did back there to find me,” Danny said.

  “Well, it’s my job. But I can’t imagine what it was like—being controlled by the Stream.”

  Danny let out a long breath, “It…already feels like a distant memory. Like waking up from a dream you can barely recall.” Then abruptly, he asked, “Have you seen Joe?”

  “Yes, but…he’s not doing too well.”

  When Danny asked what had happened, she quickly filled him in on Jade Masters and what she’d meant to Joe Braddock. The blind Canadian soldier turned grave at the news.

  “Man, I didn’t know,” Danny said, somberly.

  Orchid noticed the charm he held clenched in his hand.

  “Danny…I…”

  “What?”

  “I…nothing. I’m glad you’re okay. I’ll, uh, talk to you later, okay?”

  Abruptly, Orchid spun around and headed for the door.

  “Kim!”

  She stopped, trying to fight the tears back.

  “No one could ever ask for a better friend.”

  The tears came anyway. Orchid bolted from the room.

  * * *

  The Pentagon, Arlington, Virginia, October 10th

  “That’s the most insane story I’ve ever heard, Lieutenant.”

  Sitting in a stuffy room of the headquarters of the United States Department of Defense, Lieutenant Alistair Reynolds prepared to respond to General Roy Brackett, the man chairing the impromptu meeting. Outside the window, a gray October rain was falling, perfectly matching the mood in the room.

  Across from him at the long mahogany table were various members of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, as well as Chris McLusky, the Deputy Director of Counter Intelligence for the CIA. Over the last half hour, Brick had laid out the entire venture into Venezuela, explaining in detail the many twists of a story so fantastic, he had trouble believing it himself.