Chapter 29
TWENTY-NINE
The horizon darkened, and I realized that it had nothing to do with the light. Land approached. A sprawling, dark landmass.
I stopped breathing for several long heartbeats when the blue of the ocean disappeared beneath us and was replaced by hard, blackish landscape.
I looked downward to try to make out any discernible details.
It was difficult from the high altitude we still flew at.
But the impression I got from staring at it was scorched land, filled with deep cracks.
It was then that I became fully aware of the other Fairwellian aircraft that accompanied us.
Out on the ocean, I somehow had barely detected them; it was as if their light surface had allowed them to blend in with the clear sky.
But here I saw them distinctly, shooting through the sky like streamlined birds.
Still, I could hardly hear them, and I supposed now that their stealth was by design.
I became aware of our aircraft reducing speed and I looked downward once again.
The dark surface beneath us was some kind of craggy landscape, filled with what appeared to be naturally formed holes and caves.
Then the rocks became bigger, forming shapes large enough to be hills and then…
I realized we’d entered some kind of mountain range, formed from the same dark rock.
What was this place? Why or how would anyone live here? There were no resources from what I could see. Not even the slightest hint of greenery or water. Nor the slightest hint of life for that matter.
Then I remembered that these people lived off of others.
Why did they need their own resources when they had a constant supply from elsewhere?
They’d tried to steal sacks of rice and nuts from us and, if Fairwell hadn’t managed to shoot down their hover ship, they’d probably have our own supplies stored somewhere right now.
The thought made my veins boil. For the first time since arriving at Fairwell, I felt almost glad to be where I was.
Someone had to stop these people. How many more lives would they tear apart and destroy if nobody was there to curtail them?
It suddenly felt like the most worthwhile thing I could possibly do with my life, besides trying to pull my family together.
Maybe this would turn out to be something I’d be grateful to Anna for.
The aircraft tilted and angled toward higher rock faces.
“What the hell is this place?” Jessie whispered.
“Not our destination—yet,” Gerard answered.
We climbed higher until I sensed a notable drop in temperature, even within the aircraft.
The dark rock faces began to whiten, and then I realized I was staring at snow for the first time in my life.
I’d seen pictures of it in books, but nothing could have prepared me for the stark white blanket which was suddenly the world beneath us.
I blinked, the sight so surreal that I almost doubted my vision.
It was like staring at something out of a fairy tale.
I didn’t know anything could look so clean and pure in this world. .. So untouched.
“They live up here?” Jessie whispered, her eyes wide as she ogled the scene.
“Almost there,” Gerard muttered.
I realized that, up here, there were more signs of life, perhaps due to the moisture of the snow.
A flock of birds flew overhead, angling for something among the peaks.
I spotted a smattering of thin trees, albeit frozen, as well as several frigid-looking lakes and rivulets.
Maybe in the height of summer this place became slightly more habitable, but I couldn’t imagine living up here all year round.
The aircraft quickened its descent, and what seemed almost too quickly, we landed on a wide ridge in the mountainside. Metal gleamed all around us and I realized the rest of our fleet followed our lead. Soon, all thirteen pods rested on the ridge.
Anna pressed a button at the front of the aircraft and spoke into some kind of communication system. “Mentors brief your mentees. We go in fifteen.”
It appeared she had been voted in or otherwise earned the position of chief on this mission. She pressed the button again and then she and her brother swiveled in their seats to face Jessie and me.
I stared at the siblings in confusion, then out again at our surroundings.
When I cast my eyes downward, I noticed something I hadn’t before. We had landed at the precipice of a small valley. It stretched out beneath us, peppered with frosty trees and low bushes. But smoke emanated from the other end of it. I squinted, trying to see where it came from.
“Use these.” Anna handed me a pair of binoculars, while Gerard handed a pair to Jessie.
We grasped them and stared through the lenses.
Built into the edge of the valley was what might, from a distance, have been mistaken for simply a rock formation.
But from this angle I saw clearly intentioned architecture: there was a wide, rectangular structure, possibly spanning three stories.
Wooden shutters pockmarked its walls at regular intervals, presumably concealing windows or doors.
How ever did they create this? Did they create it?
Or was it a structure left over from the time before the End, which they had discovered and occupied?
I didn’t know what kind of machinery they would have needed to bring up here to build this, but there it was: some kind of communal housing structure.
If I had to guess, I’d have said it could fit at least a couple of hundred people in a squeeze.
Although, this building was now apparently used to store equipment.
I had to give it to whoever found it: it was a good hiding place. I wouldn’t have thought anyone would ever locate it up here.
“How did you find them?” I couldn’t help but ask.
“Through a lot of hard work,” Anna replied.
“Now, we don’t have much time so we need to get you briefed.
” Her tone turned businesslike and she cast her eyes toward the compartment in the back of the aircraft.
“Tani, reach in the back there and you’ll find four thermal suits.
We need to put those on. Also, hand me the red bag you’ll find there. ”
I climbed out of my seat and found the red bag first. I was surprised by how bulky and heavy it was when I tried to pick it up.
I heaved it over to Anna, wondering what it contained, before returning for the suits.
They were surprisingly light, yet presumably very warm, full-body suits.
I handed one each to my companions before sliding mine over my clothes and zipping it up.
Having worn it for barely a few seconds, I already felt too hot.
“You’ll want to keep the zipper down until we go out,” Anna said with a smirk, noting Jessie’s and my immediate discomfort. We took her advice while watching her rummage inside the red bag.
She pulled out a long, sleek, silver barrel. When she held up the other end, I saw that it was a gun. She handed it to Gerard, then pulled out three more identical weapons.
I stared at them uncertainly.
“So,” she said calmly. “This is the plan. In about ten minutes from now, we will descend all at once on the valley, within range of the building.” She held out one of the guns toward me and I stared at her for a moment, unsure if I was even confident enough to touch it.
Anna clacked her tongue. “Take it, Tani—it won’t bite you. ”
I slowly took the cool metal object, the feeling of it utterly foreign in my hands. She handed one to Jessie, then picked up her own.
“What you need to do is simple,” she went on. “Just aim for the windows—those wooden shutters you see. The more experienced among us will handle the rest.”
“Wait—what?” Jessie and I asked variations of the same question.
“Anna, I’ve never used a gun in my life!” I said. Well, I had briefly handled one of those ancient guns back in our colony, but there was no comparing that to this. Jessie was in the same boat.
“I’m perfectly aware that is likely the case,” Anna replied calmly.
“Which is why I’ve asked you to do this.
These weapons are intuitive to use; there’s only one button to press.
” She pointed to the smooth button near the gun’s handle.
“And we’ve given you a broad, easy target: the wooden shutters.
Consider this your training on the go. We like to see how you cope under pressure, and this really is not much in the grand scheme of things. ”
I suddenly felt incredibly thirsty, but no amount of water in my flask would quench it. It felt insane that we hadn’t even been allotted a practice shot before going in. And here definitely wasn’t the right place to do it. The noise would attract attention.
“So, we’re going to be shooting at… people?
” I asked. I had experienced her idea of pressure in the pre-screening she’d put me through, but this felt different.
As real as those simulations had felt at the time, they had been controlled simulations.
But everything about this was real. There would be no reversing whatever we did out here.
“You’ll be shooting at the shutters,” Anna replied. “As I said.”
But there could be people behind them, who could get hurt?
my mind asked in a smaller voice. Yes, it was supposed to be an equipment base, but it seemed unlikely that it would be completely devoid of people.
I wanted to incapacitate the nomads, but wielding this gun against someone else’s base, where there could be people around, living out their day unsuspecting…
it still felt like a massive jump. I hadn’t expected to do anything like this on the first day.
“The windows,” Jessie breathed, as if trying to instill confidence in herself.
“And you will stay in the pod, I should add,” Anna said.
“This glass is bulletproof, so it’ll help keep you safe in case there’s a counterattack.
The key is to be cool and not lose your head.
Remember, that’s always the key to success in outreach.
And we’re in a good position: we have the element of surprise. ”
“So… the purpose is to wreck their building,” I said. And leave whoever may be inside to die, completely abandoned in the snow. Did anyone really deserve that?
Maybe some people did. But suddenly, I wasn’t sure I wanted to be the person to mete out that punishment.
Anna nodded, but I wasn’t spared further moments to consider it, since our fifteen minutes were gone. All the aircraft lifted into the air in unison, before plummeting down into the valley.