Reclaim: Books 1-3 Read online

  "Go up this ladder. You will find a small basement I use to sleep in. The Zeal don't know it's there. Yes, we can hide from them. They won't find us."

  The excitement was abundant in the man's eyes. One second he was declaring an end to humanity, the next he was thrilled to get one over the Zeal. Teve couldn't keep up, but the Stiltz were heading toward their location.

  "Okay, go up the ladder," Teve ordered.

  "Yes, sir."

  "I'm not an officer," he said out of habit. His instinct was to follow up the line with the traditional "I work for a living," but he stopped himself short.

  From what Teve understood in the dark of the tunnel, the stranger had been a civilian of the city when the Zeal arrived. What happened to him after that only added more confusion to the thought.

  "Up here, boss."

  Cautious, Teve followed him, keeping the rifle close by should he need to kill the deranged man in a hurry.

  "Almost there, sir," the stranger said after a long climb.

  "Don't call me—" Teve cut himself short, realizing the futility of his argument. He rolled up and over the ladder and found a similar tunnel to the one he had escaped down with Mish and Moreno. He hoped they made it back without delay.

  As the stranger walked ahead, Teve had to ask him the most basic question on his mind. "You got a name?"

  The man stopped in his tracks and spoke with his back to Teve. "I did have a name at one point—a human name. Now, they call me something that no person should ever repeat."

  "Okay," Teve said clutching the rifle a little tighter.

  "Can I give myself a name?" the man asked turning around.

  "Don't see why not. What would you like me to call you?"

  A grin ripped across his face as a name apparently came to mind. "X."

  "X? Like the letter?"

  "Yes. X. Has a nice ring to it. Easy to remember. Easy to digest."

  "Okay, X it is. My name is Teve, by the way."

  "Teve? What kind of name is Teve?" X looked at him with a screwed-up face full of disgust. His expression quickly transitioned back to normal, whatever normal was to a man named X.

  "Keep moving. Tell me something else: how did you survive in the city? I've never come across any civilians. I thought the Zeal killed everybody in Los Angeles."

  "Not quite, Tevey."

  "Call me Teve."

  "My apologies, Tevey. You see, I didn't endure all this time on my own. There were more of us. Dozens. Maybe hundreds even. We refused to leave the city. We couldn't walk away from her and let the Zeal take over."

  "Hundreds? How could that be? The military hasn't seen a single thing inside the cities apart from the invaders since the beginning."

  X seemed confused by the statement as he scrunched his eyes closed. "No. We lived there. We survived. We adapted."

  Teve shook his head as only one question entered his mind. "Then what happened?"

  Before an answer could be found, a rumble of synchronized footsteps filled the sewer. The stomping of metal feet clipped up from the ladder and into the small hallway.

  Teve brought his finger up to his lips and motioned for X to be quiet. X nodded, understanding the danger through all his disillusion. They both crouched down as Teve stepped over toward the round hole. He leaned over the edge and gazed down on the Zeal, seeing the glow from their gear lighting the area. A few moments later, a large group of Stiltz moved past the location, not once stopping to look up.

  Teve continued to soak in the situation below until the dozens of alien soldiers disappeared.

  "Patrols. Probably heard us before," X said.

  "No kidding. Now, where were we? Oh yeah, you were going to tell me about the hundreds of civilians still living in the city."

  "Not living; lived. They're all gone. Taken. We never attacked the Zeal the way you did. We chose to adapt and survive. But it wasn't enough despite our peaceful existence. They wanted us for their cause."

  "What do you mean, cause?"

  "The cause. This war. They are taking humans for their army to alter their minds and bodies so they can become one with the Zeal."

  Teve grabbed X's wrist and shined his light on the purple mess along the man's arm. He studied the alien tech still assimilating itself into the man's system and felt a stabbing pain in his gut.

  "If they're taking soldiers for their army, why haven't we seen them? The UEF goes into every city to fight the Zeal. This doesn't make sense."

  X snatched his own arm back and went to speak again. He mouthed something inaudible and started to run away toward the building the tunnel connected to.

  "Wait. Where are you going?" Teve shouted after him. "We need to stick together."

  "You're going to kill me, aren't you? You're going to slit my throat and cut off my arms."

  Teve chased after X and used his flashlight to follow the wild man's actions. Before he could even begin to catch up to the fleeing Zeal experiment, he realized X was outpacing him with ease.

  Within the space of twenty seconds, he faded into the shadows.

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Pacing up and down his line of twelve cadets in a small planning room, Porter stopped every time he passed Rodriguez and Smith, making sure they caught his sneering lips and bared teeth.

  "You people are the sorriest bunch of assholes I've ever seen inside of an MAF warship. How the hell am I ever going to turn you sacks of crap into pilots?"

  "Question, sir," one of the cadets yelled out—a short brunette girl at the far end of the line.

  "Speak, Cadet."

  "We only have six more days to train. It's not enough time, sir."

  Porter started to chuckle under his breath as he marched straight down to the girl a full head shorter than him. He stared at her and said, "It wouldn't matter if I had a year, Cadet. You washouts will never be pilots in my eyes. None of you have the chops for it. None of you possess the killer instinct a real pilot breathes in and out without thinking. None of you are worthy of setting your asses down in an MAF Stalker. But here we are."

  He stepped away from the cadet and moved toward the middle of the line to a large interactive display. He hit the screen with one hand. An image staring at the cadets shifted from the MAF logo to a series of infographics on the X90.

  "Command wants you all flying by the end of the week whether you are ready or not. But I'm not so happy about this decision. So today, Cadets, you are going to learn everything there is to comprehend about the fighters you so willingly destroyed yesterday."

  A groan emitted across the line. "I'm sorry, did I make that sound like you had an option? Shut the hell up and listen. We've got a lot of work to do."

  Porter spent the next eight hours going over every little detail of the X90 Stalker. Once he ran out of information on the bird, he shifted gears to the Andromeda. The cadets were made to stand the entire time. As soon as one of them started to drift off, he hit them with a spray of ice-cold water directly in the face. By the end of the day, every cadet was soaking wet.

  "Get the hell out here and report to me at the same time tomorrow for a little test. Pass the exam and you all fly. If one of you fails, you all retake my lecture again." More groans came from the pack. Once his students left, Porter let out a sigh.

  "You're really laying it on them, aren't you?" Garcia asked as she stepped into the room.

  "Yes, unfortunately," he said as he found the nearest chair to sit down on with a groan. "This training is killing me more than it is them, I can tell you."

  "Not a fan?"

  He shook his head. "It could be worse. I guess I've always managed to avoid training people. This is only my second time taking a group. The first time was a complete disaster. This one is shaping up to be about the same."

  "It gets easier," she said. "You need to leave your body and forget who you are as a person."

  Porter nodded as he leaned forward on his elbows, hands coupled. "What brings you down here?"

  Garcia sighed. "O
nly the same old bullshit. I'm getting a lot of pressure to get as many cadets ready as I can. I think the MAF has more ships on the way than pilots."

  "They must have if I'm still here. So, can you tell me anything new about the assault? It'd be helpful to understand what the plan is."

  Garcia crossed her arms and leaned against a wall. "I'm not at liberty to say a word, but if you were to hypothetically ask me anything about it, I might have a few bits of insider info for you."

  "Anything, please."

  "I'll give you one question."

  Porter whistled at the thought. He had too many ideas running through his head to count, but one important question begged his mind for an answer.

  "Who will be commanding the forces?"

  Garcia smiled as she dusted off the sleeve of her jacket.

  "You? That's amazing. They made the right call there."

  "Thank you, Lieutenant. Nothing official at this stage, of course, but I should be getting a promotion to Commodore allowing me temporary control over the fleet."

  Porter leaned back in his seat. "This is perfect. I thought for sure they'd pick some higher-up jackass who didn't know the first thing about the Zeal. We might stand a chance against these bastards."

  Garcia nodded her head as she smiled. "That brings me to my next point."

  The relaxed demeanor fell from Porter's face. "What?"

  "If I'm going to pull this off, I'll need a second-in-command for the operation. Someone who won't be in the fight but will be crucial to its success."

  "You don't mean—"

  "Yes, Lieutenant. I want you to be my second. I want someone who knows me well and isn't afraid to make the tough calls. Comes with a promotion, too. How does Captain Porter sound?"

  Porter's left hand found his face and settled on his forehead. "Jesus Christ," he said staring off at nothing.

  "Take a night to think it over. I'll find you in the morning. Please remember, I will support your choice either way. I know how hard it can be to give up the stick."

  She pushed off the wall and began to leave the small room. "I'll see you tomorrow."

  A speechless Porter fell back into his chair and let the weight of the day push him down into submission. He had no idea what he would do.

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Teve charged through the basement of the unknown building. He couldn't detect any signs of X until he heard him up the next flight of stairs, so he grabbed the stair rail and pulled himself up each flight in less than a few seconds.

  Once he reached the top, he had no idea where he was or what kind of construction the room belonged to. The area was a chaotic mess. Broken tables and chairs were scattered across a large space while a section of counters and overhead cupboards hung loosely from a caved in ceiling. Based on the layout, the structure had to have been a restaurant at some point, if not a cafe. Now it was just another skeleton in the dead city.

  Teve was about to give up when he overheard X outside the building through a gaping hole in the wall. "Come on," he muttered to himself, head shaking. He turned to leave but acknowledged he couldn't abandon such a valuable asset. Command would never believe his story about the alien tech on X's arm and the possibility of secret Zeal armies. He needed the physical proof the man would provide.

  Teve moved over to the edge of the hole in the wall, seeing it was big enough to climb through. Something explosive had punched clean through the concrete structure. Most likely a blast from a Claw's cannon.

  "You can't catch me, soldier. I'm not human. I don't need legs to move around."

  Teve could hear X's latest rant, realizing his mind had slipped over to one of his other personalities. With no other choice but to push forward, he climbed through the hole as quickly as he could and stumbled through, landing with a thud on some broken concrete.

  Startled by the sudden emergence of the soldier, X let out a small yelp. Teve jumped to his feet and grabbed him by the mouth, placing a hand over the noise to muffle the sound.

  "Shut the hell up," Teve said while gripping the man as tight as possible. "Are you trying to invite every Stilt bastard in the city around for dinner?"

  X began to calm down after a moment. His breathing settled into long drawn-out breaths. "I'm sorry, Tevey. I just forget sometimes who I am. The Zeal in me takes over. Takes control. Takes—"

  "I get it. Just keep the noise down. We need to move you out of the city."

  X shook his head as his mouth fell open. "No, no, no. You can't take me out of the city. There are too many of us still in there. They cannot leave." He pointed toward the massive Zeal building towering into the sky.

  "Who are they? And what happens if they leave?"

  "They are the lost souls of Los Angeles. If they leave, they die."

  Teve shook his head. "Come on, seriously? What did the Zeal tell you would happen?"

  X took in a sharp breath. "They do not tell you anything. They connect your brain to theirs and wipe out who you were until you become them. The people cannot leave the city because the Zeal cannot leave the city."

  A realization ripped through Teve's head. It might have been a bunch of crazy coming from a broken mind, but this one rant was starting to make sense. "Are you saying what I think you're saying?"

  "You already knew the answer, Tevey. The words have been in front of you the whole time."

  Teve tripped slightly at the discovery. The reason the Zeal never advanced beyond the city became abundantly clear: they couldn't survive outside of their building's range. It all made sense. When they arrived, they had transporter ships following their every attack. After months of slaughtering the population, the vessels moved into the center of each city they occupied and merged, beginning the construction of the bases. Something within those purple walls kept the Zeal alive.

  "This is unbelievable," Teve said. "Come back inside and tell me everything you know about the base."

  X smiled. His purple eyes shimmering in the light. He was missing several teeth and the remaining ones looked like they were on their way out.

  "I can do that. But what about them?" He pointed his hand out straight.

  Teve turned around to spot a group of four Stiltz turning a corner to head in their direction.

  "Get down," Teve whispered as he grabbed X by the shoulders. He pulled him toward the building and helped him through the hole in the wall.

  "They're coming," X said with both eyes closed. "They know we're here."

  "How can you tell? Do you feel it or something?"

  X opened his eyes with a pop and stared straight at Teve's contorted face. "Calling for reinforcements."

  "Are they calling it in, or are you?" Teve shook him by the shoulders as hard as he could. "Dammit, answer me." He tried to grab the man's attention, but nothing worked. Instead, X began to laugh maniacally to himself.

  "Of all the people to find in this messed-up city ..." Teve couldn't complete his thought and decided to move a few tables around into a small barrier. He seized X in a hurry, pushing him to the stack.

  "Don't say a word. Hopefully, they'll pass through." Teve set himself up behind the pile with his rifle out as the clumping of metal feet stormed along the path. He aimed his scope through the gap and flicked his weapon over to full-auto mode. The extra power would help push the Zeal back for a moment. His belt still held a few EMP grenades, ready to be tossed through the gap.

  A Zeal body flashed past the hole, followed by the rest of the group. They didn't stop their patrol as X had predicted they would. Teve let out a breath as quietly as he could and put his back to the stack, letting the day claim him.

  "You don't know everything about them, do you?"

  X smiled like a small child would after getting caught in a lie and said, "I never said I did. I can read their thoughts, though."

  "Then why did the patrol keep moving. They should be coming in here to kill me."

  "Why would they do that?" X asked, his brow screwed up.

  Teve scoffed. "Look
around. See how everything has been blown up. That's why."

  "No, no, no. They would not kill you when they can capture you, Tevey."

  "What are you saying?"

  X smiled and said nothing.

  Teve stood and moved back toward the hole. He edged around to see the patrol only a short distance away, standing guard around the building. A second group was on its way over from another pathway, along with some drones. They were planning on taking him alive.

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Another sleepless night met Porter head on, so he decided to get up and do a workout. He figured a bit of exercise might calm him down and put his already drained body into a deep slumber.

  He found the gym empty when he arrived. The ship was in night mode to keep up with a day-night cycle for the sake of the crew. It was the perfect time to train alone and do some thinking, not that he wanted to make a decision about Garcia’s offer anytime soon.

  After twenty minutes of running on a treadmill, he lost motivation to go any farther and was ready to leave. Briggs strolled into the room with a towel over his shoulder.

  "Thought I'd find you here. What's going on?"

  "Just trying to sleep and make the biggest goddamn decision of my life. You?"

  Briggs smiled. "The usual late night session. What's the decision?"

  Porter told him all about Garcia's proposal, invoking a bit of surprise from his wingman.

  "Damn," Briggs said.

  "Yeah, exactly. I don't know what to do. I need to decide by morning as well."

  "No pressure. That's Command for you, always doing things in a hurry."

  "I know. The thing is, I really don't know which way to go. On the one hand, I want to be in an X90 killing the Zeal, but on the other, I could be of great use commanding the battle."

  "Tough call to make, my friend. I mean, if you decide to sit out, there's a lot of pressure to succeed. At least in the cockpit, there's only you and me to worry about."

  Porter found himself against a wall, sliding down it in a heap. "And that's not the only thing killing me at the moment. Yesterday I told Cannon how I feel."