The Book of Olivia Page 7

  While I’d made friends with the Butcher, Axel carried out a campaign to destroy the city’s levees before the rainy season. He was not aware I’d ignored his orders to stay out of the inner sector by the city walls, or even that I was missing and consorting with the enemy.

  Though the Aeropites had plans to reclaim land they’d lost, we had plans to flood it and drive them out of the summer capital. Without the levees, the residents would have to evacuate quickly, leaving behind much that would help us with our cause. We had ships to finish, and the parts were locked behind those stone walls. A free world would be ours, once we emptied the city. If only I’d known Axel had long given up on the desire to flee and had stocked up for a fight.

  * * *

  “I would never hurt you, Olivia, not intentionally, but your actions have forced my hand.” I shivered, recalling the last words we’d exchanged. I’d never before seen the look he’d had in his eyes and knew that whatever sentence he pronounced would end the relationship we’d shared for years. There had to be a way to make him see we could be fighting the wrong people—that if we continued, we’d certainly bring about our destruction. “They are not our enemy. Our enemy is across the border and will invade if we don’t pull our heads out of our asses and work together to defend what we’ve got.”

  “Friends? You call the man who slaughtered my entire squad a friend? He tortured them. We could hear their screams and do nothing about it. He left the bodies for us to see what he did.”

  “And have we not done the same thing?”

  “That was different. I needed to send a message—force Marcus to back off.”

  “We can stop this.”

  “No. It’s gone too far. The only way it will stop is when one of our sides is wiped from existence. And it won’t be us. Do you have any idea what I did for you? What those men who gave their lives did for you? You betrayed us for what? Peace? There is no such thing as peace.”

  “There can be.”

  “Let me enlighten you as to what your friend did.” Axel began to recount the day, starting with the ambush. I could still hear his words, etched in my memory like words carved on a tombstone.

  * * *

  “We dropped belly down and waited for the patrol to approach and eyed the canopy where we’d strung wire taut.”

  Soon.

  “The Aeropites knew nothing of our access to the city through the drainage system. We’d been underground for months, sabotaging their sewers. In a matter of days, their capital would flood, and we’d face them on our terms and finally get access to the tools, supplies, and technology we needed to defeat them.”

  I opened my mouth to tell Axel that had never been our intent but realized from the look on his face it was the other way around. He’d never intended to flee across the seas. If I closed my eyes, I could picture him, with his men, leading a deadly ambush that would kick off a chain of events that would forever change Aeropia and the people who resided there.

  I could visualize him, twisting, looking over his shoulder, counting his force. They were fewer in number. A disadvantage. But he’d no choice, with the troops digging in and occupying the grid, and knowing our numbers would only continue to shrink.

  It seemed it would never stop. The killing, the slaughter. He’d told me he’d wished he could take a break, rest from his responsibilities, but if he did, he knew we would die. There were a lot of things he’d rather have been doing that day, but he claimed he did it for me—for the rebels and clones. But I knew his selfish reasons now. I knew them well while I sat in this cell and contemplated the future before me and my country. The dying was the easy part. It was making your life, what you did, count for something, making a difference in the world. That was the struggle. I only wondered if my battle would end soon, or if I had more to do.

  I’d seen him a thousand times, leading the rebels as though born to it.

  In my mind, he was there, shifting on his belly and motioning his men back into the jungle to wait. The Butcher wouldn’t be long. Axel had already taken out a patrol that should have returned before sundown. The Butcher would soon be on the road, searching for them.

  His enemy might be savage, but he’d proved over and over to be fiercely loyal to his men, never failing to account for all of the soldiers under his command, paying back every death threefold on the rebels. He’d no mercy. Female soldiers were targeted as quickly as the males, and he didn’t stop or hesitate to destroy on sight. Axel had been trying to lure the Butcher out into the open for months, and had failed. This tactic proved to be like a twist to the arm, forcing Marcus to act. If Marcus had known what had happened while he kept my company, he certainly would have deserted me to handle it. It was a good thing he hadn’t. Certainly a greater being watched out for my husband. Any other man would have been dead ten times over.

  Marcus had a nose for tactics and didn’t miss much. It was almost impossible to escape when the Butcher got your scent, and more unlikely you would catch him off guard.

  This action would draw him out so we could finally take him down and stop some of the slaughter of our people, or so Axel explained.

  The multi-terrain jungle hovers poured down the road, side by side, in pairs. Thin, one-man vehicles, open on the top. The hover technology made them almost silent, except for the whoosh of the blades creating the cushion of air they glided on. Almost silent. Axel glanced up again, eyeing the hives. A little farther. He braced himself and whistled. Several of his men moved into position in response.

  When he scanned the convoy and took inventory, looking for the one man whose death would punch a hole in Aeropia’s defenses, he noticed one person appeared to be absent. Not a one looked like the Butcher. The command vehicle was missing. Something wasn’t right. The missing patrol should have drawn the beast out of his lair.

  I alone knew the truth, what kept the Butcher distracted.

  Several warriors rolled bark balls soaked in tree pitch to the edge of the embankment, waiting to light them and send them down the slope. The balls would release a greasy black smoke, driving the bees in the direction Axel desired. Toward the enemy. The hives had been carefully cultivated and placed high in the treetops for the trap. And as I thought back on the events of that day, I realize Axel had planned this day for months.

  We adapted to the hostile environment, developed guerrilla tactics, and learned to bend nature to suit our needs, for survival as much as war. I did not know Axel used the bees in this manner, and I certainly would have objected, but Axel knew something I didn’t. He knew the nature of our enemy, and nothing short of dirty fighting would stop them. He didn’t think twice about taking a sucker punch, and I supposed this is what made him such a respected leader. He did what had to be done—even if the price was his newfound soul.

  I believed the best of people. Axel believed the worst and planned for it. I knew now he was right to do so as a general of the rebel forces, but it didn’t make what he did right. It only evened the odds that we might win the war. The Aeropites could easily overpower us with their technologies, but they could never defeat nature or the planet. Would they stop if we laid down our weapons? So many unanswered questions. If they were what I thought them to be, then Axel’s tactics were all wrong and we would bring about the destruction of Aeropia.

  If he was right—then indeed I was a traitor and deserved the fate served to me.

  Above, ten hives hung suspended from dry vines, all identical to the first Axel had built for my nineteenth birthday. The drones were passive by themselves, moving from plant to plant, pollinating crops and flowers. But, when threatened, they could be relentless in searching out and destroying. Axel had learned long ago about the Africanized bees and made them a specialty, since the Aeropites tagged me The Iron Bee.

  Now awake, the hives hummed with activity. His warriors had smoked the bees, lulling them into a false sense of security and masking the pheromones that put them on alert, before moving each nest and carefully placing it over the main route in
to the outer encampment. I’d seen them do it several times, transferring the woven willow balls around orchards and fields, doing all they could to ensure abundant crops.

  Now it would ensure death.

  Beehives had one queen. Axel learned long ago if he wanted to control a colony, he controlled the queen. Where she went, her drones would follow. If they deemed her in danger, they would defend her to the death. Now it all seemed ironic. Was I his queen and did he move me around on the game board with the same intentions?

  That day, Axel’s men had retrieved the hive matriarchs, ground them to a pulp, and liberally spread the crushed carcasses across the ground, right in the path of the approaching vehicles. The smell of the pulped queens would whip the bees into a frenzy.

  High tech, the hovers did have their weaknesses, and Axel would exploit any he could find. The efficient engines gave off the slightest of vibrations, a sound imperceptible to humanoids but not the territorial bees.

  As predicted, insects flowed from the bottoms of their willow homes, spiraling around. Confused, they tried to locate lost pheromone trails they used to navigate their territory. Instead, they encountered the smell of their queens in distress, sending them on the defensive.

  A couple of drones dove at the convoy. More bees swarmed from the hives, dropping toward the hovers. Soldiers fired and missed. Several angry bees landed on one of the men leading the unit, punching their stingers into his flesh.

  The soldier screamed and fell off his vehicle. The hover slid into a tree, flipping on its side. The giant rotary blade continued to spin, spitting dust and debris all around.

  Axel wore an officer’s uniform pillaged from one of the soldiers they’d killed in their ambush earlier. He’d cut his hair short and smeared black grease over the chip in his face. It didn’t hide it completely, but it wouldn’t show unless someone looked directly at it. Five others, who duplicated the disguise, backed away from where Axel and his squad watched.

  They’d cut across the flanks, staying in the thicker vegetation, triggering the wire and dropping the hives on the unsuspecting patrol. They’d planned to take advantage of the distraction, sneak in, and destroy the levees while the area was full of smoke and chaos.

  He eyed the hives then refocused on the road. The convoy had come to a stop. Men had climbed off their hovers to recover the wounded soldier.

  The levees needed to be destroyed. The flooding had been the only reason the soldiers couldn’t establish a more solid base. Now that the levees were nearly complete, the Aeropites would be able to move into the outskirts and house larger forces in the area. En masse, they would wipe the clans from the Southern Region. But that would soon change.

  The trap had a simple trip wire on the ground that would release the cable above, sending it slicing across the canopy.

  The open hovers wouldn’t stand a chance against the attack. The African bees were one of the fastest and most hostile creatures on the planet. They would chase the manned vehicles for miles. There’d be no escape for the Butcher’s unit. They’d radio for help, drawing most of the armed men away from the levees, while the smoke and inland breeze provided the cover he and his men needed to get the job done.

  Axel raised his hand and waved. The wire cut loose, and hives dropped to the ground, spilling a swarm of angry bees.

  The bark balls were lit, and the flaming missiles rolled down the slope, leaving smog-like tails behind them. The swarm rushed toward the patrol, pushed by the wall of black smoke, placing a barrier between the unit and the levees.

  The disguised soldiers would slip past the skeletal security left behind and deeper into the levees where they’d set fire to the new construction. They didn’t have to burn it to the ground, just damage it enough to keep it from being completed for a few weeks. If all went as he’d planned, the rainy season would take care of the rest.

  Axel believed me safe at camp, waiting for him. He told me later, as he watched the Butcher’s unit fall, he breathed a sigh of relief. After our prior argument, he wanted to do nothing that would create a bigger rift between us. I couldn’t take the killing anymore, and no matter that he’d tried to hide it from me by ordering me to stay at camp, I’d soon learn of what he’d done. The chasm between us would grow larger. Some his fault, some my own.

  He wanted to give me and any children we might have, the gift of a free world without war. He wanted my forgiveness and for me to be his wife. Oh, but he’d been a dreamer.

  * * *

  As promised, at sunset, the Butcher smuggled me out in a small scout ship. It had been over five years since I’d flown in a ship, and none of my past experiences were particularly memorable. But, this time, every tree we skimmed over in the moonlight became etched upon my brain, never to be forgotten, stored in a place with other memories I treasured. The lake near the city looked like a giant mirror as we glided across the surface.

  Up, up, we blasted into fluffy clouds, drawing nearer the moon hung like a lantern over them. I couldn’t get past the feeling the man piloting the craft showed off a little bit, and it did flatter me.

  I studied the soft bed of mist under us. And, for the first time in a long time, I felt a sense of ease, of freedom. “It’s so peaceful.”

  “The sky is my favorite place to be. When I was a boy, my father would take me up, tell me that he wanted to visit Heaven. To this day, I always expect to see angels and harps when I come up here.”

  I laughed.

  “Something about that amuses you?”

  “There are no angels up here.”

  “Oh, but there are. One is sitting behind me.”

  I opened my mouth to reply.

  “Hold on.” He rolled the ship and dove for the surface, heading for the area outside the zone where he’d found me.

  I squealed, and my stomach jumped into my throat. I couldn’t stop laughing. Tears began to form in my eyes. I loved it. My parents never allowed me to do anything exciting. My heart never would have survived the jump in adrenaline I experienced as we spun in the sky.

  “Somebody’s a danger junkie.”

  “I guess I am.” I whooped as he rolled the ship again and took us in for a landing.

  Once he cut the engine, the canopy popped open and he climbed out onto the wing, jumping the two feet to the ground. “Come on.” He extended his hand to me as I eased onto the wing.

  I reached for him and let him lower me to the ground, holding me to his body as I slid down every muscular inch. He pressed his lips against my ear and whispered softly, “I wish we’d met under different circumstances.”

  “Thank you for everything.”

  “Don’t go near the city again. You have a price on your head. Every soldier and lone wolf is looking to get rich on your bounty. No matter how much I want to protect you, I can’t. Not yet.” He leaned back and looked me in the eyes, tucking a stray strand of hair behind my ear. “Promise me.”

  “I can’t make promises I can’t keep.”

  “It will be difficult to save you if you’re captured.”

  “I won’t get caught.”

  He raised a brow. He didn’t need to say it. I knew from his expression what he thought. I caught you and it didn’t take much.

  I stepped back, but he grabbed my wrist, pulling me into his arms. “I will return for you. Soon. We will finish what we started.” He didn’t have to say it, finish the statement. He planned to have me in his bed.

  “No. We’re from different worlds. Don’t you worry about the virus?”

  “No. I believed you before, when you said you weren’t a carrier.” He twisted a strand of my hair around one of his fingers. “We are not so unalike, Olivia.”

  “How can you be certain? Maybe I’m secretly plotting to kill you?”

  “No. You aren’t.”

  How his words scared me. Not because I didn’t think he spoke truth, but because he couldn’t have been more right. I certainly didn’t want him dead, not anymore, now that I knew him. And God help me, I did wan
t more with him. However, I didn’t realize how fate would twist my words, make them to seem a lie later. I tipped my face up, and he kissed me, threading his fingers into my hair, tasting my lips as though starved for them. It was wrong, but I didn’t care. I wanted him to kiss me, had actually begun to like it, and deep inside, I wanted more—the seduction he’d promised.

  He broke away and put me at arm’s length. “Good-bye for now, Olivia.”

  I held his gaze, even though I felt I’d certainly melt under it. “I still don’t know your real name.”

  He cocked his head and smiled. “What does it matter?”

  “Would they execute you for letting me go?”

  His eyes sparkled with amusement, as though he had a great secret, one he wasn’t ready to share. “You worry too much. I like that.” Stepping back, he pointed at me like a great general, ordering me to cross the divide. “Stay away from the city.”

  “Please, what’s your name?”

  He turned and climbed into his glider, buckling his harness as the canopy began to drop. “My name is Marcus Axis,” he said just before it sealed shut.

  “Marcus?” The smile faded from my face. The Marcus? “Wait!” My hand went to my breast to steady the beat. My husband? I’ve been cheating on Axel with my husband? Even more curious, he’d had clothes made for me.

  The thrusters fired, and the ship lifted. My hair whipped into my face, beating against my cheeks. I cupped a hand over my eyes and watched him go. I could swear he grinned.

  Fate. As I said, things happened for a reason. I had a chance to make peace, negotiate, find a middle ground. The leader of Aeropia, my husband on record only, had shown me he wasn’t the savage I’d thought him to be—that he could compromise and peace could be in our future. Maybe I could convince Axel to lay down his arms before it was too late for us all.

  Maybe not. But I knew I needed to try and perhaps that’s why Marcus let me go. He, too, wanted peace.

  I turned and walked back to the camp, wearing the solid black uniform of a death squad soldier—my uniform. I’d have questions to answer, but, for now, it brought me comfort, a sense that all things were not as hopeless as they’d first seemed. I knew then the future rested in our hands.