“You have glow sticks?” Micah sounded surprised.
“Glow pots. One of the guys makes them. Why?”
“Huh. Used to use those at raves. Well, something like them, anyway.”
“Rave? What’s a rave? It doesn’t sound very nice.”
He laughed at that. “Guess that depended which side of the rave you were standing on.”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
He smiled. “Don’t worry. I’ll explain later. For now we should get to work.”
“Do you have any idea what we’re looking for?”
“Not really.” He shook his head. “Dave said he saw the Marines taking dead bodies shortly after the Wars started, right?”
She nodded. “Yeah. He said the first time was about a year after. I guess 1 or 2 ADW.”
“No, the Marines still used the old calendar back them. 2013 or 2014 is the place to start. Maybe there will be some kind of record. A memo, something to tell us what they were up to.”
“Won’t they hear us? The Marines or the scientists?”
He shook his head. “Naw. The closest occupied area is the labs and there are several corridors between us and them. Long as we don’t strike up a brass band, we should be fine.”
Rain frowned. “A brass what?”
Micah grinned. “Just, keep it down.”
There were stacks upon stacks of boxes, all labeled with mysterious strings of numbers and letters. Rain had no idea where to even begin, so she grabbed one and flipped the top off.
Inside were dozens of cream-colored folders stuffed with papers and photos, just like the one she once found on Micah. She pulled one of the files and flipped it open. The file was much more recent than what they were looking for, but the contents gave her pause.
It contained photos and handwritten reports of a compound about one week to the west of Fossil. The reports detailed the number of fighters in the compound, the weapons available, and the supplies right down to how many barrels of home brewed beer. There were even notations on guard rotations and tracks.
She frowned and grabbed another file. The contents were eerily similar, but for a different compound due east. The notes were in the same neat handwriting. There was even a hand-drawn map showing escape routes and secret rooms. The people of the compound had attempted hiding their provisions, but somebody found out and reported it. How could the Marines know all this stuff?
Each folder detailed additional compounds and contained the similar grainy photographs and notes in the same handwriting. There was only one answer. The Marines had to have a spy.
And yet the folders were all at least ten years old. Maybe older. She pulled out the final one and flipped it open. Her heart nearly stopped.
It was thinner than the others. There was only one written note detailing external fortifications and approximate number of fighters. But there was a photo. And the photo showed a compound she knew very well, indeed: Sanctuary.
“Micah?”
“Yeah.” He was at her side immediately.
“What’s all this?”
He flipped through a couple of the folders. “Yeah, I heard about this. Some of the older guys talking. It was before my time, though.” He hesitated. “It was before I remember, anyway. The base used to have an agent who would go around to the compounds and glean information. Someone civilians would never expect. A woman. She disappeared ten years ago. They assumed either the drags got her or one of the compounds discovered her and had her executed.”
“Do you remember her name?” Rain’s teeth were clenched.
“No, sorry, I don’t. But I do think these are her reports.”
Rain knew they were. She also didn’t need Micah to tell her the name of the Marine’s informant. She knew without a doubt who the spy had been. Sutter’s wife, Megan.
SIFTING THROUGH THE dusty boxes was dirty, monotonous work. Rain couldn’t help worrying that they’d be caught any moment, despite Micah’s assurances to the contrary.
She hadn’t been entirely surprised to find out Megan had been a spy for the Marines. It actually made a lot of sense. And the woman’s inane babbling during the dragon attack also finally made sense. She’d expected the Marine’s to save her. Ironically, in the end it had been Megan’s death which had saved Sanctuary.
If Megan had finished her report, the Marines would have known about all of Sanctuary’s hiding places. They would have cleaned the compound out long ago. Not to mention that they would have easily found Micah and her when they came looking.
As Rain heaved another ratty cardboard box off the pile, it split open spilling folders all over the floor. “Dammit,” she hissed. Frustration colored her voice. She’d about had it. She was a Tracker, not some kind of ... record keeper person.
“Here, let me help.” Micah put down his own stack of folders and knelt to help her. As he began sorting through the mess he suddenly froze.
“What is it, Micah?”
Silently he handed her a file. It was brown and brittle with age. The musty smell stung her nose.
She carefully opened it and glanced at the first page. What she read took her breath away. “They did it on purpose?” Her voice came out a little shaky. “They made those things and set them on us deliberately?”
Pain shadowed his eyes. “Yes.”
“Did you know?”
He shook his head. “No. I was a lowly Corporal when the war started. The rank of First Lieutenant was a field commission. There’s no way they’d share that kind of information with anyone below the rank of five star general.”
She got that. She really did. Because what they’d discovered was beyond horrifying.
The US Military had created the dragons on purpose, as experimental weapons of mass destruction. As if that weren’t bad enough, they’d let them loose on purpose.
“WE NEED TO FIND BARNES.”
