‘Ma’am, I don’t know who you are, but if someone from Military Command is pulling the strings, you don’t stand a chance. We certainly don’t. When everyone is aboard, my men and I are going to leave and take our chances in the Alps.’
‘Sergeant, you can’t just walk away like that. I have—’ Ingram stopped abruptly as an arm sneaked its way around her neck, and she felt what could only be the barrel of a gun pressed into the side of her head.
‘With all due respect, ma’am, I’m done,’ Kaal said. ‘Ferreira, don’t hurt her. She has a gut wound—make sure it doesn’t get any worse. Remove her earpiece, but don’t destroy it. I want her to have it back when we’re gone.’
‘Sergeant Kaal, you’re making a mistake.’ Ingram was standing passively, relaxed, but the hold Ferreira had on her didn’t waver. The man wasn’t going to be fooled that easily. ‘You’re the reason I’m here. You’re the reason all those Leeches will have a second chance. This official investigation started because of the bodies that were recovered from the Rhône. Those Leeches will live thanks to you!’
‘That’s no longer any of my concern. I did some horrible things during the Wars. Things I’m not proud of. Things I was too young and naive to understand properly. But I understand this. And I will not be a part of it ever again. I will not be ordered to assist slavery.’
‘Then stay and fight it!’
‘If we stay, we’ll be shipped off to another lab working to subjugate my people further. I won’t let that happen. Please, ma’am, I don’t want to hurt you. Just… don’t resist and everyone gets to go home tonight.’
Ingram felt cable-smooth but flexible rope twisting its way around her body as Kaal’s fingers worked with expert practice. The rope tightened painfully around her arms, pulling them tight behind her back with brutal precision, and she was about to point out that they were already hurting her but decided to keep her mouth shut. She wasn’t going to complain like some spoilt Elite.
What she really wanted was that damn earpiece to still be in her ear and to hear Gonzalez telling her what to do. She had no doubt Eloise’s control of Cassandra’s security system could trap Kaal and his friends before they left the grounds, but it would be much better to find a way to reason with Kaal. To get through to the man she had once known.
‘Sergeant Kaal, are you really just going to run? With so many Leeches suffering, you’re just going to turn your back on them and run? That isn’t the brave soldier I got to know during the Wars. Corporal Nathaniel Kaal was a great man, an inspiration! He would never turn his back on doing the right thing.’
Kaal froze. Even the hold Ferreira had around her neck seemed to have slackened.
‘What did you say?’
‘I said that the Corporal Kaal I knew was a great man. He would never run when there was work still to be done.’
‘Who are you?’
‘We don’t set the rules, but we’ll keep playing the game until we win. And we will win. Death is not an option,’ Ingram said, quoting the words she had heard the old Kaal say many times. Words that had kept not only her but dozens of others going when they had thought all hope was lost. The words that were the hope. ‘Running away isn’t an option either,’ she added, feeling the half-tied cable rope slide down her arms as Kaal released the tension.
Kaal stared at her, his eyes wide, as if he had seen a ghost. The ghost of the past. The people he had cared about, those he had saved and those he could have done nothing for. The pain of what it had cost to lose his men and women, his friends, was still plaguing his dreams. He couldn’t walk away from those that still needed him. He couldn’t just hide.
Running wasn’t an option. The Freedom Wars might be over, but the war wouldn’t be over until the last Leech was free to live a dignified life.
‘Sergeant Kaal, there is something inside the compound I need to take care of. You will take the Chimera to the co-ordinates I give you. You’re going to fly these people to safety. To a hospital where they will be well taken care of. And you’re going to stay there yourself until my CO finds a job suitable for a man of your calibre. For you and your men.’
‘Yes, ma’am,’ Kaal said, stupefied. Then he shook his head, and took a rapid step back as if he had only then realised that he had assaulted not only an Elite but also an officer. His eyes rounded. ‘Please, ma’am, it was all my idea. Ferreira was just doing—’
‘Save your breath, Sergeant. I have no intention of reporting this to anyone. I am more than capable of kicking your ass for it myself when we have the time.’ She held Kaal’s eyes for a second longer, letting him see the stern glare but also the twinkle in her eyes.
‘Ferreira, do you feel like running away?’ She turned the stern gaze on the other man.
‘Running isn’t an option,’ he repeated numbly. He hadn’t known Ortega during the Wars, but Kaal had become like a brother to him, and her words, strong enough to shake Kaal, had left him equally stupefied. He held her earpiece in an outstretched hand.
‘Good, because I need both of you to pilot this whale. Get ready to take off the second everyone is safely on board. This’—she bent down to input co-ordinates—‘is your destination. My CO will guide you, but in case you lose contact with him, just head there. Understood?’
The last couple of hours had given Tilly more than enough time to discover just how compromising Cassandra’s own files were. So much so,
