Chapter Three Faith

"Go help Blake."

Madeleine's tone did not invite discussion, but as Faith passed the door to the dorms, she hesitated.

"Could I just look in on Sophia? I'd like to–"

"No." Madeleine turned to glare at her. "You saw the damage up there. Matriarch House is in ruins. And whilst the damage doesn't seem to extend beyond the government building, it's imperative that we discover what's going on out there."

"But I–"

"What if there's a second explosion?" Madeleine snapped. "What happened to Flynn and Helen in the wake of the bomb?" She strode off down the hallway, clearly expecting Faith to follow. "Our operatives have been instructed to check in with us as soon as possible in the event of an emergency, whether in person or via walkie-talkie from one of our safehouses." She held a hand up as Faith attempted to speak. "First, we have to know if we lost anyone."

"Ella." Faith's throat constricted. "She was at…"

"Yes." Madeleine's expression softened slightly. "She was closest to the explosion. Most likely to–" Abruptly, she turned and started walking again. "We have to hope she got out. And…" her voice hardened, "the only way to find out is for you to start contacting the safe houses. "

Faith had to admit that the leader was right. The only way they were going to find out if Ella was alive or not was to start asking questions. Sophia was safe right now, Ella was not. With a final glance at the door to the dorms, she retraced her steps to Blake's office.

When she arrived, the tech genius was fuming. Her efforts to get the systems up and running had so far come to nothing, and she was pacing the tiny room like a caged animal.

"Madeleine sent me to help you." Faith hovered in the doorway. "Says we need to check in with people."

Scowling, Blake flung herself into her usual chair. "We're going to have to do it the old-fashioned way."

She gestured to the walkie-talkie in her hand. Usually, they were used for contacting Eremus. But until the communication systems were working again, they would be the only method of contacting the safehouses. It struck Faith as ironic that the people of Bellator were forced to revert to Eremus-style technology when their own high-tech equipment failed them.

"You coming in?" Blake yanked open a drawer in the desk. She pulled out a second walkie-talkie and thrust it in Faith's direction. "You're supposed to be helping me, yeah?"

Faith crept inside. Accepting the device, she took a seat beside Blake and awaited further instructions. For several moments, Blake rifled through another drawer. Eventually she drew out a folder stuffed with papers. Slamming it down on the desk, she began sorting through it.

"This should have all the information we need." She stopped at a page towards the back. "A list of today's mission objectives, for example." She sniffed. "Madeleine makes me do a hard copy as a back-up. We've never needed it before."

"I'll bet you're glad she had you do it, this time."

Blake grunted in response, continuing to pull papers from the folder.

"Shall we get started then?" Faith inched forward, her concern for Ella outweighing her fear of the techie's death stare. "I'm worried about–"

"Ella." Blake cut her off. "I get it."

She pulled another couple of sheets out of the folder. Smoothing them out on the table, the techie jabbed a finger at the top one.

"This is a list of call signs. One for each safehouse." She pointed at a second sheet. "This has specific times and places linked to the mission. Which operatives were stationed where. Unfortunately, we're going to be limited to contacting the safehouses. We have to hope that our people have been able to make it to one of them without getting caught. It makes sense to assume that people will have headed for the safehouse closest to their position during the mission."

"What about existing operatives?" Faith's thoughts went to Ella, and then Noah. "People not directly involved in the mission?"

"We'll just have to hope they're safe, and that their cover is still in place." Blake met Faith's gaze for the first time since she'd opened the door. "Contact them in due course when things calm down."

Blake's hands strayed to the keyboard. She began to type, then glanced up at the still-blank screen. Her face fell. "Dammit!" She slammed a hand on the desk. "I can't believe we trusted them."

Faith frowned. "Who?"

"Eremus."

Faith placed the walkie-talkie on the desk. "What do you mean?"

"The bomb!" Blake's tone was incredulous. "Seems like this is their handiwork."

A bolt of anger shot through Faith. "Really?"

"Yes, really." Blake's eyes were filled with fury. "Flynn's little peace stunt was clearly a decoy. Make everyone look the other way, while they target another key building in the city."

"That's not… They wouldn't…" Faith struggled to find words. "Flynn's not like that!" She recoiled at Blake's pitying glance. "He's not!" She stood her ground. "You don't know him."

Halting abruptly, Blake spun to face her. "Maybe not. But as I recall, this kind of stunt is typical of Eremus. Have you forgotten they blew up the fertility stores a few weeks ago?"

"Yes, but that was–" Faith stopped, horrified. "That was Jacob."

Blake's eyes widened. "You mean–"

Nodding, Faith picked up the walkie-talkie again. "This is just like the man I met in Eremus. But… he's not with them anymore. He went rogue, remember?" She fiddled with the volume on the device in her hand. "I told you. This isn't Flynn. Jacob's out there, somewhere. With minimal support, but a good number of weapons and explosives. We know Noah spotted Sarah in the city only days ago. Maybe she was planting explosives."

Calmer now, Blake sagged back in her chair. "Jacob would do anything to get at Danforth, right?"

"From what I've learned about him, yeah, anything."

"I guess that makes more sense." Blake tapped a finger against the list of call signs thoughtfully. "It's just a shame that the Bellator citizens won't distinguish between the actions of a rogue male and the community as a whole."

Faith's heart sank. "So–"

"Obviously, Danforth will take charge of the narrative. Blame the rogue men of Eremus for the explosion. She'll have the citizens believing her version of events within the hour." Blake scowled. "And anything positive that Flynn said will be forgotten."

"But–"

Blake waved a hand, as though the mission's failure was too painful to consider any longer. "Listen, I need to try and get the systems back up." She thrust the call sign list at Faith. "Think you can work your way through this list while I focus on that?"

Faith took the paper. "So I just…"

"Contact each safehouse. Or respond if they call in. Check who's there." Blake thrust a pen and notepad at Faith before turning back to her keyboard. "Mark people as safe once you've spoken to them. Ask whether they know the whereabouts of anyone who might be missing. Or any information about the explosion."

Faith was glad to have something to occupy her. Shifting a few papers aside to make some room, she found a map of Matriarch House. Blake had asked her to note camera locations on it the previous day, when they'd been instructing Ella to disconnect a firewall in the government building. Now it lay in ruins, the map was useless.

"The explosion must have destroyed the servers at Matriarch House." Noticing the discarded sheet, Blake had come to the same conclusion. "I'm guessing that's what's causing the issue." She swiped a finger back and forth across her blank screen. "But the chancellor needs them up and running as much as we do."

"She can't broadcast her version of events without them, right?"

"Right." Blake chewed her lip. "They have a back-up server we can connect to though, once it's up and running. Danforth's tech team must be trying to activate it. If they're still alive, that is."

"They're still alive." Noting Blake's confusion, Faith pressed on. "Remember when we spoke to Ella earlier? She said the tech team was leaving as she got to the Control Room."

Understanding dawned on Blake's face. "Oh yeah. They'd been called to the square, right?"

Faith nodded. "Lucky for them, I guess."

"Very lucky." Blake went back to her datadev. She held her finger down on the power button. "I'll do another hard refresh, see if it makes a difference. They have to get things back online again soon."

Faith turned her attention to the walkie-talkie. Turning it on, she consulted the list, running her eyes down it until she found her friend's name.

"There's no way for me to check on Ella, is there?" She glanced at Blake. "I mean… she's the most likely to be…"

For a moment, the techie didn't respond. When she finally looked up, her eyes were surprisingly sympathetic. "I know you're worried about her. But until Ella makes her way to a safehouse… or shows up here, there's no way we can know what's happened to her." Blake glanced at her datadev longingly. "At least, not until the communications systems are back up and we can use the wristclips. Sorry."

"I should…" Faith swallowed hard, "keep busy, right?"

"Exactly." Blake patted Faith's shoulder awkwardly. "I find it's better to distract myself when I'm worried." She pointed at the papers. "Check off as many people as you can." She gestured to a couple of names halfway down the list. Both had thick pencil lines scored through them. "Call came in from the Red Six safehouse just before you showed up. I've already checked off the operatives who made it there safely. Let's hope everyone else calls in just as quickly."

As Blake went back to her screen, Faith ran a finger down the list. The first safehouse was located in the middle of the city and was the one closest to the square. Her hands shaking, she raised the walkie-talkie to her lips.

"Come in Red Three. This is Red One. Are you receiving me?" She released the button and waited. There was no response.

Beside her, Blake tensed. "Try again."

Faith pressed the button again. "Red Three, come in. Can you hear me? Is everything alright over there?"

Blake leaned across, consulting the list. "I'd expect there to be at least a couple of people at the Red Three location. The team from the square should have relocated there as soon as the trouble started. Unless something–"

Not finishing her sentence, she gestured to the walkie-talkie again. Faith gritted her teeth. Blake wasn't making the calls herself, yet she didn't seem able to keep her focus on her own task while there were Resistance members at risk.

Faith was just about to press the button again when the device crackled to life in her hand. She was so startled that she almost dropped it.

"Red Three receiving you loud and clear. We are alright. I repeat. All operatives in Red Three are fine."

"It's Olivia." Blake waved an impatient hand. "How many others? Ask for names."

"Good news, Red Three." Faith tried to keep her voice from shaking. "How many of you are there?"

"Three." There was a slight pause before the woman continued. "Olivia, Grace, and Evelyn." There was a crackling sound, as though something was happening in the background. "Make that four. Diane just arrived."

Faith's heart leapt at the news. At least one of her close friends was okay. Diane had been with the team in the square, right in the centre of the Liberation Day celebrations. And right under Danforth's nose.

"Glad you're all okay." Faith scanned the list of names. "What about Flynn and Helen?"

"Negative." Faith recognised Evelyn's voice. "They were on the stage when the bomb went off. I couldn't get near them."

"Did you see where they ended up?"

"No. But they were pretty close to Danforth, so…" There was a pause. "I'm thinking she's got them."

Faith sagged against her chair. Knowing the failure to protect her assigned subjects would weigh heavy on Evelyn, she moved on.

"Any sign of Ella?"

"No." Evelyn's tone was brisk, but she knew why Faith was asking. "Sorry."

"Alright. Thanks for the information. Madeleine's instructions are to stay put and keep this frequency clear until we're able to contact all the safehouses. We'll be in touch when we know the full extent of the situation."

"Roger that. We'll be waiting." Evelyn signed out.

Faith was about to move to the next name on the list when Blake stiffened beside her. "Yesss!"

"What–" Faith began, but closed her mouth, understanding.

The screen in front of Blake was no longer blank. Muttering to herself, Blake tapped furiously at the keys, more alive than she had been for the past hour now that her precious technology was showing signs of revival.

"If I can just establish a connection…" her eyes roamed over the screen as various commands appeared and disappeared in the code. "Almost there… just need to…" she frowned, "that's it… aaaand…" she pumped a fist in the air, "that's what I'm talking about!"

Her celebration was cut short, however, when the Bellator news site loaded. Already, they were reporting on the explosion at Matriarch House. The image on the screen showed what was left of the main entrance, its fa?ade in ruins as plumes of smoke curled out into the street.

Guards and firefighters swarmed around the entrance with purpose, setting up barriers and attempting to usher a few curious bystanders away. So far, there was no sign of anyone being brought out of the building.

"Could people survive that?" Faith braced herself for Blake's response. "Looks bad."

"It was definitely a sizeable explosion." Blake sighed. "That building houses at least a hundred workers on a daily basis. Some of them might have been in the square watching the speech, but…" she shrugged. "…there'll be a fair number of body bags."

Faith shuddered. "Could you…" she gestured to Blake's wristclip, "is it possible to…"

"Contact Ella?" Blake was already raising the clip to her lips. "You have her details?"

Faith pushed the paper towards her, pointing to Ella's number. Far faster than Faith at using the equipment, Blake dialed it in seconds.

She held her breath as they waited for the call to connect.