Chapter 14 “Think of it like a radio. That can kill you.” A few days later Rosie found herself gearing up for her first solo Recon mission. Charlie running the plan over and over again behind her. First Rosie pulled on the stealth suit, giving it a quick test that left Matt looking stunned. Over that she dressed in black fatigues, tightly laced boots, and her mask rolled into a hat. For her gear she took a suppressed carbine, her equally quiet nine mil sidearm, and the lightweight assault rifle. “You won’t need that.” Charlie took the rifle off her and gave her binoculars instead. “Yeah but what if—” Charlie cut her off. “You know what Recon means right?” Rosie sighed and repeated the answer Charlie had drilled into her. “It means being a shadow.” Rosie grinned and pulled off one of her leather gloves, revealing the hexagonal texture of the stealth suit. “Invisible.” “Don’t get fucking cute Tornado.” Charlie used her call sign to underline her point. “What’s the plan?” “Infil at twenty three hundred. Set up an observation point, wait for the meet.” “Then?” “Wait till dark, extract, call for exfil.” “And if it goes bad?” “Fall back on foot, call for exfil.” “I should go with you. You shouldn’t be alone.” Charlie had only grown more wary of the plan as the day passed. “I won’t be.” Rosie flashed the hand signal for Matt’s call sign. They both knew someone had to be here in case he took a turn. And with Charlie injured it made sense for her to stay. “Go Charlie, I’ll be fine.” Matt picked up on the tension. His colour had improved, but he could still need to be opened up again. All three of them knew that. “I’ve got this.” Rosie stowed the binoculars she didn’t need and pulled on her pack. Charlie picked up the axe Rosie had forged from a crowbar and handed it to her. “Yeah you do.” Charlie took a small tin from her pocket and pressed her thumbs into the soft black substance within. She held Rosie’s head and smeared the black into thick lines under Rosie’s green eyes. “It’s a Recon thing.” Charlie forced a smile. “We’re wheels up in five.” With the inside of the sleek Velocibird cleared, and absent a medical emergency, Rosie could take in the dual seated cockpit. The moulded chairs rotated, moved back and forth to access the hatch in the floor. She pulled at a cargo strap behind the rear seat, seeing it could attach across the open door to shoot from. However the most intriguing feature turned out to be the padding on the seats, parachutes. “You know it’d probably be safer if—” “No.” The trained paramedic in the pilot’s seat wouldn’t even entertain the idea. “Worth a try.” The Velo cut through the night sky, not much louder than a strong wind. “Touchdown in five.” A few minutes flying south west brought them to the drop site. The Velo shuddered as the engines turned upright and it descended into a clearing. Rosie felt Janey detach in mid air and then they were on the ground. She slid the door back and levelled the carbine, the feed from Janey showing her the other side. “Clear.” Rosie shouted. Charlie slid back the chair and got out, handing the fuel can to Rosie. A tense moment filled the air. Rosie thought Charlie would dust off immediately. “I need my fucking head examined.” Charlie turned and pulled the lightweight assault rifle from the cockpit, handing it not to Rosie, but Janey. The triple pronged hands reconfigured and grasped the weapon tight. Charlie stepped closer to Rosie, pulling down her mask and straightening it. “Good hunting.” And with that she slid back into the low and sleek Velo, taking off into the night. Rosie found herself alone and outside for the first time since she left the Vault. She thought about the raiders and slaver Filth. Part of her wanted more of them to try attacking her again. Rosie stopped as she realised a bigger part of her wanted to go and find more of them. Janey had been set to keep her distance, leaving Rosie moving slowly. The heavy fuel can sloshing and shifting awkwardly at her side. She thought about handing it off to Janey, but without the can there was no mission. The trees here looked different, more gnarled, fewer leaves and less grass than around the lighthouse. The sickly forest fell away as the dirt gave way to concrete. Rosie looked down the ruined road, little more than a single street remained. Brick shells and steel frames that looked like bones. The coordinates for the meet were right in the middle. The tallest structure still standing looked like a water storage tank atop a steel frame. Too obvious, Rosie thought. As she slipped by she saw a better option. The ground floor had been picked clean long ago, empty shelves and debris across the faded floor. Rosie moved to a rotting door at the back of the room and up the stairs behind it. The second floor had sagged in the centre under the weight of the collapsed floors above. This, in turn, had begun to buckle the walls, tearing away chunks ot brickwork and widening cracks, bit by bit. With a light step Rosie climbed higher through the ruin. She thought it could have been residential, lots of spacious rooms off hallways. Even the small bathrooms were bigger than her cell. Rosie drove the thought from her mind and found a good position on the top floor. The corner window glass had long fallen away, along with a section of wall. She could see the full length of the single street while lying flat without being seen. Rosie tied off the rope from her pack to the strongest joist she could find, and lowered the fuel can to Janey. The nimble fingers untied the can and tied the rope to the rifle. She hauled it up, trying to keep it from clattering off the wall. Rosie almost sent Janey to her position, but remembered the white t shirt and threw that down. She doubted a piece of cloth would stop people firing at Janey, but felt sure no one would shoot first at an Assaultron. “Whirlwind, Tornado. O.p. is set. How copy?” “Solid Copy Tornado. What do you see?” “Everything.” With a blink Rosie activated the light amplification in her eyes. Black night became grey green, shadows replaced with light. “Egress points.” Charlie didn’t ask, she ordered. “Primary back the way I came. Secondary across the roof. Tertiary down the rope.” Rosie felt confident in her position. “Solid copy.” Rosie heard relief in Charlie’s voice. “And…” Rosie sighed, hearing amusement. “Toaster is in position.” Rosie regretted showing off the precision control she had over the laser. “She makes toast doesn’t she!” Charlie’s laugh almost masked her nerves. “Get dialled in, check back in fifteen. How copy?” “Solid copy. Tornado out.” Purple light rippled above the horizon, cresting into an arc over the Glassedlands, pushing up into the fallen night. It felt like the only thing moving in the stillness. Rosie returned to the rifle scope, sighting in on Janey, then a few likely spots for targets. “Tornado, Whirlwind. Sit rep.” “All quiet.” Rosie tried not to sound bored. “Pretty view though.” “I’ll bet. Wouldn’t want to get much closer. Sand mixed with polluted water and minerals, super heated into glass crystals that’s harder than steel. Till it shatters and explodes like a grenade. And it kicks out enough rads to kill you ten times over.” Charlie sounded like she wanted to distract Rosie. “Alright, let’s go over that intel.” Rosie brought up the recall function in her eyes, scrolling back to a few nights ago. The recorded images of Matt writhing in pain, her hand inside his wound, brought a shudder. She lost focus and scrolled too far back. The window in her vision became filled with red and falling bodies. Rosie shut it down and stared out over the tranquil night. A few deep breaths brought her adrenaline down. As the recall window came up a new option appeared *Delete y/n?* Rosie tried to think through the consequences, to try and find a reason that made sense. She couldn’t, deciding to talk to Charlie about it later. Although on some level, she wanted to keep it. Some slow scrolling brought up the moment Charlie held the ledger in front of her. She hadn’t noticed at the time, but Charlie looked scared. And it felt difficult to believe she’d be scared of dead raiders. “I got it.” Rosie tried to keep her tone indifferent. “Start at the last page and go back.” Rosie looked at the handwritten numbers in columns. “It looks like it’s encrypt—” Rosie broke the crude code and laughed. “It’s a reverse alphabet substitution. Idiots.” The next few hours passed slowly as Rosie reeled off names and numbers. Payments made and received for people, chems, and rent. Most of it meant nothing to her, except for weekly payments to the Filth that put a collar around her neck. Seems the Red Hand got a percentage of every cap their slaves brought in. Rosie made a note last three dates and times, not sure whether to tell anyone else. Orange light cut through the purple glow as the sun climbed into the endless blue. Rosie shifted and stretched, resisting the urge to walk around. “They’re late.” “They’re always fucking late.” Matt sounded frustrated. He’d taken over so Charlie could rest. “Do you want to practice some more?” Rosie had been coached on how to speak. “No, I got it. It’s more like an attitude right.” “Right. This whole thing is boring to you.” Rosie could sell that after all the waiting. She took her position behind the rifle and looked out along the single street. The white cloth flickered and snapped in the breeze. Janey holding it high with one arm, and the fuel tank with the other. “Movement.” Rosie sighted it on the sparse treeline. “Three raiders, armed, two with bolt action rifles and one with what looks like a forty mil grenade launcher.” “Watch that launcher Tornado.” Charlie cut in. “Solid copy.” Rosie watched as the three approached, spiked metal armour, crude rifles. Two of them stayed back as the other loaded a round into the launcher and flicked it shut. He didn’t leave Rosie’s crosshairs as he advanced. She saw he moved well, cover to cover, not twitching and focused. “Hey! Jones sent me, what the fuck is this?” He shouted from cover and Rosie heard it through Janey’s sensors. She pushed her voice through the speakers. “You can relax. I’m talking through her. Think of it like a radio. That can kill you.” “Can it Tornado.” Charlie seemed annoyed, but Rosie thought she heard Matt laugh. Hearing a human voice brought the raider from cover, but he kept his distance. “Ain’t the weirdest shit I’ve seen.” Rosie believed him. “Your sample.” Rosie turned Janey slowly, holding the fuel can in an outstretched arm. The raider drew closer as Rosie watched him from the rear through her scope, and from the front through Janey’s optics. He reached out and unhooked the can, setting it down a few paces away. From a simple canvas sack tied to his waist, he produced an empty tin can. With a steady hand he poured the fuel into it and stepped back. The raider lit a cigarette, blowing the smoke at Janey in an act of bravado. Rosie saw the regret on his face as the smoke highlighted the thin red beam aimed at him. A few moments passed until the raider flicked the cigarette into the tin can. A plume of red flame flashed up and quickly became blue, heat shimmering above. Clever, Rosie thought as she watched the tin can melt into a puddle. “It’s high octane and clean.” “Yeah, looks like.” He turned to look Janey in the eye. “Jones wants to test it, but if it checks out we’re in business. How much you got?” “My employer can meet your needs for the foreseeable.” Rosie kept it vague. “We’ll start with two drums a week. Two thousand per.” “Three, and we’ll deliver.” Rosie shot back, trying to prise free any more intel. “Easy Tornado. We need him.” Charlie whispered over the comm. “Two five...to start with.” “Deal.” Got him, Rosie thought. “We’ll be in touch.” And with that the raider picked up the can and walked out of the other end of the ruins. Rosie kept the scope on the other two as they followed, tracking them with Janey as they passed her. The closer they got the more unnerved they became. “Good work Tornado.” Charlie sounded relieved. Rosie felt her stress ease and missed it almost instantly. “Solid copy.” Rosie knew the answer to her next question, but asked anyway. “Eta to exfil?” “Nine hours Tornado.” Charlie didn’t even try to hide her amusement. “Welcome to Recon. Hurry up and wait.” “Solid copy.” Rosie felt bored already.