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Chapter 13

Jude had been workingfor fifteen hours straight. Other than a forced ten-minute break by Heath when he’d ordered him to get some food, Jude had been putting together the information stream about what the State were. He needed it transmitted across as many comms channels as possible, reaching all the Alpha zones to make sure people heard and saw the broadcast.

The public would know the true, dangerous face of the State. It had to wake some of them up and shake them free from the hypnotic suggestions they lived under every day. With this distraction in place, Jude could focus on getting Octavia back.

“The next security breach is ready.” Kade sat opposite Jude in the comms room. He was methodically working his way through the security systems the State had in place on their communications network. Each time he broke one, Jude slipped in a piece of code that would ensure their message was broadcast when the time was right.

Tobias sat next to Kade. He was plotting and monitoring the comms hubs the State had across the country, processing data streams coming from them and passing them to Jude to upload the message into.

Although his eyes burned with tiredness, Jude wouldn’t stop working. This had to succeed. This had to distract the State enough so he could get to Octavia. The tiny voice in his head warned him he was being an idiot. If he angered the State, they might take revenge by killing her.

“What’s that?” Tobias leaned over and pointed to the right-hand corner of Jude’s screen.

His breath hitched in his throat. He’d been so focused on the comms streams that he hadn’t noticed the tiny flashing message envelope. It was from his private in-box.

Jude opened the message. His eyes widened and a smile inched across his face. “She’s alive!”

Kade and Tobias looked at him.

“Octavia?” asked Kade.

Jude laughed. “I don’t know how she’s done it, but she’s sent me a message. She’s okay.” He checked the time stamp and frowned. “This was sent hours ago.”

“Where is she?” asked Tobias.

“The message doesn’t say.” Jude read through the message again. “There’s nothing in here that hints at where she is, other than it’s a secure facility.”

“We can still find her,” said Kade.

“I’m already on it.” Jude began tracking the source of the message. If he could figure out where this had come from, he’d find out where she was.

Hope fired him with determination as his fingers flew across the keyboard. “It’s from Alpha zone five.” He watched the data stream across his monitor.

“That’s the same zone as the planned meet-up,” said Tobias.

Danni had arranged for a group of them to meet with someone called Commander West, with the false promise of surrendering in exchange for Octavia.

“Something doesn’t look right,” said Jude.

Kade walked over and looked at the screen as Jude pulled up images of the location. “There’s nothing there. There are no buildings. Are you sure you tracked the signal right?”

“Of course.” Jude stared at the barren landscape on the screen. “Where the fuck is she?”

Tobias frowned. “I bet they’re holding her underground. Some interrogations sites are located below ground.”

“Dinnorms don’t like being underground,” said Kade.

“It’s not a problem for the brain-washed humans, though,” said Tobias.

“Then that’s where we need to go.” Jude was already on his feet.

The door behind them opened. Danni and Heath walked in.

“Is everything ready for the transmission?” asked Danni.

Jude stared at the open message. “I’ve had word from Octavia. She’s okay.”

“That’s good to know,” said Danni. “Do you know her location?”