CHAPTER 7
PART I
Andromeda Snow had always loved this time of year. Until this year, anyway.
Late summer always had been a time of change in the Capitol. The Games would be over; a new Victor crowned and sent back to his or her adoring district, and the Victory Tour buzz...carefully fueled Caesar Flickerman's broadcasts on Holo-TV...would begin to rise. But there were other changes that Andromeda loved. The days slowly getting shorter as the nights grew longer; the increasing frequency of rain and thundershower; the slight chill in the air in the mornings; and the impending turning of foliage were all events that Andromeda looked forward to.
But this year...this year was different. For the first time in memory, there had been no Games. In fact, Caesar Flickerman, who had built his career in broadcasting around the Hunger Games, hadn't even mentioned the Games for weeks. Andromeda knew that there were to be no Games this year, in spite of her grandfather's assurances that the Games would be merely delayed due to "isolated incidents of unrest and civil disobedience in some of the outlying districts." And, strangely enough, Andromeda felt a certain relief that the Games would not be conducted this year.
Andromeda didn't know of a life without the Games. She had grown up watching them every year, selecting her favorite Tribute as her friends did the same, cheering for them if they won, or, as was more often the case, crying for them if they lost. And, as the granddaughter of the President of Panem, she had met many Victors in her short life...kindly old Mags from District Four, and her charismatic fellow Mentor, Finnick Odair; gentle, soft-spoken Beetee Latier from District Three, along with his eccentric partner, Wiress; the quietly elegant Seeder from District Eleven, along with the jovial Chaff; matronly Cecilia from District Eight; surly Haymitch Abernathy from Twelve; and the sarcastic, rebellious Johanna Mason from Seven. She also knew many of the Career Victors from Districts One and Two - Gloss, Cashmere, Brutus, Enobaria, Lyme, and many others. But it wasn't until she met the Blood-Soaked Lovers from District Twelve that Andromeda was able to look at Victors in a different light. Meeting Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark made Andromeda Snow look at Victors as people.
When she had cajoled her grandfather into taking her to District Twelve for her fourteenth birthday, Andromeda had simply wanted to meet her two favorite Victors, especially Peeta Mellark, whose posters adorned the walls of her bedroom suite in the Presidential Palace. What she got from them were stories about their own humble beginnings. Katniss Everdeen, as it turned out, developed her almost inhuman skill with her bow because she had to hunt (illegally) just to be able to feed her family, while Peeta Mellark had worked in his families' bakery almost from the time he could walk, and had developed his impressive strength from his constant hefting of fifty-kilo sacks of flour. And neither looked at their participation in the Games as either honorable or noble. Instead, in spite of the fact that both Katniss and Peeta had volunteered, and both had trained...and fought...very hard, they had gone into their respective Games expecting to die.
Andromeda had experienced a moment of teenage petulance after meeting Katniss and Peeta, when the "Blood-Soaked Lovers of District Twelve" publicly announced their romantic relationship. Although it wasn't entirely unheard of...for example, there had been whispered rumors regarding Finnick Odair's involvement with his fellow District Four Victor, Annie Cresta...Katniss and Peeta were unusual in that they were both the same age, and, unlike Finnick and Annie, they seemed perfectly content in letting the entire country know of their romance. By this time, Andromeda's crush on Peeta had reached its peak, and she was devastated by the news...so much so that she removed her carefully hung Peeta Mellark posters from her walls as well as changing her hair style away from the Katniss Everdeen braid that had become so popular with many of her school friends.
As usual, it was her best friend, Sperantia Blackstone, that showed her just how childish her actions were...and, at fourteen, the last thing that Andromeda Snow wanted was to be viewed as childish. So gradually the posters returned to her walls, and once again she wore her long, light brown hair in a single, heavy braid. Eagerly she watched entertainment and gossip shows anytime there was a feature on either Katniss or Peeta, and she found herself counting down the days until Reaping Day, knowing that both of her favorite Victors would soon be returning to the Capitol, and she was sure that she would be able to use her influence (or rather, her grandfather's influence) and be able to spend some time with them both. Perhaps, they could even tell her more about what their lives had been like in District Twelve prior to becoming first Tributes, then Victors.
The Reaping Day Uprisings changed all that.
Andromeda was forced to face the fact that Katniss and Peeta had publicly committed treasonous acts against the Capitol, and, by extension, against her own beloved grandfather. She had seen with her own eyes and heard with her own ears as Katniss Everdeen denounced the Hunger Games, the Capitol, and President Coriolanus Snow. She watched as Peeta actually murdered a Peacekeeper who was in the execution of her assigned duties. And she knew that it would not end well for either Katniss or Peeta. Sperantia was fiercely Loyalist and seemed to take an almost perverse pleasure in reminding Andromeda of the fact that Katniss and Peeta would almost certainly be publicly executed once they were captured and all this Uprising nonsense was behind them once and for all. Even Andromeda was forced to admit that what Katniss and Peeta had done was not only unforgivable but indefensible as well.
Even so, Andromeda was an intelligent, observant girl. She had seen with her own eyes the crushing poverty of the Seam...the poorest section of the poorest district in Panem...and remembered that Katniss had told her that she herself had lived there for the first sixteen years of her life, until, of course, her Victory during the Seventy-Fourth Hunger Games had thrown open the gates to Victors' Village. And the evidence that she saw with her own eyes had been directly contradictory to everything that she had been taught her entire life.
Andromeda, like every other child of the Capitol, had always been taught that the Capitol and the districts nurtured one another...the Capitol provided leadership, security, and governance, while each district, with their own unique industries, in turn provided the Capitol, and Panem as a whole, with the fruits of their labors. Of course, she had been taught about the Dark Days, when the thirteen districts rose up in rebellion against the Capitol, only to be defeated after a terrible, costly war. She had learned that one district, Thirteen, had been totally destroyed in this war, and that the surviving districts, along with the Capitol, sat down and negotiated the peace document that came to be known as the Treaty of Treason, and that, in order to preserve the hard-won peace for all future generations, a pageant of courage, honor, and sacrifice would be held every year henceforth, and that this spectacle would be known as The Hunger Games.
However, her visit to District Twelve didn't show her a district filled with happy, industrious coal miners, basking under the benevolent rule of her grandfather. Instead, the few actual district residents that she had seen looked fearful and beaten down. Peacekeepers seemed to be everywhere and an air of grim resignation hung over the entire district. Even Katniss and Peeta didn't appear to be as she had always seen them during their official public appearances. There, they had been smiling, laughing, waving to adoring crowds. Here, their demeanor was guarded and cautious, especially around her grandfather. It didn't take long for Andromeda to realize that the two newest Victors were actually afraid of President Coriolanus Snow.
And now, Andromeda Snow shared their fear.
She had first felt the unfamiliar stirrings of fear immediately following the broadcast of Katniss and Peeta's visit to what they had claimed was the bombed-out remains of District Twelve. Prior to this broadcast, which had apparently been engineered by someone inside the Rebellion, there had been virtually no news out of Twelve, other than spotty reports of uprisings, unrest, and rebellion, so it had come as a shock to almost everyone that District Twelve had been virtually destroyed, and that many Peacekeepers had fallen victim to the rain of bombs from the sky...bombs dropped on the order of President Coriolanus Snow.
Her grandfather had changed in the long weeks since the Reaping Day Uprising. Even though he continued to assure Panem that the Rebellion was nothing more than a series of isolated, uncoordinated incidents, Andromeda knew better. She began to hear, from her friends at school, of shortages of everything from food to clothing to the latest and greatest in electronics. She had seen more Peacekeepers on the streets of the Capitol than she could ever remember seeing before. And her beloved grandfather was showing signs of the strain that these events were having on him.
Sperantia assured her that, according to her father, the Minister of Security, the Capitol and its Peacekeepers were winning everywhere there was unrest, Andromeda was not so sure. Because if the Peacekeepers were winning, that would mean that the Rebels were losing. So these shortages should stop...but they didn't. The Peacekeepers seemed to be winning the battles, but the Rebels didn't seem to be losing the Rebellion.
And, for Andromeda, the Rebellion became personal one fine, sunny afternoon.
School had just let out for the day. Andromeda attended a very exclusive private school near City Circle, along with Sperantia and all of her other friends. In other times a car and an armed driver would have met her immediately after the final bell. But these were different times. The school sat inside a walled compound, patrolled by uniformed Peacekeepers. Now, every car was stopped at the main gate and the driver was required to present identification...even when the car was there to pick up President Snow's granddaughter, and had its own Peacekeeper escort. So, more often than not, Andromeda was forced to wait for a few minutes until the vehicles could be cleared.
Andromeda didn't mind this, as it gave her time to chat and gossip with her friends one final time before heading home. She stood with Sperantia and some others as each student's mini-convoy was cleared. "I don't know about you," Sperantia grumbled, "but I will be so happy when all this security bullshit is over, and we can go back to normal."
Andromeda nodded. "Me too," she agreed, before changing the subject. "Listen, don't forget to call tonight. I'll know for sure by then if Grandpa will let me use the North Lawn for my Equinox party."
Sperantia brightened a bit. "Do you think he will?" She asked eagerly.
"I think so," Andromeda replied. "Speri, he knows how important this is to me, and I promised him that we wouldn't be a bother. So if we get to do this, you have to promise that you'll help me keep everyone under control!"
Speri snorted. "Meda, you worry too much," she said with a laugh. "And I won't forget to call tonight. Look - there's our rides."
Meda turned, following Speri's pointing finger at a pair of escorted limousines as they began to slow and pull over to the covered waiting area where the girls were standing. Meda turned and gave her friend a quick hug. "See you later," she said. "And call!" She added over her shoulder as she trotted up to the car, just as a tall, broad-shouldered man stepped out and opened the back door.
"Hello, Miss Andromeda," the man said in a deep, rich voice as he held the door open.
Meda flashed the man a quick smile. "Hi, Casca!" She carelessly tossed her backpack into the back seat and was turning to enter the car when the sound of shouting and squealing tires, coming from the direction of the front gate, caused her to look up. What she saw in the next few seconds would be something that she would remember for the rest of her life.
A car was speeding into the school grounds from the main gate, going far faster than any car Meda had ever seen drive here. As she watched, Peacekeepers at the main gate began firing guns at the car, even as someone in the car stuck a gun out of the back window and began to shoot back at the gate guards. The car swerved violently and the crackle of gunfire intensified as the Peacekeepers in the escort vehicles began to shoot at the invading automobile as well. Meda stood, frozen to the spot, as she suddenly realized that this speeding car was heading directly for the crowded waiting area.
Strong hands grabbed her from behind and bodily threw her into the waiting limousine, followed immediately by a heavy body landing on top of her so hard that the breath was forced from her lungs. "Go, go, go!" Casca shouted as the car lurched away from the curb. Meda was still trying to catch her breath when a deafening roar behind her was followed by a sound like hailstones hitting a metal roof.
Meda managed to roll onto her side as Casca rose up, peering out the back window. "Snow's roses," he breathed softly, before turning his attention back to Meda. "Miss Andromeda, are you alright?"
Meda struggled to sit up, dimly aware of the limousine still speeding away from the school. "I...I think so," she stammered. Casca examined her with a critical eye and quickly ran his hands over her arms, legs, chest, and back. Meda was too stunned to resist.
"You seem okay," he grunted, before turning back to the driver. "Alert the Palace. Let the President know that Andromeda Snow is alive and uninjured." He hesitated for a moment before adding, "Have a medical team stand by, just in case."
"Got it," the driver replied.
Casca turned back to Meda. "It's just a precaution," he explained with a small smile. "Can't be too careful, now, can we?"
"What happened?" Meda asked shakily.
Casca's mouth set in a grim line. "Terrorist attack," he replied, his voice trembling with rage. "Suicide car bomb, from the way that car exploded." Meda suddenly understood why it sounded like hailstones were striking the car. It wasn't hail...it was pieces of the other car after it exploded.
"What? Why?" Meda asked in confusion.
"Rebels," Casca snapped. His face clouded in anger. "My guess is that they were after you and your friends." He glanced out the back window. "Looks like Minister Blackstone's daughter made it out safely."
Meda could see another car following her limousine closely. The immaculate paint was marred by fragment strikes from the exploding car. Meda could barely make out Speri, sitting up in the back seat.
She's alive, Meda said to herself. Her next thought was, Someone tried to kill us. Someone tried to kill me.
And, just then, Andromeda Snow doubled up and vomited all over the richly appointed back seat of the Presidential Limousine.
PART II
Katniss and I had been asleep only a short while when the comm units' intrusive buzzing filled my quarters.
"Shit," I heard Katniss grumble softly as she kicked off the sheet and blanket and padded to the desk. The overhead light came on automatically, its sensors picking up Katniss's movement, and I watched as Katniss angrily punched the controls on the comm unit. "What?" She snarled. Katniss did not like being awakened.
"Emergency meeting in Command," announced the voice of Boggs. Katniss and I exchanged startled glances. After-hours calls were almost always from Haymitch.
"When?" Katniss asked.
"Fifteen minutes," Boggs replied gruffly, before apologetically adding, "sorry to wake you. This is important."
Katniss sighed softly. "We'll be there." She ended the call abruptly even as I pulled myself out of bed and groped for my leg.
"With luck it won't take too long," I lamely remarked, as Katniss and I got dressed.
Katniss snorted. "An after-hours meeting in Command? We'll be lucky to get four hours sleep tonight."
As it turned out, Katniss's prediction was overly optimistic.
"Sorry we're late," Haymitch mumbled as he and Effie entered the conference room. I had been doodling on a notepad as they came in. Idly, I looked up to acknowledge their presence, but what I saw caused me to do a double take and tap my foot against Katniss's to get her attention.
Katniss looked up at me from her own notepad, her brow furrowed slightly in a questioning look, and followed my gaze as I tilted my head toward Haymitch and Effie before turning my attention back towards our Mentor and Escort. Because what caught my attention was not the fact that Haymitch and Effie and come in to the meeting together, but rather how they had come into the meeting.
Haymitch and Effie were holding hands.
The sight was so completely unexpected that the soft murmur of muted conversations taking place at the table ceased instantly...a fact that was not lost on Effie Trinket, who appeared suddenly self-conscious at being the sudden center of attention. Haymitch, of course, strolled in as if it were the most natural thing in the world, his large, rough hand firmly grasping Effie's as they made their way to their places at the table.
Haymitch finally released Effie's hand as he actually pulled her chair out and held it for her while she sat down, before taking his own seat. "I don't believe it," Katniss muttered so softly that only I could hear, "Haymitch, holding hands and acting like a gentleman...and with Effie?"
Haymitch finally seemed to realize that his entrance with Effie was the reason why they were the focus of everyone at the table, so of course he slowly and deliberately reached over and once again covered Effie's dainty hand in his own meaty paw, his face creasing in a smirk even as Effie turned red and dropped her gaze to the table.
Even so, I noticed that she was gripping Haymitch's hand as tightly as he was holding hers.
Plutarch Heavensbee cleared his throat noisily and tapped a control; causing the lights to dim and the large display screen come to life. "All right then," he said, somewhat awkwardly, "now that we're all here, let's begin. Please direct your attention to the screen."
The images on the display screen had no sound and the grainy, flat picture had the distinctive characteristics of other security camera graphics that I had seen before, but there was little doubt as to what was happening.
"These are digital security camera films that one of our operatives was able to upload and transmit...at great personal risk, I might add...of events that transpired just this afternoon, Capitol time. The camera is one of many located at City Center Academy, a very exclusive private school attended by the children of prominent Capitol citizens." Plutarch paused for a moment and fixed Katniss and me with his gaze. "Including Andromeda Snow."
Katniss and I glanced at each other. We had met Andromeda during her visit to District Twelve late the previous winter. President Snow's granddaughter, she was sheltered, pampered, and spoiled...and yet, I'm sure that Katniss and I managed to break through some of her preconceptions about life in the districts and give her a glimpse of what both of us, Katniss especially, had to go through while growing up.
"Watch," Plutarch said. The camera showed a pair of limousines, escorted by heavily armed Peacekeeper vehicles, pulling up to a covered walkway and stopping, when there was a sudden commotion and the two limos abruptly pulled away from the walkway, leaving the Peacekeeper vehicles behind. Muzzle flashes from the turret guns on the Peacekeeper vehicles showed that they had their guns trained away from the two limos and that they were all shooting at something that wasn't visible to the camera, when there was a brief flash of movement followed by a sudden explosion that caused the camera to jerk, steady for a second, and then dissolve into static.
"Pause," Plutarch said. "Rewind to frame eleven oh two." The image on the screen rewound, once again showing the pair of limousines stopped at the waiting area. "Zoom and enhance," Plutarch instructed. The image zoomed down to the lead car, and a grainy, slightly out of focus figure is shown approaching the opened back door. The figure paused, turning toward another figure - a large man holding the back door open - and I heard Katniss gasp softly as the familiar features, framed by a head of long hair done in a single braid, came into view.
"Katniss, do you recognize this girl?" Plutarch asked softly.
"Yes," Katniss replied, her voice trembling slightly. "That's Andromeda Snow."
"President Snow's granddaughter," Plutarch confirmed. The image skipped forward, framing a girl about to get into the second limousine. The image quality was not the greatest, but we could make out her jet-black hair and her more typical "Capitol" features - prominent piercings and some visible tattooing. "Computer facial recognition analysis has given this photo a score of ninety-two percent that this girl is Sperantia Blackstone. Her father is Minister of Security for Panem...and Sperantia is reported to be Andromeda Snow's best friend."
"Please show the remainder of what your operative managed to transmit to us, Mr. Heavensbee," President Coin instructed impatiently.
"I am getting to that, Madam President," Plutarch replied smoothly. "Gate cam now, please." The image suddenly shifted to another scene, as uniformed Peacekeepers stopped car after car entering the grounds of the school. "Here's the car sent for Andromeda Snow, and, behind it, the car for Sperantia Blackstone. Both vehicles accompanied by a pair of armed and armored Peacekeeper carriers." We watched as a few more vehicles drove through the gate, until Plutarch suddenly barked, "Pause!" The red dot of a laser pointer appeared on the screen. "The overall resolution in this picture is poor, but the facial recognition program has given a better than fifty percent chance that the two women and one man in this car were actually vetted District Six transportation workers who had spent the last few years working as contract employees inside the Capitol." He turned toward President Coin. "I apologize, we have no names as yet. But all district workers that contract to work in the Capitol are registered with the Security Ministry. I'd be willing to wager that these three are, in fact, exactly what the computer says they are."
Coin nodded grimly. "Please continue, Mr. Heavensbee."
The image on the screen flickered and was replaced by another view from a different angle. As we watched, the two limousines pulled up to the covered area while the escort of Peacekeeper carriers remained in the thoroughfare, effectively screening the limousines on their vulnerable left sides. Once again, we could see men exiting each vehicle and opening the back doors, holding the doors open as their passengers moved to climb in. A flash of movement at the top of the screen heralded the arrival of the car bearing the trio of District Six workers. The reactions from the Peacekeepers as well as the staffers in each limousine were instant, as the Peacekeepers immediately began firing at the speeding, swerving car even as each girl was virtually picked up and thrown into her respective limo. Both limousines were moving as the attacking car suddenly exploded in a bright, violent flash of light and smoke.
"That's it," Plutarch announced as the video ended. "Our report indicates that both girls are shaken, but unhurt." I could feel myself relax slightly at this news. Andromeda Snow has committed no crime; in fact, she was a target solely because of who her grandfather was. Not to mention that she had good qualities that both Katniss and I had noticed. I glanced at Katniss, who returned my look with a quick, tight smile and a single nod. "The occupants of the car were killed, of course," Plutarch continued. "There were also some deaths and injuries among the Peacekeepers as well as minor injuries among some of the students assembled there."
"Too bad," muttered Haymitch. He and Effie were sitting opposite Katniss and I, sandwiched between Silenus Festuca and a new face...Darius Potter, who is making one of his first appearances at a Command meeting. I found myself wondering if he was still required to wear his ankle tracker.
"Too bad about what, Mr. Abernathy?" Coin asked, facing Haymitch, one eyebrow arched in an inquiring expression.
Haymitch hesitated for a moment before replying. "Too bad none o' those privileged Capitol kids were killed. Give 'em a taste of what our kids have been going through for the last seventy-five years."
"No," a new voice said, softly but firmly. Beetee Latier was seated at the foot of the table due to the bulk of his wheelchair. "This rebellion is not about killing innocents. Snow's Beard, Haymitch! Hasn't there been enough of that?"
Haymitch bristled at the rebuke. "Now see here, Beetee..."
"Enough," Coin said firmly. She didn't raise her voice. She didn't have to. Both Haymitch and Beetee shut up instantly. I may not like Coin very much personally, but she had a presence that commanded obedience.
"We've got too much to do to bicker among ourselves," she continued calmly. "Mr. Latier, have you been able to establish a comm link with District Six?"
"I have, Madam President," Beetee replied. He had a small notebook computer in front of him. "You'll be speaking to one of the leaders of their Rebel faction there." He tapped a key on his notebook. "Audio only, I'm afraid. But it is a secure channel."
Coin nodded. "That's fine. Connect us, please."
Beetee murmured quietly into a wireless microphone that he was wearing as he pressed an earpiece to his left ear, and then tapped his notebook again. "Go ahead, President Coin."
"This is President Alma Coin of District Thirteen," she announced. "To whom am I speaking?"
"Peterson, operations officer for Commander Pullman," a man's voice replied over a burst of static. "I assume you're calling about our attack in the Capitol today?"
"Indeed I am, Mr. Peterson," Coin replied evenly. "It was my understanding that none of the rebelling districts would take unilateral action against the Capitol. That was what we all agreed to."
I exchanged a surprised glance with Katniss, and then looked over at Haymitch, his jaw still clenched in anger...fuming, no doubt, over his rebuke by Coin. This was the first that either Katniss or I had heard that Thirteen was actively coordinating with other districts. It made me wonder if Haymitch had known, and how much he was still keeping from us.
"Seems to me we agreed to mutually support each other, too," Peterson replied dryly. "So far, all we've gotten from you is a lot of talk and zero action. And it's 'Sub-commander,' not 'mister.'"
Coin's eyes flashed angrily, but she somehow managed to keep her voice calm. "My apologies, Sub-commander. But I really think that I should be discussing this with Commander Pullman. Is she available?"
"She's in the field, directing ops in the South Side," Peterson said. "I speak with her authority."
"Very well." Coin's right hand clenched into a fist as she spoke. "The attack today was a stupid waste of resources. Not only did you squander three in-place operatives, you've probably made it more difficult for other district workers who are sympathetic to our cause to provide any useful assistance to us...not to mention the fact that, by targeting children, your actions are painting us as terrorists instead of freedom fighters."
"President Coin, let me be blunt," Peterson replied patiently. "Our people are dying in a losing cause here. We're even starting to lose support from our own people. Trust me, when word gets out about this attack, it'll put a charge into every district that's been bleeding since the Reaping Day Uprisings." He paused for a moment before continuing. "You promised us support, and all you've given us so far is a video of Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark walking around in the ruins of District Twelve. I don't want Six to end up looking the same way. And I don't give a flying fuck if the Capitol thinks we're terrorists or not!"
Coin didn't respond immediately. When she did, her voice was carefully controlled. "Thank you, Sub-commander. Please ask Commander Pullman to contact me at her earliest convenience. Coin out." She looked at Beetee and made a slashing motion over her throat.
"You're off the air, Madam President," Beetee said a moment later.
Coin picked up a pencil, examined it closely, and then tossed it back onto the table. "He's right," Coin muttered, almost to herself. Louder, she said, "Boggs, is the assault battalion ready for deployment to Ten?"
Boggs nodded. "We have just enough lift capability to put the entire battalion in the air at the same time, President Coin. Give the order and they'll be airborne in an hour."
Coin nodded thoughtfully. "And how about the company to be used in the deception raid on Eight?"
"Same time frame, Madam President," Boggs replied. "Airborne an hour after the order is given."
"Peterson was right about one thing," Coin murmured, almost to herself. "There's been too much talk and not enough action." She looked up, scanning everyone at the table with her eyes. "We'll launch both tonight."
"We don't have lift to do both simultaneously," Boggs pointed out. "I suggest we launch Eight first, and Ten as soon as the hovercraft return from Eight."
"Make it happen," Coin barked. She turned toward Katniss and I. "Are you two up for a little trip tonight?"
"We're ready any time," Katniss replied firmly, speaking for us both.
Coin nodded, smiling grimly. "Good. I'll want you in your Mockingjay armor for this one." She turned back to Boggs. "Is Odair up for this?"
Boggs shook his head emphatically. "No. Aurelius is working with him but, quite frankly, he's a mess, what with Annie Cresta being held in the Capitol. I know how much you want him on camera along with Everdeen and Mellark, but at this point, he's in no shape right now to do anything but stare at the wall."
Disappointment flickered across Coin's face. "Very well. Tell Aurelius to keep me posted." She turned back to Katniss and I. "You two get ready to go. Departure from the West Hangar in one hour."
As Katniss and I stood up, Beetee said, "Can you make that two hours, Madam President? I've been working on something for Katniss that I want to give her before she leaves."
Coin nodded. "Very well, Mr. Latier. Two hours. You have your orders, people. Carry them out."
As we turned to leave, Coin stopped me and took me aside. "I'll notify your drill sergeant personally, Soldier Mellark," she said. "I'm sure he'll understand."
"Thank you, President Coin," I said in surprise.
"My pleasure," Coin replied, and then added, for everyone else's benefit, "Security at all times, people. Remember, we want Snow to think our main effort is in Eight."
Katniss and I paused at the door. "I'll see you in the West Hangar," she said softly. "I gotta run down to Beetee's lab and see what he's dreamed up for me, and then I want...I mean, I have to say goodbye to Prim and my mother."
I nod, give her a smile, and kiss her lightly. "You were wrong about one thing. We won't be getting even four hours sleep tonight."
In response, Katniss snorted, shook her head, and, as she disappeared down the corridor with Beetee, called back over her shoulder, "Don't remind me!"
PART III
Katniss dug her fingers into my thigh as the hovercraft shuddered and dipped sharply. I felt my stomach rise into my throat and clenched my eyes tightly shut, willing myself not to puke. A muted groan from Katniss told me that she was fighting the same battle.
"Sorry," a voice crackled in my earpiece. It was the command pilot. "Lots of turbulence tonight. I'm afraid we're in for a rough ride."
I forced my eyes open and glanced around the interior of the hovercraft. Across from us sat our camera crew...Messalla, Castor and Pollux. Pollux caught my eye, grinned, and mimed throwing up in his helmet, earning him my extended right middle finger in response. That just caused him to grin wider and he nudged his brother, pointing at Katniss and I and making more airsick gestures.
I snorted, shook my head, and turned away. Our security team was seated on both sides of the hovercraft. I was comforted by the familiar faces...Jackson, Mitchell, Homes, and both Leeg sisters, which surprised me. Messalla had explained that both Leeg sisters were along because Plutarch had the idea that they were somehow photogenic. At least we could easily tell them apart..."our" Leeg was a sergeant, wearing three stripes, and her sister a two-stripe corporal. Boggs was along as well, as was Haymitch. Boggs would act as Coin's direct representative on the ground with the commander of the District Eight Rebel forces, a woman named Paylor. Haymitch would remain in the hovercraft, orbiting District Eight and would be in constant contact with Katniss and I on the ground in Eight as well as with Plutarch Heavensbee back in Thirteen.
There was one addition to this mission. A young, slightly built girl with dark brown hair and very fair skin, with a large strawberry birthmark over one eye. Wearing just a simple gray coverall, she looked out of place among the heavily armed soldiers. She had been introduced to us in the hangar as Bonnie, a refugee from District Eight, who was going along as both a guide and to help Boggs as needed. Right now she was seated between Messalla and Mitchell, and looked absolutely miserable.
She looks like I feel, I said to myself. Just then the hovercraft gave another lurch, followed by the sound of someone...Bonnie, as it turned out...retching loudly into a plastic-lined bag. I clutched a similar bag in my fist and leaned toward Katniss. "One more like that," I muttered, "and Bonnie will have company."
"Don't talk about it," Katniss groaned, shooting me a dirty look.
"Sorry," I murmured. "Change of subject. What did Effie say to you right before we boarded? Did she dish on this whole thing with her and Haymitch?"
Katniss rolled her eyes and snorted. "I wish. No, it was just typical Effie Trinket dramatics. 'Katniss, when people see this video, they'll either want to kiss you, kill you...or be you.'"
In spite of my own misery, I had to laugh at Katniss's spot-on imitation of Effie's affected Capitol accent. "It's the Mockingjay armor," I teased. "It looks painted on and it really shows off your...attributes...well."
"Oh, shut up," Katniss replied, her neck and ears flushing red. She turned away slightly but not before I caught the corners of her mouth twitch up in a barely suppressed grin. "It's also hot as hell and itchy." She squirmed slightly in her seat. "When we get back Cinna and I are having a talk. But this -" she hefted her new bow, courtesy of Beetee "- this almost makes up for it."
I had to admit, the bow was beautiful. Jet black and lethal looking, even resting across Katniss's legs. A quiver full of arrows was slung diagonally across her back. It complimented her Mockingjay armor perfectly. "Planning on doing a little hunting in Eight?"
"If I do, I better choose the right arrow," Katniss replied. "I have incendiaries and high explosives in addition to regular broadpoints. Besides, I doubt if we'll have time to hunt."
"Never can tell," I said. I glanced over at Bonnie, who was still looking miserable. "Maybe we should ask the expert." I leaned over and tapped Bonnie on her knee. "Bonnie. Come sit with Katniss and I."
Bonnie looked at me in amazement. "You...you want me...to sit...with you?"
"Sure," I said with a smile. I tapped the seat next to me. Bonnie hesitated for a moment before unbuckling her harness and scooting quickly over to the vacant seat.
Once she had buckled herself in again I offered her my hand, which she took shyly. "I'm Peeta. Peeta Mellark. And this -" I turned toward Katniss "- is Katniss Everdeen."
Katniss could see the vulnerabilities in this girl right off. I don't know if it was her size...Bonnie was small and skinny...or the fact that she was some years younger than Katniss, but it didn't take but a moment for Katniss to warm to the girl. "Hi," she said gently. "We didn't get much of a chance to talk in the hangar. I'm Katniss."
"Bonnie," the girl replied, just above a whisper. She stared at us, wide-eyed. It would be up to us to break the ice with this girl.
"How long have you been in Thirteen, Bonnie?" I asked.
"I'm not sure," Bonnie replied. "Twill and I left Eight during your Victory Tour, Katniss."
Close to two years ago. "How did you leave?" Katniss asked. "I mean, you just couldn't walk out."
"And who's Twill?" I added.
"My teacher," Bonnie replied. "After school we worked a four at the factory that made Peacekeeper uniforms. Right after you made your stop there, there was a bad fire at the factory. My parents both worked there, and Twill's husband, too." She paused for a moment and looked down at the floor of the hovercraft. "My parents and Twill's husband were both killed in the fire. Twill took me in so I wouldn't end up in the Community Home. Then she showed me two Peacekeeper uniforms that she and her husband had stolen." She gave us both a sad smile. "It didn't take much for her to convince me to run away with her. So one day after school, instead of going to work, we went to her apartment, put on the uniforms, and walked out of Eight."
"What's a 'four?'" I asked.
"A four hour shift," Bonnie explained.
Katniss looked at her skeptically. "Are you trying to tell us that you two put on Peacekeeper uniforms and just walked all the way to Thirteen?"
"That's exactly what happened," Jackson chimed in. "I was on the team that found them. Bonnie and Twill set off infrared sensors and motion alarms when they entered the wilds in Thirteen. When we found them they were both unconscious and more dead than alive." Jackson smiled grimly. "Probably a good thing, too...with those Peacekeeper get-ups, we probably would've just shot them on sight if they were up and walking."
"When did all this happen?" Katniss asked, looking at Bonnie with a mixture of awe and amazement. I felt the same way. To walk from District Eight to District Thirteen...that was hundreds of kilometers!
"A couple of months before Peeta's Games," Jackson replied.
Four months. Four months this slightly built girl and her teacher walked through the wilds and badlands of Panem, without benefit of so much as a single hour of survival training. As we talked, Bonnie revealed to us how she and Twill, remembering bits and pieces of how Tributes had managed to survive in various Hunger Games, managed to forage just enough to keep from starving. She told us how sometimes they would eat things that, while not deadly poisonous, would make them both violently sick for days. How they would sometimes travel only at night. And how they finally collapsed - too ill to move, to weak from thirst and hunger to even care anymore. And how they woke up in District Thirteen's subterranean hospital, and have been living underground ever since.
"I'm not clear on something," Katniss said when Bonnie had finished her story. "Where were you two heading? You couldn't have known about Thirteen."
"The only place we could think of at the time," Bonnie said with a wry smile. "District Twelve. And Katniss Everdeen. But we missed."
Katniss looked at Bonnie in amazement. "Me? I don't understand. Why me?"
"Because," Bonnie replied softly, "we thought you would understand us. We thought you would help."
Katniss sat back in her seat, a dumbfounded expression on her face. I leaned in close to her and said, quietly so only she could hear, "You really have no idea, the effect you have."
PART IV
Commander Jersey Paylor eyed us skeptically. A slender, dark-skinned woman, she was in charge of the Rebel forces for District Eight. A captured Peacekeeper rifle was slung casually over one shoulder. And she gave every indication of being less than thrilled with our presence.
"Colonel Boggs has briefed me on your mission here," she said brusquely. "You're a diversion. A feint to make the Capitol believe that you're mounting an offensive here, while the main effort is focused on District Ten." She looked Katniss up and down. "I always thought you were bigger," she muttered half to herself, before turning to me.
"You know how to use that thing?" She asked, pointing at my slung rifle.
"Yes, ma'am," I replied in my best parade-ground voice.
"Hmmph." Paylor turned back to Boggs. "The Capitol's bombed everything of any value here. I guess they aren't too broken up about having to wear last year's fashions. They've not done much to beef up their Peacekeepers here, either. Guess they figured that the textile district is just about as expendable as the coal district."
Katniss bristled at Paylor's snide reference to the destruction of Twelve. Boggs noticed it as well. "Where's your main effort?" He asked, before Katniss could say anything.
"The west side," Paylor replied. "All of the remaining Peacekeepers have pulled back to the west side. They're pretty well entrenched there, too. But I can dig 'em out if that company you brought with you is more than just for show."
"They're combat troops," Boggs said stiffly. "Not parade ground soldiers."
"I hope you're right," Paylor replied. She seemed to notice Bonnie for the first time. "What's your function?"
"I'm a guide, ma'am," Bonnie's reply was so soft it was almost inaudible.
Paylor arched one eyebrow. "You're Eight?"
Bonnie nodded. "Yes, ma'am. I live...lived...in the Osnaburg district. My parents were killed in the big fire there a couple of years back."
Paylor nodded thoughtfully. "I remember," she said softly. "And you managed to escape and make it all the way to Thirteen?"
"She and a companion," Boggs interjected. "Bonnie volunteered for this mission. Figured she could be of some help."
"Well, it saves me from having to assign a guide to your little group," Paylor pointed out. She turned back to Bonnie. "Where's your weapon?"
"She's a non-bat," Boggs explained. "A non-combatant."
"Bullshit." Paylor pulled a small pistol from her belt and handed it to Bonnie, butt first. "There's no such thing here in Eight." Bonnie gingerly took the pistol, staring at it like she was afraid it would bite her.
"Come on," Paylor said, gesturing toward what remained of a storefront. "My headquarters," she explained as we walked over to the building. "Colonel, we'll go over Peacekeeper dispositions in the west side. Can you have your company commander join us as well?"
"Of course," Boggs replied smoothly. "Would you like Katniss and Peeta as well?"
Paylor looked us up and down. "Do either of you know small unit tactics?"
"No," Katniss admitted as I shook my head.
"Well, then, they have nothing to contribute." She turned back to Boggs. "Coming, Colonel?" She didn't wait for a response, turning and entering the dilapidating building.
Boggs sighed and beckoned Jackson over to him. "Call Captain Damon and have him report here. Hopefully, this won't take long." He grinned humorlessly at Katniss and I. "She's a real charmer, isn't she?"
Katniss snorted. "If you ask me, she's a real -"
"Leader," I said quickly, cutting Katniss off. "Just what the Rebellion needs."
"Captain Damon's on the way, sir," Jackson reported.
Boggs nodded. "Send him in when he gets here," he instructed. "And see if you can't work with our 'non-bat' on how to use that pistol that Paylor gave her. At least so she won't accidentally shoot herself...or one of us."
"Yes, sir," Jackson replied, even as Boggs disappeared into the building. His abrupt departure didn't seem to faze her. Instead, she turned and beckoned Bonnie over and gave her a crash course in firearms safety and usage while Castor and Pollux, under Messalla's direction, busied themselves with taking some background video.
The rest of the squad busied themselves with weapons checks and equipment maintenance. That left Katniss and I with not much to do until Boggs, Paylor, and Captain Damon finished their planning meeting. I sat next to Katniss on a pile of rubble as we both ate a few bites of the tasteless combat rations that we had been issued before we left Thirteen.
"I don't remember a lot about Eight from when I came through on my Victory Tour," I remarked, gazing down the rubble-strewn street at the rows of buildings in various stages of destruction. "How about you?"
"It looked like shit then, too, Peeta," Katniss pointed out. "But now there's one big difference."
I took a pull from my canteen before replying. "What's that?" I asked as I re-capped the canteen.
"Then," Katniss said slowly, "It didn't smell like death."
I could feel my stomach lurch as Katniss pointed out the pervasive, cloying stench that hung in the air, and I found myself wishing that she hadn't said anything at all.
We moved cautiously through the district, our destination the last known concentration of Peacekeepers in the west side of District Eight. Here and there we saw bodies bloating in the late summer sun...Peacekeepers, Rebels, and "non-bats" like Bonnie, who, in spite of the pistol that had been shoved awkwardly in her belt, was still obviously uncomfortable with carrying a weapon.
"Are you familiar with the west side, Bonnie?" Katniss asked.
Bonnie nodded. "It's near my old neighborhood. Tenements, mostly. No factories or warehouses. Oh, and the Community Home is out there, too."
And Peacekeepers, I said to myself. Don't forget about the Peacekeepers.
Captain Damon's company was deployed in a rough skirmish line, stretching a few blocks to either side of us. It was slow going. Every building that was still standing had to be cleared. Every likely looking rubble pile needed to be checked. So far, the only living bodies had been frightened District Eight residents. Paylor assured us that would change.
"Peacekeepers having been clinging to the last stronghold that they have here," Paylor explained. "We've got 'em bottled up but it's a stalemate. We aren't strong enough to go in and root them out, and they aren't strong enough for an actual breakout." She glanced at Captain Damon. "Here's hoping your troops can tip the odds in our favor."
Damon grunted. He was a tall, lean man, with an unruly shock of dark brown hair and the bushiest mustache I've ever seen. "That's why we're here, ma'am."
No, we're actually here to make the Capitol think that this is our main focus. "I'm surprised that Snow just doesn't order a bombing like he did in Twelve," I said. "After all, he didn't seem to care about tossing away Peacekeeper lives there."
Jackson sidled up to walk with Katniss and I. "Maybe things are different now," she pointed out. "Maybe he can't afford to waste his troops."
Katniss turned toward Jackson and was about to say something when Damon stopped dead in his tracks. "Movement up ahead," he hissed. "Cover!"
I grabbed Katniss's arm and guided her to the rear of a burned out delivery truck, silently congratulating myself on my immediate...and correct...response to Damon's command. Our security squad fanned out on either side of the truck while Jackson, along with Boggs, Paylor, and Damon, crouched close by. Damon was speaking urgently into a commicuff.
"Find cover and stay there," he ordered before turning to us. "Scouts have spotted Peacekeepers moving toward our position, accompanied by civilians." He frowned. "They aren't making any effort at cover or concealment. My scouts report that they're walking in the open, about four blocks west of here. They should be here in ten minutes."
More whispered commands as I strain to see something, anything, up ahead...only to find my view blocked by the clutter of war in the streets. "What do you think they're doing?" Katniss asked quietly.
I watched a team of District Thirteen soldiers take up positions to our immediate left. "I don't know," I murmured. "They didn't cover this in training."
"Movement up ahead," Damon announced tersely a few minutes later. Cautiously I poked my head around the rear of the truck, now clearly able to see the unmistakable white uniforms and helmets of the approaching Peacekeepers. Surprisingly, their visors were pushed up, exposing their faces. And that wasn't all.
"Shit," Boggs muttered. "They wouldn't."
"They are," Paylor replied grimly, her lips compressed in a thin, angry line.
Katniss and I both gasped in shock when we saw why the Peacekeepers were approaching so carelessly. In front of the phalanx of white uniforms was another, ragged line, all clothed identically in shapeless gray tunics, trousers, and dresses. The people in this line were short...much shorter than the advancing Peacekeepers...and, as we watched, we could see that each Peacekeeper held another gray-clad figure firmly by the collar or the hair, prodding them along with well-placed jabs of pistol or rifle muzzles.
"Those are Community Home kids," Bonnie gasped in dismay.
"Hold fire!" Damon barked into his commicuff. He turned back toward us. "These bastards are using the kids as a human shield."
"That they are," Paylor said grimly.
Haymitch's voice crackled in my ear. "Plutarch and Coin are assessing the situation. Stand by."
"Stand by for what?" Katniss snapped. "We have to do something!"
"We are doing something, Katniss," Boggs pointed out. "We're not doing anything that'll get those kids killed."
"I have an idea," I said softly, so only Katniss could hear me.
"What?" She turned toward me, waiting for my flash of inspiration.
It won't work, I thought. Nevertheless, I said, "They don't know that you and I are here. Maybe that's what we need to shake 'em up a little bit."
Without waiting for a response, I carefully leaned my rifle against the rear wheel of the truck, ignoring Haymitch's sudden demands for me to stand fast, took a deep breath, stood up, and very slowly walked out in the open.
"Peeta! Get back here!" Boggs hissed. I ignored him, walking into the middle of the street, my arms outstretched, my empty palms turned toward the advancing line of Peacekeepers and Community Home kids. Out of the corner of my eye I could see Katniss doing the same thing, her shiny new bow leaning next to my rifle. She angrily shook off Jackson's hand when Jackson tried to stop her and walked out, not hesitating, until she stood at my side.
Our appearance had the desired effect. The line of Peacekeepers and their human shield stopped immediately. "Do you know who we are?" I called out, my heart pounding in my chest, and I found myself hoping that the body armor worked as well as I was told it would.
"We do," one of the Peacekeepers said, her voice tinged with surprise. "You're the traitors Everdeen and Mellark. President Snow has a good price on your heads. One million Sesterces each."
"President Snow," Katniss said with disdain. "Why are you doing this in his name? And even if you manage to get out of here, what then? Another district, another battle? Do you really think that you're going to survive this war?"
"Do you?" The Peacekeeper replied shrilly.
"I don't know," I replied. "I hope so. I want to see a new Panem. I want to see a better Panem." I slowly lowered my hands, Katniss following suit and lowering hers at the same time. "A Panem without the Games. A Panem without President Snow. A Panem where we can live as free people."
"Enough!" The Peacekeeper tightened her grip on the collar of the child that she held in front of her. I could see that it was a little girl, maybe nine or ten years of age. "Here's what we want. Let us pass, give us free passage out of the city, and don't interfere with our pick-up. You do this and maybe we let these brats live."
"No deals," Boggs hissed.
"Those are my people, Colonel!" Paylor barked. "You are in no position to -"
"We can't let anything happen to these kids, Peeta," Katniss muttered. Louder, she said, "You let half of the kids go now and the rest when you board your hovercraft."
"I said no deals!" Boggs snapped, standing up. "You! Peacekeepers! Let those children go and surrender to us, peacefully. I promise that you will not be harmed if you do this now."
"No more talk!" The female Peacekeeper practically screamed. "We're not bluffing! You want to see if I'm serious?" She suddenly pressed the muzzle of a pistol against the little girl's head. "You let us pass, now, or I decorate the street with this brat's brains!"
"Peeta -" Katniss said urgently.
"Listen," I called out. "A swap. Me for her. Deal?"
"No!" Jackson snapped. "No swap!" A stun gun appeared in her hand. "Soldier, you make one move towards the Peacekeepers and I'll drop you!"
"We pass now!" The Peacekeeper was even more agitated. "NOW!"
And, before any of us could react, there was the single, sharp crack of a pistol firing.
The little girl's head exploded as she dropped lifelessly to the ruined street.
And the whole world erupted all around me.