“The virus.”
“Yes, the virus. And before you ask me how I know, it’s obvious to those of us who can read a map. You aren’t just building communities. You’re building a perimeter, and a safe zone from which you’re going to launch attacks on whatever it is that’s driving this disease forward. Aren’t you?” he asked.
“It’s that obvious?”
“It is to a soldier. Maybe not as much to an engineer, but to those of us who break trail and patrol, yeah—it’s obvious,” Fenton said.
“Someday,” I said, trailing off into thoughts of a clean world with free people and a life worth living. I hoped to see the fruits of my labors, but I would have to be lucky and good. Maybe lucky and great. Both were excellent goals.
“Someday is now, Jack. We’re on the move, and your people, too. There are five communities and that number will double in three months. In a year, you’ll control an area as large as two of the old states. I know you’re thinking three or four moves ahead, but I’d be lying if I didn’t say that taking Kassos scares the shit out of me, especially with these Procs running wild.”
“They’re not running, but I get your point. We’ll crack that Proc like a nut and find out what to do next, trust me. I’ll open my own veins before I’ll put people in harm’s way without a clear plan,” I said.
“I know, and that’s why we’re standing here and not in the Chain. I believe you, Jack.” He rubbed his thick hands together, grinning. “Now let me show you my new girl. I call her Hope.” He put his hands on the paddles and pointed the weapon up; as his skin made contact a light flared to life alongside one of the twin barrels. The gun was bigger than a shotgun, but smaller than an antiaircraft weapon. It was sleek, dull metal, and it radiated menace.
“Why Hope?” I asked.
He winked. “Because if she gets pointed at you, you’ve got none.”
I laughed softly in the pre-dawn air, then our comms both chirped in unison. The driver’s voice came out with alarming clarity. “Forty minutes to the Chain. Sun will be full up, and there’s squalls hustling toward us from the southwest.”
“Understood,” Fenton said.
I rotated my face and felt the first stirrings of a bullying breeze, carrying scents of rain with it from behind us. Our timing would be excellent, and as if to confirm my opinion, lightning split the sky behind us, then raced along the horizon in a series of blinding flashes.
“Rough one, I think,” I said.
“Not for us,” Fenton said with a touch of smugness. “Takes more than a little rain to make us nervous in our hole, but those wolves might not like being out in it, surrounded by a strange device.” His eyes lit up at something in the distance, and I saw the blinking light of a Condor as it raced past us to land inside the open bay where we would park. “Birds are coming down.”
“Will we roll straight inside?” I asked.
Fenton shrugged. “No reason not to. There’s no such thing as decon, and we know everyone here. This heap wouldn’t get within five klicks if it was stolen. The internal sensors alone would cook off and kill whatever idiots chose to come aboard. Aristine was adamant about active and passive security on everything we send out into the world. Easier to control what comes back down into our secure area that way.”
“Just when I think she can’t get any smarter, she does,” I said, shaking my head with admiration.
“She thinks the same of you, but you’re just more, ah . . . linear about it,” Fenton said with great diplomacy.
I nodded in approval at his terminology. “Linear. I like that.”
“It sounds better than saying you tend to kill everything in your way,” Fenton said.
“Fair enough.” I couldn’t argue. If anything, Andi, Aristine, and the rest of the women in my life were teaching me that every problem wasn’t a nail, although it was easy to delude myself into thinking like a hammer. I flexed my hands and looked down at them, wondering, for just a second, what people would think of me after I was done building something to leave behind.
“You’re not a tyrant, Jack,” Fenton said with the accuracy of a mind reader.
“I hope not. Tyrants tend to end up dead.”
18
“What do you think?” I asked Valor, who stared, open-mouthed at the expanse of forest spreading out before us. The soft lights and water sounds added to the aura of being in another world, punctuated by bird calls and frogs chirping from a bed of nearby ferns. The air was perfumed with life, cool, and far easier to breath than the warm winds outside.
“I—I’ve never in my wildest dreams imagined such a place existed. And here, under our feet all along,” Valor said in shocked awe. “And you say there are many of these? In the Chain?”
“There are, and we’ll show you all of them,” Aristine said. “We have fish farms, farms, labs, and any and all kinds of tech dev that you can imagine. Some you can’t, too, and you’re most welcome to see it all. Your wolves are as well. They’ve caused quite a stir. Are they alright with being approached? Everyone will want to meet them, I can assure you.”
Valor shook her head as if clearing a dream, then smiled. “They do well in crowds when I’m present. Some of our villages have several hundred people.”
“Then we’ll keep the throngs to a minimum. Our troops are rallying from all over, and it will be days before we’re ready to move. Logistics is the engine of war, not courage,” Aristine said.
“Do we have any initial reports?” I asked.
“More Konnodar than we expected, but fewer of Tegan’s people have answered the call. I think that’s an issue for another day, but her river clans are too numerous to ignore in the future. As for now, they’re immersed in political intrigue that she needs to address—with you by her side, and Andi’s birds in the air,” Aristine said.
“And your Daymares,” I added.
“That too. A couple hundred, if I’m estimating, based on the mass of lands around the lakes and rivers that comprise her kingdom. Stoddard will advise us as to where we can find potential allies among her people, and when the time comes, you can decide if you want to expand that way”—Aristine jerked her thumb south— “or that way.” She pointed northeast, to the great areas of unknown land that bordered our land and Valor’s.
“I’m happy to help in any way. The lands to the east of me are—challenging, to say the least,” Valor said.
“I can imagine. Our satellite data isn’t good. There are collapsed dams and deltas attached to the largest river system on the continent, and it’s impassible without a navy. We don’t have a navy, but we have Konnodar, and if we were going to push east, that’s the next best thing,” Aristine said.
“Wait, Konnodar can swim?” I asked, bewildered at the idea of the huge animals in water.
“Can they ever—like fish. I didn’t believe it until I saw a patrol cross the river north of us. The Konnodar aren’t just good at swimming. They’re born to it. Those tails act as a propeller, and their front feet have just enough webbing that they have two sources of propulsion. They can cover a lot of water in a short amount of time, and fully loaded, I might add. We had soldiers, guns, and packs on them, and other than getting their boots wet, the rider stayed dry.”
“That changes things for the future, but maybe not for now. Kassos is landlocked,” I said. “We’ll be attacking overland, which is why we’re going in on three points. How soon can we convene a war council?”
“Here? Or at the Oasis?” Aristine asked.
“The Oasis. We need as many commanders in one room as possible, so that my intentions are crystal clear,” I said.
“And mine,” Valor added. “I have no intention of letting the scum of Kassos flood my lands like a plague.”
“Good to hear,” Aristine said, smiling. “Now, would you like your tour first, or sleep, or food? Or all three in some order I haven’t offered?”
“Tour first. When will your people begin working on the Procurator?” Valor asked.
�
��The lab is prepped now, but they’ll wait for me. Jack, are you in on this, or do you just want the results?” Aristine asked.
“I’ll be present for the . . . surgery,” I said. “Wouldn’t miss it.”
Aristine whistled, a shrill note that carried through the trees across to a suspended walkway. Someone broke away and began moving toward us, and when she got closer, I recognized Neve. Her blonde hair was in a thick braid, and her hazel eyes twinkled in the low light. She was smiling broadly as she picked her way over to us.
“Wolves,” Neve said in a low voice. “They’re beautiful.” She knelt but did not extend her hand, letting the animals come to her, sniffing. “I’m Neve.”
“This is Valor. They’re with her, and I take it you’re her guide for today?” I said.
Neve rose and kissed my cheek, then embraced Valor.
“I know who she is. Been waiting on her, and yes, I’m the guide. Do the wolves go with us for the tour?” Neve asked, in a tone that clearly stated she wanted the wolves along for the ride.
“They do indeed. Have her back tomorrow,” Aristine said.
“Tomorrow? How, ah . . . how large is this place?” Valor asked, a note of concern creeping into her voice.
“You’re about to find out. You’re in good hands. I promise,” I said, and Valor hugged me before allowing herself to be led away by Neve, who began peppering her with questions.
Aristine watched them go, and then a shadow passed over her face.
“What?” I asked in a low voice.
She shook herself. “Nothing, really. Just trying to get in the mindset for what comes next. One of my Daymares chatting about beautiful wolves, and now we have to go watch my people extract a world of secrets from some unknown evil. It’s jarring.”
“Let’s put our leader faces on, but I’m with you. I’d rather we knew everything already,” I admitted.
“Glad to know I’m not alone,” Aristine said.
I squeezed her hand. “Never. Let’s go see what our Procurator has to say, no matter how much we don’t want to ask. We have to know, and he’s going to tell us. It’s time to get it over with, and we can get to the main event.”
“You mean war?” she asked, with resignation.
“No. I mean freedom. At any cost, and it starts now, in that lab.”
We rode in an electric cart, weaving through trees with trunks three meters across and growing, if slowly in the low amber light of the closed system. I saw my first bats since coming to the Chain months earlier, their flickering wings so different from the birds who swooped along the paths overhead. The entire chamber pulsed with life, and we were on our way to possibly end one. I’d developed a strong stomach since waking up, but I’d need all of my faculties to keep myself as the fixed point in a room where our only goal was the extraction of information by any means necessary.
“I don’t like it either,” Aristine said, not looking at me. “We only take lives when we have to, and I have a feeling that this Proc isn’t nearly as dead as he looks.”
“I’m thinking the same thing,” I said, and then we arrived outside medical and the conversation came to the same halt as our cart. I schooled my features into something neutral but confident, and we stepped inside the facility built against the eastern wall. It was part lab and part surgical ward, with elements of a research area populated by serious looking people staring at a holographic projection of the Procurator strapped to an angled table.
“Take me to him,” I said to the entire room. When no one moved, I added, “now.”
“But, ah—there are issues of containment,” said a young woman with a severe bun and nervous hands.
“I lifted him with my bare hands, and I have next gen ‘bots in my blood right now. If that isn’t enough to protect me, then there are larger issues at hand than simply catching something he brought in from the wilds. It’s alright—take me to his actual location,” I told her, and she let her eyes flicker to Aristine, as she should. I was in overall command, but this was Aristine’s lair. I wanted her to retain control of her people for all the right reasons, and in turn, we would build the new world together. It began here, with us peeling the Proc like a grape if we had to.
The young woman’s blue eyes went left, and right, and then she looked at me again, waving her hand through the group to a pair of doors leading to the right. “Clean room. He’s in there. If you go in, do you want to question him?”
“I will. You have live feeds?” I said.
“We do,” the doctors all answered. They all watched me approach the doors with Aristine at my side.
“Good. Broadcast it live to all comms. I want there to be no secrets here. Understood?” I pushed through the doors without looking back, and there he was, trussed on the table like a hog at the butcher.
Unlike a hog, his eyes were open, and they followed me as I entered the room.
Aristine’s breath caught as she took his measure, but there was no way I was going let the bastard know he repulsed me. He was, in name, human, but there were changes to his body that reminded me of something. I snapped my fingers, trying to recall what it was, then it came to me.
“Now I know,” I said to the Proc.
To my surprise, he answered. “Know what?” His voice was deep and rough from disuse.
I approached, then gave him a long, measured look that told him exactly what the dynamic of our relationship would be. He was seven feet tall when standing, long, lean, wiry with muscle, pale as a ghost, and his eyes were the amber of a fine whiskey, shot through with unnatural white flecks.
He was nude, and there was something off about his chest, more than just it’s thin nature. When I leaned close, he spoke again. “Extra ribs, in case you can’t count. There are six, along with more muscle. They assist me in oxygenation, in the event that I ever have to run or perform physical labor.” His contemptuous tone told me those activities were beneath him, and in that statement, he revealed more than he intended.
His twinge of regret told me he knew it, too.
Maybe he expected to die, and that got the better of his judgment, leading him to speak out of turn, but I didn’t say a thing. I merely watched his chest rise and fall, thinking.
“Aristine, can you hear me?” I asked, knowing the room would have sound pickups along with video.
“Loud and clear, Jack. Do you want us to stay out?” she asked. Her voice had an astounding clarity, as if she was standing next to me, and seemed to project from the entire room.
“Yes, if you don’t mind. Keep recording, though. Everything,” I said.
Slowly, I began to remove my belt, my weapons, and my gear. I went to the medical station and washed my hands in the automated system, which sprayed a bright yellow foam over my skin that tingled. The foam vanished, and warm air blew over my arms, leaving me clean and sterile, I supposed, though it didn’t really matter for what I had in mind.
The Proc was far too calm for my tastes, but in my experience, liars often go too far. When he pointed out his extra ribs, he made his second mistake. I felt certain it would be his last.
I slid magnetic drawers open to reveal surgical tools, supplies, and tubing, all in orderly rows. Some of it had on obvious purpose; some of it was from after my time and had changed enough that its meaning was lost on me. It didn’t matter. I found the items I needed and rolled an elevated tray table toward the Proc. The tray moved silently on wheels that had almost no resistance; with the slightest touch it slid across the floor and bumped gently against the Proc’s holding place, the tools flashing with evil intent under the bright lights.
He smiled, and it was a thing of horror. He had small teeth, and too many of them, the palate of his mouth bone white and bloodless in a face that was still close enough to human to rattle me, but I shook that off and returned his expression with a wintry smile of my own.
“While I appreciate your need for theater, do you think you might get to the point? I find this whole scene rather dull, just like your
people. You dress like civilized beings, but you smell like a swamp and your hygiene is a distant memory. If you intend to torture me for your own stupid purpose, please get on with it. My time is valuable, unlike you,” he said.
“Torture? Who said anything about torture? I’m a soldier, and the leader of a free people. I don’t torture anyone. At least, I haven’t yet, and I certainly don’t plan on starting now,” I said, allowing him a look of mild disapproval.
His eyes narrowed at that. “So, you’re a liar as well as a torturer. Quite the officer you are.” His snort of disgust sounded strange coming through his narrow nose, but it made his emotions known.
“I don’t lie, either, so you’re wrong on both accounts.” I picked up a thin scalpel, the blade little more than a whisper of something that looked like steel but shone like glass. The handle fit my hand perfectly, and I tested the balance as any fighter would before looking the Proc up and down like he was a piece of fruit with a bad spot that needed cutting. I touched his arm, and he fought to recoil but failed, though his face remained impassive as stone.
“You may place the blade in my eye, if you’re wondering how to kill me, you vermin.”
“Shh. I’m trying to—ahh. There it is,” I said, looking at him but not moving to touch him again.
“There’s what?” he asked, and for the first time, there was actual uncertainty in his voice. He was far from human, but I knew worry when I heard it. And I heard it now.
“Aristine, if I give you something, can you have a Condor take it on a joyride and dump it in a river?” I asked.
“Of course. Weight?” she replied.
Future Reborn Box Set Page 87