Robinson shook his head. “He was the paragon of courtesy.”
Saah smiled again. “And your girl?”
At first, Robinson thought he meant the mute sister, then he realized he was talking about Friday.
“My wife is fine. Thank you for asking.”
“Wife you say? And a child on the way. Bully for you. You must always appreciate the good things in life when you can. You’ll never know how long they’ll last.”
Saah crossed to the desk and slid Robinson’s pistol from its holster.
“Impressive. Did the people from the city give you this?”
“Yes.”
“It doesn’t fire bullets?”
“Sound.”
Saah aimed it at the back door.
“You can’t fire it. It’s coded to me.”
“Really?” Saah said. He aimed the gun on Robinson, but Robinson showed no fear. Saah handed the gun to Viktor and said, “Find out how it works.”
After, Saah knelt close to Robinson as if he was studying him. Robinson considered making a move then, but he noticed a two-pronged device in the man’s hands.
“I pursued you for over a year. Wanting vengeance so badly I could taste it in the air. And yet, no matter how close my dogs of war got, you always managed to stay just out of reach. I confess, it nearly drove me mad. But fate, it seems, had something else in store for us.”
Saah removed a piece of paper from his pocket and unfolded it on the ground in front of Robinson. It was an old map of the military base that would become the City of Glass.
“Where did you get that?” Robinson asked.
Saah smiled. “From a friend of yours. She extends her greetings, Bobby Boy.”
“Joule,” Robinson whispered, shocked. “You met her.”
“Met. Interesting way to put it. You have a way of making enemies, Robinson. Though I confess, I wasn’t an initial fan of her program to begin with either. The first thing she did upon my arrival was dump me in cold storage for what I assumed would be a very long rest. But fate has a curious way of interceding in these things. It almost makes one believe the Gods of old are real. Imagine my surprise when I awoke a short while later and was tasked with bringing you back to her.”
“And what did she offer in return?”
“My freedom, to start. Though I readily admit it was the army of potential servants on ice that sealed the deal.”
Robinson looked at the gore in the pen. “Bad luck for them.”
“Oh, these aren’t from that offering. These are of the local variety. See, as good as Joule’s proposition was, it paled in comparison to what she, and by extension you, led me to instead.”
He tapped the paper at Robinson’s feet.
“The City of Glass,” Robinson said, understanding.
“Was it everything you imagined? All that knowledge and power in one place?”
Robinson considered what he’d seen there. He couldn’t deny it.
“I knew it!” Saah laughed. “Once again, providence proves a cunning temptress. For most of my life I’ve dared to ask the question, what cost greatness? How ironic that it is you who taught me the answer. Sacrifice. That’s the price of any significant endeavor. And the bigger the sacrifice, the bigger the prize. You see, Robinson, I am willing to give up the one thing my heart most desires, killing you, for control of that City. But to do that, I need you to tell me how to get inside. What are their capabilities? What are their defenses? Tell me everything.”
“You’re mad,” Robinson said, “if you think I’d ever help you.”
“Oh, but you will,” Saah said. “You see, I haven’t forgotten what happened that day at the Clutch. The look on your face when I activated the FENIX only to see it explode in the sky. It wasn’t relief. It was surprise. You thought I’d succeeded, which meant you believed the activation code you gave me was real. Tell me I’m wrong.”
Robinson couldn’t. Saah had stumbled onto his greatest shame, and now he was lording it over him.
“I imagine it’s a hard burden to shoulder. And I do wonder what your father would think if he knew his son was willing to set fire to the world all for the love of a single savage girl?”
“At least my actions were for something. Jaras died for nothing.”
Robinson expected Saah to hit him. Instead, he reached out and touched Robinson’s cheek, revealing a green vial hanging around his neck as he did.
“Jaras died because of you,” Saah said softly. “As did Tessa and my wife. But I am willing to put all that aside in exchange for your help. In return, I give you my solemn word—on the souls of my family—I will set you and your savage wife free.”
Robinson could see Saah meant it.
“Even if I could help you, their defenses are too good. To get past them, you’d need a real army.”
Saah chuckled before nodding to Viktor. “Show him.”
Viktor walked to the large doors at the rear of the barn and slid them open. Out of the blackness, an odor of human sweat and waste rolled out along with the sound of shuffling. Robinson felt anxiety boiling in his belly. Saah prodded him up with his weapon.
“Go on,” Saah said. “See for yourself.”
Viktor held a lamp aloft as Robinson plodded forward. He had seen barbarism before at the hands of the Bone Flayers and Renders. This was far worse. Filling the room were scores of people huddled together in the rankest of conditions. Men, women, and children. Their clothes torn, their flesh rent, their faces vacant, but their eyes fixed in unimaginable terror. That’s when Robinson realized, these people were aware of their surroundings but completely controlled by the devices implanted in their heads.
“Here is my army,” Saah said as he stepped next to him. “A legion of conscripts, bound to a singular will. Relived of volition. Incapable of fear. Fodder for the great battle to come.”
“What have you done?” Robinson gasped.
“I have become Charlemagne. Alexander. Khan. I am Vishnu, the Destroyer of Worlds.”
Saah put his own pipes to his lips and blew a clear note.
“Rise, my children! Rise and let me hear your voice! Let the old world and the new know what waits in the shadows!”
Robinson watched in horror as the group rose to their feet and began to howl, bay, scream, and cry. Saah laughed with delight. Even Mr. Dandy was mesmerized. Robinson covered his ears, afraid the sound might drive him to madness.
He turned to look away and that’s when he saw it. One living thing not caught in the Master’s thrall. It sat on the floor of a small cage near the barn doors. It too had a blunt mechanism sewn into its skull. Yet this creature’s eyes were aware. There was pain there, surely. But also sentience. And hate. Robinson knew those eyes well.
He would recognize the alpha anywhere.
Chapter Forty-Four
The Vial
Robinson lay on the floor of his cage, head pounding, unable to sleep. He was surrounded by Saah’s monstrous army, listening to the murmurs and whimpers of those poor beings trapped inside their own flesh.
Across the barn, the alpha paced in her cage. She had remained focused on Robinson since they’d first locked eyes. For once, Robinson didn’t begrudge the attention. She was the one thing that took his mind off the tortured souls nearby.
Throughout the day, Cassa continued to shuffle prisoners in from some other location. They were frightened, wounded, and confused, but none of them had any idea of what awaited them inside that barn. One by one, Viktor performed his ghastly surgeries, sawing open skulls and implanting mechanisms in their brains without anesthesia. Through it all, Viktor remained to indifferent to the screams. Robinson didn’t know what was worse, those cries or the silence that followed when those devices were turned on.
The brutality didn’t stop there. Viktor also implanted armaments in his victims. The smaller ones bore crossbows or had gasoline-fueled projectiles sewn into their skin. The larger ones were fitted with rifle barrels and pneumatic projectiles with explosi
ve tips. A few were even fitted with flame throwers.
The speed with which Viktor worked was mind boggling. He seemed to operate on little sleep, yet he was mechanical in his precision. Only a couple of the control units didn’t take. All were done away except the alpha.
“Why keep it alive?” Robinson asked.
It took Viktor a moment to realize he was being spoken to. He looked up from his equipment, which he’d been cleaning after a full day of operations.
“Pardon?” Viktor said.
“The dog. Clearly your device didn’t take. Why haven’t you gotten rid of it?”
Viktor set down his tools and screwed the cap on a large, rusty can of acetone before placing it back on a shelf. Then he leaned back in his chair and scratched his beard.
“The master forbids it. It’s odd. The canine brain is so rudimentary when compared to the human brain. It should work and yet it doesn’t. The master thinks it’s because the dog’s will is stronger. Personally, I suspect he keeps it around because he wants to break it himself.”
“He’s mad, you know,” Robinson said.
“Without question,” Viktor said.
“Why do you help him?”
Viktor rubbed his scalp wearily. “Do you remember the picture house? Back in Cowboytown?”
“Three colors of celluloid, you said. Magic on a screen.”
Viktor smiled fondly at the memory. “The first time we showed one, everyone in town turned out to watch. You can’t imagine the look on their faces when that reel started to play. Such wonder and amazement. I’ll never forget it. Nor the way they looked at me afterward, as if I was a wizard that had conjured it from the ether.”
“Don’t tell me you’re doing this to be admired.”
“Do you see anyone here to impress?”
“Then I still don’t get it. What’s in this for you?”
“I grew up among the river clans. As a young boy, I was bought and sold many times. I won’t bore you with the unpleasantries, only to say I learned from a very early age that if you have nothing to offer, you are truly worthless. I couldn’t fight or lead, but I did have an uncanny knack for deciphering the ways of the ancients and the tools they left behind. Because of that, I have value.”
“Value,” Robinson repeated. “And what does that earn you? Luxuries?”
“You’re still thinking like an aristocrat. Remember where we are.”
North America. The Forbidden Continent. Robinson suddenly understood.
“Security,” Robinson said.
“I thought I’d found it with Boss. Then you and your principles came along and ruined everything. When the Master found me, I assumed it was only a matter of time before we’d meet our end. But then I saw that despite his unsettled nature, he had a vision and an ability to spur people into action. Have I had to do some dreadful things since then? Yes. I’m not proud of that, but one does what one must to survive.”
“You’re a coward,” Robinson said.
“Unquestionably,” Viktor said, yawning. “Though as I recall, you’ve done some pretty horrendous things yourself. My hands might be dirty, but yours are far from clean.”
“Not like this. This,” Robinson said, indicating the mutilated people, “is an abomination.”
Viktor snorted. “This is no different than anywhere else. It’s the world we live in. I’ve done what it takes to persist. You will too.”
Robinson saw there was no getting through to him. He groaned, and a whine came from across the room. The alpha was still watching him.
“That dog hasn’t taken its eyes off you since you arrived here,” Viktor said. “If I was a betting man, I’d wager you two have some history. Too bad for it the master has plans for you tomorrow.”
Tomorrow. Saah had promised to give Robinson time to consider his offer. Clearly, that was up. When the morning came and he refused to tell Saah what he wanted to know … Robinson pulled at his shackles, but there was no give. His situation was bleak. Then he heard something go tap-tap-tap. He looked around but saw nothing. It came again. tap-tap-tap. The alpha looked up. Robinson did too. He felt hope flood into him as Scout inched across the beam overhead.
The mute sister had waited until the sentries rode over the eastern hill before taking them both out with arrows. After hiding their bodies and collecting the horses, she made her way to the fringes of the farm where mist hovered over the open field. She whistled low, and Scout gave a reply from the barn’s rooftop. But when she tried to cross the field, Scout flew in, chirping fretfully. The mute sister halted and looked curiously at the earth. Scout hadn’t wanted her to cross it. She picked up a rock and tossed it into the field. The ground shook, and the rock disappeared. She paused to consider what to do next.
Robinson stretched his legs and shook them from cramping up. He was still sore from his ride and knew he might need to move quickly.
When Scout reappeared, Robinson glanced up to the loft. Viktor slept on a small cot, a device in one of his hands. Robinson didn’t know if it was an alarm or a set of pipes to rouse Saah’s army. He would need to proceed quickly and quietly. He locked eyes with Scout and nodded toward the ring of keys that hung on a hook across the barn.
“Bring me the keys,” he whispered.
Scout’s wings thrummed as she flew across the barn and slipped the keys from the hook. Then she returned and dropped them in Robinson’s lap. The noise caused Viktor to mumble, but he did not wake.
Robinson squirmed until the keys fell onto the dirt. Then he turned until his fingers grasped them. The alpha growled. Robinson shushed her. To his surprise, the alpha lowered its head and continued to watch.
Robinson struggled to fit the proper key into the lock when he felt a hand on his shoulder. His body tensed. He turned to see the mute sister. His relief was immediate. After she freed him, he crept to Viktor’s desk to retrieve his weapons. The gun belt was there with his axe and sling. The pistol was not. He hadn’t seen Viktor with it and wondered where it could be.
The mute sister tapped him on the shoulder and pointed to two black, spherical halves of a device split open. He nodded, having seen it before. It was one of the drone orbs. The masked figure had brought it back with him so Viktor could study it.
Robinson considered dealing with Viktor first, but he was afraid scaling the rickety wooden stairs might rouse the man, and he’d get an alarm off before Robinson got to him. He whispered to the mute sister instead, “Saah first.”
As they crept past the alpha, she moaned, plaintively. Robinson had never heard the dog sound weak. Even she doesn’t deserve this, Robinson thought. He decided to return once he’d retrieved the vial and put the dog out of its misery.
Outside the barn, the mute sister held up her hand before shooting an arrow to the far end of the field where the beast quickly claimed it.
Robinson and the mute sister pulled up just outside the farmhouse. He inquired about the sentries. The mute sister held up seven figures, snapping three down.
“That leaves four,” Robinson said. “Was one of them riding a bison or wearing a mask?” The mute sister shook her head. “That one’s the captain. Saah’s inside here. He has the vial around his neck. I’ll head in and retrieve it while you keep watch. If you spot anyone approaching, tap on the glass.”
The mute sister nodded before giving her knife to Robinson. At the same time, Scout chirped atop a nearby tree limb. She too was awaiting orders.
“I haven’t forgotten you, girl. Once we’re done here, we’ll need to get out of the valley as quickly as possible. Find us the best route, will you?”
Scout chirped twice and flew off.
“Be right back,” Robinson said.
He entered through the kitchen where the smell of fresh bread assailed his senses and made his stomach grumble. In the parlor, a low lamp illuminated a room with antique table. Splayed out across it was the map of the old South Dakota military base. Lying on top of it was Robinson’s pistol. He reached for it carefully and sli
pped it into his gun belt.
The old wooden floors creaked as Robinson crept down the hallway. A narrow curtain of moonlight spilled in from a transom window at the end of the hall. Two of three doors were open, revealing empty rooms with old, made beds that seemed to have been transported from back in time.
The last door was closed, but Robinson could hear light snoring inside. He opened it quietly and saw a lone figure sleeping on the bed inside. It was Saah. He was lying under a single blanket, his mouth slightly ajar. The vial shimmered on the chain around his neck. An old scratched stein smelling of mead sat on the bedside table.
As Robinson stepped close, the floorboards groaned, and Saah opened his eyes.
“Who’s there?” he mumbled.
Robinson slid his axe out and was preparing for the killing strike when Saah spoke again.
“Jaras?” His voice was slurred and heavy with sleep.
Robinson felt a flutter in his chest. He refused to pity the man after all he’d done. It didn’t matter that Saah was unarmed. It didn’t matter that he wasn’t a threat. Even the sight of his vulnerable eyes searching the darkness for a loved one who’d never return wasn’t enough to earn him a reprieve. So, why was Robinson hesitating? He had killed men before. He had done so without hesitation or guilt. Yet something was staying his hand. He could see the vial around Saah’s neck. One swipe of the axe and he would claim it and his revenge. The price had been set. The oldest of compacts. A life for a life. But that wasn’t the whole cost, was it? He thought of the simple boy he’d been before he fled to this place. The happy days he’d spent laughing and running in the wolds, playing with Tannis, Tallis, and Slink. He would never be that innocent again. But his children could if he learned to put the hate he’d learned here aside. Those marks on his soul might never truly disappear, but if he was willing to choose a better path—one of decency and virtue—they might fade enough that they didn’t stain others. It was only then that his mother’s parting words came to mind. “You are far too young to bear this burden, but someone must. Knowing the choice is yours gives me comfort.” To save his humanity, Robinson lowered his axe.
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