Necrotic Earth

by SW Matthews

  “You ready?” he asked.

  Piper stood and pushed her chair in. “Let’s go,” she said. “Shouldn’t we tell Tuck?”

  “His commlink isn’t working, and my ankle hurts too much to walk up there. He’ll figure it out. Besides, he needs to get to work on dinner.”

  “So thoughtful.”

  “Hey, you’ll be happy he stayed when you’re hungry tonight.”

  “Yeah, yeah.”

  Chapter 24

  It was close to noon when two men in dark suits and dark expressions entered Kat’s hospital room. The first one, a thick man with closely cropped blond hair, scanned the room, then positioned himself beside the doorway. The second, a tall bald man, approached the bedside.

  “Katherine Hoff?” he asked.

  Doc and Rosie stood from the small couch by the window. “Katherine Barlow,” Doc said, “and I am Billy Barlow, her brother. This is my daughter, Rose. Who are you?”

  The bald man eyed Doc closely as he placed his right hand to his right ear. He remained silent for a moment, then lowered his hand and smiled.

  “My mistake, Mr. Barlow,” he said. “Mr. Cole would like to speak to you now.”

  Doc and Kat looked at each other, then back at the bald man.

  “That would be great,” Doc replied.

  The bald man nodded and moved to take a position by the window.

  “Can you do this, Kat?” Doc asked.

  She nodded. “We have to, Billy. We have to stop him.”

  He bent and kissed her forehead.

  Two more somber men in suits entered and assumed positions in opposite corners of the room. They were followed by another man, this one smiling broadly. He was thin, with sparse sandy hair combed neatly. His eyes were large and deep brown, his skin slightly flushed. When he saw Kat and Doc, his smile grew even larger.

  “Billy! Kat! Oh my God! It is so great to see you both!” He embraced Doc quickly, then reached down to grasp Kat’s hand. “It’s been years!”

  “It’s good to see you too, Sy.” said Doc. “I can’t believe you were in town when I called, or that I was even able to get through to you.”

  “I come home as often as I can. As soon as Jon gets here I’ll have to be secured, though. He’ll be out on the steps of the capitol building tomorrow afternoon, and I’ll be locked in the bunker underneath it. And my people know to always accept calls from the Braxton family.”

  “That’s flattering, Sy, but I didn’t tell them who I was when I called.”

  Cole smirked. “This is the twenty-second century, Billy. You can’t call anyone in the government without them knowing who’s on the other end before they answer. There is no anonymity.”

  “So our fake names are useless?”

  “It may help with the staff and casual bystanders, but the government always knows who you are—and where you are.”

  Doc shook his head, then gestured to his daughter. “Well, Sy, in case you don’t already know, this is my daughter, Rosie.”

  “An honor to meet you, sir,” Rosie said.

  “Great to meet you, Rosie.” Cole shook her hand, then turned to Kat with a sad smile. “I never thought I would see you again.” He stared at her for a long moment, a combination of relief and happiness on his face. “You have to tell me what happened.”

  Doc glanced at the four men stationed around the room. “Can we talk about this privately?” he asked.

  Cole looked at him coolly. “I trust these men with my life.”

  “Please?”

  Cole stared at him for a moment, then looked at Kat.

  “Please?” she echoed.

  Cole sighed and turned to a young man who had silently appeared at his side during the introductions. “Benji, have the guys take a post outside the room, then you can go flirt with the nurses or something.”

  The young man grinned, showing a perfect set of bleached white teeth. “Of course, sir,” he said with a smooth, confident voice. He walked over to the bald man. After a few quiet words, all five men left the room.

  “Thank you,” said Kat.

  “Of course,” said Cole. “Look, we all go back a long way. I know we haven’t seen much of each other for a few years—hell, everyone thought you were dead—but at the end of the day, I’m still the same guy who used to beg you for a date. More importantly, I am still your friend. Please, tell me what’s going on.”

  “You’d better sit down,” Doc said, pushing a chair toward the vice president.

  Cole sat. “Okay, let’s hear it.”

  Doc proceeded to tell his friend the entire story, starting with the rescue of Pol from the Denver research facility over a year ago and continuing through the events leading up to this very morning.

  When the story was over, Cole turned to Kat. “I told you not to marry that asshole.”

  Kat managed a weak smile. “You were right.”

  Doc motioned toward Rosie, who stepped forward and held out a small digital drive. Cole hesitantly accepted it.

  “That is a recording of my father admitting to everything I just told you,” Doc said. “It’s from last night, before the explosion.”

  Cole sat silently for a moment, then plugged the drive into the commlink on his wrist. The group listened to the entire recording before Cole removed the drive and placed it in his jacket pocket. “This is just… unbelievable,” he said.

  “I’ve never seen you at a loss for words, Sy,” said Kat.

  “Doesn’t happen often, I admit.”

  “Is there anything you can do?” Doc asked.

  Cole looked at Doc. “I don’t really have much power, Billy. I’m out of the loop on almost everything the president does. I meet with him about every two weeks, if he’s available. Today I just happened to be in Denver when he announced his speech, so now they have to secure me in a bunker while he’s in town, just as a precaution, but I probably won’t even see him today or tomorrow.”

  “But you can talk to him if you need to, right?” Kat asked. “You can set up a meeting and tell him what’s going on?”

  “I’m not sure that’s a good idea,” Cole replied. “I know Jon spends a lot of time with your father. Hunting trips, vacations at various Braxton mansions, it seems like he’s always around Mr. Braxton. He may be tied up in this more than we know.”

  “You think they’re working together?” Doc asked.

  “Jon isn’t a bad guy,” Cole said, “but he is a bit of an opportunist. If he’s working with your father, I’m sure he doesn’t know everything. Perhaps he’s just being compensated for looking the other way.”

  “Unbelievable,” said Rosie.

  “Do you know anyone in China?” Kat asked. “Someone we can contact to tell them what’s about to happen? To try to prevent it?”

  “I know their vice president, but he doesn’t have much power either. He really just handles some of the foreign affairs; he’s not going to have any say on military action. We really need to contact their president, or maybe the prime minister.”

  “How?”

  “The secretary of state would normally be our best bet, but…”

  “But what?”

  “Well… The rumor is that she’s your father’s mistress.”

  The room was quiet for a moment.

  “Veronique Chaloux is Dad’s mistress?” Doc asked, dumbfounded.

  Cole nodded. “For several years now.”

  “He’s certainly covered his bases.”

  “Then we go to the Chinese vice president,” Kat said.

  “I’m just not sure he can help, Kat,” said Cole.

  “We will give him irrefutable proof,” Kat said. “He’ll have no choice but to believe us, and once he believes, he will have no choice but to act.”

  “I admit the recording is convincing, but those things can be altered…”

  “We’re not just sending the recording, Sy. We’re also sending Pol.”

  “Pol?” Doc exclaimed. “What are you talking about? We can’t se
nd Pol!”

  “Think about it,” Kat said. “He’s highly intelligent and articulate. Once the situation is thoroughly explained to him, he’ll be the perfect ambassador for us. Plus, he’s living proof of our genetic engineering abilities—a twenty-something-year-old who looks like he’s four. Sending him will convince the Chinese of the validity of the recording—and by sending someone so valuable to us and our scientific research, it will also prove our sincere interest in striking an accord.”

  Cole considered this. “It could work,” he said thoughtfully.

  “But he just got home!” Doc said. “He’s safe now! He doesn’t need to get involved with this!”

  “He’s already involved, Billy,” said Kat. “And he’s at no risk. He’s virtually invulnerable. Besides, we have no one else to send.”

  “I’ll go,” Doc said.

  Kat smirked. “No offense, Billy, but you’re not exactly a great negotiator. You’d probably start crying.”

  Doc felt his eyes start to water. “I’m not afraid to cry, Kat. That doesn’t make me weak. In fact, I feel like it made me a better surgeon.”

  “I don’t disagree. But you wouldn’t be going over there to perform a pyloromyotomy, or to treat gastroschisis. You’d be going to negotiate with a hostile foreign government.”

  “She’s right,” Cole said. “The Chinese government is very analytical and reserved. They would view any type of emotional expression as untrustworthy and probably think the meeting was some type of distraction.”

  “You yourself have told me how smart and rational Pol is,” said Kat. “And you were amazed at how calm and unemotional he is.”

  Doc stared into the distance. “The poor boy had all of the emotions beat out of him years ago,” he said. A tear ran down his cheek.

  “He would want to help, Dad,” Rosie added.

  Doc sat down heavily in a chair, his fingers pinching the bridge of his nose. He sighed deeply and closed his eyes, trying to accept this apparently foregone conclusion. Finally, he said, “How exactly would this work?”

  “Sy will set up a meeting with…” Kat looked at Cole.

  “Vice President Zhen,” Cole finished.

  “Vice President Zhen,” Kat continued. “A secret meeting. As soon as we possibly can. It seems as though Dad is moving quickly with his plans, so we have to move fast too.”

  “But how do we even get Pol to China?” Doc asked.

  “I can help with that,” Cole said. “We have some high-altitude, high-speed drones that could get him there in a few hours. I had to use one once. They’re very fast. Unfortunately I can’t request one without raising a lot of suspicion.”

  “Who makes them?” Kat asked.

  “Braxton, of course.”

  Kat nodded toward the tablet computer used to control the voice generator on her neck band. “Rosie, will you grab that and come over here, please?”

  Rosie grabbed the device and moved to sit next to her aunt.

  “Now, let’s see that recording again,” Kat said to Cole.

  He fished the digital drive from his pocket and handed it to Rosie.

  “Oh, I get it,” said Rosie. She plugged the drive into the tablet and started working as the voice of her grandfather started playing.

  Doc and Cole just looked at each other, both unsure what was happening.

  After a few minutes, Rosie smiled, stopped the playback, and said, “That should do it! Say something, Aunt Kat!”

  Kat turned to her brother. “We have to stop him, Billy.”

  Cole and Doc stared at her wide-eyed.

  “Your voice…” Doc said. “You sound—you sound just like Dad.”

  Kat smiled. “I can order a drone to pick up Pol and it won’t be questioned,” she said in her father’s voice. She turned to Cole. “You need to contact Zhen immediately.”

  Chapter 25

  Gill stuck his head up out of the water. “It’s so deep!” he said. “And clear! I saw fish! Real live fish swimming around!”

  Pol and Leef were waist-deep, a few feet from where Gill had appeared.

  “You were gone a long time,” Pol said.

  “What kind of fish?” Leef asked excitedly.

  “Big ones! There’s a place out there where they’re gathering together by some dead trees. And there was a turtle!”

  “Really?” Leef said.

  Gill smiled and nodded.

  Pol laughed. “I told you it was fantastic here.”

  “You were right!” said Leef. “And the sand feels so good on my feet!”

  The sky was clear and blue and a slight breeze was blowing from the south as the three brothers played in Hourglass Lake. Their cousin, William Braxton the Ninth, also known as Bandit, was watching from the beach. They had begun swimming as soon as they were dropped off several hours ago, and they still hadn’t made their way to the cabin yet.

  Bandit was stripped to his underwear and reclining on the sand, drying off from his previous swim. “Are you guys getting hungry yet?” he called.

  “Oh yeah!” said Leef. “Yes, let’s eat!”

  As all three boys started toward the bank, Bandit stood and knocked the sand from his body. “What do you want?” he asked.

  “Everything!” Gill exclaimed.

  The boys laughed.

  “You stay here and swim. I’ll go get something.”

  “Okay, thanks, Bandit,” Gill said.

  Bandit made his way up the gentle slope from the water’s edge to the partially hidden cabin. The door was unlocked, and he entered to the low beeping of the comm station in the far corner of the kitchen. He walked over to the communicator and activated it.

  “Hello?”

  “William!”

  “Dad?”

  “Yes, it’s me. I’ve been trying to get in touch with you for an hour!”

  “We’ve been swimming all morning. The boys really love it here. I was just about to get them something to eat.”

  Doc continued in a calmer tone. “Well, I’m glad you’re all having a good time. I wish I didn’t have to call and interrupt, but I need to speak to Pol.”

  “Is everything okay?”

  “No, not really. Your grandfather has stepped up his game and is moving more quickly than we hoped. We’re going to need Pol’s help to try and stop him.”

  “Oh. Okay, Dad. He’s still down at the lake. Hold on a minute and I’ll get him.”

  “Thank you, William.”

  Bandit jogged back down to the beach.

  “Where’s the food?” Leef asked.

  “Still working on it. Pol, my dad called. He wants to talk to you.”

  “Uncle Doc called?” Gill said, sticking his head out of the water.

  “I want to tell him how thankful we are to be here,” Leef said.

  “What’s going on?” Pol asked.

  “He didn’t say, but apparently he’s been trying to get in touch with you for an hour.”

  The boys waded out of the water, and they all climbed the hill to the cabin. Pol and Bandit went straight to the comm station while the other two boys looked around.

  “Uncle Doc?” asked Pol as he sat in front of the communicator.

  “Pol! Listen, I’m sorry to bother you, my boy. I know you just arrived and haven’t even settled in yet, but we need your help.”

  “Okay.”

  “Hi, Uncle Doc!” called Leef from over Pol’s shoulder. “Thank you again for letting us come here. It’s beautiful!”

  “Hi, Leef. It is great, isn’t it?”

  “I saw fish!” Gill exclaimed, now hovering over Pol’s other shoulder.

  “You did?” Doc said.

  “Yes! Big ones! Way down deep!”

  “About fifty feet from the shoreline?”

  “Yes!”

  “You found my secret fishing spot! Those fish are called walleye, and they’re delicious. I’ve been sinking brush there for years to attract them.” A muffled voice spoke in the background, then Doc said, “Right, so we
need Pol to help us. To stop your grandfather.”

  “To stop the war?” Leef asked.

  “That’s right. We have a contact in China who may be able to help us, but we have to send someone to go talk to him in person. We thought Pol would be the most convincing.”

  “Of course I’ll go,” Pol said without hesitation.

  “Are you sure, Pol? It’ll be dangerous.”

  “I’m not worried about any danger. If I can help, I will.”

  “Can’t we all go?” Gill asked. “I want to see China.”

  “Me too,” said Leef. “But I know it can’t be as beautiful as it is here.”

  Doc hesitated. “Well, we thought you two would want some time to adjust to your new lives. To enjoy your freedom for a while.”

  “If we don’t stop Grandfather, many people will die,” said Leef. “We will do whatever we can to help.”

  “If the boys are going, then I should go too,” Bandit said. “To watch over them.”

  More muffled conversation scratched through the communicator, then Doc came back on. “The drone we’re sending for you is only built to hold two people. We may be able to fit the three boys in there, but I don’t think you’ll fit, son.”

  “We’ll be fine, Bandit,” Pol said to his cousin.

  Bandit leaned down to the microphone. “How long will they be gone?”

  “The drone will pick them up in about an hour to bring them back here, then they’ll leave for China in the morning. After the meeting, they’ll come straight back here for a debriefing, then back to Lakeland the next day. So they should return to the cabin within forty-eight hours.”

  Bandit stood up straight and looked at Pol. The small boy was looking confidently into his cousin’s eyes.

  “Okay,” said Bandit.

  The boys looked at each other happily.

  “We’re going to China!” Leef said.

  “Two days ago we were asleep in a cage, and now we’ve been to Denver, and Lakeland, and now China!” Gill added.

  “We’ll see you in a little bit, Uncle Doc,” said Pol, ending the conversation. He stood and turned to his brothers. “Let’s get dressed. I have clothes here. They should fit you both.”

  Chapter 26