Children No More-ARC

by Mark L. Van Name

  I found myself feeling the sadness. I'd forgotten how good he was. His posture was relaxed, his expression adapting to the questions. It was a natural role for him; the line between con man and media spokesperson was very thin indeed.

  "That's why Senator Wylak took it upon himself to create ChildSave using both his own funds and additional money he helped raise. ChildSafe recruited Ms. Lim and her team of noble volunteers. Together, they orchestrated the rescue and initial retraining of the boys. They had hoped to complete the process here, but with the current high rebel threat level and with the safety of these children always his primary concern, the Senator made the tough call that they should finish on another planet."

  Wylak stared at the ground, shook his head, and chuckled.

  "Will the back story hold?" I subvocalized to Lobo.

  "As they were settling," he said, "Jack and Maggie sent me a long comm with the enhancements Jack's made while we were apart. I've altered the records accordingly and will upload them the moment Wylak lifts the comm blackout. It should hold long enough."

  Time to find out if Wylak was ready to play.

  I bumped Lim's shoulder, pointed to Wylak's hand, and with my right palm made a small lifting motion.

  After a second, she nodded, smiled, and lifted Wylak's hand into the air.

  "Let's hear it for the Senator!" I yelled.

  Jack applauded. Several of the reporters joined him immediately. The others began clapping as well.

  Wylak shot me a sideways dirty look before he faced the crowd. He nodded shyly, as if embarrassed. As the cheers continued, he let a smile blossom on his face and waved his thanks.

  Jack and I hadn't had time to work out comm protocols, so I had no easy way to tell him about the signs inside. He should recognize that they could help solidify the story and distract the newstainment crowd, but I didn't want to take any chances. "If you can communicate with Jack and Maggie," I subvocalized to Lobo, "tell them about the clearing for the transport ships and the thank-you signs. Also, get the first transport on the ground in the complex."

  "I already did the background work," Lobo said. "Of course. Note Jack's mention of going inside. Communicating with the transports, Jack, and Maggie now."

  Jack studied Wylak for a moment, walked to the Senator, put his arm around the man's shoulders, and led him forward to face the crowd.

  I leaned closer to Lim. "Those two large transports will take you and the boys off Tumani. One will land now. Head inside and start loading the boys and your staff. We won't be coming back."

  "What about their possessions?" she said. "And, they're not ready. You know that."

  "Take what they can carry," I said. "Leave the rest. To make this work, we have to move now."

  "Who's paying and—" she said.

  I cut her off. "We don't have time for this. You need to get the boys out of here. I'll fill you in later. Okay?"

  She didn't like my answer, but she nodded and headed into the complex.

  "Go with her," I said to Bony.

  "I stand with you," the boy said.

  "I'll find you later," I said. "You have to go. Please."

  He nodded, turned, and ran after Lim.

  I focused again on Jack and Wylak.

  " . . . you can see, Senator Wylak is a bit bashful about all that he's done here," Jack said, "because like any true public servant, he knows that the greatest reward of service is the chance to continue to serve."

  Wylak nodded thoughtfully.

  "Still, before he answers your questions, he needs a few minutes to set up." Jack used his hand to turn Wylak toward me. I stepped forward, touched the man's elbow, and pointed to the complex.

  "Come with me, please, Senator," I whispered. "Wave, and smile."

  He did.

  We headed off.

  "Plus, the staff on the big ships behind you—" Jack said, pausing to let the crowd take some footage of the two transports, one hovering in the distance, the other already over the complex, "—need time to help the adults on the ground load the boys. That process will go fastest without our interference."

  The newstainment crowd moaned as one.

  "No way we're not capturing that!" a voice said. One of the shills was talking, but all around him the others nodded their heads in agreement. "A bunch of poor boy soldiers on their way to salvation; come on, that's—"

  Jack finished his sentence, saving the guy. "—a process that can provide vital information to other organizations. I completely agree. Still, as I'm sure you appreciate, none of us wants to be in the way or stand and watch such a long process, so I thought we'd take a few more questions out here, and when the Senator is ready and the loading is well along, we'll move inside, where he'll personally answer anything you want to ask."

  As Wylak and I reached the open doorway to the complex, Jack said, "Now, who's next?"

  Chapter 65

  In the former rebel complex, planet Tumani

  The first transport was settling to the ground as we passed through the doorway. Though I couldn't see all of the area we'd cleared, it looked like the ship would occupy two-thirds of it. That was okay; we'd still have room for Wylak's part of the Q&A. We turned right at the far edge of the nearest dorm and walked toward the clearing.

  As soon as we were out of sight of the people outside, Wylak pivoted away from me, shoved me into the side of the building with his left hand, and in one smooth motion pulled a pistol from under his coat and pressed it against my chest. His strength wasn't surprising, but his speed was.

  "You move," he said, "and I'll shoot."

  I stayed still. Though theoretically my nanomachines would repair even a hole in my heart, I'd never tested that theory. I didn't want to start now.

  "What's your game?" he said. He changed his angle slightly so the path from the outside to our position was visible to my left, over my shoulder; that way, he didn't have to look away from me to watch for visitors. His left hand maintained a tight grip on my shoulder.

  Talking was preferable to fighting and possibly hurting the man I'd turned into the celebrity of the hour. There was also always the chance that I might lose, which would be worse, so I answered him. "Exactly what it looks like. You become the hero who saved the child soldiers of Tumani. The kids leave the planet and ultimately get new homes."

  "What's in it for you?"

  "Helping the boys. That's it."

  "How much of my money did you steal to fund this so-called Foundation?"

  "None," I said, "and it's very much a real foundation. The financial history will stand up for more than long enough for all those newstainment groups to lose interest."

  He tilted his head and stared intently at me as if I were something bumpy and troubling he'd found growing on his arm. "You expect me to believe that you arranged and paid for all of this to save a bunch of boys you don't know on a planet where you're not even a citizen?"

  "I don't care what you believe," I said, maintaining eye contact with him, "but that's the truth." No way was I giving up Maggie or her group's involvement.

  "And the smooth talker out there?"

  "Jack," I said. "He's a documentarian and PR agent I hired." I smiled and added, "I told him I worked for you, so he believes you engaged him."

  "I've been recording this conversation and will feed it to Jack when he heads inside," Lobo said.

  "Speaking of which," I said, "I've contracted him and paid him only through the end of the day. If you want to keep him longer for the media follow-on pieces, you'll need to negotiate a new contract."

  Wylak smiled and shook his head. "Amazing. I suppose that's when you and he blackmail me."

  I didn't shake my head. I didn't want to give him any excuse to shoot or, worse, cause him to do it accidentally. "No," I said. "He's expensive, so you might have sticker shock, but I won't know about it or have any further contact with you. I'm leaving Tumani right behind these boys."

  "What about Lim?" Wylak said. "What was her role in this plan?"


  "She didn't have one. I didn't tell her. You saw the way she behaved; did she look to you like she knew what was going on?"

  He considered the question. "No, but that doesn't mean a thing. Why would you keep your plans from her?"

  "Precisely because of the way she behaves. You saw how quickly she lost her composure when you prodded her on your shuttle. I couldn't trust her to sell the story, and I also couldn't trust her team to keep it quiet."

  "So you did all this on your own?" he said. "Exactly who are you?"

  "No one who will ever matter to you again," I said.

  "But you're mine right now," he said, "and you have caused me a great deal of trouble." Most of what I'd told him was true, and none of it had to be bad for him, but that didn't mean he had to like my answers. He clearly didn't. All they'd done was make him angrier. His hand shook slightly with the rage he was barely controlling. "I could shoot you," he continued, "and claim you attacked me. No one would question me."

  "But then all those people would make my murder the story of the hour," I said, "instead of telling the tale of the heroic Senator who almost singlehandedly gave hundreds of boys new lives. The first headline can't help you, and it might hurt you. The second can make you the hero of Tumani and raise your profile in both of the coalitions that will eventually want your planet to join them."

  Though Wylak's hand still trembled, his words came out calm. "You make a good case."

  "Problem!" Lobo said. "Bony running toward you."

  I must have glanced left, because Wylak also looked that way in time to see Bony dart around the corner, spot us, and stop a couple of meters away.

  The boy stood as tall as he could, balled his fists, and said to Wylak, "You hurt him, and I will kill you."

  Wylak chuckled.

  "Go get ready to leave, Bony," I said. I tried to make my voice sound as normal as possible. "This isn't a problem. I'm fine."

  He shook his head. "Let Jon go." He took two steps forward, so he was little more than a meter from us. "You think I don't remember killing your soldiers, government man? Many died screaming under my knife."

  For a moment, I couldn't feel the gun on my chest or the hand gripping my shoulder, the morning sun's heat or the slight breeze. My world reduced to Bony, once again having to fight, despite everything Lim and her people had done, despite the plan working, within an hour of heading to a new, safe life. I'd failed him. In an instant, he'd gone back to the jungle, back to the darkness inside him.

  Wylak brought the gun up and into my chin, smacking me hard enough that for a few seconds I couldn't see straight.

  When my vision cleared, his left hand was pressing the weapon into me and his right was around Bony's neck, choking the boy enough that he had stopped resisting.

  "Jack and all the others are heading inside," Lobo said. "They'll be on you soon. I'm coming to get you."

  From behind us the sound of a lot of people moving and talking grew closer.

  My heart raced and my breathing sped up. I wouldn't let Wylak do this. Not to this boy. Not now. "Put the gun away," I said through gritted teeth, "and prepare to answer questions. Enjoy your fame." Without looking away from him, I raised my right hand and put it on the barrel of the gun. This time, my hand was the one that shook. "Or shoot me."

  I pulled the gun into my chest.

  Tears ran down Bony's cheeks.

  "If you hurt that boy," I said, "you will die. If you kill me, the men in my ship—the one in the air behind you—will kill you before my body hits the ground."

  "You're lying about the ship," Wylak said. "I can shoot you, choke the boy, put the gun in his hand, and use this sad case as an example of why it's best these killers leave our planet and seek help elsewhere."

  "No, I'm not," I said. "Let us go, and you can be the star of the morning. We'll leave, and you'll never see us again. Hurt either of us, though, and you will die. I promise you."

  Behind him and to the right, far into the middle of the compound, Lobo hovered above the huts. "I can take him out now," Lobo said, "though it's likely a round will go through him and into you, so I don't recommend it. Moving to a better angle."

  I shook my head and hoped Lobo would understand I was responding to him. To save the boys, I needed Wylak alive. I couldn't afford a government investigation into his death, because the first step in that process would be to keep everyone here. I leaned hard into the gun, hoping to distract Wylak from Bony.

  "They're almost here," I said. "Decide."

  Chapter 66

  In the former rebel complex, planet Tumani

  The sound of the crowd drew close enough that we could make out individual words. I didn't look away from Wylak, but I was aware of Lobo's motion behind him.

  "I have the shot," Lobo said.

  Wylak glanced to his right, toward the oncoming newspeople. He released his grip on Bony, nodded once, backed up two steps, and tucked his gun under his coat. He kept his weight distributed well and brought up his hands, ready for a fight just in case I'd been lying.

  Bony grabbed my arm and held on. He faced the barracks, embarrassed of the tears I'd glimpsed.

  "Nod if I should return to ground," Lobo said, "assuming you still don't want me to kill him."

  I nodded very slightly and quickly.

  "Fine," Lobo said, "but I'm keeping him in my sights until you're clear."

  "We're not done," Wylak said, "and I still don't believe you. No one goes to this much expense and effort without getting anything for it."

  "Yes, we are," I said. I pulled Bony closer. "And I get a very great deal from it."

  Jack rounded the corner. "Ah, Senator!" he said. "How very nice of you to wait for us. Shall we show these good people the charming signs the boys made for you?"

  Wylak smiled and said, "Definitely, Jack. Please take the lead so I can greet some of these fine folks." He waded into the group, shaking hands and saying hellos.

  Jack glanced at me, smiled, and tilted his head to the left. His message was clear: I've got this. Get out of here.

  I kept a hold on Bony and left.

  I didn't relax my grip on the boy until we were three buildings away and none of the visitors were in sight.

  As soon as I did, he stepped in front of me and said, "We could have taken him."

  I shook my head. "Not without one of us getting hurt, maybe dying. It wasn't worth it."

  "I saw your ship. You could have told the people in it to shoot him."

  "Yes, but it would have been the wrong choice."

  "Why? Man pulls a gun on you, you shoot him before he shoots you." Bony crossed his arms. "It's simple."

  Ten meters north of us, counselors were hustling boys to the transport. Some of the kids had nothing with them; others carried a single bag or a shirt folded to hold a few pieces of clothing or some small personal treasures. Leaving with nothing was awful, but not leaving would have been far worse.

  Gustafson and Schmidt led a group of a dozen kids at a trot to the ship. He spotted me, told Schmidt to keep moving, and yelled for Bony.

  I held up a finger and kneeled in front of the boy. "I'm not going to lie to you, Bony. Sometimes it is that simple—but not this time. That man needs to be alive for all of you to be able to get off this planet safely and find new homes."

  "This is my home."

  "Not any more. If you stay here, they'll make you into soldiers again. I can't accept that. You don't have to fight any more."

  "So I have to go?"

  "Yes, you do. In fact—" I pointed to Gustafson, and Bony glanced over his shoulder at the man, "—you have to leave right now."

  "Where are we going?"

  I shook my head. "I'm not going with you."

  "Why not?"

  A lot of answers ran through my head. Because I can't stay anywhere for long or people will figure out that I don't age. Because I'm no kind of parent. Because I don't know how to live in a group. Because I can never let anyone know all about me. Because peopl
e around me always seem to get hurt. So many reasons, all of them true, none of them complete. I went with the last one, an incomplete response but at least a true one. "Because none of you would be safe if I was there."

  "Then I'll stay," he said. Tears filled his eyes. "I'm with you. I stood with you. I earned the right to be with you."

  Bony's lips trembled, but he stood strong and loyal and just wanting somewhere to belong, someone he could count on. I knew exactly how he felt. My heart beat harder and my breaths came faster. My chest tightened. For a few seconds, I was sixteen again, on Dump, with Benny and Alex and Bob and Han and all the rest, a family I'd worked to join, all I had after the government had taken away Jennie—and they were all now dead.

  I put my hands on Bony's shoulders and stared into his eyes. "You can't. It wouldn't be safe. I can't let anything happen to you." He opened his mouth to speak, but I shook my head, and he stayed silent. "I fought when I was a boy, like you, and like you, I watched my friends die."

  "And you grew up fine."

  "No," I said, "I didn't. I grew up, but not fine, not fine at all. But you can—as long as you go with them." I cradled his cheek in my right hand. He leaned into it. "Bony, your fights stop now."

  He crashed forward into me and wrapped his arms around my neck and sobbed. His tears dampened my throat and hair. I put my right arm around his body, still so thin despite all the meals, and with my left hand I held his head. "It'll be better," I said, "after a while. It really will."

  "I don't believe you," he said.

  Gustafson walked toward us. "The first transport is almost full," he said, "and Bony should get on it."