The questioned doctor never answered, but pressed a hypo against Yezhov’s arm.
“I asked you what you’re doing?” the first doctor said.
The questioned doctor yanked down his mask. He grinned wildly, with drool leaking from his lips. Then he exploded. Pieces of flesh and blood, and plastic, smacked against the ballistic glass of the one-way mirror. Smoke drifted in the chamber, and from somewhere, a klaxon began to wail. The other two doctors and Yezhov, their bodies were torn and bleeding.
Hawthorne stared at the wreckage. Then he felt Mune’s hands on him, turning him, propelling him toward the exit. Two things kept drumming in Hawthorne’s mind. He’d tried to keep his word. He would have let Yezhov live. The other thing beating in his brain was that there was a hidden enemy among them.
-12-
Yezhov’s death leaked out, and that infuriated Hawthorne.
“It’s possible there’s a traitor among the bionic soldiers?” he told Mune, a week after the incident.
They walked in a botanical garden in New Baghdad, on the Fifth Level. The lamps overhead shined brightly and with heat. It caused Hawthorne’s shirt underneath his uniform to stick to his sweaty skin. A glance at Mune showed an undisturbed captain.
Hawthorne wondered if Mune resented what the surgeons had done to him. The captain had artificial muscles, his bones were laced with titanium reinforcements and his nerves ran through plastic tubes instead of their natural sheathes. Added glands secreted various drugs, giving him heightened reflexes, strength and the ability to heal more quickly than a normal man could. It surprised Hawthorne that he’d never questioned Mune about it. He’d taken so much for granted with the captain. Did Mune feel sympathy for the cyborgs or a connection to the Highborn? If Mune did not, might not some of the other bionic soldiers question why they continued to fight for the losing side?
“I’ve considered the possibility of traitors, sir,” Mune said.
Hawthorne frowned, noticing movement in the distance. Moving a frond, he spied a gleam of metal several hundred meters away.
Mune turned that way. “It’s a cybertank, sir.”
“I’m aware of what a cybertank looks like, Captain. Why is it here?”
“Security, sir.”
“Is this your doing?” asked Hawthorne.
Mune inclined his head. “I approved Specialist Cone’s suggestion, sir. You said she had first-rate clearance and that I had full authority concerning your security.”
“You’re correct on both counts,” Hawthorne said. “But a cybertank—this is the garden level. It’s almost seems obscene to have the cybertank’s treads clanking among the experimental plants.”
Mune glanced toward the cybertank, but kept any opinions to himself.
“Hmm,” said Hawthorne. “Cone’s right. I must maintain tighter security. I just hope all these extra guards doesn’t smack of cowardice on my part.”
“Begging your pardon, sir, but I wish you would show cowardice sometimes.”
“Captain?”
“It would make my task much easier, sir. You’re far too likely to enter a combat zone. Level Fifty-Three would be a good example of that, and your insertion into the assault on PHC Headquarters.”
“I must keep my hand on the pulse, and sometimes that entails risk.”
“If you say so, sir.”
Hawthorne opened the top button and pulled at his uniform, trying to let some of his body-heat escape. “Have you taken any measures among your men?”
“Loyalty tests, sir?”
“We’re not PHC,” Hawthorne said.
“I’ve made discrete inquires,” Mune said. “And I’m handpicking a group for you, sir.”
“What kind of group?”
“You need a guard team, sir.”
“I already have that.”
“When you enter a combat zone you have such a team, or usually when you enter one. My suggestion is that you maintain such a team at all times, giving them license to shot down anyone suspicious.”
“Hmm. Such a team can quickly turn into my jailors. I prefer you around me, Captain, and leave it at that.”
“I’m honored, sir. But the truth is that I might not be enough now. The ongoing campaign against PHC has turned ugly and desperate.”
Hawthorne turned away from Mune. Craning his neck, he looked up at the sunlamps. The heat felt good, even if it did cause his clothes to stick to him. He had acted too precipitously, he saw that now.
“We’re being squeezed,” Hawthorne said, as he let the sunlamp’s heat beat against his face. “Years of losing ground, as the Highborn tighten a noose around our collective throats—”
Hawthorne faced Mune. “I’m out of ideas.”
“I’m not sure I believe that, sir.”
Hawthorne looked back up at the sunlamp. “I’m not talking about tactical battlefield surprises, but original ideas that approach this from a new angle. Yezhov had ideas. He killed Highborn in a degenerate fashion, but it was new and frankly, inventive. As for me—we fought the Highborn to a standstill at Mars. It changed nothing. Earlier, we struck at the Sun-Works Factory, to little effect. My grand plans have delayed the enemy, but I’ve done nothing to reverse the direction of the war.”
“The Highborn have problems, too, sir,” Mune said. “We just don’t know what they are.”
“Don’t use my own words against me. That’s too depressing today.”
“You’ve implemented plans that have contested every inch of ground,” Mune said. “The emergency construction of more proton beams and the mass merculite missile sites were entirely your ideas, sir. Without you—”
“We must beat them back,” Hawthorne said. “I don’t know how to beat them back. Now everything threatens to unravel because I’ve started an underground war with PHC. I don’t dare let up or they’ll devour me on the rebound. The military will lose morale if I retreat. No. It’s them or me, and I intend to come out victorious.”
“I’ve thought about the attack on Yezhov, sir. Why would PHC personnel kill their chief?”
“He was going to tell me everything he knew, or the mind-scanner would have revealed it.”
“Begging your pardon, sir, but you’d just countermanded the order. The doctor injected him then.”
“The doctor might have injected Yezhov during the operation to ensure his silence. Since he thought the chance had passed, the doctor attacked when he did.”
“You saw the doctor’s face, sir. In my opinion, he was no longer rational.”
Hawthorne began to unbutton his uniform before he had a heatstroke. There was rot in Social Unity and it was growing. Maybe there had always been the rot, and maybe there was in any human organization. Now the endless defeats versus the Highborn and the growing pressure made the rot more noticeable. Somehow, he had to burn out the gangrene and then find a way to stiffen North American Sector.
Don’t lie to yourself, James.
He had to drive the Highborn from Earth orbit. That was the only true way to win the war. Yet how could he achieve such a miracle? The strongest SU Battlefleet remained in Mars orbit. Yet those remaining warships dared not travel here and face the Doom Stars a second time.
What were the cyborgs doing in Neptune? Had they attacked the Saturn System as some reports indicated? The cyborgs had attacked the Jovian System, but failed to take it. That was interesting for several reasons.
The cyborgs…there were altered people on Earth—proto-cyborgs. The proto-cyborgs had similar brainwave patterns as found in the SU Battlefleet after the Highborn retreated. Who had altered these people on Earth? The evidence pointed to PHC. The evidence was also mounting that cyborgs were here, and they were always dangerous to human life.
After wiping sweat from his face, Hawthorne fanned himself. He’d struck at Political Harmony Corps and found it to be like the hydra that Hercules of the Greek myths had battled. Each time Hercules had cut off a hydra head, another two had grown in its place. If he couldn’t kill PHC, he h
ad to call a truce with them. Which was the better decision?
“I need to call a meeting,” Hawthorne said.
“The Directors are clamoring for one.”
“I’ll talk with Danzig and Juba-Ryder, but none of the others.”
“The others will take that as a slight, sir.”
“Didn’t I tell you not to repeat my own words to me?”
“You did, sir. You also told me to always tell you the truth—that you trusted truth-tellers more than you did yes-men.”
“I wouldn’t mind a few yes-men now and again,” Hawthorne said.
“You would hate them, sir, and they would weaken your position.”
“Danzig and Juba-Ryder, call the two old Directors. I want Specialist Cone there, Crowfoot—” Hawthorne asked, “What’s the situation on Director Danzig?”
“Extremely comprising,” said Mune.
Hawthorne shook his head. “I’m getting slow and forgetful. Hmm. I’ll give you the rest of the names in an hour, and then I’ll see them tomorrow. Today….” Hawthorne stared up at a sunlamp. He needed ideas, but he was fresh out of them. Maybe the meeting tomorrow would jog something in him, but he doubted it. He dreaded the possibility that all initiative had left Social Unity for good. He dreaded the nearly certain truth that all he could look forward too was the relentless grind of defeat as he bitterly hung on for as long as he could.
-13-
Sharply at 6:13 A.M. the next morning, the meeting began on Level Three of New Baghdad. It was held in the Supreme Commander’s quarters. Director Danzig of China Sector and Director Juba-Ryder of Egyptian Sector joined Air Marshal Crowfoot of Earth-Air Defense, Security Specialist Cone and Field Marshal Mead of Missile Defense.
Two years ago in order to dilute the power of the Directorate, Hawthorne had shrunk each Director’s area of authority. Danzig used to run Eurasia and Juba-Ryder Africa. As the area under Social Unity control shrank, the number of Directors had risen to three times the former size.
Captain Mune attended, sitting in back. Outside waited three more bionic soldiers, part of Hawthorne’s new personal security team.
***
From the Supreme Commander’s biocomp transcriptions, File #3:
The meeting opened with a long, detailed report by Cone on the conflict between Hawthorne’s security teams and renegade PHC murder-squads. Next, Crowfoot spoke about the impossibility of airlifting critical reinforcements to North American Sector. Hawthorne made few comments on these reports. Army Chief of Staff Engel entered and reported on Eurasian and African readiness for Highborn invasions. He then took his leave, and the Supreme Commander began to comment.
HAWTHORNE: The situation is grim. Everywhere we are on the defensive. Yet we have certain strengths remaining, as pointed out by the Army Chief of Staff. We hold Eurasia and Africa in a fierce grip. It is the majority of the landmass on Earth, and Earth is by far the most important planet of the Solar System. We, therefore, continue to hold the critical real estate. Earth is heavily armed with proton beams, merculite missiles and point-defense cannons. We also have more trained soldiers than at the beginning of the hostilities.
MEAD: We have twenty times the number of missiles now.
HAWTHORNE: Yes, an excellent point. Unfortunately, it is also true that in order to win a war, one must do more than defend. One must attack. We last attacked at Mars, which happened much too long ago.
DANZIG: I’d like to comment on that, if I may.
HAWTHORNE: This is an open meeting.
DANZIG: We took a gamble then. It resulted in the destruction of a Doom Star. Yet it also resulted in the loss of the farm habitats. Mass starvation has badly shaken Social Unity. I wonder if here is the source of the hostility between PHC and yourself.
CONE: Hostility? It is an urban campaign fought in our cities like a civil war. We cannot afford it. (To Hawthorne) I suggest we call out the military instead of just using the security teams.
DANZIG: No! The tenants of Social Unity are clear. The military must never turn on the society or the society’s guardians.
CONE: PHC no longer guards Social Unity. They attacked the Supreme Commander, thereby attacking the chief representative of the people and abrogating their responsibilities.
DANZIG: When did this attack occur?
CONE: (To Hawthorne) With your permission, sir.
HAWTHORNE: (Nods affirmatively).
CONE: They attempted assassination through proxies on New Baghdad’s Fifty-third Level, during the Supreme Commander’s surprise inspection.
DANZIG: I was not aware of this.
CONE: Internal security has demanded a need-to-know basis.
DANZIG: But we’re talking about dismantling one of the critical pillars of Social Unity. We know the creed. The Party, PHC and the Military are the tripod that upholds the State. If we lose one leg, the State totters. Sir, I highly respect you. But now isn’t the time for a military dictatorship.
HAWTHORNE: I quite agree, Director. Social Unity is the glue that binds our society together. We need that glue more than ever. In the past, PHC has been the watchdog of our hearts. Unfortunately, an insidious infiltration has occurred in Political Harmony Corps. The infiltration began during the Battle for Mars. Each of you is aware of the cyborg treachery there. During the battle, the cyborgs gained mental dominance of key Fleet personnel.
DANZIG: What form of mental dominance?
CONE: Cybernetic implants.
DANZIG: Do you expect us to believe such—
HAWTHORNE: Director, please, I am aware that your security teams have gained access to secret files on the Mars battle. I am also aware that you have sent two family members to Star Chamber meetings with other disgruntled directors.
DANZIG: (A three-second hesitation ensues) I have the minutes of those meetings, sir. Tomorrow, at the latest, I was going to turn those minutes over to Specialist Cone. Their actions were and are deplorable. I sent two…family members in order to monitor their treachery. They are cunning people, and extremely paranoid. I believe they have infiltrated your communications net. I feared to alert you too soon, lest I lose access to their inner councils.
HAWTHORNE: You misunderstood me, Director. It’s true I desire knowledge concerning their thoughts, but not as a loyalty test to me.
DANZIG: You are too trusting, sir. Their words bordered on treachery. I recommend you send your bionic squads to their residences.
HAWTHORNE: You surprise me. I should arrest them?
DANZIG: Several of the stated directors wish to make common cause with Political Harmony Corps, and have sent high-level envoys to them.
HAWTHORNE: Which squads do you suggest I employ against them?
DANZIG: These directors have quietly strengthened their bodyguard services. It’s possible you’ll need maximum force to arrest them.
HAWTHORNE: You’ve given me excellent advice. Captain Mune, would you alert your teams and await my go-word.
MUNE: (Rises and leaves the room).
HAWTHORNE: I have—yes, Director Juba-Ryder?
JUBA-RYDER: I do not trust him, sir. (Pointing at Danzig).
HAWTHORNE: While I most certainly do.
JUBA-RYDER: If I could have a word in private with you, sir?
HAWTHORNE: (Shakes head) I have called this meeting for several reasons. We have discussed one of them. The second item is the Highborn. Specifically, how can we tear the initiative out of their hands? They have relentlessly continued their assault on Social Unity. While it is true that Eurasia and Africa can hold out indefinitely, if we are to win the war, we must go on the offensive. Through the years, I have initiated several offensives. I would now like to open the floor to any novel ideas any of you might have.
DANZIG: These are military matters, outside our scope.
HAWTHORNE: You are incorrect, Director. The Party supplies the leadership to the State. Leaders must decide grand strategy. It is then the Military’s function to proceed with the plans using the best means possib
le.
DANZIG: I stand corrected.
CROWFOOT: We must gain mastery of orbital space. Without it, we shall never be able to launch sustained land offensives.
JUBA-RYDER: (To Hawthorne) Since you will not meet privately with me, sir, I most openly declare my distrust of Director Danzig.
DANZIG: (To Juba-Ryder) I wasn’t aware you had a vendetta against me.
JUBA-RYDER: I do not. But my security services have uncovered high-level communications between you and the Planetary Union bosses on Mars.
HAWTHORNE: (To Juba-Ryder) Come now, Director. This is unwarranted.
DANZIG: (to Juba-Ryder) You forget that I was the spokesman for Social Unity to the Martians.
JUBA-RYDER: Do you still hold this post?
DANZIG: I don’t understand what you’re trying to—
JUBA-RYDER: I lost three good operatives gaining this information. The reason is that you zealously guarded such knowledge. I want to know why these communications are so important to you.
DANZIG: You admit to spying on me?
JUBA-RYDER: We all spy on each other.
HAWTHORNE: (To Danzig) What is the Director talking about?
DANZIG: I assure you it is nothing, sir.
HAWTHORNE: Amuse us then with this nothing.
DANZIG: The Jovians, sir, they—ah, look, your captain has returned.
MUNE: (Reenters the chamber and nods crisply to the Supreme Commander).
HAWTHORNE: You have sent the order, Captain?
MUNE: I have followed your orders, sir.
HAWTHORNE: (to Danzig) You were saying, Director?
DANZIG: Your captain has ordered the attacks on the questionable Directors?
HAWTHORNE: That isn’t your concern, but mine. Now please, you were saying?
DANZIG: I’m feeling ill, sir. Do you mind if I consult with my physician?
HAWTHORNE: Do you need refreshments?
DANZIG: It’s a heart complaint, sir. I brought my personal physician with me. If I could consult her for a few minutes…?
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