Tool: Born for War, War for Bonds (Numbered Book 2)

by Magus Tor

  “I think it's time for us all to be honest with each other,” he said, taking his seat again. “There have been too many misunderstandings and too much miscommunication and mistrust. But,” he looked at Tara, “I think you're going to have to sit this one out.”

  “No,” said Aurelia immediately. “I don't think she does. You have no idea what she's done for us, and she deserves to know the truth. She deserves to know who her brother really is and to make the decision to join you if that's what she wants.”

  Elza eyed the young girl curiously. Jonathon bit his lip, shaking his head.

  “Look, let her hear. If she's half the person her brother is, she's going to be joining us eventually anyway,” said Elza. “If not, we can always wipe the memory if necessary.”

  “Fine,” said Jonathon, obviously far from fine with anything.

  “So, how did you find us, then?” asked Nicholas impatiently.

  “It became pretty clear that the only person who knew enough to get Nicholas rearrested was Jason. He overheard the com conversation when I arranged for your pick-up outside the dome, so he knew where you would be coming out,” said Jonathon to everybody. “We made a mistake in trusting him. Once we'd figured that out, it was easy. He found you through com records and a quick trip to the Arena, and we simply followed him. We knew he was watching you, and we planned to get you out as fast as we could. He took us a little by surprise tonight; we hadn't expected him to move so quickly. However, we were in the area.”

  “It was you, wasn't it?” Aurelia asked him. “That night when I was outside, I felt someone watching me. It was you.”

  “Actually, it was me,” said Elza. “We needed to keep an eye on you to make sure you weren't coming to any harm. Just as well we did, really.”

  Tara had stopped sniffing and was looking back and forth between Jonathon, Aurelia, and Elza, thoroughly confused.

  Noticing the girl, Aurelia said, “I think we'd better start from the beginning.”

  As Jonathon explained to his sister about his work in the Resistance, Aurelia watched as her face changed from surprise to pride in what her brother was doing.

  “But why didn't you tell me?” she said, when the explanation was clear. “I just thought you were a stuck-up, arrogant politician like everyone else. Why didn't you tell me what you were doing?”

  “You were too young and too unreliable,” said Jonathon. “And I'm not entirely sure you're ready to hear this now, but circumstances have dictated that you need to know, so you're being told.”

  “There's one thing that I don't understand,” Tara said. “Who are you?” She was looking at Aurelia.

  “Ah,” Jonathon replied for her. “I think it's time that you met properly. Tara, this is my...”

  “Girlfriend,” said Aurelia. “I'm his girlfriend.”

  Tara grinned. “Really? But... you know, the Clone?”

  Aurelia shook her head. “Just a plan to get us out; Nicholas and I aren't together.”

  Aurelia thought she was the only one who noticed the light in Nicholas's eyes fade as she spoke.

  “And what exactly was that plan?” Jonathon asked.

  Aurelia and Nicholas quickly filled Elza and Jonathon in on what their plan had been, emphasising Tara's role in the scheme. In the end, Jonathon nodded thoughtfully.

  “Not bad,” he said to his sister. “I see why Aurelia thought you might be an asset. Sweet, short, simple planning. Nice.”

  Tara beamed. On the inside, Aurelia was beaming too; it looked like the family breach was about to be healed. Though, she thought to herself, if they'd been honest with each other in the beginning, as family members should, they'd never have become estranged in the first place.

  “So Jason tracked us from my com record,” said Aurelia, getting back to the original point.

  Elza nodded, her blonde hair as perfectly coiffed as usual. “Not tough to do; he did a little detective work. But to be fair, we gave him a lot of the pieces ourselves. We took it for granted that he was trustworthy because he was so damn likeable, and think of all the things that he's seen in the last few weeks. It was only a matter of time before he put all the pieces together. We thought we might head things off at the pass by recruiting him to work for us first, but as it turns out, his greed for power and money was greater than his need to do good.”

  “I did like him,” said Aurelia. “And trusted him too.”

  “We all did,” said Jonathon, “so don't feel bad.”

  But she did, just a little. And sad that he'd been stupid enough to sacrifice himself in this way, to let his personal needs overcome those of others. Now he’s dead, and it’s a waste, she thought.

  “So now we're pretty much back where we started,” Nicholas said, sitting back in his chair. “At least, I am.”

  Aurelia couldn't help but agree with that. Nicholas had started out right here in Jonathon's basement, and now here he was again.

  “But something has changed,” the Clone said quietly. Getting up, he approached the desk and held out his hand. “Sometimes we trust people just because they're likeable, even though we have no real reason to,” he said, grasping Jonathon's hand in his own. “And sometimes we don't trust those that we should, even though we have plenty of reasons that we should. Jonathon, you have my apologies. I doubted you, and I was wrong.”

  Jonathon squeezed Nicholas's hand. “I appreciate your apology,” he said. “Though in truth, I understand why you acted as you did. You don't need to explain yourself more.”

  Nicholas looked at him for a moment and then turned to face the rest of the room. “I do,” he said. “I need to explain myself because I've come to a decision.”

  Suddenly Aurelia knew what he was going to say, and her heart pounded.

  “It's time that I turned myself in,” said Nicholas.

  No one said a word, and he sat back down in his chair, prepared to hear their arguments but definite in his decision.

  “No,” said Jonathon.

  It surprised Aurelia that he was the first to speak. She would not argue, herself. She had no right to now. Having turned Nicholas down and yet again chosen Jonathon over him, she didn't feel that he would listen to her, anyway. But her stomach sank at the thought of being without Nicholas in her life.

  “Yes,” said Nicholas. “Yes, it's time. You have all done so much for me, more than I deserved. I have risked all of you as well as myself, and it's time for all of this to be over. Without me, you can concentrate on your political goals; without me, you can go about your work. I have risked enough, and it's time to end this. And that means I go.”

  “What about your work?” said Jonathon. “What about your causes, your goals?”

  Nicholas shook his head. “There are other who will carry on.”

  “Elza,” said Jonathon. “Perhaps you could take Tara down the hall. She looks like she could use a clean-up and maybe a cup of something hot?”

  “Of course,” said the blonde woman. “Come on, Tara, come with me.”

  The two women left.

  “I said it was time for honesty, and so it is,” said Jonathon when they were gone. “Nicholas, you and I have not seen eye to eye, and I think we may have been competitive over more than just our original beliefs.” Both men turned to Aurelia, who felt uncomfortable under their gaze. “But now we need to let these other things go and concentrate on what is important.”

  Nicholas said nothing, but he looked like he was prepared to hear Jonathon out.

  “There was a time when I thought that Clones were lesser men,” Jonathon continued. “It was an attitude that I was brought up with, but one that I should have been intelligent enough to overcome. But it wasn't until I met you, heard your arguments, saw your passion, that I began to reconsider things. Nicholas, I can't forbid you from turning yourself in, but I can tell you one thing. There are people that need you. You have a brilliant mind as well as passion for something that you believe in. The world needs someone like you, and without you we will all
be less.”

  Jonathon stared into space for a moment before going on. “You and I are a lot alike; we are both men who believe deeply in our causes and are willing to do whatever necessary for our beliefs. And personal differences aside, I have watched you. I have seen your bravery, seen you bleed just as I do, feel just as I do, laugh just as I do. I have seen you love just as I do. And those are the things that make us human.”

  Nicholas bowed his head.

  “And the conclusion that I have come to, Nicholas, is that both of us would be better men and more successful in promoting our causes if we were to work together instead of against each other.”

  The room was silent. Aurelia watched them. Jonathon sat, his arms resting lightly on his desk. Nicholas still had his head down, and she couldn't see his expression. The tableau remained for what seemed like hours before Nicholas finally looked up. He nodded, just once, his face hard.

  “I give you the Military,” he said.

  “And I give your people freedom,” said Jonathon.

  A match made in heaven, thought Aurelia wryly, wondering why the hell it had taken so long for the two men to see eye to eye. But she knew deep down that her presence had had a lot to do with it.

  “Aurelia,” said Jonathon. “Perhaps you'd be kind enough to join Elza and Tara for a while? Nicholas and I have a few things to discuss.”

  His smile was kinder than his words, and Aurelia knew that he was putting Nicholas before her deliberately to show the Clone that the issue of their little love triangle was over. She grinned back at him.

  “Glad to,” she said. “I'll see you both later.”

  Closing the door behind her, she walked down the corridor, listening for signs of the other two women. After a few metres, she heard the clinking of cups and opened a door to find Elza making tea.

  “Want one?” the woman smiled.

  “Haven't got coffee, have you?”

  “Sure.”

  Elza prepared another cup.

  “Where's Tara?”

  “Still cleaning up.”

  Aurelia stood first on one foot, then on the other, her legs tired. She needed to say something to Elza but wasn't sure where to start.

  “Er, Elza, I think I owe you something of an apology.”

  Elza grinned at her. “Seems quite the day for apologising,” she said. “What do you need to apologise for now?”

  Aurelia cleared her throat. “For not really trusting you enough,” she said.

  The woman laughed. “I didn't give you much reason to trust me, did I?”

  “Yeah, well,” said Aurelia, shuffling her feet. “I'd say that you've more than made up for that. But also, you were right; I should have spoken to Jonathon, and I shouldn't have made you do things behind his back. If I'd known what was going on with Jason, if I'd thought things through, then maybe I would have made better decisions. So I'm sorry for putting you in what must have been an awkward position.”

  Elza poured hot water into the cups. “You know,” she said, “Jonathon needs someone like you. Someone as strong and determined as himself. I think things are going to work out between you two.” She handed Aurelia a cup of hot coffee.

  “I hope so.”

  “It probably won't be the last argument that you have, though,” she said with a laugh.

  “Definitely not.” Aurelia smiled.

  “Want to take this to Tara? She's just down the hall.”

  Aurelia took the proffered cup of tea. “Sure thing.”

  Tara was sitting on the couch in what had been Nicholas's room when he had been held in the basement. Aurelia passed her the tea.

  “Feeling a bit better?” she asked.

  Tara nodded. “A lot better.”

  Aurelia sat down beside her. “Given any more thought to that favour that you're going to call in?”

  The purple-haired girl smiled. “I'd say that giving me back my brother was pretty good payback, wouldn't you?”

  “Hmmm, I don't know. He can still be pretty arrogant, even if he is fighting for a moral cause,” teased Aurelia.

  Tara laughed. “Well, maybe I'll just hold on to that favour for a little while, then. Always useful to have a hold over someone, even if it is my sister-in-law.”

  Gods, sister-in-law? Aurelia hadn't thought of it like that. Once she'd rolled the term over in her mind for a moment, though, she decided she liked it.

  “You know, Nicholas was always so confused about why you would be helping us,” she said to the girl. “He couldn't understand why someone he didn't know, someone who wasn't being paid, would go out of their way and take risks for him.”

  “Well, it was pretty exciting.” Tara shrugged.

  “Crap,” said Aurelia. “That's not why you were doing it.”

  The girl looked deep into her cup for a moment. “Maybe you're right,” she said. “Maybe I did it because you needed help. It's that simple. There didn't seem to be anyone else around to help, so I did it.”

  Aurelia nodded. “I think you're a much better person than you've been given credit for. And a lot more like your brother than you might think.”

  Tara squirmed. “Gods, don't say that. I've spent most of my life hating him; it's tough to think that I might be his mirror image.”

  “Well,” said Aurelia, laughing, “it does make me wonder about one thing. What on earth are your parents like?”

  The girl's face turned hard. “You really don't want to know, trust me.”

  Aurelia was curious, but she let the matter slide. Meeting one family member was probably enough for now, she figured. She had plenty of time to make the acquaintance of the other Hansens.

  The sound of rough whistling came from the corridor outside, making both Aurelia and Tara look up. Who on earth could that be? There was a brief snuffling sound, and Aurelia felt sure in that moment of who would be outside. She opened up the door and saw a big black figure.

  “Bryn!” she cried. “What are you doing here?”

  The Clone turned around at the sound of her voice. “Looking for Nicholas; he called for me.”

  Tara had followed Aurelia out, and the two girls figured it was time to find out what was happening in that office, so they led Bryn to the door.

  A half hour later, everything was figured out. Bryn was to take Nicholas with him and make him one of the men in black, though in name only. His mission was primarily to keep safe and out of danger, but he would also be going Out to drum up support for the Resistance in the settlements.

  “There are more out there than you think,” grunted Bryn. “And plenty of 'em are disgruntled enough to join you.”

  “You'll look after yourself, won't you?” said Aurelia to Nicholas, who was already preparing to leave.

  He looked at her and gave his old, familiar grin. “Be a damn sight easier looking after myself if I don't have to worry about you coming after me and getting kidnapped.”

  She threw a gentle punch at his shoulder. “Idiot,” she said.

  “I'll keep an eye on him,” said Bryn. “There's plenty I've still got to teach him.”

  “Who knows,” said Nicholas. “Maybe I'll be able to beat him at chess by the time I get back.”

  Aurelia walked the two men to the front door. Once outside, Bryn diplomatically took a little stroll around the grounds.

  “I'll miss you,” she said.

  “Me too,” said Nicholas, gripping her shoulder. “But I'll be Out there; just get in contact if you need me.” He held up a com. “Jonathon gave me this. I'll be a button press away.”

  “Will you be gone long?” Aurelia asked, now talking for the sake of talking, putting off the inevitable moment when he would leave.

  “I don't know,” said Nicholas. “But if you need me, I'll be here. I promise.”

  She smiled up at him. “You once told me that I should be careful about who I tell you to hurt. That it might be someone I love,” she said.

  He nodded. “It's not an order to be taken lightly,” he said.


  “I know.” She paused. “Nicholas, please don't take this the wrong way. I'm not saying this because I'm able to give you orders. I'm saying it because I trust you, I trust you to make your own decisions, I trust you to decide what's best. And because I want you to be able to decide things yourself.”

  He looked at her curiously.

  “Nicholas, I order you to hurt anyone that you feel it's necessary to hurt. Do you understand?”

  He gasped a little. “Aurelia, are you sure? You can take that back; all you have to do is say that I can't hurt anyone and it'll be undone.”

  She shook her head. “No. That's not right. You needed the order, so I gave it. But the responsibility is now yours to do with as you wish.”

  He pulled her to him, enveloping her in his arms and holding her tight. So tightly that for a minute she couldn't breathe.

  “Thank you,” he whispered.

  She disentangled herself from his arms, trying hard not to show how much emotion she felt. “You should be going.”

  “Damn right,” said Bryn from behind her.

  “How do you do that?” she said.

  “What?” asked Bryn.

  “Just appear suddenly out of nowhere?”

  “Remind me and I might show you some time,” he said with a gap-toothed grin. “Come on, Cadet, time to get out of here.”

  “Cadet, my ass,” grumbled Nicholas. “Gods, this is going to be a long trip.”

  Aurelia went back inside, closing the door so that she didn't have to watch them walk away.

  When Jonathon found her sitting in the living room later, her tears had dried, and she'd helped herself to a drink. She didn't think he'd mind, and suddenly she'd felt a yearning for the deep warmth that the whiskey gave her.

  “Where are the others?” she asked when he came in.

  “Tara went up to her own rooms, and Elza went back to the hospital to take care of things there.”

  He poured himself a drink and came to sit next to her on the soft couch.

  “Did you mean what you said earlier?” he asked. “About being my girlfriend?”

  Aurelia took a burning sip of her drink. “If you still want me,” she said quietly.