Hostile Territory

by Tom Andry

  "That was wrong," I muttered. "They had her in costume, the sons of bitches. In costume. Like that's who she was."

  "To many people, that's exactly who she was."

  "It wasn't like they were protecting her identity. Christ, they had her parents in the front row!"

  "And her name on the program."

  I turned to Alan," There was a program?"

  Alan nodded, "Check your pocket."

  I reached into my coat pocket. Sure enough, there was one. "Huh. Look at that." I flipped it open, "They didn't put me in it anywhere, did they?"

  "After the scene you made?"

  "Didn't stop them from holding this fiasco."

  "No, Bob. They didn't. I checked - your name isn't in there."

  I nodded and closed the program and rolled it into a tight cylinder. I couldn't concentrate enough on the words to read them anyhow.

  I squeezed the paper at the center, the program deforming in my fist, "What now?"

  Alan sat back, "We wait, I suppose. The wake isn't for another couple of hours."

  "They are having a wake as well? Did they invite the whole world again?" I couldn't keep the anger out of my voice.

  "No. The one with Wendi's parents. It'll be small."

  "I'm not going."

  "You just told them you would."

  "Well, I'm not."

  "It would probably mean a lot to them."

  I stood, hitting the rolled program on my metal thigh, "Well, I'm not going, okay?" I yelled, "I don't care."

  "Bob," Alan's voice was measured, calm. "Everyone grieves in their own way."

  "On national fucking television!" I screamed, tears ripped from my eyes, "Is that how they grieve? Because..." I turned away, my throat tight. I swallowed, blinking my eyes clear, "I'm not going."

  "Fine. We won't go."

  "Good."

  A few cars drove by. A bird landed on the grass, pecked at the ground and flew off.

  "And why can't I grieve in my own way too," I shook my head. "They get to have their way, but I just have to go along with it."

  "I know it seems that way..."

  I spun, my face red, "Seems! Seems? They didn't listen to a thing I said. Not a single thing. They just all sat there and made their damn decisions about what Gale would have wanted. But they didn't know her like I did. No one did. But don't listen to Bob. They were divorced. She's a different person now."

  Alan just sat there. Watching me.

  "She wasn't different. She wasn't. I knew her," I pointed at my chest. "I knew her better than anyone and they wouldn't even listen to me." I turned away again, my hands clenched. "It isn't fair."

  "No, Bob. It isn't."

  I sniffed. My nose was running. I didn't have a tissue. Who would forget to bring tissues to a funeral?

  "I'm not going."

  "I understand."

  "Okay. Just so we are clear."

  "Crystal."

  "Thanks." I looked up at the sky. It was cloudless. Had been for days. "What am I supposed to do now, Alan?" I turned back to him. "What do I do?"

  Alan shook his head.

  I sat down next to him, my head in my hands, staring at the shoes Gale had given me in the Super City. He put a hand on my back between my shoulder blades, the touch sending small arcs of pain across my back. I sort of relished them. My mind was racing. All I could see was the last few minutes of Gale's life. Over and over again. Everything I could have done, everything I should have done.

  I sat back with Alan, watching the sky. The Super City was gone. It had been for days now. Days? I couldn't remember. The news had been playing it continuously. Pictures of what everyone thought was the Super City covered in a blue field. Then the field had slowly faded. As it did, a huge, mountain-sized rock about one third the size of the original City came into view. It was ringed with large engines. The engines that Ted had been looking for. The ones that Gale had said she was sure had been constructed. In a wink, the rock and engines had disappeared, just like the Super City used to when it moved from place to place. So far, no one had been able to locate it.

  That picture of the rock and engines had been plastered across the news. Over and over. People were concerned. What was that rock? Why had it been up there? Where had it gone? Most importantly, where was the Super City?

  The television talking heads were full of theories. But I knew the truth. Me. Rod. Alan. The Vice President. Other leaders and important people. The rock and the engines had been some sort of placeholder for the Super City. Siddeon needed to make the supers believe that the Super City was real and the engines were part of that. Some scientists had hypothesized that the rock was used simply to trick any passing supers that may have had the power to sense such things. Others thought that it might be used as some sort of weapon. Siddeon had a reputation for backup plans. It made sense.

  But the supers? They were trapped underground somewhere. There was no use looking for them. Rod and the remaining supers had spent the last few days looking frantically for any super of any age that might be able to help them. Anyone.

  No luck as of yet.

  It didn't matter. Rod had tried to find the henchmen, but they'd disappeared. At least no one was hurt. Most hadn't even known they were being targeted, including, thankfully, Suzi.

  "I know this isn't the right time, but I have a question."

  "Yeah? From a reporter? Shocking."

  Alan laughed, "Yeah. Well, why? Why didn't you kill him?"

  I thought back to that room. My office. How I should have melted the face off of Doe...Siddeon. That I should have left him as a puddle. But something, at that moment, stayed my hand. Was it Nineteen? Was it the knowledge that I'd probably lose her forever? I didn't think so but I hadn't been thinking very clearly at the time and didn't feel any clearer now.

  I'd pulled the trigger, of course, and Siddeon had lost most of an arm. But they'd had no problems stabilizing him. Rod had picked him up personally. Rod dragging him out of my garage was all over the news as well. I wasn't sure anyone would see him again. Now that they knew his power.

  "Honestly, I don't know." I sighed, "I was numb. In shock they said. But I just didn't."

  Alan nodded. Thinking. "Do you wish you had?"

  I turned to him, "Off the record."

  Alan smiled, "With you, Bob, everything is off the record. No one has a record that long."

  I managed a smile. "Alan, and I mean this. If I could go back. Do it again. I'd kill him slow. I'd make him suffer."

  Alan nodded as I spoke. He licked his lips, "Seriously? You really think you could?"

  I turned away. "Right now? Yes." I dropped my head, "Tomorrow? I don’t know."

  "I understand."

  I felt the flask pushed into my hand. I pushed it back, "No thanks."

  Alan looked shocked, "Really?"

  "Yeah. They'll probably have free booze at the wake. No use wasting mine."

  Alan didn't comment. We sat there until people started filing out.

  * * *

  "How was it?" Mind's voice was the same as always. Businesslike and impersonal.

  "It sucked. It was a funeral."

  "And the wake?"

  I shrugged. It had been better. They'd had a separate showing. She'd been re-dressed in something more normal. But the eyemask was still on. They couldn't get it off without cutting her they'd said. I'd drunk too much and Alan had to help me out before I made a fool out of myself. Even now, hours later, I was still having trouble focusing. Using one eye at a time helped.

  "Bob, do you want to do this later?"

  "No," I snapped. "Let's just finish it."

  Mind continued to give me directions. After a few hours, and a pot of coffee, I stood. In front of me was a construct of metal and wires. It resembled an iron shoebox with four prehensile hands extending from long arms at each corner. The hands each had two fingers and a sort of thumb. There was nothing that I could identify as a head. I opened the panel in the center of the construct and p
ressed the power button. The panel shut on its own and melted into the surrounding metal. After, it looked as smooth as a single piece.

  The construct pushed itself up onto two of its hands. It flopped over onto the other two and handsprung across the room. After a minute or two of it doing this and various other movement tests, it cartwheeled over to a wall and plugged itself in.

  "Satisfied?" I called out.

  "Very," Mind reported. "This will make things considerably easier around here."

  I exhaled, "Good."

  Behind me, the TV switched on. I turned.

  "...eiving images now. Yes, it looks like the supers have reappeared. Again, this is amateur video shot by a vacationing couple in southern China. As you can see, the supers seem to be coming out of what appears to be a cave or cavern near what looks to be a small river. We've been informed that Force and the rest of the supers are en route. But, from what we can see, there are dozens if not more survivors."

  I frowned, "They won't find Ted."

  "Monitoring communications now."

  I shook my head, "He's not coming out."

  "You think he sacrificed himself to save the others?"

  I couldn't help but laugh, "Ted? Give me a break. Down there in that City with all that technology...you couldn't drag him out."

  "How can you be sure?"

  I allowed myself to sink into the couch. My back hurt, "I just am."

  "The consensus from the survivors is that Ted saved them. He took control of the system and figured out where they were. He even organized the digging."

  "Of course."

  "They are saying he stayed behind to make sure the tunnel didn't collapse."

  I shook my head, "That doesn't sound like the Ted I know...knew."

  "Knew?"

  "We had a bit of a...falling out. I'm not sure how it'll affect him. Ted never was one to let bygones be bygones."

  "There are still some exiting. He might still appear."

  I smiled grimly. "Ted," I whispered under my breath, "I'm sorry."

  "Bob," Mind continued, "really, thank you for finishing the project. I don't know why you went through all this."

  I stood and walked to my bedroom.

  "Gale only died four days ago. The funeral was this afternoon. And you've barely slept. You've done nothing but work on the project for me since you returned."

  I pulled out a duffle bag. I started rifling through my shelves and drawers.

  "It isn't that I don't appreciate it, but...Bob, what are you doing?"

  "Packing."

  "Packing?"

  "Did I stutter?" I growled.

  "But you are packing nothing but money."

  I glanced down at the duffle bag. I'd placed every cent I had hidden around the apartment in it. "You're right. I should probably bring a change of clothes."

  "Bob? Where are you going?"

  "Away."

  "Away where?"

  "Away. I'm sure you'll figure out where."

  "Bob? Why?"

  I stopped. My blood beating in my ears, "Why? Now that is a good question." I turned back to my packing, "I have another good question that may help you answer yours. Why, Mind, did Gale have to die?"

  "I don't understand, Bob."

  "I think you do."

  Mind paused. She actually paused. Was that guilt? Was the program trying to convince me it was having a hard time answering? I didn't buy it. Not for a minute.

  "You know the conditions of me being here."

  I laughed, "Yeah. I do. I don't reveal your presence or else."

  "I'm here because no one would look for me here."

  "Siddeon did."

  "That's not true, Bob. He was interested in the defenses. He never made the connection to me."

  I stopped, my voice low, "You killed her."

  "I did no such thing."

  "You let her die."

  Mind didn't answer.

  I shook my head, "I'm leaving."

  "Bob, please. You must understand. If I had intervened, she would have known. I couldn't do anything without risking everything we've built here."

  "Oh, I understand. I understand everything clearly. You could play the 'not quite as dumb as he thought' computer system for Siddeon, but not to save Gale."

  "She would have known," Mind pleaded. "Siddeon never had any experience with me. Gale did. She would have known."

  "You don't know that," I yelled. "You can't know that."

  "The probability was very high. Too high."

  "Shut up," I waved a hand at the wall. I started to pace, fuming. "I was up there. All alone. That stupid Mulitkey didn't do anything."

  "That wasn't my fault! You plugged it into a bathroom."

  "It was the Goddamn Super City! Everything was near a computer. You should have been able to take over that system in an hour."

  "I couldn't get a signal past the teleportation field. You can't blame me for that."

  "You'd be surprised what I can blame you for."

  "Bob. Please. Don't leave."

  "Just...stop talking."

  Mind actually obeyed. I finished my packing and lifted the heavier-than-I-expected duffle by the strap. I put the strap over my head and hung the duffle off one hip.

  "I could have sent her away, you know. I had that option," I muttered, softly.

  "Why didn't you?"

  "For the same reasons you let her die. Because she would have been suspicious."

  "What are you saying, Bob?"

  "I'm saying that I trusted you! I trusted that you'd do the right thing if it came to it. That you'd never let her, or anyone for that matter, die to save yourself."

  "I...I don't know what to say."

  I paused, thinking, "You've been wondering about your past. About if the stories are true. That you are really a super that somehow melded with a computer and not some sort of sophisticated program." I swallowed a lump, "I vote for program."

  "Why?"

  "I'd hope that a human would at least consider the lives of others."

  "Siddeon wouldn't."

  I laughed, "I'm sorry, are you justifying your actions by identifying with a sociopath?"

  Mind didn't respond.

  "I'm out of here."

  "So, you built my construct so that I could do...what?"

  "Whatever you want. Just don't answer the door."

  "That was thoughtful. It will be helpful."

  I started to walk out.

  "Are you going to take the earpiece?"

  I glanced back toward the bathroom. I'd left the earpiece on the charging station in there. Would I need it? I certainly didn't want it. I could just call my home phone. Mind would pick up. Wouldn't that be enough?

  "Please."

  I looked up. "Are you begging me?"

  "I don't want you to go."

  I glanced down the hall toward my office. "I can't stay here."

  Mind paused, and then said, "I understand. But take the earpiece. Just in case."

  I frowned. She was using one of my catchphrases against me.

  But damned if it didn't work.

  "Okay."

  * * *

  Epilogue

  I sat in my car, hands on the steering wheel, my knuckles white. The top was down and the engine was idling, the keys dangling off a plain ring. The only thing that wasn't ready to go, apparently, was me. I knew that Mind could still see me; I hadn't left the garage. Hell, she'd probably follow me until I left the city. After that, without all the local systems under her control and with the lack of cameras, she'd have a hard time finding me.

  At least for a while.

  "You've packed a bag."

  I jumped at the voice. Next to the passenger side door was a grey-cloaked figure.

  "Chevalier. Wow, you got here fast."

  "Are you leaving?"

  I turned away, the gate to the garage drawing my eye, "Yes."

  The door opened and I turned as she sat, pulling her cloak around her.

 
; "What are you doing?"

  She turned to me, her face featureless in the gloom of her hood, "Fulfilling my duty."

  I shook my head, "Your duty?"

  "I promised to keep you safe. I plan on doing just that."

  "But I thought that was just on the Super City."

  She turned forward, drawing her scabbarded sword out of her cloak and holding it with a gloved hand in her lap, "I failed you on the Super City. I must make amends."

  "But..." I let the objection drop. She hadn't listened to a thing I'd said on the Super City, she sure wasn't going to start now.

  I didn't want a companion. I didn't need one. I just needed...

  "Where are we going?"

  I took a deep breath, "I was just wondering the same thing." I chewed my lip, "I have a friend. Had a friend. I'm not sure. She said she didn't know me anymore. Over the last few days, I've been thinking." I chuckled, "A lot of thinking. About everything that happened. About Gale...Wendi's death. And the more I think about it, the more I think about what I did and why, the more I realize that she was right. She doesn't know me anymore. And neither do I."

  "So you are going to find yourself?"

  I couldn't hear any mocking in her voice but I still winced at the phrase. "I don't know if I'd say that. I just need a change. A chance to figure it all out. Away from all this," I waved my hand.

  "As you wish."

  I took out my flask and flicked the top off with a practiced motion of my thumb. I brought it to my lips but stopped. I opened the door and slowly poured the liquid onto the ground. I replaced the top and threw the flask over my shoulder and into the backseat.

  When I turned, Chevalier was again looking at me.

  "Interesting. This friend of yours. The one that doesn't know you. She have a name?"

  "Liz."

  "Liz." Chevlier nodded, "She must be very special to inspire such change."

  I dropped my head. I hadn't considered that. So many things I hadn't considered.

  I ignored the comment and pulled the car out of the garage and pointed it toward the nearest highway, "How long do you plan on sticking around?"

  "As long as it takes."

  "Might be a while. Thinking isn't dangerous work."

  "I'll take my chances."