Theta (41 page)

“
DC Mama. Cute,” I said.
“What do you call the real Mama?”

“
NOVA Mama,” she
snapped.

The insurgents lowered their weapons. One of
them reached over to open a door.

Leandra darted through, while I moved more
slowly, glaring at the four insurgents. The door closed behind me,
and I paused on the other side. I was expecting more tunnels or
perhaps, compartmentalized pockets of underground rooms and
chambers, which the army had discovered before.

The underground city, however, resembled a
small town complete with roads, buildings, and electricity powering
massive lights lining the walls to create a sense of daylight.

My first thought – none of my intelligence
indicated the underground city was this huge and well equipped –
was quickly replaced by the hair on the back of my neck rising. My
visual examination could wait. I had to deal with the ten
insurgents whose weapons were trained on me.

“
We need a medic,” Leandra
said to one of them. “Mama’s hurt.”

Without waiting for a secondary command, a
soldier darted off, into the city.

She faced me and planted her hands on her
hips. Her expression was one I recognized from Theodocia, right
before she drew her weapons.

“
I brought you your leader.
That should grant me some preferential treatment,” I
said.

“
I don’t think she’ll
exactly be overjoyed you’re here, no matter what you
did.”

Sensing the hostility in those around me,
and gauging my chances of surviving a fight were decent but not
guaranteed, I carefully lowered Theodocia to the ground at my feet
then stood and began removing my weapons with deliberate movement
to keep the insurgents from opening fire.

I pinned Leandra with a look. “Do what you
want with me,” I said and dropped two knives into the growing pile.
“But I’m the only person who knows where Mama’s son is. I don’t
have to tell you how unhappy she’ll be, if something happens to
him.”

I smiled, confident of my chances. It was a
solid bluff, because Theodocia and Tommy were both favored by the
same god. Dosy would have no trouble finding Tommy wherever he was,
with Thanatos’ help. But the woman standing in front of me, and
those with her, didn’t know any of this, which I was counting on to
provide me the leverage I needed to survive this encounter.

“
We can’t let you walk
free,” Leandra said after a tense silence. “You’ll be imprisoned
until Mama is awake. I’m pretty sure her plans for you will wipe
that smile off your face.”

“
Sounds good.” I had
endured worse than prison in my life. In the meantime, while I
waited for Dosy to wake up, I’d plan my next move.

“
Take him,” she directed
one of the insurgents.

“
On your knees!” the stocky
man belted.

I obeyed and placed my hands on my head. The
ring around me closed in. One of them slung his weapon over his
shoulder and handcuffed me with my hands behind my back. I sensed
the blow seconds before it landed. Another insurgent smashed the
butt of his rifle against the back of my head, and I dropped into
the state between awake and unconsciousness. I was aware of being
jostled, moved, and kicked but not able to pull myself out of the
state.

I didn’t fully regain my senses until the
movement stopped, and the coldness of a cement floor pressed
against my cheek. From the warm pain radiating through my body,
Dosy’s men hadn’t been content with simply jailing me. They’d taken
my earpiece, too. But I was confident I had all the information I’d
need to buy my way out of this situation.

My six-by-six cell was lit by a single light
bulb hanging from the ceiling and reeked of raw sewage. The door
was closed, though I heard the brush of a rubber sole against
cement from someone outside. I sat up and rested my head back
against the wall.

“
Hey!” I called. “Get
Theodocia!”

No one answered. I was pretty certain my ex
would want to talk to me in any case and closed my eyes. From
somewhere, water dripped. The circulation in the cell was poor, the
air stuffy and old. I was in one piece, my hands bound and
connected by a chain to the wall behind me.

Not long after I yelled, the door cracked
open, and my ex appeared.

“
You’re a real piece of
shit, Niko,” Theodocia said icily.

“
You’re welcome for the
rescue,” I replied with a smile.

She sighed, fed up with me already.

“
You find
Tommy?”

“
Of course I did,” she
snapped. “What were you thinking? Dropping him off in a cemetery
all alone?”

I relaxed, relieved. “He likes dead people,
and Thanatos likes him. I figured he was safer there than
anywhere.”

She opened her mouth, closed it, and then
shook her head. “Either that’s the most thoughtful, sweetest thing
you’ve ever done, or it was the stupidest.”

“
Funny how you can’t tell
with me, isn’t it?” I replied, unable to stop my smile.

“
What are you planning?”
she demanded. “Are your troops getting ready to attack
us?”

“
No. And yes.” My goal had
been to drop off Theodocia to her people in exchange for safe
passage out of the city, then to leave this forsaken area with
Tommy and live in a mountain somewhere, safe and away from
everyone. Now that I was a prisoner, I was working on a new
plan.

“
Was this part of some
elaborate scheme to find out where the bulk of the insurgency was?”
She was pacing, features creased in concern.

I snorted. “Nope.”

“
Then what?”

“
I’m a survivor, Dosy. You
know that.”

She stopped and faced me, frowning fiercely.
She was cleaned up and armed. Bruising marred her features from the
rough treatment she’d experienced at the hands of my boss. The
woman before me was tough enough to take a few punches.

“
Something happened,” she
assessed. “That’s why you moved Tommy last week.”

I wasn’t surprised he told her, though I
didn’t like the reminder I couldn’t do much of anything without
Theodocia eventually finding out. “I want to take him to safety
outside the walls.”

“
Outside?” she repeated.
“How is it safer out there?”

“
I’d love to tell you all
of Cleon’s secrets and the inner workings of his plans, but I need
some assurances.”

“
I knew you wanted
something!”

“
The same thing I always
want. To make sure my son survives this disaster.”

She chewed her lower lip, pensive. “Letting
you go would be a mistake.”

“
Letting me go, knowing I’d
protect our son, sounds smart to me.”

“
Out of the question. He’s
safe here.”

“
Sure. Until a certain
Oracle implodes and takes out DC,” I countered. “Or Cleon claims
her power and does the same. The safe zone is dying, and I don’t
plan on being here when it’s gone.”

She was silent.

“
I don’t give a shit about
your insurgency, your cause or your boss,” I added. “I’ve only ever
done what I do for Tommy.”

“
I know that, but I’ve
never – and will never – trust you, Niko. You’d turn on me for
enough money.”

“
Yeah,” I
agreed.

She drew a deep breath.
“You’re going nowhere, and you
will
reveal what I need to know about Cleon’s
operations, no matter what my people have to do to you to get the
truth.”

“
I can handle the fire,
Dosy. You know that better than anyone.” I rested my head back
against the wall again. “When shit hits the fan, you’ll know where
to find me, and you know my price.”

“
You’re not the only one
who can take care of our son,” she told me firmly.

“
But I am the only one who
will abandon every other cause, moral, and principal in existence
to protect him. I don’t give a shit about gods, politicians or
oracles or whatever it is you’re fighting for.”

“
I’m fighting for a better
world for everyone, including Tommy!”

“
Yeah, I don’t care,” I
said.

For the first time in twelve years, since we
first split up, I had the distinct sense she was hearing me, if not
considering my offer to leave and protect Tommy outside the walls.
Normally, we fought much harder, to the point we were close to
blows. I wasn’t feeling my normal animosity towards her. Not
because she didn’t deserve it, but because I was relatively certain
we both wanted the same thing for once, and she’d see that soon
enough.

“
We’re evacuating the city.
I might leave you here for your boss to find,” she said.

“
You want a piece of
information to prove I’m not here to do Cleon’s bidding? Fine.
Here’s a freebie,” I said, unruffled. “The military is launching a
missile attack on the Queen’s compound at dusk tonight.”

Her breath caught. “That’s in half an
hour!”

“
Then you probably want to
hurry,” I advised. “I might be willing to tell you one of
Alessandra’s visions in exchange for a decent meal and
water.”

“
Alessandra’s visions have
started?”

“
And they’re not good.” I’d
overheard Alessandra discuss them with Cleon. The whole compound
was bugged, and I personally oversaw the Oracle’s security. I knew
about Leandra long before they suspected I did.

Theodocia lingered for another moment before
striding out of the cell. As soon as the door closed, she shouted
for a messenger.

I had high hopes of being out of this cell,
and on my way with Tommy, within a few days. Once I told Theodocia
what was going on, I’d be resentful if she didn’t see the need to
move our son to safety. We both knew I was the best person to take
care of him in a world where survival depended on who was stronger.
As unusually calm as I’d been with this interaction, I was starting
to ratchet up again, to feel the urgency and need to act now to
ensure the safety of my son’s life. I could do nothing while
trapped here underground, and I fared a better chance of making it
out of the DC area if Cleon and Dosy weren’t both hunting me.

While I never dreamed of Dosy accompanying
Tommy and me, I was counting on Dosy’s insurgency to provide cover
for our escape, until we was several hundred kilometers beyond the
furthest military outpost. Only then would I feel completely at
ease being far enough that even Cleon couldn’t get to me. By that
point, he’d be fighting wars on two fronts: one with the gods to
secure the protected zone and one with the insurgency. I’d be of no
interest to him.

I shifted to my feet and stretched my sore
body the best I could. I wanted to be prepared for whatever
decision Dosy made: torture or a deal. Either way, I’d get what I
wanted. My greatest concern was leaving the walls before everything
here went to shit.

Several minutes later, the door opened
again.

“
Start talking,” Theodocia
ordered. “What has Alessandra foreseen?”

“
Only the end of the
world.”

She paused studied me briefly before she
entered. “You son of a bitch, Niko. You won’t just tell me what I
need to know to stop this, will you?”

“
It’s called negotiation,
sweetheart. The rest of the world isn’t as black and white as you
like to paint it,” I replied.

Theodocia punched me in the jaw. Ignoring
the flare of pain, I caught myself against the wall behind me and
pushed back to my feet. She straightened a strand of hair that had
fallen into her pretty features and then looked me in the eye.

“
What are your demands, and
what is the nature of the knowledge you possess about Cleon,
Alessandra, and the military?” she asked.

“
You might want a piece of
paper to write all this down.”

She pulled a notebook from a cargo pocket.
“I’m listening.”

For once, she really was.

I told her everything, and no part of me
regretted betraying Cleon, now that he couldn’t do a gods-damned
thing to help me protect my son.

Any word from
Adonis?
I wrote in Herakles’ notebook,
puzzled as to how the other living Bloodline member had disappeared
after going to meet Niko at the gate.

We walked through the motor pool for a
random inspection, checking to ensure the vehicles were being
maintained, lined up and in their assigned spots. It was close to
sundown, and I was growing antsy about hunting on my own tonight.
I’d yet to kill my own dinner. As instinctive as it was to fly and
twirl and soar in the sky, maneuvering through thick forests and
reacting to the sudden movement of prey was going to take me longer
to master. Adonis had been guiding me the past few days.

Herakles read the words slowly. “None,” my
trusted advisor said. “But the commanders have signed off on his
plan. We’re calling it Operation Troy.”

I wasn’t surprised. The plan was well
thought out and solid, and it would give us a distinct advantage we
wouldn’t have otherwise with our numbers.

Send word to Theodocia. If
Niko imprisoned Adonis, I want him returned.
I scribbled. My reasoning had as much to do with Adonis’
unique talent as it did my general distrust of Lantos’ lackey. I
wasn’t yet convinced Adonis didn’t have a secondary motive for
showing up at my camp when Lantos had spent weeks searching for
me.