True Son (20 page)

“Amma, you shouldn’t be here,” Gevri said.

She brought the horse to a halt but didn’t dismount. The horse eyed Jix with a wild stare, twitching its tail and nickering.

“Hello, Jix,” she said. “And Gevri.”

He couldn’t quite read the tone of her voice when she said his name. It wasn’t contempt, exactly. Something closer to disappointment.

She patted the horse’s neck. “It’s okay. Jix won’t hurt you.”

“You should go back,” Gevri said. “And try to talk some sense into Taemon.”

“There’s something you need to know.” Amma reached down to hand him something.

Gevri hesitated. Was this some kind of trick? While Taemon had been the one who had lied to Gevri during the time he’d traveled with the two of them, Amma had gone along with it. As much as he wanted to trust her, she was still a Nathanite.

“Take it.” She thrust the package at him.

Against his better judgment, he stepped forward, took the package from her, and pulled back the leather wrapped around it. “An old book?”

“I marked the place you need to read,” she said. “The past isn’t what you thought. It isn’t what we thought, either.”

The horse whinnied and stamped nervously.

“Read it. Get your da to read it. There’s a peaceful way out of this.”

“Lieutenant Sarin,” called one of the soldiers, “do you require assistance?”

Gevri locked eyes with Amma. He saw no fear, no anger. He saw trust.

“Negative,” Gevri called over his shoulder. When he turned back to Amma, she was leading the horse back to the Nathanites.

Two hours later, Gevri was sitting in the general’s tent. He was off duty for this rotation and had left Saunch in charge of the archon special unit.

“You’ve read what it says,” Gevri said, gesturing toward the ancient book that lay on the table between him and his father. “How can you say it doesn’t matter? Nathan didn’t cause the famine or take land from the Republik out of malice. He did it because he thought it was the only way to save the Republik from the Nau.”

The general tapped the book’s cover with his fingers. “Can you vouch for the authenticity of this book?”

“No, of course not.”

“That’s right,” the general said. “No one can. This is most likely one of their clever tricks, manufactured to suit their purpose.”

Gevri frowned. “How could they manufacture a book like this? That technology no longer exists.”

“The boy has psi,” the general said. “It’s certainly possible for him to produce something like this.”

Gevri opened the book, then leaned down to examine it. “It even smells old. I believe it’s real.”

“You believe it because you choose to believe it, not because of any real evidence.”

Gevri set the book down slowly and ran his hand down its spine. “All right, then. I’m choosing to believe it. And why not? It’s a way to end this conflict peacefully. Why shouldn’t we make that choice?”

The general took a long breath. “That fool of a boy tries to force my hand with this book and you expect me to back down?”

“The book changes everything, Father. It gives you a way out. You can announce that new information has come to light. You can explain that —”

“I will explain nothing!” Gevri’s father gripped the edge of the table and leaned forward. “I don’t understand you. I thought you’d finally gotten over the softness of your childhood. You’re a man now, son. A man doesn’t back down from the tough choices.”

Gevri could feel a slow burn rising in his blood. After witnessing the slaughter at the temple two days ago, he could not take part in anything like that again. How could his father do such things? Gevri would never be the man his father wished him to be. And he no longer wanted to be such a man.

Gevri struggled to keep his voice low and controlled. He stood and picked up Amma’s book. “Father, there is no honor in what you’re planning to do in the morning. Deep down, you must know that.”

“What do you know of honor, boy?” the general whispered.

“An honorable path has been opened to you, Father. We’re all counting on you to take it.” He turned to leave the tent.

“Dismissed!” the general called after him.

Gevri couldn’t sleep that night; he doubted anyone could, not even Jix. When the soft light of the morning and birdsong finally came, a solemn dread came along with it.

True to his word, the general strode out to the ridge at first light. Behind the wagons and carts that served as a flimsy barricade, some of the people stood bravely at the front of the crowd, hands clasped and heads held high. Taemon and Amma were among them.

The general did not ask Gevri to amplify his voice this time, but there was no need. Everyone quieted to hear the general. “Taemon Houser! People of Deliverance!” His voice boomed across the dewy grass that separated the two groups. “What is your decision? Will you join us against the Nau, or will you be destroyed this day?”

All eyes and ears were on Taemon. Gevri barely noticed Jix nuzzling his hand or Berliott tugging at his sleeve.

“Sir,” Berliott whispered, “something’s coming.”

Gevri grunted softly, patting Jix absently.

“It’s coming in fast, sir,” she said.

“What is?”

Berliott started to answer, but Taemon’s reply cut her off.

“Our choice is this,” Taemon said. He wasn’t amplifying his voice either, which made Gevri think the psi blocker was still working. “We choose to honor Nathan’s agreement with the Heart of the Earth, that psi will not be used to destroy humankind. We call upon you to honor that choice.”

“Be it so,” said the general. He raised one arm. “Take aim!”

A cacophony of sounds erupted. From the Republikites, the metallic sounds of guns readying to fire; the treads of the tanks grinding, moving into position, their turrets rotating as they took aim at the enemy. From the Nathanites, crying, shouting, screaming. But there was something else, a sound that sent fear racing through Gevri’s veins.

He turned to Berliott. “Copters?”

She nodded. “The Nau are coming.”

Gevri stood up and shouted this time: “Copters!”

The heads of all the soldiers snapped upward, searching the sky.

A moment later, they appeared: Nau copters swooping overhead. They strafed the soldiers at the front of the lines, the bullets driving the soldiers back.

“Retreat!” called the general into the radio. “Into the trees for cover!”

Jix ran ahead. Gevri called his archons into a tight formation, then exercised dominion to create a shield that covered them, just as he had done when they escaped from the prison. “Stay close,” he told them, “and follow Jix.”

Gevri saw a tank explode. The copters weren’t just spitting bullets; they were firing missiles, too! The turrets on the tanks and war machines couldn’t rotate quickly enough to sight the planes, and one by one, they were destroyed by the Nau.

“How did they know about Deliverance?” Saunch said. “How did they know we’d be here?”

Gevri had no answers. But he knew one thing: “This changes everything.”

Taemon watched, awestruck, as the Nau flying machines worked their destruction on the army of the Republik. In a matter of minutes, the tanks and war machines were torn to shreds, and the soldiers had hightailed it into the woods. Maybe this is what the Heart of the Earth had in mind the entire time: the Nau would destroy the Republikite army and all the archons, thereby wiping all psionic power from the face of the earth.

The noise died down eventually, and Taemon wasn’t sure what came next. Was the battle over? Or, as General Sarin had warned, were the Nau here to take over Deliverance?

Amma turned to Taemon. “What’s happening?” she asked.

“I’m not sure,” Taemon said. “I’d feel a lot better about this if I could get rid of the psi blocker.”

The whining roar of the flying machines returned as they circled gracefully toward the earth. Taemon had never seen such machines before. Huge propeller blades whirred on their tops, allowing them to fly and even to hover. Enormous guns stuck out in every direction, operated by soldiers hidden inside.

The machines hovered over the beach grass before slowly lowering to the ground — first one, then three more, then five more, until nine of these huge flying machines had landed in the grass between the beach and the trees. The second they touched the ground, the bellies of the machines opened and a ramp slid out of each of them. Soldiers poured out. Taemon couldn’t help but admire the way they efficiently positioned themselves around the cluster of machines. When the formation was complete, a tall man stepped out of the ramp of one of the planes. His uniform was the same drab gray as the soldiers’ uniforms, but he had burgundy trim on his sleeves. Clearly this man was important.

Another soldier handed the officer a short stick of some kind. The man raised it to his mouth and spoke into it. As he did so, his voice became amplified.

“The people of Deliverance and the army of the Republik will each send one spokesman to discuss the terms of their surrender.”

Taemon and Amma exchanged a look. “Surrender as in no more fighting? Or surrender as in . . . something else?” Taemon asked.

“I don’t know.”

Taemon turned to Hannova, wondering if she would prefer to be their spokesperson. But she shook her head, her expression serious. It needed to be him. He knew it — even if he wished otherwise.

Amma gave him a steady look. He wanted her to come with him, wanted her to tell him everything would be fine. But she couldn’t promise that any more than he could.

She took his hand, leaned forward, and kissed his cheek. “Do what you have to,” she whispered.

Taemon nodded. He turned and walked toward the Nau leader. It was a long walk.

General Sarin walked from the other direction. Taemon reached the Nau leader first, but the man in the gray coat said nothing until General Sarin arrived.

“My name is Commander U. Felmark Puster. I represent the Nau nations and have been given final authority to deal with this situation. Our mission is to address the psychic aberration known as psi, or dominion. The Nau have determined that this aberration causes chaos and interferes with the natural order of human civilization. It is not predictable enough or scientific enough to be used in any productive way. Therefore, I have been given the charge to eradicate it.”

“That is not within your power,” General Sarin said.

Commander Puster’s expression was stony. “I assure you, it most certainly is.”

“If I may speak, sir,” said Taemon. “I have already dealt with this matter in our society. Psi no longer exists among our people. It has been, as you say, eradicated.”

“You still have it,” the general said.

“Is this true?” Commander Puster asked.

“Yes,” Taemon said. “But I am the only one. No one else in Deliverance has any psionic powers.”

The commander checked a dial strapped to his wrist. “It seems you are telling the truth,” he said.

Taemon wondered what kind of dial could tell him that, but it wasn’t a question he dared to ask.

“And you, General Sarin, how many of your soldiers have the aberration you call dominion?”

The general stiffened his back. “I refuse to answer that question.”

“Let me explain to you how this is going to work,” said Commander Puster. “We intend to kill every person who has psi or dominion. If you cooperate, we will spare those who do not. If you fight us, we will simply kill all of you. Now, my information is that only a small part of your army has these so-called powers. If you turn them over to me, I am authorized to allow the rest of your soldiers to leave peacefully.”

General Sarin opened his mouth to reply, but Commander Puster cut him off. “Do not try to deceive us, General. We will check each one of your soldiers to assure no one with these powers is spared.”

Taemon felt sick to his stomach. If they planned to kill everyone who had psi, that meant hundreds of young archons would die, and one Nathanite — himself. But it also meant that everyone else in Deliverance would be free, and they would be free from the threat of an archon army.

Is this what you had in mind?
Taemon asked the Heart of the Earth.
This is your solution?

“We will surrender,” General Sarin said, surprising Taemon. “We will turn over all our weapons, if, in return, you allow all our people to live. Archons included.”

“There will be no negotiation, General. As we speak, our sensors indicate that your archons are trying to attack our copters, to tear them apart. But they cannot do it. These copters are equipped with cloaking devices that render destruction by telekinesis impossible. However, we cannot refit our entire military to account for this contingency. It is much more cost efficient to simply eradicate this ability. It’s unfortunate that you did not eliminate this evil from your society as the people of Nathan have.”

Things were starting to connect in Taemon’s mind. “Commander Puster, sir, are you aware that there are several other forms of dominion in addition to telekinesis?”

The commander frowned. “Certainly. Our study of Lieutenant Sarin and his unit has yielded much data.”

“So you have ways to counteract those powers?” Taemon asked.