Weapons of War (11 page)

A gunshot sounded from somewhere deeper inside the base.
 

It was followed by three more.

Donovan stared at the opening to the passage for a few seconds before turning. Someone was in here, alive, and they were shooting at something.

"Come on," he said, rushing past Soon and down the corridor.

"Where?" Soon said.

Donovan wasn't sure. The shots were muffled, only obvious because of the overall silence of the base. It had sounded like they came from further down.

He reached the steps, pausing before opening the door. He needed more. Another sound. The base was too big to find the source quickly without it.

It was probably too late already.

He closed his eyes. Silence. He would have to guess. Someone had been alive in here. Who might it be?

He entered the stairwell, descending as fast as he could, Soon close behind him. He reached the second floor, stopping at the nursery and peering in through the small window. Empty. He hurried down the hallway, heading for the infirmary.
 

A large shape turned the corner ahead of him. For a split-second, he thought it was a bek'hai Hunter in powered armor, it was so big. He almost fired without thinking.
 

The shape gained focus. A man, muscular, with dark skin and big eyes. He was bleeding from his shoulder, and had a pistol in his hand.

A Dread weapon.

Donovan threw himself to the side, shoving Soon with his shoulder at the same time. The clone's attack missed, the plasma strike going wide. Donovan stumbled back the other direction, keeping the clone's attention. It tracked him calmly, taking the time to aim.
 

A bolt from the other side of the corridor caught it in the chest. It grunted but didn't fall, finally taking the shot.

It hit the wall right next to Donovan's head, the aim thrown just enough by Soon's attack. That was the only shot it was able to fire, as four more bolts burned into it in rapid succession. The clone fell face down and didn't move.

"Thanks," Donovan said, looking over at Soon.
 

The pilot was shaking, his eyes stuck on the dead clone, his weapon still raised and ready to shoot again.

"Damn," Soon said, swallowing hard. He lowered the rifle. "They look just like us."

"They are us. Copies of us. Stay alert. There may be more." Donovan approached the clone.
 

It was wearing a rough spun green shirt and pants, similar to the simple fatigues the resistance soldiers usually wore. It was barefoot too, intended to look like a rebel fighter. It was no one that Donovan recognized.

"So much for not ambushing us down here," he said. Ehri had been wrong about the Domo'dahm's intentions.
 

Soon scanned the corridor, keeping the rifle ready. He had passed the most important test with flying colors, even if it had left him unsteady.

Donovan reached under the clone, grabbing the pistol and examining it. He hadn't seen such a small plasma weapon before. It didn't seem as powerful as the rifle, but it was more than enough to kill a human, and likely easy to conceal. Of course, it was locked.
 

"Somebody shot him," Soon said.
 

"It was coming from the infirmary," Donovan said. It was leaving, which meant whoever had shot it was most likely dead. He hoped not.

They hurried to the area, finding the medical equipment in disarray, the exam table on its side. There was blood on the ground, the clone's fresh blood. There was a second spread of still wet blood on the back wall, the pattern disrupted by a now-closed door.

"Who's in there?" Donovan said, trying to keep his voice low. He approached the door cautiously. "Doctor Iwu?"

He heard motion behind the door. He knocked softly.
 

"Doctor Iwu? Is that you? It's Donovan Peters."

The door clicked and opened. Doctor Iwu was standing behind it, holding General Rodriguez's gun in her hand.

"Donovan? You're alive." Her face hardened. "I need your help."

She lowered the gun, turning on her heel and heading back. Donovan followed behind her.

General Rodriguez was laying across her desk, his shirt torn off, his stomach bleeding beneath a heavy bandage.

"General?" Donovan said.
 

Rodriguez's head turned slowly. He smiled when he saw Donovan. "Donovan. Thank God."

"Donovan, I need you to keep pressure on the wound," Iwu said, pushing past him. "Excuse me," she said to Soon, who filed into the room.

"What's going on?" Donovan said. He turned around, watching Iwu search the cabinets for tools.
 

"The plasma bolt tore through his internals," Iwu said. "Either we sew them back together and pray, or he dies." She found what she was looking for and headed back into the room. "Did you kill the Dread soldier?"

"Yes," Donovan said. "General, where's everyone else?"

"I don't know," Rodriguez said, his voice barely more than a whisper. It was obvious he was having trouble breathing.

"Keep pressure here," Iwu said, pointing. She laid the tools out on the desk next to the General. Donovan did as she said. "You." Iwu looked at Soon. "When I ask for bandages, they're over there."

Soon found them. "Yes, ma'am."

"They were supposed to double back," Rodriguez continued. "Nobody came."

"I came," Iwu said.

"How long?" Donovan asked.

"Three hours. After the Dread cleared out."

"Except it wasn't clear," Donovan said. "The clone."

"It was clear," Iwu said, taking one of the tools and lifting the bandage. "There's too much blood." She was angry.

"It followed me back here," Rodriguez said. "I thought I had lost them. An entire squad of clones, plus that one. I've never seen a clone like that before." It took him ten breaths to say it, and he growled in pain when he was done.

"Me neither," Donovan said.
 

"Can you stop talking?" Iwu said to Rodriguez. "It makes it worse."

"It thought I was dead," Rodriguez said. "That's why it left. It didn't know the Doc was here."

"I said shut up," Iwu said. "You're going to die."

"Where's the rest of the squad?" Donovan asked.

"Don't know. You didn't see them?"

Donovan glanced over at Soon, who nodded and left the room.

"Who is that?" Rodriguez said. Iwu had moved back into the exam room, searching for something.

"Captain Soon Kim. He's a pilot from the space force. His fighter crashed. We saved him."

"You accomplished your mission?"

"Yes, sir."

"Suction. I need suction, damn it," Iwu said from the other room.

"I'm going to die, Major. There's nothing she can do about it now, even if she's too pig-headed not to try."

"Are they all dead?" Donovan asked. "The other resistance soldiers?"

"They didn't come back, except for you. They better be." He tried to laugh. It turned into a gurgling cough. Iwu came back into the room.

"Christian, you need to stop talking," Iwu said.

"Forget it, Nailah," Rodriguez said. "Even if you patch me, I can't move like this. You need to get out of here."

"I can't just leave you."

"You have to. It isn't safe. Donovan, I'm sorry. Your mom is probably dead. It's my fault. It was a bad plan."

Donovan ignored the pang of sadness. He didn't want to hear Rodriguez tell him what he already knew. "It wasn't, General. We did the best we could. We got the weapon to General St. Martin. That's the best we could have hoped for."

"It is. Thanks to you, Diaz, and Matteo. Thank you, Donovan."

"Major," Soon said, rushing into the room. "We've got company."

"Nailah, you have to go with them."

Doc Iwu looked pained, but she nodded. "You're a good man, Christian."

"You're a good woman. That's why I want you to stay alive."

She leaned down, kissing him on the mouth. "I always wanted to do that," she said.

"You should have said so sooner. Give me my gun."

She handed him his gun. He lifted himself to his feet, using the desk to stay up.
 

"Go. Donovan, try to make your way back to the States. There's a resistance base in Texas. At least, there was as of a few weeks ago. Austin. Look for the broken angel. The access code is one forty-three, twelve. It's a long way, but I know you can make it. Get the weapon to them in case the Gator doesn't make it back."

"Yes, sir," Donovan said.

"Major," Soon said.

"Goodbye, General," Donovan said.
 

"Adios, Donovan," Rodriguez replied. "Take care of yourself."

Donovan took Iwu's arm, pulling her gently out of the room, joining Soon and heading out into the hallway. He could hear the motion now. It sounded like the soldiers were headed their way.

"Go that way," Rodriguez said, stumbling through the door behind them, barely able to stand. "I'll keep them busy."

Donovan didn't argue. He kept moving. He heard Rodriguez speaking behind him as he turned the corner.

"In your unfailing love, silence my enemies; destroy all my foes, for I am your servant."

They were on the stairs when the gunshots sounded again.

They returned to the first level of the base. The shooting stopped by the time they reached the stairs, and they paused to listen. It was silent for a few moments before the enemy footsteps could be heard once more.

"He didn't get all of them," Soon said.

"We should get out of here," Iwu said. "That's what he wanted."

"Did you check the passage?" Donovan asked her.

"What passage?"

"The one in the General's office."

"No. I didn't know there was one."

"Then I'm not leaving. I need to know."

Rodriguez told him his mother was likely dead, and he knew it was true. Why did he have to go back to look for himself? What was the reason?

He had already lost Matteo. He wouldn't abandon her. Not if there was any chance she was alive. That was the reason. That was what he told himself.

"He died to get us out," Iwu said.

"He was going to die anyway," Donovan said. "We'll have a better defensive position from the General's office. And an escape route."

"Donovan," Diaz said, appearing from the corridor on their left.
 

He whipped his head around, his heart jumping. He had been so focused on listening to the Dread on the stairs he hadn't heard her coming. Stupid.

Ehri appeared beside her a moment later.

"We destroyed a squad of clone soldiers trying to get into the base," Ehri said. She froze for a second. "There are more already here?"

"Yes. They followed General Rodriguez back. I guess the Domo'dahm didn't want him to get away."

"Where is the General?"

"Dead," Iwu said.

"The Domo'dahm isn't behind this. One of the pur'dahm perhaps, trying to make a good impression. Ulr'ek or Dur'rek, I bet. If the pur'dahm could capture the General and interrogate him for information about the other resistance leaders, it would allow him to move up a cell."

"So it was a trap?" Soon said.

"Yes, but not for us. Even so, we must leave this area."

"We will. I need to finish what I started here. I need to know if she's dead or not."

"I understand."

"We've got the numbers. We should take care of this group. Soon, you and Diaz take position over there. Ehri, Doc Iwu, and I will wait there. We'll catch them in a crossfire when they come out of the stairwell."

"Yes, sir," Soon and Diaz said, backing up into the corridor.
 

Donovan retreated to the side, along the same wall as the stairs, positioning himself in front of Doctor Iwu.

Then they waited.

The three remaining Dread clones reached the top of the stairwell a minute later, moving out onto the floor without noticing the gathered rebel soldiers right away. By the time they did, it was too late. Bolts from both sides tore into them, dropping them in the space of a single breath.

"Nice work," Donovan said, stepping over the dead clones. "I guess it would have been too much to ask for the pur'dahm behind this to do the dirty work."