Weapons of War (29 page)

"Looks like they gave up."

"They never see us coming or going because we hardly ever go outside. They have no reason to think there's anything hidden in here. Wasn't that the reason El Diablo built the bunker here to begin with?" Kraeger was silent for a moment before he looked at Donovan. "You know, Major, I've been thinking about what you said earlier. About bringing the fight to the enemy. Were you serious about that?"

"We're on our way to join the resistance in Austin," Donovan said. "General Rodriguez told me there's a force massing there, one that's still hidden from the Dread."

"You mean you hope it's still hidden from the Dread."

"There's no way to know for sure until we get there. Unless you've heard otherwise?"

Kraeger had shown him the equipment they used to sniff packets out of the hard-wired network the resistance was utilizing to communicate with one another. He had been eavesdropping on the rebels for some time, keeping up with their messages back and forth.

"Not so far, but things can change in a hurry, and they don't always get a message out. With all the activity out here, the odds are that the enemy is hitting Austin hard, or at least has the potential to. So I was thinking about what you and the clone said. There always has to be a first, right?"

"Right. You have something in mind?"

"I think we should hit them back."

"We? You said you didn't want to be part of the resistance."

"I don't, especially. But I also told you I have a soft spot for the military. The thing is, there's a Dread base not too far from here. It's not a fortress or anything. It's a smaller outpost. I think the mechs are headed back there. Anyway, with the contingent out searching for you, I have a feeling the defenses are going to be relatively light. A quick, coordinated strike could net you a solid victory against the enemy, a victory that we can broadcast out to the rest of the world. It's just the kind of thing you need if you want humans to stop being so helpless, stop killing each other, and maybe get them to seek out the rebellion."

"You almost sound like you're feeling a little more hopeful already," Donovan said.

Kraeger smiled. "I see that they're worried about you. I like that. Besides, you seem hell-bent on going forward no matter what I do. You may not be a hero, but you're a stubborn son of a bitch, and I admire that just as much. Even if you are just a kid."

"Thanks, I think."

"Yeah, so this base I'm talking about is about ten klicks west of here. They'll probably have left a couple dozen clones behind, and those mechs, but that's about it. I found some explosives in the armory here when I moved in. It won't do shit to the outside of their structures, but maybe we can wreak some havoc on the inside."

Donovan considered it. The whole reason to head to Austin was to join the resistance there and to tell them how they could get ready to fight back. There was a certain appeal to being able to show them, and to lead by example.

"If we attack their base they're going to come back at us even harder than before," he said. "They might not give up on this place so easily."

"Yeah. That's the rub, Major. If you do this, you and whoever decides to come with you can't come back here. You hit the base, and you vanish into the night. Head to Austin, go back to Mexico City, whatever you want, just not this place."

They shared another moment of silence. Donovan wanted to pretend he had a choice when he already knew he didn't.

"I guess you're going to get rid of me a lot sooner than you were expecting," he said.

Kraeger laughed. "I guess you're going to be stuck with me a little longer than you were expecting, Major. I'm getting old, and while I'm proud of what I've done here, I know that nothing stays the same. I can try to hold onto it, or I can accept it. You're exactly the sign I didn't know I was looking for.
 

"In other words, I'm coming with you."

"How's the patient?" Donovan asked, entering the bunker's medical facilities.
 

He paused to take them in as he did, impressed with the space. The equipment was the latest humankind had produced before the invasion, and the room was spotless and sterile. El Diablo had spared no expense on the place, prepared for the worst in the event of an emergency. For criminals, emergencies probably weren't that out of the ordinary.

"Her recovery is not human," Doc Iwu said, turning to face Donovan as he entered. She looked more relaxed and at peace now that she was back in a room filled with stainless steel and gauze.
 

Ehri was sitting on the edge of the exam table, her gori'shah in a pile behind her. She was dressed in her underwear and a tank top, with one bandage wrapped around her shoulder and another around her leg. She smiled when she saw Donovan.
 

"Another genetic enhancement?" Donovan asked.

"Partially," she replied. "The gori'shah also assists in healing underlying wounds. If the bullet had not gone through, the symbiotes would have worked to remove it. They also leave their saliva on the damage itself, which promotes healing. I tried to convince Nailah to leave it alone and let them do their work, but she wouldn't have it."

 
"I'm not about to trust something I can't see," Iwu replied. "Especially not microscopic worms."

"They aren't worms," Ehri said. "They're larvae."

"For what?" Donovan asked. "You've never answered that."

"I don't know what they become," she replied. "The gori'shah are replaced on a regular basis, cycled through by the ones we call the lek'hai. The Keepers. It is said that the gori'shah are the backbone of our technology, much of which is, or was at some point, organic."

"So it's like raising cattle for meat?"
 

"Not exactly, but an adequate simile. I trust that since you are here the bek'hai have gone?"

"Yeah. They didn't find anything, and they headed off to the east to search the wilderness. Kraeger is convinced they'll find a few random humans out there and slaughter them before giving up."

"I don't think they're going to give up that easily. Not on finding us."

"Me neither, but Kraeger put me onto something. He said the Dread have a base not too far from here. An outpost. He thinks the mechs came from there. He suggested that we attack it."

"What?" Iwu said. "Donovan, I don't think that's a good idea."

"Why not?"

"You're going to bring the entire Dread army down on you if you go after them like that. You've been lucky so far, but that's asking for a little too much trouble."

"I've been thinking about that. I don't disagree with you, but the truth is that we need to do something. We don't know Austin will still be viable by the time we reach it, and based on what we know there's a good chance it won't be. If that turns out to be the case, we'll have wasted an opportunity to make a statement that we can fight back, really fight back, against the Dread. To rally the resistance everywhere by hitting them directly and doing some real damage. We've got a tiny bit of momentum here, and I'm worried about losing it by playing it too safe."

"Play it too reckless, and you'll lose everything for everyone."

"You mean this place?"

She nodded. "There are sixty pregnant women here. Forty-six children. I don't want them to die the way they did back at the silo."

"Neither do I. When we go, we won't be coming back." He looked at Ehri. "What do you think?"

"This isn't my decision to make, Major. It is yours."

"I'm asking for your opinion."

"I pledged my loyalty to you. I'll follow wherever you go, and fight as hard as any other human. Kraeger is an interesting man, an odd mix of selfishness and patriotism. He's based his community on keeping only the strong, and yet he weakens its ability to survive and adapt by anchoring it with the young. I think his motives are also mixed. He knows the bek'hai want you, or me through you, and so he wants you gone from here. At the same time, he wants you to succeed."

"He's decided he wants to come with us."

"Interesting. He understands what he has created here. For as much as he has said we can't defeat the bek'hai, deeper down I think he knows the only chance this community has is for us to fight, and to win."

"And you think we should fight?"

"Yes."

"Me, too. After everything that's happened, I wasn't sure if I should trust my instincts."

"They've carried us this far, Major."

"And gotten a lot of people I cared about killed."

"No. They have always been dying. Now they are dying for something."

Donovan couldn't argue with that. It was the one thought that helped ease the guilt. It slipped away from him sometimes, but Ehri was always there to bring him back in line. He caught her eyes with his own, holding them for a minute. He couldn't imagine where he would be if Kraeger had been successful in his efforts to kill her. He wasn't sure he could take one more loss like that.
 

"When are you leaving?" Iwu asked. "The wounds are in good shape, but it would be better for her to rest a day or two."

"Within the hour," Donovan said, breaking eye contact with Ehri. "I assume you're staying here?"

"There aren't many doctors left in this world," she replied. "The mortality rate for the women here is over fifty percent. They have the right tools, but they didn't have anyone with a medical background to teach them. I think I can bring that down to near zero, and train some of the people we saved. I can give them a skill that will make them valuable, not only here and now, but after you get the Dread off the planet once and for all. Besides, I'm an old woman, Donovan. We both know I've been slowing you down. I do appreciate you looking out for me."

"I'm glad you made it out," Donovan said. "The world does need people like you. Not just your medical skills, but your compassion and spirit."

Doc Iwu surprised him, approaching and wrapping her arms around him. He returned the embrace once he got over his shock. He had never known her to be affectionate. Her care was business-like and rational, not emotional. At least not until now.

"Take care of yourself, Major," she said. "I know you'll make the General proud."

"Yes, ma'am," Donovan said. He looked at Ehri again. "We'll be meeting near the entrance in forty minutes."

"I'll be there."

Donovan turned to leave. He paused there, a sudden thought creeping into his head. Kraeger had given him the idea that they should go in and do as much damage as they could, but maybe that wasn't the only option.

"Ehri, how much can you teach Soon and me about piloting a bek'hai mech in thirty minutes or less?"

Tea'va peered around the corner, taking extra care that the corridor was clear before darting across it to the other side. He pressed the panel to his right, and a small hatch opened beside him. He crossed into it, leaning back against the wall as the hatch slid closed and left him in near total darkness.

Two shifts. That was how long it had taken for him to navigate from the bowels of the Ishur up three decks. It was impossibly slow, every step made challenging by the arrival of another batch of clones, and by Gr'el's sudden domination of the ship. His Si'dahm had managed to tear him from power with almost zero resistance, and in a way that made the failure look like Tea'va's alone. Did the Domo'dahm know what Gr'el had done? Did he approve?

It didn't matter. Gr'el's worst mistake was that he had failed in his initial assassination attempt, and he had failed to capture Tea'va since. Tea'va was certain it was because the pur'dahm had underestimated him and his deep knowledge of the fortress. The ships were so large that few beyond the clones made to care for them knew every service tunnel and access point, every ingress and egress.
 

But he knew. He knew because he had never trusted. Because he had never believed that any would seek to aid him in his mission of conquest. Why would they, when they all sought the same station? If he were going to rise to power, he needed to not only be stronger, not only be smarter, but also be more tolerant to change and more able to adjust. Knowledge was power.