CHAPTER 19
TRAITORS
The hold of that cargo ship was even colder than the prison yard. I sneezed several times, shivering from the cold and in pain from the kick that Dunn had given me a couple of hours earlier.
I looked at him grimly after yet another sneeze caused a twinge in my head. "Did you have to hit me so hard?", I complained.
"I hate your redneck ass Little D, but we are on the same side. That’s why I didn’t hit you harder".
"Why break me out? What’s going on?".
"Burris will explain everything to you", replied Dunn succinctly.
Suddenly a voice came out of a loudspeaker. "This is it guys, moon landing in five minutes, hold on to your willy and don't throw up on yourselves".
"She has the stick…", Matt said with a worried look.
"And is she doing well?", I asked worriedly.
"Make her vibe, not fly".
"For once Fowler, we agree", agreed Dunn.
"Where are we headed?", I asked. The hull began to vibrate and quickly I found myself slamming into the ceiling of the cargo hold. I felt the sudden acceleration of the shuttle in my every molecule. It felt like being in a blender plunging down a cliff. The descent lasted a few interminable minutes, then Sophia's voice came croaking back into the hold. “Attention, recoil, in five, four three...”. She didn’t finish the countdown that we all found ourselves face down. All became still again.
"Um", resumed the speaker, "sorry guys. My first moon landing".
"All in one piece?", asked Matt stunned by the blow.
"Yeah, almost", I replied sorely. I had banged my knees and forearms, nothing excessive.
"My... my nose...", whimpered Dunn, trying to pick up with his fingers the blood that dripped slowly from the lower gravity gathering into droplets floating in midair.
Hopping as Armstrong had done a few centuries earlier, we walked single file out of the shuttle's cargo hold and through some cylindrical ducts to the docking hatch leading inside the colony. I felt heavier as soon as we crossed the docking collar; gravity had artificially increased and we stopped hopping.
The jolt gave me some nausea, which combined with the bruises, cold and terrible headache I had only completed my clinical picture now resembling that of a centenarian on his deathbed. "Interesting place, will they make good coffee too?", I asked as I looked around.
We had docked at a private entrance abutting the giant transparent aluminum and anti-meteor steel dome of a lunar city built into a crater.
The colony immediately seemed rich, brightly lit and busy as ever. Beautiful skyscrapers towered high toward the megastructure, and neat rows of aircraft plied the airspace below.
"They say it loses some aroma once it comes out of the atmosphere", Matt replied. "But in low gravity, tea made from the leaves takes on a particular aroma if you like".
"In jail they only gave us the barley one. You know, so we wouldn't get too excited".
"It was hard, huh?".
"Doughnuts weren’t bad".
A man in uniform stood in front of us, squared us with a serious expression, and then addressed me. "Lester? Please follow me, you are expected in the briefing room for an interview".
"Nice, come on Daith", Matt urged.
"Can’t you see how much beaten I am?", I said. "Couldn't this be postponed?".
"Excuse me, sir, but we are really on a tight schedule. Your presence is requested with the highest priority. Follow me", the soldier repeated.
"Come on make an effort", Matt begged.
"All right all right, come on lead the way", I said impatiently. I was quite sleepy, tired and fatigued from the journey, and also had an appetite. I nevertheless followed the soldier preceded by Matt who occasionally checked to see if I was following him.
We boarded a black aircraft and flew for a few minutes toward the town center arriving at what appeared to me to be a rather ordinary looking barracks. The staff as soon as they saw us deactivated perimeter security and we went straight into the facility without even half a check, then descended in front of a small building and were escorted immediately inside.
After an elevator and about fifty meters of monotonous, rectangular, white corridors, we arrived at a circular room with six doors all bearing a number and a letter.
"Good", said the soldier. "I leave you now, door B4. Excuse me".
He took his leave by bringing his hand to his forehead. Matt returned the greeting in the same way, while I only nodded my head. Matt looked at me in wonder or perhaps shock. I returned his gaze for a moment aware of his astonishment, then preceded him to the door the man had earlier pointed out to us, approached it, and it automatically opened. There was only one window overlooking the city from which no light came in at all, and the entire furnishings consisted of a rectangular table with beveled edges and about twenty chairs placed all around it.
I sat in the first chair I could reach and after placing my feet on the table, I squinted my eyes trying to calm the mental and physical pains. “Damn, I’d kill for a painkiller”.
"Are you mad?", whispered Matt upon seeing me so sprawled out. “Sit properly!”.
“Fuck you Matt. Properly”.
We waited a few minutes, then the door opened. Matt and Ryan snapped to attention at the sight of dean Burris. I did not flinch in the least. In the old Burritos' wake peeped other officers, some of them quite dapper and haughty; others more polite responded to the two good cadets' greeting, ignoring me. My attitude, however, heavily impacted everyone's opinion.
The climax was touched the moment a major tapped me with two fingers on my right shoulder. "Cadet, that's my seat," he said annoyed.
"Fuck you", was my response. Burris attempted to incinerate me with his gaze.
"What? What you said soldier?", the man ranted.
"Sir, with all due respect, my comrade is injured and shaken by the journey…", stammered Matt in my defense.
"This is undignified conduct for a Humanity cadet", the officer continued shouting.
"Major", Burris interjected. "Please take my place".
"No sir, never mind", he said annoyed as he went to stand next to the other cadets. All the seats were now occupied. The light was turned off and now only a few small leds on the ceiling dimly illuminated the room.
"I’d say we can begin", Burris ordered. "Lieutenant Zhou, go ahead with the briefing".
"Yes sir", began a man with asian features as he stood up. I noticed the black coat and the gold sulky sun pin pinned to his lapel. The guy was from the Services.
He turned on some holographic projectors mounted on the table. The SAIs of those present were disconnected just like mine. "Gentlemen officers, bear with me if a lot of information is already known to you, it's first a matter of getting everyone on the same page. From the data we have collected over the past few months, we have been able to make several interesting discoveries about both the Flying Fortress and the intentions of their handlers, thanks in part to the help and testimony of cadet Lester here. First, I would analyze the current strategy of the Fortress, called by the terrorists Diĝir-ga-šum and which we will call DGS.
The plan of attack began months ago when the Rio military prison was razed. Investigations revealed that 109 bodies were missing from the roll call, all belonging to detainees on remand and in custody at the said reeducation center. Having examined the battlefields, we found some of those fugitives within the ranks of DGS. The severed finger reported by cadet Lester also belonged to an escaped inmate which confirmed our hypothesis. From this we surmised that they relied on our own reject personnel for recruitment. We reconnected the patterns with the mass escapes recorded in the past sixteen months from military prisons".
The expression "discarded personnel" did not appeal to me at all.
"Later, once the ranks were refreshed, DGS devoted itself to weakening the faith of citizens in Humanity with several terrible terrorist operations. The details can be found on page 3 of your digital handbook that will soon be made accessible to your SAIs. Overlooking this topic, let us then turn to the third part: the weakening of our defenses. The secession of the Domains we assume is also an intended and calculated effect of Charon's strategy. DGS ruthlessly attacked our three major air bases, Hobson's Rock, El Toro and Ngozi reducing our air forces by as much as eighty percent. Having secured air superiority, DGS descended into the atmosphere and began raiding our cold fusion power plants, one after another. At first, we wondered why they did not head straight for the source from which we ourselves derive Dust, here on Moon. Once we carefully analyzed the fortress' secondary energy shield, we noticed how a nuclear missile attack could effectively annihilate it. But on Earth, in the atmosphere, such a broadside would be enormously disastrous. Therefore, as an additional security for its safety, DGS chose a route that would involve flying over large cities, putting us in the impossibility of using nuclear weapons, using the population itself as a hostage by preventing their evacuation. By attacking the Fortress directly with ground troops and by air, we only got more crowded cemeteries. Every strategy attempted so far has been futile".
"And what makes you think things will change?", asked one of those present.
"Because the Fortress has landed. I'm going to explain to you Colonel. Why should DGS accumulate Dust? Probably the weapon system broadly described by cadet Lester requires enormous amounts of energy to operate at full capacity, and DGS probably has a fusion reactor inside it. This apparatus should power what is probably the most selective weapon of mass destruction ever appeared on this world".
"Explain yourself," the same officer asked.
"Certainly. I first want to point out that what I am telling you is drawn from confidential sources at the 32nd level and up. Needless to ask where the details come from", he said.
The statement struck me as strange. How did the Deans and the Grand Master know the details of that thing? Had they known it since before John got hold of it? The officer continued. "It seems that the DGS core is nothing more than a huge generator of neverbefore-seen energy waves. The analysis we were able to do remotely, combined with Lester's description of the contraption, allowed us to formulate a hypothesis about it. DGS is a huge energy generator, containing within it a war technology that can be conceptually related to our neutron warheads".
"Those on the anti-ship torpedoes?", asked the officer I had left without a chair.
"Well, it's not really a neutron bomb, but the principle is similar. Our weapon is designed to crush any life form within its range, but without absolutely affecting inanimate objects. A kind of invisible explosion, leaving the landscape untouched. DGS is something similar conceptually only extremely more sophisticated. It is a bomb programmed not to harm the environment, plants and animals. It is structured to act directly on the DNA of targets. And here's the kicker. It engages a mechanism similar to that which allows some viruses known to us to spread and strike. The pulse prompts molecules and substances, normally scattered randomly and harmlessly, already present in the target's body, to combine with each other, going on to form what can be described as a virus. The number of viruses that the pulse can produce within the target organism is staggering, and almost all target cells are affected instantaneously. Death occurs after an average of 27 seconds from the time of exposure. Find the effects on targets on page 20".
"I didn't understand a damn thing", whispered Dunn to Matt.
"It's basically a nuclear biological weapon", he summed up to make his point.
"How… how do you know all these things?", another officer asked. That was the good question.
"What soldier doesn't make sure his rifle works before battle?", asked Burris. "DGS has already struck, north of Old Delhi, eight months ago. An attack from space, which turned a small town a few kilometers from the megacity into a ghost town. We cordoned off the area and covered the incident. All it took was putting two and two together to realize it was all Charon's doing".
"So it is a biological weapon", concluded one of those present.
"Not really. We usually see how energy disorganizes matter, shatters it... DGS manages to assemble matter. At very basic levels certainly but with astounding precision. The various substances in the blood of the target individuals are assembled and viruses are created within the body itself. We don't even know if there is something that can block the radiation emitted by the reactor, there has been no way to test or survey it...".
"But this way, even DGS personnel are doomed", surmised one officer.
"And here you are wrong colonel," the man continued. "In fact, DGS propagates its radiation from the ring around it. Everyone inside the ring is safe. We also expect the radiation, capable of space travel, to reach the colonies on Moon".
He drank a glass of water and cleared his throat. Seeing him guzzle down a full glass in two gulps, I realized that I too had a dry throat but not because I had been talking for half an hour like him. How could John do such a thing? Who had built such an evil thing?
"Now, this is our enemy gentlemen. DGS measures in all one thousand meters in height. The radius of the central core is five hundred meters, while the outer circle measures a diameter of two thousand meters. It is protected by two energy shields of unknown make, impenetrable by any non-nuclear weapon at our disposal and I wouldn't bet on it. The first is projected from the base itself, the second envelops, with the help of its four satellite stations or appendages, even the surrounding space, except, it seems, the underground. Batteries of cannons and several machine guns defend the satellite stations, making them immune to a frontal ground attack, being provided with a huge volume of fire. In addition, the unshielded facade is covered with a new anti-meteor alloy, smuggled apparently from Barnard's foundries. Conventional artillery tickles them".
"Do we have an intelligence officer here to tell us what we know?", protested a general in an assault corps uniform. "I've known the measurements of the cock in my ass for weeks, and knowing that it shoots bacteria changes nothing! How do I get that son of a bitch down?".
That Zhou looked at the general with a look that sent shivers down my spine, but Burris motioned him to sit down.
The dean cleared his throat with a couple of coughs, then inserted a memory card into the control panel in front of his seat. "As you notice from the satellite photos, DGS is stationary and entrenched in the middle of its defensive network. The black dots you see all around are the bodies of the six failed missions over the past 61 hours. Now, a new mission is being prepared in a week's time, a massive attack that will be led by Earth forces supported by the Separatist Domains militia. All indications are that the outcome will be the same. But that will be our one and only and best chance. Charon issued his challenge to the Grandmaster a few hours ago, when he challenged our troops to stop him with a video broadcast on the net with a pirate signal, pointing out the next fusion power plants he intends to attack."
"Ah! You want to cook them a little before you eat them", I whispered. It wasn't really a whisper given the number of heads that took to staring at me and given that Burris paused briefly after my almost appreciative externalization.
"We are planning an operation that will run parallel and autonomously to the next attack. We have chosen you because you are the officers who will lead the assault, and we are counting on your support. We will not allow any more unnecessary deaths. You understand, don't you?".
There was another pause, this time a consensus hunter. He gathered several, and Burris resumed speaking. "Your troops are to follow the original plan that the Deans will put together. At this point, as soon as you are given the signal, you will order them to fall back to defend the coordinates that will be communicated to you in time. You will find a special unit whose safety must be ensured at all costs. You must protect it by drawing DGS fire until it reaches 1,000 meters from the station shield. DGS takes off from its stronghold every time it has to attack a station, so we will have only one or at most two attempts. Then the double energy shield will not allow us to put the special unit at work".
"What is it about?" asked a voice.
"About the reason for our secrecy. Of a busted project developed in secret in collaboration with some members of the Department for Science on this very colony. A technology that will allow us to get a man preselected by us inside DGS, to annihilate it from the inside".
There was a murmur. I had a vague suspicion of who the man in question was, and I was not the only one.
"Dean Burris! You say that we are to show insubordination to the Grand Master, jeopardize the lives of our soldiers just to infiltrate a boy alone with the task of beating Charon and thousands of demi-humans into his base? Don't be ridiculous!".
"Not to mention that your cadet looks like a thug! I won't stand for it!", said the ousted major.
"Silence!", shouted Burris, muffling any trace of chatter. "Gentlemen, let me finish. Yes, the man in question is indeed him, cadet Lester. However, he is familiar with DGS, its security systems, knows the place better than anyone else, and possesses natural, physical and technical gifts to succeed".
I began to feel like I was in trouble up to my neck. Here babe, that’s what I mean when I tell you to be careful what you wish for.
"I don't know Evan", broke the silence from the general who had spoken earlier. "I have hundreds of good names among mine, why this kid?".
"Do you trust me?", asked Burris staring at him seriously. There was a silent pause.
"My experience tells me yes, but my brain advises me against listening to you", the old man replied.
"Follow the experience then, because I would never betray my Grand Master if I didn't think it was necessary. He is our only hope".
"Couldn't we send an experienced special team instead of this... cadet?" an officer asked. "A SpecOps team maybe".
"We couldn't", Burris explained, "because the Services are against the operation. We have no special units that are sympathetic to us. We can only rely on ourselves and our personnel. Lester has been inside before, he can move nimbly, he knows where the reactor is. To tell the truth, considering how he infiltrated last time, the mission presents no particular difficulty for him. He will just have to go in, place the explosives on the reactor and find a way out in time".
Had I heard correctly? Finding a way in time? Was Burris sending me in there with no idea how I was supposed to get out? Besides, planting explosives meant causing devastation that would have involved Deena too, if I hadn't found her first.
"It still sounds like nonsense to me", faltered the old general, followed closely by the rest of the poppies in the room.
"Fine", Burris sighed. "I didn't want to resort to this but apparently my reputation is not enough to give you the necessary security. Sergeant, please...".
The dean nodded to one of the soldiers, and the soldier brought him a modestly sized briefcase, the kind used for refrigerated transport of delicate drugs or organs for transplants. Burris opened it and pulled out an injector the size of his hand, covered in frost, hollowing it out of a white mist. "Now, as I give you access to restricted files, I ask you to observe".
Burris planted his gaze straight at me and accepted a gun offered to him by the same sergeant. "Sorry, kid".
I did not have time to realize what his intentions were that the dean exploded a shot straight into the hollow of my shoulder, causing me to fall to the floor legs in the air. The bullet did not immediately cause me pain, but as soon as the daze from the impact of the back of my head with the floor passed, I began to groan and moan from the horrible twinges.
"Holy shit! Fowler! Did you fucking see that?", outraged Ryan.
"Dean!", protested Matt.
Burris silenced them with a wave of his hand, coming toward me unarmed but followed by the two soldiers, while the officers watched in shock at the scene.
"Dean! What has gotten into you?", his friend the general asked indignantly.
"Serves him right", laughed the overthrown major.
"Observe", Burris merely replied. The man bent over me and planted the injector straight against my sternum, with a force and violence that surprised me as much as his reckless actions.
I immediately felt a murderous ecstasy. The muscles tensed and swelled ready to crush whatever was in front of me.
Furious, blinded by hatred, I grabbed Burris by the neck determined to break him. The soldiers were on me hoping to counter me, but to no avail. With a foot stomp I hurled one of them into the air, lifting him off the ground and sending him plummeting several meters away, as I threw the Dean away and brawled at the other energetic man in camouflage. There was no match, I knocked the poor guy out in a second breaking his elbow and ribs with a single kick.
I turned and observed in a moment of clarity the horror-filled gazes of the officers and my fellow cadets. I went back in search of a target and saw the face, calm and compliant, of Burris. The urge to kill suddenly vanished, and I found myself on my knees, panting and sweating, with pink liquid dripping from my shoulder that had begun to glow with blue light.
"By the Gods", faded the major, perhaps fearing for his life.
"Don't worry", smiled Burris as he got to his feet. "The violent effect has passed. Observe, his wounds are healing. The entrance hole is already closed and the exit hole will be soon". "Dean what… what did you…", I gasped in shock.
"I injected you with a pure dose of serum, Daith. Forgive me, but these old cowards had to see you in action", the man apologized, extending his hand to me.
I accepted it and struggled back to my feet, only to pick up my chair and collapse in it, still holding my sore shoulder.
The soldiers I had knocked out were alive but one of them was in very bad shape. "Excuse me gentlemen", asked the dean for forgiveness. "Sergeant, take the corporal immediately to the infirmary. I'll take that into account, trust me".
"Yes... sir", replied the sergeant, observing the Dean with a resentful look. The two soldiers left the room and a surreal silence fell. Everyone who could was reading behind my back who knows what highly secret information to complement that bloody impromptu theater.
"That being the case Evan...", hesitated the general.
"Things are like you saw, mate", Burris confirmed.
"I'm with Burris. The Sixth Assault Regiment is yours, sir", a colonel enthusiastically replied. "Excuse me, general, don't take this the wrong way". The skeptic guy was probably his direct commander.
"I will move the Three Chinas Volunteers to cover your operation, Dean," replied another.
"Even the Oceania Volunteers, sir. Our units are still in training but though inexperienced they will find their role in this story!".
All the commanders, infected by the faith of the others, ended up agreeing. Only one remained hesitant. "So general", Burris asked, "what do we do?"
The old man thought about it for a while longer, then made his choice public. "They're going to retire me a few years earlier I'm afraid... well Evan, the Second Assault Division is with you, I have ten assault regiments at your command, dean. My exoskeletons are at your service. Don't make me regret it".
Burris smiled. I couldn't help but laugh sarcastically. Everyone resumed staring at me. Evidently, they had forgotten about me. I spit on the floor and groaned a little more from the pain, then sat back down composed.
"Good", I said. "Good. Do you also make decisions in this way during your lodge work? But you overlooked one small detail".
"And what would that be?", asked Burris. The light was turned back on and the screen turned off.
"What if I didn't want to have anything to do with this plan?", I said. As I got up in pain from my chair, frost descended on the room, and turning my back carelessly, I walked out without looking back.
*
I was finally putting something under my teeth. After a while I had in fact managed to scout out a barracks canteen where I could refresh myself. As I ate alone, I began to reflect on my attitude. I had been offered a unique and definitely unhoped-for opportunity. I could save Deena and kill Charon. Everything I wanted and needed to do, all at once, on a silver plate.
So why did I feel this way? Burris and my companions had pinned all their hopes on me. The people on Terra would be wiped out, at least those who could not find a shuttle to escape. Why couldn't I help but feel sick? Perhaps it bothered me that I was being used after all?
My appetite passed, and after throwing half my meal into the garbage, I took to staring at the city without thinking about anything. It was a gentle hand that distracted me from my restlessness, a soft hand that passed under my arm until it embraced my entire limb. I greeted Sophia with a smile without shirking that contact.
"Hello", she smiled. "Cigarette?". I gladly accepted and had it lit there in the cafeteria, not giving a damn about the bans. We were alone, no one had stopped for dinner.
"How are you? I heard the briefing went bad".
"Yeah. I got shot".
"I heard...", she rolled her eyes, between puzzled and amused. “How did you manage to get shot at a damn briefing! There must be something very wrong about you, D”.
"Those arrogant old men. They decided as if I wasn't even there. Let's just say I'm confused", I replied, puffing grayish smoke from my nostrils. When was the last time I had smoked?
"Why? What's wrong?". The lighter with her refused to work, so she lit one between her lips approaching mine and using the embers as a trigger. "I don't know. I don't think I... agree with that."
"I don't understand you, this time", she huffed.
"Yeah, me neither. Maybe it's just...".
"D. This is John we're talking about. You have a face that speaks for itself", she said, breathing smoke against the glass. "We all loved him".
“You know about John?”.
“Yeah”.
"How?", I asked in amazement.
"He sent a challenge message. Your SAI is turned off, you must not have seen it. You're a couple of blowhards, both of you", she said. They had mentioned it at the briefing and I had forgotten.
"So, the whole academy now knows", I nodded. "Fuck".
"Stop it D. They are not mad at you. He's the one who went crazy, you just tried to stop him with all your might", she reassured me.
"I don't know if I'm up to it, Sophia", I faltered.
She squeezed my arm tightly, almost digging her long nails into my skin. "You're tired, that's all".
"I think you are right, I should sleep", I replied without, however, agreeing. My doubts were perhaps more deeply rooted.
"You or him, that's what's bothering you. It doesn't take a genius to figure it out D. There's a girl in there who needs your help. If you really love her, you should go to her. It wouldn't be the first time you...", she said freezing suddenly. "John would also find peace in this way. It would be appropriate for you to be the one to give it to him".
"It's not about that", I continued. "No… no, that's not about it. There's something fucking weird about this whole thing. It's not only surreal but also illogical. What exactly are we defending ourselves against?".
"Go to sleep, your mind will clear tomorrow. And do me a favor… take off this prison uniform", she said tugging at me and squaring me from head to toe. "You are my hero not a chicken thief! And take a good shower, too".
"I’ll take your advice", I said and made to leave.
"Ah, D!", she called to me. I turned to look at her, finding her beautiful and unprejudiced. "If you need a hand, just whistle".
"O-Of course", I replied automatically, embarrassed.
As I exited the cafeteria I was boarded by a pair of closets in camouflage, who asked me in an almost polite manner to follow them. I made no bones about it and let them lead me through various corridors and intersections to a sort of tunnel that ran along the outer perimeter of the base, half built of metal like the rest of the building and almost half made of special glass, allowing a view of the outside. A little further on, my interlocutor was waiting for me, admiring the still stillness of the city at the end of the cycle.
"Do you take some sort of pleasure in providing me with humiliation, Lester?", the dean asked without taking his eyes off the outside. I didn't answer, just stood quietly staring at him, putting out my cigarette on the floor. He looked tired. "May I know what has gotten into you? I knew for a fact that I could count on you in this endeavor, which was the most important thing in your life. That was at least until an hour ago".
"I’ve learned on my own skin how much Deans love the law. Yeah. There are laws, the wise laws of Humanity. What happened to those fine words? If you are a dean the law doesn't count but if you are a cadet you can rot in jail? Now at convenience the law doesn't count for shit anymore and I can be broken out and sacrificed for victory?", I said furiously. “You fucking old geezers put me in jail where I avoided raping twice and had to kill to survive because it was the lawful thing to do! Now what? You sir, you got the guts on asking me something!”.
The dean seemed stunned by that awakening but did not flinch. "I may be a dean, Daith, but I count for one, my vote counts for one. I had to calm tempers and the full council voted to have you imprisoned. They fear you and they fear you might ally with your brother John. They fear that they cannot control you. That you can't control yourself. Do you think I haven't heard from them? Multiple attacks and as many as three deaths in less than twenty days in jail! You are dangerous boy, I can hardly blame them! You had an endless string of offenses and a variety of priors already sanctioned in matric!".
"But to assault DGS with no chance of returning alive these are just gifts, aren't they?".
"We can say that. I have known you since you were a child! I've known your father all my life! I know who you are, they don't! We are alike you and me son. For the common good, for the good of Humanity, we are willing to expose ourselves beyond what’s allowed. That is why you are here! Because I believe in you!".
"So many beautiful words". I lowered my gaze to the ground. "Sir", I replied, "you can count on me, don't worry. I don't have many alternatives anyway", I said amazed to hear him speak to me with such closeness.
"That's right!", he said looking straight into my eyes. "Yes, you don’t! You don't have any! My boy, this is not a matter of choice! The survival of Humanity is at stake. There should be no doubt about what is more important!".
"But doubts I have and many. You know something. You must know something. John changed and I know he was not the type to be overwhelmed by a simple stress syndrome. An unlikely comrade in misfortune once told me something that got me thinking. John was once the greatest of our allies. Our enemies feared him, were afraid. His cold and cunning mind, his strength and brutality in battle. None of that has changed… only now we find him against us and call him a criminal, a madman, a terrorist... To me he’s just an enemy, nothing more. The right question is why did John decide to destroy us all?".
Burris was silent as the hand-held culprits are silent.
"At first I thought John had gone crazy. And I think the anger eating him up inside in a way made him illogical in some of his behavior. But he can't simply have gone mad... And assuming that this Judge has subdued his will... It does not explain how this story began, with his first betrayal".
"You are not a fool, Daith", said the dean with a nervous smile on his lips. "But you must understand that for a soldier it doesn't matter why wars break out. Our job is to defend Humanity. The whys and wherefores would only weaken our resolve. Charon wants to drive Humanity away from Earth, and we must stop him. Once the goal is achieved, then there will be room to question whether all the work done was worth it. I heard that on DGS there is someone you care about very much… you don't want to abandon her, don’t you?".
Whose hostage was Deena? Charon's or Burris'?
"That's true", I answered. "Do you think you will be able to do anything for her once I get her out of there?".
"Like what?" he asked.
"She is an illegal. Do you think she will be able to...".
"I understand. I'll make sure they stay away from her".
"Really? I remember how you all got mad at the trial when I called her a… a what? Oh, yeah, a huri! Whatever it means, it's important to you!".
"It is important", he admitted. "But I can swear to you that for all the years I have left to live, nothing bad will be done to Miss Dumas".
"Do you promise?".
"I swear to you on my honor", he said solemnly. Burris' honor was something extremely precious in those days. I nodded my head to testify that the agreement was sealed.
"Explain something to me, sir. Why all this? Why all this secrecy?".
"Look at you, reflected in this glass. I'm about to put our hopes in the hands of a half-trained, rebellious 18-year-old who recently escaped from jail... Close relative of the terrorist in question. The deans would never approve of such a strategy, not the majority at least. Let alone His Excellency...".
"So what? Who pays for all this?".
"We are taking advantage of the mess to divert several funds straight into our pockets".
I smiled thinking about Mouse and his millions of Humanity credits hidden who knows where.
"We're all doomed to death if we get caught", I said.
"Not if we win. If we win we will be the heroes. Never forget this teaching son".
*
The next few days were very intense and confusing. I was subjected to gradual but vigorous psychophysical training aimed at getting me back in shape, a new prosthesis was installed, with unfortunately no concealed weapons.
Day after day I continued to feel more and more broken and tired of everything I was going through. In addition to all the training I was constantly being examined and tested by a large staff of doctors, some of them coming directly from the academy in Seattle.
At the same time, in another place in the colony, weapons, equipment and the strange technology that should, in theory, have been able to get me into DGS were being prepared. I was able to poke around very little especially in the laboratories of what was called "Project Scotty".
It looked like they were mounting some kind of extendable arm on top of a huge tracked vehicle but more than that I could not find out. I was a little tense especially in this regard.
I even went so far as to imagine myself catapulted from some kind of mega slingshot straight into Charon's base.
Meanwhile, Sophia always found time to keep my spirits up by seeking out my company and making me appreciate her own, aided also by my old buddy Matt. I found out that Bob was also in the colony and it was nice for the first time to get to know him in earnest, which he also appreciated since I learned about a week before D-Day that I would not be going alone on Diĝir-ga-šum but would have the support of an explosives expert.
I was happy, in part, because then I could devote myself to Deena's search with more freedom once inside. Although Sophia's presence was pleasant and somewhat inviting to me, I was beginning to be increasingly concerned about her. I found that I almost had a hard time remembering her face so much those black, murderous eyes were burned into my brain.
The week leading up to the day of the attack was finally the week I wanted, the long-awaited week of revelations.
"So, what shall we toast to?", asked Matt as he lifted the stolen mug to the mess hall. In the evenings no one from the barracks came to eat; almost everyone lived outside or ate out much better food. Smuggling beers was not an impossible task.
"I propose a toast to D! Happy belated birthday and happy promotion!", shouted Sophia.
"I wonder why I expected that," my friend whispered puzzled. "Any better ideas Bob?"
"I would be tempted to toast C4... however, we are actually here for him", he said then. Matt sighed defeatedly.
"I would say this", I said trying to mediate with my glass of American coffee in hand. "Here's to you guys. To those who bailed me out of jail and to old Burris", I said then with somewhat more restrained enthusiasm than my comrades. I put everyone in agreement, because a few moments later a "Cheers!" was heard echoing inside the room.
"So how does it feel Lieutenant Lester?", asked Bob after downing his mug of beer in one go.
"A clandestine promotion. Such developments…", I said, definitely keeping my joy in check. I was happy about that appointment but tried to remain as rational as possible.
"A dean has the authority to do whatever he wants when it comes to promotions, it seems to me. Even if you've been demoted by the council, Burris can still do what he wants with one of his cadets," Matt explained.
"So it seems," I said..
"C’mon Daith, cheer!", said the girl putting down the mug. Sophia could not be said to be one to hold her liquor. "And why do you insist on drinking that sissy stuff...?".
"I don't drink, you know that", I told her after taking another sip of iced coffee.
"Well Lieutenant Teetotaler, congratulations," chuckled Matt as he watched Sophia stagger left and right with her head. "Welcome back to the way you were".
"Do you know when they are sending us back to Earth, Daith?", asked Bob.
"Soon. The next battle is only a few days away, and that will be the time when we will infiltrate. You are leaving tomorrow, aren't you?".
"Yes, they train me for some phases on Terra. You know, it would be too dangerous here...".
"I guess. What about you Matt? I don't know what you're going to do yet", I asked.
"Well, I'll be our double agent in the control room during the attack and give signals to our allied troops when they fall back to your position".
"And you Sophia?", I asked.
"I’ll fly. Still don’t know what role yet".
"I propose another toast, since it's the last night we all spend together here", Matt resumed. "Here's to leave after the mission! May it be in a kick-ass place!".
For the second and final time, the mess hall was deafened by another "Cheers!" Our hearts became strangely light, and trying not to think too much about tomorrow, we tried to make ourselves strong, somehow enjoying the faith that each had in the other comrades. As planned, one by one the others left the lunar base, while I was forced to stay behind to conduct a series of tests and trainings. I did not even know what the plan actually consisted of other than blowing up the Inductor.
I was finally contacted by the dean through his graduated passersby and led to an area of the base that I had never seen before. I didn't think the base was that big.
"Lieutenant, I'll leave you here", the officer in charge of escorting me said after stopping in front of a door like so many others. This one unlike the others, however, was guarded by two burly soldiers.
I placed my thumbprint on the scanner that served as an electronic lock under the watchful gaze of the soldiers as the officer walked away. A friendly, high-pitched sound preceded the opening of the sliding door.
"Welcome to Wonderland", Burris said from across the threshold. It was finally time to test the toys I would once use on DGS.
As soon as I walked through the door, I immediately noticed that the air was much colder and that the huge building I had entered was all rumbling and animated, in stark contrast to the muffled still atmosphere that characterized the corridors of the rest of the base.
I then found myself inside a large laboratory carved out of an old short-range space fighter hangar, a huge building brightly lit by a hundred lights hanging from the very high ceiling. Much of the area was dotted with work tables occupied by fifty or so men in white coats or blue overalls and yellow plastic helmets on their heads, all actively working.
Occasionally a few soldiers could be seen surveying the area with sometimes watchful, sometimes bored looks. Suddenly I felt insignificant in the face of so much organization.
After a few steps I couldn't help but notice what was perhaps the main project those people were working on.
It was a kind of large semi-truck almost twenty meters long. The driver's cab had been heavily armored and a huge dish had been mounted on the roof. Behind the cab a rather thick sheet of metal protected a small steel construction built over the top of the vehicle's trailer, a parallelepiped five meters high and as wide as the vehicle. It was accessed by a ladder of iron pipes welded to the hull and leading to an oval door with a small porthole. On top of this sort of tall, narrow hovel was a winch that wound a rope that stretched to another, decidedly more curious part.
It was reminiscent of a telescope with mounted at the top a second strange hooked dish that protruded in length from the trailer of the vehicle by a couple of meters.
"What is this stuff?", I asked confused.
"This, son, is the most sophisticated thing currently existing on Sol".
"I have a 2100 John Deer in my barn. Grandma keeps it better than this", I replied skeptically. "It doesn't even fly! What are we supposed to do with it?".
"Don't be fooled by appearances. This is the limowith which you will make your theatrical entrance into DGS".
"I was hoping for something better… armored", I said without being able to understand what he was getting at. "Well, enlighten me".
"I'm not the most appropriate person to do it lieutenant", he said, smiling. "I'm taking you to the lab manager. Oh, right, he is a bit… eccentric".
"Eccentric?", I asked as I continued to follow the dean. I soon got my answer.
"Hello Lieutenant, I'm Chief Engineer Willbur Manetta, how do you do!", greeted the gaunt-faced man, thin with mousy gray hair pulled back into a tail and conspicuously artificially tanned. He grabbed my hand without my even extending it to him and took to shaking it with the grace of a jackhammer.
"Hello Will, how about introducing our new friend to Wonderland?", asked Burris smiling with amusement.
"Sure Evan, follow me handsome", he said letting go of my hand not without first stroking my back. He walked hunchbacked and with long strides almost too long for his skinny legs.
With a few strides he reached his destination, I almost had to run to keep up with him. "So first of all your name is Daith right? Here they call me Will, but call me Doc W too if you want", he said looking at me strangely.
"Dean", I then whispered to my superior. "Please tell me he’s like that with everyone".
"Nope", he said in distress. "You’re his type, it seems. Well, don't focus on that".
"You can call me Daith doctor sure. I'm ready to work with you and I'm very straight", I introduced myself hoping to dispel any doubts he had.
Burris put his hand to his forehead, and the scientist looked at me quizzically. "Evan, where did you find this baby dinosaur?".
"Ohio, doctor," I answered for him.
"Holy Gods", he quipped. "Grew up among remnants of Mormons and Texan refugees. Chill cutie I don't go out looking for prey at night".
"I... didn't mean to offend...", I mumbled, immediately feeling like an idiot. “I just had… bad times in jail and…”.
"Say no more, lieutenant", Burris stopped me.
"You have no idea what happened to me in prison... certain things now make me... anxious".
"I repeat, say no more", the dean froze me, and I finally shut up.
"So this big vehicle here", he took to explaining, "is the result of a collaboration between the Federal Research Center and....".
"In short Will".
"... and the Kindu University of Science", he finished offended. "This vehicle carries an experimental mobile station for quantum teleportation of medium-sized biological objects and organisms".
"Bullshit", I let slip upon hearing something that seemed as absurd as it was unreal. Everyone, including those who worked nearby, took to glaring at me, and I again felt deeply embarrassed.
"Not at all cutie! Quantum mechanics does not in any way prohibit the teleportation of macroscopic bodies; the theory has been confirmed by a series of experiments carried out as early as 1997 by Anton Zeiliger's group from the Institute of Experimental Physics in Vienna, and we have been carrying their legacy for centuries now! The result of all these years is this you see, Scotty!".
"The... Scotty?", I asked in amazement.
"Of course, the Scotty! We owe the name of the project to my predecessor, I don't even know where he got it from, he was a ninety-year-old geezer, however he had no taste".
"And... how does it work?", I asked wary.
"You would never understand it, not even close", he said with some arrogance. "You just need to know that this is not a science fiction teleporter, which work as replicators of an original. This one, based on real quantum physics of today necessarily destroys the original object to be transported. In other words, with a departure station A and an arrival station B, the body would be destroyed on A at the very moment it is scanned atom by atom and reconstructed on B based on the information sent from A and thanks to the raw atomic material already available at the arrival station, then on B, reassembled. The key point of teleportation based on the principles of quantum physics is that it cannot occur at speeds faster than the speed of light, but for our use, speed will not be an issue since we will be about 3.6 km as the crow flies from the arrival point".
"D-Destroyed and then rebuilt?", I asked. I didn't like that; I didn't like that at all.
Burris seemed to struggle a second time but the scientist on the contrary became infuriated.
"Nonsense, theoretically you won't even notice! Now hurry up and get undressed!", ordered the man in the white coat.
"What? Theoretically? Take my clothes off?".
"Don't worry", Burris explained pointedly, "they have to scan you thoroughly to calibrate the instruments and run simulations. You'll also have to take medical tests".
"Hey, I didn't say I agree!", I pointed out.
"Nonsense!", repeated Doc, taking me by the hand and yanking me until he led me behind an aluminum screen placed near one of the hangar walls. He made me sit on the bench placed behind, on which rested a white towel. "Strip off everything and follow him", he said, pointing to a soldier.
"But why?", I asked embarrassed. "Hey I have questions!".
"What questions?", snorted the scientist.
"You said stations A and B, is there a station B on DGS?".
"Of course there is", Burris said. "A hacking attack will force it to accept our signal".
"How do you people know that? I didn't see anything like that when I was there!", I exclaimed.
"Do your duty", Burris said only before leaving. "I’ll do mine".
The doctor disappeared behind the screen without adding anything else. It was cold and the idea of showing myself naked in front of so many people embarrassed me greatly. I focused on the importance of the mission and found the determination to make myself bear whatever was necessary.
Emerging from the screen with only the towel on me tied around my waist like a skirt, I walked preceded by the soldier about ten meters until I reached a machine similar to those for CT scans. I was sent into a coma-like state, so crucial was it that I not move, or else fatal instrumental errors in recomposition in the teleporter or the cancellation of the scan, which lasted 6 to 10 hours. I spent perhaps a week on exams, diets and aerobic activity. It was important that I achieve as stable a fitness as possible, trying to maintain a constant body mass that was not subject to change.
Day after day the time went by more or less quickly, until the time came for a final review of the plan of action. Tired after a day of training, I closed myself back into my cabin to view the plans with my SAI and ponder the choices I should make.
*
"Hello!".
Sophia had found the strength to reappear before me after a week of continuing to avoid me. She had put on some civilian clothes, combed her hair carefully, and smelled really good. She was very pretty that evening and I thought I would not see her again until later at battle.
After a few moments I reciprocated the greeting with another equally coy "Hello".
"May I come in?", she asked shyly. She did not make eye contact with me, always keeping her gaze fixed at the level of my chin.
"Come in", I said with a certain hypocritical nonchalance. I gave her the space to enter, then after closing the door I turned on the light.
"It didn't feel bad", she said then, referring to the dimness earlier. I turned off the light.
"Weren't you supposed to leave?", I asked.
"Tomorrow".
"Tomorrow".
"I… I swiped a couple of cans at the bar. Would you like a drink?".
"I don't drink, you know tha….
"One drop won't kill you", she said, smiling. She went and sat down at his desk, moved the papers with floor plans and mission diagrams and opened the beer cans. "Sheets of paper?".
"I like the feeling and holding them helps me focus. My SAI is bumpy anyway," I explained.
I still looked at the alcohol with distrust. "I don't know, that is... again, I don't drink, you know".
"Yes, I do. You haven't drunk since that night."
"Yeah, just since then", I said with a grimace.
"But this is not the same night. It's not the same city and it's not even the same stuff".
I burst out laughing. "No, definitely not the same stuff".
"So are you going to keep me company or not?", she asked. We could both be dead in a few hours, and that scent was so pleasant that I grabbed a chair and walked over and sat down across from her.
I took the can and sipped some beer. It was fresh and pleasant and seemed almost the first time I had tasted it. "So, what shall we toast to?", she asked.
"I don't know", I answered honestly. Ahead of us was a chasm of uncertainty that separated us from any concrete hope for the future. Going back into DGS, surviving, destroying it, saving Deena. So many things could go wrong that expecting otherwise was little more than folly.
"No?", she asked.
"No".
"Let's see... let's toast... to our first beer together in many years", she smiled. It was a bitter laugh hers, even I could tell. She was not there to celebrate, quite the contrary. She was sick as hell, just like me. I could feel her fear. I shared it, in part.
"Tomorrow you’ll go back to Earth", I said.
"Yeah... tomorrow we’ll fight together".
"And you’re going to do what?".
"They put me on an IF-16 in cover in the first wave. When I think I just got my license, if nothing else I'll be the co-pilot, that calms me down a little bit".
"Are you nervous?".
"We are the last remaining pilots, of course I am! DGS has a perfect anti-aircraft defense and the shield around it is unbreakable. We only have to give support to the ground troops engaged against the demi-humans but the Fortress is not standing by! So many have died before me-I am... scared. I was surviving this shit long enough to earn indefinite quiescence and now...".
"I’m scared too”, I said.
"Daith, you know I don't want to keep doing this, right? I don't want to be a soldier! I don't want to die tomorrow" she said in a trembling voice.
"You are not going to die tomorrow", I said then. I realized how important Sophia was to me. She was always there by my side, heedless of everything and everyone. "You will make two good turns, dodge a couple of missiles and at the end of the day you will land ready for the gold medal! Trust your pilot and give him or her all your support!".
"I'm really doing without a medal", she continued, still sad. She sipped some beer, then looked up from the ground.
"Hey, you know what? We can increase our odds for tomorrow", I proposed.
"How?".
"Listen to me: promise to let me hear your song".
"My song?".
"I got your letter in prison".
"Gods, it’s so embarrassing", she blushed, smiling again. "Did you like it?".
"I was about to cry. You have no idea how much it helped me. I just felt like shit in there.
Thank you".
"You're welcome", she said shrugging her shoulders embarrassed by the compliment.
"Anyway... promise me that after the battle, you will let me hear your song".
"Sure. But only if you promise me that you will be there to listen to it and live!".
"I promise!".
“Of course, if you have any time left to be with your Deena”.
“If she’s gonna be jealous, I’ll ignore her”.
“Mh. I like that. You were mine first", she smiled.
"Yeah…".
She changed her expression again. In that instant, it was like an exchange of expressions, as if her concern ended up creeping from her face to mine, seething in my gaze. I huffed before sipping some more drink.
"You are so cool" she then commented.
"Nah", I replied.
"How calm you are. How I envy you. I wish I were as strong as you".
"It's all bloody appearances. You know that".
"You have always been a bad liar. I know you. You are smelling the blood".
"My hands have been shaking for days. I get little sleep at night. I always think about... what I'll have to do... once I'm there".
"Wait", she said suddenly. She laid the tin on the desk, took me by the hand and sat me down on the bed. Then she did the same, going to stand behind me. "My father taught me this".
"What do you want to do?", I asked curious and also a little worried.
"Now you see", she reassured me.
With her delicate, tiny but strong, firm hands, she took to massaging my shoulders and neck using her thumbs, insistently rotating with her fingers counterclockwise and applying pressure to certain points. It had the effect that the sun has on an icicle. Suddenly I really began to relax and surrendered to the sensations that massage gave me.
The closeness filled my nostrils with her intense, soothing scent. She began humming a little tune, warbling like a bird without, however, finding the courage to reveal the words.
"What are you singing?", I asked as I squinted my eyes.
"If I could say what I want to say...", she sang for a couple of seconds before laughing and going back to solfying with half-closed lips. "Is that better?", she asked, smiling. She sensed that I liked it.
"Very. Wise, your father", I said.
"He was a physical therapist. He used to put severely wounded soldiers back on their feet with rehab", she explained. "This massage helps calm the nerves. At least it should, I hope I can manage".
"Was he your ticket to the academy? I never asked you about that".
"Yeah", she explained. "There was an attack in Beirut, where he worked. The base blew up and he was involved. Fucking Islamists. A cell from Io, it seems. My mother decided to accept the protection of Humanity and I ended up in the academy. I was the perfect age to start".
"I remember your arrival", I smiled wistfully. "I found you crying behind the basketball court".
"I hated that place", she recalled. "Wait a minute. Why were you hanging around there?".
"There was a time when I would never have answered you", I said accepting that I had indeed changed. "The truth is, I was there for the same reason you were. I wanted to cry. I hated that fucking place. Hey, you're good".
"Thank you", she said happily. "I think I knew that, you know? Maybe that's why right away I found you so special. The others were all immediately gassed about that world. Uniforms, adventures. But you didn't give a damn about those things at first.
My mother forced me to go to Seattle, she was terrified of quiescence and enlisting me was the only way for her to make me safe. I always hated life in the academy. That day on Ceres I wanted those rednecks to kill me. At least that would be over and maybe I would find my father in the afterlife".
"If you believe it".
Sophia laughed, "No, only as a little girl. That time, you came... you pulled me out of trouble and told me something. You told me...".
"If you really have to die, don't do it in this shithole, get off your ass and squeeze that shotgun", I said mindfully. "Gods what a B movie attitude".
Sophia laughed again. "That's right. You were right. It wasn't true that I wanted to die there. I wanted to be free... surviving gave me the chance to choose a path that would give me more opportunities to get a job in the civilian sector. I don't think there is a single cadet pilot in Seattle who wanted to stay in the Air Force... now I can pursue my real dream".
I felt like a little dog being petted by a stranger. Sophia's hands were pleasant, a godsend. However, her touch although expert and pleasant, did not arouse in me those sensations that only by brushing Deena's fingers I could feel. I smiled for a moment at the increasingly vague memory I had of the only woman I had ever managed to love. I felt disgust for myself that I had not been able to be near her.
"Daith...", she suddenly frowned as she stopped moving her hands. I stepped out of myself in frustration and returned to reality. "There is something... a favor I wanted to ask you", she continued.
"Sure, go ahead", I said, glad that I could be of some use to her. I sipped some more beer. "I...", she tried to say. She blushed suddenly. I turned my head and torso and looked at her confused all of a sudden, not understanding what was happening to her. She grabbed the can I was holding with both hands and took hold of it, staring at it without daring to look away.
"What?", I asked, chuckling amused by her embarrassment.
"Daith… I… you… would like to…".
"What? What would I like?".
"I ...", she resumed with difficulty. "I want to make love with you".
ns 15.158.61.20da2
