Extinction

-19-

Crow and I talked it over. We finally decided that Kerr would be more forthcoming—or at least less full of crap—if he and I talked alone. Crow seemed to take this as a hint that I meant to lean on Kerr. He was excited by the prospect.

“Okay,” he said. “Just you and the good General. But don’t go easy on him, Kyle. And don’t trust a word he says.”

I had to agree with Crow’s point of view. I had no intention of being bamboozled by this Kerr. I had no stomach for actual torture, however. I didn’t tell Crow that, figuring he might figure I needed help.

I moved Kerr to the medical facility next door where we often strapped men in to administer the nanite treatments. He walked in and dubiously examined the stainless steel chair and restraints. The leather loops were torn apart and the metal buckles had snapped.

“What’s this about?” he asked, trying to sound disinterested.

“This chair is where we put men who are undergoing nanite-transformation.”

“The restraints are all broken,” he pointed out.

“Yes, well, that happens fairly often,” I said. “Unfortunately, no reasonable set of leather straps can hold one of our raving marines, not once his strength has been enhanced by a full dose of nanites.”

“Why strap them in at all, then?”

“The transformations vary. Some men just puke and faint. Others rave and seek to damage themselves, but that phase usually passes before they become strong. In short, the chair and the restraints work for most men, but not all.”

Kerr licked his lips. There were dark smears of dried blood on the flat, reflective arms of the chair. I wondered if electric chairs looked like that. I’d never seen one in person.

“Seems like you could build metal restraints,” Kerr said. “Manacles the men couldn’t break.”

“We tried that,” I said. “It was a disaster. The men who went wild tore loose anyway, leaving their hands and exposed wrist-bones behind, if necessary. Repairing a man at that point takes much longer and is more traumatic for everyone. The leather straps hold most people, and those that break them have to be dealt with individually.”

Kerr nodded. “Such a sacrifice,” he said.

“Yes, it is,” I said. I watched him, wondering if he was feeding me more bullshit. I didn’t think he was, but I no longer trusted my own judgment around this man. He had fooled me as few people ever had.

“Let’s talk, General,” I said. “Just you and I, off the record.”

“An excellent idea.”

“Can you tell me why so many fine men had to die here on this island? Why their blood is on your hands—and mine?”

I think that statement got to him, if only for a second. He nodded. “All right. I think you’ve earned a bit of truth from me.”

Kerr looked around for a place to dump his ashes. Not finding anything reasonable, he tapped them out on the stainless steel arm of the electric chair. A gray little pile of smoldering dust formed among the bloodstains and ripped leather straps.

“I think you understand most of the score by now,” he said. “This took us all by surprise. I had to move down here with whatever assets I could, within a few hours. The military just doesn’t move that fast. There never was a full taskforce down here. We had a group of subs to send tomahawks at you. Choppers brought in a team of commandos and snipers from Florida to harass your camp. The carrier group just got into range this morning, and you managed to send them packing. The few companies of regular troops which I put up north you took apart easily.”

I blinked and absorbed this information quietly. I’d been bluffed. There had been no full scale invasion. They had bullied and herded my men without a tenth of our strength. Without our Nano ships and our communications systems, we’d been thrown into confusion. This was what people liked to call a teachable moment.

“The administration has undergone a change of heart,” Kerr continued. “The takeover was supposed to be quick and quiet. No one was to know the details, but things became messy and drawn out. You managed to do us enough damage and resist long enough for the press to get involved.”

“How did the public take the news?” I asked. “What did they think when they learned you were invading the island and taking apart Star Force?”

“You haven’t seen any broadcasts or web feeds?”

I gave him a wintry smile. “I’ve been busy fighting for my life.”

Kerr nodded. “The public reaction has been—extreme. They see us as the invaders, backstabbers, the killers of heroes. Within twenty-four hours the story had leaked worldwide and public opinion was all in your favor. We’d blundered and created our own Bay of Pigs. America is still something of a democracy, you know, and elections are coming in fall. All congressional support for the action evaporated as soon as they heard you were holding out in your secret base. It was a worst case scenario, your little Alamo. We knew sooner or later some reporterette would make it down here to interview you.”

“So, what’s your new role?”

“I’m—an advisor. A permanent one, stationed here with you.”

“In other words, you are my hostage.”

“A rude, archaic term.”

“But strangely descriptive of the situation,” I said. “Tell me General, what was it that set you off so badly as to try this stunt? I thought we had a good relationship until all this.”

He shrugged. “The administration is feeling their way, Kyle. Like everyone else. Your fleet flew away. We saw the opportunity. We began to get paranoid, thinking that others would also see the opportunity. It started off as a discussion concerning the factories. So much alien tech could not be allowed into the hands of another nation. If you couldn’t keep it secure—then we had to step in, we had to secure it.”

I nodded, for the most part buying his statements. “What about the talk of EMPs and neutron bombs?” I asked.

“That was mostly bullshit,” Kerr said. “Less than a division of fast-responders and a carrier group, that’s all we could get down here quickly. Anything else was going to take weeks to assemble. I feared that if we gave you that long, you would have sealed this island off tightly.”

I stared at him. I realized that I had been bluffed. I’d bought all his talk of nukes and advanced weaponry. I laughed aloud. “You slippery bastard,” I said. “The man who never bluffs. I thought you had the fancy stuff. You snowed me.”

A smile played over Kerr’s lips. “You didn’t do too badly yourself. But I must say, your surprises were far more deadly than mine.”

I thought about it. In real military terms, we’d creamed them. They had sent down troops, and they’d all been taken out almost without loss on our side. I frowned, thinking about our little meeting at the edge of the forest at midnight.

“Why didn’t you have a sniper take me out then? That night amongst the Bradleys?”

“Because you blinded them all the night before, you prick.”

I nodded and frowned. “About the pilots and snipers. Those are good men we’ve seriously injured. We might be able to work something out. They were only following orders.”

“The nanites?” he asked.

I nodded.

“What would your terms be?” Kerr asked.

“No terms. If they want to join Star Force, they can. We’ll shoot them with nanites, no charge. They will be able to see again.”

Kerr snorted. “So, blinding my men was all part of your recruitment efforts, eh? Rude, but I’m sure they will be grateful. The administration will love it too, as it would be good PR all around.” Kerr relit his pipe and puffed it. His calm exterior had reasserted itself.

“I would naturally hope my generosity would be reciprocated.”

“Here it comes,” Kerr said.

“We need raw materials to keep—producing things. To allow us to meet the needs of the Macros. So we can continue to build Earth’s armies and rebuild her fleet.”

Kerr narrowed his eyes. “Would you be willing to give us a single machine? Just to study. We’re very curious about them.”

“So I’ve noticed,” I said. “We can’t do that right now. I need them all to repair the damage done to my organization. After the Macros come and go—if we have a planet left—I’ll consider it then.”

Kerr looked disappointed. “Selfish of you. What are you going to do with all those machines?”

I found his attitude annoying. “We’re going to build hundreds of automated laser turrets. We’ll ring this island with them. No plane or ship will ever be allowed within ten miles of the coast again without express permission.”

Kerr shrugged. “A reasonable precaution.”

“We’ll never fully trust you again,” I told him.

“You should never have fully trusted us in the first place.”