Heart of Granite

by James Barclay

  ‘Hey, Yarif, where is he?’ she demanded of his assistant, a perpetually harassed-looking young man who was unbelievably efficient and destined for great things in military administration.

  ‘Got a call then headed out looking angry,’ said Yarif barely looking up from his screen. ‘Dammit why do people think his every free moment needs to be filled with a meeting? See this? “Monthly debrief on moral and ethical standards adherence”. For fuck’s—’

  ‘My heart bleeds. When will he be back? I need to see him urgently.’

  ‘It was the ExO who called him, they had a fraught conversation, then he hurried off. Apparently,that shouldn’t surprise you.’

  Valera sighed. ‘No it doesn’t. But when will he be back?’

  ‘Soon, I hope.’

  ‘I’m back,’ said Moeller from behind Valera. ‘Come into my office.’

  Valera followed him in and closed the door behind her. Through the glass wall panels she could see the eyes of at least half the Flight Command staff on the office. She wondered how much they knew and how much was still just rumour.

  ‘I need your support,’ said Valera before Moeller had reached his desk. ‘Kirby is holding Max in Landfill in breach of five separate regulations. You cannot let that stand.’

  Moeller held up his hands. ‘Let’s take this one step at a time, all right? It’s a complex situation.’

  ‘It’s a simple issue of false imprisonment, sir.’

  Moeller pointed at various icons on his screen while he spoke. ‘There’s the tech debrief report and brain pattern assessment saying he’s begun the Fall. There’s confronting a senior offer within his own quarters and making wild accusations. There’s vid. It’s compelling stuff.’

  ‘It’s complete fiction. Just like your promise to include shielding on the latest upgrade. Kirby has confirmed we aren’t getting it because it’s actually impossible to retro-fit. Presumably he expects us to die in the pouch before any charges against him are considered.Again and again he’s lied to us. And to you, sir.’

  Moeller punched up the tech debrief and scanned it. ‘Kirby told me you dropped by. You’re not doing yourself any favours by bringing charges against him. But of course you know that.’

  ‘What should I do, sit back while Kirby destroys the HoG’s best pilot and drake? Not to mention Max is a personal friend of mine, not to mention he’s my fucking pilot, not to mention he’s yourfucking pilot. Why won’t you look at me? He’s sentenced me and my squad to death into the bargain. Has he got to you as well?’

  ‘I resent that remark, squadron leader.’ Moeller looked up from the screen. ‘Max is a valuable member of the flight team and I have not turned my back on him.’

  ‘So what are you doing? You took the data point reading from Martha’s pen, sir. It certainly looks like you’ve turned your back on us.’

  ‘It’s protocol to take a data point comparison when pilots behave erratically, whether they return to duty or not. You know that.’

  ‘With respect, sir, you’re hiding behind regulations. It’s time to decide what you really care about: your crew or your bosses.’

  ‘It’s not that simple.’

  ‘Yes it is. Pick Solomon and the ExO and Max will die in Landfill. Then, inevitably, so does the rest of I-X. Pick Max and no one knows you gave me anything. You knowMax isn’t Falling.’

  Moeller held her gaze. He said nothing and she understood that he couldn’t. But he closed the data file and rubbed his hands together.

  ‘I understand you’re being confined to your squad rooms. You’d better go.’

  ‘Tough course you’re navigating, sir,’ said Valera. ‘Don’t let the tide push you on to the rocks. Max needs you. I-X needs you.’

  Moeller rubbed a hand across his cleanshaven chin. ‘I will do everything in my power to secure Max’s release. But it doesn’t look good. The evidence against him appears solid, the signatories are in place and the wheels of drake decommissioning are ready to roll. If you or your squad take preemptive action you’re liable to end up in there with him.’

  ‘Kirby is lying, sir. And he laid that threat at my door too and I simply don’t believe it. At least force a retest. Max is entitled to it – and protocol requires one now I’ve requested it.’

  Moeller nodded and the ghost of a smile crossed his lips. ‘Leave that with me. I’ll see it happens.’

  ‘Don’t leave us wondering in the squad room,’ said Valera.

  ‘If you’re right and the evidence against Max’s is fabricated then his allegations still have to be contained and dealt with by the executive. I will not have my pilots inciting a riot on this behemoth. Do you understand?’

  ‘How long I keep my counsel depends on Max’s chances.’

  Moeller nodded. ‘Fair enough. Dismissed.’

  ‘Sir.’

  Valera walked through the bustle and noise on the Heart of Granite. There were more Mips on duty than normal, or maybe Valera was just more sensitive to them. Every man and woman on duty seemed to be watching her.

  Gargan’s was already busy. She lost herself in the crowd for a moment, seeing life on the behemoth going on as normal. And it made her angry. It was weird to experience clarity in a stew of alcohol, thumping music and a press of bodies. Just a couple of days ago, they’d celebrated victory over the Sambas and seeing the Marshal Gen safely aboard.

  Now their world had gone to shit. She had no choice but to trust Moeller for now. But would he do anything when push came to shove? Valera was sceptical.

  While there were no Mips actually guarding the squad rack, there might as well have been. Valera smiled sweetly at the pair leaning against the corner of a corridor a few metres up. It was a pathetic attempt at nonchalance.

  ‘If you’re being all undercover and stuff, at least wear casual clothes,’ she called.

  The moment she opened the door, she was greeted by angry voices from the rec. She blew out her cheeks and listened for a few moments.

  ‘Half of them would join us in a strike,’ said Redfearn.

  ‘Wouldn’t matter if they did,’ said Nevant. ‘A strike? You’re dreaming. They’d shoot the lot of us rather than tolerate a walkout.’

  ‘They wouldn’t dare,’ said Monteith. ‘Take out half the drake squads? I don’t think so.’

  ‘Monts is right,’ said Redfearn. ‘They won’t line us up, but one by one we’d all end up like Max. There has to be another way.’

  ‘Storm the med centre, like I said,’ said Stepanek. ‘Get a guard on Martha too. Get Max back.’

  ‘You’re all missing the point,’ said Gurney. ‘The Exec is set against Max. We’re watched, so is Martha. Some big gesture might make us feel better, but if we want to help Max, we have to be a whole lot smarter and more subtle.’

  A chorus of shouts poured scorn on Gurney’s words. Enough. Valera walked into view, her presence inspiring instant quiet.

  ‘So this is revolution central, is it?’ she asked. There was a smattering of awkward laughter. ‘I wish I had good news to report but I don’t. First, secure all thoughts of an uprising. Moeller has agreed to try and force Max’s release. He’s going down the retest route. Meanwhile, hard though it is, we have to sit tight and wait. But that doesn’t mean we can’t plot our endgame.’

  There were various grudging grunts of agreement. ‘Then gather round and let’s see . ..’

  ‘So she came to you, too?’ Kirby marched into Moeller’s office despite the closed door, and the meeting he was holding with his senior staff. ‘Your meeting’s over. Get out.’

  Moeller was sitting at the head of his table and had his back to Kirby. He made sure his people saw his expression before nodding. He stayed seated. ‘Last one out, close the door.’

  When he heard the click, he pushed back his chair and stood. Kirby was by his desk, drumming his fingers on the edge, impatient and irritable. A normal day for him, then.

  ‘You will never speak to me in front of my staff in that manner again. I do not report to yo
u, I do not tug my forelock to you and I do not appreciate being dragged into the great pit of dung you’re digging.’

  Kirby cleared his throat and strode towards the gallery windows overlooking the quiet flight deck.

  ‘Did she come to you?’ he asked again.

  ‘Take a wild guess,’ said Moeller, not joining him. ‘How do you plan to deal withit?’

  ‘It’s done. Halloran is finished.’

  Moeller adopted a neutral expression.

  ‘So, Solomon, Markov and Avery have all signed off on effective murder of our finest ever drake pilot?’

  ‘The Marshal General and the President agree that the issues at stake outweigh the loss of one pilot.’

  Moeller raised his eyebrows. ‘And in doing so you will earn the mistrust of Inferno-X, the undying hatred of Valera Orin and every squadron leader fearing being undermined. I could go on but that little list describes a behemoth’s Exec failing in its core duty and all because you lied without thought to the likely result of its inevitable exposure. Why didn’t you come to me?’

  ‘I don’t need your agreement,’ said Kirby, a sneer on his face.

  ‘Not for my agreement, you idiot, for advice from the only man on the Exec who knows how to handle pilots. You sat in the meeting and you lied to me, to Avery and to Valera. You made me repeat a lie to Inferno-X and, as a result, a dangerous and untested upgrade is in place. And instead of admitting your error, you’ve made Max a scapegoat to keep everyone else in line. Didn’t work, did it? You should have come to me.’

  Kirby’s face was all belligerent outrage. ‘All right. And what do you suggest, in your wisdom?’

  ‘I’m ordering a retest on Max and it will prove he isn’t Falling.’ Moeller held up his hand to still Kirby’s protestation. ‘You cannot prevent me from doing so. Sell it to Max as a change of heart. Get him onside. Try a little honesty, you’ll be amazed how often that works. Don’t toss him on the scrapheap because he knows a truth.’

  ‘Are you kidding?’ Kirby’s face was incredulous. ‘The boy’s a flying genius with a big mouth and a little knowledge; and that’s a poisonous combination – especially when he’s just discovered a few principles. He can’t keep his mouth shut, and I do not want a hundred angry drake pilots lining up outside my door demanding answers I cannot give them. You’re being naïve, Moeller, and even if you weren’t, it’s out of our hands.’

  ‘No it isn’t. He’s our pilot on our behemoth. I don’t care who’s exerting pressure, this isn’t happening. You need to stop it.’

  Kirby shook his head. ‘There’s a world outside the Granite and Max made too much noise. Solomon and Corsini want him silenced. So go get your retest, it won’t change a thing. We’re fighting a war and sometimes it requires unpalatable decisions and dangerous conditions. We have to win and win fast. No one can get in the way of that.’

  ‘I used to think there was more to you than this,’ said Moeller and he felt genuinely sad at the death of their friendship. ‘You’ve become exactly what you used to decry.’

  ‘We all have our masters. Yours is Avery, mine is further up the chain. I can live with that.’

  Moeller felt a chill run down his spine. ‘Avery doesn’t know about Halloran’s situation, does she? The truth, I mean. How did you pull that off?’

  Kirby’s face was stone. ‘Commander Avery is aware that Halloran is going through the Fall, so has reluctantly signed the necessary releases. It would be a grave mistake for anybody to give her any contrary information now or in the future.’

  ‘Wow,’ said Moeller. ‘Drawing up battle lines, aren’t we?’

  ‘Move on,’ said Kirby. ‘This is finished. We’re re- engineering Halloran’s drake tomorrow, as soon as her digestive tract is empty. Max has his first treatment at pretty much the same moment.’

  ‘You’ll burn for this,’ said Moeller.

  ‘I doubt that. You’ve picked the wrong side. I’m sure the undying respect of your pilots helps you sleep but you should be looking ahead. When the war is done, who’s going to reward you for your loyalty to them?’

  Chapter 21

  The need for alternate energy changed the global landscape. Wind harvesters ploughed the heavens, their kilometres-long cables tethering them to earth-bound batteries; every roof glittered with solar panels; coasts were awash with tidal generators. But biofuels could not hold sway in the fields when so many billions needed food. The war began for land. Land to feed your own and damn the rest.

  Professor Julia Nicholls, When The Earth Stopped Giving

  It was plain none of the squad trusted him and Moeller was comfortable with that, or so it looked to Valera. The Mips would report it, but there were a hundred reasons for him to visit a squad in isolation. It meant Inferno-X could see his eyes. Valera was quietly impressed but she regarded him with a healthy suspicion nonetheless.

  ‘Get Flight Commander Moeller a coffee, Stepanek.’ ‘How do you take it, sir?’ asked Stepanek.

  ‘White no sugar,’ said Moeller.

  Valera indicated a chair. ‘Take a seat, sir.’

  Moeller sat and was followed by the rest of the squad, crowding close and staring at him like he was a zoo exhibit. Stepanek handed him his coffee and Valera could see that Moeller was not about to deliver positive news, it was just a question of how bad.

  ‘So, we’re honoured,’ said Valera. ‘You know that fraternising with InfernoX currently carries a health warning?’

  ‘I think I’m already infected by implication.’ He sipped his coffee, nodding appreciatively though it was sure to be as crap as everyone else’s. Then he set it down. ‘Listen closely. I trust you all and I want your confidence in return. Your friend and my pilot, Max Halloran, is in deep, deep trouble and all official channels to help him are closed, all file work is complete. There is nothing I can do. At dawn tomorrow, assuming the data point calculations are correct, his drake will be reengineered. That is all the time we have to save both drake and pilot.’

  ‘So we break him out,’ said Stepanek into the shocked silence. ‘Storm the fucking place.’

  ‘And what then?’ said Moeller quietly. ‘He’ll be a fugitive and you’ll all be criminals. Think what would happen to all of you.’

  ‘Then we strike. Other squads will support. Show Kirby we won’t fight until Max is freed,’ said Redfearn.

  ‘And what then?’ repeated Moeller. ‘Kirby’s orders are still carried out, and one by one, you’re all disciplined for insubordination. Only the strike against the Maputo is keeping us from bee-lining to the Red Sea right now, for a regeneration cycle. If you strike, we’ll pass the Maputo baton to the Steelback, the Flinthorn and the Ironclaw. Then what leverage do you have? You’ll destroy yourselves and Inferno-X. This is still a war.’

  Valera found herself fighting a rising despair and Moeller’s deconstruction of their options merely deepened it.

  ‘We have to do something,’ she whispered. ‘What can we do?’

  ‘Tread carefully. I am neither deaf nor blind on this behemoth, much as our ExO loves to think I am. Max has the very slightest opportunity and he’ll have to see it and act on it. If he does, he’ll need help. Any contacts you have need to be ready to make him disappear in about three hours.’

  ‘We can do that,’ said Valera. ‘What is it that you know, sir?’

  ‘Best not to ask that question.’ Moeller smiled. ‘We’re relying on Max a whole lot here. None of us can be seen helping him. He has to seize the moment and take the risk for himself. Think he’ll deliver?’

  ‘Now let’s see,’ said Monteith. ‘Max doing something for himself and himself alone . .. will he deliver? That’s a tough one.’

  Laughter ran around the squad room and the tension eased. Redfearn high-fived Monteith.

  ‘All right. I’ve said all I can. Spread the word, and sit tight, InfernoX. None of you is to leave this squad room.’ Moeller stood up and drained his coffee. ‘I should have seen it coming.’

  ‘What’s that, sir
?’ asked Valera, sensing something of weight was about to come their way.

  Moeller thought for a moment before deciding to continue. ‘The politics of war. Election day is a year and a half away. If the war’s still on, then Corsini loses. Never mind this incident, watch for whatever’s coming down the line in the next few months. I told Max that not every battle would be fought in the sky. I should have listened to myself.’

  ‘What about the retest, sir?’ asked Valera. ‘Won’t that help?’

  Moeller cleared his throat. ‘How do I put this delicately? No one who . . . matters cares a damn about its results.’

  Valera felt sick to her stomach. ‘How can that be?’

  ‘It’s for another day. Get Max out first, then we can turn to IX’s situation. Right now, no other squad has been upgraded but I’m not sure how long I can hold back the tide.’

  ‘What’s happening, sir?’ asked Kullani.

  ‘People really want you to take down the Maputo, that’s what’s happening. Making that happen might be the only way to save all of your lives.’

  He nodded to them, turned and strode to the dorm door, which slammed behind him with an impressive echo.

  Valera scanned the squad. ‘Before everything else, and boy is there a lot of that, let’s set this up. Anyone with any useful Blammer contacts, come to me. I’ve got the odd favour to call in myself. And use squad encryption for anything you send by ppalm. You never know who’s watching.’

  Leitch lay in his bed and wished it wasn’t so cold. He was uncomfortable. There were echoes in his head, voices he chased but could never quite catch up. He thought it was his drake; still out there somewhere but muzzled. It was the most painful thing; knowing it was alive but knowing he would never know the mind-touch again. It made his head hurt and his legs cold and dead.

  He remembered feeling quite excited when Max arrived. Max listened and Max believed. That made Leitch feel good, something that had been in short supply. Trouble was now he had nothing new to tell Max. And that made him uncomfortable because Max was still here.