by Rod Walker
“Aw, what am I supposed to say to that, sir?” said Vance. He sighed again and saluted. “We’ll get it done or die trying. What about Gregor?”
“Your mission is to get him to the minor crystal with the major crystal and ensure that he shuts down the gates,” said the General. “If at any point, you suspect is going to betray you, or if he does anything other than what he promised, shoot him.”
“With enthusiasm, sir,” said Vance. He looked at us. “All right, men, you heard the General. We’ve got a mission to plan.”
Chapter 11: Interface
At 0500 sharp, we boarded a dozen M200s loaded down with weaponry and rolled out to the west, the Cascade Mountains rising before us.
I rode in Sergeant Hobb’s APC with Rigger and Jack, which also meant that Gregor got to ride with us. Gregor, for his part, seemed perfectly calm. He had traded his suit for combat fatigues and body armor, and it seem incongruous to see that withered chipmunk face over that much combat gear. Yet the weight didn’t seem to slow him down. If anything, he seemed enthusiastic. Energized, even. There had been a spring in his step as we escorted him from Castle Base and loaded him into the APC.
It was odd to see an eighty-year-old man with that kind of energy. I suppose you don’t get to be the kind of billionaire who can buy and sell the souls of politicians without a lot of vigor. Yet it seemed strange, almost unnatural. I wondered if Gregor’s Listener treatment had done something to increase his stamina. That didn’t seem possible, but it would explain how a man his age had survived the rigors of the last few days without the slightest hint of strain.
Maybe that was one of the things he hadn’t mentioned to General Culver.
I wondered what else he hadn’t mentioned during our little chat. I remembered Rigger’s story and wondered if I shouldn’t just shoot Gregor. I know I wasn’t the only one. Rigger kept glaring at the old man.
“Why so glum, gentlemen?” said Gregor as our APCs rolled into the desert.
Rigger grunted. “It’s early. Haven’t had my coffee yet.”
Jack snorted and turned his attention to the windows, watching the surrounding landscape for threats. I didn’t sense any Darksiders yet, save for whatever was in Gregor’s blood and the sharp presence of the major transductor crystal in Vance’s APC, but there was always the risk the rest of the Committee had learned of this and might try to assassinate Gregor.
“We are going to make history today,” said Gregor. “Another step on mankind’s long road to progress. Today we’re going to save the world.”
“From what you did to it,” I said.
“There have been setbacks,” said Gregor.
“Setbacks,” said Jack, glaring at Gregor for a moment and then turning his attention to the window.
“Setbacks and failures, I admit it freely,” said Gregor. “But today I will see the fulfillment of my life’s work. How can I find that anything but invigorating?”
“So was your life’s work to see Earth get invaded by insane alien weapons?” I said. “If so, good job.”
“Ah,” said Gregor. “Tell me. Did General Culver order you to kill me once the mission was finished?”
“He did not,” said Jack. He had ordered us to kill Gregor at the first sign of treachery, but there was no need to let Gregor know that. Besides, I had no doubt the cunning old man had already figured it out.
Gregor shrugged. “Perhaps he did, and perhaps he did not. But is it not exhilarating? You wait to see if I will betray you. I wait to see if you will betray me. A game with deadly consequences, and the fate of all humanity as the stakes.” He smiled that mechanical, humorless smile. “It proves that I was right.”
“About what?” I said.
“That the only way humanity will ever unify under one government is in the face of an external threat,” said Gregor. “Each one of you would gladly shoot me if given the chance, and if I am to be honest if I were free to act I would liquidate you as potential threats. But here we are, working together for the greater good. There is a valuable lesson in that, is there not?”
“Yeah,” said Rigger. “You’re a lunatic and you should stop talking.”
Gregor’s eyes narrowed to green slits at that. I guess he didn’t like being called crazy.
“Hey,” said Sergeant Hobb from the driver’s seat, “you back there, shut up so I can concentrate. I don’t care if you’re Listeners or billionaires or whatever, but if I drive off a cliff because you’re distracting me with your yammering, you’ll all die together. So shaddup.”
On that cheery note, we stopped talking. At least it shut Gregor up, though the old man still looked enthusiastic. We drove into the western foothills of the Cascades, following the old I-90 line through the mountains. I have to admit it was nice to see green forests again after so much time in the deserts of the western United States. Even after two year of no maintenance, the road was still in decent condition, and we made good time, though the ride was bumpy. Then again, the M200 APCs hadn’t been built for comfort. As we descended the far side of the mountains, I felt the distant presence of the major gate in the ruins of Seattle.
And the sharper presence of a scout gate nearby.
“Approaching the town of North Bend,” said Vance. “All troops, report in.”
North Bend had once been a nice little tourist town surrounded by the green forests of the western Cascades. Now, like so many other little towns, it had been destroyed by the Dark’s invasion. Unlike many wrecked towns, it had a scout gate right in the center of town. I felt its sharp presence as we approached the ruins, and also the presence of multiple Darksiders.
“No visuals yet,” someone said over the radio.
“That won’t last,” murmured Gregor.
I glanced at him and spoke up. “Sir, I think there are twenty to thirty scout drones near the gate, and three or four Overseers.” Jack and Rigger agreed with my assessment.
“All clustered near the gate?” said Vance.
“Yes, sir,” said Jack.
“Right,” said Vance. “Well, let’s make some noise. Sergeant Hobb, this is what I want done.”
The APCs split into three groups. One group would come right down the center of Main Avenue. Two more would come at Main Avenue from either side and hit the Dark from the flanks as they engaged the main group. I watched the street as our APC rolled behind the main force, looking at all the empty houses. I wondered how many people had died here on Invasion Day.
I wondered how many people had died here because the old man sitting on the bench behind me.
Then the battle began and I didn’t have any time to worry about it.
Our APC brought up the back of the main group, and a mob of scout drones flew towards us. The machine gunners opened fire, raking streams of bullets across the drones. They dropped like flies, but they weren’t the main threat. The three Overseers behind them with plasma weapons posed the main danger, and we fired a volley of AT-4s at them. That didn’t kill them, but it did throw them off-guard long enough for the other two groups of APCs to burst from the side streets and open fire with every weapon at once.
That took care of the Overseers.
“Cease fire!” Vance’s voice crackled over the speakers. “All units, cease fire! Get a perimeter around that gate. Move!”
The APCs rolled into position, leveling their weapons at the scout gate. It was about the size of a usual scout gate, maybe ten meters tall and ten wide, just wide enough that one of the APCs could get through it without slicing it in half. With the fluid motions of long experience, the M200 drivers got their vehicles positioned in a perimeter around the gate, machine guns and Javelins leveled at the flickering portal.
“And so it begins at last,” murmured Gregor.
I shot him a look, but his withered chipmunk face gave away nothing.
“Listeners,” said Vance. “You sense anything on the other side of that gate?”
“Not yet, sir,” I said. “But it’s…”
�
��Yeah, yeah, it always doesn’t work through the gate,” said Vance. “Kane, you drew the lucky straw, so you get to go through the gate first. Sergeant Hobb, assign some men to escort him.” Hobb gave the orders, and I soon I disembarked from the M200, carbine in hand, and six men came to escort me. They fanned out around me, and we went through the gate as one.
As usual I felt that flicker of strange disorientation, and then I found myself on the Darkside. Or maybe it wasn’t really the Dark’s world, but the world of their creators, or maybe a world that had once belonged to another race they had destroyed. Anyway, it was the usual black sky with billowing clouds, a distant range of mountains on the horizon. To my left rose one of those mushroom forests, and ahead of the gate stretched a patch of hilly, grassy terrain.
About five hundred yards away I caught the flash of a transductor crystal floating over the corpse-flower plant base.
“Well?” said one of the soldiers. “Any Darksiders nearby?”
“No,” I said, concentrating. “Not yet. Some in the mushrooms, and some in the mountains. None of them are here. I think we’ve got about ten, maybe fifteen minutes before more show up.”
“Then let’s move,” said the soldier, and we retreated through the gate and back to Earth.
“Well?” said Vance once we had emerged. He stood with Sergeant Hobb and ten men, watching the gate with wary eyes.
“No Darksiders around,” I reported. “The nearest ones are a minimum of ten minutes away in a forest of the mushroom-things to the left. If we hurry, we can get to the transductor crystal and back before they respond.”
“Yeah,” said Vance, turning his head. “Course, we’re not just trying to close the gate, are we, Mr. Gregor?”
I saw Rigger and Jack approaching, Gregor walking between them. Rigger carried a heavy strong box that contained the major transductor crystal.
“We are not, Captain Vance,” said Gregor. “We are attempting to exert total control over the entirety of the gate system.”
“How long is that going to take?” said Vance.
“About one to five minutes,” said Gregor. “I suggest we hurry. The Dark will have sensed our presence in their world, and they will be hurrying to respond.”
Vance nodded. “Fine. Sergeant, half the APCs are coming with us, the other half are remaining here. Once Mr. Gregor has control of the gate network, we’ll retreat back through the gate. If he knows what he’s talking about, the gates should collapse after Gregor comes through with both the crystals.”
“Yes,” said Gregor. “I do. If Corporal Rigger could hand over the major crystal now, that would be most helpful.”
Vance gave the old man a level stare. “You’ll get it when we reach the hill. Back in the APC, Mr. Gregor.”
Gregor gave him a thin smile, but followed us back to the APC. Vance joined us, leaving Sergeant Hobb to command the perimeter back on Earth.
“We’re ready, sir,” said Hobb.
“All right,” said Vance, settling himself into the driver’s seat. “See you shortly, Sergeant, God willing. Everyone, follow my APC.”
He tapped the throttle, and the APC rolled through the gate and into the Dark side.
I flinched as we went through the gate, a new sensation rolling over me. I had never carried a crystal back through the gate, and it felt strange. I could also sense Gregor. I mean, I had sensed him during the entire journey from Castle Base, but now his presence felt sharper, stronger.
He felt…
He almost felt like a walking major crystal.
I shared a look with Rigger and Jack, and saw that they sensed the same thing. We all looked at Gregor, but he only smiled.
“It is the nature of the Dark’s biotech in our bloodstreams, gentlemen,” said Gregor. “We are essentially network nodes, and here, there are so many more potential incoming connections.”
“What are you talking about?” said Vance.
“A change in sensation, sir,” said Jack. “The Darksiders haven’t come any closer, but the sense of both Gregor and the major crystal have changed.”
“That going to be a problem?” said Vance. The APC creaked as it started to climb the first hill.
“Don’t know, sir,” said Jack. “Mr. Gregor.”
“I don’t believe so,” said Gregor. “As I told the young men, it is to be expected. I have never done this before, after all.”
The captain said something unflattering under his breath, shook his head, and kept driving.
About two minutes later the APCs had pulled up in a ring along the top of the hill with the crystal, encircling the corpse-flower and the floating crystal.
“Status,” said Vance.
“The Darksiders are moving from the mushroom forest, sir,” said Jack. “Think they’re still eleven minutes away. Maybe a little more or less.”
“Then let’s do this,” said Vance, pushing out of his seat. “Let’s go.” He tapped his mike. “The Listeners, Gregor, and I are heading out. Everyone else is to stay in their vehicles and maintain watch on the surrounding countryside. Report at the first sign of trouble.”
A chorus of acknowledgements went over the radio, and we followed Vance out of the APC, escorting Gregor. We stopped a few feet from the corpse-flower and its floating crystal, and I felt the familiar pressure inside my skull. I also felt a new pressure from the major crystal in the box. I had the feeling the major crystal was trying to talk to the smaller one, though I didn’t know what message it was trying to send. To shut down? That the war was over?
“The crystal, if you please, Corporal Rigger,” said Gregor, holding out one bony hand. “It is time for us to make history today.”
Rigger looked at the captain, grunted, and opened the strongbox. He set it down and drew out the crystal, wincing at little as he touched it. White light flashed and flickered within its black facets. With both hands, he handed it to Gregor. The old man lifted the crystal one-handed, gazing into its facets, a strange look of exultation going over his lined face.
The major crystal’s sense changed. So did Gregor’s sense. Suddenly the two of them felt like a single entity of the Dark.
“Hello,” murmured Gregor, “harlot.”
I blinked. Harlot? Had he just called the crystal a harlot? That made no sense. It was such a weirdly specific insult. And why insult the crystal? The thing might have been intelligent, but it was so far from the human version of intelligence that attempting to insult it would be like shouting at a tree.
Gregor walked forward, holding the major crystal before him and gazing into its depths, his expression intent and sharp. He stopped a yard from the lesser crystal, the major crystal starting to flash in his grasp. Despite the weight of the thing, he held it before him one-handed, his arm rock-solid.
The lesser crystal began to flash as well, and I realized that the major crystal and the lesser crystal were now flashing in perfect sync. A strange sensation went through my head, and I realized that the sense of the Darksiders approaching us from the giant mushrooms had changed. They felt…different. They felt like…
I blinked.
They felt a little like Gregor, like his presence had copied itself into the approaching Darksiders.
I didn’t think he was doing anything to the gates.
Rigger stepped forward, scowling. Jack started to point his weapon at Gregor, and I followed suit.
“What is it?” said Vance. “What’s he doing?”
“I don’t know, sir,” I said. “But it’s not affecting the gates.”
“Gregor!” shouted Vance. “What are you doing?”
“Do not interrupt me,” said Gregor. “This is delicate work. Yes…almost there. You will obey me, harlot. You will obey me!”
The sense of Gregor in the approaching Darksiders intensified, and with a horrified shock I realized what was happening.
“He’s taking control of them,” I said. “He might be able to close the gates, but he didn’t come here to do that. I think he’s trying to tak
e control of the Dark!”
Gregor whirled to face us, the major crystal clenched in his left hand, his withered lips pulled back from his yellowed teeth in a snarl. His eyes had turned black, like the eyes of the converted zombies, his veins turning black beneath his papery skin. He looked like one of the zombies, but unlike the zombies, his expression had not gone slack, and was filled with gloating malice.
The conversion weapons joined humans to the Dark’s hive mind.
I suspected that Gregor had just done the opposite.
“Kill him!” said Vance, raising his own weapon.
We started shooting, but even before we pulled the triggers on our weapons, the major crystal glowed with white light. A dome of translucent white light exploded out from the crystal and swept across the hilltop, surrounding Gregor. Our bullets hit the dome and rebounded as if they had hit concrete.
The expanding dome hit me across the body, and I flew backwards and struck the APC behind me. My head bounced off the armored vehicle, and I felt the force of the impact even through my helmet.
Things got woozy, and I slid to the ground.
I think I blacked out for a moment.
When I came to, things were not going well.
I heard the steady roar of machine gun fire, and Vance barking orders. I felt the presence of Gregor and the major crystal nearby, and I also felt the presence of thousands upon thousands of copies of Gregor approaching from the sky. That didn’t make sense. Gregor couldn’t copy himself.
Then my eyes opened wider and I tried to stand up.
The dome of light filled most of the hilltop, enclosing Gregor and both crystals. All the APCs had opened up with the machine guns, their bullets rebounding from the dome.
“Cease fire!” said Vance.
“Explosives, sir?” said Jack.
“Won’t do any good,” said Vance. “If that barrier can absorb the kinetic force of six machine guns at once, an explosion won’t help us.”
“It is useless.”
It was Gregor’s voice, and I heard him speaking through the dome…but I also heard his voice booming over the hills, coming from the direction of the mushroom forest. It sounded like his voice had been repeated thousands and thousands of time. I couldn’t understand it, but then I realized the source.
