“My father would never have judged everyone in a group by the actions of a few,” Owen replied. His dad was adamant about that. “He would have been among the first people to stand in your way. He would be proud that I am here to do it in his place.”
“Then he was a damned coward,” Eric said. “Just like his son.”
Owen smiled. “You know, a year ago I probably would have just come at you swinging after a remark like that. But not now, not anymore. I've learned a lot since then. It takes real courage to change yourself.”
“More useless words. You gonna bring my friends out here, or what?”
Owen glanced over his shoulder toward Hereford. The general nodded. That surprised him a bit. He'd figured that sending Captain Jenkins to use his radio had been a misdirection designed to keep Eric talking. But if he was considering handing them over, it changed things a bit. Owen was pretty sure Eric wasn't going to be able to just leave without firing a shot. He had too much hate pent up inside him. Enough that he was willing to kill himself if he could only hurt a Naga in the process. He might even be longing for death...
“You want to see what it takes real courage to face?” Owen asked Eric.
“What do you mean?”
“I mean the real threat. The big enemy. You heard Garul talking about how humans helped save his world, right?” Owen glanced over the man's head. The crowd was still close enough to hear his words. Some even paused in backing away. “But you never wondered what that threat was?”
The wide-eyed look Eric gave him told Owen everything he needed to know. No, the man had never considered Garul's words, not even a little. To him, every Naga was a hated enemy. Why would he bother listening to them at all? But maybe he could be reached. If he saw that there was an even graver threat looming, maybe he could be convinced to set aside his hatred. It was worth a shot.
“What the hell are you talking about, kid?” Eric growled at him.
“Let me show you,” Owen said. He turned to Garul. “Your armor has 3D projection, right?”
“Of course,” Garul rumbled.
“Can you bring up a picture from the battle we just fought? So our friend here can see what we're actually up against?” Owen asked.
“I can, but...” Garul looked at the news crews gathered around, filming every second of this interaction. Then he glanced at Hereford.
Owen understood right away what the problem was. Of course, the existence of the damned Bugs hadn't been announced to the world at large. He'd seen some leaked information on various media sites, but the real truth? The full extent of the threat? No way. It hadn't been put out there. Classified, most likely. The powers-that-be had decided humanity was too damned fragile to handle the truth. Well, the hell with that. He turned to face Hereford.
“General, it's time they knew the truth.”
Hereford froze, his lips a disapproving line. He glanced over at the TV crews still filming the whole mess. They were live, watching everything going on and broadcasting it to who knew how many people. He could get in a hell of a lot of trouble if he allowed Owen to say what he wanted to. But on the flip side, Owen figured that Garul had already spilled the beans. As soon as he'd revealed that the Naga homeworld had almost been destroyed, but was saved in part by human ships, this cat was out of the bag. Reporters would dig for the story until they got the information they wanted.
“They're going to find out anyway, sir,” Owen said. “Best to get ahead of it.”
Hereford nodded.
Owen shifted his stare back to Garul, who sighed and raised an arm.
That caused Eric to raise his pistol again, which got every soldier in the area bristling their weapons in his general direction. Owen stepped between Eric and Garul, crying “Stop!”
Both sides froze.
Owen faced Eric. “He's not using a weapon. He's showing you something. Just watch, damn it! What have you got to lose?”
“This whole charade is bullshit, but I'll play your game, kid,” Eric said. “What's so damned important that you want to play show and tell?”
“This,” Garul said. He tapped a control on his wrist and the device there projected an image into the air above Owen's head.
It was a view from Garul's suit camera during the pitched battle to save his ship from the Kkiktchikut. There was Owen in his Armor, blazing away at the Bugs as they swarmed in, claws flashing and plasma flying. Owen winced at the memory as razor sharp claws raked the side of his Armor. He'd almost been sliced in half in that moment and not even known it!
The Bugs were huge, terrifying, powerful creatures. Owen watched the video replica of himself dispatch one of the things. Then another rushed his Armor in the projection. Garul froze the shot at the precise moment when the Bug warrior was in full view, guns blazing and claws extended. Owen had to admit, it was a damned good shot.
“What... What kind of bullshit is this?” Eric whispered.
“That's the real enemy,” Owen said, pointing. “The Naga call them Kkiktchikut, but we've taken to just calling them 'Bugs'. They once enslaved the Naga, who rebelled and beat them. But now they're back with stronger technology than we or the Naga possess, and they seem to have one goal: to wipe out every other spacefaring race.”
“You're making up some space opera bullshit,” Eric protested.
“I'm not.” Owen placed his hands on his hips. “I used to hate the Naga every bit as much as you do, for exactly the same reason. I got over myself. I learned that Naga can be good or bad, just like human beings. And I fought against the real enemy. That was me you were seeing, tucked inside that Armor.”
Owen shook his head, sadness overtaking him at the thought of all the time he'd wasted in hate. But at least he'd pulled out of it before it ate him alive. He had to find a way to do the same for Eric, too. He needed this. It was a deeper feeling than he'd been aware, at first. He wanted to help this man the way he'd been helped.
“Put down the gun, Eric. We've got much bigger problems than the Naga ever were. Together, maybe we have a chance at surviving this mess, but alone?” Owen said. “Alone, we're ashes.”
Owen watched the emotions warring in Eric's eyes, unsure which way the man's internal battle would swing.
Twenty-Eight
Hereford watched the interaction between McInness and the bomber with a mixture of dread and pride. He saw what McInness was trying to do plain as day. The kid was trying to save the man, to bring him around and get him to give up his anger and hate. As much as that tied in well to the season and all that, Hereford was too pragmatic to give him high odds of succeeding.
When Owen stepped in closer to Eric, Hereford held his breath, hoping, even praying that he was wrong. Because where he was standing now, if that bomb went off, McInness was a dead man. There was no way he'd survive a blast in that proximity. He'd be torn to shreds. Hereford wasn't so sure about Garul. That Naga battle armor was tough stuff. If he got has head shield up in time, it might be enough to save him. But McInness wasn't even wearing a damned vest.
He took a step toward the scene, hoping to lure McInness back out of the most dangerous zone. A strong hand on his elbow stopped him in his tracks. Hereford whirled, furious at being balked, and found himself nose to nose with Captain Jenkins.
“Sir, you shouldn't even be out here,” Jenkins hissed between gritted teeth. “I'll be damned if I let you get any closer.”
Hereford shook Jenkins' hand from his arm, but he knew his officer was correct. He'd already done more to risk his own neck in the past twenty-four hours than was wise. No sense compounding that by doing something even more foolhardy. “All right. What's the status on that asshole's friends?”
“On their way here, cuffed and under guard.”
“Good,” Hereford said. The man might be willing to toss his own life away in an attempt to hurt a Naga, but would he be as willing when his friends were present? Hereford was betting he would not.
He called out to the bomber. “Your friends are on their way. No
need for violence here. As you've seen, there's more to this than you knew.”
“All I saw was some fancy alien special effects. All I heard was more lies from someone I already know lied to me,” Eric snapped back. “Fool me once, shame on you, right? But fool me twice...”
“It's not a lie, damn it!” Owen said.
“Says the liar,” Eric told him. “Maybe my friends are coming. Maybe they're not. But maybe, just maybe, I should take the chance I've got to blow you and your pet alien to hell. What do you think of that?”
Hereford watched the bomber's face intently. That small twitch near his eyes, the way his mouth ground together like he was gearing up to do something... He was going to do it. He was going to blow the bomb. It didn't matter that his friends were on their way to the gate. They weren't there yet, and that was what counted. The man's hatred was goading him on. All McInness had done was show him some pretty pictures — the man had already decided they were all lies. He probably thought it was a lie that his people were being brought out of their cells, too.
The asshole was going to blow all of them to kingdom come, and the hell with the consequences! There had to be something he could do to stop Benson, some way to make a connection. McInness hadn't managed it, though, even with everything he'd done. What could Hereford say that could get through to the man? He had seconds left to come up with something. Then he saw it.
“Benson!” Hereford called out. “Don't do this! Look — there's a little girl right there!”
He pointed at the child who'd spoken to Garul earlier. She was still there, hiding just behind the Naga. Irony, that. The girl was using the big alien as a shield against the thing she was most afraid of: another human. A child could tell that Garul was safer to be near than Benson. But the man couldn't see that. He was blinded.
And it was too late. Benson was already raising his hand, lifting the finger that held the trigger. His thumb was just over the button that would blast them all to hell. But Owen was moving too. Hereford saw his arm raise in a flickering motion. The kid had figured out that he'd failed to turn Benson around. His right hand shot up and pointed directly at the bomb. As time seemed to slow down around him, Hereford wondered what McInness thought he was doing. Then he saw the bolt of blue light flash from his upraised hand, and knew. He'd palmed the Naga pistol before approaching Benson. That whole time he was trying to talk the man down, he'd been ready to shoot him if his words didn't work.
The blast from the Naga weapon struck Benson in the middle of his chest, blowing him to the ground. He landed on his back with a thud. His fingers still clasped the detonator within them. It hadn't gone off yet, but—
Someone tackled Hereford, tossing his body hard against the general's side. He fell to the ground, head cracking against pavement. Stars dotted his vision and he tasted blood in his mouth, but he felt more or less all right. It was Jenkins. The captain tackled him, knocking him down behind a concrete barrier.
Hereford couldn't see what happened next, but he felt the concussive wave as the explosion went off. The force of the blast lifted him a little bit from the ground before smashing him back down into the road again. He'd instinctively closed his eyes when the blast hit, but he opened them again, shoving Jenkins off him and trying to get back to his feet. He felt unsteady, wobbly. But that was the damage to his balance caused by shock to his eardrums. Hereford had been around enough big bangs to know that it would fade in a while.
Jenkins helped him rise. Dust and smoke filled the air where the bomber had been. Some of his soldiers had taken cover and were slowly getting back to their feet. Others were down, bleeding. It looked like the nearest members of the crowd had been hit as well. Hereford couldn't see much else yet. The wind was light and would take a little time to clear the smoke away. He turned to face Jenkins and grabbed him by the color, pulling him close. “Medics! Get medics!”
He shouted the words as loud as he could, mouthing them widely as well to make sure Jenkins understood. The captain's hearing had to be as badly shot as his, but somehow he must have gotten the message. He staggered over to the gatehouse and picked up the phone inside.
Help would be here soon, but would it be in time for the people who mattered most to Hereford? Was there any hope at all? He saw a glint of sunlight reflecting off something in the middle of the blast area. That had to be Garul's armor. Hereford weaved his way through the debris toward his friend's side.
Twenty-Nine
Garul saw Benson's hand tighten on the detonator and tapped his gauntlet, activating the head covering. Even that might not be enough to stop a blast this large. He wasn't sure what the bombs were loaded with, but Benson had whatever it was facing directly toward Owen and Garul. Owen was just two steps away, so close but still impossibly far. He knew he'd never make it across that distance before the explosion took McInness down.
But the young man proved his mettle as a warrior once again. Quick as lightning, his hand shot up, pistol aimed center of mass on Benson's chest. The blast knocked the bomber over backward, but it wasn't going to stop the explosion, only redirect it.
“Owen, down!” Garul shouted. Even as he called out he was already whirling his body away from Benson to present the sturdy back plates toward the explosion.
But what he saw as he turned almost froze him in place.
The little girl was still standing there. She'd been right behind his leg the whole time. Her mother was there as well. Garul couldn't just let them die! He reached out with his left hand as he turned, shoving the woman backward into the dirt. Then he finished his pivot, scooping up the child into his arms. She squealed as he wrapped her tight within his armored body. Garul dropped to the pavement and tucked himself around her, shielding her as best he could with his body.
The explosion was a powerful roar even through his buttoned-up armor. Garul waited, holding himself completely still until he was certain there was no more debris coming down around him. He had to be sure. Any debris still dropping after the initial blast wouldn't hurt him, not through the armor. But it could still damage the tiny package he'd wrapped himself around.
He took a moment to check the HUD inside his helmet. The armor had taken a beating, but it was solid Naga construction. Even the seals held against the pressure wave of the blast. He was uninjured. But what about the child? She'd stopped moving!
Garul uncurled himself from her and gently laid her still form on the ground. Blood trickled from her ears. He wasn't sure if that was normal for a human after an explosion like this or not. Too damned much he didn't know about human anatomy! Still, she was breathing. That was something. Garul unclipped the medical device from his belt and checked it over. It lit up when activated and still seemed to be in working order, if a bit scuffed up. Would it work on a human? He hadn't had time to test the modified unit yet.
Hoping that the tweaks made to its design would enable it to heal the girl without pain, he held the unit over her body. It scanned her, seeking injuries, and lit yellow over her abdomen and head. Garul shifted the device to her head first and laid it against the front of her skull. It flashed green several times, informing him it was working on the problem.
These medical devices weren't difficult to use. They'd been designed with front-line grunts like himself in mind, after all! Just place the medical scanner over the injured person. It would identify injuries, after which he had to press the unit near the injury. It would then release medical nanites into the target, which would begin the repair process. It wasn't much different from the medical nanites Dan Wynn told him humans had. Just several generations of technology superior.
The light stopped flashing. Garul moved the device to her abdomen and set the nanite dispenser there to begin its work. As he did, he looked around at the carnage wrought by the explosion. There wasn't much left of the human bomber. Near as Garul could tell, the blast had shredded his body. Owen lay on the ground nearby. Had he managed to drop to the ground, out of the way of the worst of the blast? Or had he been ca
ught?
He'd treated the girl. It was time to check on his friend. Garul carried his medical scanner over to Owen. The young man lay on his chest, making it difficult to determine if he was still breathing or not. The Naga dared not move him; if he'd suffered serious injuries and was somehow still alive, rolling him over might be enough to kill him. Instead he ran the scanner over Owen's body. It lit up yellow and red from head to waist.
Damn. He was alive, but badly hurt. As Garul finished his scan, he noted some of the spots he'd originally seen as yellow flash red, signifying increasing severity. His head was only yellow, but his chest and abdomen were both red, so Garul started there, laying the medical device in one place and then another. Then he waited, hoping his young friend would have the strength to pull through. There was little else he could do.
“Is he alive?”
Garul looked up and saw Hereford standing there, shouting down at him. He shut down his helmet and it slid back into the rest of the armor. “Yes.”
Hereford tapped his ear. “Can't hear.”
Of course, the explosion had dulled the human's hearing. Garul pointed to Owen and then nodded. He pointed at the medical device. Hereford seemed to get the idea. The general knelt down opposite Garul beside Owen's body. Garul smiled, ducking his head a bit to conceal it from the man. Hereford might pretend to be aloof and without feeling sometimes, but he cared deeply for his people. It was one of the things Garul admired most about the man.
Garul ran the device over Owen again, checking his status. Already most of the red regions had returned to amber. It would take the nanites more time to fully restore him, but it seemed likely he would live. There wasn't much more he could do for Owen at the moment, so Garul looked up from his patient to examine the rest of the damage done.
Peace Talks (Adventures of the Starship Satori Book 12) Page 12
