Defenders

by Will McIntosh

  This couldn’t be happening. Lila put her hand on her forehead and struggled to think clearly. Could they really do this to her? Things were so bizarre in the world right now that anything seemed possible. She looked up at Erik. “I just want to go home. I want to see my husband, my son, for God’s sake. Please say you’ll help me undo this. Tell them you made a mistake. Tell them anything.” She closed her mouth, realized she was shouting.

  Erik looked stunned. Trembling, his voice barely controlled, he said, “Do you have any idea how hard I worked to arrange this? I risked my life for you.”

  To this point, Oliver had been standing slightly behind Lila. Now, almost casually, he stepped between Erik and Lila. “I’m sorry, but we have to contact our government as soon as possible. Come on, Lila.” He took her elbow and guided her away.

  Erik turned to watch her leave.

  43

  Lila Easterlin

  June 3, 2045. Sydney, Australia.

  It was a meeting unlike any Lila had ever attended, starting with the location. Surely they could have come up with another place in this oversized city where fifteen humans could meet without fear of being overheard. She glanced at the opening of the pipe, a circle of light and color fifty yards away. Actually, she couldn’t think of any. Even meeting in a sewer pipe in a smallish group, the defenders might notice and send in a spy bug.

  “I understand why the UN won’t tell us anything. I just don’t like it,” Sook was saying. “We’re the ones who are here; we’re the ones who are actually negotiating with these psychopaths.”

  Galatea snorted. “Negotiating. I’m surprised you can keep from lacing that word with sarcasm.”

  Sook smiled grimly. “It took effort.”

  Wanting to hear what those outside her little group thought, Lila headed for another cluster of people chattering in low tones. She took care not to slip on the moss growing inside the enormous sewer pipe.

  “—problem is, they’re so adversarial, so zero-sum in their thinking, they see any compromise in their position as weakness,” Nguyen Dung, the structural engineer from Vietnam, was saying as Lila joined the circle. A few of them nodded to Lila, acknowledging her.

  “If only there were some way to negotiate where we didn’t seem to be negotiating, where on the surface we appeared to be capitulating. Like, ‘Okay, you win, we’ll—’ Whatever.” Ahmad bin Nayef, the ambassador from Saudi Arabia, tugged on his elaborately braided mustache.

  “The problem is, they won’t budge off the precise demands they made at the outset,” Nguyen said. “What would they do if we offered them more than they’re asking for? Say we offered them all of Asia, Europe, and North America. I wonder if they’d reject it, because it wasn’t exactly what they demanded?” He sighed. “Not that we’re going to offer them all of that.”

  “What are we going to do?” Lila asked. “If the defenders doggedly insist we meet their demands, what will the UN do?”

  No one answered. No one wanted to bring up the prospect of war. It was unthinkable, to fight another war, against such a savage and well-armed foe. Foe. The defenders weren’t their foes—that was the irony.

  “I can’t see the UN giving in,” Ahmad said.

  “Lila? Can I speak to you?” It was Oliver. He’d missed the start of the meeting, saying there was something important he had to do.

  “What’s up?” she asked as they walked toward the circle of daylight, their heads down.

  “Let’s wait till we’re outside.” Lila glanced at Oliver, realized that whatever it was he wanted to tell her, he was badly shaken by it. They hopped out of the pipe and walked along the massive, bowl-shaped concrete aqueduct the sewer pipe drained into.

  “Washington wants me to locate Five. Badly.”

  Lila laughed humorlessly. “Sure. We can go door-to-door. ‘Pardon me, have you seen a starfish missing a limb and blind in one eye?’ ”

  “I know.” Oliver threw his hands in the air in frustration. “I don’t even know if he’s alive. They’re telling me to do everything I can. Everything.”

  “Why do they want you to speak to him so badly?” It seemed as if the Luyten were an afterthought at this point.

  Oliver swallowed. “They want to know what the Luyten would do if they invaded Australia.”

  Lila stopped walking. “Holy shit.”

  Oliver held up a hand. “They’re not going to invade. You know Washington bureaucrats—they’re gathering information, doing their due diligence so they fully understand their options.”

  A preemptive strike. It made sense, but it sent a chill through Lila. “How would they even do that, with the cloak in place?”

  Oliver shrugged. “I guess they’d fly in low under the cloak. We don’t have near the number of planes and heavy weapons the defenders do, but if the world combines resources again, re-forms the Alliance, we still have a hell of a lot of weaponry. And we wouldn’t be fighting a guerrilla war—we could bomb the hell out of this continent.”

  They came to a tunnel beneath an overpass, turned, and instead headed up the lip of the bowl toward street level.

  “I guess I see where I rate as an ambassador in Washington’s eyes,” Lila said. “They’re doing an end run around me.”

  “Don’t take it personally. They don’t trust anyone who hasn’t worked for the government for at least twenty years.”

  “Especially someone who’s unstable and unpredictable. I might go all PTSD on them.” The truth was she was relieved not to be caught in the middle of all their shit. In fact, she felt sorry for Oliver. “How do you feel about them considering this?”

  “Oh, I think it’s a terrible idea. A war?” He shook his head. “It shouldn’t even be on the table. We’re too weak, militarily. Last year the US military budget was seventeen percent of what it had been before the invasion.” His shoulder sagged slightly. “But I still have to locate Five, if I can.”

  They were getting close to street level; Lila paused, not wanting to go there and be forced to speak in a whisper. “You know, if the Alliance had already decided to invade, they wouldn’t tell you.”

  Oliver thought about it. “No, they wouldn’t.”

  They still had no evidence, direct or indirect, that the Luyten were passing on the emissaries’ thoughts to the defenders. The Luyten didn’t seem to speak to the defenders at all, ever. They clearly understood, and took direction, but they never spoke. Because they couldn’t read the defenders’ minds, they’d have to speak aloud, and, as Five had demonstrated, they were capable of speaking aloud if they chose.

  “If the Luyten are reporting to the defenders, just by asking you to get this information, they’re tipping their hand. And putting you in an incredibly dangerous position at the same time.” She made a sweeping gesture, encompassing everything around. “Right now, every Luyten in this city knows the UN is at least considering an invasion.”

  “Evidently they’re willing to take that risk.” Oliver folded his arms across his chest. “I’m guessing this is how their logic goes: If the Luyten tip off the defenders that we’re considering an invasion, and that I’m seeking information to facilitate that invasion, the defenders will kill me. No—they’ll kill all of us. And if we’re all killed, that signals to the UN that the Luyten may be allied with or controlled by the defenders. If there’s a good chance the Luyten will fight alongside the defenders, the Alliance is not going to invade under any circumstances, because they know they can’t win.”

  They continued walking. As they came over the rise and reached the street, a brisk wind hit them.

  “That would be a pretty fucking ruthless plan.”

  Oliver tried to smile. “I sure don’t love it. But the stakes are high enough that I think that might be the plan.”

  Of course, now the Luyten knew this hypothetical plan, and if they were tipping off the defenders, the defenders knew it as well. In which case they wouldn’t kill the emissaries. Yet. Lila pinched her temples. She couldn’t believe they were back to deal
ing with these telepathic monsters.

  44

  Lila Easterlin

  June 6, 2045. Sydney, Australia.

  Lila blew on her hands, wishing she’d packed gloves. There were so many things she wished she’d packed. Her family. Extra shoes. Valium. She was so tired of this pipe.

  “How can they even consider such a thing?” she asked. “The defenders haven’t once threatened military action.” Lila couldn’t believe they were even arguing about this.

  “Those little tours of their military stockpiles weren’t intended as a threat?” Sook countered. “A quick strike while the defenders are still contained is our best chance to end this before it gets out of hand.”

  Somehow, word had leaked to the others. Lila hadn’t leaked it. She knew Oliver hadn’t. So at least one of the other emissaries had been briefed by their government. For all Lila knew, all of the countries had told their emissaries.

  “We’ve been told an invasion is one option ‘being considered.’ What do they mean by ‘being considered’?” Oliver asked. “Certainly, every option available should be considered, but are they seriously thinking about launching an invasion?”

  “They can’t be,” Galatea said. “Not unless the defenders demonstrate a real willingness to use their weapons against us. Not even a willingness—an eagerness.” Galatea was standing so close to Oliver their shoulders were brushing. She was wickedly hot in her proper British uptight way; Oliver should be banging her nightly, relieving the crushing stress they were both under. But was he? Of course not.

  “Who else would they use them against?” Alan asked. “The trees? Cats? They’ve spent the last fifteen years building weapons to use against us. There’s no other logical conclusion to draw.”

  “You sound almost eager for it to happen,” Lila said. Her disdain for Alan was growing by the day. She was barely able to look at Alan when she talked to him. He clearly fancied himself a strong-willed, swinging-dick alpha male, but the more they disagreed, the more he came across as a petulant child.

  “I wouldn’t say eager,” Alan said. “But if we learned anything from the Luyten War, it’s that when we’re threatened, we have to take decisive action to defend ourselves. Immediately.”

  “So the reason we had so much trouble with the Luyten was that we were too easy on them?” Lila asked, incredulous. “Go tell that to the four billion people who died fighting them.”

  “I didn’t—”

  Oliver cut Lila off. “Why don’t we stick to the things we can control? If there is an invasion, whether we agree with it or not, we would be at ground zero surrounded by defenders. If we aren’t killed in the initial bombing, the defenders will surely fix that.”

  It was a sobering thought. If only they could contact Five. Five might be able to warn them away, either by providing some insight into the defenders’ intentions, or by telling them the Luyten would fight on the defenders’ side, either by choice or out of fear of reprisal.

  The Luyten’s silence was frustrating. After the war, they’d certainly been chatty enough. We’re terribly sorry! they’d shouted at the human race. Had they meant it even slightly?

  Humans had double-crossed them, though. They’d handed the Luyten over to the defenders, believing the defenders were going to slaughter every last one of them. But not every human had agreed with that action. Lila had been against allowing the defenders to take custody of the Luyten. So had Oliver. Five knew that. So did the crimson fucker who’d killed her father.

  Sorry I killed your dad, the crimson one had said to Lila. Were they even capable of regret? Were they haunted by the lives they’d taken? Maybe Lila should get in its face and ask it, point-blank.

  She waited for a lull in the argument, then clutched Oliver’s sleeve. “Come on.”

  Oliver followed her out of the sewer pipe without comment, evidently relieved to have an excuse to escape the tension.

  “I think Alan may be a psychopath,” Oliver said when they were outside. “I disagree with Sook, but I respect her. Alan just seems eager to see people die.”

  “I may know how to locate Five,” Lila said. “Though it’s a long shot.”

  “My best idea was going door-to-door. I’ll take a long shot.”

  As they climbed the steep grade of the drainage bed, Lila picked up her pace. “Do you remember which street we were on when I spotted the crimson Luyten? I want to have a little talk with him.”

  Oliver, immediately grasping her plan, looked skeptical. “Five told me those apologies were nothing but a strategy to improve their chances of survival. A goodwill campaign to rebrand themselves.”

  “From everything you’ve told me, Five is kind of an asshole. I’m not sure I’d put much stock in anything he said.”

  “Which is why we’re trying to get information from him that might affect the likelihood of a global war.”

  Lila pointed at him. “Good point. In any case, I’m not planning to play on its sense of regret; I’m going to play on its sense of self-preservation.”

  With Oliver striding to keep pace, Lila stormed up the concrete bed, onto Elizabeth Street. Defenders paused to stare. One waved. Oliver waved back. Lila kept walking.

  “Where are you?” she said under her breath. She was angry at Sook and Alan, and potentially the entire human Alliance, but for now she turned that anger toward the crimson Luyten. If the Luyten didn’t regret killing her father enough to help them, she was planning to find a two-by-four and beat the hell out of it. She could, too. The telepathic pinwheel wouldn’t be able to lift a tentacle to defend itself with defenders around. Odds were, if she attacked it, half a dozen defenders would join in, and they could have a good old-fashioned starfish pull. It seemed as if defenders were always in the mood for a good starfish pull.

  “Where are you?” she called. “You can hide, but I’ll keep asking until I find you. Slaves can’t hide for long.”

  She turned the corner onto Campbell Street, and stopped short. There it was, unloading crates from the back of its delivery truck.

  I owe you nothing.

  Lila stumbled as the words clawed her mind.

  I lost Luyten who were closer to me than you’re even capable of imagining.

  “I didn’t kill any of them. I was fifteen.” Lila heard Oliver’s sharp intake of breath as he realized she was speaking to the Luyten.

  The Luyten went on stacking crates, slowly, deliberately.

  We signed a peace treaty with you, and you handed us over to these monsters.

  Lila had no comeback for that one. She’d been only fifteen when that happened as well, but the information she was trying to obtain wasn’t for her benefit, it was on behalf of her entire species, and her species had betrayed the Luyten in spectacular fashion. There was no denying that. She took a deep breath, willed herself to calm down. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry for those you lost, and for threatening to attack you. I wouldn’t have actually done it.”

  Yes, you would.

  Lila opened her mouth to tell the Luyten that she knew what she was and was not capable of, that it could take its telepathic righteousness and stuff it into one of its seven mouth-asses. Then she remembered she didn’t have to speak for it to hear her.

  “Did you get all that?” she asked.

  Yes. It turned away, headed toward the sidewalk with a dolly full of crates. For a moment Lila thought the Luyten was ending the conversation. Then she remembered it could drive its truck eight miles and they could still hold the conversation.

  “So is that the only reason you deigned to speak to me, to tell me you owe me nothing?”

  I want you to understand that I’m not acting out of a sense of obligation, or fear.

  A defender walking by stopped to look at Lila and Oliver. Lila turned to Oliver, so it would look as if she were speaking to him. “Then you’ll tell us how to find Five?”

  Five sends Oliver his regards.

  Her heart thumping, Lila repeated this to Oliver. Then she added, “Will he tell
us what we want to know?”

  Without the slightest pause, the Luyten replied. We would do nothing. We would seek safety underground, even if the defenders tried to compel us to fight. And they surely would.

  She repeated this to Oliver, word for word.

  He nodded. “Now we know. Assuming they’re telling the truth.”

  You should also be aware that the defenders know you’re contemplating an invasion.

  “What? How do they know?”

  Oliver started to ask what it had said, but Lila waved him off.

  A Luyten told them. It’s difficult to break us when we’re psychically linked, but the defenders know to isolate us before they interrogate. They learned that from Oliver.

  That did it, then. There was no way the Alliance would attack if the defenders knew it was coming.

  They don’t. They know you’re contemplating an attack. None of you here in Australia knows for sure. The defenders are confident there will be no invasion.

  As they headed back to the meeting in the sewer pipe, Lila wondered why the Luyten had decided to answer, if it truly wasn’t out of a sense of obligation or fear for its life.

  Then it came to her. It was so obvious, now that she thought about it. They’d like nothing better than to have the Alliance wipe out the defenders, and weaken itself in the process. Then the Luyten could wipe out humanity. Surely the Alliance had thought of that. Of course they had. They had no intention of invading; this was all a feint, meant to get back to the defenders, so humanity would be in a stronger negotiating position.

  45

  Lila Easterlin

  June 9, 2045. Sydney, Australia.

  Faruk Demir sidled up to Lila as they were leaving Ayami Ogego’s funeral service.

  “Any word?”

  Lila shook her head. “There won’t be. Either it’ll happen or it won’t.” They speculated in coded whispers; everyone had an opinion, but no one knew anything for sure. Meanwhile, the defenders were busy making plans for their diaspora. At this point the official response to the defenders’ “request” was “We’re considering it.” If they were really considering it, the ambassadors had not successfully conveyed to their respective countries just how unstable the defenders were.