Defenders

by Will McIntosh

  Dominique resisted the urge to kick his leg, which was splayed beside her foot. She could think of something productive they could do.

  “Jesus!” Forrest shouted, jerking back.

  “What is it?” Wood asked.

  He flattened onto his stomach and slid partway into the hole. “I thought I saw something. I swear, it looked like a baby Luyten. Then it was gone.”

  A sharp cry of surprise startled Dominique. She whirled.

  A Luyten was standing behind them. Dominique gaped at it, then noticed another standing between two of the cabins, fiddling with the exoskeletal battle suit it was wearing.

  “They’re armed!” Dominique shouted.

  She wasn’t the first to notice. Sheena stood unmoving, her rifle leveled at the Luyten closest to her.

  “How the fuck did they get hold of weapons?” Wood hissed.

  Dominique wasn’t concerned about where the weapons came from. If the Luyten chose to use them, they were all dead. But if the Luyten wanted to kill them, they would have done it by now.

  “Sheena, put the rifle down,” Dominique said. “You know that’s not going to help us.”

  Sheena lowered the muzzle, but held on to the rifle.

  “They’re not killing us,” Wood said, half to himself. “Why aren’t they killing us?”

  “You did sign a treaty with them,” Dominique pointed out.

  Leave now. The words blasted through Dominique’s mind. From Forrest and the president’s reactions, they’d received the same message.

  “That’s the best offer I’ve gotten in a long time,” Wood said. He raised his voice. “Let’s go, into the transports.”

  No one had to be told twice.

  As they crawled along the logging road in the dark, intent on putting a substantial amount of distance between themselves and the Luyten before setting up a camp, Dominique had an epiphany.

  “They never gave up those weapons,” she said aloud.

  Everyone looked at her.

  “How could we possibly verify that all of the Luyten turned themselves in after the war? They knew we couldn’t. Some of them retreated deep into the wilderness instead. They know we’re on the run ourselves and not a threat, so when Forrest started poking around in their tunnels, they decided to simply come up and tell us to get the hell out of Dodge.”

  “If you’re right, there must be more than one of those compounds. They could have them all over the world,” Forrest said.

  “I’ll bet you anything they do,” Dominique said. They were like fleas on a dog; every time you thought you were rid of them, there they were again.

  74

  Oliver Bowen

  October 20, 2047. Washington, D.C.

  From his parked car, Oliver watched kids shooting baskets, a couple playing tennis, joggers circling the track. He marveled at the mundane scene. There wasn’t a defender in sight, nothing to indicate that everything had changed.

  He spotted Kai and Lila, pulling into a space at the other end of the parking lot. Oliver stayed in his car as they got out and headed across the soccer field, slipped through the gate, and headed down the hiking trail. He allowed three minutes to tick off on the car’s clock before he stepped out of his old Toyota and followed them into the woods.

  They were waiting about a quarter mile in, Kai sitting on a fallen tree, Lila pacing.

  Lila gave Oliver a fierce hug; Kai smiled and nodded, clearly in pain from the short hike. Every time Oliver saw Kai, he hoped to see some noticeable improvement, but they were more than two years removed from Kai being shot. This might be the best he was going to get. It was a depressing thought.

  “So what’s going on?” Oliver asked. He’d been surprised to find the note in his mailbox.

  “We were contacted by a Luyten yesterday,” Lila said.

  “A Luyten?” Oliver clutched Lila’s arm. “A Luyten spoke to you?” He’d never expected to hear those words again.

  As Lila laid out a horrific story of plans to exterminate most of the human race, of the offer of a Luyten alliance, Oliver’s insides roiled. He would need to find a bathroom as soon as their meeting was over. It was a familiar sensation, one he hadn’t missed in the least since he went into hiding.

  “You can’t trust Luyten,” he said when Lila was finished. “If we did manage to wipe out the defenders, they’d turn around and wipe us out. I have no doubt of that.”

  “So what you’re saying is, with or without the Luyten’s help, we can never revolt, because if we win, the Luyten will turn on us,” Kai said.

  Oliver hadn’t really thought about it like that before. He wondered if Island Rain’s people had. “If we overthrew the defenders, we’d have to get them to surrender before their numbers were too badly compromised, so they would still be an effective deterrent on the Luyten.”

  “That’s quite a balancing act.”

  Oliver’s feet were getting tired. He sat on the log, stared off into the bare winter branches. As far as he was concerned, it was too dangerous to do anything the Luyten wanted them to do. They were too powerful, too clever; they’d find an utterly unexpected way to turn things to their advantage. “As soon as we create defenders the Luyten can read, we’ve ceded all control to the Luyten.”

  “I agree,” Lila said. “It’s too dangerous.”

  Movement among the trees caught Oliver’s eye. Gold patterns, shifting among the bramble and tree boughs in the woods. Oliver stood, straining to see.

  Kai stood as well. “What?”

  Oliver knew what it was. As it moved closer he could make out the limbs, the eyes. The real jolt of terror hit him when he saw that one of the eyes was nothing but a ruined mass of scar tissue.

  “Did either of you bring a gun?” Oliver asked. Although a gun wasn’t much use against a Luyten.

  “Holy shit,” Lila said. Five was clearly visible now, passing between trees, branches cracking as it pushed through the underbrush.

  I’m not going to hurt you, Five said. He stepped onto the path.

  “Where did you come from?” Oliver said. “Of all the places in the world the defenders could have sent you, you ended up here?”

  I ended up in San Antonio. I’ve been traveling for two days to get here.

  “Traveling? How the hell can you travel?” Lila asked. “What, you told the defenders you had something you needed to do, and hopped on a bus?” So Five was speaking to all of them, not just to him. That was new.

  The defenders stopped keeping track of us individually a long time ago. They’re impatient with mundane details. We keep things running without being told. They’re happy with that arrangement.

  That confirmed Oliver’s experience, and was useful information to be filed away. The defenders were not without their weaknesses.

  “I take it you’ve been sent to convince us to agree to this alliance?”

  That’s right.

  Oliver couldn’t help but laugh. “You send the Luyten who killed Lila’s father to pitch the idea to her, and the one who broke up my marriage to close the deal with me. You guys must be short on talent.”

  We need to convince Lila because of her unique position. By extension, we need to convince you as well. Who better to reform your feelings about us than the ones most responsible for forming those impressions in the first place?

  “I probably wouldn’t have taken the divorce as hard if you weren’t simultaneously trying to wipe out my entire species.”

  That was never our intention. Once you surrendered, we would have stopped.

  “Yeah. Things didn’t work out that way, though, so we’ll never know.” Oliver waved toward himself, like a guy in a fistfight offering his opponent a free shot. “Go ahead, then. Convince me.”

  Five eased into the Luyten prone position. Neither of our species needs this entire planet. With your losses, and ours, there are enough resources for everyone. We would accept any reasonable arrangement, whether it be complete segregation or intense intermingling of our two species. />
  We feel the deaths of our own more acutely than you can imagine. If we’re allowed to live in peace, we’ll go to almost any length to avoid violent conflict with you.

  Oliver waited until he was sure Five was finished. “You once warned me that you could be lying at any time. I learned that lesson the hard way.” He thought of Vanessa, let all the bottled-up anger in him come to the surface. “You took pleasure in fucking up my life. Personal pleasure. It had nothing to do with the war. You just wanted to see me suffer.” Oliver stepped closer to Five, stabbed a finger at him. “I treated you with respect. You were my prisoner, but I never treated you like one.”

  No, you didn’t. That’s one of the reasons we’re coming to you, and Lila, and Kai. Five stepped around Oliver, went over to Kai. I’m sorry for your injuries, my friend.

  Kai nodded tightly.

  Yes, I used you when you were only a boy. I was desperate. I’m sorry. And I’m still grateful for the help you gave me.

  Oliver thought Five was pouring it on a little thick. He could barely reconcile this warm, grateful beast with the slick son of a bitch he’d known back in the day. He suspected he was still a slick son of a bitch, manipulating them the way he’d manipulated both Oliver and Kai years before.

  Five turned back to Oliver. You’re right. I was intentionally cruel to you. I hated you all the more because you treated me well, and made it harder for me to see you as a bug whose life wasn’t worth much. Killing something while simultaneously feeling her pain is truly indescribable. I think it drove us a little mad.

  “You’re just bursting with sincerity, aren’t you?” Lila said. “I’m getting all misty-eyed.”

  Five made a gurgling noise. We’re not all in agreement, either. Many of my kind are against this. You’re not sure you can trust us? Imagine if you knew with absolute certainty that nearly all of your potential allies hated and feared you, that they wished you dead. Imagine proposing an alliance with people who, after signing a peace treaty with you, immediately handed you over to monsters to be exterminated.

  Oliver swallowed hard. How easy it was to remember all the atrocities the Luyten had committed, but forget the betrayal they’d perpetrated on the Luyten.

  He had the urge to clap his hands over his ears and hum. Five’s arguments were compelling, but Oliver didn’t want to be convinced—he wanted to hold on to his certainty that the Luyten couldn’t be trusted.

  We can be petty, just like humans. Can’t you allow that we might also share more noble human qualities, like remorse, kindness, integrity? I don’t want to be your enemy. I don’t want to stand by while two billion of your people are killed. I’m ready to fight at your side.

  Oliver’s throat tightened. He turned away, took a few steps down the path. “Get out of here. I need to talk to my family.”

  Without another word, Five left. None of them spoke until Five was out of sight, although they knew Five could hear them regardless of where he was.

  “I think our first step is to confirm defenders are in fact evacuating some densely populated areas,” Oliver said.

  Karachi, Shanghai, São Paulo, Jakarta, Calcutta, Tehran, Chicago—

  “All right,” Oliver said, clenching his eyes shut. He pinched his temples, already sick of hearing that voice in his head. He looked at Lila and Kai. “I’ll find out if it’s true. It’s less risky for me to do it. Let’s meet back here in two days.”

  Lila and Kai nodded. Oliver looked off through the woods, toward the spot where Five had disappeared. Was he lingering just out of sight? Was he going to stay within telepathic range of Oliver for the duration? Surely he was; that’s why he’d come. The thought made Oliver queasy.

  “So, how are you, Dad?” Kai asked.

  Oliver looked at him, thrown by the question. “I’m sorry I don’t get to see you and Lila as often as I’d like. I know it’s not ideal to have to meet like this—”

  “No, Dad, it’s not about that. If I was in your position, I’d do the same thing. I’m just asking. How are you?” Kai started to say more, then stopped, folded his arms across his chest. “Isn’t that why we’re fighting them, so we can stay human? Talk to each other about nothing? We’re so boxed in. So blocked off. We don’t talk to each other anymore.” He shook his head sadly. “We’ve gotten so screwed up from all of this.”

  Oliver wasn’t sure how to respond. Kai was right, but Oliver didn’t know if he remembered how to talk about nothing, how to relax and just be a family. All he could think to do was give Kai a hug, so that’s what he did. Kai hugged him back, nodded as they separated.

  Oliver turned to find Lila waiting, arms open. He held her, blinked back tears, Kai’s words echoing in his mind. He was right, they needed to stay human. As human as they could, anyway.

  “I’m okay,” Oliver said as he let go of Lila. “I’m still collecting my comics. DC now. I’m working on a complete run of Superman.”

  She smiled. “That’s a tough run to complete.”

  “How about you?” Oliver asked. “You finding any games to play in? Besides the fiascos with the defenders, I mean.”

  As Kai ran through the players in his regular games, Oliver felt relieved to discover he could still have a conversation.

  75

  Oliver Bowen

  October 23, 2047. Washington, D.C.

  He was standing in the shower, drying himself off, when he heard the sound of a coin dropping into a vending machine. It was the sound his phone made when he had an incoming text message. He dropped the towel and rushed into the living room, dripping wet and cold.

  Peter—

  Here are the statistics for the products you’re interested in. Good luck with your business venture!

  Diane

  He opened the attachment, scanned the numbers. His heart sank as he read down the columns. Shipments of filet mignon, jumbo shrimp, and leg of lamb coming into Karachi, Shanghai, São Paulo, and the other cities Five had listed had dropped precipitously. They were the foods only defenders could afford, the ones defenders favored. Shipments of those foods to major cities not on Five’s list had actually increased somewhat.

  A human inquiring about defender troop movement was a dead human, but there were many ways to determine if a specific population was on the move.

  “Oh, Christ,” he said under his breath.

  Oliver began typing a quick note of thanks to Alissa Valeri, who’d been a top-notch data hound at the CIA.

  The doorbell rang. Almost no one knew he lived there; the door hadn’t rung in a month. He went to the window.

  For a moment he didn’t recognize the woman standing at his door, then it registered.

  It was Vanessa.

  Fingers trembling, Oliver flipped the lock and opened the door. “Hi. How did you find me?” She looked older than when he’d last seen her. That had been almost ten years earlier, when he bumped into her at a Nationals game. She was still beautiful. Oliver pulled the door open wider so Vanessa could come in, but she stayed where she was.

  “Will you please get that thing out of my head?” she said.

  “What? What thing?”

  Vanessa’s eyes narrowed. “You don’t know about it? Honestly?”

  “Vanessa, I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

  Vanessa closed her eyes, spoke very slowly. “The alien is trying to convince me to reconcile with you.”

  “What? Oh, no. You’ve got to be kidding.” It made sense. Five was trying to fix what it had done, to prove his sincerity.

  Vanessa was studying him carefully. “You had nothing to do with it? You didn’t ask it to do this?”

  “God, no. I wouldn’t inflict that monster on my worst enemy.” He reached out as if to touch Vanessa, but hesitated. “I’m so sorry about this, Vanessa. Believe me, I know what it’s like to have that monster in your head.”

  She gave Oliver a sarcastic smile. “You’ll be happy to know it takes full responsibility for the misunderstanding between us.”

 
Even her indirect reference to his tragic blunder made him cringe. What an idiot he’d been back then. “Well, that’s big of him.”

  “Can you get it to leave me alone? I’m going to jump off a bridge if it doesn’t stop.”

  Oliver heaved a big sigh. “I’ll try. He has to be within telepathic range to hear me, and he has to be willing to speak to me. Although lately, the latter’s been less of a challenge than it used to be.”

  “So you’ve been in touch with it recently?”

  Oliver kicked himself for letting that information slip. He’d been a CIA bureau chief, for God’s sake. “Five contacted me, yes.”

  “What did it want? To reminisce about the good old days?” A touch of bitterness leaked into her tone. She swept her long black hair, now infused with strands of white, out of her face in a gesture that was painfully familiar.

  The smart thing would be to latch on to Vanessa’s suggestion, laugh it off, but Oliver couldn’t bring himself to tell her an outright lie. “If you really want to know, ask me again in six months and I’ll tell you.” One way or another, it would be safe to tell her in six months. By then the secret would be out. Because, Oliver realized, if he had a say in this, they were going to go through with it. Not because Five’s little gesture of remorse had moved him in the slightest; it was the cold, hard data in that email message that convinced him. If they did nothing, 80 percent of the world’s population would die. If they acted, they put the final 20 percent at risk, but at least everyone had a fighting chance. If the Luyten double-crossed them, so be it. They’d beaten the Luyten once; they could do it again.

  Vanessa had said something. Oliver had been so lost in thought he’d missed it. “I’m sorry, what did you say?”

  “I said, I’m sorry to bother you.” She glanced over her shoulder. For a moment Oliver wondered if someone was waiting in the car for her—a husband or boyfriend—but he couldn’t see the street from his door. “I would have called, but the Luyten refused to give me your number. Although this was probably too sensitive to talk about on the phone anyway.”