The Children of the Sun

by Christopher Buecheler

“That’s not going to happen,” Two said.

  “You keep insisting that, and I do honestly hope that you are right, but I am unwilling to bet your life on it.”

  “Hon, we’re betting all of our lives on this thing.”

  Here Theroen paused, as if contemplating his next words carefully. Two understood before he spoke, and sighed.

  “You don’t want to do this, do you?” she asked, and he shook his head.

  “I have no interest in storming an enemy building full of homicidal zealots. I have no interest in any of this. The council has the people they need, with the Ay’Araf and Burilgi, to fight this war. There is no reason for us—”

  “Tori’s a pretty good reason,” Two interrupted.

  “There is no reason for us to remain here,” Theroen finished.

  “What about Naomi, then?” Two asked him, and Theroen glanced through the window at the woman, who was lying with her head back against the couch, eyes closed, a glass of wine in her hand.

  “Naomi will organize, but she will not fight. She won’t be in any immediate danger. When it is done, she will … well, depending on the outcome she will either assume her rightful place at the head of the council or flee to Europe, I suppose.”

  Two felt anger and despair rising within her, a tide so strong that she could not at first find words to express herself. At last she said, “So that’s it, then? You’d rather just piss off to Europe and let some other vampires die for you? Are you fucking kidding me, Theroen?!”

  He shook his head. “I would rather just ‘piss off to Europe’ and let some other vampires die for you, my love. I would sacrifice ten of them for you, or a hundred. If it came to it, I would sacrifice Naomi, and Sasha, and every vampire left in the world that I call a friend, let alone those I do not, if it would keep you safe.”

  “That’s just not an option!” Two shouted at him, and at last Theroen’s seemingly impenetrable calm broke. He clutched the armrests of the wicker chair he was sitting in with enough force that Two heard them crack under the pressure.

  “Why not?!” he cried. “Why must I risk you for these people I barely know? Why should I not say ‘good luck’ and leave them to their fate?”

  “Because they need you,” Two said.

  “I do not wish to be needed.”

  “It doesn’t matter!” Two cried, and then she held her hands up and out in front of her, breathing deeply, making the effort to calm down. She didn’t want to make Theroen any angrier than he already was, nor did she want to force him into anything. He had to come to the choice on his own.

  Theroen, for his part, seemed to have regained his composure. “Why does it not matter?”

  “Baby, you have to understand … there’s no one left except Naomi, and she’s not enough. She’s falling apart. Do you think I’m fucking blind? She hasn’t let go of Stephen, or of me, and she’s dying inside, and what happened to Ashayt and William is only going to make it worse. If she were human she’d be drinking herself to death, but she’s not, so she just goes on and on ... she doesn’t have an anchor, anymore, and she’s not strong enough to lead them all by herself. They need you.”

  “I have never wished to lead,” Theroen told her. “I am not built for it.”

  Two gave him a sad laugh. “That’s a lie. Why do you think Abraham kept you away from the council for so long? Why do you think he kept you from everything for so long? He was afraid of you and what you could become. You’ve fought this every step of the way because you think you’re not cut out for it, and people still look to you for leadership. They listen – the whole council – when you talk. They care about what you have to say. It’s a part of you and it always has been, and all you have to do is embrace it. If you choose the direction, they’ll follow you.”

  Theroen put the palms of his hands to his forehead and breathed deeply, considering this. “If I do this thing, assume this mantle of leadership you so desperately want me to take, will you stay away from the fight?”

  Two shook her head, smiling a little. “No.”

  “No … and neither will you give up on this belief that Tori can be redeemed.”

  “No.”

  “And if I tell you that I refuse, that I will not be the leader you want me to be and that I am going to Europe, will you come with me?”

  Two leaned back against the balcony and stared up at the sky. “Of course,” she said. “If that’s what you choose, then of course I’ll come with you.”

  “And would it break something between us that we may never be able to repair?” Theroen asked, and Two looked over at him. She could feel tears pricking at her eyes, and she brushed them away.

  “I don’t know, baby. All I know is that I believe, with every part of me, that we can win this war and save Tori at the same time. We can help her redeem herself and come through this whole thing alive, but I need your help to do it.”

  Theroen seemed to have no immediate answer to this. He was staring up at the night sky, pondering her words. Two tried to put her thoughts together, tried once more to make him understand why the choice was so important.

  “Do you remember after the attack on Aros, when I asked you to help me be a better person?” she asked. “This is what I was talking about. The old me, the me that shot Samantha instead of figuring out some other choice, the me that abandoned my friends to chase vampires – that person would write Tori off for dead. She would shrug her shoulders and say, ‘nothing I can do,’ and move on. I don’t want to be that person anymore. I want to help her, and I want to help the council, and I want to prove that both things are possible.

  “That’s what I want … but I’m not that same, selfish, stubborn person anymore. I’m not going to force you to do this. I refuse. Whatever you choose, I’ll follow you, no matter what. Whatever you choose, I will still love you.”

  “Whatever I choose …” Theroen murmured.

  “It has to be you, and I’m sorry, but that’s what I signed you up for when I shoved that needle into your neck, whether you like it or not. You have the blood of gods running in your veins, hon. You’re the combination of the Eresh, Ashayt, and Ay’Araf lines, and now you’re the only source left. The vampires in this country … they’re your people now, and your people need you. If I could take that burden from you, I would, but I can’t do it myself. I’m not old enough or strong enough or smart enough or skilled enough. They won’t listen to me.”

  “Two, what if I fail? What if we fail?”

  Two gave a short laugh and held her hands out, palms up. “Then we all die, baby. What else?”

  Theroen gave her an incredulous look, but slowly he began to laugh. Two watched him for a time, saying nothing, and at last he got control of himself and looked up at her with his luminescent, light-brown eyes.

  “So, to be clear, you want me to take command of the American council of vampires. You want me to gather an army of Ay’Araf and Burilgi, augmented with what few Ashayt and Eresh we can scrape up, and attack a fortified building in a Chicago suburb, one which is filled with people who have trained their entire lives to murder us. Before this attack happens, you want me to go into this place with you, find their greatest warrior, and help you convince her to switch sides. And you want me to do all of this while carrying the knowledge that if any part of this mad plan fails, it is very likely that you, and I, and all our people on this side of the Atlantic will be wiped out.”

  Two thought about it for a moment and then nodded. “Yep.”

  Theroen looked her in the eyes for a long time, and she could sense the many warring emotions with him. She could hear the ghosts and whispers of them in his thoughts – the desire to flee, the urge to do what was right, even the urge to do battle and be victorious. Above all, she could feel his love for her, and his fear for what might happen. For a moment, she wanted nothing more than to embrace him and tell him to forget all about the war and about saving Tori, and that yes, they could flee to Europe and build new lives there together.

  But
she couldn’t, and so she fought back the urge and waited. Theroen seemed to have picked up on her desire, though, because he smiled a little and closed his eyes, shaking his head. At last he sighed, and clapped his hands once on the chair’s armrests, and stood.

  “Let’s go end a war,” he said to her, and turned back toward the sliding glass doors and the other vampires waiting inside.

  Part IV

  Chapter 16

  Trouble at Home

  “Park, I swear to God I’m going to shove that recorder down your throat,” Vanessa said. Her voice was hoarse and cracked from the smoke she had inhaled during that last, intense period in the cathedral.

  “Sorry, Lieutenant,” Soon Park said, pulling the microphone he was holding away from her. “I just want to make sure my report’s accurate. I’ve got what happened to the others. I just need one more thing.”

  Vanessa made a disgusted noise, coughed a few times, and said, “What?”

  “How did you and the Captain make it out? It sounds like you were stuck in that hallway, with the fire at your back.”

  “We were. Once we figured out that we weren’t going to be able to get into the passage the bats escaped through, we started looking for other ways out. All the windows we found were barred, and the last one we came to was an eighteen-foot drop onto concrete, but by then the whole hall was on fire. We couldn’t go back. Captain blew out the window with a grenade and jumped. I was kind of greying out from the smoke by then and don’t remember too well. I tried to jump, I think, but I fell. I … she had to catch me.”

  “And then you returned to the rendezvous point on 71st Street?”

  “Yes. That’s where we found out about Burke. The other three … I saw their bodies.”

  “Thanks, Lieutenant.”

  “Are we done?” Vanessa growled, and Park nodded. He made his way toward the front of the jet.

  “Our squad got hit hard,” Carrie Brennan commented from the seat beside her, and Vanessa had to bite back a harsh retort. Of course they’d been hit hard; their team had been engaging highly trained warriors while everyone else was in retreat.

  “They knew the risks,” she muttered. “We all knew the f-fucking r-hisks …”

  She was forced to stop by another coughing fit, the pain of which was like shards of glass up and down her sternum. Gasping, tears of agony running down her face, she reached out and grabbed the portable oxygen tank that the medic had set her up with, putting the cup to her face and breathing as deeply as she could between coughs.

  When Vanessa had recovered somewhat, Carrie said, “Wasn’t implying anything, Ness.”

  “I know,” Vanessa said around the oxygen cup. “I’m just tired, and my lungs are fucked up, and I don’t really need any reminders that I lost four men tonight.”

  “Way you told it to Park, it sounds like it coulda been worse.”

  “We knew the Ay’Araf was good. We just didn’t know he was that good. It’s my fault.”

  “How do you figure?”

  Vanessa set the mask back down, trying to keep her breathing shallow. “I should’ve told Janus to shoot them the second we saw them. I let them get their bearings and … fuck, he was just so fast. They’re all so fast.”

  “Not like Burilgi-hunting,” Carrie said.

  “No. A ten-year-old Burilgi … I mean, they’re not that different from regular people. They don’t know how to fight, don’t know tactics, don’t know anything. They’re not that fast or strong, either. This guy and the one-armed ice queen who follows him around were something else.”

  “Well, he’s dead now, anyway.”

  “Yeah. He’s dead, and the Captain saved my life.”

  “She’s pretty good,” Carrie said, and Vanessa nodded.

  “They wouldn’t have brought in all the experts if they hadn’t thought she was special. They were right … she’s amazing.”

  “Word is she hasn’t spoken to anyone since you guys got back.”

  “That’s not so unusual,” Vanessa said, not wanting to bring up the Captain’s reaction to the vampire with the short, blonde hair.

  “No, I guess not.”

  Vanessa coughed a little and took a breath from the oxygen tank. “I think I’m going to try to sleep. Still an hour before we even take off.”

  “Right. Ness, listen …”

  “Yeah?”

  “I’m sorry it didn’t go better. It … can’t be easy.”

  Vanessa closed her eyes and leaned her head back. “It’s not.”

  There was an awkward silence, and Vanessa knew Carrie was waiting for more, but there wasn’t any more to be said. She had lost four men to the vampires, and that was bad, but what was she going to do – break down and cry? That wasn’t going to happen. Perhaps in private, but for damn sure not in front of Carrie and the others on the plane.

  If only I’d told Janus to fire, she thought for what must have been the hundredth time that night. But she hadn’t, and there was no going back. There was no way to replay the situation now and make a different choice, and no guarantee even if she could that things would go any better. That bastard Ay’Araf had been too good, and now her men were dead and the Captain was traumatized. She wondered what Charles would have to say.

  Eventually, Carrie gave up. Vanessa could hear the girl flipping through a magazine. She kept her eyes closed, breathing, focusing on trying not to cough and not to think about the events earlier that night. After a time, she slept.

  * * *

  “Vanessa, my dear, are you all right?”

  She hadn’t expected Charles to be at the airfield, but it was not his presence that had caused the shock on her face; it was his appearance. When last she had seen him, he had been thin, but now he was positively gaunt, his clothing hanging about him like loose sails on a wind-forsaken ship. His face was sunken and pale, but for the red rings around his eyes, and there was an air of frailty about him that was impossible to ignore.

  “No … I mean, sorry, I just … wasn’t expecting …” she stammered, unsure how to proceed, but Charles merely smiled.

  “I was referring to the mask hanging around your neck and the bottle of oxygen in your hand.”

  “Oh!” Vanessa exclaimed, trying to regain her composure. “Right, of course. I’m uh … I took in a lot of smoke, but it’s getting better. I’m not coughing as much.”

  “Well, that’s good to hear, but I must insist you visit the infirmary first thing. Your report can wait.”

  “The field medic said—”

  Charles held up a hand, the act of it seeming to require enough effort that the strain deepened the lines in his face. “The field medic has neither the training nor the equipment that Doctor Chambers has.”

  “But Charles …”

  “Must I make this an official order, Lieutenant?”

  Vanessa sulked for a moment, then rolled her eyes. “No, sir.”

  “Very good. On the ride to the base, you can give me an overview.” Charles turned toward a waiting Town Car.

  “Sir, my team …”

  “I’m quite certain they will be able to find their way back to headquarters on their own, Vanessa,” Charles said without looking back.

  Vanessa glanced back over her shoulder at the surviving members of the team. With the exception of the Captain, who was nowhere to be seen, they were still offloading equipment. She knew she should be helping them, but knew also that when Charles gave an order, he expected it to be followed.

  Fuck it, I’ll apologize later, she thought, and she turned to follow him. Charles had reached the Town Car and was holding the rear door open. Vanessa made her way to the car and sat down, letting Charles close the door for her. A large man was seated behind the wheel, and he turned and nodded at her.

  “Morning, ma’am.”

  “Good morning,” Vanessa said. She was used to drivers, but this one – a massive hulk of a guy – looked awkward and out of place, uncomfortable in his role. She thought it likely he was more of a secur
ity guard than a chauffeur.

  Charles sat down in the front seat and closed his door. He nodded to the driver, who started the car and put it into gear, pulling out from the hangar and onto the road that would lead them away from O’Hare Airport. From there it would be nearly an hour to their base of operations in Waukegan.

  Charles glanced over his shoulder at her and said, “I will spare you the most difficult aspect of this conversation. I am aware that we have suffered heavy losses, and that your team in particular was hit hard. You needn’t describe that in detail at this time.”

  “Thanks. Charles, I’m sorry, but is your driver cleared for this? There are some high-security subjects I need to touch on.”

  “Manuel is on loan from the Emperor himself,” Charles said. “His loyalty is absolute, his silence assured, and there is no subject that you need consider off limits.”

  Vanessa had never met the man before, nor could she remember so much as seeing his face in the hallways. She supposed his duties for the Emperor kept him away from the regular troops. He was staring serenely out at the highway as if unaware he had become a topic of discussion.

  “OK,” she said. “No offense, Manuel.”

  “None taken, ma’am,” Manuel replied. His eyes never left the road, but he smiled a bit, as if amused by her concern.

  “Go ahead, Vanessa,” Charles said.

  She took a moment to collect her thoughts, and then she began. “The attack went as expected, but not as hoped. The charges worked fine, and things started well. I don’t mean to question Colonel Palowski, but sending in a bunch of green recruits first might not have been the best idea. They didn’t do much in the way of killing vampires, and a lot of them got cut down.”

  “This was the single most important action in your campaign, Vanessa,” Charles said. “We knew that by throwing the cathedral into complete chaos, it would give the more seasoned troops – like yours – the opportunity to do real damage to the council members. To do that, we had to separate them from the other vampires in attendance. To do that, some sacrifices had to be made up front.”