Metal Fatigue

by Sean Williams

  Then the voice of Lucifer spoke directly into his mind once again:

  "They've found us, Cati. I'm going to have to leave now in order to avoid them, and I don't want any evidence left behind. When RSD arrives, put up a fight and make sure they see you, then throw yourself off the bridge. We don't have time for games any more."

  The controller waited until he sent confirmation via the inaudible voice reserved solely for such direct communication.

  "Good," said the controller. "Before you do that, though, there's one other task you have to perform. Roads is a traitor, a threat to the security of the United States of America, and this is his accomplice. I want you to kill them both — Roads first and then the girl. Do it now, before either of them tries anything. Understood?"

  Horrified to the core of his very being, he could only nod yes, and obey ...

  CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

  12:35 a.m.

  "Remember," said DeKurzak, "don't make any sudden movements, or it'll be the last thing you ever do."

  Roads helped Betheras sit upright, then stepped back when the RUSAMC officer waved him irritably away. DeKurzak stood with one hand holding the gun on Roads and Katiya; the other remained hidden in his coat pocket. He looked nervous, as though the appearance of Roads had startled him more than his voice revealed.

  "The sonofabitch," whispered O'Dell in Roads' ear. "I thought he was in Mayor's House!"

  "That's obviously what you were supposed to think," replied Roads, fighting a terrible sense of tiredness. "This is starting to make sense, at last."

  "Now we know who took our query about the boxes in security control," said Barney.

  Roads nodded. So much was falling into place: DeKurzak's protectiveness of the Kennedy datapool on the day of Blindeye; his furious over-working of Roger Wiggs in the hunt for the killer; his shock at seeing Cati's face on Roads' office monitor; and his about-face once he realised how close Roads was getting.

  "What's the matter, Roads?" asked DeKurzak, moving to confront his captives. "You don't look terribly surprised to see me here."

  "Should I be?" Roads asked. "Nobody else was in a better position to do what you did. You had access to the city's archive files, and knew enough about data processing to erase entire sections without them being missed. You knew who to kill in the Mayoralty because you were involved in the Reassimilation debate. You helped coordinate Stedman's arrival as a representative of the MSA, so you knew how to smuggle Cati into position. And once you managed to worm your way into the RSD investigation of the murders, you were perfectly placed to keep us looking in the wrong direction.

  "If I didn't guess before," he said, "it was only because I underestimated your ambition. I thought you were after RSD, not all of Kennedy."

  Betheras groaned again, and climbed unsteadily to his feet, clutching his broken nose. His voice was rough, a low growl:

  "What's going on, DeKurzak?"

  "It's not as bad as it looks," DeKurzak said. "Roads decoded the last command I sent to Cati and followed us here; that's all. It doesn't change anything. It might even make things easier, in the long run."

  Betheras grunted. Under the nightsuit, the RUSAMC officer's frame was stocky, less imposing than it had seemed before. No wonder, Roads thought, he had been so easy to overpower.

  The RUSAMC officer turned to look around him, seeking something.

  "An engineer, you said," Roads subvocalised to Martin O'Dell, "on Project Cherubim — the Mole, in other words. Are you thinking what I'm thinking?"

  "I'm trying not to," replied the RUSAMC captain.

  Betheras spotted what he was looking for, and headed off along the bridge to collect it. He returned a moment later with a sealed black bag that he put between himself and DeKurzak.

  "So now what?" he asked. "Do we go ahead?"

  "Of course." DeKurzak waved the gun, indicating that Roads and Katiya were to step away from Cati. "Our plans are unchanged."

  "What about these two?" Betheras cocked his head in their direction.

  "I don't know yet. They may come in useful, depending on how things develop. Particularly Roads."

  "If you think I'm going to help you — " Roads began.

  "Whether you like it or not, you will." DeKurzak's fingers tightened on the pistol. "At the very least, all we really need is your body, so don't push your luck."

  "You still want to frame me as the Mole?" Roads feigned incredulity. "Is that it? You'll shoot me yourself — instead of getting Chong to do the job for you — and call yourself a hero?"

  "That's one option. There are others worth considering." DeKurzac smiled. "You can join me, or become a victim. The first option relies upon how far I believe I can trust you. The second is simply a matter of timing: how best to discredit you, and which crimes to 'solve' by the application of your death."

  Roads did his best to look sceptical. "You make it sound so simple."

  "I'd be offering them a quick solution, and they'd take it. Who wouldn't, in their shoes?"

  Beside them, Betheras had opened the bag and laid out a number of items on the tarmac. He glanced up at Cati as he worked, clearly nervous of the giant's biomods and size.

  "And what do you hope to gain out of all of this?" Roads asked DeKurzak. "To be King of Kennedy Polis as it falls to pieces around you?"

  "Not yet. It'll be some time before I'm ready to move against the Mayor."

  "The city's going to die no matter what you do, or who's in charge. Nothing will keep it going longer than a decade without input from the Outside you're so afraid of."

  "Who said anything about being afraid?" DeKurzak snapped. "I've nothing against the Reunited States or anybody else. We can have all the resources we want without sacrificing the city to their pathetic cause."

  "You really don't get it, do you?" Roads shook his head. "As you yourself said: we don't have any choice. Kennedy is just a small pool surrounded by a rising sea. Cut it off from that sea, and it will die. It'll smother on the inside."

  "But that doesn't mean it has to be engulfed — that we must give up and let it happen. Whether or not it makes any difference in the long run, it's our choice to remain isolated for now."

  "Your choice. Not mine."

  "But you're not one of us, are you? Maybe if you were, you would feel differently." DeKurzak raised one hand to scratch his cheek. "You were so close to the truth. Of course old-timers like you wouldn't fight to keep Kennedy intact. You're all so pathetically grateful just to be alive. Kennedy needs someone like me — vital, and prepared to act — to keep it from being taken over. To give its citizens a reason to live."

  "By assassinating them." Roads grimaced. "That's a bit extreme, isn't it?"

  "Necessarily so. This is a war, Roads — undeclared, but undeniable. You have to expect some casualties."

  "That's easy for you to say," Roads sneered. "Sitting back in comfort while your docile killer hunts and kills your enemies for you."

  "Don't be stupid, Roads." DeKurzak's eyes flashed. "It's more than just political murder."

  "As if that wasn't bad enough."

  "Oh, come on, Roads! Stop playing the dumb RSD officer."

  Cati's muscles flexed beside them, making Betheras flinch away. The odd assortment of items he had produced from the bag unfolded to become a massive combat harness large enough to fit Cati's frame. The RUSAMC officer had barely begun slipping it into place when the killer's small movement had given him second thoughts.

  Roads sighed. "Okay, okay," he said. "You're trying to make people afraid. Is that it?"

  DeKurzak relaxed slightly, as though Roads' understanding of his actions automatically vindicated them. "Of course. A frightened populace is easier to control. People are more likely to accept draconian restrictions if a threat is perceived to be real."

  "Like the berserkers."

  "Precisely. My generation saw the damage they inflicted upon innocent people. The fear of biomodified agents was high, and we agreed to almost anything to keep them ou
t. But now, that threat has waned. The fear is ebbing. We need a new enemy to keep the latest generation from getting restless."

  "Cati."

  "Why not?" DeKurzak shrugged. "We honestly thought we'd seen the last of your kind. You and Cati are evidence of how cunning and insidious you can be. Luckily for us, you've reappeared at the right time."

  "A person is a person," Katiya said, defying DeKurzak quietly, unexpectedly, "no matter what they're made of. You can't say that someone doesn't feel — or have rights — simply because they're not like you."

  "You're wrong." DeKurzak shifted the pistol to point at the woman. "You of all people should agree with what we're trying to do. You and the children, everyone threatened by the revival of creatures like this."

  "Come off it," Roads snorted, hoping to divert attention back to him. "You don't really believe that crap, do you?"

  "Does it matter?" DeKurzak swung the pistol back. "It's what people will listen to that counts."

  "But they're not fools. They know we're not the only people who have Humanity Laws preventing this from happening again — "

  "That's irrelevant, and you know it. There was supposed to be an international law in the 2020s forbidding human experimentation, but who paid heed to that when the berserkers were built? Biotechnology is tempting, and the thought of such power will pervert even the greatest of people. Not necessarily someone in the government, maybe an independent operator instead — but it will happen. If the capability exists, then it's bound to be exploited."

  "Just as you exploited Cati?" Roads broke in, gesturing at the giant killer standing motionless behind him.

  "Cati is a tool," DeKurzak said, "a thing, an ugly reminder of the old ways. He exists to be used. If I hadn't used him, then someone else would have."

  "But he's not an object," Roads retorted. "He's human like any one of us, under the differences."

  "He's dangerous," DeKurzak responded.

  "Only when used in a dangerous way — which makes you a hypocrite."

  "Perhaps it would, yes, if I'd made him myself. But I didn't. And what could be more appropriate than using him against the ones who threaten to revive his kind? An elegant solution, don't you think?"

  "You're crazy," burst out Katiya. "And ... evil for doing what you've done to us."

  "Not at all," DeKurzak replied. "Just doing my job as I see it." He sidestepped to his right, coming around Roads until he stood opposite Katiya. "Kennedy survived the fall of civilisation because it closed itself off from everyone around it. In order to survive, it must maintain that policy a little longer. Yes, I stand to gain by forcing it to do so, but I really only have the city's best wishes at heart."

  Roads glanced at Betheras, who had finished strapping the harness into place around Cati's chest and shoulders. What the RUSAMC officer thought of DeKurzak's argument, if he was even listening, didn't show on his face.

  "You're a fool if you think you can get away with this, DeKurzak," Roads said.

  "Why?" The liaison officer rounded on Roads. "There's a warrant current with your name on it. As an officer of the Mayoralty, I'm arresting you."

  "You know what I mean."

  "Not at all. I'm in charge of the hunt for the killer. If I can't pin the blame on you, then there are a thousand other ways I can lead the States off-course."

  "Someone will catch up with you, sooner or later. Or Cati will be captured, or killed. Where will that leave you? No better off than when you started."

  "Exactly." DeKurzak took the question seriously, although Roads had intended it only as a gibe. "I've already decided that Cati's usefulness to me is at an end. The time has come to stop edging around the problem and strike right at the heart of it."

  "Let me guess," Roads broke in. "Something big: not one target, but many? I'm sure Cati will prove to be as effective at mass-murder as he is at assassination. It'll take days to bring him down, and any evidence of your involvement will be erased along with him."

  "Very good." DeKurzak nodded appreciatively.

  "That's not fair!" exploded Katiya. "You have no right to use him like that!"

  "No?" DeKurzak laughed, unimpressed by the outburst. "He hasn't complained."

  "Only because he can't," said Roads.

  "Of course. He was built to obey. Without orders, what is he? Nothing! Just an old machine abandoned to rot — that's all." DeKurzak walked around Betheras, and raised a hand to slap Cati across the face. Cati hardly blinked in response, his face as unreadable as ever.

  "I have the code," DeKurzak said. "And that gives me the right."

  "You have no right to do this!" Katiya gasped, her face twisted with grief. "Why can't you just leave us alone?"

  "Not an option, I'm afraid." DeKurzak put a hand to his ear. "Now quiet, please. Something's happened." He cocked his head, listening to a voice only he could hear. Betheras likewise stopped his work on Cati; not to listen, but to watch DeKurzak.

  "Martin?" Roads subvocalised. "What the hell's going on?"

  The voice of O'Dell returned almost immediately: "The Mayor refused to release our people, so General Stedman ordered the control van back into the grounds of Mayor's House. There have been no aggressive moves against it as yet, but the threat is present all the same. What's left of RSD, under Roger Wiggs, has formed a cordon protecting the control van. Our troops are on stand-by to move in if needed."

  "Shit." Roads could imagine the scene all too clearly; the tension that had existed for years between the MSA and RSD had finally reached flashpoint, with the RUSAMC acting as a catalyst. Civil war was a very real possibility, with the RUSAMC on hand to pick up the pieces. "Can't they hang on a little longer?"

  "That depends on what the Mayor does. If he lets our troops go, then nothing will happen. If he doesn't, though, or tries to attack, it's bound to get nasty."

  Roads clenched his jaw muscles. "How far away are you?"

  "Very close. Barney will be there in a minute or two."

  "Is she listening?"

  "Yes, boss," came her voice through the cyberlink bead.

  "Good. When I tell you to, turn on your sirens: lights, horns, the works. Give it everything you've got. Until then, keep quiet."

  "Understood. We'll wait for your call."

  Roads turned his attention back to DeKurzak, who looked as tense as Roads felt.

  "How long until you've finished, Sam?" the MSA officer asked Betheras.

  "Not long."

  DeKurzak scowled. "Well, hurry it up. We need him back at Mayor's House ASAP. Things are coming to a head quicker than we thought."

  Roads stared more closely at the harness strapped to Cati's shoulders. It consisted of numerous pouches and pads designed to carry tools and protect vulnerable parts of the body. On Cati, it looked grotesque. A crude version of Betheras' nightsuit lined Cati's legs and arms, probably designed more to confuse enemies than to deceive them. Around his bald head, Betheras had strapped a combat communicator with an eye-feed tugged back over the ear — obviously to imply that he was in communication with superiors elsewhere. The effect of the communicator was to make plainly obvious what Cati already was: a combat soldier controlled by others, not a random berserker.

  "That's standard-issue equipment," put in O'Dell, studying Roads' close-up zoom by remote. "Our equipment."

  "I thought it would be," replied Roads, his heart sinking. His apartment had been blown up using RUSAMC explosives; Cati was dressed in a RUSAMC battle-harness. The new enemy DeKurzak needed wasn't just biomodified agents: it was the Reunited States of America Military Corps.

  "He's setting us up!" O'Dell's outrage was clear through the cyberlink. "After all the work he put in to 'smooth the way' — "

  "Exactly," interrupted Roads, remembering how keen; DeKurzak had been for Roads to catch the Mole. "The backlash will be even stronger, if he can convince people that you're behind Cati and the Mole."

  "What, and start a war?"

  "Only if you won't leave. Most people would be happy
just to see you gone. If you're Outside, they don't care what you do."

  "Until we came back in force."

  "Would Stedman really do that?"

  O'Dell was silent for a moment. "I hope not, of course — but if the interventionists have their way — "

  "You need Kennedy that badly?"

  "Of course. It's only a matter of time before someone takes it. If not us, then the New Mexican Alliance."

  "Or good old rot," muttered Roads, although O'Dell's words had prompted a disturbing new thought: of a map of the North American continent with the Reunited States and the New Mexican Alliance to the north and south, and Kennedy midway between them ...

  Betheras had fastened the last of the straps around Cati's stomach. By tapping studs on the control-belt one by one, he tested the camouflage system. Strange ripples of ambiguous colour rolled along Cati's limbs, startling the giant.

  "You're playing a dangerous game, DeKurzak," Roads said aloud.

  "With the lives of powerful friends in the balance, not my own," the MSA officer shot back. "Even if everything does go terribly wrong, I hope to come out of this relatively clean. It's a win-win situation, as far as I'm concerned."

  "Perhaps ..." Roads pretended to consider his next words: "But what about me? You hinted that I can help you. In return for what?"

  "Your life and a free ticket out of here. Exile, if you like, in exchange for information."

  "What sort of information?"

  DeKurzak stepped closer, almost within arm's reach. "We need to know the whereabouts of Keith Morrow."

  Roads didn't have to feign surprise. "Why?"

  "Why do you think? Sam Betheras tells me he's the only one in Kennedy who actually impacted on General Stedman. With him on our side, we could not only force the States out of the city, but make sure they never get back in..."

  Before Roads could answer, Betheras deactivated the combat harness, stepped back and wiped his hands on his thighs. "Okay, he's ready. It's crude but it should do the job."

  "Good." DeKurzak straightened his posture. "Time we were moving — and for a decision, Roads. What's it to be? Your help or your body?"