Death-Bringer

by Patrick Tilley

  Angered by this jibe, Steve’s self-control snapped. ‘You wanna know something? I’m getting pretty sick of your smart-assed remarks and your fucking innuendoes! If you’ve got some beef you wanna get off your chest, come right out with it!’

  Nevill’s jaw dropped.

  ‘Whoa! Hold it!’ said Wallis. ‘I think we’re getting a little ahead of ourselves. I’m sure Jake didn’t intend to accuse –’

  ‘Yeah? Well, he can take his accusations and shove them right up his ass! I was the one who was out there risking my neck for the Federation. What the fuck does he know about anything? Desk-bound pratt!’

  Nevill bounced back, eyes blazing. ‘You can spare us the war-torn hero routine. Not one of these guys around this table has less than five overground assignments on his slate. That’s why we’re here. And as for what I know about anything, Brickman, let me tell you this. I know I’m a major and you’re a jumped-up ensign whose lieutenant’s tabs are still hanging out to dry.’ The mexican tapped his chest. ‘I earned my promotion in the field, not filling gravy-boats on the fucking mess deck. So I’ll say what I like, when I like. And when you next address me, lieutenant, you’ll do so with the respect you have been trained to show a senior officer!’

  ‘Yes, sir, major …’

  ‘And no dumb insolence either! I saw that look!’

  Wallis made a placatory gesture. ‘Okay, that’s enough. If we’re pulling rank, I’m the senior officer here. And I’d like to remind you all that this organization, unlike many regular army units, places a premium on intelligence and a spirit of enquiry. A readiness to challenge assumptions instead of the usual knee-jerk responses required from junior ranks. It is mental discipline we look for, not the kind instilled on the parade-ground and our executive body has, traditionally, always encouraged the free and frank exchange of views –’

  ‘Fuck tradition!’ Nevill stabbed a finger at Steve. ‘He may be billed as a star turn but he’s still a fucking wetback and no wet-back is going to shit-talk me!’

  Wallis coughed. ‘Okay, Jake, you’ve made your point.’ He made eye contact with Steve. ‘Would you like to proceed?’

  Steve gave them the full story. With questions and answers, it took over four hours, split into two sessions with a meal break in between. Steve took a rain check on the food, preferring to spend the allotted time in the intensive care ward with Clearwater. It was no great hardship. The trays sent up from the mess-deck of the adjoining wagon contained standard Federation fare, tasteless, processed, vitaminized pap. After the food in Ne-Issan and the strong-flavoured fish and meat served up by the Plainfolk, Steve found it quite uneatable.

  Afterwards, when Steve concluded his account, Wallis said: ‘Okay, so Cadillac is on his way home. Assuming you’re still on the case, what’s your next move?’

  ‘I’ve got to catch up with him. Tell him what’s happened.’

  Nevill stuck his oar in again. ‘Isn’t he going to be a little unhappy when he hears you put his pet beaver on a wagon-train?’

  Steve swallowed his irritation. ‘Unhappy? He’s gonna be bouncing off the walls. But that’s his problem. He’s lucky she’s still alive. Don’t worry. I’ll talk him round.’

  ‘How’re you going to do that?’ asked Wallis. ‘If Clearwater’s on board Red River it’s because you arranged to put her there. How are you going to get Cadillac to trust you when you’re obviously working for us?’

  ‘Simple,’ said Steve. ‘I’ll tell him the truth. I didn’t contact the wagon-train. I contacted Roz.’

  Wallis waved a finger at Steve and his kin-sister. ‘Do the M’Calls know about the link-up between you two?’

  ‘No. Only Cadillac and Clearwater. Clearwater was watching from the shore when the planes fire-bombed the wheel-boat. Cadillac was below decks with me so he saw nothing. By the time we surfaced the planes had gone but eventually I had to come up with some kind of an explanation. The only way to remove any suspicion that I was still working for the Federation was by telling them about the link between Roz and myself.

  ‘The fact that the Federation had sent the planes to bomb the wheel-boat meant that the First Family thought I was still working for them. Which, of course, led Cadillac to suspect Roz’s motives. So in order to persuade him that we could both be trusted, I told him I’d convinced Roz – who had complete faith in me – that I was still one hundred per cent loyal. Which was why you’d sent the planes to help us escape.’

  ‘Did he buy it?’ asked Wallis.

  ‘Yes, in his usual half-assed way. We got away from the japs, I saved his life but – you know what it’s like –’ Steve gave Nevill a sideways glance, ‘– he’s one of these guys who is never satisfied. He’s brave, highly intelligent, possesses the most amazing mental capabilities, but he just hasn’t got his shit together.’

  ‘So what story are you going to lay on him?’

  ‘He already knows that Roz came through to tell me she was on board Red River. I’ll tell him the shock of seeing them both gunned down triggered another contact between Roz and myself. She knew immediately what had happened and where we were, so I waited until she confirmed that help was on the way then pulled out as the first plane dropped a string of parachute flares.

  ‘And I’ll say that in a subsequent contact, Roz told me that Clearwater was out of danger. Cadillac will be suspicious but what the hell can he do? He has to go along with it because the only way he can keep tabs on what’s happening to her is through me and Roz. And I will continue to claim that I didn’t arrange anything through official channels. I was never here. How does it sound?’

  The six-man task force exchanged thoughtful glances. Steve found the silence of the middle four a little unnerving. The guys who listened but didn’t say anything were the ones you had to watch out for. More often than not, it was they who were really running the show.

  Nevill shook his head dismissively. ‘Too clever by half.’

  ‘Jake, ease up will you? Give the guy a break.’ Wallis came back to Steve. ‘It sounds good but you may have outwitted yourself. Roz couldn’t have sneaked Clearwater on board Red River by herself. It could only have been with our full knowledge and cooperation. And the reason Clearwater’s still with us is because Red River’s surgical team spent nearly twelve hours putting the bits back together.’

  ‘I’m not denying that.’

  Wallis threw his hands in the air. ‘So we’re back where we started. If Roz is working with us, and you’re working with Roz – why should these Mutes trust you?’

  ‘It’s simple,’ said Steve.

  ‘I wish you’d stopped saying that,’ snapped Nevill. ‘You’re switching sides so fast I’ve lost track of who’s getting shafted!’

  Steve looked at his kin-sister then said: ‘Roz is only pretending to work for you.’ Their eyes met again. The message she had beamed into his mind was so astonishing, none of the others would realise he was telling the truth. He glanced round the table and tried not to smile at his audacity.

  ‘That’s what I told Cadillac when he challenged me about her role in the strike on the wheel-boat. And when I discovered she was on Red River, it reinforced my claim that she was a secret ally who, having gained Mother’s confidence, had persuaded him to put her on board the wagon-train because she intended to go over the side and join up with me at the very first opportunity.’

  Steve’s gaze returned once more to his kin-sister. ‘A claim that Clearwater confirmed because Roz had already got inside her head and was doing a number on her.’

  Wallis’ eyes narrowed. In briefing him, Karlstrom had never even suggested such a bizarre possibility. But in emphasizing the need to keep her safe and secure at all times, he had warned him to be braced for the unexpected. Which was why the task-force had been sticking to her like shit to a blanket.

  ‘Go on …’

  ‘The next step is to convince Cadillac and Mr Snow that if we can find a way of getting aboard Red River – maybe with the help of Malone’s renegades �
� then we can rescue both Roz and Clearwater. And perhaps even capture the train.’

  Tom Watkins, the mex on Steve’s right broke his silence with a dry laugh. ‘D’you really think they’d suck on that?’

  ‘If the plan Malone put forward was good enough, yes.’

  Wallis looked perplexed. ‘But in the time-frame you’re talking about, Roz has said that ALPHA-BRAVO will still be too ill to be moved.’

  ‘I know that, and you know that,’ said Steve. ‘But they don’t. And I’m not going to tell them.’

  ‘Let’s run through this again.’ Wallis placed his hands together in a prayer-like gesture in front of his mouth and collected his thoughts. ‘You’re suggesting we let your two remaining targets and a group of Mutes gain access to the wagon-train then we spring some kind of trap.’

  ‘Right …’

  ‘And once Cadillac and Mr Snow have been captured, and the other lumps have been neutralized, we make it look as if the attack has succeeded. All right so far?’ enquired Wallis.

  ‘Perfect,’ said Steve.

  ‘At which point the rest of the clan will rush the wagon-train to get their share of the pickings and –’

  ‘Get it right in the kisser,’ said Nevill.

  Wallis contained his annoyance at being interrupted. ‘It’s going to require meticulous planning. I mean, we want these lumps on the train but we don’t want them running wild …’

  ‘That’s why we need time,’ said Steve, ‘(a) to set it up and (b) for Malone to sell the idea to Cadillac.’

  ‘Why can’t you do that?’ asked Nevill.

  ‘Because of these personality problems I mentioned. He doesn’t wholly trust me. But then, neither do you, major.’

  The challenge brought a smile to Nevill’s face. ‘I wouldn’t go as far as to say that. I’ve read up on what you did at the Heron Pool and I’ve got to hand it to you. That was a first class operation. And don’t think I’m put off by that paint-job you’re wearing. I’ve been down to the dye-works a couple of times myself. But I’m always a little wary about mexicans who get so deep into their covers they end up bouncing beaver.’

  Steve controlled his anger. ‘Go downstairs and take a look at her, major. Take a long, hard look then come and tell me, hand on your heart how – if you didn’t know already – you could tell she was a Mute.’

  Nevill laughed. ‘By the skin colours, of course.’

  Steve pushed his left sleeve halfway up towards his elbow and displayed his hand and arm. ‘They’re dyes, major. Just like these. Underneath, her skin is exactly the same as yours and mine. All it takes to make the switch is a few handfuls of pink leaves, crushed and dipped in water. Put her under a shower with someone like Roz and you wouldn’t be able to tell one from the other.’

  ‘It doesn’t matter what she looks like on the outside. On the inside, she’s still a Mute.’

  Steve didn’t let up. ‘But doesn’t it strike you as strange that a race that’s officially classified as sub-human can produce creatures that walk, talk, look and think like real people?’

  Wallis looked worried. ‘Steve – I don’t think this has any relevance to –’

  ‘With respect, sir, I think it’s extremely relevant. Major Nevill has questioned my reliability and, for good measure, has thrown out a thinly-veiled accusation of misconduct. My defence to that hinges around the status of Mutes and their place in the scheme of things. They’re the enemy. They oppose everything the Federation stands for. There’s no dispute about that –’

  ‘Glad to hear it,’ muttered Wallis.

  ‘But the presence of Mutes like Cadillac and Clearwater – who far from being sub-human, are actually closer to being super-human – brings into question everything the First Family has taught us about Mutes. The Plainfolk have an answer to that question. They claim that before the Holocaust, Mutes and Trackers were members of the same society. The same race. Humankind.’

  Wallis intervened, his voice edged with anger. ‘That’s enough, Steve! These are very dangerous waters you’re getting into.’

  ‘See what I mean about this guy?’ said Nevill. ‘He tried to peddle the same muddled-headed shit to the Board of Assessors.’ He faced Steve with a triumphant leer. ‘What did she do to you, lieutenant – suck your brains out through your dick?’

  Steve was gripped by a sudden desire to throw himself across the table at Nevill and punch the mex’s teeth down his throat but Roz came into his head and willed him to stay calm. ‘You’re right, major,’ he said amiably. ‘I guess I asked for that. When you been out on your own for as long as I have, playing both sides of the track, it’s sometimes hard to know where the edges are.’

  ‘We’re aware of the problem,’ said Wallis. ‘That’s why this temporary lapse of judgement will not go on the record. As for you, Jake, we might be able to get through this a lot quicker and more constructively if you adopted a less aggressive attitude. We are not a Board of Assessors, and Steve is not on trial. The eight of us are all on the same team.’

  Nevill accepted this with a nod but he was not a happy man.

  ‘Okay, let’s get this meeting back on the rails. Steve, you were saying that Cadillac did not entirely trust you …’

  ‘Call it a lurking suspicion. His feelings are confounded by the fact that I’ve got him out of several tight corners. But like you said, he’s not an idiot. We couldn’t have escaped from Ne-Issan without help from the outside and there came a point where I could no longer conceal that fact. So I came clean – admitted I was an undercover agent, sent out to capture the three of them. And I told him I’d been forced to accept the assignment because the Federation had threatened to kill Roz if I refused.’

  ‘And did he believe you?’ asked Wallis.

  Steve shrugged. ‘He went along with it. It was the only way he could get out of Ne-Issan. I think he finally bought the story when we knocked out Side-Winder and the mex pilots at Long Point and grabbed the airplanes. Things got better from there on in un –’

  ‘Until he and that Mute bitch downstairs blew four of our aircraft out of the sky and planted explosives on Kelso and Kazan!’ Nevill’s eyes made it clear what he thought of Steve’s contribution to the war effort.

  Steve took a deep breath before replying. ‘I’ve already been through this. I didn’t know Kelso and Jodi were primed to explode. They didn’t even know themselves! The Clan M’Call got badly burned by The Lady. Cadillac and Clearwater grabbed the opportunity to even the score. But it was more than that. They were testing me. They wanted to see which way I’d jump when they started killing my own kind.

  ‘I objected – violently – but only on the grounds that the strike against The Lady wasn’t necessary. Any stronger reaction on my part would have totally destroyed my cover. But I couldn’t have stopped Clearwater from using her magic on those Skyhawks even if I’d wanted to.’ He turned to Nevill. ‘When you acquire some firsthand experience of summoners, you’ll understand why. At one point in the battle at the Heron Pool, there were fifty to sixty samurai trying to cut her down. The guys with swords never got within striking distance, and the arrows just bounced off this wall of light she’d wrapped around herself.’

  Nevill’s mouth twisted into a tight-lipped grin. ‘And after all that, some guy in a Skyhawk heading for home, clears the drum on a bunch of breakers – and here she is. Few dozen well-placed rounds. That’s all it took.’

  ‘A fluke. A million to one chance that paid off because her mind was engaged elsewhere,’ said Steve. ‘But don’t worry, I know what you’re getting at.’ His voice hardened. ‘You still think these three could have been lifted without all this hassle. Isn’t that right, major?’

  Nevill caught Wallis’ warning glance and held up his hands. ‘Just exercising my traditional right to engage in a free and frank exchange of views …’

  ‘Jake doesn’t like sensitives,’ explained Wallis.

  Steve smiled. ‘I’m not too happy about being one myself.’

  ‘I’
ve always held there’s nothing in this world that a bullet won’t cure.’

  It was clear from Wallis’ expression that this was an old bone of contention. ‘Yes, well, you keep saying that Jake, but we both know that the committee which is presently studying the tactical use of psionics takes an entirely different view.’

  ‘They would, wouldn’t they?’ Nevill saw Wallis’ brow darken. He turned to Steve. ‘So tell us – after the hit on the wagon-train, did relations between you and Cadillac get any better …?’

  ‘Yes. When we started our westward run he had other things to think about. By this time he was into his ‘I’m the leader of The Chosen routine’. I went along with it. Everything was fine until we ran into Malone, and Cadillac ran out of sake then shortly after that I got this flash from Roz.

  ‘Mother had put her on board Red River and had sent her north to help neutralize Clearwater. By sending the train into Nebraska and having it move parallel to our line of advance Mother hoped Roz would be able to help keep my mind clear. To prevent Clearwater from doing to me what she’d done to Kelso and Jodi.’

  Nevill laughed drily. ‘That’s why you were strip-searched before we let you up the ramp.’

  ‘Wise move. Anyway, maybe it was a bad mistake, but I told Cadillac that Roz had made contact and that she was on Red River. And because of the story I’d fed him before about being pressurized into this job by threats to her life I had to come out with this idea of trying to rescue her. It would have seemed odd if I’d passed up a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity without making a positive response. I didn’t have any clear idea how it could be done, it was all off the top of my head. But I suggested that if the M’Calls got together with Malone’s renegades – maybe in some kind of disguise – we might just be able to pull it off.’

  ‘And how did Cadillac react?’

  ‘He said that attacking the train was exactly what the Federation wanted us to do. That was why they’d put Roz on board. She was the bait that would draw me in if I had truly thrown my lot in with the Mutes. And in the next breath he all but accused me of being prepared to sell his people down the river in order to save her skin.