“Justinas?” said Jake.
Jon shook his head slowly, then clasped his mouth shut and closed his eyes.
A bike rolled toward them slowly. Sylas was draped over Cedrik’s back. “Sylas is alive,” said Cedrik. “Barely.”
“They’ll be sending more here any minute!” Chris shouted. Jon glared at him, and Chris added, “Come on - we still have the fuel and water we took with us onto the pillar.”
“Chris...” said Jon.
“No time! You better move, if you don’t want to end up like Justinas!”
Wodan followed Chris back up to their holdout position. “There’s more bikes just a ways from here,” said Wodan. “We can syphon fuel from them.”
“Fine, fine, whatever,” said Chris, his face still burning red.
While Wodan and Chris hauled the other bikes from the stacked boulders along the pillar, Jake looked up at them and said, “Guys, we’re not going to have near enough of anything to make it back home. We barely have any food at all, and our fuel and water are hardly enough to-”
“We’ll die if we stay here!” said Chris, his voice pitched high. “We got a better chance in the wasteland than we do against more of those dogs. Just move your ass, Jake!”
Jake’s right, thought Wodan. We don’t have enough to make it.
But we have to keep moving.
Chapter Nineteen
The Ultimate Weapon of Haven
There came a knock at the door at the appointed time, and so Didi rose from his chair with great effort and hobbled over to answer. He was shocked when he opened the door, for he expected to see his old friend Sevrik Clash. It had been a long time since they’d seen one another, for both had grown cool toward one another in the past year. Didi’s trial had broken their bond. Instead of Sevrik’s warm smile, Didi saw a tall man like a twisted version of Sevrik. He was a dark-skinned man with a black aura and a cold, yellow-eyed gaze.
“Sir,” said Yarek Clash, nodding slightly.
“Yarek,” Didi croaked, clearing his throat loudly. “I sent for... for your father. Where is your father?” For some irrational reason, Didi had the distinct feeling that this man was his executioner.
“The Head of Guard requested that I tell you he will be running late. He will arrive shortly, sir.”
They stared at one another for a long time.
“Well,” said Yarek. “May I come in?”
Didi stared at him longer still, then, against his better judgment, he moved aside. Yarek strode in with his black cloak trailing behind. He was nearly three heads taller than the aged and stooping Head of the Departments of Science and Research.
Didi limped toward his seat. Yarek drew beside him, and said coldly, “May I help, sir?”
Didi did not respond, but Yarek put a strong hand underneath Didi’s armpit. He walked slowly beside the man, then helped lower him into a chair. Yarek swiftly turned another chair about, then sat down before him. The room was very dark, lit only by the lights of various computer monitors, but Didi still squinted his eyes and furrowed his brow as if the light caused him great discomfort.
Both sat and stared at one another in the darkness. Neither had ever been accused of warmth or skill in conversation. They seemed content to sit like this for ten long minutes.
Finally they heard a single sharp rap against the door, and it opened suddenly. Sevrik Clash, in full white uniform but with his jacket unbuttoned, entered with a childish, awkward smile. He had put on weight since Didi had seen him; his face seemed older, and sagging, but the quick eyes were still the same from his youth. “Didi!” he bellowed.
“Why did you send your son here?” said Didi. Yarek did not seem to mind the statement.
“I hope he didn’t make you uncomfortable, old friend. Yarek has a way of making people squirm, but I’ve been meaning to acquaint you two for a long time now. I hope you didn’t just sit and stare at one another the whole time!”
Didi and Yarek glanced at one another, then Didi said, “I’d hoped to discuss confidential matters with you.”
“You usually do, Didi. Don’t worry. Yarek already knows everything.”
“What do you mean… everything?”
Sevrik sat down between the two, then said, “I told Yarek about the alliance between you, me, and Korliss, and that all our talk of creating a superman was more than just talk, as you stated during your trial, and somehow proved, which is still beyond my understanding. I told him that you created a ready-made batch of enhanced human genes, slipped them into an unknown child through the Makers of Mothers, and that Korliss and I planned to teach our ideals to that child’s entire generation. I told him that I’d come to believe that Wodan was that special child that we changed... and that I was shocked when you proved, in your trial, that he was not only normal, but would soon die of cancer. I told Yarek all of that; that is what I meant by everything. Don’t worry, old friend. Yarek is more than just my son. I trust him more than any other man I’ve ever known. That’s something I could not have said until after your trial, when you... when you...”
“When I did what I had to do?”
“Didi, you denied the greatness of our work in that trial when you could have popularized it. You blamed everything on some man named Childriss, who I’d never even heard of. Didi, just who was this man Childriss?”
Didi thought for a moment, then said, “Childriss was a fellow scientist. We were friends, of sorts, but mostly rivals. His research was... while it was not brilliant, it was good enough to garner the attention of our superiors. He was a firebrand, very charismatic, but he was also a very disagreeable person. Quarrelsome. It seemed that he was destined to become Head of the DoS. He had qualities that I thought would be dangerous to me, to us, if he were to become my superior. I did not tell you this at the time because I did not think that you needed to know - but I told him about our work, excluding yours and Korliss’s roles, of course, and we worked together. I tricked him into slipping the enhanced genes into an unborn child with the Makers. I kept a record of his deed, then I blackmailed him and told him that if he did not leave Haven, I would turn him in. He left. Do not worry about him; he has most likely been eaten by the wasteland. But I kept the records, just in case we were ever found out. Which we were.”
“I see... so he was your sacrificial lamb.”
“Just as Wodan,” said Yarek, “is the sacrificial lamb for all of Haven’s anger and spite.”
Didi regarded Yarek coldly, then said, “Which brings us to the matter of this meeting I have called.”
Sevrik seemed unsympathetic toward Didi and his explanation, but buried his resentment and skepticism because he could not easily forget their old friendship. Didi looked at Yarek for a long time, then said, “Do you know what the Neuron Sensor Array is?”
“The NeuSen Array is a device that you made to-”
“Stop right there; I must dispel that myth. When I showed it to Korliss, I made careful note to not tell him I’d invented the thing. I did not want to lie to him, but I also did not want to tell the truth. The NeuSen Array is a device that can be keyed into an animal’s brain activity and give a readout that can be studied. The Array does more, I suspect, though really I cannot say for sure. You see, I did not invent it - I only found it.”
“Where?”
“In the wasteland, in the same valley where Wodan and the others were exiled over a year ago. But there’s more. The Array is not the only thing that I found there.”
“It isn’t?” said Sevrik, too loudly.
“No. When you and I went, so many years ago, Professor Childriss was there as well. And during our explorations, we… how can I say this... you see, it is very difficult to study any sort of genome and really grasp, in totality, what the full pattern is about. It’s... very difficult, you must understand.”
“What are you trying to say, Didi?”
Didi breathed deeply. “The enhanced genome which Childriss put into the unknown child… I did not make it. Childriss and I
... we found it, in that valley in the wasteland.”
“Didi!” Sevrik shouted. “How could you? How in the world could you trust something you found in the outside world, and… and put it into a child’s body?”
“Be still!” said Didi, lifting his small hand. “You were not there with us in that place, so you will never understand our resolve. I will not go into further detail on the matter. Something happened to us in that place, Sevrik, and I knew that that blueprint was exactly what we needed. Do not chide me for unscientific reasoning, either. I studied the pattern. From what I knew of genetics, which is no small matter, I could see that the find was good. It was complicated, to be sure. It worked on many different levels. But from what I could study of it, I knew that it would result in the creation of a superbeing. That much, I assure you, I knew.”
Sevrik shook his head wildly. “But why didn’t you just throw it into some petri dish and-”
“Because the pattern was not complete. It needed a human, my friend. It needed a human host to bond with.”
“A host,” said Sevrik. “So you were dealing with some kind of parasite.”
“As distasteful as it seems, the thing had to be used. In my studies, I found that... that I was not capable of creating a superbeing. I simply could not do it. But the find - the treasure that we were given - was too great to leave unused. Condemn my actions if you must, Sevrik. There is more that I have to say.
“Now, when Wodan came to me and I ran a series of tests on him, I truly hoped that he would be our Project, our superbeing. His tenacity, his intellect, his ability to survive coupled with... with that sense of goodness in his character... all those together, if mixed with superhuman strength, would have been most fortuitous for our dying species.”
“Then... Didi, at the trial, did you-”
“I told the truth,” said Didi. “I did not find the enhanced genetic pattern within him.”
“Oh,” said Sevrik, lowering his head. “I see.”
“However, I did find other things which were most curious. Sevrik, do you remember that we had planned to introduce a series of microscopic machines, or nanobots, into Project’s body, so that if our superbeing ever got out of hand, we could send a signal to the nanobots and destroy the Project immediately?”
“The Killswitch, of course.”
“When I gave Childriss the package that included the enhanced genes alongside the Killswitch nanobots, he must have at least put the self-replicating robots into one child… because Wodan’s bloodstream was full of them.”
“You mean... Wodan is connected to our Killswitch?”
“That he is,” said Didi, turning to a computer console. “That he very well is.”
Yarek interrupted. “But why would Childriss introduce the nanobots and not the superhuman genes?”
Without answering, Didi opened a program. A hologram projected over a tabletop monitor, then coalesced into the image of a human brain. “When our Project disappeared, the NeuSen lost his pattern, which was most unfortunate. When Wodan came to me, along with the tests I ran on him I also captured his neuron activity pattern within another NeuSen matrix, an upgraded version capable of extended long-distance readings. The mind you are looking at now is Wodan’s own.”
Neurons raced about the image, blossoming here, fading there. The Clashes watched the thing. The image distorted with static, then moved at an accelerated rate; Sevrik looked and saw that Didi was manipulating the program so that it showed patterns that had developed in the past.
“Watch this part here,” said Didi.
The pattern of flowing neurons appeared erratic, unintelligible to an outside viewer. Then, the lights of the mind seemed to erupt. They saw something like fireworks, a thick network of a disturbed hornets’ nest of light. The lights even changed colors, wild and vibrant.
“Bifrost,” Yarek muttered.
“What?” said Didi.
“Bifrost. The rainbow bridge to Valhalla. They say the flaming bridge leads to a paradise for heroes.”
Didi gave him a quick glance, unsure of the quiet outburst. “What this is,” said Didi, “is something that happened to Wodan several months ago. It was some sort of... awakening. Sevrik, you sent me a message stating that the envoys from the wasteland claimed that Wodan himself destroyed two of the gangs of Pontius. If it’s true, then such an act would require a great amount of thought, energy, and violence. I believe that this readout must be from the peak event of just such an occurrence.”
“Gods above!” said Sevrik. “It keeps growing! It looks like his mind is going to explode!”
“But then - watch this.” The activity slowed, then very nearly stopped. The colors faded. The remaining neural trails fell into sluggishness. “Something happened,” said Didi. “Something brought him back... back to our world.”
“Didi!” Sevrik was aghast, his eyes flying back and forth. “But – but - do you think - do you think that-”
“There’s more.” Didi forwarded the readout and showed them other such occurrences, less violent than the first, but still spectacular in intensity. “These events have occurred over the past several days. And with each occurrence, we see still more activity. I’ve scanned my own mind into a NeuSen matrix and I tell you, truly, that even in my most active periods of thought, even my mind has never approached such strange heights. Never. That means that something is truly changing in our Wodan... and it’s coming to a climax within him.”
Sevrik grinded his jaw as he fought to control his thrashing emotions. “Then why... why did your tests on Wodan not show the presence of the enhanced genes?”
“You would have to ask their maker the answer to that question.”
“What does it all mean, then?”
“There are no easy answers, my old friend. The only thing that seems clear to me, Sevrik, is that you have a choice to make. Haven needs you now. We’re beset by demons as never before. You can either stay here and defend Haven in her time of need, or you can go and seek out the potential fruit of our secret work. You can follow through with the crime of our youth... or play the good little soldier for a decadent people.”
“You think I should go into the wasteland and find Wodan? And help him?”
“Obviously, I cannot.”
“But Didi, you’re still not even sure what this thing is that’s happening to Wodan. Did you ever stop to think that maybe he’s just dying of his cancer? That would certainly explain why you never found a similar pattern in your own brain pattern readout!”
“Someone must help him,” said Didi, fixing his eyes on him. “Perhaps Korliss can go and help? Ah, but he is cold and d-”
“Stop it, Didi!” Sevrik rose so quickly that his chair was knocked aside. “The fact of the matter is that even if Wodan has been changed, you have no real idea what this thing is that you put in him. You’ve abused some artifact out of a dead age, and now you’re curious about what you’ve done… and damn you, Didi, I’m too old to fuck around with this business any longer.”
Sevrik left them. Yarek screwed up his yellow eyes at Didi for a while, then rose and followed his father.
Chapter Twenty
Pontius at the Edge of a Blade
In the Temple of the Vault, headquarters of the Smiths of Pontius, the high priest Foreman Arcturus heard a terrible disturbance just outside his office. He sat bolt upright at his desk and, with shaking hands, pulled a long silver revolver from a drawer and loaded it. The door burst open and King Zachariah strode toward him with a train of wild-looking Hargis soldiers.
“Foreman Arcturus!” Zach shouted. “What the hell has been going on in this city during my absence?”
Arcturus leaned over and looked into the anteroom that separated his office from the rest of the Temple. He saw his secretary held in a fierce headlock by a Hargis soldier; the two hopped about in an awkward battle. Other Hargis soldiers stood with guns drawn, surrounded by red-faced Smith Magi who held them at gunpoint. “Lay down your arms!” shouted the Ha
rgis soldiers, while the Magi called out, “You lay down your arms!”
“Well now,” said Arcturus, his mind spinning in an attempt to contain the situation. “There are certain channels, young lord, certain modes of conduct... that, ah…”
“Bullshit!” cried Zach. “I came back to this city expecting to see preparations to repel an imminent invasion. Instead, I see disorganization. I see a few good men of the Law trying to mobilize using what they have but without what they need. I hear that the Smiths, instead of equipping as many as they can, are spreading fear among the populace and are price-gouging their equipment to the wealthy few who can afford it, so they can barricade themselves in their homes instead of defending their city!”
“See here, young lord, the City Under Siege Sale is quite within the bounds of our right to-”
“Foreman, your rights are going to be destroyed along with your lives and Pontius itself when the invaders sweep through here! Do you have any idea how great their numbers are? I know that Pontius has little experience with dogmen, or even with warfare in general. Hargis has fought against dogmen for hundreds of years, Foreman, and I can tell you that as things stand, Pontius could not fend off an attack one-tenth the size of the force that is on its way here!”
The aged Foreman felt beads of sweat break out along his forehead. His mouth went dry, and while he had difficulty formulating a response against the charges, he knew that he had to keep his opponent off-balance. He reminded himself that he had not become the leader of their venerable order by allowing himself to be pushed around by young boys, so he adopted an air of composure and said, “Young lord, what it comes down to is this: What proof do we really have that there will be an attack?”
“What... proof?” Zach leaned back, stunned. “Foreman, do you think this is a trick of Hargis? Do you think that Hargis still stands, and that we’ve made up the entire story of our destruction, and spun a web of lies about a horde of dogmen and rebels that rose up in the wake of the demons’ wrath? Do you think I have a secret plan to arm and prepare Pontius for war... for what reason? Do you suspect a secret invasion is being prepared by Hargis, and that it will somehow take advantage of Pontius’s newfound cohesion and strength and readiness for war? You… you old fool!”
Demonworld Book 4: Shepherd of Wolves Page 18
