‘I take it we’re going to fight then?’ he asked; Helena detected a tone pleading for her to grant him some hope.
‘Why not?’ she said. ‘I’ve got nothing better to do now.’ David kept looking out of the window and Helena, following his gaze, saw Jane coming towards the house.
Feeling unbalanced after her conversation with David, the last thing Helena wanted was to have to deal with Jane. She still wasn’t sure whether David liked Jane, but she had a pretty good idea. Nor was she sure how she felt about the prospect, but her guts urged her to avoid the woman. Knowing herself, it seemed sensible to find some space and distance herself from what had just happened with David before she had to face Jane.
She was too slow; Jane came through the door and stood purposefully in the kitchen before Helena had moved.
‘Helena,’ said Jane. ‘It’s good to see you.’ she smiled radiantly and Helena felt the sincerity in her voice like ice on her skin.
She managed a rather graceless, ‘Thanks.’
Jane launched into a long list of who the Normals were, what skills they had, who was injured, the children amongst them and where they were going to be stashed in order to keep them alive until the very end. She had worked with the Normals and split them into three groups. It had turned out that there was a medical technician in the group, so she had assigned him to the lighthouse basement, where Edith had had the foresight to bring more than just a basic first aid kit. ‘The Normal’s still drooling at the prospect of being allowed to use an entire field base kit, complete with nanomachines.’ Jane laughed, covering her mouth with the back of her hand, and exclaimed that it was ironic that those who had lived the longest would be those who would be injured first.
‘Oh, did I mention that your man out there estimates we’ve got the entire night before Indexiv’s troops work out what happened and where we are? I’d rather they were here a bit sooner really.’ She laughed nervously. ‘Well no, not really.’
Through Jane’s non-stop chatter, Helena saw slivers of fear in her eyes and words. The woman was terrified and had responded to their situation by organising, by preparing for the worst, while at the same time preparing those around her for the best.
‘Helena,’ she said, ‘it really is wonderful that you’re still with us.’ For an awful moment, Helena thought Jane was going to try to hug her. Instead, Jane flitted about the room like a restless bumblebee, explaining how she’d put the hydraulic Normals, those who’d knocked Helena out and then saved her life, around the boundary because they were the fastest people in the compound.
She marvelled at the sergeant and his soldiers, at how calm they were and how careful they were to maintain their sense of discipline. Helena began to feel like pricking Jane’s carefully constructed shelter, to remind her that the sergeant had been bred without the ability to visualise his own mortality, that he couldn’t grasp the concept of being dead and so didn’t have the capacity to lose his cool in the face of extermination. Yet, seeing how Jane was struggling to hold herself together, Helena bit her tongue.
‘Where’s Edith, have you seen her?’ asked Jane but, before anyone could answer, she continued. ‘Hilariously, you managed to save a number of AI systems workers who tell me they could use the computer network here to log into Indexiv’s systems and deploy the virus Jens and Daniel were working on.’
She paused now, waiting for a moment, before carrying on. ‘That’s if we’ve got access to the Euros’ satellite mesh.’
Helena sat in silence.
‘Have we?’ asked Jane at last, with an alarming sense of fragility.
‘I believe so,’ said David gently. ‘I think Edith is on the top floor.’
‘Splendid,’ said Jane and, hesitantly looking from David to Helena, left the room.
‘She likes you,’ said Helena when Jane had gone.
‘Helena,’ started David. Helena wasn’t interested in his conciliatory tone.
‘Look, where are Jens and Daniel?’ she asked, cutting him off. David looked surprised, but answered her anyway.
‘The two of them are working at the beach, doing what they can to plan a defence for what is essentially an open door. They’re all set to fight room to room when it comes to it,’ said David.
‘Do we actually have any weapons?’ asked Helena.
David nodded. ‘Ironically Edith was telling us the whole fucking truth about that bit of things,’ said David.
Helena sighed. ‘Feel at home?’ she asked.
David ignored her comment. ‘We have a handful of plasma rifles, low energy, but better than nothing. The wall has some surprises of its own as well and offers us the lion’s share of our chances of survival.’
‘Such as?’
‘The concubines form a neural net based on the wall; each of them provides processing power to a central AI which is capable of deploying a number of effects via the wall should Indexiv attempt to breach it.’ David turned to face the window, from where the perimeter was obscured by a copse of firs. ‘The wall has a number of automatic weapons secreted along its length. It is also capable of extending its height and offering a minimal level of nanotech shielding. It won’t provide us with a complete hemisphere, but it will be enough to stop small arms fire, for a time at least.’
Helena could feel her eyes drooping as her secondary AI slowly let her body remember the punishment and effort of the last twelve hours. David, noticing the onset of Helena’s weariness, put his hands on his knees and pushed himself up onto his feet.
‘Get some sleep. Enjoy it while you can. If the sergeant is correct, you’ve got a few hours yet.’ Helena nodded sleepily and found her way slowly up the stairs to an empty bedroom. She dreamed Lysander was praying to God and that God heard them.
RAIN was knocking insistently on the window when Helena awoke. The room was cast in the deep shades of grey that bathe the morning in the minutes before the sun rises. She lay there listening to the wind gusting and the rain falling as swirls and patterns of particles driving chaotically around the house.
The wooden frame of the building creaked quietly, like an old man not wishing to advertise his age, and Helena passed a few moments following the outline of furniture in the bedroom: a wardrobe, a battered and stained pine chair, which was tucked carelessly under a waxed oak desk. The floor was uneven under her feet, and the curtains hung, half closed; murky blue grey light seeped apologetically through the glass.
Good morning, she said to her AI. It didn’t respond, but then Helena knew it had heard because it would be easier for her not to hear her own thoughts than for the AI to be deaf to her.
I’m still tingling, she thought. Her skin felt raw to the touch after so many hours of continually feeling the eddies of moving air as painful as the press of hail.
Your body is still suffering from the effects of your battle with the Officer, said her AI.
Helena shivered. Do you mean I can’t extend myself until this is gone? she asked.
I do not know,came the response then, after a pause, it continued.Helena, it is possible that you could extend your senses again, now, and not suffer any side effects. However, the most probable outcome is that your system will shut itself down in order to try to protect itself from further abuse.
Helena wasn’t sure if her AI was trying to tell her she would die if she pushed herself again. Today of all days she wanted to be able to fight, to move quicker than those seeking her death.
You certainly use a lot of words to say ‘I told you so’, she thought.
Her AI laughed in spite of itself, Helena joining in with it.
If I hadn’t pushed myself yesterday, I’d be dead now, she thought. You understand, don’t you?
Yes,came the response.I understand why you did that, Helena, but I exist to keep you safe, to stop you harming yourself.
I’m going to have to fire you today, said Helena mirthlessly.
I was going to resign anyway. Can’t be seen carrying around dead weight.
Very g
ood, thought Helena, very good. Are we okay?
I don’t know, said her AI,but it’s not material.
Talk to me, said Helena.
I felt lost yesterday; you left me alone, pushed over and past me. It was something you’d asked me not to do to you. Yet, when it came to it, you had no compunction about crushing my will before your own. I’d not felt alone until then. It scared me. It still scares me. I realise that if you die, then I die as well. We are going to die today and I am alone.
Desolation swept through its words like the gale pushing in off the sea outside.
You were quicker to offer a Normal your last moments than you were to seek me out and give me your companionship,said her AI.
We’re together now, thought Helena. Analise will never be a part of me. You and I are one flesh.
Thank you,said her AI.You should eat.
The press of feet on floorboards roused Helena from her musing. She got up and, traversing the house in the thick blanket of moist morning light, she went downstairs.
On her way down, she was surprised to note small stashes of ammo and energy packs half hidden on the stairs, on shelves and behind bookcases. A tripwire was half set up on the third and fifth steps of the staircase, only waiting for someone to connect the wire across both sides of the climb.
The inner door of the hallway had wood stacked up against the wall next to the doorframe. A hammer and nails lay beside the stock pile. For now, the door was unbarred.
Turning left, she saw that the small passageway into the cloakroom and the bathroom, with its decaying, mildewed and cracked pink tiling, had been blocked off. Beneath a press of wooden planks nailed neatly from top to bottom, Helena saw the door, which actually opened away from the boarding, was firmly shut. Listening carefully, she thought she heard the muffled sound of young voices but then the whispers fell silent and she did not hear anything more.
Back in the kitchen, Helena sat herself near the oven in the rear corner, farthest from the windows. She leaned against the cooker for a moment then, just as quickly, pushed herself upright again in order to search through cupboards for food. She was disappointed to find raw vegetables, apples and half a loaf of bread left over from the previous day. Standing forlornly, arms outstretched with a cupboard door held in each hand, she tried to work out what would have satisfied her anyway.
She took the bread and a couple of apples. She was unreasonably pleased to find a hunk of mature cheddar in the fridge.
Helena sat at the cherry wood table with the modest haul laid out in front of her along with a sharp knife. She sliced open an apple and bit into it after first taking a small corner off the cheese.
Noise edged around as people moved through the house, readying their defence.
As the rain lashed tirelessly against the windows, Helena saw people outside, covering their heads with their arms whenever they paused in their tasks. Someone ran through her field of view, passing close to the window. Helena felt she should be busy helping to prepare.
Leaving the apple core on the table, she picked up the cheese and made for the door. She steeled herself against the weather, ducked through the doorway and then looked around in the growing morning light. Over by the copse, she could see Jane, along with five Normals. They were busy laying branches on the ground. To Helena’s right, near the tide line, Jens and Daniel were at work. From the trail of disturbed earth and sand that followed them round towards the lighthouse, she guessed they were nearly done protecting the beach from a direct attack.
Rivulets of rainwater were already running down her face after overwhelming her eyebrows and hair. Blinking to keep the worst of it from her eyes, Helena walked to the front of the house to see what had been done at the main gate. As she turned the corner, she saw David sprinting towards her.
He waved his arms in her direction, shouting as he came. The wind and rain greedily devoured his voice. Helena didn’t want to risk her health by extending her senses to find out what he was saying.
By the time he was close enough for Helena to hear him, she’d realised something was wrong. David was carrying a rifle in one hand. He looked like a kid who’s finally stood up to a bully who turned out to be every bit as horrible as he’d feared.
‘Get away from the house!’ shouted David, only diverting from his course after he was sure that Helena was listening to him. Helena did so with less than a moment’s thought for those still inside. She ran to intercept him for more information.
As she ran, the first shots arced over the wall and were deflected by the nanoshield. Helena caught up with David, skidding to a halt on the greasy grass.
‘What’s the matter?’ she asked, catching a fire in his eyes like embers flickering out for the last time. She didn’t hear his answer because a tank shell burst through the nanoshield as if it wasn’t there and crashed into the manse’s sitting room.
Chapter 11
THE SIDE OF THE HOUSE collapsed like a punctured soufflé. The wooden frame shattered with the force of the shell. Helena thought about the children who had been hidden right up against where the munitions had struck as her body was flung like so much wet flesh through the air.
She landed awkwardly on her elbow to discover David lying next to her, his head twisted nastily and his eyes looking out blankly onto the sodden grass. She didn’t have time to see if he was alive. Scrambling hazily to her feet, she could feel her secondary AI frantically working to keep her conscious, adrenaline pumping through her system alongside artificial painkillers and perception-altering drugs.
It had slowed the world for her as much as it could without the aid of her augmentations.
Helena held her spinning world in her hands. She massaged her temples, tried to wipe away the streams of rain running down her muddy face as she looked around the compound to assess her plight.
Daniel and Jens were nowhere to be seen in the burning smoke and driving rain that blurred her vision, but she could see Jane holding a rifle and firing away from the gate. Around her were a number of Normals, all of whom were attempting to copy her. Helena turned to see people, soldiers, emerging from the copse on the southern side of the compound. Two or three bodies lay on the ground around them and more of them spun, dancing macabrely as they met with Jane’s determined resistance to their approach.
It occurred to Helena that she was unarmed. As far as she could tell, no one was paying her any attention, neither her own people nor Indexiv’s troops. Sporadic fire continued to pepper the shield but it had the feeling of someone keeping up the appearance of an attack rather than serious intent.
Helena stooped and gathered David in her arms. Nanotech or not, she was a decades-long speedball player; her genetically-enhanced strength was more than enough to scoop him up like a child. She ran towards what remained of the house.
A short beam of fire lanced out from the top of the lighthouse and passed over her shoulder as she ran. It crackled as it passed through the nanoshield, then came the scream of tearing metal from beyond the wall. Helena hoped that her mother’s ordnance was capable of shredding the tank’s armour swiftly, because if it didn’t, the lighthouse would soon be little more than a cairn.
When she reached the edge of the house, Helena made out the evanescent forms of Jens and Daniel on the beach. They had their hands full. She squinted as she laid David’s limp form down under the groaning timbers of the eastern side of the house. Bodies were moving and grappling along the shore. She wondered how many Normals were down there and felt unrecognised emotion overtake her in a rush of tears. Blinking the salt away from her eyes, she took a deep breath and tried to determine where she could help most effectively. She felt like one of Canute’s advisors calculating whether they should take a broom or a spade to help the king hold back the tide more successfully.
The sound of ionising air popped and crackled around her again as the lighthouse fired over the wall at its target. A lack of return fire gave a moment of hope to Helena. She remembered a rifle had been left for her i
n the kitchen. The impact of the initial mortar strike had left her on the wrong side of the house. She stepped over David’s body and went to fetch it.
Her hope shrivelled away as she slipped and fell, her eyes coming level with a slick crimson mass. She despaired at the mangled and torn innards of the children who had been taking refuge in the bathroom. Sobs overtook her once again and she lay there, letting the cool mud wrap around her.
Helena, said a voice,you must get up. We must fight.
Images passed before her eyes — images of children’s brains dashed against the walls of their own homes, of people calmly allowing themselves to be herded to their own executions. The expressions of people who hadn’t been interested in what was happening, of the dozens of journalists who’d ignored her when she’d told them the grisly truth of what she’d seen in Noenieput, watched her now. Helena got to her knees and threw up all over the gore in front of her. Heedlessly wiping sick from her chin with the back of her hand, sucking the bile back into her throat, she stood up without looking for attackers to run towards the kitchen.
Beyond the wall, the tank roared to life and gave the lie to her mother’s attempts to control the battlefield. A shell burst into a shower of prismatic flares around the lighthouse as it met with a nanoshield significantly more robust than that protecting the outer compound. Helena laughed bitterly, a dark joy rising in her throat with a physical tightening of her chest. She swore freely, not even hearing her own voice carry the words out to be swallowed by the lashing wind and torrents of rain.
The door of the kitchen was hanging off one hinge. Helena tumbled through it, coming face to face with a dead Normal lying on the floor just inside the doorway. His features had been rendered unrecognisable by heavy small-arms fire. The remains of his skull were set in a rictus of orgiastic pain, steaming gently in the cold morning, and Helena knew that Indexiv soldiers had made it to the house. The windows lit up as the lighthouse once again traded fire with the tank. The kitchen was empty.
A People's War (The Oligarchy Book 2) Page 25
