by E. R. Torre
“The passkey was found,” Nox said. “I found it. I released it. I’m responsible for all—”
“No,” General Spradlin said. “I’m the one who’s responsible for this. From the child soldiers to the war in Arabia to Lemner’s passkey. I set it up. I made it happen. And when I realized the error of my way and decided to bury it, I didn’t do enough to make sure it stayed buried.”
General Spradlin rose from his chair.
“It’s time to make it right,” he said. “The world we’ve lived in until now is dead and gone. There are no more big businesses, no more big cities, and no more power structures. There’s only us and Lemner’s passkey.”
General Spradlin laid his hand on Nox’s shoulder.
“Let’s finish this,” he said.
36
Within the hidden basement of the garage was an armory. Ancient springs groaned as heavy metal doors opened. Inside the armory was a wealth of modern offensive and defensive equipment, from handguns to rocket launchers. They hung from the walls in order from small to large to enormous to outrageous.
Nox was impressed.
“What don’t you have?” she asked. She reached for one of the weapons, a riot shotgun.
“Don’t bother,” General Spradlin said.
“Why not?” Nox asked. “Some of this stuff will take down a city block.”
General Spradlin ignored the weapons on the walls and instead walked to a cabinet. He pulled open the top drawer. Within it were four small handguns. Nox recognized them instantly. They were the electric handguns General Spradlin used to knock her out while taking her to the military base. The General handed two of the guns to Nox and kept two for himself.
“What in the hell are they?”
“I call them electronic flares.”
“A Taser?”
“It’s more than that. The flare is designed specifically to deal with…with people like us. You use bullets on the child soldiers and, while their body is injured, the nano-probes within them remain alive and, provided the damage isn’t catastrophic, they’re capable of keeping the host alive and moving. You hit a one-time child soldier with a charge from this weapon, and all the nano-probes within their body shut down.” He pointed to the controls on the side of the guns. “You can adjust the charge from here. There are only two settings, stun or maximum. At maximum charge, the nano-probes in your target are roasted.”
“Can we free the soldiers by destroying the nano-probes?”
“No. The nano-probes are a part of us, just like our heart and lungs. You destroy the probes, you kill the host.”
“We’re stuck with them.”
“I’m afraid so,” General Spradlin said. “Now, when using the flare, the target has to be close for it to be effective. No more than twenty feet away.”
“That doesn’t leave much room between me and them.”
“The charge works beyond that range, but its strength diminishes. You’ll have to be on guard and let them come close but not close enough so they can use their nano-probes against you.”
“Understood.”
“One more thing: The batteries in this device take quite a while to recharge after each use.”
“How long?”
“Twelve hours.”
“We don’t have that kind of time.”
“No,” General Spradlin agreed. “After each use, consider the guns disposable.”
“Which means we have four shots.”
“Make them count.”
Nox pocketed her two handguns. As she did, her head snapped up. She heard a noise coming from the front of the building.
“They’ve arrived,” Spradlin said.
He led Nox to the back of the basement. There, a solid steel door with enormous hinges blocked the way.
“Where to now?”
“We’re going to see an old friend.”
General Spradlin hit several keys on the panel beside the door. The door noiselessly opened and the duo entered the lowest level of the parking lot. Four cars were parked near the door, each of their bodies covered by very dusty canvases. General Spradlin walked to one of the smaller vehicles and removed the canvas covering it. Revealed was a two seat black sports car.
“Hurry,” Nox said. “They’re almost—”
She whirled around, the flare gun in her hand. Without thinking, she fired off a round. The electronic handgun made no noise and had no kick. A flash of intense light leapt from the gun and flew like a guided missile down the length of the parking lot. When the charge hit the back wall, the area was bathed in a bright white light. Shadowy figures jumped for cover.
“Let’s go!” General Spradlin said. He slid into the sports car.
Nox tossed the spent handgun aside and swore. They were down to three shots.
“This isn’t my style,” Nox said as she entered the small vehicle. Indeed, the seats felt too small and her muscular frame was compressed.
“What is your style?”
“Nothing you could handle.”
The car roared to life.
Its tires screeched against the cement floor as she gained traction and speed. They passed the area Nox had fired into and found the wall scarred with intense burn marks.
“You didn’t hit your target,” General Spradlin said.
“Lucky for them,” Nox said. “You said this gun turns the nano-probes off. What does it do to flesh?”
“What do you think?”
Nox stowed the remaining gun into her pant pocket.
“They’ve surrounded the building,” she said.
General Spradlin shifted the car into high gear. The engine screamed as the vehicle skidded around a corner.
“Watch out!” Nox yelled.
At the far end of the lot stood three figures. The one closest to them aimed a large metallic tube in their direction. Flame erupted from it as a rocket was launched.
Spradlin slammed on the car’s brakes and spun the wheel. The car skidded off to the right as the rocket propelled charge roared past inches away from his side window. The propellant blackened that window with soot while the vibrations from the passing rocket cracked the glass. The rocket continued in a straight line.
Nox looked out the vehicle’s back window and watched as the back of the parking garage erupted in flames and debris. The sound of the explosion was deafening.
General Spradlin pressed down on the accelerator and turned the car to the left. The vehicle entered a ramp and climbed a floor up. The car was momentarily airborne when it exited the ramp and crunched back down hard onto the concrete floor.
General Spradlin eyed this new parking level. There were two exits at its far end.
“Hurry,” Nox said.
General Spradlin once again pressed down on the accelerator. The vehicle’s engine screamed as she flew across the lot. More figures appeared from their hiding places. They carried rifles. Bullets slammed against the vehicle’s side. At first Nox slid down to avoid getting hit. She quickly realized the car’s windows and its entire body were reinforced. Bullets shattered against the glass, sending more cracked slivers. So far none penetrated the passengers’ compartment.
General Spradlin looked into the rearview mirror. Several more of the one-time child soldiers were behind them. They were setting up another rocket launcher. Spradlin looked forward. The car approached the exit, but taking this very straight path would make them too easy a target.
General Spradlin cursed and slammed on the brakes. Again the car spun away. A second rocket whizzed past, erupting at the exit and creating an impenetrable wall of debris in its place. General Spradlin accelerated once again, moving away from the second exit.
“Where are we going?” Nox asked.
“Hang on,” Spradlin said.
He moved the car side to side, not giving their attackers a clear idea of their direction. Finally, he hit the brakes and spun the car ninety degrees before resuming acceleration. The car was headed directly for a barricade.
“Tell me that’s a way out,” Nox said.
“It will be,” General Spradlin replied.
The car slammed into the barricade, destroying its headlights and crumpling its front end. Its occupants felt a violent whiplash as the car tore through the weakened wall and pieces of concrete fell to their side and on the car’s hood. The car hit the street.
Despite the heavy damage to its front end, the car’s engine roared and the wheels gripped the Big City road.
“You OK?”
“As long as I’m still breathing,” Nox replied. The seat belts had pulled along her chest, squeezing the air out of her. “How did you know we’d get past that barrier?”
“I didn’t,” General Spradlin said. “Drunk driver hit the wall a couple of weeks back. Our staff was supposed to have it repaired by now.”
“Good thing they didn’t.”
“If it had been up to me, they would have.”
“Oh?”
“The City’s Building and Code Department’s been giving us all kinds of hell for repair permits,” General Spradlin said. He let out a chuckle. “Never thought I’d ever say this, but thank the Gods for bureaucracy.”
37
They traveled through the ghost city, weary of shadows and dark alleys. Their vehicle was the only one moving on these deserted roads.
It made them an excellent target. As they traveled and time passed, General Spradlin noticed a change in Nox. Her skin grew progressively paler. Dark rings appeared under her eyes. At times it seemed she was about to fall asleep, only to violently snap at attention. General Spradlin didn’t have to ask Nox how she was doing. He knew Lemner’s passkey was furiously assaulting her. With each passing second, its grip on her tightened.
“You know where they took the children?” Nox asked General Spradlin.
“I think so,” Spradlin replied.
“A place outside the city? In the Desertlands?”
“Yes.”
“You knew about this place all along, didn’t you?”
“Yes.”
General Spradlin expected an outburst from Nox, but the Mechanic didn’t say anything for several seconds. For a while, her eyes were unfocused. So too it appeared were her thoughts.
“Nox?” General Spradlin asked.
Nox’s eyes shifted back to the General. It was as if she just woke up.
“You lied,” she said. Her voice was soft.
“Are you OK?” the General asked.
“You lied,” Nox repeated, stronger. She looked out the window of the car. “We’re not heading toward the Desertlands exit.”
“Not yet.”
“Where are we going?”
“I already told you. To see an old friend.”
“Why?”
“We need to even the odds a bit.”
They reached the outer edges of the north side of the Big City a half hour later. The city structures, up to that point enormous and all encompassing, shrunk away and disappeared. Soon, the remnants of an ancient and long withered forest were visible. What at one point was lush green foliage was now dark, withered vines and skeletal trees. At their side lay crumbling mortar walls. Like the long dead trees, they were just as foreboding.
“Where are we?” Nox asked. The palm of her hand rested against the side of her head. Her skin was pale and she fought a strong headache.
“We’re nearly there.”
Nox closed her eyes. Beads of sweat appeared on her forehead and rolled down her face.
“It hurts?” General Spradlin asked.
“They’re…they’re really pissed,” Nox said. “The program’s not used to losing their prey.”
“Keep fighting.”
“‘Til I can’t fight ‘em no more.”
Nox shook her head.
“In the video...Who were the others with you at the table?”
“Businessmen. John Manning, Metacore Industries. Monroe Chalmers, Byzantine Shippers. I forget the other…”
“Big company men…and woman.”
“They were liaisons between what was left of the government and the emerging industrial powers.”
“Any of them still alive?”
“Manning died in a skiing accident the year after that meeting. Chalmers died of cancer a couple of years later. You know about David Lemner.”
“What about Jennifer Alberts?”
“She was a self-serving, self-righteous fool who never let facts get in the way of her beliefs. In that respect, she wasn’t all that different from the rest of the big business conservatives. After the war ended and she took a good look at the rubble our projects left behind, she had what she called a ‘moment of clarity’. She retreated from the public spotlight and sold her company stock. The bulk of that money found its way to charities she once dismissed as parasites. When she was done getting rid of most of her cash, she holed herself up in her mansion.”
“Did she become…become a recluse because of Oscuro and what happened to the child soldiers?”
“There could have been other reasons.”
“She had a guilty conscience.”
“It was a surprise to find she had one at all.”
“The compound in the Desertlands…the one where the one-time child soldiers took the infants they kidnapped…it’s hers, isn’t it?”
“Yes. It’s where we conducted some of the earliest tests on the Child Brigade’s military training. It was the largest of the Oscuro facilities.”
“Is Jennifer Alberts still alive?”
“Last I heard…yes.”
“She’s still holed up in her mansion?”
“I think so,” General Spradlin said.
He pointed forward and Nox followed his finger. In the far distance and on a sandy hill, she saw a large, dark building. It was a very large home. A mansion.
“We’ll find out soon enough,” General Spradlin said.
They stopped before the metal gates that marked the entry to the compound and General Spradlin got out of their car. He approached the gate. The locking mechanism that once held it shut was rusted away.
“Not much security,” General Spradlin said. He pushed the gate fully open before returning to the car.
“The mansion’s up against what’s left of the sea,” Nox said. “When the one-time child soldiers track us down here, we’ll be cornered.”
General Spradlin shifted the car into gear. He drove past the gates.
The drive to the mansion only took a few minutes.
The road to it was littered with fallen branches that snapped under the weight of Spradlin’s roadster. The sound was unnerving, like distant gunshots. The car continued on, working its way through what Nox imagined was once a very scenic road. Ugly shadows and sharp limbs brushed against the car as it moved along.
After a while, they passed the remains of the forest and entered an empty, sandy field. At one time it was probably a lush, grassy meadow. At the far end of the field, so far away it looked like an ugly black blemish in the coffee colored sand, stood an old, dilapidated structure. Jennifer Alberts’ mansion. The passage of time was not kind. Several of the mansion’s windows were boarded up. On the west side of the structure the roof sagged and threatened to collapse. There was little paint left on the stucco walls. An old generator lay at the side of the mansion. Its engine sputtered, sending dark smoke from its exhaust.
General Spradlin made a beeline straight to the decrepit structure. The car sent plumes of dust in its wake. There might have been a road here once leading up to the mansion, but now there was nothing but sand.
General Spradlin slowed the car down and parked it before the mansion’s front entrance. He eyed the structure wearily, searching for any movement within. There was none.
“Let’s see if she’s home,” General Spradlin said. He grasped his flare handgun. “Carefully.”
General Spradlin shut the engine and exited the vehicle. Nox remained inside. She found it hard to move.
“I don’t feel good,” she
told General Spradlin.
Spradlin walked to the passenger side of the car. He helped Nox up and out of the roadster.
“What’s happening?” she said. Her words were slurred.
“Lemner’s passkey is wearing you down,” Spradlin said.
“Great timing,” Nox replied.
General Spradlin helped Nox to the mansion’s front door. It was ajar.
“Are Jennifer Alberts and you all that are left of the group that designed us?”
“There’s one other,” General Spradlin said.
“Who?”
He didn’t say.
“Maybe they’ve already come for her,” Nox said. “Maybe they’re waiting for us inside.”
“They didn’t,” General Spradlin said. “And they aren’t.”
“How do you know?”
“Because the mansion’s still standing.”
General Spradlin pushed the front door entrance fully open and helped Nox enter the darkness beyond.
38
The interior of the mansion, like the forest and the field around it, was probably quite a sight to see at one time. Today, it was a corroded shadow of its former self. Cobwebs clung from a grand chandelier that adorned the oversized entry. It was tilted and looked ready to fall. Once resplendent paintings lined the entry walls, their surfaces now covered in grime and filth. The carpet below their feet was almost completely black, though faint images of fanciful patterns and once bright colors still showed through.
The only illumination within the mansion came from the windows.
General Spradlin leaned Nox against a wall and gave her a few moments to catch her breath.
“Can you move?”
