Metak Fatigue Part 23

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 sonofab.i.t.c.h," 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 failing 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. "n.o.body else was in a osition to do what you did. You had access to p 4i;@ city's archive files, and knew enough about data to erase entire sections without them being You knew who to kill in the Mayoralty because iw were involved in the Rea.s.similation debate. You coordinate Stedman's arrival as a representative the MSA, so you knew how to smuggle Cati into And once you managed to worm your way (t the RSD investigation of the murders, you were h. placed to keep us looking in the wrong irection. ,if I didn't guess before," he said, "it was only E because I underestimated your ambition.

I thought you were after RSD, not all of Kennedy."

Betheras groaned again, and climbed unsteadily to his feetIclutching 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. "kn 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 IR9later 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 c.o.c.ked 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 b eli ieve 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?"

N it'll be some time before I'm ready to move ot yet.

the Mayor." "The city's going to die no matter what you do, or @A iTs"s in charge. Nothing will keep it going longer than decade without input from the outside you're so Ims of." "Who said anything about being afraid?" DeKurzak "I've nothing against the Reunited States or ant else. We can have all the resources we w ITSIM sacrificing the city to their pathetic cause."

4tyo u really don't get it, do you?" Roads shook his "As you yourself said: we don't have any choice.

is just a small pool surrounded by a rising sea. Cut it off from that sea, and it will die. It,11 smother on T-, 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 rence in the long run, it's our choice to remain any diffe @isolat d 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 a.s.sa.s.sinating 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."

191"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 a.s.sortment of items he had produced from the bag unfolded to become a ma.s.sive 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 out. 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."

D Kurzak shifted the pistol to Point "You re wrong. e should agree with v the woman. "You of all people 'r ying to do. You and the children, everyone T- we're tr by the revival of creatures like this." "Come off it," Roads snorted, hoping to divert iml @rsit_ back to him. "You don't really believe that [email protected] do you?"

atter?" DeKurzak swung the pistol back. "Does it in hat people will listen to that counts." It's w "But they're not fools. They know we're not the only people who have Humanity Laws preventing this from mjdw,@ again - @A "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 t ernment, maybe an independent operator instead e gov but it will appen. If the capability exists, then it's bound to be exploited."

ajust as you exploite Cati?" Roads broke in, gesturing at the giant killer standing motionless behind him. "Cati is a tool," DeKurzak said, "a thing, an ugly t reminder of the old ways. He exists to be used. If I At 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?""[email protected] 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 civillsation 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 Cat' 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 ma.s.s-murder as he is at a.s.sa.s.sination. It'll "'T ",4.- days to bring him downg and any evidence of your 41778's M-1 -will be erased along with him."

ively. "Very good." DeKurzak nodded appreciat P' "That's not fair!" exploded Katiya. "You have no "I- to use him like that!" "No?" DeKurzak laughed, unimpressed by the mm- "He hasn't complained." "Only because he can't," said Roads.

460f course. He was built to obey. Without orders, mv is he? Nothing! just an old machine abandoned to 7n - that's all." DeKurzak walked around Betheras, and a hand to slap Cati across the face. Cati hardly 77 in response, his face as unreadable as ever. "I have the code," DeKurzak said. "And that gives me the right." [email protected] have no right to do this"'

Katiya gasped, her "You grief. "Why can't you just leave us face twisted with 3r 'alone?" @41 afraid." DeKurzak put a hand to z, "Not an option, I'm his ear "Now quiet, please. Something's happened." He c.o.c.ked his head, listening to a voice only he could hear. Betheras likewise stopped his work on Cati; not to listen, but to watch DeKurzak. "What the h.e.l.l's "Martin?" Roads subvocalised. going on?"

he 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." "s.h.i.t." Roads could imagine the scene all too clearly; the tension that had existed for years between the MSA 395and 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 "MR of the communicator was to make plainly obvious combat soldier controlled by sm Caei already was: a not a random berserker. "That's standard-issue equipment,19 put in O'Dell, Roads' close-up zoom by remote. 440ur 4 [email protected] i. ied Roads, his heart thought it would be," repl had een blown up using 1116. His apartment RUSAMC explosives; Cati was dressed in a RUSAMC "Iq battle-harness. The new enemy DeKurzak needed wasn't st biomodified agents: it was the Reunited States of Ju America Military Corps.

s clear "He's setting us up!" O'Dell's outrage wa through the cyberlink. "After all the work he put in to tsmooth the way'-" Z "Exactly," interrupted Roads5 remembering how [email protected] DeKurzak had been for Roads to catch the Mole. @The backlash will be even stronger, if he can convince people that youlre behind Cati and the Mole." "W hat, and start a war- 440nly 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?" "I-N 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 ...

197Betheras 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?"

Roads opened his mouth, then shut it. "Barney," he subvocalised, "now!"

Instantly, the sound of sirens disturbed the stillness o ht, cutting across the surface of the river and to R;, nig IT41 position on the bridge. The liaison officer backed startled, and looked toward the sh.o.r.e. A string of RSD and RUSAMC vehicles had pulled to halt at the end of the freeway. Even without their headlights were clearly visible. "What the -?" whispered DeKurzak, backing away to view the sight from the walkway. Betheras stared at 1' the lights with mute shock. Neither man was paying full attention to their captives.

4 Roads ducked under the line of DeKurzak's pistol and behind Cati. Before DeKurzak could react, he dragged Katiya after him, into the shadow of Cati's bulk, then emerged to grab Betheras, about the neck.

The RUSAMC officer hissed and tried to pull away, but Roads tightened his grip.

DeKurzak watched furiously, unable to find a clear line of fire. "Put down the gun, DeKurzak," Roads warned. "They know everything." "No I refuse to believe that. I interrupted PolNet myself; there's no way you could have told them." "Then why are they here?" "Chance."

DeKurzak raised the barrel of the gun. "Maybe they're after you, not me."

Betheras stiffene as DeKurzak aimed the pistol. "No, wait -" he gasped. Roads pushed the RUSAMC officer towards DeKurzak. They collided, and the pistol cracked loudly. Katiya screamed. Betheras crumpled to the ground. DeKurzak backed away, brushing blood from his clothes. Before Roads could reach cover the gun was on him again.

He roze, cursing his luck. He hadn't expected DeKurzak to shoot Betheras. And from the fleeting lookof shock on his face, DeKurzak hadn't expected it, either. "I don't want any evidence left behind," DeKurzak was saying into the'microphone of a small radio transmitter he had pulled out of his pocket. "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."

Beside them, Cati nodded. "Good," the MSA officer continued. "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?"

Katiya stared despairingly at Cati as he nodded. His enormous frame stirred into life and he took a step forward. "I'm in trouble," Roads said into the cyberlink. "Barney, Martin - how far away are you?" "Not far. The area is secure. A couple of minutes." "s.h.i.t." Too long. He ducked away to his right, trying to put as much distance as possible between him and the a.s.sa.s.sin.

Cati's movements were slow, almost sluggish, but he knew how quickly that could change if the killer's resistance crumbled. DeKurzak's well-timed order had saved him before; now, he would have no such rescue. Despite Katlya's attempts to hold him back, the giant frame turned to face him. "We'll be cut off from your feed for the next few minutes, while we're moving on foot," said O'Dell. "You'll have to tell us what's going on via the cyberlink alone, if you can."

Roads didn't break his concentration to reply. He backed away until he reached the walkway on the west he bridge. His searching fingers found a length Al of t rusty iron behind him - part of the guide-rail skirting #T;; road. Flexing every enhanced muscle in his shoulders back, he wrenched it,free. With a diffident shrug of his right arm, Cati tossed aside. Pausing only to rip the RUSAMC battleA iFT&T;W1 from his shoulders and to throw the headset he a.s.sumed an open-armed stance, ready to attack. "Interesting," said DeKurzak, watc ing. Cati's actions s a crooked smile, "if a little primal. I'd stay and the rest, but for RSD's untimely arrival. I'll have fi get back into the city by the far bank in time to head @k off the Mayor. Don't want him going off half-c.o.c.ked until the final scores are in - although I have no doubts how it will look: you, your friend and an officer of the Reunited States Army, an unholy alliance in life and death."

66Don't be too sure about that, DeKurzak," Roads muttered, setting his implants to record. He had only one chance left to test if his hunch about DeKurzak's true motive was correct. "The game's not over yet." t No? I stand by what I said: they can't possibly know what I've done."

-And what would that be, exactly? Helped the Mayor sell out the city just to keep his precious power base?" Roads paused for effect, then added: "Or been part of Betheras' little scheme to sell Kennedy to the New Mexican Alliance?"

DeKurzak paled and raised the pistol. For a moment, Roads thought he was about to shoot. Then, without replying, the liaison officer turned and hurried towards the safety of the far side of the river.

Roads likewise readied himself for a sudden dash. Twenty metres in the same direction DeKurzak washeading, a maintenance gantry led into the canopy of girders and cable above.

If he could get past Cad and to DeKurzak, then there was a chance he could use the MSA officer as a body-shield and stay alive long enough for Barney to reach them.

Barely had DeKurzak gone fifteen steps, however, when something flashed down from the bridge's superstructure and alighted upon his shoulders.

DeKurzak's surprised cry brought a sudden halt to Cati's slow approach. Roads glanced up just in time to see the shape on DeKurzak's shoulders shift as it folded its transparent wings, absorbed them into its body, and changed shape.

DeKurzak stumbled, flailed in vain to shift the thing on his back. He raised the pistol to ward it off, but the gun was s.n.a.t.c.hed away and hurled into the night. Five rotating b.a.l.l.s of light darted around the liaison officer's head for an instant as incomprehensible forces twisted. The beginning of a scream was cut off at his neck, severed in a spray of blood that reached two metres into the air. DeKurzak's legs spasmed once then went limp. For an instant, only whirlpooling field-effects kept his body upright.

Then the five silver b.a.l.l.s ceased their furious dance, and DeKurzak's headless corpse fell limp to the road. Blood formed a pool of hot darkness spreading across the roadway.

The b.a.l.l.s floated toward the three stunned observers, a.s.suming a familiar five-pointed arrangement as they did so. Half-visible planes of force softened, curved, a.s.sumed colour and definition. A faint mist of blood hissed away from its "skin" as the transformation reached its final stages.

Roads gaped open-mouthed, horrified, as his mirrorimag stared silently back at him. There was no way of if it recognised him, or cared that he recognised Se. es were empty, and its face was dead. A s ey A shiver of ice crept down Roads' spine at the true tM.

@1638 that within the facade of humanity was but air, and five silver b.a.l.l.s. Knowing the W- behind Project Cherubim was nothing Il to seeing it in action. He was facing a modern a phantom made of caged energy.

that could kill, he reminded himself. It A phantom sWl, done so in front of him twice now.

Roadshefted the rusty bar in his right hand. Katiya Tro turned away at the sight of DeKurzak's death and 4 Ts-71 noisily. Cati stood between them and the Mole, y frozen by indecision. The Mole itself I IL with its "hands" deep inside the "pockets" of its "coat" - still didn't move.

"Barney," Roads subvocalised through the cyberlink. "I don't know where you are, but be careful. Something's going on. Something weird." "What?" Barney's voice was thick between rapid '.breaths. ."The Mole's arrived, he explained.

"It just killed DeKurzak, and now it's not doing anything at all." "The Mole?"

O'Dell's voice came over the line, openly surprised. "What the h.e.l.l - ?"

"Where's Cati?" broke in Barney. "Right here. He's not doing anything either.

He's just staring at the Mole and me and . . ." Roads broke off as realisation suddenly dawned. "Oh Christ, the Mole must have followed me here from Old North Street. It either killed DeKurzak because he ordered Cati to kill me, or simply because he was Cati's controller and therefore breaking the Humanity Laws. Now it's confused Cati by showing him two of me when there should only be one." Roads shook his head: the killerdidn't know which of him to attack. "Cati doesn't want to obey the orders anyway, so he's not fighting too hard to work it out."

Stalemate. "But DeKurzak's dead," protested Barney. "Surely that makes Cati's orders invalid?"

Why should it? Orders are orders. Depending on how Cati views the world, the actual person who issues them might be irrelevant. Only the control code followed by the words themselves matter."

Roads stopped as Cati moved. The ma.s.sive head turned from side to side, looking from Roads to the Mole and back again. The killer's broad, eerie face displayed no animation whatsoever.

Katiya joined Roads' corner of the frozen tableau. "Cati? Can you hear me?"

she said. "Please, Cati - you don't have to do this!"

Cati's black, impenetrable eyes regarded her solemnly. Then his hands began to move, chopping at the air in short, sharp strokes. When he stopped and glanced away again, the woman bit back a sob of frustration. "What did he say?" Roads asked the woman.

She shook her head. "He won't listen to me," she said. "But he knows what he's doing is wrong. He just doesn't have any choice . . ." "Hold on a little longer, Phil," Barney said via the cyberlink. "We're on our way."

Roads gripped the metal bar tightly and counted the seconds. The sound of distant feet pounding along the walkway insinuated itself into the distance.

So close, but still too far away. If he could hear it, then the Mole could as well. And if O'Dell was right about the heart of the AN confusion - Before he could complete the thought, the Mole broke the stalemate.

A lightning flash high in the infra-red spectrum split night in two. Blinded, Roads staggered backward, a hand to shield his eyes. He clearly heard S puzzled gasp but could not see what had it. Squinting, Roads tried to see through the haze in his Tiny artificial irises slowly adjusted until he could make out his immediate surroundings: Katiya, also dazzled by the bright flash, and ... "Where's it gone?" the woman asked him. Roads realised next. Either his eyes were less sensitive $ms, Cati's or the flash had been directed more in the AIM's direction.

The Mole had disappeared. Cati looked first at Roads, then where the Mole had been standing a second ago. Seeing only empty air, the A killer glanced around him, but the Mole was nowhere it nearby. Finally, his eyes returned to Roads - and stayed t there.

By the time Caei reached the obvious conclusion, Roads was already running.

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR.

1:OS a.m.