imagine.”
“Well, I don’t know or trust him. But I trust Kun. And he has given his complete confidence to Boko. Good enough for me.”
“And if this grandson is killed, or if he simply decides to go into hiding, rather than put himself in danger?”
“Okay, okay. I’ll see. There could be something besides a picture, I guess. Because for that item, we’ve hunted two years to no fruition.”
“Very well.” Maeve returned her attention to the map of the Aegean Sea. She was trying to study it closely, memorizing the lay of the island, and its so-called vacation home. Slowly, she became aware that the Wallace person was studying her in much the same fashion. “What do you require?”
“What happens once we hit the end of the mission?”
“I fail to follow your meaning.”
“What happens to her?”
“To whom do you refer?” She avoided his eyes, concentrating on marking the map with a red pen. He leaned in to whisper; she flinched in spite of her parameters.
“You know what the hell I’m talking about. Maeve. What happens at the end?”
“I…have not been briefed.”
“I won’t let you hurt her.”
“I caution you against impulsive behavior. My orders are only to see the mission through to its end.”
“And you’re not surprised by the fact that we’re several centuries removed from the time those orders were issued?”
“Some of the existing conditions could not have been predicted, but no.” She was utterly sincere, he realized. It was a bit of a blindside, one whose implications he could not completely grasp yet.
“What are you talking about?”
“You are not read in, and I am not authorized to say anything further.”
“I really think you’d better reconsider that.” Moving to put his hand on her shoulder, he watched her face turn stony. He found himself on his knee, staring at his hand as it twisted impossibly in her grip.
“Remove yourself until you have further information.” Maeve released his hand, while he stumbled back, trying to recover his footing. He ran into a solid obstacle, and turned to find Leif standing behind him. Wallace cringed, thinking of their exchange just a few hours before.
“I wouldn’t bother. She’s on the clock.” He continued to rub his wrist.
“I know.” Leif looked less angry and more despairing by now. “I always wondered what it would look like if she ever went active. Never imagined this.”
“What…she seems pretty calm.”
“Yeah, I know. I guess I figured it’d be a lot more on the feral side of things.”
“That’s ludicrous.”
“You didn’t see what she looked like…it was like she’d been in a gulag. All beat to hell, half-starved…not pretty.”
“You never said that.”
“I don’t really like you a hell of a lot.”
“Right.”
“But I think we all have to function as a team if we want to see daylight at the end of this thing.”
“Okay. That doesn’t sound completely loathsome.”
“Then are you going to try and get something on Warden before we all turn old and gray?” Leif was running on fumes; Wallace wisely chose not to push any further.
“Sure, man, I’m on it.” Wallace walked away to try and get a message off to Kun. The loose end of that last “talk” with Leif still tickled at his brain, though he couldn’t grab hold of it to remember what it was about. He shrugged it off for the time being. The more important task was to contact Kun and let him know what was happening. They had not anticipated Maeve being triggered so early in this process.
۞
They would need to proceed a lot more carefully…he didn’t like to think about what might happen if Leif and the others went active on board a space station. This had definitely not been thought through well enough. His training as a handler had never once covered a situation quite like this. He wondered how much Warden knew about them. It certainly seemed as though he knew enough to access Maeve without any trouble, if the theory of the so-called assassin held up.
Wallace was still kicking himself that he and Kun hadn’t thought of this possibility. It seemed stupidly obvious in hindsight, but it had genuinely never occurred to either of them. And now, he ran the risk of being exposed for what he was before the moment when it was actually practicable. Jules would be at the head of the line to punch him in the nuts, were she to realize that he’d been part of an act.
It had surprised him constantly how readily she’d accepted the explanation that Kun had chosen them randomly. That he, Wallace, was some kind of amateur bumbler. She should have seen through it, if anyone could have.
Maeve had been a different story. He’d known instantly that she wouldn’t sort out what he was doing. It wasn’t that she’d been naïve. She hadn’t wanted to look too deep. His task had been simplified by the easy trust she’d granted him. At first anyway. Until his own head had gotten muddled by emotion. He’d failed to anticipate just how much that would screw everything up.
He had prepared himself to arrive on board the Nimitz and find a way to confess everything to Maeve. So far, nothing was going according to plan, and there was no longer any point. Nothing had ever really gone to plan though. If he’d only been able to see through his end, at least nothing would have gone so terribly wrong.
That was the demon with which he lived.
Allowing himself to develop feelings for Maeve had aloowed both their worlds to come crashing down. He looked over at Maeve who was not Maeve, and knew he had to put things to right. It might be long overdue, but it could still be done. First order of business, deactivate her.
They would have to wait until they reached Earth to undertake that process. She’d go along with a pretext more easily than outright trying to overpower her, anyway. Wallace’s only concern was what might happen if she succeeded in neutralizing Robert Warden on her first attempt. He’d have to be sure that didn’t take place. It was bad enough that there seemed to be several conflicting layers of orders. And no, he had not been privy to all of them, apparently.
۞
Robert Warden was still on his quiet island. He knew what storm lurked some distance away, and yet he remained. It was what he desired. His wife and children were gone. Very soon, he expected the difficulty of his brother-in-law to be gone as well. Only a few of his soldiers were left behind with him; the rest were mobilizing in anticipation of a muster and practice maneuvers.
His board members were aware that something new was in the offing. As far as they were concerned, it only pertained to the threat that had heretofore been contained within the metal box. As far as they knew, his only aim was to kill Maeve Howard and her companions. There would have been far too much anxiety and discussion if he had revealed his full agenda prematurely.
Instead, only his top ranking officers knew that what appeared to be a military exercise was anything but. Warden had worked quietly and efficiently through the course of a decade to build up a loyal and dependable army. That army soon would enact his agenda. Those that opposed him would be removed. The Earth system would finally be brought to heel.
None of this had happened quickly. It had been in opposition to his nature and impetuous inclinations. The first time around, reckless zealousness had been the downfall. He had learned to bide his time, amass wealth and power; become an expert at illusion and patience. He had learned to wait.
In some ways, he saw himself as a crocodile hidden in the muddy banks of a swollen river. Like cobras, those creatures were experts in stillness. They might appear to be something other than what they were, something harmless, tempting the weak into drawing too close. He closed his eyes, amber crocodilian eyes, and sank into the fantasy of snapping massive jaws shut around his enemies. It was a pleasing thought. And all that was required was a bit more waiting.
His breathing turned ragged, and he realized that he was aroused. It was not unusual, but he was
never quite able to decide whether he should indulge the impulse or not. He walked over to an oil lamp that had been burning for several days now, and held a small metal rod over its flame. Once it began to smoke, he rolled the object back and forth, finally withdrawing it, and placing the hot end on the bare skin of his bicep. It was both a reminder to stay on task, and a means of releasing the pent up energy. The pounding of his heart slowed back to a more reasonable rate.
It would not be long now.
۞
“This is the most insane idea you have ever had.” Antonio was having increasing thoughts of running away.
“I know. What other option do we have?” Wallace looked over at Leif. They had already discussed and come to a tense agreement on a plan.
“And what do we do if there are further permutations of this programming?”
“Meaning?”
“What do we do if she goes really dark and scary, man? Are you prepared for that?”
“Antonio, I respect your opinion on this, I really do. I think what we’re going to have to do is split up, to be honest. You go with Jules, and head to Peru. Whoever wants to go with me…and Maeve…we’ll head straight for the Aegean.”
“That’s more grabass than plan, Wallace.”
“No, he’s right. I’m going with them too. The rest of you get back to this little hideout in the jungle. The old guy will help us figure out what to do after that, right?”
“Leif! No way, no way! We’re not going to let you guys go off and get yourselves killed!” Grace was not into this plan at all. Wallace held up his hand to silence everyone. Julieta frowned in surprise, but patted Grace’s hand to keep her from interrupting further.
“That’s not going to happen. Whatever else she might have been programmed to do, she’s not going to harm either of us.”
“Yes, but will she keep you from harm?”
“I guess we’ll have to watch our own butts.”
“You seem to know a little something, there Wallace.” Leif was eyeing him suspiciously.
“Yeah…we’ve spent two years studying up on all of this. It’s about time I stopped screwing around and do my job, that’s all.” He did not meet anyone’s stare, standing instead to go and brief Colonel Tarkington. He left, looking older than he ever had before. Grace poked her finger toward the door through which he had just exited.
“That guy is not telling us everything.” Grace was serious for once. Julieta scoffed.
“He’s a goof-off. I can’t believe he retained anything Kun taught us.” She shook her head at the credulity of some people, even though she very much enjoyed sitting very close to this one person. Indignantly, Grace stood up and turned around to face all of them.
“I may not have a college degree, but I graduated with honors from the school of bullshit detection. He is lying to us about something. Something big. I never really paid attention to it before, but it’s always been there. Why was he there?”
“I dunno. He was trying to get back to her, make himself feel better. His daddy must have pulled all those strings, in spite of what he said.”
“No, not the Arctic. Where you guys were stationed before that. How did he just happen to stumble on board a military base and meet somebody who later on just happened to become part of a programming experiment? I guess it took being a few more paces back from the painting to see everything in focus….”
Leif had a dazed expression plastered across his face, his mouth working over the theory in a mute conversation with himself. Everyone else alternatingly frowned or tried to rebut this strange theory. None of them could.
“So…what role could he possibly be playing? Who did he work for?”
“The daddy rule still applies. His old man was hardcore, and liked the cold war stuff. I met him a few times…he was no joke.”
“You think his own father recruited him?”
“Could be. Well, look,