CHAPTER FORTY-ONE
"Why is there no E in Makr? Because I deem it so. - Makr, the One and Only
"What do you think, Dobbs? Think Carlos has it right? Is it time? Is it?"
"I don't know, Jefferson. Easy there. Keep the leg out of the sludge. That warm blood will draw plenty of attention from the truly bloodthirsty creatures. Watch it, Brooks! Turn around and watch what's ahead. You want a croc up your ass, or my boot?"
Dobbs covered the rear as the two carried Piggot's body through the sludge to a spot removed from the Nest. The three men trudged laboriously through a mile of floating tar and asphalt pieces. Dobbs noticed hardened pieces of tar and artificial rock floating in the sludge. It was considerably drier here, he noted. Then he saw sump pumps up ahead as well as industrial dryers. That explains it, he thought, and relaxed his guard a bit. A logical reason for everything.
The squad was the usual burial formation. Two took the point in the front, a few hundred yards ahead of the carriers. Two, so one could cover the detail and report if the other was killed.
"At least there ain't no crocs here now or we'd spot 'em."
"Actually, we'd hear them first. You're right. It's gettin' drier," agreed Dobbs as he glanced quickly to his rear.
All clear. The squad leader furrowed his brow, taking in the unusual dryness of the tunnel. It could be a Cyber trap. The cyberts couldn't make it down this far without giving away the element of surprise. Until now, that is.
"What say we drop this stiff here? We're far enough, ain't we, Dobbs? Dobbie, y'hear me?"
Dobbs wasn't listening—at least not to his men. He had his ear close to the wall.
"Somethin's comin'," he whispered. "Put the stupid fuck over there behind the mound of garbage."
Why didn't Point report?
"Point, get back here!" he yelled.
No answer.
"Where the hell are you?"
He was right! Something was coming in a frontal attack. Reinforcements already? Not even close. Shit! He didn't like what he was thinking. At the same moment, the mound of garbage lifted up nearly to the roof of the tunnel. Ambush! It was an ambush all right but not the animal kind they'd been expecting.
Brooks and Jefferson were thrown back and the body they were carrying splashed into the sludge. As Brooks and Jefferson recovered, they found themselves facing the biggest cybert they had ever seen. It must be ten or twelve feet tall, Dobbs thought. It had barely enough room to move in the tunnel.
Dobbs couldn't help but do a mini-analysis as the silt and slime fell off the cybert's frame, revealing its shiny silver surface with a red sheen. It seemed to have been built with the same basic design as the Blue Leader, but it was obviously a newer model—bigger, smarter, faster, harder to kill, and deadlier with unknown armament.
Two flashes right together temporarily blinded him. He stumbled and fell to the side of the tunnel behind some of the pumps.
As the red cybert advanced, its head rotated quickly left and right, occasionally spinning 180 degrees to take in the rear view. Its eyes flashed red as the sensors recorded and analyzed the heat signatures of two Bios in the dark, apparently missing Dobbs behind the pumps. The giant cybert fired two blasts from rear tentacle-like appendages and disintegrated the other two men on the funeral detail; the men's ashes floated down to join the sludge. These same tentacles now guarded its flank, while the other two waved menacingly to the front, coming directly at Dobbs.
Dobbs crouched as low as humanly possible, trying to become one with the mud. Not a lot of room behind the machinery. Maybe the cybert would pass him by, he prayed. The next thing he knew, the machinery was being ripped from its pedestal in front of him. He was staring up at the metal monster's massive foot and knew it was his time to die. The mechanical foot stopped a mere inch or two from the Shadow's face.
Dobbs felt the brush of artificial wind as the top of the cybert whirled to face another group of Bios in the tunnel ahead, while keeping its lower extremity ready to crush his captive's skull. Dobbs breathed a short sigh of relief for the fleeting reprieve. As the giant cybert tried to maneuver in the confined space, it couldn't help but scrape the walls and ceiling as it tried to find a foothold to do battle. Dobbs covered his ears against the painful screeching noise and closed his eyes, waiting for the end to come.
He continued pressing on his ears so hard that he thought he might crush his own skull. The same brilliant white flash that temporarily blinded him knocked the metallic beast backwards. The metal giant landed half on its back with its forward arms pointing, aiming at the roof. In apparent desperation, two simultaneous blasts erupted from its front appendages. Concrete and steel came tumbling down, crushing the cybert and knocking out Dobbs, who had been lying outside the worst of it.
From the noise, those inside the Nest knew Dobbs team had met with a deeper darkness than the shadow. There was nothing to do but wait. When it was quiet, Shadows slipped out another exit and retrieved Dobbs and what was left of his team.
While that was going on, Mother-General suddenly appeared in her son's chambers. "It's time, Carlos."
"I know Mother. I've been expecting you." He was sitting at his desk, his head in his hands deep in thought.
"Why so pensive? We've waited our entire lives for this moment."
He nearly chuckled at the absurdity of the moment. They were on the verge of a genocidal war, the end of the human race if they lost, and she asks why he is pensive!
"Nothing really," he said. "We're as ready as we're going to be, but if we are about to die, there is some unfinished personal business."
"Harry and Marlene?"
"How'd you know that?" He expected her to refer to their estrangement, but she responded with what was really on his mind.
"Never mind," she replied. "Time for that later. It's more important that we get on with things. Do you know where they are?"
Carlos shook his head. "I discovered they were gone about two hours ago. Why?" Why the Hell should she care, he thought, but he knew why he did.
"What do you know, Mother?" he demanded.
"I know they are important to you and... and us."
Nothing was making sense.
"We have to find them, Carlos!
"Marlene's chip is active. It barely registered on the scanner. I saw it and didn't let on. My guess is that Harry saw it too. It was probably just enough of a signal to worry them about our response. They could have led the cyberts to us, but they didn't."
If they did betray us, he thought, they did it unknowingly.
"Carlos, you can't take care of everyone every minute of every hour of the day."
"It doesn't matter, Mother. They're probably lost in the tunnels by now—if they aren't dead already."
"You can't waste time crying over mistakes. You've more important things to do, son."
"Cyberts are getting too smart, adapting so fast," Carlos told her. "Besides, we've long expected a cybert army coming after us in force."
"You're right about that. That cybert we destroyed in the tunnel..."
"...had our name on it. Yes, I know. Dobbs..."
Carlos was still having a hard time believing this was It. This was the final battle. All or nothing. If we win, we fight to survive in a world we know little about. We lose...we cease to exist.
"Good thing Dobbs was there. We couldn't have found you otherwise."
"There were four men with him."
"I know. No physical sign of the point men?"
Carlos shook his head. "We have to assume they're dead. Dobbs reported hearing screams up ahead."
"Unfortunately, there will be more men, women and children dead before we're through tonight."
"How soon?"
"Less than two hours. Better get your Shadows ready."
"Don't worry about them. They're ready. They've always been ready."
"Maybe when this is over, we can have a talk, you and me. A mother and son talk. About Harry and Marlene."