The Ashes of My Soul, page 37
“It’s a bit too cold for me,” I said.
“Ah, yes, upstate seasons. Cold, wind, and snow.” He gave me a thin smile. “Snow leaves tracks, of course.”
“More like people leave their tracks in the snow.”
“As you say. Can you smell snow, Mr. Parker?” I shook my head. “I can, ever since I was a child. It smells crisp, tense. I smell it now. Literally and metaphorically.”
“Not sure I follow.”
“You are conspiring against me.” I didn’t respond, not to confirm nor deny. He already knew. “I presume you are prepared to kill me, if possible.”
I snorted. “I’d never stoop so low as to murder someone in cold blood.”
“A pretty evasion.”
“No, sir, not an evasion at all.” I clenched my fists and reined in my power. “It wouldn’t be murder to kill you. It’d be self-defense. It’d be defending the lives and rights of others. There’d be a level of vengeance to it, yes, but it wouldn’t be murder at all to kill you. Sir.”
He stepped back and I stepped forward. “You’ve attacked my family. Sir. You’ve threatened my friends. Sir. You’ve lied to me, misled me, and undermined me. Sir. Nothing direct. Everything is deniable. That’s how you set it up.” I shook my head and refrained from pointing at him. I wasn’t sure I’d be able to resist the urge to slam my hand through his chest. “We both know the truth. I know what you’ve done and I know what you’re planning to do. I know what you want me to do, what you want me for. I’m not going to be your puppet. We both know you’re not going to uphold your side of the deal. Neither am I.”
Alistair jammed his finger into my coat. I could sense psionic power flaring up all around him, but he wasn’t manifesting. “You dare challenge me? I haven’t broken the terms of our agreement, but you have. I know you’ve recovered Absynthe. I know your fiancée is mobilizing the Resistance. I know you have the loyalty of some of my agents. I know you’re planning to attack me, boy. I’ll give you one chance to stand down and fall back into step with me.”
“One chance? Like Shade gave me back then?” I brushed his hand aside. “I’m not going to play God at your side, Alistair.”
He stepped back and the power flowing around him faded. “How much research have you done on our community, Mr. Parker?” he asked. “A rhetorical question. Not enough. Let me ask a more direct question. What percentage of the population at large has psionic talent?”
“I talked about this with Absynthe before. It’s well under one percent.”
He snorted. “Absynthe lacks two things. Accurate information, and mathematical skills.”
“What do you mean?”
“Under one percent? One percent of world population is seventy million. You are off by multiple orders of magnitude. The true number is far, far less. Far less even than one percent of one percent. There are over seven billion people on this earth. For every million, there are around twelve who are first tier or higher. Around the same number are latent. Call it eighty thousand. How many psions do you believe existed thirty years ago, Mr. Parker? More. Twice that, twenty-four out of a million. Call it a hundred thousand. Thirty years before that, just after the second world war? Twice that again, forty-eight out of a million, around a hundred and twenty five thousand had the gift. What does this tell you?”
“Other than Absynthe being terrible at math, the number of psions as a percentage of the total population is getting smaller?”
“The number of psions, the absolute number, is getting smaller. Even as the world population has more than doubled since the second world war, the number of gifted has dropped by a third. We are in danger of extinction, Mr. Parker. The genetic markers for the gift are being diluted. Our conflicts, even if they aren’t fatal, result in mind twists removing people from the gene pool. Another generation or two and we may even fall beneath replacement rate.”
“Not all of those people stay twisted,” I pointed out.
He shook his head. “Enough do. The dominant genes suppressing our power are more and more prevalent. Psionic power is being bred out of the human race, Mr. Parker. Our extinction is a mistake which I intend to correct.” He tapped his cane on the ground for emphasis. “Nature doesn’t care about us, Mr. Parker. She is a force, unknowing and uncaring. We would not have a civilization if it was not for our defiance! Our people have every right to live, to use our knowledge and power to survive, to thrive.”
“You’re going about it the wrong way! We could lift everyone up, but instead we hide and manipulate from the shadows because we’re afraid the rest of humanity’s going to kill us out of fear. Now you plan on giving psionic power to everyone? Flipping the table doesn’t fix the problem! Don’t you understand what you’re giving out? You’re giving nukes to children! Right now, we weed out the insane, the people who will abuse their power. We teach ethics, for fuck’s sake! How are you going to teach millions of kids? It’s impossible! They’ll go wild! That’s a scary world. That’s not the world I want my daughter to grow up in.”
He shook his head. “A daughter? Congratulations.”
I’d almost said my son. “Thanks.”
“Do you think I haven’t heard these arguments before? Mr. Parker, you’re not the first nor will you be the last. I’ll tell you what I’ve told everyone before. You’re right.”
“What’s your plan to handle the chaos?” He said nothing and the last pieces of the puzzle snapped into place. “You’re not even going to try. You’re going to let them run wild and then pick up the pieces. There’s more, though.” His poker face remained in place while I thought. “How would you do it, though? You’re going to have your hands full keeping the Establishment intact. You can’t let the chaos go on too long or there won’t be enough pieces to pick up. And you want to be alive for it, don’t you?”
He smiled. “Of course. Your conclusion?”
“You’re introducing some sort of backdoor into the genetic modifications,” I said. “Something that gives you power over the kids.” My eyebrows shot up as I realized the ramifications. “Of course. You don’t leave things to chance. You’ll be able to control their minds. You’ll play the chaos to your benefit, then end it and come out looking like the savior. No one will know you triggered the apocalypse.”
“Well done, Mr. Parker. You are largely correct. I intend to create a united world.”
“Under you and your chosen ones.”
He looked me in the eye. “You could be one of them.”
His offer shook me. Taking his offer would give me the ability to temper his impulses and desires. It’d mean safety. I’d become a peacekeeper instead of a fighter. It also meant power. I already knew my ethics had been tested and stretched and broken in the past. The power he was offering meant any of those impulses would have world-wide effects. I had examples of power gone amok already, not least of which was Alistair himself. “I don’t trust myself that far,” I said quietly. “And I trust you even less. I can’t believe you’d elevate me to your inner circle.”
“I do trust myself that far. And therein lies the difference between us, Mr. Parker. I believe in my own self-control. You do not, even after the need for such has been drilled into you for years now. Perhaps it is a matter of age and maturity.”
“Or maybe you’re deluding yourself and I’m being realistic.”
“I do not hold any illusions about what will happen. You asked me how many would die. Best case, a third of the world’s population. Worst case, two thirds. There will be decades of confusion and terror, decades of picking up the pieces as you said. But we will live through those decades, Mr. Parker. The first immortals have already been born. There will be a period of adjustment, but adjust we shall, and we will transcend the humanity of today. That is the world I desire for my children, my grandchildren, my descendants ad infinitum. Unlimited potential.”
I couldn’t breathe for a handful of seconds. The sheer arrogance of the man stunned me. “You’re willing to sacrifice half of humanity for this dream of yours?”
“Just as you were willing to sacrifice all of them in hopes of saving them. Austin found your stance to be interesting enough to share with me. He held it up as an example of a strong moral code. Foolish. You’re far worse than me, Mr. Parker. You’d hold humanity hostage because you believe you alone can save them. What sheer, unmitigated arrogance.”
I swallowed hard. I hadn’t expected him to know about that final lesson. “You might be right,” I said. “But it only justifies my stance more. I’m not only saving their lives, I’m saving the survivors from you. I know people who’d rather die than lose their freedom and autonomy.”
He snorted. “You overstate the level of control.”
“Even the implied threat is enough. Why are you the one who gets to make this choice? Why do you get to determine the future of humanity?”
He spread his arms wide. “Why me? Why not? There is no deeper reason. But I will make that choice, and you are involved, simply because I have the power and the will to do so. Your choice is to decide what your part will be. Whether you attack me in one month or three, you will lose. Even if you capture me, you will lose. Even if you kill me, you will lose. You will lose. You have already lost.”
“I don’t believe you.” I spat the words into the cold air. “If that was true, you wouldn’t be standing here trying to turn me.”
“It doesn’t matter if you believe me or not.” He folded his hands on top of his cane and psionic power began to form around him. “My offer will not last. Decide soon.” His eyes flared green and he vanished. Snow curled down from the sky, blowing through the spot he had teleported away. I walked through the same spot and stomped into the dorm.
My room was empty. I left my coat on my bed and stormed down the hall to Andreas’s room, throwing the door open without even knocking. The usual suspects were clustered around the table, all of them reacting in some fashion to my sudden entrance. “Shit, Kev, learn to knock,” Drew said, pulling his hand out of his pocket.
“He knows.”
“Who knows what?”
I told them about the conversation. Even before I finished, they were already reacting. “What the fuck were you thinking?” Jess hissed. “You gave it all away?”
“I only told him what he already knows,” I snapped back. “You’ve already told Nikki all of it.”
“Please, think on this.” Andreas spoke up and held his hands out toward the both of us. “He has heard a number of dates for the attack, which shows our misinformation campaign is working. Kevin is also correct he already knows much of the information you were feeding to him, Jessica. The situation has not changed. We must determine what he still does not know.”
“He doesn’t know Kev knows about the kid,” Max said. “And holy shit, that offer to join him was right out of the bad guy’s playbook. Blatant attempt to break you down.”
“I think he was serious,” I said. “But I barely trust myself with the power I have now.”
“Yeah, you’re smarter than you look. Most of the time.”
“Thanks.” I ran back through the conversation in my head. “He doesn’t know about the jammers. At least, doesn’t appear to. You still have all of them accounted for, right?”
Andreas nodded. “He does not appear to know about our access to their network.”
Jess jumped on that comment. “I’ve been staying away from it as much as possible, but they have a lot of shit that’s not even password protected. I have enough nasty shit loaded on every computer, I can knock their whole network out. Might even be enough to force them to wipe and restore a bunch of their systems. Trouble is, it won’t take out their phones, and I did see they have a backup system, so they won’t lose much in the way of actual data. It’ll take out some of their security though.”
I frowned. “Any way we can get a cell phone jammer?”
“It is possible,” Andreas said. “However, the range could be unpredictable and would harm our own communications as much as theirs.”
“Besides, once they get away from the disruptors, they’ll be using telepathy to coordinate,” I said. “Never mind. Crashing their network is to cause confusion, not to cripple them. The remote disruptors are the key.”
Andreas and Jess exchanged looks. “Slight problem,” she said.
“I have only completed two of them so far,” Andreas continued. “But, creating them is not the issue. Placing them is the issue.”
“We have people on the inside who can place them,” I said.
“That should be fine, then.”
“How many more can you make in a hurry?”
“I can finish two more by the end of this week. I expect more materials by next Wednesday, and then I can complete a half dozen more by Christmas.”
I made my decision. “Get as many done as possible by the end of next week. Don’t worry about spare parts. Cannibalize anything you need to.” Everyone looked at me, but no one asked the question. I answered it anyways. “He’s aware of our general timeframe. Knowing him, he’ll be prepared weeks ahead of time. Last day of the month. That’s when we’re going in.”
“Does my sister know?” Jess asked. “She’s going to pitch a fucking fit.”
“Not yet. I’m going to tell her myself right now.” I sighed. “I wanted to drop in and tell you to get ready. This is a fucking nightmare and I’m sorry, but I don’t think we have a chance if we let him prepare more.”
“Good luck,” she said.
I didn’t bother to take my car. I teleported straight from Andreas’s room to Star’s apartment. Grace and Star were already manifesting by the time I emerged from the psionic shell, poised to strike. “Kevin? What are you doing?”
“We have a problem.” I summarized the conversation with Alistair again. Neither of them reacted like the others had, but they exchanged looks as soon as I finished. “I know what I want to do, but I want to know what you think first.”
“Scrub and scatter.” Grace said. Star nodded. “I know you’ve put a lot of work into this, Kevin, but if knows that much, we’re compromised beyond any hope of recovery. The best thing we can do is scatter, weed out anyone in the Resistance we don’t trust, and then work on a new plan of attack.”
“We should start packing now,” Star said. “I assume you’re not going to come with us.”
“Wait, I wanted to hear what you think. I didn’t say I was going to follow.”
They exchanged looks again. “Kevin, I know you’re effectively in charge of this whole operation,” Star said. “But, we do have standing orders. It’s rule zero for the Resistance. If we’re compromised, run. We can’t take this level of risk. Thirty minutes and we’ll be gone. Can you make sure there’s nothing coming for us until we’re safe? I’ll be in touch as soon as I can.”
“Wait.” Both of them paused and I realized I’d put a lot of command into the word. “Wait, please. I’d like to talk with my uncle first. I understand the reasoning behind the order, but I want to run a new plan past him first.”
“I’m afraid to ask,” Star said. “Grace, go ahead with the procedure. I’ll get Todd on the line and we’ll see what he says, but if he doesn’t bite, we need to be gone right then.”
“Thank you, dear heart.”
She made a face at me as she tapped at her phone. The speaker turned on as Todd picked up. “Yes?”
“We have a zero situation. You’re on speaker. Kevin’s here.”
“Kevin? You have three minutes to explain.”
I was getting used to summarizing the conversation with Alistair by now. “Before you tell everyone to get out, I want to tell you my plan and why I think it’ll work.”
“Star, are you ready to go?” he asked.
“Grace is packing and she has the rest of the team standing by.”
“Good. Kevin, did Star explain our protocol for these situations?”
I swallowed hard. “Yes. But can you hear me out first?”
He sighed. “Every minute we delay is a risk. Do you understand, Kevin? Anyone who doesn’t make it out in time, that’ll be on your head. Are you ready to accept that?”
“He’s not going to attack!” I snapped. “You know him! He’s not going to come after us if he thinks we’re going to come to him! You know how fucking arrogant he is!”
Todd’s response took a couple of seconds. “I’ll give you that. All right. Tell me what you’ve got in mind.”
“We know our misinformation campaign is working. He said whether we attack in one month or three, he’ll be ready. He doesn’t know the exact time we’re planning to make our move, and we’re already planning to go earlier than he thinks. He’ll be ready ahead of time, of course, we both know that. I think we should move the timetable up again.”
“Are you serious?” He didn’t let me answer. “You are serious. You say he won’t be ready, but neither will we. You’re certainly not ready, not if you’re thinking to do this.”
“We’ll be less ready than we can be, but our biggest advantage is surprise.”
“Kevin, we haven’t even finalized our plan for victory.”
“What do you mean?”
“Alistair’s out. Now what? Ten. Nine.”
“What do you mean?”
He finished counting down without answering my question. “One. Zero. The Establishment is headless. Hundreds of psions have lost their central command. Some of them are going to claim power. Others are going to flee. Others are going to run amok. You’ve lost any chance you had to control them. Other organizations are sniffing around. The Resistance is weakened, we can’t hold it alone. You’ve lost any chance to maintain regional power. There’s the power vacuum you were afraid of. Who takes the region? The Bureau? The Illuminati? Someone else?”
“Wait!” I cut him off. “Nothing’s going to happen that fast.”
