Echoterminus: Echogenesis Book 3, page 16
Keira stepped closer to Piper, who stiffened but remained where she was. Her hand that wasn’t holding the pistol held the collar of Kim’s shirt.
“And how long has it been since Karl even flew a drone?” Keira asked. “How many decades? Are you sure he remembers how to do it, let alone reprogram them or fix a glitch—how long do you think it would take him to figure all of that out again?”
Piper’s expression shifted from hatred to disgust. Suddenly she let go of Kim.
“Then you watch over him,” she snarled at Keira. “You’re the one in charge.”
The way she said it, it was clear she believed the opposite to be true.
“Thanks for clarifying that,” Keira said with all the calm she could muster, and slid her knife back into its sheath. She glanced at Kim, who was still crouching on all fours. “Well?” she asked him. “How long to fix this software issue?”
“I’m not sure,” Kim mumbled. “I swear, I’ll find a way to fix it or jury-rig it or something.”
“Good,” Piper snarled down at him. “Because if you don’t fix it by sunset, I’m going to bring the girl here, and I’m going to watch your face while I blow a hole in her head big enough to put a fist through. Do you understand? I need these things to fly tonight.”
“I understand,” Kim said hastily. “But…”
Piper regarded him menacingly. “What?”
“Piper,” said Keira, “stand down.” She looked at Kim. “Is there anything else I need to know that might delay getting the drones into the air?”
Kim glanced at Piper with terrified eyes, then turned back to Keira. He looked like he could hardly speak. He swallowed, then nodded. “We still have to place the pathogen into a solution,” he explained, his voice wobbling with fright. “We printed a tank for the purpose, and that can automate the mixing process.”
“What does that involve?” Keira asked.
“We have to combine the pathogen with a much larger solution of water for maximum effect when aerosolised.” He swallowed again. “I tried to tell Piper, but…”
“Tell me,” said Keira, stepping up close to the kneeling man.
“We only have small quantities of the pathogen in a highly concentrated solution,” Kim continued. “If we dilute it, we can spray it much more evenly and over a much wider area. But that takes time.”
“So why hasn’t this been done already?”
“The solution needs to be carefully agitated,” Kim explained, “to ensure an even distribution of the pathogen throughout the solution. It’s not something I've done before, and it takes time to get it right.”
Keira saw Piper’s jaw flex, then looked back at Kim. “Can it be done by tonight, like Piper suggested?”
Kim swayed slightly, and for a moment Keira was afraid he might pass out altogether.
“I can’t say for certain it’ll be ready until tomorrow afternoon at the earliest,” Kim finally stammered.
“Are you fucking kidding me?” Piper snarled.
Keira moved until she was standing directly between Kim and the other woman. “What about you, Piper?” Keira asked. “What have you been doing to get the drones ready?”
“I helped Karl jury-rig spray attachments for the drones,” said Piper. “I also helped put together the tank he just mentioned, plus scavenging electronic components from other equipment on the mesa we can use to replace worn-out drone parts,”
“And you think this’ll be enough to get these things in the air?” Keira asked.
“It’ll have to be.” Piper nodded up at the sky; the sun had begun descending toward the horizon. Keira knew what she meant without asking: night was coming, and with it the Cents.
“I’ll take over supervising work on the drones,” Keira told Piper. “I want you to focus on defence for now. When you see Karl, tell him to report to either me or Sean.”
“I’d rather not—” Piper started to say.
“It wasn’t a request,” said Keira, her hand close to her blade.
Piper said nothing more, her mouth twisting up like she wanted to spit. She spun on her heel, stalking past Keira and out of sight.
Keira took a deep breath and allowed herself to close her eyes for just one moment.
You have to be hard to be a leader. Her father’s words again echoed through her thoughts, bringing back memories of childhood. She remembered all too well the lessons she had learned whenever she failed at some task and had to suffer the punishment of his fists and his sharp-edged tongue. If you can’t do the unpleasant things, you’re dooming your people as well as yourself.
Then she opened her eyes and looked down at Kim, who still crouched on the ground like a frightened animal.
“Thank you for—” he started to say.
“I don’t need your thanks,” Keira said curtly. “I need you to finish this job.” She looked over at Wardell. “Keep Piper away from here, will you?”
“You think she’ll listen to me?” Wardell scoffed. “You know she listens to only one person.”
“Try,” Keira said.
“Well…” Wardell shrugged, then pointed at Kim. “Are you going to keep an eye on him?”
“I can do that,” Keira told him. “Now go.”
Wardell gave her a faintly pitying look, then walked off in the direction of the settlement.
“Sister.”
Turning, Keira saw her brother, Sean, standing nearby. She wondered how long he had been there.
“Can we talk?” he asked, hobbling closer. “There’s something you need to hear.” He glanced briefly at Kim. “In private.”
Keira nodded toward the wind turbine a short distance away. “Over there.” She caught Kim’s eye. “I’m going to trust you to keep working on those drones and not do anything stupid while I speak with my brother. I’ll be keeping a close eye on you. Do you understand?”
“Sure.” Kim swallowed. “I understand.”
Keira regarded him for a long moment, trying to see whatever falsity might be hiding behind his pale, terrified eyes. Then she nodded to Sean and walked toward the turbine without looking back to see if he was following.
The turbine’s blades turned beneath the pressure of a choppy wind blowing from the east. Keira watched them turn for several seconds, then brought her gaze down to meet her brother’s.
“All right,” she said, “what is it?”
Keira listened in silence as her brother unwound his story, starting with the time when, years before, he had nearly died in the jaws of some unknown beast. She continued to listen in silence, and also increasing dismay, as he explained he had, in truth, been rescued by some mysterious stranger who helped him recuperate before sending him home with a limp and a made-up story to explain it all away.
Even then, there was more: he told her of how, to show his gratitude, he had helped this stranger at different times over the next several decades. Sometimes he had done this by providing the stranger with information, at other times by giving him supplies or providing aid whenever the stranger he needed it.
A stranger. Someone not from the mesa, and not of their own people, either. Which either meant that Sean had lost his mind, or he had betrayed them all to someone from the expedition in the far west.
“Stop,” said Keira.
“He knows more about the pathogen than anyone else,” Sean continued in a breathless rush. “It’s even more dangerous if we spray it from the air, like Dad and Piper are planning. That’s when I knew I had no choice but to tell you. That’s why—”
“Stop!” Keira repeated, more loudly this time. Then she pressed her hands over her mouth and nose and drew in a deep and shuddering breath.
Sean at least had the brains to shut up long enough to let her collect her thoughts.
“Are you saying,” she said, dropping her hands back down, “that you’ve been helping this man spy on us for years?”
“No!” Judging by his expression, this had come out more sharply than he had intended. “No,” he repeated, more quietly this time. “I never told him anything about us. Nothing that mattered, anyway.”
“Did it never occur to you this could all be some kind of ruse?” she demanded. “How do you know it isn’t just the mesa’s Amit playing tricks on you from some hiding place out in the forest?”
“It could have been anyone walking past the comms hut when I heard his transmission,” Sean reminded her. “It just happened to be me. He didn’t know I was on the mesa, or that we’d taken over up here. He was shocked when I told him. I could tell.”
“Sean,” she said heatedly, “I don’t even want to think what might happen if our father ever found out about this!”
To her surprise, rather than agreeing with her, he suggested the opposite.
“But that’s just it,” he countered. “We have to tell him.”
“Sean—”
“No, sister,” he said more quietly now. He stepped closer to her. “I’m serious. The old man never lied to me, not once. Can you say the same about our father?”
Keira shook her head, but said nothing. “All these years,” she said more quietly now, “and you never told me.”
“If I had,” he said, “you would have told him.”
She brought her eyes up to meet his. “What makes you think I won’t now?”
Her brother’s gaze was steady and unwavering. “Will you now? After everything you’ve seen and heard since we got up here?” He paused, then added: “After Sparrowhawk?”
When she said nothing, he continued. “We have to stop this, Keira. I think what the old man told me only confirmed what we both already know, if we’re really honest with each other. The rest of them are either fanatics, like Piper, or too scared of Vic to contradict him. Think: do you really want to risk the lives of your own children just to keep our father happy?”
The mention of her children felt like a wound opening up deep inside her. An unwanted memory, of Shanti struggling to breathe, her skin pale and slick with sweat, flashed into Keira’s thoughts. The worst thing about it had been the sense of helplessness: of being able only to stand by and watch as the girl slipped away long before her time. Then she remembered her own struggle to breathe as they sailed back up Big River, Angelina slumped over the tiller, her eyes rimmed with red as the skiff swayed gently beneath them.
“I already talked to him,” Keira said at last. “He won’t listen. And even if by some miracle he did, we’d be left with no way to defend ourselves against the Cents and we’d still wind up dead.”
“You should listen to your brother,” said a voice from behind Keira.
Her knife was out of its sheath in an instant. Wheeling around, her free hand grasped soft flesh, and she slammed its owner against the side of the turbine before pressing the tip of her blade against their neck.
Kim Hanh Banh’s neck, she discovered: she had been so caught up in Sean’s confession she had let her guard slip, and badly.
Keira’s nostrils flared. “Never do that again, do you understand? I could have killed you!”
“If Piper lays one finger on Florence,” Kim replied with enough steel in his voice to surprise Keira, “you probably should kill me. Because if you don’t, I’ll do everything in my power to kill her.”
You don’t have it in you, she wanted to spit back, but the words died in her mouth when she saw the look on his face. Old and comparatively frail he might be, but she could see he meant every word.
“I heard enough, by the way,” Kim added. “Whoever your friend is,” he said, looking past Keira at Sean, “he’s quite right about the pathogen.” His gaze returned to Keira. “I’ve been paying attention while you all argue and bicker. You’re falling apart without Traynor telling you what to do.”
“Bullshit,” Keira snarled, but even she could hear the lack of conviction in her own voice.
“Really?” Kim shook his head. “Before you got here, and before she nearly killed me, Piper told Wardell she was planning to round everyone back up and lock them inside the smokehouse for the night. Like that’s going to help any when the next attack comes. But I guess she didn’t tell you.”
Keira was careful not to show her surprise. Piper was, once again, acting on her own. She peered into Kim’s eyes, as if trying to discern some hidden truth there.
Then it came to her. “You did sabotage the drones, didn’t you?” she asked.
“What choice do I have?” he said, his voice lowering almost to a whisper. His throat pulsed beneath the honed edge of her knife.
And that, she knew, was the truth of it.
Slowly, Keira moved the knife away from Kim’s throat and held it by her side. “It doesn’t matter if you’re right. I can’t do anything.”
Kim swallowed, then reached one hand up to his neck. “You’re wrong. Wardell was Sparrowhawk’s father, and I overheard him arguing with Piper. She’s a fanatic, but Wardell’s a long way from convinced. I think he’ll listen to you, even if Piper won’t.”
It felt to Keira as if she were balancing on the tip of a blade, with no choice but to fall one way or the other: and whichever way she fell would bring doom. Killing the Cents with the pathogen would doom the mesa. Not killing the Cents would also, likely, doom the mesa.
It was an impossible choice. But she still had to choose, and when she did, it turned out to be easier than she had expected.
“Florence is Angelina’s daughter,” Keira told Kim. “And Angelina saved my life. No harm will come to her, now or ever. You have my word on that.”
Kim stared at her, disbelieving. But before he could frame a response, Keira pulled her arm back and punched him hard enough that he slumped bonelessly to the rough, ash-streaked soil.
She waited a moment to see if he moved. When he didn’t, she knelt to check his pulse. Everything seemed fine.
“Piper isn’t going to hurt Florence,” Keira said to the unconscious man, “because I’ll kill her or anyone else who tries.”
Ignoring the appalled look on Sean’s face, Keira bent and, with a grunt, lifted Kim into a fireman’s carry.
“Sean,” she said, “come with me.”
“I don’t understand,” said Sean. “Why?”
“Piper can’t threaten Kim, if Kim isn’t here to be threatened,” she said. “So I’m going to put him somewhere out of the way.”
Without waiting for her brother’s response, she started walking toward the barn, Kim’s prone form over her shoulder.
“I don’t think this is going to stop Piper,” said Sean, hobbling after her as fast as he could.
“We just need to slow her down a little.” Keira’s gaze shifted toward the lander, which dwarfed the nearby barn. “I need you to stay with Kim and keep an eye on him.”
“And if he doesn’t want to stay put?”
“That,” said Keira, panting slightly, “is why we’re going to have to tie the son of a bitch up.”
“Hey!”
Angie started at Keira’s shout, then turned to stare at the three of them as they approached the barn: Sean, Keira and Kim, still slung unconscious over Keira’s back.
“You need to be inside the barn,” Keira gasped, lowering Kim as gently as she could onto the grassy soil. “Not out here, where Piper might see you.”
Angie was holding a half-full pail of water. “We needed water.” She nodded at a grain silo not far from where they stood. “So I got some.” She looked with concern at Kim, who was beginning to stir, then stared accusingly at Keira.
“He’s fine,” Keira assured her. “But…I need your help.”
“You need my help,” Angie repeated. Her gaze dropped to take in Keira’s hunting knife in its sheath, then back up again. “You stormed up here and held us all at gunpoint, but you need my help.”
“I don’t have time to argue,” Keira hissed. “I need Kim where Piper can’t find him.”
“This is bullshit,” Angie snarled, taking a step toward her. “You think you can just tell us to—?”
“We’ll do it,” said Anna.
Keira glanced past Angie and saw the girl standing at the open door of the barn. She still looked pale and drawn, but more focused than Keira remembered seeing her in some time.
Angie turned to look at her. “Anna—!”
“She’s on our side now,” Anna said, then turned to look back at Keira. “Aren’t you?”
“What I care about,” said Keira, “is keeping us alive.”
Reaching down, Keira took hold of Kim by the shoulders and began to drag him toward the open barn door. “Piper’s going to come looking for him,” Keira added, “and I need him somewhere out of the way.”
“Keira,” Angie demanded, “what did you do to him?”
“What I had to.”
Sweat prickled Keira’s brow as she manoeuvred Kim inside the barn before lifting him onto the same cot she had so recently vacated. Kim stirred and mumbled and one of his eyes slid open. Her head swam as she stood back up, and she pushed back the sudden thought of how nice it would be to lie down and sleep on one of the other cots.
No. She had to stay awake. Had to.
“You surely don’t expect us to keep him prisoner?” Angie asked, aghast.
Keira looked over her shoulder to see Angie standing just inside the door, the pail still in her hand. “That’s exactly what I want you to do,” said Keira, turning back to Kim. She took hold of one end of the manacles previously used to secure her to this same cot, the other end of which was still secured to the frame. She snapped the cuff around Kim’s thin, delicate wrist.
“You can’t be serious—!” Angie protested. “I mean—all Piper has to do is walk in here and see him!”
Keira glanced back outside: the light was already starting to fade. She wondered how long it had been since she’d eaten anything.
“I think before too long Piper’s going to have a lot more to worry about than Kim,” she replied. “I think we all will.” She nodded over at Sean. “My brother will stay here and help.”
“That’s a lot of ‘if’s’, Keira,” said Angie, looking even more worried now. “If Piper doesn’t come looking for him. If she doesn’t hurt Florence. If—”
