The Burn Zone (47 page)

I sat up suddenly, and the two turned to look at me. The man sitting next to Ligong was Military Governor Jianguo Hwong himself. I
’
d seen his face on TV and on billboards enough to know it in my sleep. Hell, there was
a statue of him in Ginzho Square. He was bigger in person than I had expected, an older guy with cropped gray hair and a leathery, lined face, but his shoulders were broad and his chest was thick. He wore a silver machine pistol on his belt, and his colored medal bars stood out against his dark gray shirt, laser-thin gold trim glinting in the sun that streamed through the window.

“
Welcome back,
”
he said.

I looked to my left and saw Nix slumped in the seat next to me, a shock pin sticking out of the back of his neck. Only a very faint glow flickered in his eyes as he stared down at the tabletop.

“
Where
’
s Vamp?
”
I asked.

“
Your friend?
He
’
s up front,
”
Hwong said, pointing toward the closed divider.

A shadow passed over the vehicle as we cruised underneath a massive skyway, and then I saw our vehicle reflected in a mirrored building face as we began to rocket upward. In that reflection, the Pot sprawled off into the distance, the smaller building spires falling away as we went up and up.

“
What about the others?
”
I asked.

“
The old man and the girl will be debriefed. Then he will go home and she will be held until we decide if she should be deported or not.
”

“
And the kid?
Alexei?
”

“
He is being seen to.
”
He leaned back in his seat.
“
You know, a disaster was narrowly averted today. You caused us quite a bit of trouble.
”

“
But they didn
’
t...
”

I trailed off as Ligong turned from the window to look at me. There was a cold, dangerous look in her eyes.

“
Didn
’
t what?
”
Hwong asked.
“
Didn
’
t do anything?
”

“
Please,
”
I said,
“
sir, we didn
’
t do anything wrong— this whole thing is a misunderstanding.
”

Hwong smiled faintly, and he raised one hand to quiet Ligong, who was about to interrupt me.

“
I want to hear what she has to say,
”
he told her. He turned back to me.
“
Go ahead.
”

“
My father ... I mean Specialist Shao ... was just on assignment working border security at Camp Juanhai.
”

“
Where he met a Pan-Slav terrorist named Innuya Drugov, and her son, Alexei.
”

“
That
’
s just it, it
’
s a mistake. She wasn
’
t a terrorist. She was just one of the refugees.
”

“
Our intelligence confirmed she had terrorist ties,
”
Hwong said.
“
I understand this is hard to accept, and I don
’
t blame you, but Alexei Drugov is not the legitimate son of Innuya Drugov, and they are not from the border territory of Lobnya. A terrorist cell embedded them there, where Innuya began looking for a foreign soldier she could
ply
. She found one in Specialist Shao, who has blood ties to the PSE.
”

“
Dragan is not a—
”

“
He is. I
’
m truly sorry, but he is. I don
’
t know if he became a true sympathizer or if he just believed her lies and was trying to do the right thing, but her purpose was to deliver Alexei to this country as part of the biggest biological attack this world has ever seen. If we hadn
’
t recovered him, do you know what would have happened?
”

“
You
’
re wrong,
”
I said. He raised his eyebrows, and I quickly added,
“
Sir.
”

“
And how do you figure that?
”

“
I
’
m sorry. I don
’
t mean any disrespect, but please listen. There
’
s more to the story you don
’
t know. I
’
ve got inside information you need to hear.
”

Hwong
’
s face was stony, and I thought he might shut me down before he finally waved one hand at me to continue.

“
The intelligence was faked,
”
I told him.

“
Faked? Why?
”

“
To cover up a mistake.
Some of your guys, your soldiers, are working with a haan,
”
I told him.

His eyes narrowed a little.
“
Go on.
”

“
A female.
The haan female.
She was there the night they picked up Dragan,
”
I said.
“
You
’
ve got guys working for her in secret, behind your back.
”

“
To what end?
”
Hwong asked.

“
The Pan-Slavs weren
’
t going to attack us. It
’
s the other way around,
”
I said.
“
These guys set up some kind of secret deal with the haan to get rid of the PSE—
We
were going to attack them. Dragan didn
’
t bring the kid here as part of an attack. He was trying to quarantine him, and it got out of control. He meant to turn the evidence of all this over to you. He just never got a chance.
”

Ligong glanced at Hwong.

“
You
’
re saying the haan are behind this?
”
Hwong asked.

“
Just one.
She
’
s killed all but one of the guys who helped her, but the one guy left, Kang, told me he and some of your guys made a secret deal with Sillith. I
’
m telling you it
’
s true. If he
’
s still alive you can ask him yourself.
”

“
Even assuming there is a conspiracy to destroy the PSE, why would the haan be involved?
”
Hwong asked.
“
What would they stand to gain from it?
”

“
I
’
m not sure, but she was promised ...
”

I felt an anxious spike through the mite cluster and stopped myself from saying any more. Nix was awake, and growing more and more anxious as Hwong
’
s eyes turned bright, and predatory. I remembered what Kang had told me, back in the bar:

“
Deals are made, kid. We see new tech appear, new benefits, better standards of living, but behind closed doors, deals are made.
”

“
Promised what?
”

“
I don
’
t know,
”
I said,
“
but I swear it
’
s all true—
”

Hwong nodded at Ligong, who leaned across the table and gave me a hard push away from Nix.

“
Move over,
”
she said.

“
Why?
”

She grabbed a fistful of my shirt and pulled it until my tit poked out the armhole. She shoved me away, into the corner of the backseat opposite from Nix.
“
I said move it.
”

“
Hey,
”
I spat, pulling my shirt back into place.
“
Just wait
—
”

Ligong pulled a small controller from out of her jacket and pushed the button. When she did, an electric crackle sounded that was so loud that I jumped in my seat. Nix
’
s body went rigid.

“
Hey!
”
I shouted. One of Nix
’
s legs had kicked out into the table between them, and sparks flashed from the shock pin in his neck. The strobe lit up the car interior as the angry snapping sound grew louder and a horrible burned smell filled the cab. Ligong
’
s face never changed as she cranked up the juice until I could see muted red light flashing inside Nix
’
s chest. His heart clenched behind his rib cage, and the shape beneath his skull had begun to twitch rapidly.

“
Stop!
”
I screamed. Ligong balled her free hand into a fist, and, still holding the controller
’
s button with her other
hand,
she hammered it down at me as I cringed back into the seat.

The blow caught me in the forehead, and my head snapped back against the window. I began to slide down the seat toward the floor and caught myself, grabbing the door handle for support. Warm blood dribbled down over my lips and chin, and when I shook my head to clear it I spattered the tabletop with red drops.

“
Stop shocking him!
”
I
screamed,
my voice breaking.
I lunged for her arm, but she stopped me with her hand and held me back until she finally released the button.

The snapping sound stopped and the flickering light went out. Nix
’
s body collapsed back into the seat as a thin curl of black smoke drifted up from the base of his skull. I tried to squirm free from Ligong
’
s grip.

“
Get off!
”
I grabbed one of her fingers and tried to peel it off as she reared back to hit me again.

“
Enough,
”
Hwong said. Ligong pulled her hand away and leaned back, glaring at me. She put the zapper back inside her coat and straightened it out as I scooted back over to Nix.

“
Nix?
”
I whispered.
“
Hey, Nix?
”

He didn
’
t move, but his eyes, which had rolled back into his head, slowly reappeared from the bottom as if they had done a complete revolution. The pink glow returned like two rising suns.

“
Nix, are you okay?
”

I touched his chest, thin smoke drifting out from between my fingers. The spot was still warm, but the heart hadn
’
t stopped.

“
What Sillith was promised,
”
Hwong said, his voice calm,
“
was a small portion of what will become the occupied PSE—an autonomous haan state bordered by our new territory.
”

I turned to stare at him, and it finally sank in. The deal that was made, it wasn
’
t just made by a small group of rogue soldiers. It went higher than that, a lot higher.

“
This was your idea,
”
I said under my breath.