Epic: Book 02 - Outlaw Trigger (17 page)

Travis shook his head. “Yeah, but…Scott keeps us alive out there. I mean, it’s no offense to Galina, we all think she’s great, but…she’s not Scott.”

“
Then
I’ll
keep you alive out there,
Travis
.”

“
We’ll do fine on the field,” David said. “Dostoevsky and Max can handle us.”

After nobody else spoke, Esther sighed. “I was so prepared to follow him. I was so excited to begin my career after his example. To see how he is now, after he was so uplifting before…I can’t even describe it. I don’t know what to say.”

“
Say it’s all bollocks, ‘cos tha’s wha’ it is.”

“
Scott will be okay,” David said. “He needs time, and more than that, he needs us. But he’s a strong young man. I think everyone who’s worked with him knows that. He’ll be okay.”

Becan’s stare hardened as he turned to face David. “Speakin’ o’ Dostoevsky just now…where the hell’s he been? Does he even know wha’ happened?”

“
Yes, he knows,” Max said. “I told him myself.”

“
An’ wha’ did he say?”

“
Not a whole lot. But that’s nothing new.”

“
Well tha’ nuggerknocker had better visit him. Or at least send him a bleedin’ sympathy card.”

“
You know Yuri won’t do that. He’s a Nightman.”

“
I don’t understand the Nightmen,” Esther said. “I’ve seen several since I’ve been here, but I’ve not actually met any, aside from the commander.”

Maksim spoke up for the first time. “You do not want to.” The room turned to him. “My uncle was a Nightman before they disbanded. They are horrible people. My uncle was horrible person.”

“
Yuri’s human,” Max said. “He feels as much as we do. He’s just not gonna show it.”

No one commented. As the clock ticked 1830, David’s gaze fell to the floor.

“
Yeh look knackered,” Becan said.

“
I am.”

“
Go catch some zeds, then.”

David looked at the clock. “It’s not even curfew. I’ve got three hours to party.” It was laced with dead sarcasm.

“
Welcome to the party,” said Travis.

“
I don’t know. It’s just early. It feels too early.”

“
We won’t be loud,” Becan said, “cross our hearts. Yeh need some rest, you look like someone took a spiz on yeh.”

“
Thanks a lot.”

“
Get some rest, man,” said Jayden. “You deserve it.”

After several moments, David answered. “You know, this hasn’t even hit me, yet. The reality of all this.”

“
It hasn’t hit annyone, yet,” Becan said. “Get some sleep before it does.”

“
I will,” said David. He drew a deep breath, pushed back his chair, and stood up. “First I’m going to call my wife, though. I feel like I need to do that.”

“
Does she know?”

“
Not yet.”

“
All righ’ then. Get to it.”

“
Good night, guys,” David said, waving to them.

“
Night David.”

“
Night Dave.”

They watched as he stepped through the lounge room door, easing it shut in his wake. The lounge returned to silence.

Jayden looked at Varvara. Her eyes were already on him.

“
Hell of a day this turned out to be,” Max finally said.

As Varvara’s eyes began to glisten, Jayden moved to her side.

Nobody else made a sound.

Over the next few hours, the occupants of Room 14 filed out one by one into the bunk room. Conversation remained elusive all the while, as quiet company seemed the only appropriate thing to share.

When the last person left the lounge, most of the Fourteenth was already asleep. Minutes later, all of them were. It was the first time that had ever happened before the nine o’clock curfew.

Not one of them cared enough to notice.

10

Sunday, August 7
^th
, 0011 NE

EDEN Command

Leonid Torokin lowered into his chair at the black table of the High Command’s conference room. It was their first official session since Archer’s banquet. The new judge was given the extra time to acclimate himself to the job, and Pauling decided that no sessions would be held until he had done so. That wasn’t unusual—all new judges took time to transition in. Thanks to a relatively quiet week on the battlefront, High Command could get away with it this time.

“
Good morning,” Grinkov said, sitting beside him.

“
Good morning.”

“
Did you sleep well?”

Torokin half-frowned. “No.”

“
Are you still having nightmares of combat?”

“
They are not nightmares of combat,” Torokin answered. “They are dreams of combat.” He inclined his head to the High Command. “
This
is the nightmare.”

His gaze roamed the circular table, around which the other judges sat. Finally, it came to rest on Archer, who sat directly opposite him. He remembered his brief conversation with Archer in Confinement Command. The new judge looked comfortable in his chair and was seated appropriately beside Judge Rath. On the other side of Archer sat Richard Lena.

Pauling cleared his throat, and the conversation around him fell silent. The president stared at the tabletop, where the pages of his notebook sat open in front of him. “Good morning, everyone. It’s been a while since we last met, so hopefully we still remember one anothers’ names.”

Poor attempt at humor, Torokin thought. Several judges chuckled nonetheless.

“
Richard, we’ll begin today’s session with you. What’s the latest news out of
Sydney
?”

Judge Lena rose from his chair. “Things are excellent, sir. She should be ready to open up by early 0012. We’re ahead of schedule.”

Australia had been pressing for the past two years for a major EDEN base on its continent. It was finally coming to fruition, and Torokin felt it was deserved. While its number of enrolled was smaller than most nations, every Australian he’d met had impressed him. EDEN owed them their own facility.

Lena continued. “The final schematics should be done by the end of next week. This is going to be one hell of a base, sir. To rival
London
.”

Judge Malcolm Blake, one of two black judges on the Council, spoke up. “Should I take that personally, Richard?”

“
Not at all, Malcolm. Just admiring your British functionality.” He turned back to the president. “Like
London
,
Sydney
won’t be the largest. But she’ll pack a punch when we’re through. They’ll like what they’re getting, I assure you.”

Pauling rubbed the back of his neck. “As soon as those schematics get in, let me know. This is a big deal. I don’t want to be a single day behind schedule.”

“
Absolutely, sir.”

Pauling’s focus switched to Rath. “Moving to our next topic, then…Jason, what’s the state of
Novosibirsk
?”

Torokin and Grinkov simultaneously leaned forward as Judge Rath rose to his feet.
Novosibirsk
always sparked a debate.

Rath cleared his throat and began. “Repairs are going well. The new infirmary is up and running. The last thing we’re obligated to do is restock the base as a whole.”

“
And how is that coming?”

Rath’s gaze drifted across the other judges before settling back on Pauling. “They’re getting a fair share from
Philadelphia
…but Thoor’s not making it simple.” Pauling remained silent. “
Novosibirsk
lost over three thousand EDEN operatives in the assault. They’ve been reinforced with under six hundred.”

Judge Javier Castellnou, the lone Spaniard on the High Command, entered the discussion. “Then how is
Novosibirsk
being fully restocked?”

“
Nightmen. They lost about eighty Nightmen in the assault. Over five hundred have replaced them.”

“
Where are they coming from?”

The room fell silent as every gaze turned to Torokin and Grinkov. It never failed. Every time Nightmen were mentioned, the Russians were asked for their opinions. It was as if they were supposed to have inside information. This time was apparently no exception.

Torokin leaned forward, propped his elbows on the table, and cleared his throat. “Not all Nightmen are at
Novosibirsk
. There are many in all of Russia. There are enough Nightmen to stock that facility, and more so if Thoor chooses.”

Castellnou stared. “And you tell us this
now
?” His eyes danced wildly around the table.

“
Shut up, Javier.” Castellnou was an idiot. “We have discussed this a thousand times. This is not new information.” He turned to Judge Rath. “Thoor wants to strengthen his ranks. I do not see why that is a problem now. It never was before.”

“
It’s a problem because he’s taking over that base,” Rath said. “And
we
are continuing to ignore it.”

“
Thoor is too valuable to lose,” Pauling said, his voice tired from repetition. “We’ve gone over this already. No other facility could have mounted that attack in Siberia with just three units. And there may not be another base that could have survived a full-fledged Bakma assault.”

Castellnou’s nostrils flared excessively. “At what point is enough, enough? Don’t see you see that he is stealing
Novosibirsk
from us?”

“
If we press him, we may
lose
Novosibirsk
. This is a rare case when bending is acceptable.”

“
Then what if
Leningrad
wants the same? Or
Berlin
? Or
Nagoya
? Let’s just give every base the power to do what it wants!”

“
You know this situation is different,” Pauling said.

“
It is not different!”

Pauling sighed. “Javier…”

“
It’s ridiculous,” Castellnou replied. “We cannot allow him to run
Novosibirsk
as if it were his own little kingdom!”

“
I know he’s a drama queen,” said Lena, referring to Castellnou’s outbursts, “but he does have a point.”

Torokin couldn’t help but smirk.

“
I’m not going to challenge our strongest asset,” said Pauling.

“
The president’s right,” added Blake.

Not surprisingly, Castellnou flipped out. “He is stealing
Novosibirsk
! This cannot be allowed to go on!”

“
For God’s sake, Javier, calm down!”

“
I will not be calm!”

The volume of the argument intensified. The usual judges chimed in. Blake backed the president. Rath stayed on the fence. Lena and Castellnou challenged them—while still managing to challenge each other. Even Grinkov was getting involved.

Torokin looked at Archer. He wondered how the newcomer would react to this one. He wondered what side he would take. The
Novosibirsk
debate was a heated one—the most heated one High Command ever had. And at each meeting, no progress was made. Only shouting.

Archer’s eyes danced between them all. First to Pauling, then to Castellnou, then to Rath. Then to the others.

Then down to his own notebook.

At that moment Torokin’s expression changed, as he continued to watch the new judge. His expression changed, because Archer’s changed first. There was a look in Archer’s eyes—one the Russian hadn’t expected to see. There was a thoughtful look. A calculating look. A knowing one. It caught Torokin off guard because for a split second it didn’t look like the gaze of a judge. It looked like the gaze of a president. And it was right then, in the height of the verbal fistfight, that Benjamin Archer rose to his feet.

“
Everyone, please,” he said, his eyes still fixed on his notebook. Despite the passiveness in his voice, the conference room hushed into silence. Every head turned in his direction. “Judge Rath, can you restate the death count for me, please?”

Rath watched him for a moment, then quizzically angled his head. “From the
Assault
on
Novosibirsk
?”

“
Yes, please.”

Rath exchanged a glance with the president, then read the official numbers aloud. “The exact tally is 3,291 EDEN and eighty-six Nightmen. That comes to a total of 3,377.”

The room fell quiet as Archer closed his eyes. Torokin leaned forward in his chair. Archer was thinking. But about what?

“
3,377,” the new judge finally said. “Listen to that number. 3,377. Of 3,377 losses, eighty-six were Nightmen.” His gaze returned to Rath. “What is the EDEN-to-Nightman ratio in
Novosibirsk
?”

“
About a third. Almost ten thousand to three thousand. Or it was before the assault.”

“
Listen to that,” Archer resumed. “Fathom that for a moment. EDEN suffered a mortality rate close to forty percent. The Nightmen lost less than five percent.”

Several of the other judges raised their eyebrows.

“
Are the Nightmen really that superior? We all know the tales of Thoor’s army, but forty percent to five? Are they forty-percent-to-
five
-percent superior?”