Metal Fatigue (44 page)

"By assassinating them." Roads grimaced. "That's a bit extreme, isn't it?"

"Necessarily so. This is a
war
, Roads — undeclared, but undeniable. You have to expect some casualties."

"That's easy for you to say," Roads sneered. "Sitting back in comfort while your docile killer hunts and kills your enemies for you."

"Don't be stupid, Roads." DeKurzak's eyes flashed. "It's more than just political murder."

"As if that wasn't bad enough."

"Oh, come on, Roads! Stop playing the dumb RSD officer."

Cati's muscles flexed beside them, making Betheras flinch away. The odd assortment of items he had produced from the bag unfolded to become a massive combat harness large enough to fit Cati's frame. The RUSAMC officer had barely begun slipping it into place when the killer's small movement had given him second thoughts.

Roads sighed. "Okay, okay," he said. "You're trying to make people afraid. Is that it?"

DeKurzak relaxed slightly, as though Roads' understanding of his actions automatically vindicated them. "Of course. A frightened populace is easier to control. People are more likely to accept draconian restrictions if a threat is perceived to be real."

"Like the berserkers."

"Precisely. My generation saw the damage they inflicted upon innocent people. The fear of biomodified agents was high, and we agreed to almost anything to keep them out. But now, that threat has waned. The fear is ebbing. We need a new enemy to keep the latest generation from getting restless."

"Cati."

"Why not?" DeKurzak shrugged. "We honestly thought we'd seen the last of your kind. You and Cati are evidence of how cunning and insidious you can be. Luckily for us, you've reappeared at the right time."

"A person is a person," Katiya said, defying DeKurzak quietly, unexpectedly, "no matter what they're made of. You can't say that someone doesn't feel — or have rights — simply because they're not like
you
."

"You're wrong." DeKurzak shifted the pistol to point at the woman. "You of all people should agree with what we're trying to do. You and the children, everyone threatened by the revival of creatures like this."

"Come off it," Roads snorted, hoping to divert attention back to him. "You don't really believe that crap, do you?"

"Does it matter?" DeKurzak swung the pistol back. "It's what people will listen to that counts."

"But they're not fools. They know we're not the only people who have Humanity Laws preventing this from happening again — "

"That's irrelevant, and you know it. There was supposed to be an international law in the 2020s forbidding human experimentation, but who paid heed to that when the berserkers were built? Biotechnology is tempting, and the thought of such power will pervert even the greatest of people. Not necessarily someone in the government, maybe an independent operator instead — but it
will
happen. If the capability exists, then it's bound to be exploited."

"Just as you exploited Cati?" Roads broke in, gesturing at the giant killer standing motionless behind him.

"Cati is a tool," DeKurzak said, "a thing, an ugly reminder of the old ways. He exists to be used. If I hadn't used him, then someone else would have."

"But he's not an object," Roads retorted. "He's human like any one of us, under the differences."

"He's
dangerous
," DeKurzak responded.

"Only when used in a dangerous way — which makes you a hypocrite."

"Perhaps it would, yes, if I'd made him myself. But I didn't. And what could be more appropriate than using him against the ones who threaten to revive his kind? An elegant solution, don't you think?"

"You're crazy," burst out Katiya. "And ...
evil
for doing what you've done to us."

"Not at all," DeKurzak replied. "Just doing my job as I see it." He sidestepped to his right, coming around Roads until he stood opposite Katiya. "Kennedy survived the fall of civilisation because it closed itself off from everyone around it. In order to survive, it must maintain that policy a little longer. Yes, I stand to gain by forcing it to do so, but I really only have the city's best wishes at heart."

Roads glanced at Betheras, who had finished strapping the harness into place around Cati's chest and shoulders. What the RUSAMC officer thought of DeKurzak's argument, if he was even listening, didn't show on his face.

"You're a fool if you think you can get away with this, DeKurzak," Roads said.

"Why?" The liaison officer rounded on Roads. "There's a warrant current with your name on it. As an officer of the Mayoralty, I'm arresting you."

"You know what I mean."

"Not at all. I'm in charge of the hunt for the killer. If I can't pin the blame on you, then there are a thousand other ways I can lead the States off-course."

"Someone will catch up with you, sooner or later. Or Cati will be captured, or killed. Where will
that
leave you? No better off than when you started."

"Exactly." DeKurzak took the question seriously, although Roads had intended it only as a gibe. "I've already decided that Cati's usefulness to me is at an end. The time has come to stop edging around the problem and strike right at the heart of it."

"Let me guess," Roads broke in. "Something big: not one target, but many? I'm sure Cati will prove to be as effective at mass-murder as he is at assassination. It'll take days to bring him down, and any evidence of your involvement will be erased along with him."

"Very good." DeKurzak nodded appreciatively.

"That's not fair!" exploded Katiya. "You have no right to use him like that!"

"No?" DeKurzak laughed, unimpressed by the outburst. "He hasn't complained."

"Only because he can't," said Roads.

"Of course. He was built to obey. Without orders, what is he? Nothing! Just an old machine abandoned to rot — that's all." DeKurzak walked around Betheras, and raised a hand to slap Cati across the face. Cati hardly blinked in response, his face as unreadable as ever.

"I have the code," DeKurzak said. "And that gives me the right."

"You have no right to do this!" Katiya gasped, her face twisted with grief. "Why can't you just leave us
alone
?"

"Not an option, I'm afraid." DeKurzak put a hand to his ear. "Now quiet, please. Something's happened." He cocked his head, listening to a voice only he could hear. Betheras likewise stopped his work on Cati; not to listen, but to watch DeKurzak.

"Martin?" Roads subvocalised. "What the hell's going on?"

The voice of O'Dell returned almost immediately: "The Mayor refused to release our people, so General Stedman ordered the control van back into the grounds of Mayor's House. There have been no aggressive moves against it as yet, but the threat is present all the same. What's left of RSD, under Roger Wiggs, has formed a cordon protecting the control van. Our troops are on stand-by to move in if needed."

"Shit." Roads could imagine the scene all too clearly; the tension that had existed for years between the MSA and RSD had finally reached flashpoint, with the RUSAMC acting as a catalyst. Civil war was a very real possibility, with the RUSAMC on hand to pick up the pieces. "Can't they hang on a little longer?"

"That depends on what the Mayor does. If he lets our troops go, then nothing will happen. If he doesn't, though, or tries to attack, it's bound to get nasty."

Roads clenched his jaw muscles. "How far away are you?"

"Very close. Barney will be there in a minute or two."

"Is she listening?"

"Yes, boss," came her voice through the cyberlink bead.

"Good. When I tell you to, turn on your sirens: lights, horns, the works. Give it everything you've got. Until then, keep quiet."

"Understood. We'll wait for your call."

Roads turned his attention back to DeKurzak, who looked as tense as Roads felt.

"How long until you've finished, Sam?" the MSA officer asked Betheras.

"Not long."

DeKurzak scowled. "Well, hurry it up. We need him back at Mayor's House ASAP. Things are coming to a head quicker than we thought."

Roads stared more closely at the harness strapped to Cati's shoulders. It consisted of numerous pouches and pads designed to carry tools and protect vulnerable parts of the body. On Cati, it looked grotesque. A crude version of Betheras' nightsuit lined Cati's legs and arms, probably designed more to confuse enemies than to deceive them. Around his bald head, Betheras had strapped a combat communicator with an eye-feed tugged back over the ear — obviously to imply that he was in communication with superiors elsewhere. The effect of the communicator was to make plainly obvious what Cati already
was:
a combat soldier controlled by others, not a random berserker.

"That's standard-issue equipment," put in O'Dell, studying Roads' close-up zoom by remote. "
Our
equipment."

"I thought it would be," replied Roads, his heart sinking. His apartment had been blown up using RUSAMC explosives; Cati was dressed in a RUSAMC battle-harness. The new enemy DeKurzak needed wasn't just biomodified agents: it was the Reunited States of America Military Corps.

"He's setting us up!" O'Dell's outrage was clear through the cyberlink. "After all the work he put in to 'smooth the way' — "

"Exactly," interrupted Roads, remembering how keen; DeKurzak had been for Roads to catch the Mole. "The backlash will be even stronger, if he can convince people that you're behind Cati
and
the Mole."

"What, and start a war?"

"Only if you won't leave. Most people would be happy just to see you gone. If you're Outside, they don't care what you do."

"Until we came back in force."

"Would Stedman really do that?"

O'Dell was silent for a moment. "I hope not, of course — but if the interventionists have their way — "

"You need Kennedy that badly?"

"Of course. It's only a matter of time before someone takes it. If not us, then the New Mexican Alliance."

"Or good old rot," muttered Roads, although O'Dell's words had prompted a disturbing new thought: of a map of the North American continent with the Reunited States and the New Mexican Alliance to the north and south, and Kennedy midway between them ...

Betheras had fastened the last of the straps around Cati's stomach. By tapping studs on the control-belt one by one, he tested the camouflage system. Strange ripples of ambiguous colour rolled along Cati's limbs, startling the giant.

"You're playing a dangerous game, DeKurzak," Roads said aloud.

"With the lives of powerful friends in the balance, not my own," the MSA officer shot back. "Even if everything does go terribly wrong, I hope to come out of this relatively clean. It's a win-win situation, as far as I'm concerned."

"Perhaps ..." Roads pretended to consider his next words: "But what about me? You hinted that I can help you. In return for what?"

"Your life and a free ticket out of here. Exile, if you like, in exchange for information."

"What sort of information?"

DeKurzak stepped closer, almost within arm's reach. "We need to know the whereabouts of Keith Morrow."

Roads didn't have to feign surprise. "Why?"

"Why do you think? Sam Betheras tells me he's the only one in Kennedy who actually
impacted on
General Stedman. With him on our side, we could not only force the States out of the city, but make sure they never get back in..."

Before Roads could answer, Betheras deactivated the combat harness, stepped back and wiped his hands on his thighs. "Okay, he's ready. It's crude but it should do the job."

"Good." DeKurzak straightened his posture. "Time we were moving — and for a decision, Roads. What's it to be? Your help or your body?"

Roads opened his mouth, then shut it.

"Barney," he subvocalised, "
now
!"

Instantly, the sound of sirens disturbed the stillness of the night, cutting across the surface of the river and to their position on the bridge. The liaison officer backed away, startled, and looked toward the shore.

A string of RSD and RUSAMC vehicles had pulled to a halt at the end of the freeway. Even without magnification, their headlights were clearly visible.

"What the — ?" whispered DeKurzak, backing away to view the sight from the walkway. Betheras stared at the lights with mute shock. Neither man was paying full attention to their captives.

Roads ducked under the line of DeKurzak's pistol and behind Cati. Before DeKurzak could react, he dragged Katiya after him, into the shadow of Cati's bulk, then emerged to grab Betheras about the neck.

The RUSAMC officer hissed and tried to pull away, but Roads tightened his grip.

DeKurzak watched furiously, unable to find a clear line of fire.

"Put down the gun, DeKurzak," Roads warned. "They know everything."

"No. I refuse to believe that. I interrupted PolNet myself; there's no way you could have told them."

"Then why are they here?"

"Chance." DeKurzak raised the barrel of the gun. "Maybe they're after
you
, not me."

Betheras stiffened as DeKurzak aimed the pistol. "No, wait — " he gasped.

Roads pushed the RUSAMC officer towards DeKurzak. They collided, and the pistol cracked loudly. Katiya screamed. Betheras crumpled to the ground. DeKurzak backed away, brushing blood from his clothes. Before Roads could reach cover the gun was on him again.

He froze, cursing his luck. He hadn't expected DeKurzak to shoot Betheras. And from the fleeting look of shock on his face, DeKurzak hadn't expected it, either.

"I don't want any evidence left behind," DeKurzak was saying into the microphone of a small radio transmitter he had pulled out of his pocket. "When RSD arrives, put up a fight and make sure they see you, then throw yourself off the bridge. We don't have time for games any more."

Beside them, Cati nodded.

"Good," the MSA officer continued. "Before you do that, though, there's one other task you have to perform. Roads is a traitor, a threat to the security of the United States of America, and this is his accomplice. I want you to kill them both — Roads first and then the girl. Do it now, before either of them tries anything. Understood?"