The Burn Zone (44 page)

I reached out toward him slowly. He hesitated, glancing over my shoulder at Vamp.

It was a smart move giving it to you,
I sent.
Thanks for keeping it safe. Dragan said you should give it to me now.

He looked unsure, but he held the key out and placed it in my hand. When I curled my fingers around it, he let it go.

“
Bingo,
”
I said over my shoulder.

“
Should I call security?
”
Vamp asked.

“
No, let
’
s search him first. Besides, I want to wait until we
’
re the hell out of here. I don
’
t want them tracking us.
”

They killed her,
he sent.

When I looked back to him, he suddenly looked so lost, so pathetic, that I couldn
’
t help feeling sorry for him. Whoever the kid was, he wasn
’
t some terrorist come to attack us, or anyone else. He was just some kid they grabbed off the street, a patsy who was supposed to go home and never know it was him who wiped out all of his people.

I
know.

He didn
’
t cry, but I could see that was because he was cried out. I remembered the footage on Dragan
’
s wet drive, how the woman
’
s head had sprayed across the floor, and remembered that was the boy
’
s mother.

I
know.
I’
m sorry.
I sighed.
Look, I
’
m sorry it has to play out like this, okay? I know this isn
’
t your fault.

Don
’
t kill us,
he said. His eyes looked hollow, and way too old to belong to such a little boy.
Please. Don
’
t burn us.

No one is going to kill you. It
’
s okay.

I heard them. The invaders are going to make you attack us, to kill us all. Please don
’
t. Please.

I rubbed my eyes.
“
Goddamn it.
”

They were the ones attacking us. Where did this kid get off laying this on me?
All those threats, all the troop
buildups
and suicide bombers.
They attacked us, all the time. They were the ones that started this whole thing.

Please. Please don
’
t.

The kid was maybe eight, though, ten tops. He didn
’
t know about any of that. None of it was his fault.

We want to help you,
he said.

Help us?

Everyone just wants to help you. Please don
’
t kill my family, don
’
t kill my friends, please don
’
t, please.

I chewed my lip.
They won
’
t hurt you. Look, just give me the weapon. We
’
ll get rid of it and nobody gets burned, okay? They won
’
t hurt you.

He shook his head.
I
don
’
t have it.

It could be small. You might not know you have it.

He shook his head again. Could it be he didn
’
t have it at all? That Dragan got him out of
Shiliuyuán
Station before it was ever planted on him? It was tempting to believe, but I wasn
’
t feeling that lucky.

“
Come on,
”
I said, gesturing for him to come out of the room.
“
Come on out. Let
’
s have a look at you.
”

He still looked unsure, but he moved, a little. When I reached for him again, he didn
’
t back away.

“
You can trust me,
”
I said.
“
Come on out.
”

He crept out through the gate and into the light of the kitchenette where I could see more raw patches on his arms. He began digging at one of the spots again, smearing blood.

“
Stop that,
”
I said, taking his wrist.
“
Come on, stop.
”

“
Sam, you
’
ve got the key,
”
Vamp said.
“
What are you doing?
”

“
I just want to see if he has it.
”

Nix moved closer to him and held out his tablet. The field was closed, and the silvery front panel had changed to a view screen. When he passed the tablet in front of
Alexei, I could see his skeleton on the screen along with buttons, zippers ... and that was it. Nix moved the tablet slowly, scanning him top to bottom. There was nothing in any of his pockets.

“
He might have ditched it,
”
Vamp said.

I shook my head.
“
No, Dragan put him in there to isolate him. He must have it on him. Nix, check his stomach.
”

He did, but there was nothing there. It wasn
’
t until he moved the tablet past one of his arms that I caught a flash, and grabbed Nix
’
s wrist to stop him.

“
Wait,
”
I said.
“
There.
”

Nix zoomed in on one of the raw patches of skin where a series of dark spots were scattered like buckshot. They were all down the boy
’
s arms and covered his back. Nix focused the view on one of them and zoomed in even closer.

“
Nix...
”

The dark spots were flies.
Scalefly larva.
They were buried under his skin. The weapon wasn
’
t on him; it was in him.

“
They will emerge soon,
”
Nix said, peering closer.

“
How long?
”

“
In a matter of hours.
”

I looked at the specks. There were thousands of them.
“
Can we ... pick them out?
”

“
Not all of them. Not in time.
”

“
Can we kill them?
”

“
They are very hard to kill. Anything that would do so would kill the boy as well.
”

“
Shit. Shit!
”

“
Sam,
”
Vamp urged.

“
I
’
m thinking,
”
I said.

He leaned close, to whisper in my ear,
“
We might not have a choice.
”

I shrugged him off.

“
Put him back in the hole,
”
Vamp said. When I glared at him, he held up his hands.
“
Just until we can figure out what to—
”

“
Nix, what about if we bring him behind the force field?
”

“
They
’
ll never let a human through.
”

“
This is an emergency, though.
”

“
We may not have time to convince them, and even if we do there
’
s no guarantee we won
’
t deliver him right to Sillith.
”

“
Damn it....
”

Just hand him over,
a voice said in the back of my mind.
Just hand him over to the authorities, and let them do whatever they
’
re going to do. It can
’
t happen here. No matter what else, it can
’
t happen here and with their gate connections they could have him back to his original drop point in minutes....

Or you could just seal him back in the hole and close the gate forever.

I looked back at him. His eyes were wide and frightened. He couldn
’
t understand us, but he knew enough to know that his fate was being decided. I could see the defeat in his eyes, a helpless resignation. Any fight that had been in him was gone.

“
He
’
s coming with us,
”
I said.

Vamp
’
s eyebrows jumped.
“
What?
”

“
We
’
ll take him to
Shiliuyuán
Station,
”
I said.
“
We
’
ve got the key. It
’
s behind the force field, and we won
’
t need permission to—
”

I stopped as Nix
’
s tablet moved past me, and something on the scanner screen caught my eye.

“
Nix, wait,
”
I said, grabbing his wrist. He let me take the tablet from his hand, and I angled it down the front of me, to my own belly.

My mouth dropped open. Perched on my belly was a huge
ticklike
construct, its abdomen sticking out like a
giant egg. Its spindly legs gripped me, and I could see a tube had snaked through into my stomach where a squiggly ball had formed.

“
Sam, what
’
s wrong?
”
Vamp asked.

“
Take the kid over there,
”
I said, pointing.

“
Why?
”

“
Do it!
”

He looked peeved, but he guided Alexei away from us as I grabbed Nix
’
s sleeve.

“
Nix,
”
I said, staring.
“
What the hell is that?
”

I looked around the side of the tablet, down to my belly. There was nothing there, but when I looked back to the screen, there it was again. I began to feel woozy, and when I spoke again my voice cracked.

“
Nix, what the hell is that thing? Is it real?
”

He moved closer to look at the screen.
“
It
’
s real.
”

“
What is it?
”
I whispered. I glanced back at Vamp, who looked away.

“
It
’
s ... an umbilicus,
”
Nix said.

“
A what?
”

“
An umbilicus,
”
he said, moving the screen for a better look.
“
It
’
s sending nutrients to the mass behind it.
”