Critical Path (The Critical Series Book2) (18 page)

Layla and Maria looked at each other and shrugged. Khan fell to his knees almost instantly, sickening Gregor with his lack of backbone.

“Well?” Layla said, catching Gregor’s eye.

Ignoring her, Gregor spoke directly to Aimee. “I will never kneel to the likes of you. Screw you and your town of inbreds and crossbreeds. I’ll see to it that this place burns to the ground like the damned alien ships.”

Layla and Maria sighed.

Without showing her irritation, Aimee simply said, “Fine. Augustus, you can have some company under your house arrest. Consider this one your pet. Now get out of my sight, both of you.”

Baliska seized Augustus by the shoulders and pushed him away from the steps and toward the maze of streets. A human and two croatoans pulled Gregor away from the others and dragged him kicking and screaming in the same direction.

Gregor yelled a string of obscenities at Aimee and struggled to escape, but the aliens and humans were too strong for him.

His heart pounded with a furious, impotent rage. But after a moment of realization, he just let them drag him away as he watched Layla and Maria drop to one knee.

“Cowards!” he yelled. “Treacherous cowards!”

The guards hauled him through the streets until he could no longer see the others.

Five minutes more struggle and he found himself taken through a dark basement-like room and thrown into what looked like an office. Two of the guards shackled him with manacles before Augustus was thrown into the room also.

“What?” Gregor asked. “He doesn’t get manacles?”

Augustus and one of the human guards smiled before the guard closed and locked the door.

“He’s one of mine,” Augustus said, nodding to the door. “You don’t think I wouldn’t have a contingency, do you?”

***

Maria looked up from her kneeled position at this woman who seemed to hold all the power in this town. Aimee approached her and Layla.

“I’m sorry,” she said, “for the way things had to happen just then. We’ve worked hard to build this sanctuary and coexist. I’m sure you can understand my desire for it to remain a safe and secure place for its residents.”

“I can,” Maria said.

“Please, both of you stand; we can work something out,” Aimee said, indicating for the two of them to stand.

Khan behind them also stood and remained quiet, observing the scene around him. Maria wondered what he was thinking.

Since they were captured, he’d barely said a word, making Maria think that he was having second thoughts about allying himself with Maria, Layla and the others. He never really seemed to gel with the group.

“So what now?” Layla prompted.

“For newcomers, I always give them two choices,” Aimee said. “You’re welcome to stay with us and take up a job. We’ll discuss your skills and what you can offer, and we’ll find you a place within our home. If that doesn’t appeal, then I’m afraid we don’t tolerate tourists. You’ll be escorted away and will not be welcomed back in the future. We value our safety here highly.”

Maria didn’t need to be reminded of that after seeing the video of the battle with the other croatoans.

The Unity fighters defended themselves with a rabid fervor.

Maria turned to Layla. “I don’t know about you, but I have no desire to stay.”

“Me neither,” Layla said, adding, “but a part of me is fascinated by this place. The dynamics between the humans and croatoans is something I’d love to study, but I understand the situation.”

“But what about Charlie and Denver?” Maria said to Aimee. “The men who—”

“I know who they are,” Aimee replied. “They’ve… decided to stay for a while. They’re helping me, well, all of us, with an engineering problem. They’re perfectly safe, I can assure you.”

“I want to see them before we leave,” Layla added with a steely tone to her voice. “I’m sure you can understand my concern for my friends.”

Aimee inclined her head in agreement.

She turned to a pair of croatoan guards behind the group and requested that they escort Maria and Layla to Charlie and Denver’s new accommodation.

Before they were taken away, Aimee added, “Perhaps once you’ve spoken to your friends, you will change your mind about your decision and decide to stay after all.”

Maria just nodded, sure she didn’t want to stay, but now intrigued as to what she had promised Charlie and Denver. She couldn’t imagine those two being happy to stay behind in a town full of aliens. They’d shown no liking of them in the past, nor was tolerance high on their agenda.

Layla looked equally confused as they were led away. She shot Maria a quizzical look. Maria just shrugged her shoulders.

As the aliens led them across the settlement, Maria looked back to see Khan step close to Aimee. “I wonder what he’s decided?”

“I’m sure we’ll find out,” Layla replied. “He’s difficult to read.”

“Perhaps he’s just spent too much time surviving on his own. This might be strange for him.”

“Perhaps,” Layla said.

They fell quiet and continued their march through the narrow streets, heading for a series of shanty huts perched on the steps of the settlement’s high sides.

***

Khan waited until Maria and Layla were out of earshot.

He stepped forward to Aimee. Two human guards and a remaining alien gathered around him, protecting their leader, but she waved them off and encouraged him closer.

“You heard the offer,” she said.

“I did.”

“And what’s your answer? Do you want to stay with us or leave us?”

“It depends,” Khan said, leaning a little closer. “It depends on what jobs you have. I have a unique set of skills that I’ve trained over the years as I’ve survived in the woods, watching all this fighting going on, avoiding the attentions of both human and alien alike. If I stay, I don’t want to be a farmer or a blacksmith or some other dull job.”

Aimee raised an eyebrow. “Oh? So what is it you would like to do for us here?”

“For you,” he corrected. “It seems to me a woman in your position is likely to have a number of enemies. All human colonies have people with differing ideas. That can cause a number of resentments and plots.”

“I’m well stocked in the protection area,” she said.

“I’m not talking specifically about protection,” Khan said. “I’m talking about offense. You must have opposition or detractors who you would like to see… neutralized. I can do that. I have a way of going unseen. It’s surprising how much information one is privy too when people only see an average man.”

Leaning in closer and bringing her voice down so only Khan could hear, she said, “You’re hired. You start work this evening. I have an objective for you.”

“Very well,” Khan said with a smile on his face.

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

Thick gray clouds conspired to smudge away most of the sky’s orange tint.

A rumble of thunder cracked overhead. Charlie stood under Augustus’ cabin porch, hands on hips, and surveyed the rooftops of Unity.

For the first time in weeks, rain started to fall. A good sign the planet was starting its recovery from the croatoans’ early stages of terraforming .

From the elevated position of the third step, he could see the whole town: the arena where he fought, the ludus, Aimee’s imposing residence, and the maze of scruffy houses and workshops crowding around the main dirt road.

Charlie gazed at the croatoan vessel poking out of the sinkhole between the steps and the town and thought about the plan. He felt responsible. Not for this vile hybrid place, but for the remaining human survivors and the planet destroyer perhaps already on course for Earth with orders for its destruction.

He had sacrificed himself once and felt this was a kind of a blessing. He had another chance to help his people, his planet.

Denver leaned on a wooden fence surrounding the porch. He stared toward the crops and root on the opposite steps with a look of disbelief.

“Where are the others? Are they okay?” Charlie said.

“They should be at a safe distance. I might slip away tonight to warn them off, and yeah, Gregor survived.”

“That’s a shame about Gregor, but they’ll figure something out. We need to stay here for now. If we try to leave, we’ll have to fight our way out. We can’t destabilize things as they are right now.”

“I know,” Denver said with resignation in his voice. Charlie could tell he was holding something back. Growing up, Charlie hadn’t really taught him how to express his emotions—mostly because Charlie couldn’t do that either. When he found Pippa’s body, her head smashed with a rock, he retreated within himself because if he let out what he felt, he knew he would crumble, and he had to be strong, for Denver, Mike, Mai, and the other survivors from that time.

It didn’t stop him from hurting inside, though. Didn’t stop him from wanting to confide in someone that even he, the great survivor Charlie Jackson, was tired and scared.

Charlie sidled up to his side and gripped his shoulder, squeezing understanding and love into him, knowing the kid was hurting and scared but too stubborn to show it.

Denver gave Charlie a quick nod and a smile, and suddenly the hurt on his face was no longer buried deep somewhere inside. “I still can’t believe we’re going in one of their ships. Are you sure Aimee’s telling the truth?” Denver said, changing the unspoken subject.

“I’m almost certain. Hagellan, the creature who ran the Earth program, gave her the information—”

Denver’s features twisted into a grimace. “Seriously? We should kill him for what he’s done. Why are you even considering helping?”

Charlie sighed. “Don’t think I haven’t been tempted, son. But bigger things are at stake. It appears that the croatoan standard mode of operation for troublesome planets is to annihilate them. If the alien bastard is lying and tries to contact its fleet or whatever, remember, we’ll be the ones with the bomb. We just watch our backs. I don’t trust them, but we can’t risk not doing it.”

“You’re right. There’s no way we can trust them alone with a working craft and a bomb,” Denver said. “We have to go—even if it is some kind of trap.”

Denver’s quick logic impressed Charlie. Charlie had wrestled with the decision, letting history cloud his own judgment, but Denver saw it as instantly black or white. Charlie wondered if complacency had slipped into his own thinking. Stripping all emotion out of the decision made the choice obvious. Den had a knack of doing that—but was that healthy? Sometimes decisions needed that nuance, the third choice from the gray area. Although in this situation, he and his son were on the same page. He just hoped the others, wherever they were, would understand.

The rain pelted down, drumming loudly against the porch roof and forming puddles on the muddy ground outside. The guard who accompanied them dropped his root cigarette and twisted it into the mud with his boot. He turned and approached the cabin.

Charlie lowered his voice. “Don’t talk about this to anyone. Not even the guard. There’s division in this town, and we don’t know who might take an exception.”

The guard thumped up the three wooden steps leading to the porch and stood facing Charlie. He ruffled his mousy hair and wiped his hands on his dark blue woolly sweater. “I saw your fight in the arena. Nice move. He wasn’t expecting that.”

“Fight in the arena?” Denver said, looking slightly confused.

“Long story, son. I’ll tell you later,” Charlie replied. He turned to the guard. “You mean it wasn’t expecting that?”

The guard gripped his rifle, still slung, as if in warning. “Listen, old man. We’re an integrated community. If you know of anything better out there, with food, water and security, why don’t you tell me? Because I sure as shit haven’t seen anything else. In this town the aliens are he and she, not it. There’s mutual respect here.”

Charlie stepped forward. “If you call me old man again, you’ll be picking up your teeth with a broken arm. Now, let’s do this the civil way, shall we, since you’re all about respect. I’m Charlie Jackson, and this is my son, Denver. What’s your name, boy?”

“Ryan, and I’m not a boy,” he said, eyeing Charlie up and down for a brief moment before his grip relaxed away from his rifle. “Is it true about the alien ships, that they were gonna change Earth’s atmosphere? One of the guys at the tavern reckons Augustus made it up for dramatic effect.”

The mention of Augustus made Charlie’s skin crawl. “It’s true about the ships, and Augustus was well involved, trying to change our planet and kill every human, including you. If your town wants long-term security, you should make killing that bastard your number one priority.”

“Most of the town hates him.” Ryan shrugged. “But he pays people off with stuff that we don’t have access to. Preinvasion alcohol, equipment brought from the south, books, stuff like that.”

“He’s just scavenging on a hover-bike. You can find that stuff in most of the cities,” Denver said. “There’s a lot out there—it’s a big world outside of this place.”

“I’ve never been out of Unity,” Ryan said with a hint of melancholy.

“What about your parents?” Charlie said. “Didn’t they teach you anything?”

Ryan shook his head. “They died when I was young. A cholera outbreak wiped out fifty percent of Unity in its early days when we were first cut off from all the fighting.”

Charlie tried to imagine Ryan’s mentality. Everything here would seem normal. The arena, ghosts from the past, running the town and croatoans. Charlie’s old world would be like an alien world to him. Ryan had never surfed the net, played on a computer, or spoke on a cell. His idea of working technology would be hover-bikes, tracking beads, and that damned alien rifle he slung over his shoulder, rather than the broken old parts of Charlie’s former world.

A metal wind chime attached to the porch’s roof tinkled in the growing wind.

“I’m starving. Are you two coming in?” Charlie said.

“My orders are to stay outside,” Ryan said “You could always bring me something… if that’s okay? We’re on rations these days while the council agrees on new crop yields.”

“Suit yourself,” Denver said. “I’ll see if I can rustle you up a hot drink.”

Denver disappeared inside, and Charlie followed him into the living area. The place smelled like a rabbit hutch.