Seeds of Earth (46 page)

'What?'

'Ah, Major, not caught you at a bad time, have I?
A relaxed, confident voice speaking vaguely Russian inflected Noranglic. Silent since that bomb went off in Founders Square, it was Kuros's catspaw, the agent provocateur, the assassin. 'What do you want?'

'To
congratulate you, Major. It was breathtaking the way that you snatched Horst out from under the Brolturans' noses. I wonder what you will do with him - personally, I recommend execution.'

'Do you, now?'

'He is a traitor to Earth, Major, to Humanity. For decades, he and others like him have turned our race into fawning, deluded minions of the Hegemony and brought us down to the level of lesser species'

'Ah, the racial purity angle again - you're reliable in your obsessions.'

'Indeed I am, Major. The Free Darien Faction is obsessed with striking at those who obstruct our purpose - you've removed our primary target so we can now go after our secondary one, High Monitor Kuros.'

Theo laughed. 'Still serving up that FDF dreck, son? Well, it so happens that I know that you're nothing but a saboteur-goon for Kuros, or someone close to him, so spare me the fake rebel defiance . . .'

'How sad - seems that their psyops have got to you somehow, Major . . .'

'What's got to me is what I've seen, you know, at the Brolturan ambassador's arrival? Remember the ringer you slipped into Kuros's DVC escort? The firefight and the grenade going off, enough smoke and confusion so your man could do a quick-change and return to the scene as an Ezgara? I've seen it. . .'

'Purest fantasy, Major.'

'You're wasting your breath -1 know what I saw.'

'It's futile to try persuading someone as thoroughly hoodwinked as yourself, but I do have two little bits of information that might be helpful to you. First you should be aware that early this morning the Brolturans issued a Decree of Arrest in your name, quickly followed by a similar warrant put out by Hammergard Police.'

'No surprise - it was bound to happen,' Theo said. 'Sorry, you'll have to try harder.'

'All right, Major, then how about this? Half an hour ago, a section of DVC intelligence called KS arrested your sister and took her to their offices at the Assembly buildings. So you need to ask yourself why I would tell you this if I am your enemy.''

Before Theo could respond the line went dead. He glared at the mute comm.

'Because you want me to hurry over to Hammergard and straight into a trap, you
lausungeV

But that didn't stop it having the ring of authenticity, especially if Theo was now a wanted man. He knew that was almost certainly true, and not just about himself - last night, as they were leaving Giant's Shoulder by the forest path (after the visiting Brolturan troops kept them down in that stone tomb for over four hours), he had warned Rory, Barney and the Firmanov brothers that by then law enforcement would have all their descriptions and that lying low was the only sane course of action. Rory was to take Barney north to Bessonov's cabin outside of High Lochiel, then head back to Hammergard; the Firmanovs were to pick up a van full of supplies from a garage near Landfall and drive to meet Rory at the cabin. After Horst had been vanished by whatever the hell it was that lurked in that chamber, comm calls had been made, plans were put into effect and certain Diehards moved out under cover of night.

Meanwhile, Theo was heading for Hammergard anyway, because come what may he had to get to Sundstrom to explain what had happened to Horst and to find out what their next move would be. Any comm calls into the Assembly or the president's villa would be subject to intense surveillance, so it would have to be face-to-face, and Sundstrom would also have to explain why Solvjeg had been arrested.

He skirted the tannery with its algae-surfaced ponds and filtration root arrays, and about a mile further on found the cove. An elderly, weather-beaten man in a heavy, dark-blue mariner's coat was sitting at the wheel of a battered spinnervan. Passwords were exchanged, Theo climbed in and they were soon on the road to Hammergard. The stern-looking older man spoke Noranglic with a pronounced Norge accent, even though his name was Sergei. He was also taciturn to a fault, and Theo get very little out of him during the halfhour drive, yet when they reached his cottage on a rounded ridge overlooking the loch, his hospitality was unstinting. After a hot shower and a change of clothing, there was a tasty meal of baked fish and vegetables, set off by a generous glass of rum and ginger wine that left Theo with a sense of well-being that he had not felt for some time.

Then, as he was readying himself to leave, Sergei faced him, his features as stern as before, and said:

'Kick them off our world, Major, those Sendrukan
gaduki
- send them to hell!'

He gripped Theo in a bonecrushing handshake before they parted, Theo following the road till he reached a main junction. There he caught a spinnerbus that was bound for the city centre. He was dressed in a long shabby coat over a chunky woollen pullover and tough work trousers tucked into thick wool socks. The coat and trousers had been streaked and splattered with mud, which also clung to the field boots he was wearing. He also had on a dusty, soft-brimmed hat and a pair of small round spectacles with plain glass instead of lenses. The entire ensemble was far removed from his usual attire and would hopefully allow him to get as far as one of the Assembly building entrances. Once there, he would have one of the couriers take a message to a particular admin warden who was a Diehard associate she had already agreed to get Theo past the stringent security and up to a storeroom near the president's offices. Then she would act as a go-between to arrange a meeting.

Sundstrom did not know that Theo was coming, but Theo knew that he would be there - ever since the announcement of Horst's Decree of Arrest, and subsequent disappearance, the president and his cabinet had been in almost continuous emergency session and keeping the Assembly informed of all developments. The last vee news he saw before leaving Sergei's had said that the remaining ministers were rushing back to Hammergard to attend. And knowing Sundstrom, Theo guessed that he would probably have several reporters close to hand.

From the bus window he saw Earthsphere marines and DVC troopers out on joint patrols in twos and fours, some walking, some in military spinner-carriers.

These sightings became more frequent the closer he got to Founders Square. When the bus stopped near a small park, he dismounted and continued on foot, his natural caution heightened by that call from the FDF saboteur.

He was striding up Stefanovich Street, one of the main roads into the square, and had just passed a long row of flower sellers when his comm rang twice and stopped, the alert for a voice note. He took it out, hit the retrieve and held it up to listen.

'Theo, this is Donny - as soon as you hear this message, shut off your comm, take out the battery, then head for cover, get'out of sight.'

The message ended. It had sounded like Donny and it was his style. Heart racing, he suppressed the urge to look around him, calmly put the comm in his pocket and one-handed switched it off. Then he managed to slide off the rear panel and pry out the battery. At the same time he had stopped to look at some of the buckets of flowers and made his way back along past the stalls to an alleyway with lots of arched side passages. After following a twisty route involving a couple of double-backs and plenty of scoping ahead and behind, he ended up in a doorway down a side road that led into the square. The main entrance to the Assembly faced onto Founders Square, with the Reconciliation Memorial, the tree-shaded grassy plots, the stone benches, and at the far side the zeplin terminal. The wreckage of the mooring towers had been removed, and canvas-hung scaffolding now stood all around the terminal building while the sound of jackhammers and saws came clearly to Theo's ears.

He breathed in deep, gathering his determination.

There was a secondary entrance round the corner, an ordinary-looking doorway with a sign saying 'Electoral Registrar' but which also gave access to the ground-floor public corridors. Theo stepped out of the doorway but paused when he heard running footsteps approaching from behind. Casually he leaned back against the building, a large store called Sachnussem's, and glanced round to see Donny Barbour hurrying towards him. Warily, Theo faced him and nodded.

'Ye can't go in there, Theo. They've turned your contact, got her kids hidden away to get her cooperation.'

Theo swore. 'Who's got them?'

'Same ones that picked up yer sister, this K5 mob they're a deep-cover intel unit but their commanding officer has supposedly gone stealth and is issuing orders to his operatives. We're assuming that the CO and maybe some of his people are now working for Kuros, but we've no proof, so the chief of DVC intelligence is allowing the K5 agents who arrested her to carry out the interrogation . ..'

'So help me, Donny, if she's harmed I will kill them!'

'Calm yerself, man - she was only brought in less than an hour ago. Sundstrom knows about this and he's doing all he can to get her released, but you being under suspicion in the matter of Ambassador Horst isna helping!'

Theo shook his head, almost snarling with rage and frustration.

'So what was all that with the comm?' he said.

'DVC intelligence got hold of your comm's signal ID this morning and they've been listening out for it. Their tracking is pretty rudimentary but the Brolturans' isn't -

I was told that it would be possible for someone to use the comm-hub network to locate a particular comm, as long as the battery's in and it's switched on.'

'Okay, so what is the next move?' Theo said. 'I'm not leaving Solvjeg in there ...'

'First things first,' Donny said. 'Where's Horst? Is he all right?'

Theo gritted his teeth, ran his fingers through his hair, grasping a handful for a second.
How the hell am I going to tell this tale}

'The truth is that I don't know.'

Donny gave him a hard look. 'You're the one that got him away from Gangradur Falls just yesterday - how come ye don't know where he is?'

T know the last place I saw him.'

'Which was where?'

'A secret chamber under the temple on Giant's Shoulder,' Theo said, and gave him a condensed account of what he had witnessed last night in that cold, black vault. Wearing a frown of concentration Donny listened closely and, to Theo's surprise, became neither angry nor derisory. Instead, he nodded thoughtfully.

'Sundstrom once said that the Uvovo were making their own plans for resistance,' he said. 'Wonder if that was what he meant. . .'

'Well that is exactly what happened. Just speak with my nephew Greg, and he'll confirm it all.'

'Aye, well, there's a thing,' Donny said, suddenly sombre. 'A short while before I found you I got a message saying that K5 has arrested Greg Cameron and they're bringing him to Hammergard by zeplin.'

Theo bowed his head a little, feeling the weight of events.
My family,
he thought.
I've put them it. danger . . .

Then he realised something and snapped his fingers.

'By zeplin . .. that means they'll have to tie up at Northeast Fields and come the rest of the way by road. Can I borrow your comm?'

Donny regarded him a moment. 'You thinking of putting yer Diehards up against K5? - wouldna recommend it, they're hard cases, each and every one.'

'My men know what's at stake,' Theo said, holding out his hand. Donny give him his comm, a slim, grey functional model, and Theo punched in Rory's number,

'Aye, who ur
youT

'Rory, it's me.'

'Jeez, Major, caught me by surprise, there - didna recognise the number . . .'

'Where are you, Rory, and who's with you?'

'I'm at Maclean's wee place on the coast road, just outside the city, and there's Janssen, Ivanov, Henriksen. Mad Davey, and Nikolai and Barney're here, too.'

'They're supposed to be at Bessonov's ...'

'Aye, Major, but the cabin got raided last night - cops and some hard-looking milint types hangin' around by the time we got there so we scarpered.'

'Okay, I need you to get across town to Northeast Fields - Greg Cameron's being brought in under armed guard and I want you to take down the escort and get him safely out of the city.'

'Right, sir, what are we up against?'

Theo looked at Donny. 'How many guards and what will they be carrying?'

'Shouldn't be more than four,' said Donny. 'Sidearms."

Theo relayed that, adding, 'And these are welltrained field agents, Rory - they won't be a pushover.'

'That's a'right, Major - me and the boys like a wee bit ae' a challenge now and then.'

'Fine - and don't take Barney unless he's happy with the idea of being shot at!'

'Right - we're on our way.'

'Good hunting,' Theo said, then closed the comm and handed it back.

'I hope you know what your doing,' Donny said. 'Now, are you still set on trying to get your sister?'

'Yes - are you going to help me? I'll make the attempt on my own otherwise.'

Donny squeezed his eyes shut for a moment, as if at a stabbing headache. 'I must be off ma head,' he said, opening his eyes to stare at Theo. "Cos ye know what? I
am
going to help ye, though God knows it's going to be risky.' He nodded towards the square. 'This way.'

'I thought the ordinary detention rooms were in a sublevel of the main building,' Theo said, realising that they were heading across the square towards the Assembly annexe on the east side, where the Defence Ministry had its offices.

'Aye, but there's a far better chance of me getting you past security at the civilian staff entrance ...' He slowed and cocked his head. 'Do you hear that?'

Theo heard nothing for a second. There was a sound like a high-pitched whine that grew suddenly into a loud, roaring rush which terminated in a deafening crash as something struck the front of the main Assembly building and exploded. Fire blossomed, the frontage near the top floors broke apart and debris flew ... a missile of some sort, he realised amid the cacophony. The impact of the noise and the abrupt, violent destruction stunned his senses and he would have stumbled and fallen had not Donny caught his arm and dragged him onward.