War in Heaven (47 page)

Some other members of their unit had joined them and they had found other stragglers in the caves. Then people on the run from the Black Squadrons came looking for them. All in all, there were about two hundred of them. Mainly infantry, a few support, three tank crews, two of whom actually had tanks, and a self-propelled artillery crew complete with tracked SP gun. They also had almost enough APCs in various states of repair to move everyone if they had to.

It was a lot of mouths to feed. What they’d discovered early on was that if any of them got captured then they were compromised almost immediately. One of their people had gone missing while scouting for supplies. The next thing they knew their
pa
had been hit by a mixed force of NZ colonial regulars backed by the Black Squadrons. They’d only got away after a vicious firefight because they collapsed a tunnel after they’d managed a fighting retreat. Since then they’d been hiding in the deep caves. They moved every couple of weeks or if someone went missing, even if the poor fucker had just got lost. I figured that they were still alive because they weren’t important enough for Rolleston to deal with yet.

The
whanau
knew that Demiurge meant total surveillance in the areas that it controlled. This limited their options and meant that they had very little information about what was going on in the more densely populated areas above their heads. And of course it made getting food very difficult.

They’d managed a few raids for supplies but this wasn’t their kind of war. I didn’t doubt for a second that they were all very good in a stand-up fight, which was what they were trained for, but if the Black Squadrons were going to be fought it would mean using guerrilla tactics. Mechs just aren’t all that useful for that kind of thing.

On the other hand, they had wiped out any Black Squadron types they’d found in the deeper levels. Anyone who came looking for them for reasons other than joining was also killed. There was a problem with this tactic, however, a more concentrated form of what I’d been feeling. Anyone of us would kill Rolleston, Cronin or the Grey Lady as soon as look at them. The same went for any of the Themtech-enhanced arse-lickers here, but most of the soldiers were just normal draftees trying to stay alive. I didn’t like the idea of killing them but it was abstract for me. If some poor bastard was pointing an assault rifle at me it was always going to be him in the him-or-me stakes. The people here would know some of the guys they’d have to shoot. They’d recognised some of the people who’d attacked their
pa
with the Black Squadrons. The rest of the forces on Lalande and in the colonies would buy Cronin’s story – there was no real reason not to. That meant that they’d think that these guys, and us, were the bad guys. Not just the bad guys but species traitors who’d sold out all of mankind. Come to that, I was a bit worried about what would happen when the
whanau
saw through our disguise and realised that we were the people who’d released God into the net.

‘How come you just didn’t do as you were told? Make things easy on yourselves?’ I asked.

We were sitting in a circle next to the FAVs trying to make sure nobody nicked the rest of our stuff. Cat was actually on guard but she was still close enough to the conversation to join in if she wanted. Mother, Tailgunner, Dog Face and Big Henry were facing us over a camp stove. We were attempting to eat, but the sulphurous atmosphere made everything taste like farts to me. It didn’t seem to bother Merle. He was wolfing his food down.

Strange was standing just outside the circle we’d formed, in shadow between the pools of light provided by two of the portable lamps. Each of us was taking it in turns to be stared at by the girl. It was disconcerting. This wasn’t someone trying to be odd for the sake of it, or for effect like Mudge; this was someone who was damaged in some way. I noticed that Morag was spending a lot of time looking back at her.

‘We’re not very good at doing what we’re told,’ Dog Face growled. I think he was rueing the mess they found themselves in. I knew how he felt.

‘Why were all your mechs’ comms shut down?’ Pagan asked.

I watched them glance between each other uncomfortably. There was obviously something there that they didn’t want to talk about.

‘We were warned,’ Tailgunner finally said.

‘By who?’ I asked.

They didn’t answer. Close to starving or not, we couldn’t strong-arm these people. Normally I’d have been pissed off – after all we were all in the same shit – but I could see their point of view. This was a huge risk for them. For all they knew, we were the bad guys and the rest of our Freedom Squadron friends were on their way. We’d have to work for their trust.

‘We’re the ones,’ Morag said. Mother, Tailgunner and the others turned to look at her, confused. ‘We put God into the net. She’s not a Them virus; she just tells the truth.’

Merle was shaking his head and looking pissed off. Pagan turned to her but she ignored him. Mudge was grinning. Instead of earning their trust we could just make grandiose gestures, I thought. Morag may have been talking to Mother, Tailgunner, Dog Face and Big Henry but she was looking at Strange.

‘Have you got any vodka?’ I asked Mudge as what Morag had said started to sink in with our hosts.

‘What am I, your own personal off-licence?’ Mudge demanded.

‘I’m not wasting good whisky in this shit-for-atmosphere.’

To give Mudge his credit he went and got a bottle. He’d probably jumped with it and humped it all over hell’s creation.

Tailgunner and Mother were both still thinking it over. Mother didn’t look happy.

‘I thought you looked familiar. Changed your looks before you got here?’ she asked.

Morag nodded. Though that had been a waste of time if we were just going to tell everyone, I thought.

Dog Face was the first to get angry. ‘This is your fucking fault?’ he growled.

‘Yep,’ Mudge said proudly as he opened the bottle, took a swig and passed it to me. I passed it to Mother. She looked at it as if I was offering her a knife point-first but took it, wiped the top and took a swig before passing it to Tailgunner.

‘We may as well tell them everything,’ Morag said. There was resolve in her voice.

‘And if they’re the bad guys?’ Cat asked from behind us.

‘Hey, fuck you!’ Dog Face spat.

‘She’ll spank you again,’ Mudge said, presumably because he’d seen an opportunity to start an argument.

‘Like he spanked you. Shut up, Mudge,’ I told him.

Dog Face looked like he was about to say something as well, but Mother glanced over and he lapsed into irritable silence.

‘They’re not the bad guys,’ Morag said with conviction.

‘Hooker’s intuition?’ I asked.

Morag smiled. We’d run on her intuition for a while when we’d had nothing else.

‘You’re a hooker?’ Big Henry asked hopefully. ‘We like hookers.’

‘Sorry, darling. I’m retired.’ Then to the rest of us: ‘Bad guys live better than this. We know that.’

There was an almost childish logic to it. I was also convinced she was correct.

‘She’s right,’ Merle said. ‘These aren’t the bad guys. Bad guys know what they’re doing.’

‘Why don’t you go and fuck yourself, you arrogant prick!’ Dog Face had moved into a crouch. He looked every inch the angry war dog. He didn’t remind me so much of the Vucari as the cyber-enhanced Tosa-Inus the Cossacks had run with.

‘Put him on a leash or I will,’ Merle said.

I’d noticed him shift slightly. He was ready. Something bad was going to happen if Dog Face went for him. I felt rather than heard Cat move behind me, ready to help her brother. I think Mother noticed as well.

‘Dog Face, take it easy,’ Mother said in a tone that brooked no argument.

Big Henry took his angry brother-mech-pilot’s arm. Dog Face’s head turned to look at him. Big Henry nodded.

‘And you,’ Mother said to Merle. ‘You don’t like what we’re doing here then you can leave your supplies and fuck off.’

The others watched, waiting for Merle’s response. Tailgunner was particularly tense. He was giving Merle the hard stare. I almost wanted something to kick off. I was interested to see who’d win.

‘Does everyone with a penis want to fuck off so we can actually accomplish something?’ Morag asked.

I smiled. Behind me I could hear Cat laugh.

‘She was being just as macho,’ Mudge complained, nodding at Mother.

‘Mother may well have a penis,’ Big Henry said. ‘That’s why Tailgunner likes her so much.’

More smiles, less tension.

‘You can go with him if you want,’ Mother said deadpan.

‘All right. None of us are diplomats—’ I started.

‘I am,’ Mudge interrupted inevitably.

‘We don’t know each other so nobody wants to give,’ I continued, ignoring Mudge. ‘So let’s just try for an exchange of information and see where that gets us?’

‘I wasn’t trying to denigrate what you’ve done here,’ Merle started. ‘How could you know what was going to happen and prepare for it? This is not your kind of war.’

‘So what? You going to save us?’ Dog Face spat.

Merle ignored him. ‘My point was, we tell them and that’s more people who know. They get caught, we get compromised.’ Then he turned to Mother. ‘Unless you’re prepared to kill any of your people who get captured, or yourself if that happens.’ Merle had turned his intense brown eyes on her. The Maori woman didn’t flinch. She didn’t answer either. ‘No, of course not, because you care for these people. You want to see them safe through the war, don’t you? Admirable but fucking dangerous to us.’

‘Fine,’ Mother said tightly. ‘Then like I said, leave your supplies and fuck off.’

Dog Face was nodding. Merle turned to me. ‘They’ve got no useful intel. We’ve done the hearts and minds thing at the expense of our own supplies. We need to move on.’

He was right. I knew he was right. These were clearly good people, clearly capable at what they did, but they’d drag us down. They should have split into smaller groups and either hidden or fought in cells.

I didn’t even see the girl come out of the darkness. I hadn’t been paying attention and I’d not sensed her move. She was suddenly next to Merle and her hand slashed out at his face. I saw the sliver of metal reflected in the light. She had a small curved blade sticking out of the bottom of her fist. Merle caught the girl’s wrist. Despite her black plastic eyes I caught the look of panic on her face.

‘Strange!’ Mother shouted.

She must have realised what sort of person Merle was and that the damaged girl was courting death. Merle wasn’t quite quick enough to catch Strange’s other wrist. She drew a thin line of red down his cheek with the blade in her other fist.

I felt the FAV I was leaning against rock as Cat came off it. Strange screamed as Merle trapped her other wrist, disarmed her and put her into a painful-looking hold. I could see panic building in Strange as she struggled against him. Enthusiasm and sneakiness is rarely a match for actual skill. Mudge had his pistol in his hand. He didn’t look quite sure what to do with it. Pagan had pushed himself back. I don’t know why I didn’t move, why I didn’t do something.

‘Let her go,’ Tailgunner said. There was impending violence in his voice but something else as well. Tension.

Strange was freaking out. Struggling like a trapped animal. Tailgunner, Mother, Big Henry and Dog Face were on their feet. They didn’t care who we were, that some of us had guns in our hands, in Cat’s case a railgun; they were ready to go at us.

‘Let her go,’ I said.

Merle looked like he was going to object. Not unreasonably; he had just been slashed.

‘Now,’ I said in my best don’t-fuck-with-me NCO voice.

He looked like he was ready to tell me to fuck off but released her. Strange rolled away from him and onto her feet and hissed before backing into the shadows again, crouching like a predatory beast.

When I glanced over at Morag she was smiling. I couldn’t make out why. Maybe she liked what Strange had done. That worried me. I tried to catch her eye but either she didn’t see my look or she chose to ignore it.

‘She comes near me with a blade again, I’ll put it in her. At best,’ Merle said.

He was dabbing at the cut. Looking at the blood on his fingertips. I think he was more surprised than anything else.

‘You ever touch her—’ Tailgunner started.

‘Hey!’ I said. He looked round at me. ‘That’s a reasonable response. You don’t want her hurt, keep her under control.’

I got the feeling Tailgunner was a reasonable guy but that Strange was a weak spot for him. I also think he wasn’t used to people speaking to him the way I had. I could take him, I told myself. I almost believed it as well. Unless he had more motivation than I did. Still angry, he opened his mouth to say something else, issue another threat.

‘Enough,’ Mother said quietly and sat down.

Big Henry and Dog Face were looking at her. I think they’d expected another resolution to the situation.

‘You know what would be nice?’ Mudge said.

‘A conversation without knives, guns and potential violence?’ Pagan suggested.

Mudge nodded. I looked at him incredulously.