Warrior Chronicles 5: Warrior's Curse (3 page)

Staring at him for a moment, Kim made a decision. “Do it. I will handle your father.”

“Okay.” George looked at Kimberly for  a moment. “Do you think I have a soul, Mother?”

Kim didn’t hesitate. “You said you love us, so you must. Don’t you think?”

George scooted away from Kimberly and leaned over to put his head in her lap. As she put her hand on his shoulder, he closed his eyes and began to work.

Two

In orbit above Earth, Cort awoke in the
Kalashnikov’s
infirmary. The left side of his face was tingling, a sure sign that the bio-synthetics in his blood were busy rebuilding his face. His neck and the other side of his face also felt as if they were asleep, but it was his left eye socket that actually woke him up. Turning his head to find the source of a noise on that side, a H’uuman doctor looked back at him. The tall, cockroach-like being looked at Cort and shook his antennae in a way that Cort had come to realize was disapproving.

Handing Cort a comm unit and waiting until it was inside Cort’s ear, the bug clicked in his native tongue and the comm unit translated the noise almost instantly. Cort was surprised, because for the first time in all his communication with the species, he only heard the translation.

“General, not only are you very hard to kill, you are incredibly asinine.”

“Thanks, doc. Why don’t I hear clicking?”

“Because you only have one ear right now. Why did you cut your eye out? Do you realize how long it will take it to grow back? You are going to spend months looking like a one-eyed fool. First Queen Heroc led us to believe you were an intelligent human. I fail to share that assessment.”

“How bad am I?”

“Your face will be permanently damaged. The bomb did a very good job of marring you. Your eyesight and hearing will return, and your bone structure will be repaired, but the surface will more resemble how you looked when you first battled the Cuplans.”

The H’uumans and the Cuplans were actually the same species. The three-meter tall insectoids went the by name of their Supreme Leader. At the time Cort fought them, Cupla was their leader. When Cort destroyed their ability to make war, he allowed them one planet to be ruled by a male named H’uum.

One of the captive insectoids, a female named Heroc, had negotiated the treaty that allowed her species to survive. One of the terms of the treaty stipulated that the species never leave their planet without Ares permission. Later, when Heroc became First Queen of the H’uuman Empire, her immediate contribution to the canon of laws that guided H’uuman life was to swear her species’ fealty to Dalek. Cort’s son was pronounced prince and living god to the insects. Heroc’s Law bound her people for ten generations. Very few people knew that her regard for Dalek came from her love for both Kim, who had become her closest friend, and Cort, who had conquered her people, then given them back their honor.

When the Tapon attacked the H’uuman homeworld to abduct Dalek, Heroc died trying to protect the boy. The H’uumans violated the terms of the treaty to help rescue Dalek from the Tapon, and in the course of the rescue, millions of H’uumans died. When he realized the depth of their devotion to his son, Cort released them from the requirements of the agreement and welcomed the H’uumans into the Ares Federation. Their oath to protect Dalek was more binding than any treaty could ever be, so Cort felt they had earned a place as equals. That decision nearly led to another war with the Collaboration of Planets itself.

“What’s your name, Doctor?”

“I am Ceram. I am of Heroc’s final brood.”

“Most of the people under me wouldn’t speak to me as freely as you do, Ceram. It's refreshing. What else is wrong with me?”

Ceram flexed his mandibles into the shape Cort knew to be a smile. “General, you will be fine. Just uglier by human standards. Your ribs are almost healed, as is most of the internal damage. As for the freedom with which I address you, as I said, I am of Heroc’s final brood. I know that which you respect and that which you do not. I will treat you the way she taught me to.”

Cort smiled as well as he could and shook his head. “Damned if that woman isn’t still pushing my buttons. How is Thorn?”

“He too, will be fine. His internal injuries were more extensive, but your FALCON armor protected him from most of the shrapnel created by the blast. His wife is onboard as well. She has asked to see you as soon as you are willing to receive her.”

“In a few hours. I need to speak to Kim first. Who else is here?”

“Admiral Bazal arrived late last night. He is working with his staff to determine who is behind the attack.”

Cort looked down at the tubes feeding synthetics into his system. “How soon can I be up and around?”

Ceram flexed his mandibles again. “Human doctors would tell you several weeks, but I know your history too well. You can get out of bed in a few more hours. I want your ribs to be completely healed before you start walking. Your eye will take months to grow back because of the complexity of its interface with your brain, but the rest of your face will be intact within days. Your hearing should be repaired by the end of today. The ear itself will take at least four days.”

“Any idea what I will look like when I am completely healed?”

Ceram handed Cort a flexpad after touching it several times. The image was of Cort’s right profile. As he manipulated the image, the face turned and Cort saw his left cheek. Like the scar he had borne years ago, there was a line of uneven skin moving from his hairline to his chin. Between the scar and his ear, the skin was marbled as if Cort had been burned.

“I thought skin healed faster, Ceram. Shouldn’t it be fine?”

“Normally, yes. However, the internal injuries were significant enough to cause your synthetics to prioritize the healing process. We could completely remove the skin on that side, and it would heal properly, but you would have to be under my care for several weeks so we could abrade the wounds daily to prevent further scarring.”

“No. Maybe at some point, but not right now. Thanks, Ceram. Will you get me a video unit so I can contact my wife?”

“Of course, General.”

After Ceram left, Cort activated the tachyon comm unit and connected to the H’uuman control system on their homeworld. The system patched him through to Solitude, where Tur, the insectoid who was the leader of Dalek’s security detail and had become a part of the family, handed Kimberly a similar unit. When he saw her face, he could tell she hadn’t slept much, and that she had been crying.

“Hey. You been cutting onions?”

“You look like hell, baby. But it’s better than it was yesterday. You’re lucky Dalek was asleep when that newsvid got here.” Kim’s eyes filled with tears again. “Show me the rest. How bad is it now?”

Cort opened a window on the comm unit that showed his own face, and propped it on his lap. He took the bandages off of his face, and both of them saw the damage for the first time.

Kim appeared to lock her jaw momentarily, then burst out, “Why the hell did you cut your eye off? And why did you do it in front of the press? Do you have any idea what it’s like to watch your husband cut off his own eye? Damn you, Cort! And why can’t I come to you?”

Cort looked at his face while Kim vented. When she finally took a breath he spoke in a calm and reasonable voice. “You know very well why you can’t come here. You’re safer there than you would be anywhere in the galaxy. I’ll be home soon enough. How are the boys?”

“Dalek wants to see your face. He overheard some of the security people discussing the bomb and asked me about it. George is concerned.” Kim looked down for moment, then back at Cort. “I need to tell you something, baby.”

“What is it?”

“It’s George. He loves us. He called you ‘Father’ last night. And me ‘Mother.’ He’s our son, Cort. As sure as Dalek is.”

Cort smiled, causing his face to tingle painfully. “I know that, Kim. To me, he has been since the day Tsao activated the avatar.”

“He understands what is going on, though. More than Dalek. He understands as well as any adult could.”

“What are you hiding, Kim? What does he know?”

“I wasn’t going to tell you, but Bazal commed me this morning and asked what George was doing. Cort, you gave him permission to learn from the datanet. Last night he said he could sift the ‘net and find out who did it, but that you had forbidden him from using his connection that way. I told him to do it anyway and that I would deal with you.”

“Put George on.” Cort demanded.
 

“Cort…” Kim began.
 

“Put him on, Kim. Right now.”

When George’s image was in front of him, with Kim standing behind the boy, Cort said, “George,
Son
, when we first connected to you, I promised you that you didn’t have to do anything but play with Dalek. I wanted you to choose what you do, not be a servant to us. And I don’t like you being a part of this.”

“Father, it’s okay. I told Mother I could do it. She didn’t ask me to. I want to help you. I know I look like Dalek, but I’m older than you are. And smarter. So let me help.”

Cort gave in. “Don’t say anything to Dalek about this, and you have to work with Bazal. And George, if I get the least bit concerned about it you have to stop. Do you understand?”

“Yes, sir.”

“So what have you found out?”

“I know who did it, and I think I know who ordered them to do it, Father.” George looked back at Kimberly and she nodded.

“It’s okay, George. Tell him.”

The boy turned back to Cort. “They did it because of me.”

Cort’s face turned to stone. “They didn’t do it because of you. They did it because they are stupid. Just a minute, George. I’ll be right back.”

He muted the vidscreen and touched his ear. “This is Ares. Send Bazal to me. Immediately.”

When Bazal’s tank moved into Cort’s room, the octopod vocalized, “Hello, Cortland.”

Ignoring the greeting, Cort unmuted George’s image and said, “Tell us everything you know, George.”

A few minutes later, both Cort and Bazal praised George for his work, and after talking to Dalek, Cort disconnected from them. He looked up at Bazal. “Do you think he is right?”

“Yes. It agrees with what we have learned. Of course I cannot be sure until I read their minds, but I believe George is correct. I have touched Franz Glass before, so I can read him easily. Just a moment.”

While Cort waited for Bazal to read the mind of a civilian who was in orbit around Solitude, Doctor Ceram walked in. He looked at Cort and clicked, “Why did you take your bandages off? Infection may not harm you, but it will slow the progress of the synthetics and possibly leave your face more damaged.”

Bazal waited for Ceram to finish redressing Cort’s wounds, then as the medico stepped out of the room he told Cort what he had learned. “George is correct. Franz Glass learned your schedule while on Solitude. He looked at the flexpad of a Marine he was interviewing. He is also a member of the Infinitive Church. Currently he is praying in a ship cabin that he shares with three others. His animosity toward his roommates indicates they are not a part of the conspiracy.”

“What ship is he on?”

“He is aboard the
Terra
at Solitude
.
It is a
freighter
that was commandeered yesterday to evacuate Earth residents from Bergh Station. The ship is in quarantine orbit around the natural moon, Silence.” Bazal touched a flexpad that bent around one inner surface of his tank.

“Who is handling the evacuation?”

“General Rage. He is handling the task admirably, I might add.”

Mike Rage had been relieved of command during the final days of the Tapon war. When Cort found out he was using H’uumans as disposable troops and had never actually trained with them, Cort sent him back to Solitude. Since then, Rage had completely immersed himself in H’uuman culture. The change was remarkable. To some, it seemed as if he had completely abandoned
human
society.

Cort touched his ear and commed Rage. “Mike, send the
Terra
back to Earth. Our subject is there and is a member of the Infinitive Church. They are responsible for the attack. I want our people on the bridge though, to make sure nothing keeps them from getting here. When they arrive, I will be waiting.”