“Every group has its leaders. That’s who we target.”
David had his boots up on a desk. His air of insouciance was at odds with the gravity of his words. The rest of their cell sat in other places in the abandoned office. Colin was sitting in a chair turned backward, his arms crossed against the top of the back for support.
“That’s not funny,” Colin said.
“I’m not joking,” David said. “Have you looked outside lately?”
Colin glanced toward the window. Snow was falling again, a white curtain fluttering against the cityscape. Huge chunks of the city were dark. They had always called New York the City That Never Sleeps. Unfortunately, this wasn’t just a nap. These were death throes, and they were becoming increasingly violent with every passing day.
“I’ve seen. I know things are bad,” Colin said.
“Every day there’s rioting. Worse, even. People getting dragged into the streets and burned alive because they might be carrying the virus. Lunatics dressing up in costumes and beating people senseless. It’s a madhouse.”
“So, your solution is to just start killing people?” Colin said sharply.
“Not randomly. I’m saying we specifically target the worst of the malefactors. The organizers, the instigators, the rabble rousers. We put them down,” David said.
“What do you hope that will accomplish?” asked Jason, another of the agents.
“Two things. One, we cull the shit-starters and the rest lose their nerve. Most of these people just want to hide. It’s the handful pushing them out, telling them they have to do something that are the problem. With them gone, we get quiet nights again. Two, even if someone is still feeling froggy, now they’ve seen an example of how it will go. Jump, and you get cut down.”
Colin felt nauseous. “These are American citizens. They have rights.”
“Not any more they don’t. This is martial law, and we answer to nobody but the president. We can do whatever we have to. Whatever we want,” David said.
“You’re talking about hurting people. Killing them. You get that, right?” Colin demanded. He always knew David had been brash, but this kind of talk was appalling. In the midst of the Green Poison epidemic, it seemed people were changing, even those he now fought beside.
“You should understand better than anyone, Colin. Surgery hurts someone to save them. This is no different. These ringleaders? They’re poison. They’re tumors. And we have to cut them out.”
•••
“I am afraid I am not following your logic,” Yeong-Ja said after they had regrouped and Maira had explained her plan.
Her voice shook Colin from his memories. He nodded, deeply relieved at Yeong-Ja’s reaction. “Thank you! Maira, this isn’t a solution. We can come up with a better plan.”
Maira frowned at them both. “You said it yourself, Colin. Cassandra’s got these people revering her like she’s some kind of sacred oracle. You can’t reason someone out of a belief they didn’t reason themselves into. She has to be taken out of the equation.”
Colin crossed his arms over his chest. Maira still had him worried. She might not have wound herself to the breaking point yet, but it seemed like that was only a matter of time. There was already something of the same feverish light to her eyes he’d seen before the battle at Groves.
“Maira, I need you to listen to yourself. Seriously, take a minute and go through what you’re suggesting. Do you really want to be an assassin? To set out specifically to murder someone? We’re federal agents, not a hit squad,” Colin said.
“We killed the guards at the broadcast tower, didn’t we?” It was a quick rejoinder, but she dropped her gaze. “Obviously, no, I don’t want to kill people. But let’s not pretend any of us is a pacifist.”
“Killing one time doesn’t mean we never have to justify it again,” Colin said. “You’re right, we’ve all taken lives. But we weren’t there for the purpose of killing them. Death was never the goal.”
“The authority to use extreme force must be treated as a heavy responsibility,” Yeong-Ja said, and Colin remembered how she had butted heads with Maira’s decisions during the events at Groves. “It is not enough to say that we can do a thing. We must always ask why, and exhaust other possibilities first.”
“In the time it takes you to do that, Cassandra is only going to do more harm! I’m telling you what I saw in there. They were laying the groundwork for expansion. Even once she’s wiped out the roughnecks, that’s not going to be enough. She’ll keep going until someone stops her. You know how many people are just barely hanging on as it is. What do you think is going to happen to them after she kicks away all the support we’ve put in place?”
Frustrated, Maira walked over to stand next to the boat, looking away from them.
“I could show you the video I saw in there. This shit is a cult, and Cassandra is the center. They hang on her every word. Even if she wasn’t the one controlling their food, their shelter, everything, she’d still be inside their heads. She’s not wrong about everything, but they’re treating her like she’s divine. You can’t reason people out of a position they didn’t reason themselves into.”
“OK,” Colin said and took a deep breath. “Let’s say we did manage to find her and kill her. What then?”
“What then what?” Maira asked irritably. “They’ll lose direction without her. We can contain the rest of them.”
“Will they?” asked Yeong-Ja. “Cassandra Raines may be the one who started the Reborn, but it is a large movement now judging by what we’ve seen and heard.”
“She’s the head of the serpent,” Maira said.
“Or the head of a hydra,” Colin countered fiercely. “She’s not the only capable leader they have. Raffiel was in charge of their invasion force, and he dealt with us handily. If she’s dead, what stops him from taking charge? Or someone like him?”
Maira turned at that, brow furrowed. Her hands were flexing again. The motion confirmed some of Colin’s concerns. She was falling into a familiar behavioral pattern. They had to break this cycle somehow.
“None of them will have the same cachet she has,” Maira insisted.
“Again, you cannot be certain of that,” Yeong-Ja said. “We have learned much, but we do not know enough to pretend to have all the answers. It seems equally possible to me that killing Raines would make a martyr of her.”
Colin nodded agreement. “What if it just kicks the hornets’ nest and makes things even worse?”
“I can imagine a future where they have set aside their environmentalism for vengeance,” Yeong-Ja said. “Imagine the Reborn pushing into every territory we have secured and supplied. Hunting every agent they get wind of, and punishing those who have dared to cooperate with us.”
It was a grim conjecture. Colin blew out a sigh and sat down on a nearby bench. The aches and fatigue were catching up to him. One night of rest at the cabin had not been enough to recuperate. Maira, to her credit, was taking time to think about it. She frowned deeply, staring into the distance.
“All of that assumes we even succeed,” Colin said wearily, his thoughts drawn inevitably back to New York.
“What?” Maira asked in surprise.
“Look at us, Maira. All of us are tired. Yeong-Ja is badly hurt. We’re low on ammunition. We don’t have any turrets, any drones, any fancy tricks to dazzle and confuse our enemies. If you take us into the belly of the beast…”
Yeong-Ja nodded stiffly. “The odds would not be in our favor of coming back out.”
Maira licked her lips uneasily. She raised a visibly trembling hand to her forehead, her gaze still focused on the horizon. “Sometimes sacrifices have to be made.”
“Does that include Leo?” Colin asked.
Her head snapped around at that. Colin felt a flicker of regret. Perhaps it was cruel to push this particular button. He buried the reaction. If nothing changed, he felt like she’d set off by herself and do something suicidal. Something had to shake her out of this.
“Leo is…” Maira swallowed hard. “He…”
“Leo is still held captive as far as we know. If we show up and try to assassinate Raines – succeed or fail – what do you think they’ll do to him in turn?” Colin demanded.
Maira slid to the ground. It wasn’t a graceful movement. Her legs just folded under her, and she dropped to the dirt. She sat there with an exhausted look on her face and studied her hands.
“What will they do to him if we do nothing?”
Colin moved to sit next to her. He was past caring about the wet ground that squelched underneath him. “We don’t have all the answers, remember? But I promise, we aren’t going to do nothing. Maybe we can negotiate for his release, or maybe we break him out. We’ll figure it out.”
“We have a great deal more information now than we did before. The kind of knowledge that we lacked. We should make contact with the roughnecks and share what we know,” Yeong-Ja said.
“That would give us a chance to regroup and rearm, too,” agreed Colin. “No matter what we do next, improving our own status will give us a higher chance of success.”
Maira sat there for a while. Colin started to wonder if she had even heard what they’d said. The trauma she was carrying around had its claws in her deep. Was she going to be able to listen?
“I’m doing it again, aren’t I?” Maira said quietly.
Colin felt a surge of relief. “Yeah, maybe a little. You asked us to check you, Maira. Listen to us now. Please.”
Maira lifted her gaze to his and took a deep breath. “All right. We fall back to Houston and make contact with the roughnecks. We resupply and get our strength back.”
Colin rested a hand on her shoulder. “Thank you.”
“Indeed,” Yeong-Ja said. “If you had tried to set off on a solo mission, I would have had to chase you down and bring you back. I was not looking forward to it.”
Even now, Colin wasn’t sure. The sniper said it so matter-of-factly that she might well have meant it seriously. He narrowed his eyes at her. One day, he would figure out if Yeong-Ja was a joker. Probably not today, though.
“All right,” Colin said. “Let’s load up and get out of here. And hope the boat has enough gas to actually get us where we’re going.”
•••
Thankfully, the fuel tank held out on the trip along the coast back to Houston. Maira knew she should have taken the chance to rest, but it was impossible. Instead, she sat in the bow as had become her habit and watched the water whip past. The wind did feel good, at least. It was amazing how fast the fanboat could move once it got going. It ate up the miles with alacrity.
Maira’s thoughts swirled just as quickly, if with far less direction. There was part of her that still chafed at this decision. Viewed through that lens, it all seemed so painfully clear. Raines had become a threat. The only way to save the things Maira cared about – the only way to justify the things she’d already done – was to answer that threat without hesitation. Would anyone really miss Cassandra Raines?
And yet, thanks to her cell, there was just enough doubt now. The lens had cracked. What if they were right? What if all she would do with her reckless charge was get people hurt, killed, all over again? That was the pragmatic level, of course, but it went deeper than that. Maira had taken the life of Rowan O’Shea, a confirmed mass murderer and war criminal. Her face haunted Maira even so.
Did she really want to add to that? Did she really want to be followed around by the ghost of Cassandra Raines, too?
Maira sighed and pressed her face into her hands for a few seconds. The skin of her palms was rough and dirty. Even so, they blocked out the world for just a moment, and that was a blessing. Maybe she could just hide her face for a few months and let this whole thing blow over. Surely no one would mind that.
Maira let her hands drop with a snort. Even if she stole the boat and struck out for the Bahamas, she couldn’t escape all of this. She couldn’t run away from her problems when they came from inside her. This pain that was eating her up, the memories and the fear, she had to face it head-on sooner or later. She had to learn to live with it before it ate her alive.
For now, she needed to live in the moment. Maira turned her attention to the other two agents. For her part, Yeong-Ja had promptly gone to sleep the moment they set out. It was a feat that filled Maira with the deepest and darkest shade of green envy. Sleep had never come that easily to her, even when she had been young and carefree. Since she’d joined the Division, insomnia had become a constant companion.
Colin was piloting the fanboat, as usual. Maira wished she could take over for him. As tired as she was, he looked worse. There were dark bags under his eyes, and the starch had gone out of his spine. The fact that he had appointed himself the cell mom was not lost on Maira. Maybe they needed one. But she worried that his drive to take care of others was going to push him to his physical limits sooner rather than later.
The medic must have felt her looking at him because he glanced over. He offered her a tired smile. “Everything OK?”
Maira nodded. “As much as it can be. Are you OK?”
Colin seemed surprised by the question. It made Maira feel worse. She’d obviously been too wrapped up in her own problems lately. She was impacting the mission and letting her cell down. That would have to change now.
“I’m holding on,” Colin said. “I think all of us are wearing thin. It’s been a lot to deal with coming at us very quickly.”
“It has,” Maira agreed. “Does it help if I offer the old standby of ‘one way or another, this, too, shall pass’?”
Colin grinned. “Not really, considering I would also like to live to see the other side.”
“Pff. Now you’re just asking too much,” Maira said.
“I do have a problem with consistently demanding too much. It’s very bothersome I’m told.”
Maira laughed. “Yeah, bothersome is definitely how I would characterize you.”
Colin frowned, and her laughter died. He motioned ahead of them, and she turned to look. There was a column of smoke in the distance. Maira’s heart sank immediately. That had yet to be a sign of anything good on this entire mission. Somehow, she doubted that was going to change here and now.
“Please tell me that’s not Houston,” Maira said. That was where they had met Rychart when they’d arrived in this area.
“It’s the right direction,” Colin answered grimly.
Maira stood unsteadily and went to wake Yeong-Ja. A quick shake of her shoulder, and the sniper sat up blinking.
“What? Are we in danger?”
“Not sure,” Maira said. “There’s smoke up ahead. Take a look through your scope, and tell me what you can see?”
Yeong-Ja nodded, and Maira got out of her way. She lifted her rifle and peered through the scope in that direction. She spent a few seconds just looking and tinkering with the settings. Maira fought the urge to impatiently hurry her. They had enough problems without her going off again.
“There is good news and bad news,” Yeong-Ja said.
“Bad news first,” Colin said.
“It is definitely coming from the location of the central processing facility.”
Maira winced. “What about the good news?”
“The facility appears to be largely intact still. Judging by the fate of Groves, I doubt that would be the case if the Reborn had control of the area,” Yeong-Ja said.
“Anything else?” Colin asked.
“Not at this distance,” Yeong-Ja said.
She put her rifle back down. Maira walked back up to the bow of the boat and leaned against it to frown at the smoke.
“I guess we’ll have to wait until we get there to find out what’s going on.”
The minutes that followed were tense. Maira felt like her brain was a rat in a maze, and even feeling that just made her worries worse. She tried to focus on pragmatic concerns, but there was nothing she could do to change them. She had one shotgun shell and one and a half magazines of 9mm bullets. Her body armor was damaged, and she had no replacement plates. So on and so forth, repeating in her thoughts.
They crossed Trinity Bay and passed Morgan’s Point. The signs of fighting became clearer as they approached their destination. The facility that the roughnecks used as their headquarters was definitely damaged, but it was largely still intact. Some towers had fallen, and several buildings had collapsed. It was nothing like the apocalyptic destruction that had been visited upon Groves, however.
“What do we do?” Colin asked.
“Yeong-Ja’s right. If the Reborn were here, they would have laid this place to waste,” Maira said. “Take us right in.”
Yeong-Ja nodded agreement. Colin did as asked, and the boat puttered toward the docks. There were the marks of a battle here, too. Bullet holes abounded, and one of the docks was sunk into the water. Yeong-Ja pointed out the side of the boat.
“Look,” she said.
There were dead bodies floating in the water. Several dozen of them, in fact. Maira leaned over to try to get a better look. They were dressed as Reborn, mostly the dark-clothed enforcers. That seemed like good news on the surface. It was better that the Reborn had died in the attempt than succeeded. Even so, she couldn’t shake a chill.
Someone was running down to the dock to meet them, waving their arms. Maira squinted, but she couldn’t make out who it was.
“Are they waving us off?”
“I don’t think so,” Colin said. “I think they’re just trying to get our attention.”
The person was a bit stocky with a baseball cap on. They were dressed in rugged everyday wear. Recognition came to Maira as they closed in, and she stood and waved her own arms back wildly.
“Dixie!”
The boat drifted to a halt next to one of the docks, and Maira hopped off. Dixie immediately pulled her into a tight hug. His face brushed hers, and his cheeks were wet. She said nothing of it. Her own eyes were not dry.
“I thought you were dead,” he said in a muffled tone before stepping back.
“There were several moments where we were pretty sure we were dead, too,” Maira replied.
Colin helped Yeong-Ja onto the dock and followed behind. The sniper had to lean heavily on him to avoid putting any weight on her leg, but she managed slow progress. They both looked pleased and surprised to see the Freighty driver, too.
“I’m so glad… Where’s Leo?” asked Dixie.
“Taken prisoner,” Maira said. “We’re going to get him back, mark my words. We came back to check in and assess the situation.”
Dixie started nodding but half a second later was shaking his head. “No, can’t do that. You have to get out of here.”
Maira blinked. “What? Why? Dixie, what happened?”
He glanced over his shoulder worriedly. “Well, we saw that Groves was burning from a distance. None of you made contact. There was no sign of you at all. A lot of arguing followed, as I’m sure you can imagine.”
Maira recalled the simmering factions among the roughnecks. “All very civil, I’m sure.”
“Well, nobody got shot, that’s something at least,” Dixie said. “Then the scouts came back. They told us that the Reborn force that had destroyed Groves was still alive, and they were headed in this direction.”
Colin flinched, immediately understanding the consequences. “These people were already terrified when we left.”
“Yeah. It seemed pretty clear at that point that you’d been killed. Even if the Division somehow knew and were sending more people, they weren’t going to get here in time to make a difference.” Dixie grimaced. “And, well…”
“The Molossi stepped up,” Maira said quietly.
“You guessed it. Apparently, the moment he saw the smoke from Groves, the colonel sent for reinforcements. A few hundred of his closest friends showed up the next day. Georgio announced martial law.”
“Under what authority?” Maira asked in surprise.
“Under the authority of ‘we have a shit ton of guns and people willing to use them’,” Dixie replied. “A lot of the locals were relieved if anything. They were scared, and he said he was going to protect them.”
“Can’t blame them too much for that,” Colin said. “The Reborn annihilated Groves. They blew the oil reserves.”
Dixie nodded. “It’s still burning.”
“There seems to have been a battle here as well,” Yeong-Ja prompted.
“Yeah,” Dixie said. “The Reborn showed up in force, and there were a couple of hours of about a thousand people doing their best to kill each other.”
“Since you’re here and the refinery is intact, it appears the Molossi won,” said Yeong-Ja.
Dixie nodded again. “It wasn’t pretty, but they did. Truthfully, it was a slaughter. The Reborn weren’t a match for them. It was like watching someone feed themselves into a woodchipper. Finally, the last ones ran for their lives.”
“The Molossi live up to their opinion of themselves, apparently,” Maira mused. “I suppose that’s good news, considering.”
“Better than the alternative, maybe,” Dixie said. “But he hasn’t released martial law either. They’ve spent the time since hunting down the Reborn strays.”
“Any sign of Raines or Raffiel?” asked Colin.
“Raines, no. I guarantee they’d be crowing about it if they’d caught her. Who is Raffiel?” Dixie asked.
Colin shook his head. “Never mind. It would take too long to explain.”
Maira frowned. “Why are they hunting down the stragglers?”
Dixie winced and rubbed the back of his neck. “They keep giving them what they call trials. In actuality they line them up, read a list of crimes, and…” He swallowed.
“Fuck,” Maira said.
Colin ran a hand through his hair anxiously. “You’ve got to be kidding.”
“I wish,” Dixie said. “I tried to leave, too, and they stopped me.”
“You’re a prisoner?” Maira asked.
“Officially, no,” Dixie said. “But they took my keys and told me my vehicle was temporarily commandeered in support of their mission here, and that they would return them soon.”
Maira felt increasingly sick to her stomach. The whole situation was spiraling out of control. At this rate, the entire region would turn into a battleground. They had to do something. Or was that just her being crazy? How could she know the difference? The situation was already bad, they couldn’t afford any more mistakes.
“We cannot let them continue to execute people in cold blood,” Colin said flatly. “We–”
“Shit,” Dixie said. He was looking over his shoulder. “Shit shit shit…”
They followed his gaze. People in black uniforms and carrying guns were approaching. Maira took half a step back. This went beyond bad. A frisson of real fear ran through her, standing her hair on end. She had no desire to end up in front of a firing squad.
“Do we run?” Maira asked. “Do we fight?”
Colin looked over the group approaching them warily. Maira tried to do the calculations in her own head. There were around ten of them, and all wore combat armor. Each one carried an assault rifle. There was no easy cover around. Even if they fled on the boat, it was fiberglass. They wouldn’t make it.
Colin shook his head. “We cooperate. Maybe we can talk to the colonel. Salvage this situation somehow. It sounds like he has ended the immediate threat. If we can convince him to stop there…”
“Maybe we can keep this from becoming a bloodbath,” Maira finished.
“Agent Kanhai and company. What a relief to find you alive.”
The blonde woman speaking was familiar. It took Maira a few seconds to place her as one of the aides that had come to the meetings with Georgio. Her tone was cool, but not overtly hostile. The soldiers with her held their guns ready, but they did not aim them at Maira or her comrades.
Maira kept her hands well clear of her weapons. If they weren’t going to make this ugly, neither was she.
“It was closer than I’d like, honestly,” Maira said. “I’m afraid I didn’t catch your name before.”
“I am Lieutenant Colonel Patricia Clark. I’d like for you to come with me, if you’d be so kind. The colonel would like to speak to you.”
It didn’t feel like a request. Maira’s jaw tightened.
“Cooperative,” Colin said quietly.
Maira took a deep breath. “Very well. Please, lead the way.”
Yeong-Ja leaned on Colin to keep the weight off her bad leg. They walked past Dixie. She could see the fear and worry writ large on his face. He seemed like he wanted to say something to her. Maira gave him a subtle shake of her head. There was no escaping him being linked to them, but they didn’t need to give the Molossi any excuse to crack down on him further.
The soldiers fell in around them as they walked to the entrance of the main facility building. They didn’t crowd them, but the encirclement was a statement unto itself. Attempts to deviate from the path chosen for them would not be appreciated. There was no sign of the locals about their work. The entire place had something of the air of a ghost town. This, no doubt, was the martial law of Colonel Marcus Georgio. Everyone locked away, for their own safety of course.
They were brought into the administration section of the building. There were a number of offices here. All of them were dark save one. Maira couldn’t help but notice that it was the largest of the group. Maybe it had been available, but she didn’t think so. She had a feeling Georgio had promptly taken it when he seized power. She wondered where Rychart was, and hoped the man was OK.
“I’ll need your weapons,” Lt Col Clark said.
Maira narrowed her eyes.
Clark showed no reluctance or remorse. “They’ll be returned to you when you leave.”
Maira glanced at the other two. Yeong-Ja gave her a very small, reassuring smile. Colin nodded. Maira looked back to Clark and suppressed her irritation. She removed the pistol from her thigh holster and held the grip out. Clark took it, then removed the shotgun from her pack as well. Other soldiers relieved Colin and Yeong-Ja of their weapons.
“Thank you for your compliance,” Clark said. It did not sound sincere. “You may enter the office.”
Maira stepped inside. It was much as she’d expected in layout, a standard corporate manager working space. The trappings had changed, however. Now there were military maps and personnel charts up everywhere. This was becoming the nerve center of a war campaign. Maira couldn’t hide her frown.
Colonel Georgio sat behind the desk. He was looking at documents when they came in. He only looked up once they’d arranged themselves before him. It felt like a power play to Maira. He was trying to assert the authority he’d claimed here. Unfortunately, the truth of the matter seemed to be that she didn’t have the means to contest it.
“The Division agents once more, miraculously alive. Well, most of you. I see your number is reduced.”
Maira gritted her teeth. She kept her voice calm. “We haven’t given up on him.”
“Admirable. Never leave a man behind, hmm? That must be a new policy.” Georgio sat back with a creak of his chair. “So, tell me, Agent Kanhai. Why did you return here?”
She raised an eyebrow at him. “We were sent to protect this place. Once we managed to extract ourselves from the events at Groves, why wouldn’t we come back?”
“‘The events at Groves’. I assume you mean the disastrous defeat you suffered, after promising you could contain the threat of the Reborn?” Georgio’s gaze was dark and hard. He scarcely seemed to blink.
“I admit I made hasty choices that did not obtain the best results in that confrontation. I consider it fortunate that the civilians were removed from the situation, and that the only loss was in property,” Maira said.
“Yes, I’m glad they were not present to suffer the consequences of your failure,” Georgio said. “Luckily for everyone, the Molossi were present to keep the Reborn from inflicting any further harm.”
Maira nodded stiffly. “Yes, I heard of your victory. It sounded like you had more soldiers than you had planned to have at Groves. I’m glad you were able to make use of the additional reconnaissance time. I can only imagine how helpful they would have been if we’d stood together.”
Georgio smiled. It wasn’t a kind expression. “I am not one to waste any resource. I am confident we would have won regardless, but it was a relief to be able to make the victory a decisive one.”
“Congratulations, then. The threat appears to be handled. When will you be standing your men down and returning to Dallas?”
It was Georgio’s turn to narrow his eyes. “I have no plans to do any such thing.”
“Why? With the Reborn defeated, what need is there for you to stay?”
He snorted. “I am sure you possess many skills, Agent Kanhai, but you do not have a military mind. We defeated one force. We don’t know if it is within the power of the Reborn to raise another. For all we know, they could come back with ten times the numbers.”
Maira shook her head. “So, you plan to stay forever, is that it? There could always be a new threat.”
“I will continue to secure this region until such time as I encounter a legitimate authority to cede control to,” Georgio said. The emphasis on the word “legitimate” was unmistakable. “However, do not worry. I do not plan to let the Reborn threat persist unchecked.”
“What?” Maira said. “What do you mean by that?”
“Once we have policed the remainder of their forces here, we will go on the offensive. I will remove the Reborns’ ability to wage war, and thereby ensure peace in this region.”
The way he said it sent a shiver down Maira’s spine. “How, exactly, do you plan to do such a thing?”
“As I said, you lack a military mind. I will locate their strongholds and eliminate any remaining hostile forces. If needs be, I will garrison those areas as well.” The colonel said it with absolute calm.
“I’ve heard some of your methods in this area,” Maira said. “The ‘trials’ you’ve been holding. Tell me, will those extend into your newly conquered territories?”
“Conquered territories? How dramatic.”
“I call a spade a spade,” she said flatly.
“Call it what you wish. I will use any means necessary to ensure that the law-abiding citizens of this region can sleep safely in their beds at night. If the only way to do that is to remind people what justice looks like, so be it.” Georgio sat forward again and steepled his fingers. “You, however, will not be here to see it happen.”
Maira tensed. She could feel the other two agents do the same alongside her. “And what does that mean?”
Georgio smiled with a certain dark humor. “That you will depart at your first convenience, of course. You will be released, and you will head north immediately. I already told you, agent. The Division will not be welcome in any locales under my protection.”
Maira couldn’t deny a moment of relief. He was not about to take them out back and shoot them in the head. That, at least, was something of a small favor. The import of his words sank in a moment later, and she stepped forward.
“We can’t leave,” Maira said. “The Reborn have one of our people.”
“Can you be certain of that?” he asked curiously.
“We saw him captured,” Colin said, apparently unwilling to leave Maira to face Georgio alone any longer.
Georgio gave the medic a look of undisguised withering contempt. “Then he is most likely dead by now. I imagine they have questioned him and disposed of him.”
“Maybe, maybe not,” Maira said, fighting to keep her voice even. “I refuse to give up on him.”
“You are not being given a choice, agent. You will leave and return to your headquarters. Once there, you will inform the Strategic Homeland Division that any further intrusion in Molossi protectorates will be treated as hostilities and met with all due force.”
Maira’s hands closed into fists. Her knuckles stung. The damage was mostly healed, but the pain was still faintly there. “I can’t do that.”
He studied her over his joined hands. “Just to be clear, Agent Kanhai, you are refusing to depart? In absolute terms?”
Come on, Maira, she told herself. Pull this back. She was losing it again. She was going to get them killed.
Yeong-Ja spoke before she could. “We will not abandon our own to the enemy.”
Colin nodded firmly. “Nor, for that matter, will we abandon the citizens of this region to your arbitrary idea of justice.”
Maira glanced at them with some surprise. Colin’s jaw was firm. Yeong-Ja gave her a subtle wink, as though to say, you’re not always wrong. This time, all of them saw the necessity. They were going to make a stand.
“I see.”
“I couldn’t be there to save David,” Colin said. The words sounded like they hurt. “I won’t let that happen again. Surely you can understand that?”
There was a flicker of something in Georgio’s eyes. A mirror of Colin’s pain, but something more. Fear? Maira couldn’t place it.
“I understand very well what must be done in David’s name.”
The colonel’s face was hard to read. There was a certain cold satisfaction to it. To Maira’s surprise though, there was also an element of frustration and regret. It reminded her of his strange reaction when she’d committed to the battle at Groves. On some level he didn’t want it to come to this. She wondered why, if there was more to this than met the eye.
Either way, it did not seem to impact his resolve.
“Lieutenant Colonel Clark. Please take the agents into custody.”