A crow watched Shuqba from its perch on a tree stump. Long grass swayed in the baking hot wind and the farmhouse wavered, mirage-like, across the paddock. Shuqba held her hands above her head in the universal gesture of non-aggression and walked slowly and steadily towards the building. If Tod and Nanzee were inside, as Rhea had predicted, they would have eyes on her.
Shuqba stopped about one hundred and fifty metres from the house. If they took a shot she might still be able to zigzag away to safety. For Alida and Graycie, for Alida and Graycie, she repeated.
A hot breeze dried her sweat to stiff, salty patches in the armpits of her shirt. She counted her breaths to soothe her nerves. Karain would think she was a fool putting herself at risk for a couple of Sapiens. But Karain and Commander Rayne were both gone and Shuqba took orders from no one but herself now.
Up close the farmhouse was shabby. Its weatherboard walls were painted a chalky green and rust gouged the gutters and the roof. Shutters, like pale metal eyelids dusted with dirty-brown eyeshadow, covered the windows.
A shadow moved behind the flywire door and the barrel of a firearm, possibly a shotgun, emerged.
‘Rhea sent me. I’m unarmed,’ Shuqba shouted.
The door opened and a grey-haired man, wearing green camouflage slacks and a T-shirt, advanced towards her, shotgun raised. Behind him followed a younger woman, blonde hair tied back in a ponytail and also dressed in camo. Shuqba kept her hands in the air and let them advance.
When there was approximately one hundred metres between them Tod shouted, ‘Did you say Rhea?’
‘Yes. She told me Tail of the Donkey is the code and also now you’ll have to change the code because a fucking troglodyte knows it.’
Tod lowered his shotgun and smiled. ‘That sounds like my Rhea.’
♦ ♦ ♦
‘Have a seat.’ Tod gestured to the circular kitchen table.
Graycie, who’d been hiding in the van until Shuqba made contact (along with the assault rifle the Rewilders still didn’t know about), sat on a wooden chair with a blue cushion. Nanzee took a metal stool and Shuqba perched on the edge of a green plastic garden chair. An ancient air conditioner rattled and chugged. The kitchen benches were cluttered with jars, tins, knife blocks, utensils, spice racks and cast-iron cookware. In the corner a fridge hummed a discordant duet with the air conditioner. Fruit flies hovered over a sweetly stinking bowl of overripe fruit in the middle of the table.
Tod opened the fridge. ‘Can I get you a beer?’
‘Thank you,’ Shuqba said. ‘Do you have any water for Graycie here?’
‘Of course.’
Tod handed out the drinks and leaned against the bench with the arrogance and confidence of a LeaderCorp official. Soon the outside of Shuqba’s beer bottle was soaked with condensation. She rubbed her wet hand on her slacks and took a sip. Bitter, frothy and cold. She resisted the urge to run the cool glass along her arms. Graycie rocked back and forth on her uneven chair, the tapping of its legs against the linoleum tiles like gunshots in the uneasy silence.
Tod put a hand on the back of Graycie’s chair to still her. ‘I don’t usually work with Neos. Desperate times, I guess. Our first priority is to rescue my sister. If you’re agreeable I’m willing to put aside our philosophical differences for the time being.’
‘What about after the time being?’
‘Then we go our separate ways and pray we don’t meet up again.’
Shuqba and Tod regarded each other.
‘Are we going to have a problem?’ Nanzee said.
Shuqba broke eye contact with Tod. ‘I don’t think so. I’m certain we can work together.’
‘We’ve done some recon and our biggest challenge is going to be getting through that domeshield,’ Nanzee said.
‘I agree. I’ve got an idea about –’ Shuqba began.
Tod interrupted. ‘According to Rhea and your Demi with the brain implant, the SEM people are using them as surrogate wombs.’
Shuqba picked up her beer again and took a long swig. Commander Rayne’s words came back to her, about Sapiens always being right, no matter what. She’d let the Sapiens lead. The thought of a Neo in control would cause their actual brains to malfunction. She would comply. For now. They needed each other to make the rescue a success. But things would be different in the future. Sapiens didn’t have the advantage of numbers any longer.
Tod crossed his arms over his chest. ‘If we had some sort of bait – say, another surrogate womb for them – maybe they’d open the domeshield to let it in.’
Nanzee pushed her chair back from the table. ‘Uh-uh. Not me. Not this time. I won’t be bait again. You need me to help take out the two guards. I’m a better shot than you, Dad, and there’s no way we’re giving a Neo one of our guns.’
‘You’re right, Nanz.’ Tod stroked his chin and looked up at the ceiling. ‘Maybe they’d also open the domeshield for a child.’ Tod lowered his eyes to rest on Graycie.
Shuqba’s heart skipped. His proposal might be more effective than her long-shot ideas of searching for an EMP blaster or attempting a hack. She’d been prepared to put herself in peril, but not Graycie.
‘That’s risky. She’s a child.’
‘They won’t hurt a kid. Kids are important to them. That’s why she’s perfect as bait.’
Just like Commander Rayne, Tod was willing to use a child as a tool to get what he wanted.
Tod continued, ‘There are only two guards and Nanzee and I will wait in the bushes to take them out. Then we’ll all retreat to a place in the forest Rhea knows about, a bunker. Simple. Minimal risk to the kid.’
Shuqba could see it: flesh tearing; the deafening, disorienting pound of bullets cracking the air and lives ruined without a thought. So Sapien-like.
‘What do you say, Graycie?’ Nanzee ruffled the child’s hair.
‘Don’t put this on her. She’s no more than five years old.’
‘I’ll do it. If it’s the only way to make Alida safe.’ Graycie looked up at her with that trembling lip. ‘Come on, Shuqba. I can do it.’
Shuqba tutted and shook her head. The child was tough and they had no other plan to reunite her with her sister.
‘Let’s consult Alida about this.’ She activated her OmniScreen.