Daysider n-1 Page 22

  It was flashing.

  Alexia’s fingers almost lost their grip on the device before she could touch the square.

  Immediately the flashing stopped, and a blue screen took the place of the two symbols, a field covered with small print spelling out terse sentences Alexia took in at a glance.

  Message received re: colony. Strike force deployed. Maintain position. Report only in emergency. Do not intervene.

  As soon as she had finished reading, the screen went blank. Even the symbols disappeared.

  Alexia dropped the communicator on the cot. Strike force. From Aegis. They were deployed only in the rare case of a situation where more than the usual agent pairs were required for an assignment, where stealth and speed and force were all equally vital. Its operatives were heavily armed and trained to go in quickly, complete their missions and get out without regard to the Armistice or the rules of the Zone. In case of casualties, no bodies would be left behind, nor any other evidence that they had ever been in the Zone at all.

  Using them meant that Aegis was willing to risk a complete breaking of the Armistice.

  Coming. Signal. Attack. Warn. War.

  Someone had sent a message calling in the strike force. Had it been Michael? Was that the signal he was talking about? What had he told them that would cause Aegis to act so precipitously? Even if he had learned the Expansionists’ plans for the colony, how could that be a good enough reason for Aegis to bypass all diplomatic channels?

  And why hadn’t Michael told her?

  He did, she thought. Just not soon enough.

  Frantically she grabbed for the communicator again and punched on the button.

  Nothing happened. As far as she could tell, the device was dead. “Alexia?”

  Damon stood in the doorway, dressed in the same tunic and pants she wore but cut in a masculine style. She saw her terror reflected in his eyes.

  “You were right, Damon,” she said, her voice shaking. “Michael was keeping secrets. I don’t know why he didn’t tell me, but he sent a signal to Aegis requesting a strike force, and they’re on their way. Do you know what that means?”

  He knew. His concern hardened to a mask of grim resolve.

  “War,” he said.

  Chapter 18

  “Why?” Theron asked, leaning on the table with his hair loose and undressed around his shoulders. “Why should your people attack us? We have heard nothing from the Council at all, nothing from the Expansionists in weeks that would suggest a motive.

  What could have happened to provoke this?” He fixed his intimidating stare on Alexia.

  “What did your partner tell them?”

  “I don’t know,” Alexia said, meeting his gaze steadily. “I’m by no means certain the strike force actually plans to move on the colony at all. I have simply told you what the message said, and what happened from the time Damon met with us.”

  She hadn’t wavered under the fury of the Bloodmaster’s attention, but Damon moved closer to her nevertheless, interposing himself slightly between her and the table at which she sat. The other members of Theron’s local council—Sergius, Emma and six other Opiri and humans—looked on with faces drawn with worry, every one of them knowing their time was running out.

  “He disappeared for a day between the time he left us and the time he returned,” Damon said. “There is much he could have accomplished in those hours.”

  “He never came within sight of the colony,” Sergius said. “How could he know enough about us to report anything to Aegis?”

  Alexia bit hard on her lip. Damon rested his hand on her shoulder, knowing how much she was blaming herself for Michael’s involvement in this volatile situation.

  On their way to speak to Theron, they had discussed the possibility that it was Michael’s discovery of the theft of Alexia’s patch that had motivated him to call in the strike force. But that assumed he hadn’t been involved in stealing it himself. Now it was looking increasingly likely that Damon’s “feeling” that the dhampir had taken the patch was correct.

  There was much he and Alexia had told Theron, and much they had not. They hadn’t yet mentioned the patch and Alexia’s dependence on Damon’s blood to counteract her condition. Nor had they raised the subject of Damon’s “spells.”

  “The only thing I am certain of,” Theron said, breaking into Damon’s thoughts, “is that neither the Council nor the Expansionists have done anything but observed from a distance.”

  “They were busy killing each other,” Damon said, “and making plans to move on you.”

  “Which they have not done.” Theron resumed his seat and swept his hair back with his hand. “The very existence of such strike forces is in violation of the Treaty. We know of nothing in Eleutheria that would arouse such a reaction.”

  “Not directly,” Sergius said, “but we would not necessarily know of every political intrigue going on in Erebus. Perhaps the Council deliberately chose to provoke Aegis into breaking the Armistice, using the colony as a pretext.”

  “Ridiculous,” Theron said. “The Expansionists might be stupid enough to try it, but not the Council. They could not conceal the kind of preparations they would need to make in order to fight another full-scale war, even if they desired it.” He hesitated. “I know several of them personally. I know the way they think. No, this did not come from the Council.”

  Damon glanced at Sergius, noting the rebellion in the set of his face. The younger Opir was not pleased at having his idea so casually dismissed. But he would defer to Theron because he knew as well as Damon did that the Bloodmaster understood the politics of Erebus better than any living Opir.

  “Hatred, greed and ambition are powerful motivators,” Damon said. They want to see Eleutheria destroyed. Sending the right message to Aegis would serve them by causing the Enclave to break the Treaty and spare them the effort of getting rid of you.”

  “Obviously,” Sergius said. “And since the dhampir Carter sent the communication, he must have been working with the Expansionists.”

  Alexia made a small sound of protest but didn’t speak. Damon squeezed her shoulder.

  “It is difficult to fathom his motives, given the dhampires’ hatred for Opiri,” he said.

  “But I agree with Sergius. It only remains to determine what his reasons might have been.”

  “If Alexia can’t figure it out,” Emma said, “how are we supposed to do it?”

  “I missed something,” Alexia murmured, clenching her fists on the table. “Something important. My partner was angry when Damon came. More angry than he should have been, but I didn’t pay enough attention.”

  “What of the attacks on you and Damon?” Sergius asked.

  “Now that you have confirmed that your people were not in the area firing at intruders,” Damon said, “we cannot be sure of the identities of any of the shooters. The first may or may not have been the Council agents assigned to keep me and Agent Fox together, the ones I found dead later.”

  Theron smiled tightly. “Peculiar, is it not, that the Council sent you to keep the dhampires away from the colony, but you brought one of them directly to us instead.”

  Since the answer to that unspoken question involved far too much private emotion, Damon spoke with care. “Priorities can rapidly change in the field,” he said, “and it became apparent to me that Council orders were not as important as dealing with what came to light as a result of Lysander’s revelations.”

  “You made the correct choice,” Theron said. He looked at Alexia. “Both of you.”

  “No,” Alexia said. “I failed. Michael tried to warn me, and I didn’t see...”

  “The fact remains that he did try to warn you,” Damon said, speaking softly as if for her ears alone.

  Alexia lifted her hand and touched his fingers. “I know,” she whispered. “But that doesn’t help us now.”

  “And neither does wasting time trying to dissect the thinking of a dhampir traitor,” Theron said. “We must focus all our e
fforts on defense. Once the Council becomes aware of the intrusion, they must act, if the Expansionists don’t do so first. We will be caught in the crossfire.”

  “We don’t even know what they’re coming to do,” Emma said. “Invade us? Take us prisoner? Wipe out any Expansionist operatives they can find?”

  “They wouldn’t come for a purpose that minor,” Alexia said. “It has to be something much bigger. So big even the prospect of a new war doesn’t seem as bad.” She raked her slender fingers through her hair. “But on those rare occasions when they’ve been sent into the Zone, they carry through their objective regardless of loss of life on either side.”

  The people at the table looked around at each other in silence.

  “I have already told you I will start for the Border immediately,” Alexia said, beginning to rise, “and do what I can to intercept and explain that whatever Michael told them has to be a mistake. If they listened to him, they’ll listen to me.”

  “No,” Damon said, pushing her back down. “You said yourself they will not allow themselves to be seen, let alone delayed, even by another Aegis operative. I will not allow you to put yourself at risk for no reason.”

  “But I—” she began.

  “Damon is right,” Theron said. “You must be here if and when an attack comes.

  Perhaps then your words will be of use.”

  “In the meantime,” Sergius said, “we must decide how we can best defend ourselves.

  Most of the Opiri here know how to shoot and can hold off any attack for a time.”

  “They could move today,” Alexia said. “Do you have enough daygear for all the Opiri willing to fight?” She glanced around at the others. “If they’re intent on getting inside these walls, you’ll have to kill all of them to stop them. And you have to find them first.”

  “We will send our own scouts to meet them before they get close,” said one of the other Opiri, a female with short-cropped hair and unusually light eyes. She glanced from Damon to Alexia. “We have enough daygear for that, and we’re still stronger and faster than either dhampires or Darketans.”

  “Some of us humans are very good at fighting, too,” Emma said with a pointed smile.

  “And sneaking around, for that matter. We were all convicts, remember?”

  “And some of you were no more than petty thieves,” Sergius said, “or less.”

  Alexia stiffened. “Sergius is right,” she said in a strained voice. “They aren’t trained for this.”

  “That is why we must evacuate them,” Sergius said. “Send them to the caves until this is over.”

  Emma shook her head vehemently. “We ex-serfs have something here we never dreamed could exist outside the Enclaves,” she said. “Do you doubt we would defend it with our lives?”

  “From your own kind?” Sergius asked mockingly. “Could you kill them, if you had to?”

  “The ones who sent us to Erebus in the first place?” said the dark-haired human male named Cullen. “We aren’t Enclave citizens anymore. Whatever they want here, I doubt they’ll be too concerned with our welfare.”

  “If that is true, why would there be a law against killing humans in Erebus?” Sergius asked.

  “That law is a joke,” Cullen interrupted with open dislike. “Both sides know it. The strike force might not try to hurt us, but if we’re collateral damage...” He glanced at Alexia, who seemed to have some difficulty meeting his eyes.

  “I can’t tell you anything,” Alexia said in a low voice. “I wish I could. The strike force isn’t made up of agents like me and Michael. They’re specially trained. As far as Eleutheria is concerned, I think we’re all in agreement. The fate of the colony is our fate.”

  “I don’t think—” Sergius began.

  “We could simply surrender,” Theron said.

  Everyone fell silent. Then they all began to talk at once.

  “Out of the question—”

  “They’ll only—

  “What makes you think—”

  “Silence!” Theron said, his voice booming across the table. He swept his gaze over each of the council members in turn. “We built this colony on the precepts of peace, cooperation and freedom. We knew that this great idea might not survive the first time it was put into practice. I appreciate your willingness to die for it, but martyrdom will serve nothing. We must be alive to serve as living proof that this philosophy is viable.”

  “You can’t surrender to a strike force,” Alexia said urgently. “It’s not an army. Since we have no idea what their orders are, there is no guarantee a mass surrender will make any difference.”

  “Regardless of their reason for entering the Zone in force,” Theron said, “they surely have no intention of killing indiscriminately. If we fight, we cannot negotiate. If we put up no resistance, however, bloodshed, if there is to be any, will be minimized.”

  “There will be bloodshed,” Sergius said in a tone just short of contempt. “If any Expansionists or Council agents are in the area, they will fight. Projectiles and bullets are no respecters of persons. If the Aegis operatives don’t attempt to kill us, someone else will.” He stood to face Theron. “As you so wisely said, when we began this colony, we knew the obstacles we would face and that a time would come when we would be compelled to make a difficult decision. Now that time has come.”

  Damon watched Sergius out of the corner of his eyes. Nikanor, as he had been in Erebus, had never been particularly passionate about anything except long philosophical discussions, all on a theoretical plane. Like most Opiri, his emotional range had always been limited, particularly compared with Theron.

  But he was passionate about this, and Damon found it more than merely strange.

  Though it was hardly rational, given the little information Sergius had possessed at the time of Damon and Alexia’s arrival at the colony, Damon hadn’t forgotten the way Sergius/Nikanor had treated him. The fact was, he didn’t trust Sergius, rational or not.

  “I propose that we evacuate the humans to the caves, as I suggested before,” Sergius continued. “Those Opiri who wish to leave with them may do so. The rest of us will stay and defend the settlement against any who would destroy it.”

  Cullen and Emma immediately protested. The short-haired Opir woman nodded firmly. The remaining Opiri exchanged glances and then sat without speaking, their faces expressionless as they weighed the options.

  “Sergius,” Theron said heavily, “I cannot prevent you or the others from fighting. I am a leader, not a tyrant. But I beg you again to think what you are doing.”

  “I have thought about it,” Sergius said, holding the old Opir’s gaze like the young wolf who planned to be the next leader of the pack. “You should go with the humans, Theron.

  You’ll be needed later.”

  Theron shook his head. “I still hope to speak with the Enclave forces. I assure you, I have no personal wish for martyrdom, either, but it is my choice.” He looked around the table again. “Emma, I believe you, Cullen, Beth and Jonathan should help lead the others to the caves. If you will not think of yourselves, think of those who lack both the skill and the will to fight such a battle.”

  Dropping her gaze, Emma stared at her folded hands. “Let some of us stay, so we can

  —”

  “All of you,” Theron said gently. “Please, go into hiding just until this is resolved.”

  After a long hesitation, Emma nodded. Cullen and the other two humans pushed back their chairs and rose.

  “We will gather the others,” Cullen said, “but we aren’t going to be ready to move until near nightfall.” He looked across the table at Alexia, inclined his head and left the room. Emma, Beth and Jonathan followed.

  “One of us must accompany the humans,” Theron said to Damon, Alexia and the remaining Opiri.

  “I will do it,” Sergius said. “As soon as they are safe, I will return to help defend the colony.”

  “If the strike force and any other combatants are not already in
the way,” Theron said.

  “Agent Fox, earlier you were willing to remain with the colony at this time of crisis, even though by doing so you may be considered a traitor to your own people. You have no connection to us except through our human citizens. Again, I ask—is this what you want? Do you truly accept that you may face extreme sanctions from the Enclave if you do?”

  Damon waited tensely, hoping she would change her mind. He hadn’t even suggested that she leave Eleutheria before the strike force arrived, because he had known what she would say.

  Just as he knew what she would say now.

  “I know that is possible,” Alexia said. “But it’s because I work for Aegis that I believe I am in a unique position to help There is something here that doesn’t exist anywhere else.” She rose to face Damon. “It’s the only place where Damon and I can be together, as equals, without fear of reprisal. I have to believe Eleutheria will survive this crisis and become stronger because of it. I want to be a part of the change it has begun, and the hope it represents.”

  Her words stunned Damon, not because they were out of character, but because they were so much more than he had ever expected. Their relationship had always stood on shaky ground, and they had never questioned their divided loyalties.

  Those loyalties, and the hatred their peoples had for one another, would ordinarily have made any thought beyond the present impossible. Until he had seen how Opiri and humans interacted in Eleutheria, he wouldn’t have believed there was any path around those seemingly immutable obstacles. Yet now Alexia spoke as if there might be a future, fragile as it was, and her eyes were asking him if he felt the same.

  How could he accept what she offered? She was throwing aside her past, all her connections to her city, all the human parts of her life she had never shared with him. She was willing to accept the necessity that she might always need his blood to survive, and that he would continue to drink hers. And she knew she would be taking a Darketan who could become a savage every bit as subject to his emotions as a serf was to his Bloodlord.