“Where’s Richard?”
“He’s at the Castle planning our next move.”
“What is our next move?”
“Beats me.”
Max tried to sit up but quickly decided against it. “Jesus, this hurts, and I’m an old pro when it comes to pain.”
“What about your left leg?”
“You know, now that you mention it, I don’t have any pain in my leg. Pain killers don’t do shit for bone marrow extraction, but the rest of me feels pretty damn good.”
“Can you move your left leg?’
Max looked confused. He wiggled his toes but looked confused when he couldn’t raise his knee more than a few inches off the bed. “What the hell is going on?”
“The doctor said you have nerve damage from the smashed vertebra. Once the implant starts to work, you should gain more control.”
“What’s this implant thing do?”
“It takes a few months, but the bone graft and marrow will stimulate growth, and you’ll have a brand new vertebra.”
“That’s incredible. What about the surgery Hal wants to do to replace the bones in my leg and repair the muscles with nanobots?”
“He said we won’t know until the vertebra finishes growing and we’re certain the nerve damage isn’t perm…”
Elizabeth was interrupted as screams filled the hallway, muffling the metallic clank of mechanical steps. The door swung open as the Hal robot made its entrance, wide-eyed, shrieking nurses plastered on the corridor wall behind him. “Hal, I told you to stay out…”
“Sir, ma’am, we need to leave now. The Chinese are aware that a high-ranking member of the PSA is still in the city. I have received intelligence that they are searching local hospitals for Director Harris. I have dispatched a stealth jet from Beck Castle, but it will not be here for forty-seven minutes.”
“We can’t move Max! He just got out of surgery!”
“Ma’am, we have no choice. We have to leave the hospital now and find a safe place to hide until the stealth jet arrives.”
Elizabeth walked over to the window. “Shit! We’ve got trouble! A convoy just pulled into the parking lot!”
CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE
“Fine little cellar you have here, Howard.”
“Shut up, Jackson.”
“Really, I’m impressed. Not as nice as the house I took from you. Where are we exactly?”
“Underground.”
“Yes, Howard, I know that. Thank you. I was wondering where we are on the map.”
Howard glared at Jackson Butler through the three-inch-thick Plexiglas wall. The smug bastard was in a jail cell, but he still acted as if he could order room service if he so desired. His cellmate, Simon Sterling, looked utterly terrified and had remained mute since his arrival.
“Come on, Howard! You won! We’re not going anywhere, so what’s the harm in telling us?”
Howard played along. “Guess.”
“How fun. My presumption has always been Wyoming or Montana. You do tend to seclude yourself from the real world. How these short-sided half-wits elected a mentally disabled fool like you president of anything is just beyond me.”
“Shut up, Jackson. It’s over; what’s left of the UAE is sitting in this cell. Make yourselves comfortable, gentlemen. I have more important things to do than chat with you—like defend my territory from the Chinese. I’m sure you two have a lot to talk about, since Jackson here has been secretly communicating with the Chinese for at least six months. Oh, and one more thing. I’m betting Simon didn’t know you were responsible for the attack at the funeral, Jackson.”
Jackson rolled his eyes. “Please, Howard, I was there and almost died myself.”
“But somehow you survived! Interesting….”
The look of despair and bone-crushing betrayal on Simon’s weary face warmed Howard’s heart. Simon thought of Jackson as his son. While this blatant duplicity was heartbreaking, the hurt was quickly replaced by blinding rage. Jackson never saw the punch coming. Howard headed for the command center to watch the impending fight from his front-row seat.
“Oh Jackson, my boy, what have you done? You’ve betrayed me, you stupid fool! You’re a traitor to your country.”
Jackson laughed. “What? You murdered a sitting president and you call me a traitor?”
“How dare you! I did no such thing!”
“Oh please, Simon, don’t worry about the confession. Howard already knows; we all know.”
“You have the nerve to address me by my first name? Have you no shame? You will address me as Mr. President.”
“You’re a fucking disgrace. President of what? The UAE is dead and stinking.”
“What have you done? Did you do something to provoke the Chinese? Howard can’t be right; the Chinese tried to kill us. You couldn’t have helped them.”
“You really are an idiot. The bomb was my plan, my idea. I wanted everyone out of the way so it would just be me and you. I played the part of hero quite well, saving your life and all. With the governors out of the picture and Moody unable to command the military, everything just fell into place. Well…until we got captured; that did take me by surprise.” Jackson lied easily about being captured; he was exactly where he wanted to be.
“You killed all those people? In a church? The leaders of the UAE are dead because of you! I’ve known Roberto Jimenez since you were in diapers, and you killed him! I can’t believe this! You’re a despicable monster!”
“Oh shut the fuck up! The man in the coffin was there because of you!”
Simon could only shake his head in disbelief. He had murdered James Weygandt out of petty pride and anger; there was really nothing more to say.
“Simon, Iran is coming; you have to know that. They aren’t going to sit back and wait for us to rebuild before they invade. We can’t possibly hope to be ready for them on our own. You being the poster boy for isolationism didn’t give me much hope that you’d be open to talks with the Chinese.”
“Jackson, you’re a child. You’re a naive little boy. What can you possibly think will come of this ‘relationship’ with the Chinese?”
“They’re our allies, you stubborn old fool. They’re coming to help secure our borders from Iran. Call them the lesser of two evils.”
“So what happens now? Are you going to shank me to death in this cell like we’re inmates in a penitentiary?”
“Why on earth would I do that? You aren’t worth the exercise. You’re nobody. You could make it easy on all of us and hang yourself with your shoelaces. Be happy to help.”
“Go to hell, you psychopath.”
Howard surprised both of them over the loudspeaker. “Gentlemen, while I’m really enjoying this—and trust me, not many things amuse me to the point of laughter— I have something you two might want to watch.”
The cell’s Plexiglas wall morphed into a monitor. For the next several minutes, they watched a montage of the carnage the Chinese brought along with them to the shores of the former United States. First, the attack of the Freedom of the Seas and her two sister ships played out from multiple vantage points as seen from Hal’s drones. Then, California’s devastated military bases filled the screen. Jackson was stunned. As he watched three minutes of drone footage of the Chinese murdering armed American citizens, he realized what a grave mistake he’d made.”
The footage stopped, and Howard’s face filled the screen. “See what you’ve done, Jackson? They look like allies to you? They’re here to conquer us, not help us. I’m just glad I caught your stupid ass before you could do any more damage.”
Jackson was still processing what he’d just witnessed on the screen. All those meetings he had with Ambassador Zhang, the trusting relationship he thought he’d so brilliantly constructed…it was all a lie.