“Tao, we’re screwed, aren’t we?”
We will get out of this. We have survived worse.
“Can’t think of a worse time, sorry. I’m so hungry I could eat someone, but I won’t because I’m a gentleman after all.”
A gentleman is something I will never mistake you for. But I agree. Cannibalism is never the solution.
“At least when I die and go to hell, I can tell the devil that I’ve done a lot of bad things, but at least I was a decent enough fellow to never eat another human being. This could be the last time you get to bestow your Tao wisdom on me. Any last words? Maybe tell me one last story. A happy one, please.”
Did I ever tell you about the time around 6,000BC… I do not know the exact date. We did not keep accurate numbers back then due to Christ not being born yet. My host had fallen off his fishing boat and was eaten alive by a shark.
“That’s the happy tale? Your host must have been a dick if that’s the good part.”
No. I joined with the shark. Then for a hundred years, I survived in the Persian Gulf, moving from one shark to another, until I was in a whale that got beached. I admit it was not a bad life.
Roen looked perplexed. “I don’t get it. What’s the point of this story?”
I am trying to tell you, that if all else fails, jump into the ocean. I should be able to survive. Now, do you feel better?
Roen stifled a laugh.
“You know, Tao, it does make me feel better. You’re the only thing I ever did right in this world.”
What about Jill?
“Nah, she deserves better than me. That’s the only thing you ever steered me wrong on.”
Getting her to marry you?
“No, that was a good thing. You steered me wrong in convincing me to leave her and Cameron. I should never have done that.”
There was a pause.
You should not have. I was wrong. I forgot the words that Kathy had told you. I did a disservice to Edward in leading you away from your family. I am sorry, my friend.
“Meh, it is what it is. I bet if we never met, I’d still be that fat miserable fuck eating pizza every day. Would probably outlive me where I am now though.”
I doubt it. I know you well enough to know you would have come to somehow. I just prodded you along. Besides…
In the distance, the now familiar sounds of gunfire broke the night’s silence like popcorn in a kettle. Roen watched the top of the tower as several shadows merged into one blob and then broke off and disappear from view. He counted only three remaining.
“Alright, show time.”
A few minutes later, he went through the aft entrance of the tower. It was pitch black, which suited him fine. The noise of the ocean and the slow groaning of the ship made this infiltration almost too easy. Roen pulled out his knife and crept up the flight of stairs, careful to stay in the shadows and make as little noise as possible. He found a Genjix at the top of the third-floor stairs with a pistol in hand.
“Not exactly the best sentry position.”
These guys suffer from the same problem Wuehler’s team did. Being elite shock troops does not make them good security. The stairs are too steep and loud to cover the distance. Use the knife, sixty degree slant, catch the body. You will need to step into their sights to get the angle.
With one fluid motion, Roen stepped into sight of the guard and flicked his wrist upward. The knife whistled through the air and stuck into the man’s jaw. The sentry made one soft gurgling nose and pitched forward. Roen raced up the stairs as quietly as he could and caught the body just as it fell down the stairs. He laid the body gently down on the stairs, pulled his knife out, and wiped it on the dead man’s shirt.
Nice throw.
“I was aiming for his neck actually.”
I know.
He reached the third level and crept toward the far end of the passageway, which opened to a set of stairs outside the tower that led to where the prisoners were. With luck, maybe the Genjix would think no one was dumb enough to assault the tower and leave it deserted except for maybe one or two Genjix to guard the prisoners. It was a good thing Roen was dumb enough to do just that.
He stayed low and inched down the hallway, tilting his head through the opening on the first door on the left. Inside, he found one of the Genjix sorting through a stash of guns. Roen slid his knife out again and in a single bound leaped forward and jammed it into the guy’s neck with one hand and covered his mouth with the other.
Two down.
Roen exited the door leading to the outside and crept up the deck. There was one Genjix guarding the prisoners, and he was busy scanning the deck below. A few seconds later, Roen had crept up behind him and snapped his neck.
Three. Well done. You really are becoming a master at this.
Roen rushed to the unconscious Ray lying on the floor.
Leave him. Untie the crew first and have them carry him. Escort them to safety and then help Dylan.
Roen grudgingly complied with Tao’s orders. Luckily, the crew seemed to understand what he said and picked up the unconscious Ray by his hands and feet. Suddenly, the bridge door opened, and Jacob and the three other Genjix walked out onto the deck. Roen open fired point blank and struck one in the chest, but he was too close to get a good shot at the others.
“Get Ray out of here!” he screamed, barreling into the remaining three Genjix and pushing them inside the bridge. A blow to the side of the head knocked him off balance. Roen pivoted toward the attacked and pulled the trigger, just missing Jacob.
“It’s Roen! I want him alive,” Jacob snarled.
Another blow struck Roen in the eye and someone else swept his legs. He crashed to the floor, losing his rifle and tried to cover up as blows rained down on him. Then everything went dark.
FORTY-FOUR
IN THE NAME OF THE GRANDSON
We are no longer the puppet masters hiding behind the curtain. We are now on display for all to judge. I fear that the sentence handed down by our former wards will not be kind. Were we your guides or your slave masters? That is for you to decide. I find small solace in the belief that revealing our existence was the right moral decision. In the end, that means very little.
For the first time since we crashed onto this planet, the future is dark. I do not know what lies ahead and that is foreboding. The balance between human and Quasing has been disrupted, and now, humanity is in control of our destiny. All that we have built, we have put into humanity. And it will be you, our children, who can cut us down. And I cannot blame you if you do.
Tao
Roen, wake up!
“Five more minutes. It’s too cold to go jogging this morning.”
You have to stay with me, my friend.
A hard slap across his face shook his entire body. Roen blinked and woke to a blurry picture, as if he were watching a Van Gogh television show. Suddenly, the nerves just below his skin began to pound on their pain receptors to let his brain know they weren’t feeling great at the moment. He groaned. Another blow snapped his face to the side.
“What happened?”
Stay quiet. You were beaten. Your eyes have been closed, but by the voices, at least three individuals. Jacob Diamont is here.
“Well, that sucks.”
Indeed.
“I’ll just pretend to still be unconscious.”
That plan went out the window a second later when he felt what could only be a cigarette burn on his arm. Roen’s nerves screamed and shot pain up his arm and through his entire body. He opened his eyes and gasped, gritting his teeth as he tried to pull his arm away. The jerk burning him clamped a hand down on his forearm and grinned. Finally, Roen couldn’t tolerate the pain anymore, and a moan escaped his lips. His vision blurred and tears welled up in his eyes. Then jerk let go of his arm and Roen collapsed onto the ground.