Three Days of Darkness by David Allan Hamilton

Author:David Allan Hamilton [Hamilton, David Allan]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: DeeBee Books
Published: 2020-08-25T04:00:00+00:00

TWENTY-THREE

The Mergeling

Why did you do this to us?

Mm . . . if we return in time and choose another way, we would. We regret this now.

How do we talk like this?

We, the Keechik, is not real. We are a . . . simulacra. We combine all thoughts and construct speech from that.

A pause. Motion.

We move again.

Yes.

We must destroy them all.

Yes.

Janet

Helga led Mary back to her cot. Her ashen face hadn’t changed, but her eyes seemed sharper, taking in her surroundings, and she appeared steadier on her feet. Her fingers twitched, a known side effect of neural stimulant she’d seen many times in the field. After helping Mary lie down, she covered her with the blanket and checked vitals on her data slate.

Mary acknowledged Janet, then focused on Jim. He yanked on his mag cuffs and asked, “Are you okay, Mares?”

“Yes . . . just tired,” she said, lifting her head, sounding like her old self.

“What did they do—”

“Please, Herr Professor,” Helga interrupted, “the girl must lie down. She is full of stimulant but it will wear off soon and she needs rest for the flight.”

Winter emerged from the office. “Ah, Georg, you are well-fed now?”

“Ja.”

“Good. I should like to have a conversation with Frau Chamberlain. Bring her to me in ten minutes. I need to arrange a few things first.”

“Yes, Herr Winter.”

The Prussian pulled a pair of black leather gloves from his back pocket and a long, thin knife — a Gerber Mark IV — from a sheath at his side, stared at Janet and grinned sadistically. But she met his stare, defying him, daring him, and smirked. He turned and closed the door.

She lowered her head, cursing for not being better prepared. The previous night in the cabin had been too easy. She wondered if her drinking had affected her judgment beyond her comfort zone. Winter wasn’t the type of man to back off. Although she hadn’t encountered him personally until New Houston, his reputation as a ruthless strategist and indefatigable, persistent killer was well known throughout the NDU operative community. And she’d become soft, lazy, less attentive. And old.

No wonder they’re pushing me out. I’m a threat to my team now.

She shifted again and peered at Jim. He remained fixated on Mary, a helpless yet determined look on his face. And in that moment, with Mary dying on some prehistoric, antigrav cot, attended to by a nurse with massive forearms, and her ex-husband sprawled on the floor, an overwhelming peace embraced her. From what? Surely, Winter planned to torture, then kill her. On its own, she could handle that: she’d prepared for this scenario since she was 15. The peace did not derive from some arbitrary training or acceptance of the inevitable. No, this was something more.

Perhaps because the end of her life was near, she relieved the burden that had nagged her ever since she first met Jim and escalated when they married and brought Mary into the world. The secrets, the lies, the subterfuge . . .

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