“That’s absurd, those children are no threat to us.” Kate studied Martin. He looked different, the look in his eyes, she couldn’t place it. And what he was saying, all the talk of genetics and evolutionary history — telling her things she already knew… but why?
“It may not seem that way, but how can we really know?” Martin continued. “From what we know of the past, every advanced human race has wiped out every race they viewed as a threat. We were the predator last time, but we’ll be the prey next time.”
“Then we’ll cross that bridge when we come to it.”
“We’ve already crossed it, we just don’t know it. That’s the nature of the Frame Problem — in a complex environment, we simply can’t know the consequences of our actions, however good they seem at the time. Ford thought he was creating a device for mass transportation. He also gave the world the means to destroy the environment.”
Kate shook her head. “Listen to yourself, Martin. You sound crazy, delusional.”
Martin smiled. “I said the same thing when your father gave me the same speech.”
Kate considered Martin’s claim. It was a lie, it had to be. At the very least it was a distraction, a play for her trust, an effort to remind her that he had taken her in. She stared him down. “You’re telling me you took those children to prevent evolution?”
“Not, exactly… I can’t explain everything, Kate. I really wish I could. All I can tell you is that those children hold the key to preventing a war that will wipe out the human race. A war that has been coming since the day our ancestors sailed out of Africa 60-70,000 years ago. You have to trust me. I need to know what you did.”
“What is the Toba Protocol?”
Martin looked confused. Or was he frightened? “Where… did you hear that?”
“The soldier who picked me up from the police station. Are you involved in it — Toba?”
“Toba… is a contingency plan.”
“Are you involved?”
“Yes, but Toba may not be needed — if you talk to me, Kate.”
Four armed men entered from a side door Kate hadn’t seen before.
Martin turned on them. “I wasn’t finished talking to her!”
Two guards took her by the arms, forcing her out of the room and down the long corridor she had traveled down to meet Martin.
In the distance she heard Martin arguing with the other two men.
“Director Sloane said to tell you your time is up — she won’t talk, and she knows too much anyway. He’s waiting at the helipad.”
CHAPTER 33
River Village Slums
Jakarta, Indonesia
David slapped Cole again, and he came around. He couldn’t have been more than 25. The young man looked up through sleepy eyes that grew wide when they saw David.
He tried to draw away, but David held him. “What’s your name?”
The man glanced around, searching for help or maybe an exit. “William Anders.” The man searched his body for weapons but found none.
“Look at me. You see the body armor I’m wearing? You recognize it?” David stood, letting the man take in the head-to-toe Immari battle gear he wore. “Follow me,” David said.
The groggy man stumbled into the next room where his partner’s dead body lay, his head turned at an awkward, unnatural angle.
“He lied to me too. I’ll only ask one more time, what’s your name?”
The man swallowed and steadied himself in the doorway. “Cole. Name’s Cole Bryant.”
“That’s better. Where you from Cole Bryant?”
“Jakarta Branch, Immari Security Select Forces.”
“No, where are you from originally?”
“What?” The young mercenary seemed confused by the question.
“Where did you grow up?”
“Colorado. Fort Collins.”
David could see that Cole was coming out of the haze. He would be dangerous soon. He needed to find out if Cole Bryant fit the bill.
“Got a family back there?”
Cole took a few steps away from David. “Nope.”
It was a lie. Very promising. Now David needed to make him believe.
“They go trick-or-treating in Fort Collins?”
“What?” Cole edged toward the door.
“Stop moving.” David’s voice was harder. “That feeling at your back, that tightness. You feel that?”
The man touched his lower back, trying to slide a hand into his armor. Confusion clouded his face.
David walked to a duffel bag in the corner of the room and threw the flap open, revealing several square and rectangular brown blocks that looked like Play-doh wrapped in Saran wrap.
“You know what this is?”
Cole nodded.
“I put a small row of this explosive up your spine. This wireless trigger controls it.” David held his left hand out, showing Cole a small cylinder about the size of two double AA batteries put end-to-end. The top had a round red button that David’s thumb held down. “You know what this is?”
Cole froze. “A dead man’s trigger.”
“Very good, Cole. This is a dead man’s trigger.” David stood and slung the duffel bag around his shoulder. “If my thumb slips off this button, those explosives will go off, and it will turn your insides into a gelatinous goo. Keep in mind, there’s not enough explosive to hurt me, or even penetrate your body armor. I could be standing right next to you, and if I were shot or came to any harm, the explosion would liquefy your insides, leaving your hard outer shell, just like a Cadbury Cream Egg. You like Cadbury Cream Eggs, Cole?” David could see he was really scared now.
Cole shook his head slightly to the side.
“Really? They were my favorite when I was a kid. Loved getting those things at Easter. My mom used to even save some to give me at Halloween after I got through trick-or-treating. Couldn’t wait to get home and crack one open. The thick chocolate shell, gooey yellow inside.” David looked away, as if remembering how delicious they were. He glanced back at Cole. “But you don’t want to be a Cadbury Cream Egg, do you Cole?”
CHAPTER 34
Immari Jakarta Headquarters
Jakarta, Indonesia
Martin stepped out of the elevator onto the helipad. The sun had almost set. The sky was red and the wind at the top of 80-story building blew in from the sea, carrying the smell of saltwater. Ahead of him, Dorian Sloane waited with three of his men. When he saw Martin, he turned and motioned for the helicopter pilot to start the take-off sequence. The engine fired, and the rotor blades started to turn.