Dominant Species Volume Three -- Acquired Traits (23 page)

It might
as well have been that because it could have been anything, really. Her hate
was so virulent and so persistent, it could have found root in any soil.

“I hate
your guts,” she said in a matter-of-fact voice. “And I hate your goddamned
mustache. And I don’t give a goddamn what you think about it.”

“You may
at some point,” Ryder said.

“I don’t
think so.”
 
She held up the detonator.
“Do you know what this is?”

Ryder
studied it. “I can only imagine.”

“Then I
hope you have a good imagination—one good enough to imagine the destruction of
the entire settlement.”

“I see.”

“Do you?”

“I think
so,” he smirked.

“It’s
power. It is the power on this planet right now.”

“Is that
so?”

“Yes.”

“We’ll
see, won’t we?"

“Yes, we
will.”

“You have
a list of demands, I suppose,” he said with a frown.

“Oh,
yes.”

“What are
they?”

Joan
looked at the speech and skipped over the preamble they’d so carefully drafted
the night before. It would be a waste of time to read it to him. She scrolled
down to the list of demands. She might as well start at the bottom line. She
cleared her throat, not out of nervousness but out of a desire to speak very,
very clearly. She had no intention of repeating herself.

She
squared her shoulders.

“One. The
mercenaries leave the planet. That goes without saying. They leave immediately
for Earth or one of the other projects. We shall not surrender our weapon until
the mercenaries have departed and evidence of their arrival elsewhere provided
to us.

“Two. A
joint Council shall be formed once the mercenaries leave. One half will be
contractors' representatives and one half from the rank and file of The Sacred
Bond of the Fervent Alliance. We don’t care what influence the Council imposes
on the Bondsmen’s representatives, but the existing Council shall have no
direct representation on the new Council.

“Three.
All issues regarding the health and welfare of the planet’s occupants shall be
decided by majority vote after being properly introduced as items to vote
upon.”

“Would
that be parliamentary rules, then?” Ryder asked.

“What?”

Ryder
sniffed long. “Parliamentary rules. You know.”

“No, I
don’t, but it doesn’t matter, does it?” she replied and stared at him angrily
until he turned away.

“Four. A
joint police force shall be formed to keep the peace, enforce the will of the
new Council and to insure the safety of the planet’s occupants. The details of
how this is to be done is to be voted upon.

“Five. No
more executions without due process of the law. And no more torture. And Jacob
is to be imprisoned—contained—in a shelter, locked, until we decide what should
be done with him.”

She
stopped talking and waited for his response. When it came, it wasn’t much. But
she hadn’t expected much.

“Is that
all?”

“For now.
If we think of something else, we’ll let you know. You have twenty-four hours
to get the mercenaries off the planet or I’ll blow up the project. And get
those search squads out of our section right now.”

She broke
the connection and Ryder’s face, with its pale blue eyes and tiny mouth,
vanished.

Ryder
looked at the blank screen and scowled. She would

Do it, he
was sure of that.

“Who was
that rude woman?” Elizabeth asked.

“A
problem. A very big problem,” Ryder replied.

“Should I
call the captain?”

“No. Not
yet.”

“What
should we do?” she asked.

“Get my
coffee.”

Ryder leaned
back and thought about how he would convey the news. He thought about how he
would phrase the words to Jacob and about the faces he would make.

He bowed
his head and prayed. Then he dialed Jacob’s number.

* * *

When Joan
put the detonator back in her pocket, she looked over at the two soldiers on
the floor and wondered if either of them would have the guts to use it. They
would, she decided, as long as it didn’t kill them when it went off. They’d
want to do it from a safe distance, from a hilltop kilometers away or from
space. She could see them, counting down through big nasty smiles, hunched over
and pounding the air like referees do in boxing matches. Men like these could
set the bomb off under a schoolyard.

“Now
what?” Rachel asked.

“Let them
chew on it awhile,” Donna said. “It’s their move.”

Exhausted,
they fell into the chairs and bench seat like debris washed ashore.

They sat
silently for some minutes.
 
Joan picked
up the phone to call Bill. She was sure he’d be pleased with their progress. She
headed for the hall for some privacy.

“Hey,”
Joan said to Fabino as she passed. “You’re going back to Earth. What do you
think of that?”

“Better’n
this place,” he said, with rank contempt.

“You
think so?” she said. “I think it’s a lot worse. It’s gonna be Hell. You’ll be
lucky to live out the year. And once you get back you’ll never be able to leave
because there won’t be any way to leave. No transport out. One way trip. This
place is no picnic, but compared to Earth it’s quite pleasant. I kind of like it
here, except for you bastards.”

“I don’t
like you either,” the soldier said.

Joan
chuckled. “You’re gonna die.”

John
stepped to within a few feet of Fabino. “Hey, kid,” John said to him, “call in
again and tell them B13’s clean, too.”

“Good
idea,” Donna said.

Fabino
switched the transmitter on and called in.

The voice
at the other end sounded perturbed. “Hasn’t your radio been on? They’ve called
off the search,” it said. “The captain says get the hell out of the ghetto
right now. They’re gonna e-beam B9.”

They all
exchanged looks, even the soldiers.

“What’s
that mean?” Donna asked Fabino.

“It means
you gotta get us outta here . . . now!” he shouted.

“Why?”

“Just get
us outta here!” Fabino sprang to his feet and made for the door.

John headed
him off with a rifle butt to his midsection. Fabino slumped back down.

“They’re
planning to use an e-beam weapon on us,” John said.

“What’s
that?” Donna asked.

“It means
they’re gonna cook us in our skins!” Fabino said. He reached for his transmitter
and turned it on again. “Jones! Jones!”

“What?”
the voice said.

“Tell
them me and Harvey are in B9! Tell them to stop! Tell them to stop!”

“I don’t
think I can. What are you doing in B9 anyways? Get outta there!”

“We
can’t!” Fabino started to turn in circles like a captured animal. “We gotta get
outta here!”

“Maybe
he’s right,” John said, stepping to the window and looking out. “Maybe we
should get out now.”

“Not
yet,” Joan said.

“What are
you gonna do!” Fabino said. “There’s nothin’ you can do!”

“Yes, there
is,” she dialed Ryder’s number. Ryder picked up almost immediately.

“The
minute I feel even a little warm,” she said evenly. “I’m pressing this button.”

“I’m
afraid it’s out of my hands,” Ryder said.

“I’ll do
it,” she said. “Stop them, Ryder.”

“I wish I
could. I really do.”

“You’re
making a big mistake.”

“Sorry.”

“I’ll
blow it up.”

“You do
that.”

“I’ll
blow it up.”

“So do
it.”

She took
the detonator out of her pocket and armed it. “Stop them,” she warned.

“I don’t think
so,” Ryder said with a sick little grin.

Joan
gritted her teeth and put her thumb over the button. Her eyes found the face of
each one in the room in quick succession.

“Joan!”
Rachel screamed. “Don’t!”

“Stop
this . . .” Fabino said.

“Stop,
Ryder!” Joan screamed into the phone.

“So do
it,” Ryder said without feeling.

Joan
pressed the button.

“Joan!”

“God . .
.” Harvey said and fell to his knees. Fabino closed his eyes.

She
pressed it so hard her arm shook. There was no white flash, no instant
oblivion. There was just a room full of terrified people. Joan’s thumb worked
the detonator’s button.

“Go off .
. .” she said. “Go off!”

She heard
Ryder’s laughter coming into her ear. She held the phone away from her head
like it was something horrid. Ryder’s tinny voice laughed out at her from the
little speaker. Slowly, she brought it back to her head. In spite of herself,
she grinned a wide, ironic grin.

“How . .
. ?” she smiled stupidly.

“We
jammed the frequency. The technology is decades old,” Ryder laughed. “You could
push your little button all day with the same result. You really would have
done it. For what it’s worth, I’m not surprised. Amazing. God be praised, God
be praised. Hallelujah, God be praised.”

“Fuck you
. . .” she said weakly.

“Feeling
warm yet?” Ryder chuckled.

“Fuck you
. . .”

“I hear
it’s a horrible way to die,” he said.

“Tell
them we’re coming out,” she said weakly. “Tell them to stop, Ryder.”

“Sorry.”

Joan
threw the phone against the wall. It shattered into pieces. Then she threw down
the detonator and stomped on it three or four times. Then she shoved past
Donna, pushed Fabino out of the way and threw open the door with a bang. She
held up her hands and started down the steps.

“Oh,
God…” Rachel groaned.

Donna,
her senses on high alert, seemed to look at everyone in the room at one time.
“This is just fucked!” she blurted.

“Hold
your fire!” Joan yelled from the steps. “We’re coming out!”

From
John’s vantage, he could see through the open door and down the street some
fifty meters to where a knot of soldiers had gathered. In their dirty, ragged
uniforms they looked like the stumps of plants jutting up into the morning
slant light. Something about the way they were standing was odd, and it took
him a moment to make out that one of the men was attached to the largest
portable weapon he’d ever seen. It hung off his torso by a frame-like affair
that looped over his shoulders. He was bouncing slightly, adjusting it while
the others tightened the straps on either side of the frame. They were working
fast.

“Joan!”
he yelled. “Come back inside!”

Joan
walked a few more paces toward them, then stopped, her arms still high in the
air. “Don’t shoot! It’s okay! We’re coming out!”

“What’s
happening?” Fabino asked.

“Shut up!
Joan! Come back!”

“What’s that?”
Donna asked, looking out. “What is that thing?”

“Oh,
man!” Fabino said. “They’re gonna cook us!” He dashed by John’s rifle and hit
the stoop running. He leaped off and hit the ground, stumbled and fell, just a
few meters behind Joan. As he was getting to his feet, the air was filled with
a deep thump sound, followed by a thrumming that reverberated through flesh and
bone.