The Burn Zone (49 page)

When I stepped through the doorway, my foot splashed into a black puddle of water and creosote, but beyond that it was dry. A desk had been set up in one corner, and there was computer equipment set up there, shielded wires trailing off through another open doorway on the far side of the room where a cracked glass window looked out into what might have been an auditorium at some point.

“
What is this place?
”
I asked him.

“
The important thing for you to know,
”
he said,
“
is that with all the interference it
’
s impossible for even our scanners to effectively sweep here. Anything that goes on here is invisible to the outside world. I am authority out there, but I am God in here. Do you understand?
”

I stepped closer to the cracked glass window, and through it
I
could make out rows of shipping containers that had been fashioned into makeshift holding cells. There were people inside them, men and women in dirty prison grays who looked like they
’
d been there for a long time. Some were young men, tough-looking types, but
most were older... balding men with glasses, and women who could be mothers or office workers. They didn
’
t look like criminals.

“
This place is illegal,
”
I said.

“
This place doesn
’
t exist.
”

He leaned back against the desk, and it creaked a little under his weight. He held up Nix
’
s tablet in one hand.

“
Since this is haan tech,
”
he said,
“
I have no hope of getting it open without the pass code. Do you know how to open it?
”

“
No.
”

“
Does the haan?
”

“
No.
”

“
So you
’
re telling me he is in possession of a device that neither he nor anyone with him is able to access?
”

I didn
’
t say anything.

“
You
’
re lying,
”
Hwong said.
“
I know he knows how to access it, but I don
’
t think he
’
ll tell me.
”

“
I don
’
t know how to get into it. I—
”

“
Back in the Pot, the soldier
’
s scanner recorded you manipulating the device and then handing it back to the haan shortly before they entered,
”
he said.
“
I think you do know how to access it.
”

“
Why do you care? What does it matter to you what he keeps in there anyway?
”

“
Because I suspect the twistkey I
’
m looking for is inside it,
”
he said.

I
’
d grown up watching Governor Hwong on the news. He wasn
’
t a guy you messed with. He was going to kill all three of us. The only thing stopping him was that he knew he
’
d never get the tablet open on his own. He had to satisfy himself that what he wanted wasn
’
t stuck in there where he couldn
’
t get to it.

“
Once you have it, you
’
ll just kill us,
”
I said.

Hwong grinned, slowly. He was still smiling when he pulled a gun out of his jacket and pointed the barrel directly between my eyes. My next words fizzled in my mouth and I took a step back, bumping into the table behind me and knocking over a phone headset that clattered to the floor.

“
I could kill you right now,
”
he said calmly.

“
You
’
re afraid it
’
s still inside,
”
I said, keeping still, not looking at the gun.

“
The haan will open it, eventually.
”

“
No, he won
’
t,
”
I said.
“
He
’
ll die first. You know he will.
”

The huge black eye of the gun barrel was staring down at me, and when he cocked the hammer back deliberately with his thumb, my legs went watery.

“
Then you open it.
”

“
I can
’
t.
”

“
You
’
re lying.
”

“
I can
’
t because I need it,
”
I said. He narrowed his eyes.
“
I need the twistkey.
”

“
Why?
”

“
My father
’
s down there. She
’
s got him.
”

Hwong hesitated. After a few more seconds he released the hammer slowly and moved the gun away from my face.

“
If Sillith has Specialist Shao,
”
he said,
“
then he
’
s gone. You can
’
t bargain with her.
”

I didn
’
t say anything.

“
I mean it. I hold a gun at her race
’
s head and she still plans to betray me. She
’
ll eat you alive.
”
He half smiled, with no real humor.
“
Maybe literally.
”

“
Why make a deal with her, then?
”
I asked.

“
Because she
’
s about to become obsolete, and she knows it.
”

“
Her fertility cycle is ending,
”
I said. He seemed surprised.

“
Yes,
”
he said.
“
She understands that right now she holds great power, and that she
’
s about to lose it all. If she
wants to effect any change, this will be her last opportunity to do it.
”

“
So?
”

“
So we both want something. She wants the haan to have
their own
state after she
’
s gone, and I want that rogue country burned off the map.
”

“
Is that what this is about?
”

“
It takes people with real will to effect real change,
”
he said.
“
In that respect she and I are alike. This will change the world, as we know it, for the better. We need the haan, but we can
’
t keep accommodating them. They need more room, more resources ... more food than we can give them. Thirteen settlements will turn into thirteen hundred, eventually. Right now they consume over eighty percent of our food just to stay alive. Projections put it at over three hundred percent over the next twenty years.
”

“
But the haan have a plan to fix all that.
”

“
In the long term,
”
Hwong said.
“
So they say. In the short term, things are going to get worse than you could imagine.
”

“
But... killing all of them?
”

“
The world is buckling,
”
he said.
“
We pretend we are isolated from that, but everyone knows it. The truth is that not even everyone in this country is going to survive the years to come, even with the haan
’
s help. Others will fare far worse and there will be only us to feed on. They
’
re going to keep attacking us, keep gathering their forces until one day—
”

“
The haan defense shield will stop them,
”
I said.
“
Once it
’
s up they
’
ll
—
”

“
And when will that be?
”
he asked.
“
The PSE, the Americans, the EU ... they all have arsenals that would make your blood run cold. You think a few bombings are bad? There are nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons
spread all over that fractured state of theirs, and they
’
re building those forces, getting ready to come in—
”

“
But to just wipe all of them out like that... please, think about it. Just have the haan undo whatever they did to him, or keep him behind the force field so he doesn
’
t
—
”

“
It will appear to be a natural pandemic. Once they fall, we can go in and secure their weapons, including their WMDs. The world will be a safer place, believe me.
”

He was serious. He was completely serious. It didn
’
t matter that the Americans and the EU would never just stand by and let that happen. He had to know that. If I thought of it, he had to know it, but when I looked in his eyes I saw he had every intention of going ahead regardless.

He stepped closer, and leaned in close. His voice was calm and reasonable.

“
In the end, when it
’
s all over and the dust has settled, the entire world will benefit. Everyone will see. The Americans, the EU, even our own leaders. I may not survive what follows, but my legacy will.
”

I could see by the look in his eyes that he
’
d come to terms with what he
’
d decided he had to do. There was even doubt there, just a little, a small glint in his eyes as he spoke that worried at the cost of the path he
’
d chosen, but he was going ahead anyway. He wasn
’
t going to be talked out of it, not now. Not by me.

“
If you have Alexei, and you
’
ve seen the recording,
”
I said,
“
then why do you need the twistkey?
”

“
Because once this is over,
”
he said,
“
I
’
m taking a team in there to kill her, and to burn any evidence that
Shiliuyuán
Station was still intact off the map.
”

“
You
’
re going to double-cross her?
”

“
They
’
ll have their state,
”
he said,
“
but I happen to know something few others do.
The haan share memories.
They are stored and disseminated after death as some kind of virtual construct any of them can access. She has to go before that can happen.
”

“
But there
’
s people down there,
”
I said.

“
What happened there can
’
t ever come to light, I
’
m sorry.
”