Cloud Rebel: R-D 3 (28 page)

Norian and Lendill were on that list.

I hesitated before adding Ilya's name to that one. This was something I had to do quickly, before the histories recorded for the Archives shifted.

Yes, it could happen. Had happened-in lesser circumstances-already. I'm sure Nefrigar would have been happy to discuss it with me.

I didn't have time.

Nobody did. Not really.

I'd compared the lists so many times the names were burned on the cells of my eyes.

One name was missing from both lists.

One name could resolve nearly everything, when combined with the proper actions.

Holding out my arm, I studied it for a moment. As a Larentii, I had perfect, blue, flawless skin. Reaching out with my other hand, I
Pulled
away the tiny chip that Kalenegar had placed inside a wrist bone. This allowed them to track me, wherever I went. They'd said it in the beginning-I was an unreadable and impossible to track unless I sent mindspeech or expended certain types of power.

I intended to expend that power.

I merely didn't intend to wait this time for them to show up afterward.

Forming a replica of myself, similar to those of the Three in the Archives, I placed the chip in the wrist of my doppelganger and bent time.

Chapter 16

Notes-Colonel Hunter

"James, stop worrying-the President is overreacting," I said over the phone. "Yes, I know the President has declared a state of emergency and ordered that D.C. be evacuated, but I'm pretty sure we're safe, here. He's doing the same thing to New York City, when there's really no evidence to support his claim that they'll be attacked with sarin."

"Colonel Hunter," Leo was now on the phone, "I hope you take all warnings seriously. I am becoming quite concerned over the state of affairs across the globe."

"Shaw? What the hell are you talking about?" I demanded.

"Don't you feel it?" he asked. "That you're in a pressure cooker that's about to blow?"

"Hell, I'm up to my eyebrows in worry that the President will send nukes into every nook and cranny, to take revenge on anybody who's ever looked at him wrong," I exploded. "You're safe where you are-or at least that's how it looks from where I'm sitting," I added.

"Do you want me to schedule a flight home?" he asked.

"No. Hell no," I shouted. "Just stay the hell away, and keep the others with you."

"Katya wants to know what has happened to her father and Corinne," he said.

That settled my hash in a blink. "Damn," I muttered and pinched the bridge of my nose.

"What happened?"

"Rafe-he's, well, he may as well be dead," I mumbled. "The enemy has him and he's-been obsessed again. Only this time, it's much, much worse. Corinne is in mourning. Val says that to the rest of us, Rafe
is
dead. Phillips is using him as a weapon, for who knows how much death and destruction."

"Fucking hell," Shaw cursed.

* * *

Corinne

There was one person I wanted to tell about my plan, and he was currently obsessed so deeply there was no reaching him. It involved him, after all, in addition to many, many others.

I sat at a small table at the coffee shop in Vancouver-the one Ilya and I had chosen during our search for Baikov. For us, that may as well have been a lifetime ago. Ilya probably didn't have the memory any longer-in my estimation, the obsession the Phillips clone placed was similar to those I'd seen in others the original had taken for slaves-they had no will of their own. Only Phillips' will mattered, and it consumed them.

Sure, I could pick a time to go back-to find Ilya and explain matters to him. There were several problems with that option. First, I'd be crying and holding onto him so hard, he'd know something was wrong right away.

Second, I'd be tempted-too tempted-to blow everybody else off and just disappear with him. I could fix it so we'd never be found, after all. That, of course, would leave everybody else in the cesspit that Earth had become, and the future would crumble just as surely as it was crumbling now.

That's what I wanted to fix in all this-the future. Fix it so the major events wouldn't be altered and the rogue gods would be just as dead. At this point in time, many of them still lived, and someone had called at least one of the hidden rogues out and set him on Earth to destroy everything.

Liron has a weak spot
.

I reminded myself of that. I merely had to figure out how to exploit it, in order to convince him to leave Earth alone. Everything else in my plan hinged on that.

* * *

Notes-Colonel Hunter

"You should beef up your security," Matt said. "If you intend to stay here."

"I thought this whole, crazy idea the President has didn't have merit," I blustered.

"But what if he's captured the attention of the Lyristolyi by attempting to evacuate everybody? Wouldn't it be perfect and serve to panic everybody if they manage to kill people while they're trying to escape from D.C. and New York? You've seen the gridlock on the news. It's prime time for them to act. Who do you think will start lobbing missiles first if they see hundreds of thousands drop dead while they're stuck in traffic jams on the streets?"

"Granville," I mumbled. "Who would he target first?"

"I think he'd consider a two-prong attack-the Middle East and Russia. If he wants to toss China into the mix," Matt went silent for a moment.

"And we have more than enough missiles to destroy them and every other country on the planet," I added for him. "All while they launch a counter-attack, and that will be all she wrote."

"It's what the Lyristolyi want-you can bet on that. They launch the initial attacks, then sit back and watch the rest of us destroy ourselves. To all outside interests, we will have destroyed ourselves. The Lyristolyi will remain blameless in this action. Except we know better. That's why you need to beef up your security. They'll be coming after anybody who can point a finger in their direction, you know. You're vulnerable-more than you realize, Colonel Hunter. Find some guards. Look for a way to get out if you have to. It may be the only thing standing between them and total destruction."

"Holy, fucking shit," I muttered. Right then, I wanted Corinne. And Rafe. The Rafe we knew, and not the one who may as well be dead. Those two I would trust with my life.

"What about Laci?" I asked. "Will they look for her, too? She's still at her sister's house."

"Anything's possible."

"Just when you think it can't get any worse," I sighed.

"Worse? That's coming," Matt said and ended the call.

* * *

Corinne

I'd determined that I couldn't talk to Ilya-not the present me. The past me-I'd already done that. It meant revisiting the past and concealing myself to hear the conversation between us, but I did it.

It was painful.

"Cabbage, all of us face terrible things. No matter how good we are, we cannot prevent all of them from happening." The sheets rustled as Ilya shoved them back and worked himself into a sitting position beside me-the me from the past.

"Will you answer a question for me, then?" she/I sighed.

"Always."

"What if," she began and then stopped.

"What if what?" Ilya said when she/I hesitated.

"Ilya, I love you more than anything," she said.

"And I you."

Watching from my hidden vantage point, I wept while dampening the sound. I still loved him more than anything, yet things had gone so far awry he couldn't be brought back from it.

"But what if-what if I'm faced with a choice-of saving you from something awful, or letting the enemy get away?" she said.

"Cabbage, listen to me," he said, pulling her face around so his eyes met with hers/mine. "Get that piece of excrement. No matter what. I have been taking care of myself for a very long time. Let me worry about me in that situation. Take the bastard down."

"Then you do the same, Ilya," she said before kissing him fiercely and drawing away to speak again. "No matter what my situation is, kill him if you can."

"I have never had a love such as this," he declared. "We understand one another."

"I've waited for you my whole life," she said and kissed him again.

I was sobbing as I folded space. We'd made a promise. I'd kept it once. I was about to do it again.

* * *

Winkler

"Dad, I'm not doing this." Wayne flung out a hand. "It's suicide-on your part. The Pack could turn on me immediately after, and where will all your grand plans be, then?"

"Look, I'm old," I pointed out. "It's only a matter of time before somebody comes to make a challenge. The Pack and the business needs to remain in Winkler hands, not somebody else's. This is to protect you, your sister and the children that will come. You understand me?" I gave him the sternest look I could muster.

The truth was, I had no idea how my father had done this. I was just as belligerent about it then as Wayne was, now. Inwardly I was quaking-I knew I'd have to throw the fight, and any wolf would realize how difficult that would be.

The instinct is strong in favor of preservation. Wayne was correct-it was suicide. He, like me, would be scarred the rest of his life because of it. Because of his role in it.

There wasn't any other way, though, unless I wanted to hand the Pack and everything else I had to a victor who'd have no mercy for my son. This was the only way.

"Son, you'll do this because I love you. I'll do it because you love me. That will never change," I said. "Remember that when I'm gone and you're Packmaster-that there was love between us, even at the last."

"Daddy." He came to me then and wrapped his arms around my neck.

"Hush, son, it'll be all right," I said and held him tight.

* * *

Opal

As it turned out, I'd been right about the rogue god. The trouble was, he had a Sirenali, which meant Matt and I had no way to get to him, or to tell how powerful he was. We'd pretty much screwed up by not taking things more seriously than we had.

I told you so
wanted to come out of my mouth so badly, that I had to physically stop my words from forming. Matt misinterpreted my frown.

"I know I wasn't supposed to say anything to Hunter-it won't matter in the end," Matt snapped as I sent him a questioning look. "He'll just have a heads-up when they come to the door," he added.

"Right. So he'll have time to worry and be afraid beforehand," I retorted. "The timeline is fraying. Only a few more things to happen before it all turns to shit and we're on a battlefield again, only this time, it'll likely go the other way."

* * *

Gerrett

Corinne?
I'd finally succumbed to my fears and attempted to contact her directly. Bekzi, who stood with me on the villa's patio, sighed and looked away. He knew what I was doing. He didn't try to stop me.

Honey, I can't talk right now
, she returned.
Will you do something for me, though?

Anything
, I promised.

Ask Bekzi to make sure that you, James and Nathan are kept safe.

I will.

Thank you
.

That was the end of our conversation. It was something I'd replay in my head in the future, but I failed to recognize the importance of it now. Instead, I relayed her message to Bekzi, who blinked at me with eyes that weren't quite humanoid before nodding.

"I do this," he confirmed aloud. "For her."

* * *

Notes-Colonel Hunter

"I think you may be in danger, too," I pointed out. Brett walked beside me, limping slightly since one of the bullets that hit him had been removed from his left leg. Valegar had healed the wound but it was still sore-that's what Brett said when I went to the ugly building in Arlington to collect him.

"Then why didn't they kill me when they had me before?" he asked.

"Because they wanted to make a point, and were probably counting on the Secret Service shooting you the minute they dropped you in the Oval Office," I said. "They want the President to know that they can now show up wherever, whenever. They want us all to know that nobody's safe. If that agent hadn't been a werewolf too, you'd be dead, now."

"At least the President has one good bodyguard, then," Brett huffed. "Where are we going?"

The winter sun was bright in the afternoon sky when we left the building, heading for the SUV I'd borrowed from the motor pool. I'd gone over it myself before settling in the driver's seat, and checked it again before allowing Brett to climb in on the passenger side.

Matt's call had spooked me-that's for certain. I had no idea whether there was a safe place for any of us, now. I sure as hell didn't want to go back to my office; it was the first place they'd look for me.

"We're going to a safe house," I said. "One the enemy doesn't know about."

I hope
.

* * *

Morrett watched as Wymarr blasted the last of the personnel at the missile silo. According to Fisk, this was their last act-there was no need for anything else. They could leave the planet, knowing their goal had been accomplished.

When Wymarr sent these missiles toward their targets, there wouldn't be enough firepower to destroy all of them.

The countries in question would certainly retaliate.

More missiles would be launched-from everywhere.

Morrett had the vision of them crossing paths as they flew toward their intended targets. Nobody would be spared. Those who weren't killed by the bombs in the initial attacks would be subjected to a slow and hideous death as the poison destroyed them in swaths.

Fisk would make sure that he and his crew were far away when that happened. Fisk was upset that he couldn't retrieve Keef's body-it had been cremated in the blast set off by the intruders.

Morrett wondered if Deonus Wyyld knew his ASD Director was dead, yet. At first, he'd hoped ASD ships would come and deal with Fisk. He'd lost that hope soon after it formed.

Earth was too far from the Reth Alliance, and the doings on that remote planet held little interest for most of the Alliance's inhabitants. It was a lost cause, now. Morrett wanted to weep for lives lost, past and future, at the hands of Fisk and his crew.