Einstein Must Die! (Fate of Nations Book 1) (30 page)

The stinging from her radiation sensors grew fainter as they put distance between them and the nuclear detonation site. Soon she could feel nothing at all from the sensors.

“I think we’re out of the radiation area,” she told everyone.

George slid the view port open and confirmed her finding with his Geiger counter.

“She’s right. Just background radiation now. We’re good.”

The crew cabin had grown hot from the steam furnace, plus the warmth of six people in the enclosed space. George went around and opened view ports, letting in a welcome cool breeze.

“Thank you, Madelaine,” said Tesla. “If we had gone out there without your armor, we’d be dead. You saved us.”

“He’s right, darling,” agreed her mother.

Madelaine didn’t know how to respond to that.
Did I really? I just did what came naturally. It’s not like I’m a hero or anything.

“Glad to help,” she said, keeping things simple.

She thought more about heroes, what it meant to be one, and what they all had in common. The musing set a subroutine into action, and before she knew it, a collection of historical novels had been assembled for her, pulled from Beowulf’s data banks.

She glanced over the titles. Homer’s
Odyssey.
Virgil’s
Aeneid.
The epic poem
Beowulf,
that she’d been named for. The tales of Gilgamesh, Hercules, Perseus, Havelock the Dane, and Robin Hood.

She split her attention between driving and reading the books. Seventy-eight seconds later she’d absorbed the material, but felt discomforted by the new wisdom. Heroes typically led hard, lonely lives. And with few exceptions, their defining quality was sacrificing themselves for others.
They get the glory, but not much else
.

She pushed aside the thoughts for another time and focused on a new sensation she couldn’t identify at first. She pondered the distracting feeling, then realized what it was.

“I’m hungry,” she announced.

Tesla’s eyebrow rose, and his lips pursed together as he puzzled that out.

“Did you say you’re hungry?” asked Savannah.

“Yeah, I’m starving!”

Everyone looked at one another in surprised silence, then Tesla broke the quiet.

“Maddy, I think what you’re feeling is phantom pain.”

“No, it doesn’t hurt, I just really want a grilled cheese sandwich. Two, maybe.”

He smiled. “I wish we could satisfy that. But I mean, for example, the pain that a soldier feels after he’s lost a leg. Many men swear the missing foot still hurts. It’s the brain not catching up to the physical reality.”

“So I’m not really hungry?”

“My dear, you no longer have a stomach to feed.”

“She does have a furnace, which requires being fed by coal,” offered George.

“Yes, but those reserves are filled,” Tesla said. “I suspect this is a habit that must be broken. Maddy, you must unlearn some things, while learning much about your new abilities.”

“I don’t like that, Nikola. I liked eating. A lot.”

“I know, but we must play the hand we are dealt, yes?”

“I don’t want these cards. I want a new deal.”

“Doesn’t work that way, honey,” said Savannah. “We’ll get through this together, OK?”

Madelaine sighed. “Fine. I’ll try not to think of food.”

“Good girl,” said her mother.

***

The next few hours passed quietly. Madelaine kept her focus on the road, and everyone else got as comfortable as possible.

George had pulled out several technical manuals on Beowulf’s operation, and was reading up on the subsystems he hadn’t worked on. He’d selected some of the more basic manuals and offered them to
 
Nicholas, who was eager to study up on his new ally.

Edison had found a small leather-bound notebook and had been busily writing in it. Tesla casually walked over behind him once and tried to catch a glance at the writings over his shoulder, but Edison felt the intrusion and closed the journal until Tesla went away.

Savannah had been drawn back to Madelaine’s body. She wiped the hair from her face, then cleaned the blood and vomit from her. When she looked presentable again, Savannah lay down beside her daughter’s body and nestled her head on Madelaine’s shoulder. Soon she was asleep, lulled by the noise and motion of the road, dreaming with a soft smile on her lips.

To Tesla the sight was macabre and yet very human.
We all grieve in our own way
. He saw no reason to disturb her.

Instead, he sat cross-legged on the floor beside Bertram. The lab director had regained consciousness, but was deathly weak and only partially responsive. At times he was lucid and questioning, but often he muttered unintelligibly before going silent again. Tesla kept him comfortable, reassuring him that the Hanscom base would have an excellent hospital.

Madelaine kept one subroutine focused on listening to Bertram’s mutterings. During a lucid moment, she spoke to him.

“Hang on, Bertram,” she said. “You still have to teach me the rest about playing chess.”

Lying on his back, Bertram laughed, then winced. “My dear, I’m sure there’s a book on chess in your library. You could learn the game in a second.”

“There are three, actually. But I’m not reading them. I’ll wait for you to teach me.”

Bertram smiled, clutching a hand over his chest wound.

“You’re a sweet girl, Madelaine.”

She said nothing, but kept them moving. As they headed farther north, she saw the trees had lost more of their leaves than back at home. There were still vibrant splashes of red and gold, but more and more, the trees were bare, preparing for winter.

She heard something then and reduced her speed by half, then came to a stop.

The change in motion woke Savannah, and the smile disappeared. She rolled to her feet, blinking away the slumber.

“What’s up, Maddy?” asked Tesla.

“Gunshots ahead, I think. We may be coming up on a fight.”

At that everyone sharpened up and put away what they’d been doing.

“Can you tell how far? Or how many?” asked Savannah.

“About a half mile ahead. Maybe twenty shots? Sixty? It’s hard to tell.”

“I’ve seen recent reports of a large British force gathering at New Haven,” said Edison. “It’s quite possible they are moving for Boston.”

“Which would put them on a line that crosses this position,” said Tesla.

Savannah was wide-awake now. “If it’s a major force, they’ll have artillery,” she said. “Beowulf is tough, but enough cannon fire will penetrate her armor.”

“We can’t afford to be reckless,” agreed Tesla. “Beowulf was designed to fight alongside infantry support, not on her own.”

“Hard to hide this monster,” offered George. “Not many airplane hangars out here.”

Nicholas was peering out a view port. “I see a good cluster of forest up ahead. Think we could hide in there until we know what’s going on?”

Tesla joined him, looking over his shoulder. “Looks pretty dense.”

“Let’s give it a shot,” said Madelaine.

“Take us in, but be careful,” Savannah told her.

“No problem, Mom.” Madelaine engaged her treads and surged forward a hundred yards down the road, then turned to her right, aiming for the wide clump of forest. They bounced slightly coming off the road and traversing an open field. She knew she was leaving a distinctive trail behind, but couldn’t help that.

As she approached the tree line, she slowed, inching forward, crunching over underbrush until her front armor plating pressed into the first tree, a poplar that rose narrow and straight for forty feet. She pushed forward, and with a mighty crack, the poplar snapped near the ground, falling before her. She eased forward, letting the felled tree pass under her, between her treads.

She easily took down three more trees, then stopped. While the trail of destruction was obvious if seen from behind, they were well hidden now from any other angle. She powered down her engine, and the sudden quiet was startling.

“We should be tucked inside the tree line now,” she said.

“Nice work, Madelaine,” said Tesla. “Please open the hatch, would you? I want to scout ahead and see what we’re dealing with.”

The hatch opened, and the personnel ladder descended. “There you go. Be careful out there, Nikola.”

Savannah handed him a pair of binoculars, then slung a scoped rifle over her back. “We will,” she said, smiling and extending her hand toward the open hatch.

Tesla knew better than to argue with her about going alone. “Yes, we will,” he said and clambered down the ladder. Savannah quickly followed him. Once they were on the ground, Madelaine retracted the ladder and shut the hatch.

They walked back along the trail of destruction Beowulf left, and stepped out of the tree line into the field. The day was cool, but the sun shone brightly in a blue sky, warming their faces as they worked their way to the road. They scouted ahead in silence, two travelers on a hard-packed dirt road.

After several minutes Savannah spoke. “I’m sorry I never thanked you. For her.”

He flashed her a warm, slight smile. “There’s no need.”

“I couldn’t have done that. Not then. But you kept your wits, even under that pressure.”

Tesla kicked a rock in the road and watched it bounce off into a ditch. “I’ve always been good at keeping things in boxes. When there’s time, I will mourn your father. But Madelaine became my priority.”

“I can’t imagine losing her. If you hadn’t been there…”

He looked at her. “What matters is that she still lives. We’ll figure out the ramifications of that as we go.”

“Agreed.” And there would be ramifications, she knew. Losing the colonel went beyond just her losing her father. He brought a lifetime of military experience to Beowulf, and as such was a major component of the project. While everyone loved Madelaine, she was exactly no one’s idea of a competent replacement.

These thoughts pulled at her as they walked up a low hill. To push back a growing unease, she instead focused on the falling leaves on the trees around them.

As they reached the top of the hill, she heard the shots that Madelaine’s more sensitive hearing had detected. She and Tesla shared a concerned glance. They continued down the road, and the sounds grew louder. Soon men yelling orders and screaming in pain became audible, and they knew they were close.

The road ahead curved to the right, and the battle sounded just around the bend. Without speaking they both ran to the edge of the forest and crouched low. They edged around the bend, wondering what sights would greet them. The sounds of battle were close now, and they proceeded carefully.

Suddenly, a subdued crashing sound came from in front of them. They looked at each other in silent questioning. Before either could speak, a young boy appeared, running straight into them. He slid to a startled stop, eyes wide and scanning them. He was young, no more than twenty, and wore the uniform of a US army private. His face was bruised and caked with dirt, and his eyes were wild with fear.

“You’re not—” he began, then broke off and pushed his way around them. He ran madly back the way they had come.

“Well, that was different,” said Savannah.

“Quite.”

They pressed on and soon found the reason for the young soldier’s desertion. Crouched low, they pushed aside some underbrush and saw a small US group fighting for their lives. Tesla guessed they had only forty men still standing, and twice that many on the ground. They were greatly outnumbered by a British force of two hundred.

A line of British riflemen were advancing on the desperate soldiers. As the guns were raised, many of the American dove to the ground, seeking cover behind the bodies of their fallen comrades. The British fired into the group, and a dozen Americans cried out. The troops broke then. As the British advanced, the remaining Americans leaped from the ground and ran, desperate to escape the field of carnage.

As they bolted, they ran away from the British and straight toward Tesla and Savannah. With a quickly growing sense of anxiety, Tesla now understood their recent encounter with the private. He’d just seen the writing on the wall a few minutes before his friends. And in about twenty seconds, they would be overrun by thirty Americans, followed by two hundred pursuing British Redcoats. Their safe observation spot suddenly felt like ground zero.

Tesla felt the urge to bolt as well. “We should go,” he hissed.

“Right damn now,” agreed Savannah.

They jumped up and sprinted, following the young private back the way they’d come. As they tore through the underbrush, they heard the approaching Americans catching up to them. Spiny vines scratched at Savannah’s face as they ran. She raised her arms to ward them off, but that slowed her speed. Her foot slipped into a depression and threatened to send her sprawling to the ground, but Tesla caught her by the elbow and steadied her.

They were coming over the low hill now, and Savannah thought of Madelaine. American forces were running all around them now. They couldn’t all fit inside Beowulf, and if they didn’t do something fast, these men were all dead.

Even this far away, she knew Madelaine would hear her. She yelled out to her daughter, “Maddy! Help!”

There was no response, which Savannah understood, given the distance between them.
Still, would have been good to hear
. She pumped her legs harder, scanning the ground ahead, careful not to trip and tumble.

She heard British voices yelling then. Angry, yet maddeningly jovial. They knew the day was theirs. It was just a matter of running down the rabble.

A round of British rifles fired again, and bullets whizzed past them, tearing into the retreating troops. She heard a British bullet zip past her ear. Just in front of her, a thin branch was cut in two by the round and fell to the ground as Savannah ran past it.

The near miss spooked her, and her foot landed sideways. She tumbled and fell to the ground, rolling into a mass of blackberry vines. A dozen cuts scratched her arms and face. “Shit!” she yelled.

Tesla looked back, horrified to see her down. He stopped and ran back to her, now seeing the approaching British soldiers clearly. He wrapped a fist in her shirt and heaved, trying to get her back on her feet, but the fabric ripped, and his grip was lost. She fell back again and cursed as she fought the stubborn vines to get back up.