Epic: Book 03 - Hero (54 page)

Judge Blake sighed with exhaustion as he stood before the High Command. In his hand was a single sheet of paper. “I am afraid, my fellow judges, that the direness of our situation has just come to light,” he said, trying to keep his voice level.

Torokin listened eagerly as Blake went on. The two judges—Blake and June—had arrived back from
Novosibirsk
the day before. This was their first big debriefing, the one everyone was waiting for.

The Russian judge had spent the past several days visiting Confinement with Archer, in particular visiting Ceratopian No. 12. It was his first time sitting in on interrogations, and any preconceived notion he had that the quest for answers might be exciting had been summarily squashed. It was slow and agonizingly dull. It felt as if they were going in circles.

He was still looking into his theory—that for some reason, each species needed the other to fail more than they needed Earth—but he had no direction to take it. It was a hypothesis and nothing more.

“
Prior to the
Assault on Novosibirsk
,” Blake went on, “it was believed that there were approximately thirteen thousand actual operatives at the facility, of which roughly three thousand were Nightmen.” He frowned. “In the aftermath of Carol’s census, we’ve learnt we’ve been terribly wrong.”

June listened solemnly to Blake’s words.

“
By her estimate, the current number of operatives garrisoned at
Novosibirsk
…is over seventeen thousand.”

Gasps erupted across the room.

“
Of those seventeen thousand, approximately
seven
thousand are Nightmen. Over half of them are completely unregistered.”

Torokin was floored, despite the fact that before the meeting had begun he’d convinced himself that nothing should surprise him.

Grinkov looked at him. “
Novosibirsk
is lost to us,” he said under his breath.

Richard Lena rose from his chair. “I want to get this straight, because right now, I think I must be confused. Are you tellin’ me almost
half
of that base belongs to Thoor?”

“
That’s correct,” Blake answered. “Carol performed a full headcount. She’s literally looked at every roster. There are entire
units
that are unregistered—all full of Nightmen.”

“
You’re gonna have to explain to me how this is possible. Last I recall, that base can’t house seventeen thousand soldiers.”

“
Do you recall our spies’ report concerning the ‘Citadel of The Machine?’”

“
Yeah,” Lena said, nodding.

“
It’s an underground labyrinth—the remnants of Fort Zhukov.”

“
What the hell is Fort Zhukov?”

“
It’s what
Novosibirsk
was built atop,” said Blake. “It was a fort dating back to the Old Era. The underground foundation of the base is very much intact. Unfortunately, I’ve been there myself.”

Javier Castellnou asked, “Were you actually allowed
into
the Citadel?”

“
We were allowed everywhere. I’ve seen their torture chambers, where they keep their own stock of alien captives. I’ve seen where they thrive. It is worse than you could possibly imagine.”

“
Were you able to make contact with our spies?”

“
Our spies are dead.”

The room fell silent. A barrage of wide-eyed stares hit the judge.

Blake continued. “Before we left
Novosibirsk
for home, General Thoor requested our presence. We were then taken to his own personal throne room.” At the words
throne room
, several judges raised their eyebrows. “We were attacked physically and forced to watch as our spies were executed by a Nightman firing squad.

“
And that is the focal point of my report,” Blake went on. “Thoor was aware of our agents, and he murdered them before our very eyes. He attacked us. He grabbed me by the throat and lifted me a meter off the ground. Then he told me—and I remember it word for word—’You have no authority over The Machine. If you make any attempt to interfere with our operations, you will behold a massacre like none the world has seen. We will slaughter your soldiers like sheep.’”

The room was mesmerized.

”’
Do not regulate this facility. Do not send us new personnel. We have personnel of our own. You will continue to supply us with equipment. We will continue to cooperate as we see fit. This is not a declaration of war. That is something you cannot afford.’” When he finished, he turned to June. “Was that correct?”

“
That was it,” she said somberly. “That was the message.”

Blake turned to the others. “And that is the gist of my report, as brief as it may be. If you want to read specifics, take a copy of the whole report for yourself. This is the reality of
Novosibirsk
. What happens next is up to the Council.”

As Judge Blake took his seat, the room’s occupants were plunged into numbness. Suddenly all hell broke loose.

“
We must go to war!” Castellnou shouted. “He has declared it, whether he denies it or not!”

“
Mr. President,” said Archer, “we
must
take immediate action.”

Only Torokin said nothing as an onslaught ensued. The judges spoke one over the other. The volume escalated to rarely heard heights.

Lena rose to his feet. “If he has the nerve to murder our agents, to attack our judges, what
won’t
he stop at? What if he goes after part of the world?”

“
We’ve got to act
now
!” said Castellnou.

“
Everybody be quiet!” Pauling said. “I’ve heard enough to make up my mind. I am ordering a full scale withdrawal of EDEN operatives from that facility, beginning right now.”

The room plummeted into stunned silence.

“
Our soldiers’ lives are in danger,” Pauling said. “Should Thoor choose to do so, he could kill every operative we have there.”

“
Mr. President,” said Archer, “surely we’re not giving up the base?”

“
That’s exactly what we’re doing, Ben. Our operatives’ lives are at stake.”

Torokin couldn’t believe what he was hearing. He was too flabbergasted to respond.

“
Sir,” Archer said, “I understand your anger. But it’s not quite that simple a request.”

“
Nor is it right!” added Grinkov vehemently.

Archer went on. “We’ve got ten thousand operatives there. It would take days to evacuate them all even if we worked around the clock.”

“
Then let it take days!” Pauling shouted. “I’m sure General Thoor won’t complain! Carol, I want you to look at alternate placements for the evacuees.”

This was insane—Torokin could think of no other way to describe it. Pauling seemed to have lost his mind, and the Russian could no longer hold his tongue. “I understand your sentiment, Mr. President, but there are many problems with this solution. I, for one, do not want the Russian people solely protected by the Nightmen. If we leave
Novosibirsk
, it could be a disaster.” He was in wonder. He’d never seen such an impassioned response by the president, nor such a poorly thought out one. “There is
Leningrad
, yes, but it is not of the caliber of
Novosibirsk
.”

Grinkov spoke immediately after. “I am afraid I must agree with Leonid, Mr. President, and not only for Russia.
Novosibirsk
is the protector of a large region. Mongolia, China, much of the Middle East. We cannot abandon that part of the world. The Nightmen will most certainly
not
have the lives of innocent civilians as their priority.”

The next one to speak was Judge Yu Jun Dao. It was the first time in what seemed like months that Torokin could remember the Chinese judge participating.

“
I will not support any decision to abandon
Novosibirsk
,” said Jun Dao. “I would sooner support military action, despite the risk to our own operatives.”

Before Pauling could respond, Archer spoke again. “We must—
must
—respond with military action. If this goes unpunished, how will it look to the rest of the world? We already look like fools for what happened in Europe.” He almost scoffed. “If you think recruitment is down
now
, wait until we abandon The Machine. We’ll lose potential operatives in droves.”

Pauling shook his head. “You all heard Malcolm’s report. The moment the general is threatened in such a way, he’ll massacre our forces there. We’ll invade a base full of EDEN corpses.”

“
Then don’t give him time to react!” Archer answered. “We move our forces into position and we attack. We don’t give Thoor a chance to counter. Our forces at
Novosibirsk
could join our fight against him.”

“
Out of the question. There’s too great a risk.”

Archer threw his hands up. “Of
course
there’s a risk!”

Torokin couldn’t believe what he was hearing. As the room again erupted with shouts, he stared at the desperately defensive president of EDEN—the man entrusted to lead the defense of Earth, whose military record was laced with heroics. That was why he had been chosen as president: because he was a strong man. Or, perhaps more accurately, he
had been
a strong man. The past was the past. Almost before thinking, Torokin said above the din, “Perhaps now is the time for you to retire.”

The arguments stopped. The glares, the angry retorts—all ceased instantaneously. Every judge turned to face Torokin, who knew the impact of his words the moment he said them. He’d just started a ripple.

“
I respect you greatly, Mr. President. I respect all that you have done. Earth is safer because of you, but this is an issue that has gone on for too long already.
Novosibirsk
should have been resolved months ago, perhaps even years.

“
We are at war with alien species. We have grown stagnant bickering over General Thoor. I understand there are lives at risk there, and your concern is admirable. You are more compassionate than anyone here. But we will not survive with compassion. We will survive only with strength. If we cannot stand up to one man and his infinitely smaller army, how will we stand up to the Bakma and Ceratopians? You are a good man, and despite our differences, I will always look upon you with respect. But if you cannot resolve
Novosibirsk
and prepare us for the war that truly matters…perhaps we need to be led by someone else.”

Pauling glared, and his aged, weary expression began to lift. It was replaced by something fiercer. “I expected more from you, Leonid. I expected more from one of Klaus’s best.”

The ex-Vector sighed.

“
You’ve missed the entire point of this!” Pauling said. “From a man who once was a soldier, you should know more about loyalty. I don’t mean to me, I mean to your fellow comrades at
Novosibirsk
.”

Torokin knew what was coming.

“
We have to care because we’re
not
like General Thoor. You want to go in guns blazing? Well, what about our troops? Where does that leave our men and women there? Dead? Executed in cold blood just like our spies?” Pauling’s nostrils flared. “We owe it to the families of every one of those operatives to do everything in our power to keep them alive.” He turned his fury to Archer. “You want to give Thoor no warning? Don’t you think he’d find out our plan? He found our spies, for God’s sake. He’d have our operatives killed before we touched down.”

Archer said nothing.

“
I will not attack
Novosibirsk
. Not while I’m president, and not under these conditions.”

“
Sir,” Lena said, “we cannot withdraw.”

“
We can and we will.” Everyone was quiet as Pauling surveyed the room. “I retire in four months. I intend to remain president until those four months are over. Contrary to belief, I am not a coward.”

Torokin’s heart hurt at Pauling’s words.

“
Before I retire, we will have evacuated
Novosibirsk
. Bit by bit, piece by piece, until the Nightmen are all who remain.” The president looked up again. “We will do it by transfer requests. We’ll find any excuse that we can, though I doubt Thoor would mind even if we announced our plan to the world. We’ve already starting moving some units to Europe, and he hasn’t had a problem with that.”

Pauling breathed heavily and concluded. “In four months, when I walk out this door for the last time,
Novosibirsk
will belong solely to the Nightmen. Our men and women will be safely removed.” His expression became rigid with finality. “Then you can all do with The Machine as you see fit.”

Torokin knew the damage he’d caused. He knew he’d created a rift between him and the president with whom he’d always gotten along, as well as casting doubt on the president’s efficacy. But his words to Pauling had been necessary.

Pauling did not open the floor for discussion, nor did he ask any other questions. Instead, he turned to Judge June. “Formulate a relocation plan. Start tonight.”

She nodded.

“
Archer, you help her. Blake, as well.”

Torokin knew Pauling was incensed. The president never referred to judges by their last names.

“
Meeting adjourned.”