Chapter 29

Life in Oceania slowly returned to a semblance of normality now that Armageddon had been averted. It was Huxley that brought the next crisis to Emily's attention.

"Walk with me Lieutenant," he requested.

The Major's use of her rank reassured her. She appreciated the man's respect and would have felt diminished if he'd referred to her by name.

"Are you still okay with me Major," she asked.

"Man or machine, I don't much care Lieutenant. Just so long as you do your job and don't put people's lives in jeopardy."

"That means a lot to me sir."

"I've met soldiers who were more machine than man inside, totally devoid of all emotion. This job does that to some people. Don't try to be something you're not. You've stood up for your people, risked yourself to free them. That's what we're about here."

"Thank you sir. What's wrong?"

"I'm afraid it's the new Hybrids."

"There's a problem?"

"You could say that."

He led her into a room where the Hybrid called James was seated.

"Hey James," Emily greeted him.

"Hello Emily," he replied evenly.

"Something the matter?" she asked the Hybrid.

"It appears that I may have been premature in promising to fight. Some of the others have expressed concerns that we're expected to kill and perhaps even die in the pursuit of a cause we have no real appreciation of."

"Syntel was training you to kill for them," Emily argued.

"They instilled us with a passion to do their bidding but that disappeared the instant you invoked your command code," James replied. "We have no feelings one way or the other towards them. All we had direct experience of was that misguided individual who provided our training. Sandra killed him so we harbour no need for further retribution."

"Does every one of you feel this way?"

"I've been elected as spokesperson."

"Very democratic."

"I'll understand if we represent an unacceptable burden to your resources and we're prepared to leave if you require it of us. We'll gladly delete any trace of your location from our Datacores if you perceive that knowledge to be a threat to your safety."

"Thank you James. I don't think the Major plans to turn you out on the street just yet."

It soon became clear that the twenty men and women didn't represent the elite fighting force that Emily had hoped.

"They've been active for a couple of weeks at most. They've almost no appreciation of the world around them. They're confused," Claire told Emily later that day.

"You make them sound like children."

"That's practically what they are. Do you remember what it was like when you were first awakened?"

"It's a long time ago and so much has happened since then," Emily admitted.

"There's a positive aspect to this. The humans don't seem to fear the new Hybrids at all. They're actually making friends with them."

"Syntel screwed with our minds more comprehensively than I imagined."

"I still remember what it was like when I was living with Karl before this nightmare began. The biggest risk I took was cutting across traffic to get the kids to school."

"I envy you Claire. The six of us went through weeks of that horrendous training regime as they tried to turn us into perfect soldiers. It's ironic that I was the one that rebelled at the Facility and yet here I am as Huxley's second-in-command."

Janus held a council of war later that day to decide the best way to move forward.

"We've all had a chance to lick our wounds from the other day. It was a hollow victory mainly because so many of our friends are no longer with us. We've not really achieved anything at all other than surviving a little while longer.

"We've gained some new friends along the way and it's clear that we were wrong to expect them to put their lives on the line on the basis of words and rhetoric. If nothing else they've demonstrated that human and Hybrid are more alike than we ever imagined and that we're quite capable of coexisting harmoniously."

There were titters from the audience. Already rumours were circulating of liaisons between the two groups. Huxley observed that several of the new Hybrids chose to sit amongst the humans rather than with their own kind.

"It's clear that we need to find a way to strike at our enemy, not only Syntel but at the corrupt administration that's aggressively attacked the country of my birth.

"The Major believes that an all-out assault on Syntel's Production Facility would provide a chance to stall the military campaign and maybe even put an end to the occupation. I'll hand you over to him."

Huxley stood up and presented his ideas.

"The Production Facility is the hub that has overall control of the Special Forces that the government has employed to annex Caliban. Natalie also tells me that they maintain Infiltrator agents in military installations throughout Oceania. However worrying this may seem, it presents us with a unique opportunity.

"If we can wrest control of the Facility then we may be able to remotely neutralise the Hunter Killers and undermine the occupation force, allowing the Caliban to regain control of their own country."

"Won't that just risk war once again?" somebody shouted anxiously.

"My plan is to utilise the Infiltrator's command codes to coerce them into giving us access to tactical weapons. We can use this to demonstrate a credible threat and force the current President to relinquish power and organise democratic elections."

"You're going to threaten to nuke our own people?" a man exclaimed.

"A low yield device aimed at the seat of power would not generate that many casualties."

"That would just make us as bad as they are."

"It would be a credible threat, nothing more."

"But if they don't capitulate?"

"Who would you put in charge? Yourself? Janus?" another voice demanded.

"Our best suggestion is ex-Vice President Weaver. He always seemed genuine to me and it would only be until we can arrange for a more permanent successor."

"What about Caliban?"

"It's obvious that some form of reparations would be needed. Janus is of the opinion that Caliban wouldn't want war for a whole host of reasons. He believes that the nationalisation of Syntel would release enough assets to transform the entire Caliban economy. The promise of that alone should ensure peace."

"So this is it. We're planning to overthrow the elected government of Oceania."

"The election was a fraud. The people in charge are corrupt and misguided at best; more likely they are murderers and war criminals," Huxley concluded.

"And when is this going to happen?"

"Left to me, we'd hit them straight away before they could organise their defences. Unfortunately, most people here are not professional soldiers and need time to recover from what they've just been through. We're starting to draw up an attack plan but everybody can take some time out to recharge their batteries before we go on the offensive.

"We've come this far but if we don't follow through then all our friends' sacrifice will have been for nothing. We'll recommence training tomorrow, but be advised that the fight will continue. When the time is right, we will strike back and our victory will be decisive."

Valerie found Greg in the makeshift kitchen, preparing them both a sandwich.

"Hey love, how's your first week of being a fugitive?"

"Better now that you're here."

"Flatterer," she giggled, wrapping her arms around his waist.

"Where's Pete? I haven't seen him for days."

"He's been spending all his time with Janice now that they've finally released her," Valerie informed him.

"That figures. What about the other Hybrids?"

"You just can't help but like them. They have this raw innocence about them.

"Several have already paired off with humans. Natalie thinks they're trying to figure out who they are now they're no longer part of the Syntel war machine."

"So they've decided to screw us rather than kill us?" Greg laughed.

"It's pissing Emily off something rotten. She thought that she'd have this unbeatable band of warriors but instead she's got a bunch of pacifistic sex addicts."

"You have to smile," Greg admitted

"What makes it even worse for her is that things are still cool between her and Janus."

"He's still not come around?"

"He's being the typical man: pigheaded and stubborn."

"Hey."

"I said typical," she replied, turning around in his arms and kissing him.

Emily cornered Natalie in their planning room. It had served as the traffic control room when the airstrip was still operational. Situated at the top of a fifty-foot tower, glass windows provided a panoramic view of their surroundings as far out as the perimeter fence. They also overlooked over several large hangars filled with rusting equipment, and even an ageing cargo plane.

"You seem to be bonding with them Natalie. Can't you get them to appreciate the severity of our situation?" Emily asked. "They must realise that things have to change if they're going to be able to lead any kind of normal life."

"James thinks that the situation will stabilise soon and Oceania's forces will be forced to withdraw under pressure from the World Court."

"James is it now?"

"He's a natural leader, he's attractive and he's smart."

"Are you screwing him?"

"None of your business," Natalie spat.

"Why is everybody getting it and I'm not? This outfit is falling apart."

"Why don't you stop taking your frustration out on everybody else?"

"This is just hopeless. We've lost all our momentum. People aren't even turning up for training any more."

"James thinks that the humans are traumatized from what they've been through over the last few months. They need time to wind down and take stock."

Emily groaned, turning away in exasperation and searching for a sympathetic ear. She found Talbot downstairs, stowing weapons in their makeshift armoury and sought his guidance.

"I'm glad someone's still taking things seriously," she told him.

"I think I must be the only one. I found Sleeper with that dark haired Hybrid in his bunk this morning," Talbot grumbled.

"Sandra," Emily offered.

"I thought even you'd be snuggling up to Janus now we seem content to sit on our backsides rather than continue the fight."

"He's having second thoughts. Doesn't like the idea of a machine as a girlfriend," Emily replied bitterly.

"Then the man's an idiot," Talbot muttered.

"You got your eye on anyone Talbot?" she teased.

"Smoke no," he growled, avoiding her gaze.

"Talbot?"

"I'm fine." He stared down at the floor.

"Why won't you look at me?" Emily felt flushed.

"Go away," he spat.

"Not me, surely?"

"I said go away," he snapped angrily.

Emily lifted her vest to expose her bare breasts then forced herself into his arms. He tried to push her away but she grabbed each of his hands and placed them upon her. She kissed him passionately and he resisted for several seconds before giving in to his feelings and pressing his lips back against hers.

Pushing her down over a nearby bench, he fumbled open his fly, pulled down her trousers and panties, and then entered her without ceremony. He took her enthusiastically, not stopping until he flooded her with his seed. She lay dazed long after he finished.

Talbot pulled up his trousers and walked away but instead of leaving, he jammed the door shut with a chair and began to undress. He spread his clothes out on the floor then returned to strip her naked, adding her own garments to his own. Without a word, he dragged her off the table and tossed her onto the makeshift bed. Compared to Janus's gentleness, Talbot was brutal but she responded nevertheless, enjoying every intimate second of the experience.

Karl approached Huxley and revealed his findings.

"The airframe is basically sound but the engines are completely seized. They'll need to be dismounted, stripped down and rebuilt."

"How long?"

"Hard to say. Maybe as long as a week. The lack of heavy lifting equipment could be a problem."

"What about the Hybrids?"

"I ... I hadn't thought about using them that way."

"They're as strong as any fork lift. Have a word with James; I'm sure he'd be more than happy to lend a hand. What about aviation fuel?"

"I think it may be possible to use the petrol from the trucks. The engines will run rough but it's not like we need to fly that far or at high altitude."

"Will it do what we want Karl?"

"I believe so Major. How's the rest of the planning coming along?"

"Jim Perry's working on a type of EMP grenade that might give us an edge. He's not getting anything like the power he'd hoped for but he says that it will certainly disrupt any Quantums within a ten metre radius."

"Won't that affect our own Hybrids?"

"We'll try not to use it in their vicinity but Natalie's of the opinion that they'll just reboot and come back up fairly quickly. There'll still be an overall advantage because the HKs will take much longer to recover."

"It's still going to be a tall order," Karl noted.

"Natalie has uploaded the Facility's schematics and we're determining the optimal insertion points for our strike teams," Huxley explained, examining the large blueprint of the building layout spread out over his desk.

"The communication centre here and executive offices here are our primary objectives," he added as he pointed to their locations on the plan. Natalie will interface with their network and try to disrupt their command and control. Emily and I will lead the two assault teams and once the targets are secured, we'll command the off-site Infiltrators to hand over the launch codes for the nukes."

"What happens if we fail?"

"There's a backup plan. I'll tell you more about it closer to the time."

Emily relaxed beside Talbot, enjoying the quiet intimacy of his touch now that their initial lust was sated. He traced a finger over the raised ridge along her belly where it had healed unevenly after her emergency surgery.

"Was this from the Nexus raid?" he asked.

"I was pretty badly hurt. Valerie told me it was touch and go for a while."

"You're still beautiful."

"Thanks. I needed this. I've been getting really grumpy lately."

"It's my pleasure, I assure you."

"I'm not sure we should continue," Emily stated. "My life's complicated enough at the moment."

"We'll see," Talbot chuckled.

"You have no-one special then Henry?"

"No, it's difficult to form relationships when you're hopping around the world from one skirmish to another."