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| Lpnet2-100 Lpnet2: The 4D Earth War Chapter One: Callisto Colony Two Chapter Two: To Amplexa and Tranqua Chapter Three: Asteroid Mining, Politics, and War Chapter Four: Return to Earth Chapter Five: A Friendly Reunion Chapter Six: The Last Outpost Chapter Seven: Air-strike in the Night Chapter Eight: The Temporal Connection Chapter Nine: The Temporal Intersection Chapter Ten: Reunion with Old Friends Chapter Eleven: Ideals for the Future Chapter Twelve: Stonedancer Grounded |
The 4D
Earth War
Chapter 17: A Warlord and an
Evacuation
The next day, I went to the bunker and interrogated NZXK. They had him locked in one of the smaller rooms with one table, two chairs, and a bed. He was sitting at the table contemplating the tray of food before him. I turned the other chair about, so that the back was forward, and sat down across the table in front of him. I set a com-unit down on the table and turned on the recorder. “NZXK,” I said, staring at him, “You’re not Martian, why the Martian title?” “Why not?” he answered, still staring at the food. “I needed a respectable name-change. It suited my need.” He looked at me without the helmet and showed sudden recognition. “My guard,” he said with surprise, “if it isn’t the prodigal son, Ron Querzo. Come home to save us all? Well, you’re too late!” He turned bitter, then sour. “Look,” I said reasonably, “the decision is yours. You can tell me everything about your deal with the Martians and live, or say nothing and die. Since you had a major hand in this nuclear winter, you can sit in this cell and enjoy it when it moves in about two weeks from now.” He glared at me and said nothing, suspended by the dilemma. I waited about a minute to let it sink in. “If I tell you what you want to know, and you let me live, then what? Am I still your prisoner?” “Then it’s your choice. You can go free and fend for yourself, or stay with us and be busted to private. The sooner you talk the better.” He thought about that shortly. “I won’t be a prisoner?” “No, not if you tell me what I want to know. But if you stay with us, don’t expect to make many friends.” He thought about that again shortly, and decided to have a smoke. “Got a light?” he said. “I like to smoke when I recant the past.” I gave him a light. He looked across the room at the wall and started talking. “After all,” he began, “I owe no allegiance to EXO or XIK. They told us there was no chance of a nuclear winter.” “Us?” I said. “NXTL and I,” he said. “Now, the rats have deserted us. Sure, I’ll tell you what you want to know.” “When and where,” I said, “did you first meet EXO and XIK?” “It was April of 2086,” he explained, “right outside Chicago, at a tavern just a few miles from the company. “ “What was the date?” “Uh, let me see. It was the 24th, no, the 25th.” “Alright, so you met EXO and XIK?” “And NXTL,” he added. “I see... and they made a deal with you for arms, right?” “Yes,” he said, “hi-tek weapons.” “Why’d you agree? What was in it for you?” “Power and wealth,” he said, “more than I’d ever expect to see on my salary.” “Being CEO of a hi-tek computer company wasn’t enough?” “I wasn’t a CEO,” he admitted. “I was an underpaid computer engineer. I did all the work; the guys upstairs gained all the profits.” “I see...” “No, you don’t see,” he said bitterly. “In 86, I was a crazy idealist. What these guys, EXO and XIK, proposed was, not a nuclear war that would result in a winter, but a revolution to destroy the tyrannical infrastructure of power in America. Querzo, you were too busy in outer space to understand what was happening on Earth. America was in the hands of petty dictators before the war! We tried to change that!” It appeared that he was being sincere, but I knew he was simply a pawn in the schemes of serious Martian manipulations. “Don’t expect sympathy from me,” I said firmly, and got to the next point. “What do you know about NXTL? Who was he before the war? Where’d he come from?” “I don’t know,” he admitted. “All I know is he was close to the Martians. They obviously got to him before they got to me.” “Tell me what happened,” I said, “when you first met in the tavern.” “They all sat down in the booth, joined me without invitation. They introduced themselves and told me they needed me to do some work with them. “They gave me a list of hi-tek parts they wanted and promised me 1 million dollars if I could deliver. The parts, I realized, could be used for weapons, but the money was impossible to resist. At first, I wasn’t sure, because I wasn’t authorized to make such deals. Then this NXTL character started talking, about the hard reality of living poor and oppressed in the States. I started to like the guy. He was a lot like me. He was idealistic about the need for changes and had nothing good to say about the upper-caste of people with all the wealth and power. “EXO told XIK to get us all some drinks, while NXTL and I shared our hatred for the CEO’s and the favorite ‘sons’ of America. Then he handed me a booklet. It reminded me of an underground college publication, the kind that was oppressed by the republicans. It was a book of complaints. He maintained that the truth would help to free the oppressed masses, and the truth was in the booklet. EXO and XIK supported him, and went along with them on it after the third drink. The truth was, I was happy to find three guys all in one circle that supported the idea of a revolution. “So, as you can no doubt see, I went along with them. But I swear to you, I never expected a nuclear winter.” “Did you know they were dealing with the Minor League of Third World Nations?” “No, not at first. I thought it was strictly in the states. Anyhow, I’ll admit I didn’t think it mattered. The truth was NXTL’s booklet was right. It told the rotten truth about all the capitalist countries of the world.” NZXK stopped on a bitter note and put his fist down hard on the table. “But how would you know, Ron Querzo, being in outer space at the time!” “If you hated Earth so much,” I said, “you should have gone to the colonies. War isn’t the solution, expansion is!” “I was on the waiting list,” he said. “Then you should’ve waited longer!” I said. “I calculated how long I had to wait,” he insisted. “I had at least fifteen more years, Querzo! At age 35, that put me on the lunar shuttle at 50! I didn’t want to go into space as an old man!” “Stick to the point!” I commanded, glaring at him. “What point?” he said. “I’ve told you. I fell into their plan and played along, and it was great! I never lived so much in such a short time! I got to kill the CEO of my company, and all of his office-boys, and most of the damn dictators in this country! Damn it, Querzo, they deserved it!” “Alright, alright,” I said, checking the time. “Calm down. The sooner we get the questions over the better. What about NXTL? What happened to him? Was he killed at the plant yesterday?” “I don’t know. He disappeared when I was instructing XNZ5.” “You didn’t see him killed?” “No.” “Can you tell me anything more about him? Did you know his true identity? Where he came from?” “No, nothing.” “Alright,” I said, and stood up, “Time for a little break. I’m not through with you yet. This could take all day.” I went to the door. “Hold on,” he protested. “I told you what you wanted. You said I could go free!” “Not yet. There may be more questions. We’ll let you go tomorrow.” He was swearing when I left him. |
Chapter Thirteen: Rebels in the Aftermath Chapter Fourteen: Temporal Relativity Chapter Fifteen: The Hand was Forced Chapter Sixteen: Ion Trace to the West Chapter Seventeen: A Warlord and an Evacuation Chapter Eighteen: The Spiritual Trust |