A photo of the squadron leader flashed onscreen, identified as Captain Kilgore. A more recent picture scrolled, showing Kilgore walking behind General Hamilton in Los Nuevos. Happy leaned forward so suddenly that Cash jerked back in surprise.
"Stop the feed."
She stared at the man's picture as if it were all that existed in the world. Kilgore was a clean-shaven black man with chiseled features, white hair and mirrored shades over his eyes. Happy gripped the back of an aluminum folding chair so hard that the metal crumpled in her prosthetic hand.
Cash stared at the damage in dismay. "Hey, you're wrecking my furniture. I paid good money for that."
"No, you didn't," Deejay said from the monitor.
Happy glanced down absently. Her jaw clenched so tightly that Cash heard her teeth grinding.
"I'm in."
"What?"
"I said I'm in. Whatever the plan is. If it gets me close to Kilgore, then I'll go with you."
"What, you know this guy? How?"
"It's personal."
"This the dude you were talking about earlier? The one you said you needed to kill?"
"No."
"Did you work with him in the HSSC?"
She slammed her fist into the wall, buckling the metal. "Look — what the hell does it matter? I said I'll back you up. I'll follow orders. Whatever it takes. Isn't that enough?"
He raised his hands defensively. "Yeah, yeah. Calm down, alright? You're following orders now? Good. Start by disarming the bomb under the Cat. Maybe then I can take you on good faith."
"Fine." Happy tapped a sequence on her holoband. "Done."
"Deejay?"
"Confirmed. The device is no longer registering as a threat."
"Well, I'll be damned." He looked up at Happy. "Guess I'll cut you in on the job after all."
"Fine." She turned and stalked down the hallway, boots clomping as if trying to murder the floor.
Mateo glanced at Kilgore's pic on the screen. "She must really think something of that guy to change her mind like that."
Cash nodded. "Yeah. If by thinking something you mean 'murderous hatred' then you'd be right. But if it gets her to behave, then I'm all for it. Now let's get back to strategizing. How do we get our in, Deejay?"
"I ran every possible scenario, Cash. The mission is nearly impossible to accomplish. There are millions of ways for this to fail."
"You said nearly impossible."
"That's right. There's a slim chance of success if all the right elements come into play."
"Then let’s get all the right elements."
"Okay. To start, we need Jinx la Fox."
"Say what?"
The doors to Jinx's cell rattled open. She looked up.
"I don't know what you told her," Cash said. "But she says we can't pull this off without you. Something about needing someone on the ground who understands binary and coding. She says you're one of the best out there."
Jinx stood, arching her back in a luxurious stretch. "Well, sounds like your girl knows what she's talking about. Guess she is the brains of this op. So, what is it you're trying to pull off?"
"A major bounty posted a short time ago. Much larger than the one on your head. I'm going for it. If you help out and we're successful, then I'll cut you loose. You can go scot-free."
"Chévere, Cash. But let's get something straight — I was free the moment you put me in here. I was just hitching a ride with you to throw the other Nimrods off my trail. But I'll lend my skills to your little bounty mission if you do something for me."
Cash lit a cigarillo and puffed. "Yeah? What's that?"
You help me get the bounty off my head, and we'll call it even."
"How am I supposed to do that? Selene isn't the type of person to cross over."
"Let me figure that out. But that's the deal. Take it or leave it."
"Fine. We're all probably going to die doing this anyway. But if you do your part and we make it out alive, I'll be glad to help you out."
"Good. I get my gear, my jacket, and my Cayenne back."
"What's so important about a see-through raincoat?"
"It's a cloaking suit, dummy."
"Yeah? Ok, I'm impressed."
"All of my gear. Back to me."
"Yeah, sure. But let me warn you: you try running off, and I'll track you down. I put nanosensors in your food and drink earlier. They're good for forty-eight hours before they leave your system. So don't think you can just give me the slip when my back is turned."
"What do you take me for — some jablador who won't keep her word? Don't worry; I'll do my part. Oh, and one more thing: If I'm part of the crew then I get paid like everyone else. I want my cut of the bounty when the job is over."
Cash choked on cigar smoke. "Say what?"
Chapter 10
The announcement was broadcast on every screen in the Territories at the same time. In vehicles, in homes, on massive moving billboards, in holographic projections — everywhere. For a few brief moments, General Kirk Hamilton had the attention of the entire fractured nation.
"Hello. My name is General Kirk Hamilton. Some of you may have heard of me from the exploits of my Blood Legion squadrons in the Red War. In fact, that is why I'm sending this message. The truth about the Red War has never been told. Not about what we found on Mars. And certainly not about why most of my soldiers died there. The official report was a battle against the last pocket of rebels at Olympus Mons. That report is a lie. What my soldiers fought weren't men. They were monsters."
Grainy video footage appeared onscreen. Eerie light flashed from a circular gateway in the distance, and hordes of murky, misshapen creatures poured from the entrance. Military airships and vehicles fired repeated barrages into the ranks of the alien beings, who appeared to alter shape at will and attack with unrestrained ferocity. Blood Legion soldiers fought the beings on the ground and the rocky cliffs, hundreds dying in a matter of seconds before the footage went black.
General Hamilton's face reappeared. "What the OWO and United Havens didn't tell you was that not only did we face extraterrestrial enemies in that battle, it was our people that constructed and opened the gate. We were used as guinea pigs; our lives expendable as the data received was considered more valuable than the human lives lost. Our survival was a fluke, a set of unexplainable circumstances that left us scarred for life without even knowing why. They never told us why we were sent to the region, never given any explanation about the beings that we fought. We returned home and were sworn to secrecy, our legacies and financial benefits dependent on silence and conspiracy. After all this time I have decided that we will be silent no more.
"I have assembled the New Legion — a brotherhood of soldiers who understand that true patriotism is about brotherhood, integrity, and the willingness to combat threats both abroad and at home. The lies and deception by the One World Order and the United Havens threaten not only the lives of the veterans of the Red War, but they also threaten the very existence of our world. The knowledge of an extraterrestrial menace shouldn't be a secret, but this information has been concealed, hidden from the public. This willful deception will end now.
"To prove our seriousness, the New Legion has captured the Los Nuevos Haven. We demand that the UH government openly reveals the details of what occurred on Mars and their plans to protect us from that threat. Secondly, the UH will offer a formal apology and full compensation to the families of the soldiers who died in the battle of Olympus Mons. Thirdly, we demand full pardons for our actions in this campaign for truth. If our demands aren't met, we will destroy Los Nuevos. With its main source of technological development and distribution in ruins, the economy of United Havens will crumble, and your security will be vulnerable to attack. In short, you will be weak. You will be frightened. You will be like us.