Several seconds passed and Hodges was about to give up on the idea of a parlay when a voice, loud and closer than he expected, came out of the jungle. “A little late for that, don’t you think?”
Hodges drew back. He quickly found the other mercenary and, gestured for him to attempt a flanking maneuver. The man seemed to understand and slipped stealthily into the woods.
Hodges took a deep breath, then called out again. “I hope not. I’m sorry about the way things went down. I had to make a judgment call.”
Silence.
Hodges knew he had to keep Chapman engaged, keep him talking, in order to give the mercenaries a chance to fix his location.
“I’m going to show my cards, Pete. Maybe then you’ll understand. Maybe you’ll even consider joining me. We could use a guy with your skills.”
“We? You got a mouse in your pocket?”
Hodges jerked. The voice had come from a different place. Chapman was moving, flanking him and getting closer, and now he was alone. He picked up and fell back, racing parallel to the trail. Fifty yards later, he spotted four more mercenaries coming up the path.
Thank God! He got down behind a tree and called out again. “You deserve an explanation, Pete. No matter what you might think, we’re on the same side.”
“That doesn’t sound like an explanation.”
Still close. What’s he trying to do? The mercenaries, alerted by the exchange, fanned out to either side of the trail and started searching for a target.”
Chapman called out again. “How can you be working for them, after what they did to your family?”
“Pete, you don’t think I’m actually working for the Dominion?”
“Who else?”
Hodges weighed his options. If he could convince Chapman to hear him out, to join him, that would be a win-win situation. If not, he might be able to flush his foe out so that the mercenaries could finish him off, but doing so would mean putting himself in Chapman’s sights.
No victory without sacrifice.
“Pete, I’m going to step out in the open. Flag of truce. I just want to talk.”
Chapman didn’t answer.
Hodges waved one of the mercenaries over. “I’m going to step out in the open. If he shoots me, watch for the muzzle flash and let him have it.”
The mercenary tipped him a nod of grudging approval. “You got some cojones, amigo.”
Hodges wished he felt as brave as the gunman seemed to think he was. With his heart pounding furiously in his chest, he slung his rifle across his back and walked out onto the trail, hands raised.
“Flag of truce,” he repeated. “I know you’re an honorable man.”
There was a sound like a cough or maybe harsh laughter from somewhere in the trees, but Chapman said nothing. When Hodges spoke again, he did so at a softer volume, so that his voice would not be heard by the mercenaries at his back. “It started in Norfolk…”
Jade put the last fig leaf in place and then took a step back to view her handiwork. The leaves were spread out to cover a rectangular area about four feet wide and eight feet long. Perfect. They won’t be able to miss it.
She glanced up the hill to where Dorion waited behind a screen of leaves and branches, waved, and then headed into the jungle to check on Professor. There had been a lot of shooting earlier, but after that she had heard talking and figured Professor had made good on his plan to stall Hodges and buy them enough time to finish laying in their defenses, such as they were.
As she crept through the trees, she could hear Hodges’ voice, but he wasn’t speaking loud enough for her to make out more than the occasional word. There was a very good chance that Hodges was also stalling, trying to give his men a chance to sweep around their flanks, so instead of trying to get closer, she hunkered down behind a tree, gun drawn, and waited.
Suddenly, a hand clamped over her mouth, and another caught her hand, preventing her from discharging the pistol. She started involuntarily, trying to twist free, and then saw Professor’s face above her own. He let go of her hand and held a finger to his lips, then let go of her altogether and motioned for her to follow.
He led her through the jungle, closer to the sound of Hodges’ voice, stopping only when his words became distinct.
“—could not allow something like that to happen again,” he was saying. “It’s not just the Dominion. You get that right? It’s everyone. Muslim extremists… Christian fundamentalists with an apocalypse fetish. Hell, even those kooks waiting for the mother ship to come out of the comet. These people are out there and they’re just waiting for something to light their fuse.
“It doesn’t even have to be something like what you found in Teo, or what the Dominion found at Atlantis. These people operate in a fact-free environment, but when it does turn out to be something really special? Something supernatural? Then it’s a thousand times worse. That’s why the Norfolk Group was formed.”
Up to that point, Jade had not understood what Hodges was driving at, but with his mention of “the Norfolk Group” the pieces fell into place. Not content merely to work with the Myrmidons against the Dominion, he had chosen to align himself with a different kind of secret society — one dedicated to suppressing discoveries that might embolden religious radicals and opportunists like the Dominion to launch terrorist campaigns, or even make a bid for world domination.
Professor touched a finger to his lips again, and then cupped his hands around his mouth so that the sound of his voice would travel up into the tree tops. “So you’re the good guys, is that it?”
As soon as he was done speaking, he gestured for Jade to follow again, moving fifty feet further down slope, just in case Hodges’ men were trying to pinpoint the sound of his voice.
“Look, I won’t lie to you. The Group was formed by wealthy men who know that another Norfolk or 9/11 will crush the world economy. They’ve worked hard to get where they are and they don’t need a bunch of crazies turning the world upside down. So yeah, maybe they’re doing it for the wrong reasons, but it’s the right thing to do, Pete.
“What you found down there under that pyramid? That’s exactly the kind of thing that could touch off the next firestorm. Thousands dead. Maybe millions. Maybe a lot more if the economy goes. It’s better just to bury these things.
“I know you must feel like I betrayed you. I wish there had been time to do things differently. Hell, I wish that there had been nothing at Teo but rocks and bones, but wishing won’t make it so.”
He stopped as if waiting for Professor to respond, and when that didn’t happen, he went on. “I don’t want to kill you, Pete. We’re on the same side; we both want a world safe from the Dominion and everybody else who wants to flush it down the crapper. What do you say? There’s always room for one more.”
“Just one more?” Professor called back. “Let me guess. Part of the deal is that I give up Jade and Paul.”
He flashed her a look that said, Not a chance. Jade was surprised by just how much that reassured her.
“Loose lips sink ships, Pete. I know you can keep a secret, but the others?”
Professor pointed up the hill and mouthed the word “Go!” Even though Hodges didn’t know it, the parlay was over; the war was back on.
With Professor behind her, Jade crept up the hill, making certain to keep lots of forest cover between herself and the mercenaries. She could still hear Hodges, droning on about sacrifices for the greater good and the need for absolute secrecy, but his voice became fainter with each step she took. By the time they reached the top of the slope, where Dorion waited, she could no longer even distinguish him from the ambient jungle noise.