Earth Thirst (The Arcadian Conflict) - By Mark Teppo Page 0,128

over. Fulfill your part of the deal. Meanwhile, they had no idea that the one you really wanted was Phoebe.” Mere's figured it out too. “But we kept getting away from you, and Secutores kept getting closer. And now you've moved against them. They know you're not going to play nice. You need friends. You need to get that counteragent in place and you need to show Arcadia that it works.”

Escobar snarls at her, and Mere responds by snapping her arm up, pointing the pistol at his forehead. “Don't,” she says quite clearly, “I'm really on edge right now. I might not be the best of shots, but you're going to be pretty hard to miss standing right there. And I'm willing to bet you haven't received the genetic therapy yet.”

“You need someone to help you smooth things over with Arcadia,” I say, pulling his attention away from Mere, “That was supposed to be Talus, but Phoebe went and splattered his brains all over your penthouse floor. Which leaves me as the only Arcadian who knows enough about what is going on to help you. I'm Mother's favorite, remember. You need me to convince the Grove.” I nod at Mere. “And you need her to keep me in line.”

“Excuse me?” Mere sputters.

Escobar composes himself and offers Mere a pleasant smile. “I will need assurances that he will do his job properly,” he says. “Otherwise, he could simply sell me out to the Grove. They would be taking a risk, but Silas has been a member of Arcadia for a very long time. Many will feel his words resonate within them.”

“So you're just going to leave me with him?” Mere's hand drifts, moving the pistol in my direction. “What's to stop him from killing me the moment you walk out of here?”

“Not much,” I admit.

“Oh, that's fantastic to hear,” Mere snorts.

“Think of it as detente,” Escobar says.

“Which is just a fancy French way of saying, ‘Relax, this won't hurt a bit when I slip this knife in your back,'” Mere says.

“It does always hurt more than you think it will,” I say gravely.

“Silas!” Mere stares at me, her eyes big and round.

We're interrupted by a shout from the lab building behind us. Escobar looks; I don't. I grab Mere's hand, reestablishing where her gun should be pointed, and mash my finger against hers and the trigger. The gun goes off, but Escobar has already moved, ducking and slamming his palm against the base of her fist. The gun barrel goes up, the round misses, and as he tries to strip the weapon from her hand, I backhand him in the face.

In the tunnel, the metal door explodes inward in a gout of flame and smoke.

Belfast and his cavalry.

It took him long enough.

FORTY-FIVE

The smoke from the RPG hit on the front door of the facility rolls out of the tunnel, obscuring Mere, Escobar, and me with the familiar stench of rocket propellant, explosives, and burnt plastic. Escobar breaks away from us, dropping off the edge of the top terrace. I don't chase him. Instead, I grab Mere's arm, and haul her toward the unfinished building on our left. If this is the lab, it's probably safe to guess that it isn't the building that serves as a barracks for any contingent of mercenaries that Escobar keeps on site. If he keeps many at all.

I suspect the cultural restoration card is quite enough to keep the locals away from Moray, especially with all the money Hyacinth Worldwide is putting into Cusco. Escobar's Arcadians are probably enough to keep the place secure, and I think he sent most of them out on the raid.

Assault rifles chatter in the tunnel, the channel magnifying the noise and making it seem like there are more guns than there are. I'm not sure what Belfast's men are shooting at as no one is near the entrance. Announcing themselves, perhaps. Making sure any Arcadians in the tunnel know they're coming.

The man who had been trying to alert Escobar is running toward us, closing at a preternatural speed. He's still wearing a flight suit from the helicopter, and I get in front of Mere to intercept him. He barrels in, and I drop and do a leg sweep. Before he can recover, I'm on him, driving his face into the dirt and putting my knee in his back.

Mere reaches us, breathing heavily, and I grab the pistol from her. I put a round in the back of the Arcadian's head