Critical Path

“They won’t let us go until we finish town business,” Paul said. “Come back and sit down. The faster we get through this, the quicker we can all leave.”

Augustus gritted his teeth. They were keeping him like a prisoner to go through a list of pointless tripe. He resisted the temptation to order his Doctore to attack. Things could get messy with aliens outside. He reluctantly sat down with a sigh.

“Next on the agenda is sanitation,” Paul said. “We currently have no planned systems in place, and if we’re to improve hygiene standards in Unity, we need to start thinking longer term about the infrastructure.”

Augustus drank from his goblet and sat back. He decided to keep his mouth closed and wait it out. Besides, Aimee would be dead soon. Quickly followed by these pathetic amateur politicians and, of course, Charlie Jackson.

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

Having left Khan back with Maria and Layla, Gregor and Denver took the shackled alien on a walk through the woods until they approached the edge of the tree line, after following the croatoan’s hand signals for directions.

They moved with slow and deliberate footsteps so as not to snap a twig or get caught in a trap.

The alien had guided them through the woods for over an hour; all the while Gregor had to remain in control of his desire to send it to whatever afterlife it believed in.

But of course, the group wanted to give it the benefit of the doubt, all because they wanted to find Charlie.

For Gregor, though, he couldn’t care less; he was just interested in finding the aliens’ settlement so he could arrange for its eradication.

The others might want to take their time, build things up, but if there was one thing he had learned from the alien’s first uprising, it was that they weren’t to be underestimated, and if there was an opportunity to get rid of them, it had to be taken right there and then at any cost.

Delaying things would only give them time, and time was their greatest weapon, having lain in wait for thousands of years in their pods and war machines.

Gregor wouldn’t let that happen if he could help it.

He’d been in plenty of turf wars over the years to know you don’t give your enemy a moment’s rest or a chance to recover.

You drive them out, killing as many as possible.

A dead enemy is your friend.

With the effects of the root still fresh in his blood, Gregor stepped beyond Denver and pushed his way through the tightly packed pines, using his croatoan rifle to ease the branches away and clear his view.

Under the midday sun, he saw a huge field of fresh root. Like an orange blanket, it stretched for at least a kilometer in every direction.

The sun dazzled him initially, but as his eyes adapted to the sudden brightness, he saw beyond the crop a number of ramshackle, wooden towers. At least three on this side. The hazy sky obscured what might be beyond the rising land in front of him.

Must be sentry towers, he thought.

Through the scope on his rifle, he noted they were constructed with repurposed pallets, old sheets of plywood, and what looked like corrugated metal roofing material.

Interestingly, though, the bottoms of the towers extended below ground level, indicating that there would likely be more buildings there out of sight.

He turned back into the trees. “Feels like a trap to me. If we go on foot, we’ll be seen long before we get there. I told you we should have taken the bikes.”

Denver brushed past him to look for himself while the alien stared on, blinking its stupid dumb eyes.

“You think we’re going to walk straight into your little settlement without some security?” Gregor said to it, not expecting a response.

Denver stepped back into the woods. “I’m going in. You can stay behind if you want, but I’m not waiting any longer.”

“Fine, kid, do whatever you want. Don’t expect me to come save your sorry ass. But perhaps it’s worth us coming up with at least some kind of strategy. We have collateral to use,” he said, nodding toward the alien.

“Kill it, I don’t care,” Denver said. “Tell the others I’ll be back before it’s dark.”

With that, Denver spun on his heel and left the security of the woods.

Gregor picked up the rope, untied it from the tree, and dragged the alien back to the others.

He decided they could babysit while Gregor planned his assault on the settlement.

On the way back, the alien spoke, stopping Gregor in his tracks, making him spin round. “What did you say?”

“You… kill Venrick.”

Gregor sighed. “What of it?”

“Sister.”

“Yeah? Good. I hope it hurts. Do you know how many of my friends and family died because of you bastards? Hundreds of them. Even my wife. You think I give a rat’s ass about you and your sister? I won’t be happy until every last one of you is rotting in the ground.”

“No,” the alien said, narrowing its eyes as it struggled to manipulate its mouth to orate English words.

Gregor got a hint of frustration from it as though it couldn’t communicate its thoughts properly. He was about to turn away and continue his trek when it finally found the words.