Ruins

The guards shouted at Mkele to stop a hundred feet from the bunker, and Phan ran out to check him for explosives or other tricks. “He’s clean,” shouted Phan, and threw a blanket around the man’s shoulders, leading him in. Mkele shook Haru’s hand and nodded solemnly at Kira.

“They want to meet,” he said simply. “Their leaders and ours, at the intersection halfway up the road.” He looked at Kira again. “They specifically requested you.”

“That’s getting to be a theme with them,” said Marcus. “Any threats? Are they going to kill a prisoner every day until she shows up to talk?”

“Not that they mentioned,” said Mkele. “Honestly, I don’t know what to tell you: Our treatment has been brutal, and the Partials have been hell-bent on revenge for Delarosa’s little trick, but . . . here I am.”

Kira nodded, thinking. “Do you have any idea what they want to talk about?”

“Our terms of surrender,” said Haru.

“Maybe,” said Mkele. “He said he’d meet us in an hour, minus the time it took me to cross.”

“About forty minutes left, then,” said Phan. “Enough time to get some scouts out into that forest and make sure this isn’t a trap.”

“We’ll send you and Heron,” said Kira, turning to look for her, but the girl had already disappeared. “I guess she’s already out there.”

“Go carefully,” said Marcus, stopping Phan with a hand on his arm. “Keep your eye open for any signs of a double-cross, but assume they’re doing the same, and don’t make any suspicious moves.” Phan nodded and left.

“I guess this means we’re going?” asked Haru.

“I am,” said Kira. She looked at Mkele. “Did they say how many people we could send?”

Mkele shook his head. “They don’t seem concerned about it. Obviously I’m coming with you as well.”

“What about weapons?” asked Calix.

“They didn’t seem concerned about that either,” said Mkele.

Haru growled. “Arrogant sons of—”

“We’re not taking any weapons,” said Kira. Haru started to protest, and Mkele with him, but Kira silenced them both. “No weapons. This is our first real chance for diplomacy, and it could be our last. If it turns into a fight we’re as good as dead anyway, so let’s try to look as peaceful as possible.”

Haru grumbled but pulled out his handgun and set it on a table. The others piled their weapons in the same place, bundled themselves tightly, and set off down the road, careful of the slick ice hidden beneath the soft layer of snow. It was snowing again, gently at the moment, coating the empty forest in a fresh layer of white and gray. They saw a group of people walk into the far end of the road, coming to meet them; as the Partials neared, Kira saw one of them in chains, and tears sprang into her eyes when she recognized Samm.

We still don’t know what this is about, she reminded herself. Maybe they’ll execute him right in front of us.

The two groups stopped in a small T-intersection, where a third road ran south toward the ocean. Kira, Marcus, Calix, Ritter, Haru, and Mkele stood silently, facing off against five Partial soldiers and the manacled Samm. They stopped at opposite edges of the intersection, waiting.

“You okay, Samm?” Kira called out.

“Yes,” said Samm, and Kira felt a surge of relief to hear his voice—followed almost immediately by frustration. Why does he always have to be so taciturn?

The Partial in the center of the line walked forward, his feet crunching in the snow, and stopped in the middle of the icy road. Kira hesitated a moment, then walked forward to meet him.

“My name is Shon,” said the Partial. “Acting general of the Partial army.”

Kira looked him in the eye. “Kira Walker. I suppose you could say that I’m the closest thing the human race has to a leader right now.”

“I was told I could trust you.”

Kira nodded. “Do you?”

“Samm told me some very interesting things about you and your . . . theories.”

Kira couldn’t help but notice that it wasn’t an answer. She humored him and followed the new line of discussion. “If we work together, we can save both species. See that man behind me, second from the end? His name is Ritter, and he’s from the Third Division.”

“I’ve linked him, yes,” said Shon.

“He’s twenty-two years old,” said Kira. “You can cure us, and we can cure you. Regular contact between the species will propagate a biological particle that—”

“Samm explained it all,” said Shon. “On the other hand, he also introduced me to one of the AWOL Partials we’d already captured, a man named Green. It’s hard to believe your theory when the man with the most human contact is lying on his deathbed.”

Kira felt a pang of despair. “Is he already—?”

“He might as well be,” said Shon. “Some of his batch already expired in the night. When I left Green this morning he could barely breathe, let alone speak or keep his eyes open.”

“I’d like to see him again,” said Kira. “Even if it’s only . . . after.”