“But …. What’s to stopthem from charging in between the EMPs?”
“They cannot make it fromthe furthest range to this point before another EMP. That is why wehave set it for fifteen minute intervals.”
And there were so many things thatcould go wrong it was staggering.
They would trapped in the damned cage!High above the ground.
And if the EMP didn’t bring the dronesdown they’d be dead.
There would be no escape forthem.
If it did, though—if everything workedout the way they’d figured, they could take down the entirearmy—without risking another human being.
They could end the war.
They could destroy Eml when they’ddestroyed his power—which was his army.
The sacrifice of the few for themany.
She’d told herself she was willing todo that—for the children. To give humanity a chance.
She didn’t want to throw her life awayfor nothing, though.
They sat up late into the nighthashing out every scenario any of them could think up and figuringout a way to circumvent the problem. That night the guysrested.
Sort of.
Tau dragged her onto her pallet andshared himself with her in a way she could only think of as makinglove. She supposed she wanted to believe that, but he was veryconvincing and made the illusion real for her.
And when he’d ripped the tension awayand left only prickling, sparking nerve endings in the aftermath ofa mind blowing climax, he cuddled her close and she liked thatalmost the best of all.
She enjoyed—hoped they allenjoyed—three nights and days of pretending all was right with theworld, while they spent hours of everyday preparing forArmageddon—testing and tweaking the system as Quan hadsaid.
On the fourth day they awoke to thediscovery that Eml had found them. He was coming and he wasbringing the four horsemen with him.
Because Tau had broken communicationsto make certain there was no doubt in the traitor’s mind that theyhad come for him.
When all of them had climbed to theplatform, Ultima saw that there was a mass of machines headed theirway, already well within the outer perimeter the guys hadmarked.
Ultima was so weak with fright shehardly registered anything any of the guys said to her when theyhad helped her to settle into the chair they had brought up forher.
Tau redirected her attention to him bycrouching in front of her and capturing her face with one hand.“Repeat what I have told you.”
Ultima stared at him blankly,struggling to recall what he’d said.
He tapped the ‘cattle prod’ she’d seenbefore when they’d taken two cyborg prisoners. “This is your lastdefense. If they should overrun us, use this to take out as many asyou can.”
It took two tries to gather enoughspit to swallow. Ultima nodded jerkily.
“It will not come to that,beloved, while I have breath in my body—and Xi and Quan. We willtake your world back for you if there is any way that it ispossible.”
Her gaze caressed his face. “We willmake a future for our children,” she managed to say after amoment.
His gaze flickered over her andsettled on her belly for a matter of seconds. “I would … have likedthat,” he said finally, leaning down to kiss her flat belly beforehe straightened and kissed her on the lips.
Dismay flickered through her when sherealized he’d misunderstood, but she let it go. If it gave him anystrength or any comfort, she wanted him to believe it.
Xi checked their weapons and set themat intervals around the perimeter of the Faraday cage.
