The Hawaiian Special Forces

Chapter 30

Aoloa dragged his hand over the keypad for the door lock and waited. In a few moments, it unlocked and he sent the heavy cyborgs out. "Report!"

Gertrud glared at him, but stated, "Three tanks immediately visible, along with snipers along the fence line."

"They won't settle for just that. There are more resources available to deploy if I somehow manage to get past all of that." He frowned as he looked around, then finally spotted a camera near the ceiling. After a bit, he smiled and said, "I think I'll just have to head up to the communications hardware on the roof. Now would be a good time to have a chat with the traitors that tried to kill me. Maybe I can get them to see the error of their ways."

With that, he retreated back into the building and started heading for the roof. Unlike before, he simply had all the cyborgs under his control secure the roof, then advanced to the dish tower. He was settling down next to it when an unarmed soldier appeared at the roof access.

"What can I do for you, soldier?"

"I've been sent to negotiate with you. Please don't do whatever you're about to."

"Colonel Wolf can come up here herself if she wants to talk. I have no advantage in killing her, so she may as well. I'll give her ten minutes to arrive if she wants to negotiate."

With that, he sat down to wait. He didn't need to wait long. For the first time since arriving, he got to see Jutta Wolf in the flesh. "I'm here because I don't think you're bluffing," she stated.

"I'm not. I just want to leave. However, you've proven less than... honorable... in our dealings."

"That was a clever bit of misdirection you used."

"You found my babies already, huh?"

"When you flicked blood at cyborgs to control them, we finally put it together. They're remarkably effective. While we were fighting off an attack from your comms unit, you were taking over our servers from our own computers. Very effective."

"Hokulani would have done something much more effective, I'm sure. I learned a little from her, but not much. Then again, I think the nanites always made her a little nervous."

"You don't actually need to be up here to screw us over, do you?"

"No, but it got your attention. Care to try negotiating in good faith this time?"

The Colonel dragged her hand through her brown hair with a sigh. "Switzerland, huh?"

"That's where I'm going. Do you want me to just reveal the bio-engineering countries are engaged in, or would you like me to include a section on German cybernetics research, as well?"

"It's already known by most intelligence agencies."

"But not by the general public. I'm sure the conspiracy sites are left alone so they'll appear to be JUST conspiracies. The introduction of solid evidence is likely to upset people in democracies around the world. It won't remain a conspiracy."

She frowned slightly. "You do realize this could cause a world war, right? If the world decides the UPS have committed crimes against humanity, and they don't submit themselves to sanctions, it could get out of control."

"This all started because I kept asking why humans need to be monitored so much. I've learned a lot while on the run: humans are barbaric creatures. You're no exception, Colonel, no matter how much you may justify your actions. Right now, I think the worst are probably the UPS themselves."

"So what is it you want from us?" she demanded, getting to the point.

"Safe passage. Jost and Gertrud go with me and get me to the Swiss side of the border. When they return, they'll have the signal to neutralize all nanites in your facility."

"That puts us in the position of needing to trust you to keep your word."

He nodded. "True, but the alternative is I start releasing data about your programs to the UPS now. Oh, and I've got some other backup plans as well. I've already embarrassed you. I don't really want to give you further cause to hunt me down by betraying you."

The colonel eyed him speculatively. "I don't know what you're actually threatening us with, but you've proven you can threaten us. You also have done far less damage than you could have while trying to get your freedom. Release all but Jost and Gertrud as a show of good faith, and I'll have them escort you away unmolested."

Aoloa nodded. A moment later the majority of the cyborgs around them started freaking out.