Deep Black Road: The Head of the Snake

Chapter 23

Standing trapped in the stasis field in the middle of a small unfurnished room painted all in white, Ricky tried to tap into the generator's controls; but they were obviously designed with him in mind.

Gah! he thought. No computer!

Boy, am I ever glad I kept changing my route between the two farms. The CDA won't find Lisa and everyone because of me this time.

Hopefully they won't find them at all; but that's in God's hands now.

And I'm in God's hands too, since Orkan's got me totally locked down here.

God, help me.

Then, to make the best of the situation, he resumed reading the Writings.

#

After a couple of hours, the door-the only feature in the room besides the lighting panel in the ceiling-opened.

"Welcome back," said General Orkan, standing in front of him. "I've been quite interested in following your recent exploits."

"What are you going to do with me?" Ricky asked defiantly, and was startled at how bold he'd become; but he now had people who mattered to him very much.

"We're going to have a little conversation, you and I. That's all."

"You did this just so we could talk?"

"Of course. You removed your link, and went into hiding; so how else was I to get a hold of you? Just the same, you'll be free of that device as soon as you answer some questions to my satisfaction."

"And they are ...?"

"To begin with, are you affiliated with the so-called Followers of the Anointed One?"

"Yeah, I am."

"So that'd explain the failure of the peace-keeping force sent to their farm a few weeks ago."

"How can you call it 'peace-keeping' when all these people want is to be left alone? Only one of them has a gun, and it's for hunting." And shooting rogue robots.

"I'm disappointed in you, Ricky. I want peace for everyone myself; but you and these Followers don't seem to appreciate that."

"Of course. You only want peace if we'll give up the Anointed One; and we can't do that."

"Ricky, this world of ours is in grave danger. Surely you can see that. If everyone won't submit to the greater good, everything'll fall apart. Freedom is too dangerous, peace too fragile. Look at the wars we've experienced in the last hundred years. Our entire civilization has suffered grievous damage; but now it finally has some measure of peace thanks to the link and its associated technologies. If your Followers won't join us, they'll have to be eliminated."

The implication of that toppled on Ricky like a stack of cartons: he wasn't a fugitive anymore; he was a rebel. "And I'll do everything I can to stop that from happening!" he exclaimed.

"You have no idea what you're up against, Ricky. Over the last couple of centuries, a select and secret group of humans has been preparing for an era of peace in the world by gathering political and economic power in their hands be-hind the scenes. You're defying the entire world, Ricky; and I don't want you to be destroyed for that mistake. You can't imagine your potential for good in this new age."

"What are you talking about, 'good'?"

"The link, Ricky, the link. Nobody can do or say anything without it being known by somebody. You and I are computerized; so we can directly control Sentinel, which operates the link. Don't you see? If we do that-if we do that together-we can do an end run around that human group here in North America. They're business people, and have a poor understanding of the meaning of military power; so, by taking control of Sentinel, we can rule over the Federation ourselves. We can give them the new age of peace even the Followers have dreamed of, free from the ramblings of that Prophet."