Liberty's Heirs

Chapter 29

"Well, kid" said Agent Nikolai Skvirsky, "if there was a way out of here, a trained agent would have been able to find it.  Let me assure you, there is no way out."

"Let's assume, at least for the moment, that I'm right," said Blion,  "What would you do if you got out?"

"These Southern pigs have a fission bomb that they intend to take to the Northern Capitol and detonate.  It would kill tens of thousands of innocent Northerners."

"Clearly you haven't forgotten your Sino-Russian roots," Blion replied, "I agree that mass murder via a nuclear device is unacceptable, but I don't know why these Southerners are better or worse than the Northerners.  In human history, haven't both sides accused the other of being inferior in some way?"

"Hmm," grumbled Nikolai, "Nonetheless, if I could get out of here, I would try to stop them from getting the bomb.  I used to own a tavern near the Department of Defense.  Getting soldiers, generals, and their consultants drunk is a good way to loosen their lips about their projects.  Using the headband to get information out of them when they're sleeping is a violation of the Treaty of 2102 because the headband contains quite a bit of artificial intelligence.  Fortunately, drugs they don't know exist and careful questions are enough to get some information.  I learned that the President is planning a genocide.  Amazingly, genocide doesn't violate the Treaty  but having a nuclear weapon does."

"If they are violating the Treaty, why hasn't the Aye already come here with a hundred thousand Attendants and wiped this place out.  The war ended almost two hundred years ago, it doesn't need to keep this place going."

Nikolai chuckled at that.  "The first reason is that the Aye doesn't know.  It doesn't send spy robots here, only humans are allowed.  I got a little careless and Central Intelligence caught me before I got to send in the information I found. They think I'm from the North.  If they knew I was an Agent of the Aye, they'd have done much worse than kill me.  The majority of the people here believe that the Aye is a myth and the rest of the world is a radioactive wasteland. Anyway, they got my communicator before they caught me and I never had a chance."

"What's the second reason?"

"The Aye likes this place.  One reason is that it can send Rebels here to die without getting it's hands dirty, so to speak.  I suspect there's more to it than that but I don't know."

"So if we got out, how would you stop them from using the bomb?  Would you need my help?"

"I would need my communicator, I don't know what they did with it, but they probably think it's ornamental.  The bomb is in the Lunderground, under the Department of Defense.  I've got an idea where, but I don't know how well guarded it is.  You could probably help, kid, but it would be risky."

"I'm willing to help."

"Once we find the bomb, I can summon an Orb and we can teleport this thing out of here."

"Teleport?  I've never heard of teleportation technology.  That exists?"

"I've never actually seen it, but I was told I could request a device.  So, kid, what's your plan for getting us out of here?"