Iterations #261 - #270 - We Need A Favour
You have to try everything once. Or, for Cage, many times.
If he was the sort of person who ever showed surprise, General Brigham would have showed it when William Cage and Rita Vrataski walked into his office.
"Well, this is something of a surprise," he said. "I had not expected to see you again, Major Cage. No, it's Private Cage now, isn't it. Private Cage, deserter."
"That was a nice touch," said Cage, as he sat down in the chair opposite the general.
"And seeing my most decorated soldier in your company is even more of a surprise," said Brigham. "And that she is pointing a gun at me is, I suppose, somewhat odd."
"We need a favour," said Cage. Rita sat down in one of the chairs at the meeting table. She put her gun under her shirt when there was a knock at the door and General Brigham's secretary entered.
She jumped in surprise when she saw Cage and Rita.
"Hi," said Cage to her. "We've met before but I didn't catch your name."
"My ... name? It's, er, Iris."
"That's a lovely name. Do you have anyone in the invasion force, Iris?"
"What? Uh, no. My son is in the military, but he's has been assigned as a liaison officer in Canberra."
"Iris, sit down," said Rita. "Over here."
"Er, what?"
"Sit down." Rita took the gun out.
Iris glanced at the general. "Do as they say," he said. "Private Cage, you seem to be a rather different fellow to the smooth-talking parasite you were this morning."
"It's been a long day," said Cage. "Now, about this favour."
"Whatever it is, the answer is no," said General Brigham.
"The thing is, we have come into information that indicates the location of a very special mimic," continued Cage. "The head honcho, the big cheese, the one that controls all the others. We call it the Omega. It is located in a dam in Germany. Künera Dam."
"Up in the mountains, near the Swiss border," said General Brigham. "What of it?"
"We want you to nuke it," said Rita.
"With a nuke," said Cage. "You control a fleet of nuclear cruise missiles."
"Nukes have been tried," said General Brigham. "Many times. They don't work against mimics. The initial explosion takes out a few hundred, a thousand maybe, and that's it. Radiation doesn't affect them. In a few days the numbers are back to what they were before. The Russians nuked half of Poland and the total effect was zero, aside from the fact that large parts of the country are now radioactive."
"This one is unique," said Cage. "You destroy it, it doesn't come back."
"No," said General Brigham. "I will give no such order. You'll just have to shoot me."
Rita shot him. "I never liked him," she said.
Then: re-set.
"Whatever it is, the answer is no," said General Brigham.
"The thing is, we have come into information that indicates the location of a very special mimic," continued Cage. "The Omega, like Doctor Carter said. It is located in a dam in Germany. Künera Dam."
"Ah, I should have known that he was involved in this somehow. Künera Dam is up in the mountains, near the Swiss border," said General Brigham. "What of it?"
"We want you to nuke it," said Rita.
"You control a fleet of nuclear cruise missiles," said Cage. "Yes, I know nukes have been tried before, and I know about Poland. But this is a unique one," said Cage. "You destroy it, it doesn't come back."
"No," said General Brigham. "I will give no such order. You'll just have to shoot me."
Rita shot him.
"The thing is, we have come into information that indicates the location of a very special mimic," continued Cage. "The head honcho, the big cheese, the one who controls all the others. We call it the Omega. It is located in a dam in Germany. Künera Dam."
"Up in the mountains, near the Swiss border," said General Brigham. "What of it?"
"We want you to nuke it," said Rita.
"With a cruise missile," said Cage. "Yes, I know nukes have been tried before, and I know about Poland. But this is a unique one," said Cage. "You destroy it, it doesn't come back."
"No," said General Brigham. "I will give no such order. You'll just have to shoot me."
"Rita, don't shoot him!" said Cage. "I know you've never liked him ... but don't. Not again."
"Pardon me?" said General Brigham.
"She's already shot you several times," said Cage. "Long story. Actually, it's a short story, but on a loop."
"Well," said General Brigham, looking at Rita. "I can almost believe it, aside from the obvious lunacy of what you are saying. I've read your file, Sergeant Vrataski. Petty crime, brushes with the law, dead-end jobs. You volunteered for the UDF because it was that or a stint in jail. I suppose even no-hopers can find a niche. And your niche is killing mimics. Even your promotion to sergeant was a sham, done for publicity purposes. Something I opposed, in fact."
Rita shot him again.
"You volunteered for the UDF because it was that or a stint in jail," said General Brigham. "I suppose even no-hopers can find a niche. And your niche is killing mimics."
"Rita, don't!" said Cage. "We need him. He's the only one who can order the missile launch."
Rita raised her gun. "Yes, we need you," she said. "But we don't need ... her." She swung the gun so it was pointing towards Iris. Iris gave a gasp.
"You wouldn't," said General Brigham.
"You willing to bet her life on it?" said Cage.
General Brigham was silent.
"Tell me," said Cage. "How many nuclear-tipped cruise missiles do you command?"
"37."
"So you can afford to spare one, right? It's not like they doing much at the moment. Just lying around, really. You'd still have plenty. And you'd still have a secretary."
"And it will win the war," said Rita. "If there is even a faint chance of that, you should take it. If there is a slim possibility of not sending a hundred thousand soldiers to their death tomorrow, I would think you would jump at it."
"What have you got to lose?" said Cage.
General Brigham considered. Then he turned to his computer and called up a map that showed the co-ordinates of the Künera Dam. He took a folder from his desk and looked up a series of codes. Then he made a number of telephone calls. With the last one, he read a long list of numbers and phrases from the file, and gave a series of sharp, clear orders. "It's done," he said. "So now, Sergeant Vrataski, please stop pointing that gun at my assistant."
Rita put the gun down.
General Brigham pushed a button on his desk and a panel in the wall slid back, revealing a digital map of Europe. There was a line moving from England towards southern Germany. The four of them watched it. Long minutes ticked by.
Eventually, the line reached its target and stopped.
"There you are," said General Brigham. "Now please get out of my office."
"Cage, do you feel any different?" said Rita.
"No, I'm still in, as far as I can tell," said Cage. "General, what do you think happened?"
"What do I think happened? I think the missile exploded, exactly as it was meant to. Mind you, that is a very big dam. A great deal of reinforced concrete. Our German friends are very good at building things like that."
"In my vision, it was right at the bottom of ... something," said Cage. "Maybe ... maybe the nuke wasn't enough."
"Or maybe this pompous arsehole is screwing with us," said Rita.
"Or maybe you are deeply and dangerously deluded, Private Cage," said General Brigham.
"We'll have to go there," muttered Cage. "Damn."
"You two are going nowhere, except to the brig and then an asylum," said General Brigham. He stood up, taking a pistol from a drawer of his desk.
Funny he didn't do that before, thought Cage. I guess he wanted to see how it played out.
General Brigham pointed the gun at Cage. But it was the bullet from Rita that killed him.
"On your feet, maggot!"
END