7.) Expensive Questions
"So, what do I get for betraying them?" The prisoner asked cooly, ignoring the pains of his abused body, the short, balding Doctor lurking behind his restraint chair, and all the guards with their guns pointed at his head, staring hard instead at the one he hated most in the universe.
Donre shrugged, looking around in distaste at the bugs, the damp walls and floor, the cobweb covered equipment.
"Moved to a better place at the very least. Maybe more than one hour a week awake." The Generals eyes seemed to change as he stared at the prisoner, shape and color becoming blurred and Cowan smiled.
"Neat trick. Hypno won't work on me." Donre acted like he hadn't tried but the inmate could feel his displeasure that it hadn't worked.
"My generosity depends on your information." The POW looked at the other man, dark eyes seeing from their body language that there was no friendship between these men, not even the bond of working together, and though the criminal was caged, temporarily tamed, he was still eager to play head games with them, always willing to sow dissension among the enemy.
"He keeps his word?" Not wanting to be responsible for what was surely a lie, the graying soldier shrugged, looking at the huge spider nest in one corner of the small cell and the mass of red bumps on the prisoner's thick ankles.
"He hasn't pulled anything on me or the boys." Donre's face tightened at the obvious evasion and the convict shrugged.
"Sounds like a bad deal." Donre nodded, moved only a little closer despite the titanium arm straps and soldiers crowded in and around the small room.
"Your other option is death." Cowan laughed out loud, making the General's lips thin into a flat lie.
"Been waitin all my life, big man! Bring it on!" Donre smiled coolly and the convict stilled, sensing the victory blow that was coming.
"Is it so easy to chose when it's someone else's life? You were captured on an air field with three others. You've just killed the pilot." Cowan frowned to cover his unease.
"He's already dead. At your hand, I hear." Donre shook his head.
"Not as dumb as you think. The woman is the pilot. Sammi." His voice was full of anticipation. "You've just killed her.' He turned away from the real concern that was flooding the criminal's face, not needing to see the win to know that he had. "Come on, Sergeant Judas. We'll bring her head back, along with her young son. See if they'll sacrifice them both."
"Wait!" Donre kept walking, moving slowly to keep listening and the Furyan's screams flooded the long, dim, filthy hall.
"They gather to overthrow this world! The prophesy has come true! You and your kind will die begging for mercy! Please don't hurt them!" They could still hear him screaming as they stepped out into the drizzle and haze, their escort uneasily watching the shadows of dusk creep over the ugly, live wire gates around the tall, red brick jail. Death was in the air.
Donre watched the Sergeant as he drove, not looking away, and he was aware of how nervous he was making the soldier.
"You believe him?" The man nodded quickly.
"Sure, he was upset." Donre sat back, liking the earthquake caused gaps in the road more than he usually did. Today, they would serve a purpose.
"Maybe." The Sergeant swallowed his nerves, drew up his spine.
"We really go to kill a female prisoner?" Donre snorted.
"Orders to execute a POW come from higher than me." The soldier grinned in understanding.
"But, he didn't know that. The General nodded. "Thus, he can be believed. The woman will tell the truth to keep her child from being hurt and we'll compare their stories. That's why you always capture the young if you have to choose. The parent won't be far behind and you'll have more control." His voice turned mean. "And, you'll need all the advantages you can get in this fight. The odds are not in our government's favor."
"How do you know so much? Are you…" The Sergeant fell silent as those pale green eyes found his.
"Am I what? An Alien?" The soldier forced himself to nod, knowing the higher ranking man was still pissed about his answer to the convict.
"Are you?" Donre leaned close, voice a soft, terrifying menace.
"I could tell you but you'd have to die afterwards. I totally believe in that saying." The Sergeant smiled uneasily.
"Like the CIA?" Donre frowned.
"Better than that. Decision time, grunt. Ask and receive answers and then death, or shut up and drive?" The General goaded and it was a challenge the man felt to his toes.
"Those were my men before you got them killed. I built this outfit from the ground up and I'll rebuild it. I don't shut up and drive for anyone!" Donre smiled eagerly.
"Good, you've chosen. Let's see. What to reveal in the short time we have left?" He leaned closer to the protesting man. "We'll start with, yes, I am, only not just one, but the sum. I'm an Alpha and I've been hunting them for years, so don't tell me about building a legacy. I've turned in more of my own kind in the thirty years since the WorldEnders sent them fleeing from Furya, than any other man or platoon." He paused to casually light a cigar. "I have over a hundred captured just since the war your government created." The Sergeant was horrified.
"Your own people?" Donre's head snapped around.
"I have no people! You won't either once this plays out. Your species will be crushed in our battle!" Donre snapped, bracing his foot on the dash.
"If we're the loosing team, why help us?" Donre's smile was savage.
"Because I have no people. I came only for the fight, the power. I'm the Dark Horse spoken of in the prophesy, and I won't stop until I'm dead or every last bit of Furyan blood is gone!"
"But, why?" Donre held out his cigar.
"Generations of betrayal, Sergeant Peters. Hold this a moment, will you?" The instant the soldier took hold of the smoking blunt, Donre used his hand to push off the man's shoulder while shoving with his braced leg. The movement sent the humvee skidding to the left, heading for a huge rift in the ground, and Donre leapt up and out, landing smoothly on his feet. The jeep hit dead air a second later and then the vehicle was over the edge, disappearing, and the Sergeant's echoing scream made Donre's cruel grin widen.
"Betrayals like that." He turned away. "Been with me long enough to know I never bluff." He turned toward the two hummers of shocked men that had stopped.
"He asked too many questions." The General moved toward the nearest one and the men there nearly fell out of the backseat to clear him room. His move was confirmation that he was indeed an alien, a traitor to his own kind but the soldiers crammed into the other jeep without complaint. Theirs was not to question why, only to do or die, the same as it had been for all their lives.
Donre settled himself, lighting another cigar that made his driver frown.
"Where to, sir?" He turned those hard eyes on the young captain for a long moment.
"First to base, then South Bunker #12. Any more questions?" The kid swallowed nervously, shaking his head as he shifted into gear.
"Sir, no, sir." A second later, they were moving, bouncing over broken ground and Donre began to plan his next three moves.
