Chapter XXII - A Turn of the Tide
It was late evening when a group of Trikru scouts found them in a clearing a kilometre away from the Mountain. Clarke had managed to retrieve Keenan and Fox from her old camp and together the four of them had made it to the clearing to wait for a party of scouts. The scouts had been led by Gustus and Lexa had been surprised to find him still alive after what Clarke had described of the aftermath of the Maunon's attack.
"Heda!" Gustus exclaimed in relief as he saw her.
Lexa gave the massive bear of a man a hug as soon as he was close enough. "Gustus, I'm glad to see you well."
"As am I Heda. What happened to you?"
"The Maunon abducted me, the members of the 100 who were with us not to mention the Skaikru party that had been sent to negotiate with us. Clarke was able to breach the Mountain and together we were able to destroy the acid fog and their missiles."
"So they are defenseless?" Yana, one of the Outriders who had joined them back in Norfolk, asked from behind Gustus.
"Not entirely." Clarke answered as she joined the discussion. "The outer doors are still mostly intact with the possible exception of the rear entrance door. I estimate that we killed between 20-30 members of the security forces during our attack."
Yana let out a low whistle. "How many do you think they have left?"
Clarke motioned for Keenan to join them. "Keenan used to be one of the Maunon."
Gustus surged forward causing Keenan to recoil. Lexa placed a palm on Gustus' chest. "Em pleni Gostos! Keenan is no longer one of them. She opposed their actions."
"Then how does she walk about freely without being burned?" Gustus growled.
"Clarke gave me her blood." Keenan replied. "It's allowed me to survive outside of the Mountain."
"Keenan opposed the actions of the Maunon even before they used her as a test subject and almost killed her." Clarke added. "She has no loyalty to their leadership."
"I do not trust her Heda. First the Tseekru, now a Maunon, what next?"
"Gostos, the world is changing. We no longer live in the comforting world of black and white that was our childhood. We need to be open to assistance from people we would have dismissed off hand as enemies."
"I still do not like it." Gustus sighed.
Keenan cautiously stepped forward. "The population of the Mountain was about 380 people. Out of that all male inhabitants over the age of 18 are trained in combat but only about 100 of them actually serve at any given time."
"And what of the women?" Yana asked curiously.
"They are typically assigned to other functions ranging from scientific work to maintenance. They would be no threat to your warriors."
Gustus scoffed. "They are made weak by their foolish values and dependence on technology."
"Hold on a second, what are you going to do to them?" Keenan asked worriedly.
"They should die. All of them! Jus drein, jus draun." Gustus replied succinctly.
"I gave Keenan my word that we wouldn't kill everyone." Clarke interjected.
Everyone's gaze fell on Lexa for a final verdict. "We cannot let the Maunon's crimes go unpunished but by the same token we are not going to commit genocide. Everyone who receives the bone marrow treatment will be executed unless they can prove it was done against their will. The scientists and leaders responsible for this bone marrow treatment will be executed as well. The guard, due to their participation in the harvesting of our people will receive punishments that fit their crimes. All those who received blood from our people will receive punishments that reflect the scale of their crimes. The children will be spared and every effort shall be made to ensure that every child is left with at least one parent."
Keenan stammered almost incoherently before she could make her mouth cooperate. "You're talking about executing at least a third of the population."
"Far too few." Gustus grumbled. "They are monsters who have plagued us for as long as we can remember. They are not human beings."
Clarke put a hand on Keenan's arm. "I don't like the idea of mass executions any more than you do but your people have been a menace. They have consumed countless lives to prolong their own and ruined countless more. How many mothers, fathers, sons and daughters have been lost to your people?"
"We had to survive." Keenan argued desperately.
"Then you should have asked for the blood. Traded for it. Welcomed the grounders into your family so that you could have overcome your weak genetics." Clarke snapped back. "Your people have had at least a half century of opportunities to make peace. Instead they have become progressively more inhuman."
Keenan let out a shaky sigh. "What happens to the people like me or those that weren't involved?"
"Anyone who was not involved in the harvesting of my people and accepted blood only to survive will be pardoned. The survivors will receive some form of therapy to enable them to survive on the surface. After that they will be placed in the hands of the Tseekru."
"Oh so they become our problem?" Yana laughed.
"You have a problem with that Outrider?" Lexa responded fixing her with a chilling gaze.
"No ma'am." Yana answered. "I was only joking. We would be more than happy to take the refugees to Norfolk."
Keenan looked like she was about to say something but Lexa held up her hand to still her response. "The Tseekru are a group of people who you have not harmed. They still retain some technology so living amongst them will be both safe and comfortable for the survivors. Satisfied?"
Keenan gave her a nod and Lexa turned back to Yana and Gustus. "Gustus I want you to go back to the rest of the army. They are to decamp immediately and move with speed to our position. We will advance to the outskirts of the mountain and rest there before attacking. Yana, gather your Outriders and prepare the explosives. The moment the army clears a path to the entrance of the Mountain I want your people up there to blow the door. Questions?"
Gustus and Yana shook their heads and gathered the scouts as they returned the way that they had come leaving the four women alone once more. Clarke sighed as they departed and Keenan made her way back to the pot of water they had setup over the fire.
Lexa studied Clarke's expression for a moment. "Clarke, what's wrong?"
Clarke looked over at her. "I'm not looking forward to what comes next Lexa."
"You mean the battle."
"And what comes after the battle."
"It has to be done."
"Does it Lexa?" Clarke asked hopelessly. "Do we really need to execute them?"
"The ones who perpetrated this are monsters. If we let them go it would be endorsing their behaviour. These people need to be made into an object lesson so that no one ever considers doing something so horrific again."
"But will that really accomplish anything Lexa?"
"Perhaps not but for our people to be safe we must burn out this evil."
Clarke gave her a small smile. "Ever quick with a motivating word."
Lexa took Clarke's hand. "It will be a dirty desperate business Clarke but when we are through with this, we will have peace."
Clarke was about to respond when she was interrupted by Keenan's shout of surprise. Turning their gaze towards the opposite edge of the thicket they saw a trio of Mountain Men approaching. None of them were wearing suits and the implications of that turned Lexa's stomach.
"Get Fox inside the tank!" Clarke yelled as her grip tightened around Lexa's hand. The two of them broke into a run towards the tank but as Lexa glanced at the approaching Maunon she realized that they had stopped where they were.
"Clarke wait!" Lexa replied pulling on Clarke's hand. "They're standing still and they're not pointing their weapons at us."
Clarke glanced from Lexa towards the Maunon. "What are they doing?"
"We wish to parlay with you." One of the Maunon called.
Lexa tightened her grip on Clarke's hand reflexively. "It could be a trick to recapture us."
"There's only one way to find out." Clarke hissed back before turning her gaze to the Maunon. "Drop your weapons there and advance towards us."
As the Maunon did as they were commanded Clarke and Lexa made their way back to the fire. At a gesture from Clarke the Maunon advanced towards the fire.
"So, you want to discuss the terms of your surrender then." Lexa needled being deliberately provocative just to see how the Maunon would react.
"We are here to discuss the terms of a cease fire." The lead Maunon replied evenly.
"What are you offering?" Lexa asked skeptically.
"We still have seventy living outsider prisoners whose lives are redundant to us at this point. You call off your attack and we'll release the prisoners to you."
Lexa laughed in the negotiator's face earning her a stunned look from both him and from Clarke and Keenan. "I'm sorry. You're trying to buy peace with seventy lives?"
"Yes?" The negotiator said in confusion. "Consider that we will kill all of them as well as killing a significant number of your warriors in the attack."
"Let me tell you what I know. You have no acid fog and no missiles. You have between fifty to a hundred men with guns and some other explosives. You are facing an army of two thousand warriors and I have the means to rupture your bunker doors easily. Once my warriors enter the Mountain it will be a bloodbath. Your people will cease to exist."
"Even you aren't that bloodthirsty." The negotiator responded all though it looked as though he doubted his own words.
"What's your name?"
"Carl Emerson."
"Do you have any children Carl?" Lexa asked casually.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Emerson snarled.
"I'm asking if you want them to grow up or you want me to bury them alongside you?"
"I refuse to believe that you would massacre innocent children."
"I'm not going to massacre anyone Carl. The air will do that for me. If we breach your bunker then every single door will be blown open in an attempt to clear out all resistance. Anyone without a suit or the bone marrow treatment will die. Can you give all the children the bone marrow treatment before we arrive?"
Emerson's glare was all the response Lexa needed. "I didn't think so. It seems to me that you've got two choices. Return to the bunker and prepare to die or accept my terms of surrender."
"And just what are your terms."
"Amnesty and treatment for all the children. All children retain at least one parent. All personnel that participated in the harvesting of blood and bone marrow will be executed. Anyone that received the bone marrow or blood treatments will be tried for their crimes. All remaining survivors will be treated and relocated from Mountain to a safe location to live out the rest of your days in peace."
Emerson closed his eyes. It was clear he knew that Lexa had handed him a death sentence. "President Wallace suspected that you might propose terms like those."
"And?"
"And he had one demand. He has to be allowed to go free and granted amnesty."
Lexa's stomach roiled at this, she had no desire to give the man responsible for all the pain and suffering his freedom. Memories of smiling and shaking Nia's hand at the conclusion of the Kongeda negotiations came flooding back.
"Lexa?" Clarke asked from beside her. "Are you alright?"
"Consider the terms accepted. You will halt all bone marrow harvesting immediately. You will signal your abeyance to the terms of this agreement by having all the prisoners given medical attention and placed outside of the bunker. All weapons will be placed outside of the bunker and all of your soldiers will be outside waiting for us. Clear?"
Emmerson nodded his head. "We will await your arrival."
"Then you may go."
As the Maunon turned and left Lexa let out the breath she hadn't realized that she had been holding.
"So this is a good thing right?" Keenan asked from behind them.
"I suppose so." Clarke replied as she watched the Maunon walking back the way they had come.
"Assuming they actually surrender." Lexa added grimly.
"Oh, I suspect they will. Cage is very fond of his own skin." Keenan confirmed.
"It's all over but for the crying." Clarke remarked.
Just as Keenan had prophesied the Mountain Men and their prisoners were assembled outside the door to the bunker when the army arrived. Lexa had given her warriors firm instructions that none of the Maunon were to be harmed unless she expressly ordered it but she was still tense despite her commands. Her soldiers were far from being known for discipline and their hatred of the Maunon ran deep. Lexa knew that she would need to start giving them prisoners to be executed in an effort to sate their bloodlust before they went on an out of control rampage through the Mountain. The thought of sacrificing people on the altar of vengeance sickened her despite the fact that most of the victims would more than deserve their fate.
Cage was standing outside the bunker almost preening in the sunlight. It was clear that despite everything he thought that he had won, simply because he had survived. Lexa would be damned if she let him get away with it.
"Lexa and Clarke. The two women who brought down Mount Weather." Cage remarked as they approached him.
"Cage Wallace, the fool who destroyed the Mountain." Clarke snapped back.
"I don't know about that my dear. I'm looking forward to my new life on the surface."
"You seem awfully confident for someone with no more cards left to play." Clarke laughed.
"I still have one card left. Right now, the self destruct is counting down."
"The what?!" Lexa snarled.
"Easy Lexa. It's set to 30 minutes. Enough time for us to conclude our business and for me to leave. I'll radio you the code when I'm a safe distance away."
"No, Cage. I'm not going to take the chance that you're going to double cross me." Lexa replied her voice icy.
"Then we have an impasse."
"Not really." Clarke said, breaking the silence with a crafty smile. "We'll let you out through the Reaper tunnels. You can use the Reapers to provide you some security until you're clear of our forces. Before you go you'll radio the code. We'll be sure the code is legitimate and you'll be on your way."
Cage looked around nervously clearly noting the hate filled looks that everyone including his own guards were shooting his way. "Fine."
"Lexa?"
Lexa knew that by the expression on Clarke's face that she had something planned for Cage, so she nodded her head reluctantly. "Agreed." Lexa motioned to Gustus. "Assemble a team of four of my most reliable guards. We will be going into the bunker. Cage will be coming with us."
Lexa turned away from her group to Anya and Indra. "Anya, I'm depending on you to keep everyone in check here. Anyone that harms a Maunon without my express permission is to be executed immediately."
"It will be difficult to keep them restrained. They were promised revenge." Anya replied. Indra's expression was one of almost mutinous discontent.
"And they will have their revenge but we will do it properly." Lexa shot back with a glare at Indra. "We will execute the scientists first since their guilt is beyond question. Clear?"
At the nods from her two general's Lexa waved Keenan over. "You told us there were others like you who disagreed with what was being done to the grounders. You will be responsible for singling them out. They will assist us in determining the guilt and appropriate punishments for the residents."
"Lexa …" Keenan began.
"Keenan, I know that you feel like you're betraying your people by cooperating, but without your cooperation there will be bloody indiscriminate reprisals and innocent people will die. This is the only way."
Keenan swallowed and nodded at her. "Yes Lexa."
The trip into the bunker was a hushed affair. Lexa and the rest of the group donned the protective overalls that formed the outer layer of the Maunon's radiation suits. Wearing the garments would ensure that they would not contaminate the Mountain or its residents while they were meting out justice.
The first stop had been the science labs. The scientists were milling about in a nervous knot in one corner whispering to on another. While the scientists themselves were spotlessly clean there were dozens of half-dead Skaikru prisoners confined in beds that spoke to the manic pace with which the scientists had been extracting the bone marrow.
Clarke had hurried over to one of the beds and Lexa realized with horror that her mother lay in it. On the opposite side Kane was clutching Abbi's hand. His head popped up in surprise at Clarke's arrival. "Clarke?"
"Kane, what happened?"
Kane hung his head. "After all of the alarms the scientists seemed to panic and started extracting as much bone marrow as quickly as they could. They started on Abbi this morning. Then they stopped everything and started patching us up after that. What happened?"
Clarke was clearly incapable of explaining as held on to her mother's hand. Lexa moved in behind her and placed a gentle hand on her shoulder before answering Kane. "The residents of Mount Weather have surrendered to us Chancellor."
"So that makes us your prisoners?" Kane asked grimly.
"No Chancellor. Your people are free to come and go as they please."
"And what about justice for what's happened to my people?"
"There will be justice, of that you have my word." Lexa let go of Clarke and turned back towards Cage. The man quailed under the force of her glare. "Who was responsible for this?"
"Her." Cage replied as he gestured towards one of the scientists.
Lexa nodded to her guards and two of them advanced on the woman. "You scum, you're going to sacrifice everyone so that they don't kill you!" The scientist snarled.
"You're making a sacrifice for the greater good, Lorelei." Cage replied with the hint of a smile.
"Fuck you Cage!" The woman screamed as she was dragged by the former president and out of the room. The rest of the scientists bunched up in the corner doing their best to ignore what had just happened.
Lexa turned back to Clarke and Kane. "Will she be alright?"
"With enough rest I think she'll be alright." Clarke whispered.
"Do you want to stay here Clarke?" Lexa asked softly.
Clarke rose decisively. "No Lexa. We need to stop the self destruct."
Lexa motioned for her guards to follow her and with a nod to Kane they left the room. Lexa motioned for one of the guards to remain by the door before turning to other one. "We will need more guards. Have Gustus gather a group of twenty and have them suit up. Keenan, you go back with Artigas. I need you to guide Gustus' men back here. After you station more guards here take Gustus and the rest down to the civilian areas. Ensure that there is no panic and separate the dissidents so that we can talk to them."
Keenan nodded her assent and she and Artigas headed back towards the surface leaving her alone with Clarke and Cage. "Now Mr. President lets go and deactivate the self destruct."
Cage nodded at her and the three of them headed for the elevator.
The president's office was an opulent sanctum of Old World art and luxury. Heading over to the desk Cage was about to reach for a satchel before Clarke not so subtly nudged him away from it and picked it up herself to check it for weapons.
"Deactivate the self-destruct, Cage." Lexa commanded coldly.
"That wasn't the deal Lexa." Cage answered calmly.
"You have my word that I will let you go free through the Reaper tunnels. That's the best offer you're going to get Cage."
Cage studied her closely before finally relenting and inputting his code into the console built into his desk. There was a tense moment as the console chimed and the self destruct deactivated but it passed as Clarke handed Cage his satchel.
"I see you have the red for taking care of the Reapers." Clarke remarked casually.
Cage looked at her suspiciously. "How do you know about project Cerberus?"
"Let me answer the first question you ever asked me Cage. I saved Keenan by using a colony of nanites living inside my body. Those same nanites gained access to all of your computer systems including your files on Project Cerberus."
"Enough talk Cage. Let's go." Lexa interrupted and gave Cage a shove towards the door.
After a silent trip back up to the second level the three of them were standing next to the airlock door leading into Reaper tunnels in short order. Clarke swung the door open and listened attentively. From somewhere in the darkness there came a soft growl.
"You know I didn't think you two would actually let me go but I'm pleased to see your word means something to you." Cage remarked confidently. "Perhaps we'll meet again."
"I'm not so sure about that Cage." Clarke answered softly.
Lexa glanced over at her and then down at her hand. Sitting in one palm was a cylindrical device.
"What do you mean Clarke?" Cage asked suspiciously.
"Lexa may have agreed to spare your life and I may be honour bound to accede to Lexa's wishes but I don't think the Reapers made that deal. I think you're going to find it a bit difficult to talk to them without this." Clarke held the cylindrical device up for Cage to see. His mouth dropped open and he made to grab for the device but he was too late. Clarke had already planted a foot directly in his chest sending him stumbling backwards out through the open door. Before Cage could react, she had the door closed.
There was a frantic pounding on the door followed by a loud, angry growl. A moment later there was a long scream.
Lexa looked from Clarke to the door and back again. "What did you do?"
"Cage was controlling the Reapers with a drug called the Red and an ultrasonic emitter. I palmed the ultrasonic emitter from his bag. Without it the Reapers would be more than capable of paying him back for what he did to them."
Lexa took Clarke's hand. "Thank you Clarke."
"I know how much you dislike letting the guilty go free."
By late evening most of the executions had concluded. Lexa found Clarke sitting alone near the top of the mountain looking out at the sunset. Lexa paused as she took in the sight of the dying sun catching Clarke's golden hair. Clarke turned to look at her as though she had been expecting her.
"It's over." The words were not a question.
Lexa nodded as she went to sit beside her. "The Maunon have paid for their crimes."
"Good."
"And your mother?"
"Will recover in time." Clarke replied shortly.
The two of them lapsed into silence as the looked out over the forest and the dozens of fires that were beginning to pop up below them as her soldiers bivouacked in the woods for the night. Lexa couldn't help but marvel at the fact that so many of her soldiers were still alive after what she had been expecting to be a final bloody battle against the Maunon.
"So what happens now?" Clarke asked almost rhetorically given that she had at least as good an idea as Lexa.
"I shall leave a group of soldiers here to protect the Mountain. Their arms shall be taken to Polis where they will be kept under lock and key. We still need a way to inoculate the surviving Maunon against the radiation before they can be taken to Norfolk."
"While you take the army back to Polis I'll return with Keenan to Raven Rock so that they can take care of her."
"Take care of her." Lexa rolled the words around in her mouth in a vain attempt to make them more palatable. It didn't work. "She's going to become like Iella."
"That's the bargain." Clarke replied grimly.
Lexa let out a long sigh. "I miss the old days when the worst thing I had to worry about was the Azgeda and the Maunon. Now we're stuck grappling with the morality of bargains struck with AIs to turn people into eldritch beings from our own nightmares."
"When you put it like that Lexa it sounds pretty sinister." Clarke replied teasingly. "I didn't know you were given to Lovecraftian musings."
"Lovecraft?"
"An old-world author who wrote about monsters and creatures that defied human understanding." Clarke explained.
"Somehow accurate don't you think?"
"I suppose." Clarke replied distantly as she looked out at the horizon.
Lexa studied her carefully, she could sense that the moment was pregnant with implications. "You're thinking about the North aren't you?"
Clarke nodded, almost guiltily. "After the ambush while I was being repaired Ama's patron manifested herself in my mind."
Lexa nodded but remained silent – encouraging Clarke to continue.
"She calls herself Mari and without her I wouldn't have been able to save Keenan or make it inside the bunker." The 'and save you' went unsaid but they were both thinking it. That was the second time that the AI had saved Lexa's life and the scales now firmly rested in Mari's favour. Still on an emotional level Lexa had no desire to be parted from Clarke.
"And she wants you to travel North?" Lexa whispered.
"Yes."
Lexa glanced over at Clarke. "What do you want Clarke?"
Clarke let out a long shaky breath of air before moving closer to Lexa and resting her head on Lexa's shoulder. "I want to stay here with you. I want that more than anything."
It should have been enough. Lexa knew that she should have just accepted the statement at face value. She knew that she should have cherished every moment of ignorance and self-deception that she was given but she still asked the question. "But?"
"But I need to go North and I think you know why I need to go North."
"If you go then I'm going with you."
Clarke straightened up and looked at Lexa, her expression frustrated. "Lexa, you're needed here. As much as I want you to come with me, I can't be that selfish and neither can you."
"Selfish?!" Lexa snapped. "Selfish! We both know what I've sacrificed for the Kongeda and its people. How much more do I need to sacrifice before I'm entitled to a bit of happiness?"
"If it was up to me Lexa …" Clarke trailed off.
"But it's not." Lexa subsided with a sigh. "At least promise me that you're not going to just run off to the North without coming back to Polis."
Clarke smiled at her softly. "That's a promise that I can make."