Field Mice

5. Change and Evolution

It was over in a minute, but every second the blood rushed through his ears and he was not sure if he would live. A lesser man might have been taken aback by the beasts that lumbered on two legs, unassumingly fast for how bulky, and how armored they were. Contrarily, Hein had spent many long hours reflecting on Fate, and everything he had to lose was behind him.

Auberon disappeared, rather spry for an aged man. Undaunted, Hein focused on the unwieldy guardsmen instead. His own weapon was old, but effective – it took three attempts to down the first beast, the creature that only saw him as a nuisance. And it took three, for it was trial and error finding a weak spot. As its partner fell, the second rounded on him, but this time he knew.

And in five earsplitting reports it was over, even as his body cooled from the chemical high. Five, not four, and the third softer than the rest. The second beast – the one that found a meager human dangerous enough to change from its duty for self-preservation – managed to fulfil a margin of its purpose.

Not Tyler, merely stunned stupid as he had been four minutes ago. Nor Sara, who coughed for lost breath, was bumped and bruised, but otherwise unharmed. It was Elijah, momentarily seeing one side and blind to the other, who curled at a pained angle on the ground beside her. At the nuance of peril, the movement had been desperate – he could never save his father, but he could save a life.

The silence lasted longer than the firefight. Commander Hein did his best to surmount the situation by knowing. It was a good thing Elijah spoke up, for now Hein knew who murdered a man in front of the man's four-year-old son, even if the son would never speak again. Likewise, it was a good thing it was Elijah, not Sara, who was injured – possibly for the worst. It was a good thing, because the rebellion had no voice, and no one would believe that Councilman Auberon set up to assassinate his own granddaughter on their blood.

Hein swore aloud. He hated statistics… reasoning, rationale… It always made him feel so cold. Or maybe that was the adrenaline leaving his system.

"Rad, get to Zinan and tell him what happened. Tell him to find a hideout and keep occupied until further notice," turning to emphasize, as though sheer determination would make it happen, he added, "Do not fail."

"Llorin, over here."

Scavenging had become second nature, but they never used weapons, and Hein doubted they knew how. His own was old, antique, out of manufacture and nearly out of bullets. The few kept at Home were hidden in storage, and were only there at all in case of an escape.

Change, he mused when Llorin took the weapon without complaint.

"You," he addressed Sara, breaking her concentration on her bloodied hands by offering up the last weapon, "Know how to use one of these things?" Her nod proffered a succinct, "Good."

Kneeling by Elijah, the commander allowed himself a moment of pity as he inspected the younger man's wound. At first glance, it appeared harmless. Little blood, more of a seared mark than a wound. If it weren't for the mark and behavior of a far more grievous injury below the skin, there might not have been anything to worry about.

"Tyler..." oblivious where he was, Tyler didn't hear. But it was imperative, and they had spent too much time already. "Tyler. Get him up; we're going."

"Where are we going?" Sara asked, doe innocent even as she cradled a weapon that could kill with the barest mark. Hein wondered, but spared no time and answered,

"To find a hiding place."

For a brief and shining moment in history, Humanity had held something close to paragon in kinship. And in his lifetime, Hein had seen its breaking point. He would wonder, time and again on reflection, if the fall from grace was, indeed, his fault. Not to think of that now, he knew only one reality.

Live and breathe; adapt or die.

---

He would remember the blue. The crystalline structure seemed to glow deeper as the sun set, and the natural cerulean of the walls lit up under the stars.

He would not remember Tyler's desperate attempts to keep him awake, or where they were, or why it was so blue, or even that he hated mausoleums. But memory is a fickle thing.

"It's no good," Tyler sighed, shuddering on the cold floor of the tomb. Nearby, Sara and Llorin were looking over the long dead, frozen in time for remembrance. Hein had taken a moment to stare down one of the deceased, but the proclamation brought him back to now, and he lost the match.

At heart, Tyler was an optimist, but the sheer hopelessness of the situation had caught him. The commander understood the implication too well.

"All right," Hein said softly, "Go; get them someplace safe. I'll catch up when I can."

"I can do it," Tyler insisted, "Really, I can. And they need you more than they need me, anyway."

"Do what?" Sara asked. She looked to Llorin, who looked away, and Hein, who was beginning to hate it when she let slip more intelligence that she, normally, let on. If she hadn't understood before she asked, the reticence gave her the clue, "Oh, no. Nah-uh, no! Why?"

"Because it's easier that way. If he's dying here, then he'll be dying at home just the same," at the girl's confused look, Tyler added, "We don't have anything, really; I mean, South Falls has a midwife, but..."

"Well, what about the hospital? I mean, there's one and it's only about..."

"Out of the question," Hein snapped, "Eli is the most wanted man anywhere under Auberon's influence, as I'm guessing you know. And even if they allowed him to be treated, it would only be so he could later be executed for high treason."

"Well, could steal...!"

"Are you a doctor?"

"...Kidnap?"

Hein shook his head. To anyone else, it might have been the end of the conversation, but as he was quickly learning, Sara was Sara. A thoughtful pause later, which he had mistaken for the end of the conversation, she suggested,

"What about the Luna Circle?"

And so he laughed, 'til he realized she was serious.

"Why not? They're neutral, and advanced, and sure to have good medical stuff. It's better than killing your friend."

"They're neutral, and dislike trespassers, and are across the Atlantic, to start."

"There's an warp point by the old government building; it's part of the Snake's Way. It'll take us right there and we can at least ask."

Not having a good reply to that, the commander considered it. He also considered whether it was a trap, or perhaps the cat-and-mouse way to get him back to Ur. If it were the latter, he would have to have words with the witch anyhow, and if it were the former... well, little enough to worry about after that.

"Can we?" Tyler asked, sounding very small, "It's worth a try, right?"

"Yeah," Hein conceded at last. As Sara had pointed out – it was better than killing a friend.