“Coming on too strong,” David finished. “And reminding her of that doucher.”
“Exactly.”
“Huh.” A hopeful grin pushed up the corners of David’s mouth. “I just need to tone it down a little.”
“And show that you’re different,” Aelyx repeated. Syrine’s feelings had first sparked alive when David put his life at risk to save her from the letter bomb. She’d never before considered humans capable of self-sacrifice, and he had proven her wrong. “That’s the most important part.”
David nodded thoughtfully. “I can do different.”
After that, David chewed the inside of his cheek and fell into an introspective trance, so Aelyx turned his gaze out the window to watch the miles pass in a dark blur of frosted brick and salted asphalt.
They left the city and traveled into the suburbs, eventually stopping at the entrance to a defunct strip mall with only one functioning business—an Italian bistro at the far end. The National Guard had secured the parking lot in the form of barricades and armed patrols at the periphery. When the driver of their Hum-V rolled down his window and presented his identification, two soldiers dragged aside the plastic barrels blocking the way, allowing them to pass.
Colonel Rutter met Aelyx as soon as he stepped onto the sidewalk. “We paid the owner to close down the place,” the colonel explained while directing Aelyx toward the bistro. “We’ve swept the inside, and it’s cleaner than a preacher’s pickle.”
David snickered from nearby but went instantly stoic when the colonel’s gaze landed on him.
“Due to the…uh…” Rutter began, still watching David, “sensitive nature of your discussion with Richards tonight, I’ll be inside with you, and Private Sharpe will help patrol the perimeter.” He dismissed David, who saluted his superior and jogged away to join the guards stationed at the parking lot entrance.
“Did you bring the equipment I requested?” Aelyx asked.
Rutter lifted a small duffel bag. “Got it right here.”
“Is Richards already inside?”
“Yep,” the colonel said. “He’s clean. Searched him myself.” With a devilish smirk, he added, “Extra thoroughly.”
Aelyx didn’t really want to know what that entailed, but he hoped it involved a painful body cavity examination. Nobody deserved it more than Isaac Richards.
A comforting burst of dry, warm air greeted them in the restaurant, followed closely by the tangy scent of marinara sauce. Aelyx removed his coat, glancing around the dining room to survey his surroundings. A polished oak bar claimed the side wall, and behind it stood twenty or so round, linen-draped tables, each adorned with a repurposed wine bottle holding a tapered candle. But only one candle flickered with light, casting shadows over the folded hands of the man seated behind it.
Isaac stood when he noticed Aelyx, and he nodded his brunet head in a greeting. Aelyx studied his foe while striding toward him. In his tweed jacket and khaki pants, bifocals teetering on the tip of his nose, Richards looked more like a university professor than the commander of a xenophobic civilian army. The man didn’t offer his hand to shake, but that was all right. Aelyx didn’t want to touch him anyway.
“Thank you for meeting me,” Aelyx said. He gestured at three small glass jars atop the table, each filled with clear liquid collected from opposite ends of the country. “And for bringing your water samples.”
After placing his duffel on the floor, Colonel Rutter took a seat at the next table, giving them the illusion of privacy. Isaac lowered to his chair and motioned for Aelyx to follow suit. “I did so against my better judgment,” Isaac said. “But I couldn’t resist. I admit your message had me intrigued.”
“This won’t take long.” Aelyx found it difficult to maintain eye contact with the seemingly innocuous man. While Richards began sipping his coffee, memories of Eron’s death pushed their way to the front of Aelyx’s mind—specifically how the Patriots of Earth had proudly claimed responsibility for the murder.
Isaac must have sensed it. “Before we begin,” he said, “I want to say that I regret what happened in Lanzhou. I don’t have much control over individual chapters, and I didn’t sanction violence against that boy.”
Aelyx didn’t much care for semantics. Whether or not Isaac had called for Eron’s death, he’d facilitated the group protest that brought together thousands of extremists in Eron’s town. Isaac had to have known bloodshed would ensue.
“I won’t lie,” Isaac continued. “I still want your kind off my planet.”
Aelyx laughed without humor. “Now that I believe.”
“But I don’t kill children.”
“I’m not a child.”
Isaac brought the cup of coffee to his mouth and watched Aelyx over the rim. He set the cup atop its saucer with a light clink. “No, you’re not. But I have a son your age, so I guess that’s how I see you.”
Aelyx didn’t like this. He didn’t want to hear that Isaac had a family, or any humanizing elements about his life. The man had fostered an organization that fed on fear and paranoia. They’d tried to kill Aelyx many times. That was all he needed to know.
Roughly, Aelyx unzipped the duffel bag at his feet and pulled the microscope and glass slides from inside, then set them on the table.
“What’s all this?” Isaac asked.
Aelyx unscrewed the first jar and used a sterile dropper to squeeze a few beads of water onto the slide. “I knew you wouldn’t believe me unless you saw this with your own eyes.” He flipped on the scope’s light and peered through the eyepiece to bring the sample into focus under heavy magnification. “Look in here and tell me what you see.”
Isaac slid the scope across the table and did as Aelyx asked. “I don’t know,” he said. “A bunch of green blobs joined together in strands.”
“They’re algae blooms,” Aelyx explained. “And you’ll find them reproducing at an exponential rate in every single one of these samples.”
Isaac’s answering shrug said he didn’t understand.
“I didn’t poison Earth’s water, but it’s tainted all the same.” Aelyx removed the slide and repeated the process using liquid from the second jar. “Years ago, our Voyagers introduced your scientists to L’eihr nanotechnology. Human scientists began experimenting with our particles without pondering the consequences, and they released a nano-fertilizer that leaked into the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, thus—”
“Wait,” Isaac interrupted. “In English, please.”
While Aelyx tried to rephrase the occurrence in simpler terms, Colonel Rutter offered from the next table, “We screwed ourselves, right up the tailpipe. And unless L’eihrs give us the technology to fix it, we’re all dead in less than a decade.”
Isaac removed his glasses and rubbed his eyes. “You can’t expect me to take your word for it.”
“Of course not,” Aelyx said. “Feel free to bring in someone you trust to substantiate the findings. I’ll wait.”
Isaac excused himself to make some calls and returned thirty minutes later with a scientist from the local HALO chapter. The man brought his own microscope, slides, and water samples and set them up on the opposite side of the bistro. After inspecting the droplets, he conferred privately with Isaac and left.
When Isaac rejoined their table, his skin had paled a few shades. “All right. Assuming I believe you, what are we going to do to fix the problem?”
“My leaders have the technology to neutralize the algae blooms,” Aelyx said. “But they won’t deliver it unless our people form an alliance.”
“Of course they won’t.” Isaac stared into the first jar of water. “They’ll use this to get whatever it is they want from us.” He glanced up and demanded, “And what is that, exactly?”
At one time Aelyx had thought he’d known. But not anymore. He folded both arms on the tablecloth and dodged the question. “Let’s be honest. My people have the means to defeat you, easily. If The Way wanted you dead or enslaved, you would be. If we wanted your land or your DNA or your women, we would already possess them.”
The tightening of Isaac’s jaw showed he agreed.
“After the Patriots murdered Eron,” Aelyx continued, “I fought for your kind. I begged The Way to give you another chance. Now you have it, and you won’t stop trying to assassinate me.”
“Whoa, there.” Isaac flashed a palm. “I already told you I had nothing to do with that.”
“Maybe not you specifically, but when you preach hatred, how do you expect your followers to respond?” Aelyx delivered a stern warning. “If one of them succeeds in killing me, there’ll be no one left to plead your case. There will be no alliance and no solution to the water contamination.”
“What is it you expect me to do?”
“Support the alliance,” Aelyx said. “Publicly.”
Colonel Rutter added, “Without mentioning the water crisis. If you do, there’s a military prison cell with your name on it. We don’t need riots and hoarding on top of everything else.”
“How am I supposed to justify a sudden change of heart?” Isaac asked. “I’ve been battling this alliance for two years. I’m still against it. My members will think you brainwashed me.”
Aelyx pushed the microscope across the table as a grim reminder. “I’m confident you’ll think of something.”
Isaac gazed into his coffee as if the answer might drop from the heavens into his cup. Seconds ticked by, turning to minutes.
“Think of your son,” Aelyx pressed. “Without this alliance, he won’t live to see thirty. And it won’t be an easy death. Have you ever seen what dehydration does to a man? His lips will crack. His muscles will cramp and his head will throb. If he’s lucky, his heart will fail before his skin begins to—”
“Enough!” Isaac pushed away from the table, his chair loudly scraping against the floor. “I’ll do it. But if your leaders don’t hold up their end of the deal, there will be war. I swear it.”
Colonel Rutter bristled at the threat, but Aelyx waved him off. “I’ll get the technology myself if I have to,” Aelyx said. “But I can’t help you if I’m dead.”
Isaac snatched his coat off a nearby chair. “None of my people will touch you. I’ll make sure of it.”
Before he charged toward the door, Aelyx called, “Wait,” and handed him the first jar of water. “If you ever doubt what I’ve told you, look at this sample beneath a scope and see how quickly the blooms multiply.”
Isaac took the jar, careful not to make contact with Aelyx’s skin, then stuffed it inside his jacket pocket and wiped his hand on his pants as if he’d touched filth.
What a bastard.
“Well, that didn’t go too badly,” Colonel Rutter said after Isaac had left. He stood and clapped Aelyx on the back. “Now all we have to do is keep you alive till spring.” Gathering his supplies, he beamed and said, “Easy peasy.”