Conquest ~ Indian Hill 3 ~ A Michael Talbot Adventure (58 page)

“If I was supposed to live
,
then for some effed up reason
,
so was Spindler
,” I said
as I gently closed Dennis’ door
behind me
. I did not then realize the finality of the act
,
but I would never again enter that room. Within ten minutes
,
I found myself outside the detention area. Paul had seen the need to lock Spindler up, not that he was going anywhere
,
but Paul wanted to make sure that he wasn’t going anywhere while he was here. It sounds strange as I write that, but it makes perfect sense.

“Hello
, sir
,”
The prison guard stated.

“I’d like to see Spindler
,” I told
him.

“The general thought you might.”

“I’m not really keen on everyone guessing my next moves and then being right.”

“Sir?”
t
he guard questioned.

“Nothing
.
C
an you just point me in the right direction
?
”

“Third door on the left
,” he said
pointing down the hallway. “Here you go
, sir
,” the guard said
handing me a door key.

I had no sooner slid the key into the lock when Spindler cried out.

“Come to beat a confession from me!”
h
e yelled, maybe trying to instill some nerve into himself.

“Hello
,
Spindler
,” I said
as I walked in.

He did not look happy to see me.

“My name is Yerdly.”

“You’re kidding
,
right?”

He flashed me some very angry eyes. “I’m just going to stick with Spindler.”

“What do you want
?” he asked
resignedly.

“I think you know something
,” I said
,
pulling up a folding chair and sitting near him. He did not seem comfortable with the distance between us, apparently I was invading his personal space.

“I am not some master spy in whatever drama is unfolding in your head. I am a scared
,
middle-aged man trying to survive.”

I almost yelled at him that he was trying to survive on
the death
s
of his fellow man, but I restrained. Nothing would be accomplished if we became confrontational.

“There’s a reason we’re her
e
. You and me
,
Spindler.”

“Are you getting existential on me, Mr. Talbot
?” he asked
.

“I might be. But I have reason to believe there is a higher authority working here.”

“
Please
,”
Spindler answered sardonically. “I would think you too intelligent to fall for the opiate of the masses.”

“Why
,
Mr. Spindler
,
are you a Leninist?” I laughed.

“I have also not seen a reason in my life to believe in the Easter Bunny.”

“Maybe that’s why you’re such a bitter man
,”
I shot back, my mouth working much faster than my mind. ‘Dammit!’ I yelled in my head. I was witnessing Spindler in real time withdrawing from our conversation. “Sorry
,” I said
sincerely. “That’s not what I meant to say.”

“Oh
,
I think it’s exactly what you wanted to say, but your apology seemed real enough. Why are you here
,
Mr. Talbot
?
C
ertainly not to taunt me.”

“There’s a reason I
lived today
.
T
here’s a reason you lived today
.
”
My right hand absent-mindedly
felt the pocket where Dennis’s letter was.

Spindler looked long and hard at me, weighing what reaction his words might illicit from me. He sigh
heavily
before he spoke. “I did not tell the aliens about this place.” He looked me in the eye directly as he spoke hi
s next words. “But I would have.
I was scared
,
Mr. Talbot. I have never been more scared in my life. I would have given them my mother’s address if I thought it would have given me another day.
” He was having difficulty forcing the words out.
"
It is not an easy feat to admit your weaknesses
,
especially with a witness.
"

“Why don’t they know about this place then?” I asked.

“Because as soon as I gave this place up
,
my bargaining chip, such as it was, would
have been
gone. I gave them the armory first, figured
it would buy me a day or two. I watched them eat a person
,
Michael, right in front of me! One moment she was alive and the next she was screaming these blood curdling shrieks as those damn things tore her apart! It was horrible!” He sobbed into his hands.

“It is
,” I said
,
trying to offer solace.

“They ate her because the officer told them too, but I don’t think they really wanted to
,” Spindler said
.
H
e was still crying and sort of ranting. I did not know it in the moment
,
but my interest was beginning to pique.

“They were fearful if they didn’t do as the officer said that they would suffer the same fate. They hate it here, they hate their officers, they hate humans. We are dangerous little monkeys to them. They just want to go home.”

“Wait
,
how did you get all this information?” I asked
,
stopping Spindler.

“What?” Spindler
said, looking up from his tear-
soaked hands.

“How did you get this information?” I asked.

“It’s what all military men do when they have free time, they complain.”

“And how would you know?” I asked
,
truly curious.

“I did two years of ROTC in college.”

"And they said all of this in English?"

"Some
,
not all, the rest was pretty easy to figure out." He answered.

I shrugged, it was something. “What else did they say?”

“We…
we used to bitch about our C.O. and about drills and training
,
but it was a
camaraderie,
the
complaining. Those beasts truly hate their lot in life
.
I wanted to ask them why they had enlisted in the first place
,
but I didn’t want to be noticed, not at all.”

I stood up. “They didn’t enlist, they’re slaves
,” I told
Spindler. I hurriedly walked out the room.

“Wait
,
where are you going?” Spindler asked. But I had already flipped the key back to the guard a
nd
was heading back to see Dee.

CHAPTER SIXT
Y
-FOUR - Mike Journal Entry 21

“We have always despised our overlords
,” Dee said
, sitting up. “Is this why you disturbed my sleep
?
I am well enough that I could get up from here and show you my displeasure.”

“Sorry-
sorry
,
but what of your revolution?”

“It failed miserably
.
W
e had the numbers
,
but we
did not possess the skill to use their technology. Once the element of surprise was gone, we became a very ineffectual fighting force.  I’m not sure what we would have accomplished anyway.”

“Huh?” I asked
,
tilting my head.

“Even if we had won, we had no desire to enslave the Progerians. We just wanted to be free. To live out our lives as our God had intended.”

“Not seeing the problem
,
Dee.”

“Even in defeat the Progerians would never have left us alone. They would have regrouped, rearmed and then come after us
again
.
T
here would have been no place to find peace. They are not an honorable derivative of our species. It saddens me that our evolutionary paths o
nce shared the same roadway
.

“What about now
,
Dee?”

“What about it
,
Michael? Are you saying we should have another revolution?”

“Why not
,
Dee? You still have the numbers and if you win you now have a new home.
You went from a Genogerian hell-bent on destroying me to saving me and freeing yourself within an instant once you saw the possibility of that happening. You forsook your entire race
to potential
ly
spend the rest of your days with us humans.”

“In hindsight
,
Michael, I did not completely reason out what my actions would entail.”

“Are you saying you acted irrationally?”

“In my defense, there was a lot going on.”

“Dee
,
what’s to say that your brethren would not react in the same ‘irrational’ way
?
If we can somehow dangle the carrot of freedom in front of them
,
won’t they try to grab it?”

“It’s possible
,
Michael, but I would not have done what I had if I had not got
ten
to
know you first. I do not believe you will be able to instill enoug
h confidence in the Genogerians
to follow you or believe you, even if you could somehow communicate with them.”

“What about you?”

Dee thought about it for a moment. “Yes
,
my words would carry much more weight than yours. Damn you
,
Michael Talbot, I was thoroughly enjoying this bed
,” Dee said
as he arose. “What do you have in mind?”

“I don’t really have a plan yet, but I think we should go see Paul.”

Dee’s feet had no sooner hit the floor when a klaxon blazed.

“
Shit
,”
I mumbled, my rifle was at the armory
.
I had a pistol
,
but that
was
like bringing a
pebble
to a catapult fight.

“BREECH
,”
c
ame over the loud s
peaker. “SOUTHEAST ENTRANCE.
”

Dee looked
at
me.

“That’s at the end of this hallway
,” I told
him
.
W
e were already on the move when more instructions came over the speaker.

“UNIT 17, SECTOR
12
,
IMMEDIATELY! FULL
DETACHMENT
! USE OF DEADLY FORCE AUTHORIZED!”

“It might be wiser to not get in the middle of this
,
Dee. I don’t want anyone mistaking you for the enemy.”

We were quickly making our way down the hallway as civilians wisely streamed passed us, most in near panic mode.

“Where you go, I go
,” Dee said
,
his rifle at the ready. “I had it next to me in the bed
,” he answered
when I looked again at it.