When El Jeffe rose to his feet, he was smiling.
Thank you, David. I have noted your rather melodramatic suggestion, and we may revisit it later, but for now, our whole focus will remain on implementing the two initiatives I previously mentioned.
There was laughter from the officers.
"Calm down, boys, we don't want to embarrass our guest," said El Jeffe.
An officer at the back stood up.
"Sorry, sir, we know what's at stake, or should I say, who is tied to the stake."
This time, the laughter went on for a full minute.
What had got into everybody?
El Jeffe was frowning now and looking at the floor. I could see that his hands were clenched and his body shook as if he was trying to exert control over himself. He looked up.
"Silence!" he shouted.
The noise died down significantly, but several of the men were still talking amongst themselves. This time, El Jeffe held up his hands and positively roared at his audience.
"Silence, I say! The next man who opens his mouth is on a charge."
The officers obeyed.
I could see sweat trickling down the face of El Jeffe. He steadied himself before resuming his speech in his customary tone of voice.
"Major Castro will allocate officers to specific tasks.
The order that all personnel must attend for screening should be carefully worded. It must be seen as a routine yet essential precautionary step to ensure that no one has been adversely affected during the recent conflict. Rumours are inevitable, but they must be suppressed as soon as they arise. Officers will brief the platoon sergeants on the importance of this strategy and instruct them to remain vigilant and report any signs of unrest among their men.
"How much should we confide in the sergeants regarding the real reason for the tests?" asked a young lieutenant who was sitting some distance from the main body of men, having arrived late and unable to find a seat.
"That's a tricky one," said El Jeffe, relaxing a little, grateful to receive a responsible question.
"If the sergeants get the impression that we don't trust them, I could affect discipline, even their loyalty. But the more people who know the truth, the more likely that any androids among us will find out about it. As a rule of thumb, tell them the minimum possible. Speaking of digits, I assume all of you have passed Major Casto's knife test?"
The officers grinned and held up their bandaged fingers, frantically waving their hands in the air.
"You may lower your hands, gentlemen," he said authoritatively, but he was struggling again to maintain self-control.
"Good," said El Jeffe. "I am very pleased that none of you failed our primitive test, and I will be even happier if none of the men fail either. It is possible that Francisco's imposter was the only android to succeed, but we must ensure that."
What was going on?
My eyes flicked to an officer sitting in an aisle seat near the back. He was completely composed, with his hands flat on his knees and gazing directly at me. It was then that I realised none of his fingers were bandaged.
I had to get out of there; somethingwas very wrong.
"David! Where are you going?" El Jeffe shouted after me.
I ignored him and ran down the stairs. I stopped at the bottom to listen, and hearing no sound of pursuit, I headed down the road towards our quarters.
Two minutes later, I stopped. That was the first place they would look. I came off the path walking blindly, with no destination in mind.
The light dimmed and my heart leapt – the Lingzhe were here to help me!
Initially, I saw nothing, and then, as if looking through a darkened sheet of glass, I glimpsed the faint outline of Lingzhe gesturing towards me, but I could hear nothing. I ran forward, trying to get closer, but I hit an invisible barrier that stopped me in my tracks. The images were fading now, and I pressed my face against the transparent shield like a starving child peering through the window of a bakery.
Then they were gone, and to my horror, I felt the sensation of tiny hands plucking at my clothing, pinching the flesh beneath. Then they were in my hair. Pulling it viciously. I tried to brush them off, but the malicious demons, for that is what they were, hissed and cackled at my feeble efforts.
I fell to the floor, and they were on me, clawing at my face and eyes, pressing against my mouth, secreting a foul liquid that stung my lips like acid, but I clamped my jaw shut, refusing to swallow. All around me was the stench of sulphur, and I knew these were emissaries from hell, subjects of the devil. I was growing weaker and unable to put up any more resistance. Their efforts intensified, and I felt rivulets of warm blood streaming down all my body as they raked my flesh unmercifully. My prayers for intervention went unheard. Was I about to die the death of the mortal who I had become?
I was unable to speak, but I was able to form thoughts in my mind that I knew he would hear.
Are you so afraid of me that you must use these insignificant demons to carry out your wicked commands? What a coward you are! You parade about as the beautiful and majestic creature you once were, but that beauty is now just a mask concealing the decay within. Meet me in single combat, and I will swat you away like a blowfly fed on carrion.
There was a sudden flash of blinding white light, but I was not deceived.
"Do you think you can fool me by appearing as the Angel of Light? You are no longer an angel, and you would shrivel like a leech in a fire if you were ever to feel the true white light of goodness on your corrupted body."
I closed my eyes. He was not going to release me, and I was about to die. My mission to redeem myself had failed. The demons vanished, and I felt a strange sense of calm. Let it come...
#
Sol was puzzled. Jarvis had told him of the plan for him to help locate the underground prison where the men who had lost their identity to an android were thought to be held in suspended animation.
This required sophisticated equipment, and the previous time, the androids had temporarily invaded the base in force while the apparatus was brought in and installed. How did they get the equipment inside this time, with the base fully manned and operational? How did they create an underground prison and place the captured officers inside without anyone noticing? Where and at what stage were the androids created as exact doubles of the officers they were to replace?
It didn't make sense, but nobody else seemed to have noticed.
Jarvis had also informed him about the proposed scanning of all personnel on the base to detect android infiltration; that all the scanners would have been 'calibrated to detect biometric anomalies: non-organic resonance signatures, electromagnetic emissions, or metallic trace spectra.' Surely, upgrading a scanner to meet these exacting requirements was no simple task. Where did the expertise come from in a base largely manned by recruits?
Sol was alone in his quarters. The rest of the crew were out, presumably carrying out tasks assigned by David. He had seen little of them in the past few days, and he had noticed that their usual self-discipline had noticeably waned. Their manner was more relaxed, and they had even become careless about basic housekeeping tasks. Empty coffee cups cluttered the kitchen table, and dirty dishes piled up in the sink. With no orders given, which was unusual in itself, Sol decided to take a look around the camp to see if he could find any clues.
Walking down the road towards the centre of the airfield, a flash of brilliant white light ahead caught his attention. It had come from an off-road area a hundred yards away, and he went to investigate.
The body of a man was stretched out on the sandy surface, and when he got closer, he was horrified to see that it was David. Fearing he was dead, he turned the body over. David's face was bloodied by deep scratches, and his clothes were ripped to shreds, but he was alive and breathing.
Sol gently picked him up. Should he take David to the camp hospital or back to quarters?
It seemed logical to seek medical help, but there was little logic in what was happening at the moment, and after seeing what had happened to David, there could be further danger ahead.
Sol turned around and carried David back to the crew's sleeping quarters.