Red Dice

Chapter 16

The cave turns into another prison. We reach it without excessive bloodshed, but once inside I am forced to kill all the soldiers. The endless slaughter weighs heavily on me. Joel's broken expression begs me to stop. But I can't stop until it is over, one way or the other. It is my nature never to quit.
We are scarcely inside when the remaining soldiers close the door on us. The metal is as thick as the door on the cell--it cuts in half the miniature rail tracks that run between the compound and the depths of the hill They also turn off our lights, but there are emergency lanterns. For Joel's sake, and the general's, I turn on several. The stark rays cast ghastly shadows over the carnage I have inflicted. There is blood everywhere. The red blurs in the silent gloom, in my racing mind; it is as if the walls of the cave Meed. I try not to count the dead.
"I didn't want this," I say, pointing my weapon at the general, who sits on the edge of the small railroad car that carries supplies into this place of secrets. His leg continues to bleed but he doesn't complain. He is a horrible human being, but he is not without strength. A hard man with a blunt face, he wears his hair as if it were a disease growing on top of his head. I add, "It's your fault."
My accusation does not faze him. "You can always surrender."
I kneel beside him. To my left Joel sits on the ground, looking weary beyond belief. "But you see that is not an option," I tell the general. "When history started, I was there. And the only reason mankind has been able to move steadily forward is because I have chosen to stand apart from history. I watch what happens. I have no desire to have impor?tant roles. Do you understand that I tell you the truth?"
General Havor shrugs. "You've changed your style today,"
My voice hardens. "You made me change." I ges?ture to the dead men who lie around us. "All this is because of you. Look at them. Don't you care about them?"
He is bored. "What do you want? A nuclear bomb?"
I stand and look down at him. "Yes. That's exactly what I want. And after you show it to me, I want you to arm it."
He snorts. "Do you think I'm crazy?"
"I know you're crazy. I have seen inside your mind. I know what you planned to do once you had my blood in your veins. You were going to murder Arturo and rape me."
He's cocky. "You flatter yourself."
I slap him in the face, hard enough to break his nose. "And you sicken me. I don't know how Arturo ever teamed up with you. He must have been desper?ate. He and I are not alike, by the way. I never beg for anything, but I know how to make you beg. Give me the warhead and arm it or I will subject you to such physical and mental torture you will think that soldier I ripped apart inside the cell died peacefully." I raise my hand to strike again. "Yes?"
He holds his nose; the blood leaks through his thick fingers. "May I ask what you plan to do with the warhead?" he asks.
I catch his eye, push hard enough to make him cower.
"I am going to clean up, your mess," I reply.
General Havor agrees to furnish me with a bomb. He digs it out of the back, and wheels it into view on the railroad cart. A black squat affair with a pointed tip and an elaborate control box on the side, it looks like something from an old sci-fi movie. The general informs us that it is rated ten megatons--ten million tons of TNT.
I point to the color-coded buttons on the side.
"Can it be rigged to go off at a specific time?" I ask.
"Yes. It can be set to detonate in ten minutes, or in ten years."
"Ten years is a little long for my tastes. But your men may escape, if they listen to me. You will want to argue my position to them, once we get back outside. Which leads me to my next point." I gesture to the metal wall that blocks the exit. "How do we open this door?"
"It can't be opened from the inside. They've cut our power."
"Is there a radio in here?" Joel asks. "Can you talk to them?"
General Havor shrugs. "I have nothing to say to them."
I grab the general by the collar.
It doesn't take much for him to piss me off.
"You will tell them that we have an armed warhead in here set to detonate in fifteen minutes," I say. "That will be, by the way, the literal truth. You will also inform them that if they wish to prevent the bomb from exploding, they are to let us out. Finally, you will mention that I am willing to negotiate."
He laughs at me. "You can do what you want to me, I am not going to arm this warhead."
I let him go, take a step back. "You think you can play with me, General. You think the worst I can do is kill you. Arturo never told you of the power of my eyes. How my gaze can permanently fry your brain." I pause. "If in the next ten seconds you don't tell me the code to arm this warhead, I will stab such a needle into your forehead that you will have the IQ of a chimpanzee for the rest of your life--however long that may be."
He lowers his head. "I cannot allow you to set off this bomb."
"Very well." I step forward and grab him by the jaw, thrusting his head up, forcing him to stare at me. "Look deep, General! Into the eyes of the witch you thought to control. See where I have prepared a place of fire for you to bum."