Read Online Nemesis: Book Five by David Beers - Free Book Online

go, I guess," Marks said. "He's not talking to me very much, to be honest, General Knox."
    "Will?" Knox said.
    "It's me."
    Knox stared at him, and it looked like Will; the slack face holding no emotion had disappeared, replaced by the facial expressions Knox saw when they first met. He sounded like the man Knox met briefly. Will turned so that he faced Knox.
    "It is. I know the position you're in, but she's gone. I … I don't really know. I pushed her out, I think. She wasn't paying attention, and somehow I managed to regain control."
    "I," Knox started but found the words caught in his throat. He hadn't expected this when he walked in; he thought he would come in and talk to Marks, that Will was gone from this world. Yet the person in front of Knox could be Will. "Look, I don’t … I don't even know where to begin with this. You know I can't let you out, not like this."
    "I know. I'm not asking you to, not right now. Just tell the rest of the people down here what you've seen."
    "Enough with the two of you lovebirds," Marks said. "Talk to me, General. What brought you to my humble abode? Or our humble abode, I suppose."
    Knox turned his attention to Marks; he had to—he couldn't let what happened in Will's cage distract him from why he came. Will wasn't dead, wasn't going to die, at least not any sooner than the rest of the world, and so he had to wait.
    Knox thought about this conversation for the past thirty minutes, about how he would approach Marks, trying to line up his words so that he had a chance of getting what he wanted out of Marks: instructions on how to move against this thing.
    "What's your game plan?" he said.
    "Mine?"
    Knox didn't respond.
    "I'm in here, General. What game plan could I possibly have? I'm out of the game, no?"
    "He's expecting this," Will said from the other cage. "He's expecting you to show up and ask what you're about to ask."
    Knox looked at Will. "What?"
    "The whole thing, him killing Hayley, was to put him in control. Because to get anything out of him, you'll have to make concessions."
    Knox understood then, staring at the man claiming to be Will. Concessions. The largest one being that they would free the President's assassin. And when they did that, what else could they say? What else could they do? They needed him, even if no one else saw it yet—not the other way around.
    "You're not getting out, Marks. I want you to understand that with a clarity that only God knows. I'll do whatever it takes to keep you in here. Understand that. You'll starve to death in this cage while I watch before you leave."
    "Ah, you and Will take all of this too seriously. Really. You have to smile more." Marks stood up, his body limber despite having sat for who knew how long. "But I understand. I killed the President; I can't be let go. So what did you come here for, General Knox?"
    The General watched him smile, knowing that Marks set this up perfectly. Because Knox came here to ask for Marks' help, and yet told him he would never get what he wanted, despite Knox needing him.
    "I want to know if we should go ahead with what we're doing." Pride couldn't play any part in this, not right now. He needed to ask and then hope Marks was willing to discuss.
    "Well, what are you planning?"
    "The same basic attack, using the ice, but we're adding the entire military's force, plus other nations."
    "Other nations, huh?" Marks said.
    Knox kept quiet. Marks knew other nations would be involved by this point. He was just toying, like the biggest fucking cat in the world.
    "That's interesting, General. It really is. But, I'd like to take you up on your offer to keep me in here. I like my digs and I like my company." Knox nodded to Will. "I think I'll let you handle things out there, okay?"

11

Present Day
    B riten didn't know if the strands could communicate with Morena, but if so, enough time had passed for them to tell her that Briten stood just outside of their reach. They were almost to him by now; so unless he