“Incredible!” Sheffield exhaled, chaotic thoughts swirling in his mind. “And this machine exists?”
“You have already seen it used against the slaves,” Silas stated, reclaiming his hardwood chair. His bad leg was stiffening, and it was becoming difficult to rise from soft chairs without assistance. A simply intolerable condition. “Unfortunately, its military applications were also its doom. There is absolutely no way to stop such a microwave satellite from being converted into a deadly weapon of war. Simply change the focus, and you have a microwave beamer capable…” He smiled. “Well, you know what it can do.”
The grotesque vista of what had been found after opening the doors to the bunker that night was a sight the officer would never forget. “And you created this, sir?”
“Good Lord, no,” Silas snapped, annoyed for some reason. “It was invented by a fellow American, Paul Glaser of Boston, back in 1970, but the United Nations would never allow the power stations to be built. Partially because of business and politics, but mostly because whoever got one in space first, could stop everybody else from building the second power station. Thus, only one was ever built, and that was done secretly. The Pentagon had planned for the coming war by building a Kite, the mat-trans network…and other things.”
Sheffield waited eagerly, but Silas didn’t oblige with more information. The sec man wasn’t ready to learn of the redoubts. He was already clearly reeling from the video. The silly thing was just a promotional tape made to try to sway politicians. Silas easily changed a few of the scenes to make the material more relevant Nothing could explain the function and promise of a working Kite better then simply seeing the device in action.
The officer rose and went to the barred window of the lab, staring at the dark skies. “Why, with this satellite we could cook the rad pits clean, or bury them under molten rock! Burn the rads and chems from the atmosphere!”
“Correct.” Silas smiled. “That is, once we achieve complete control. At present, we have only a focus for a few minutes a day.”
“Why is that?” the major asked.
Sensing danger, Silas grew cold. “Technical problems,” he demurred. “But those will soon be solved. All I need is more time to finish creating software to master the Kite. Its security systems are quite good, but can be beaten. Already I am up to five minutes a day before being booted off-line by the onboard systems.”
The major turned from the window. “Five minutes of the Kite could stop an army!”
“If I do not miss.”
The sec man studied the whitecoat. The man stood straight, but his shoulders were hunched, dark circles around his eyes. He was exhausted, possibly dying. “The nightmares are coming every night, aren’t they?” he guessed.
“Yes,” Silas whispered, his face sagging. “It is becoming more difficult to concentrate each passing day.”
“Well, I could send out more patrols,” the sec man ventured, leaning forward in his chair. “Cover the fields, as well as the roads and bridges. Try to find Ryan and others and chill them as quickly as possible.”
“Yes, do so. His death should end the nightmares and let me sleep again.” His voice broke in a sob. “Sleep!”
“But that would seriously weaken the defenses of the complex,” Sheffield continued. “It might be best to recall all of our troops and concentrate our strength here. We can mine the roads and lay more traps. This project is too important to be derailed by some mutie-loving outlanders.”
“Which is why I am telling you this, as insurance against their possible arrival. If I should die—” Silas paused uncomfortably, his cheek twitching uncontrollably for a moment, “—or become insane, then you shall assume the mantle of authority and bring America back from these days of barbarism. Deathlands is ruled by the strongest, not the wisest. Stupidity reins, muties and cannibals roam in packs, healers tortured as sport to amuse drunk barons. The madness must be brought to an end at any price. America will be reborn!”
“Victory or death,” Sheffield said sarcastically.
Silas grunted. “Precisely. And today we shall start to clean house. To remove some potentially dangerous trash.”