The Peace War

'One thing I would like to know,' said a hardware man from San Luis Obispo. 'Who put this bee in their drawers? The last ten years we've been careful not to flaunt our best products; we agreed not to bug the Peacers. That's history now, but I get the feeling that somebody deliberately scared them. The bugs we've just planted report they were all upset about high tech stuff they found in their labs earlier this year... Anybody want to fess up?'

He looked around the table; no one replied. But Mike felt a sudden certainty. There was at least one man who might wish to rub the Authority's nose in the Tinkers' superiority, one man who had always wanted a scrap. Two weeks ago, he would have felt betrayed by the action. Mike smiled sadly to himself; he was not the only person who could risk his friends' lives for a Cause.

The Green shrugged. 'If that's all there were to it, they'd do something more subtle than take hostages. The Peacers think we've discovered something that's an immediate threat. Their internal communications are full of demands that someone named Paul Hoehler be found. They think he's in Middle California. That's why there are so many Peacer units in your area, 'Kolya.'

'Yes, you're quite right,' said Kaladze. 'In fact that's the real reason I asked for this meeting. Paul wanted it. Paul Hoehler, Paul Naismith — whatever we call him — has been the center of their fears for a long time. Only now, he may be as deadly as they believe. He may have something that can kill the 'mammoth' you speak of, Zeke. You see, Paul thinks he can generate bobbles without a nuclear power plant. He wants us to prepare-

Wili's voice broke through the ripple of consternation that spread around the table. 'No! Don't say more. You mean Paul will not be here tonight, even as a picture?' He sounded panicked.

Kaladze's eyebrows rose. 'No. He intends to stay thoroughly... submerged... until he can broadcast his technique. You're the only person he-'

Wili was on his feet now, almost shaking. 'But he has to see. He has to listen. He is maybe the only one who will believe me!'

The old soldier sat back. 'Believe you about what?'

Rosas felt a chill crawl up his back. Wili was glaring down the table at him.

'Believe me when I tell you that Miguel Rosas is a traitor!' He looked from one visitor to the next but found no response. 'It's true, I tell you. He knew about La Jolla from the beginning. He told the Peacers about the lab. He got J- J- Jeremy killed in that hole in the cliffs! And now he sits here while you say everything, while you tell him Paul's plan.'

Wili's voice rose steadily to become childish and hysterical. Ivan and Sergei, big men in their late forties, started toward him. The Colonel motioned them back, and when Wili had finished, he responded mildly, 'What's your evidence, son?'

'On the boat. You know, the `lucky rescue' Mike is so happy to tell you of?' Wili spat. 'Some rescue. It was a Peacer fake.'

'Your proof, young man!' It was Sy Wentz, sticking up for his undersheriff of ten years.

'They thought they had me drugged, dead asleep. But I was some awake. I crawled up the cabin stairs. I saw him talking to that puts de la Paz, that monster Lu. She thanked him for betraying us! They know about Paul; you are right. And these two are up here sniffing around for him. They killed Jeremy. They-'

Wili stopped short, seemed to realize that the rush of words was carrying his cause backward.

Kaladze asked, 'Could you really hear all they were saying?'

'N-no. There was the wind, and I was very dizzy. But-'

'That's enough, boy.' Sy Wentz's voice boomed across the clearing. 'We've known Mike since he was younger than you. Me and the Kaladzes shared his upbringing. He grew up here-' not in some Basin ghetto'-and we know where his loyalties are. He's risked his life more than once for customers. Hell, he even saved Paul's neck a couple of years ago.'

'I'm sorry, Wili,' Kaladze's voice was mild, quite unlike Sy's. 'We do know Mike. And after this morning, I'm sure Miss Lu is what she appears. I called some friends in San Francisco: Her folks have been heavy-wagon 'furbishers for years up there. They recognized her picture. She and her brother went to La Jolla, just as she says.'

Has she no limits? thought Rosas.

'Caray, I knew you'd not believe. If Paul was here The boy glared at Kaladze's sons. 'Don't worry. I'll remain a gentleman.' He turned and walked stiffly out of the clearing.

Rosas struggled to keep his expression one of simple surprise. If the boy had been a bit cooler, or Delia a bit less superhuman, it would have been the end of Miguel Rosas. At that moment, he came terribly close to confessing what all the boy's accusations could not prove. But he said nothing. Mike wanted his revenge to precede his own destruction.

TWENTY-ONE

Nikolai Sergeivich and Sergei Nikolayevich were pale mauve sitting on the driver's bench ahead of Wili. The late night rain was a steady hushing all around them. For the last four kilometers, the old Russian's 'secret tunnel' had been aboveground: When the cart got too near the walls, Wili could feel wet leaves and coarse netting brush against him. Through his night glasses, the wood glowed faintly warmer than the leaves or the netting, which must be some sort of camouflage. The walls were thickly woven, probably looked like heavy forest from the outside. Now that the roof of the passage was soaked, a