HAWK

CHAPTER FOURTEEN: BIRDCAGE (5/6)

Kas and Astell looked into each other's eyes and shared the same foreboding expression. Kas's mind was already numb with confusion; she couldn't even be entirely sure that this was real, but she didn't think her brain would be so cruel as to invent such a tortuous scenario.

'I've already told you everything I know,' Astell sneered.

'I think you're lying,' Swanne countered.

'So you're threatening to kill me? I'm an officer in the CAP!'

'What about you, Miss Balera? Anything to say?'

Kas took a deep breath and tried to calm herself. Not five minutes ago, Kas was prepared to endure days of starvation and dehydration to keep from talking... but now she was about to give it up freely because she couldn't bear the thought of Worm getting hurt. No matter what Swanne did to Kas, she couldn't let anything happen to the kid.

'What do you want to know?' she growled.

'Who else knows about the signal?'

'I'll tell you, but only if you promise not to hurt the girl.'

'I don't make promises, Miss Balera, but your assistance will go a long way in influencing my future decisions.'

'That's not good enough.'

Swanne sighed. 'If it really means that much to you, I promise not to hurt the girl. But what you tell me had better be the truth, or I will turn that promise on its head.'

Kas didn't like it, but she knew it was the best she could hope for. She closed her eyes and prepared to hate herself. 'There's only one other person I told. A friend of mine on Lysan.'

'You mean this Dante woman?'

'Yes.'

'Astell has already told me all about her. Who else?'

'There's nobody else. Just her and Astell.'

'And the girl.'

Kas opened her eyes and shook her head. 'No, she's just a kid, she doesn't understand.'

'I disagree. What do you know about the signal? And please be honest.'

'I know it's a databeam. And I know it contains coding for X1's but that's it. My theory is the databeam was used to hack all the X1's on Selva and then whoever hacked them used them to destroy Selva from the inside.'

A thoughtful pause followed Kas's admission, during which she and Astell found each other's eyes and waited for Swanne's judgement.

'It's an interesting theory,' she said at last. 'Utter nonsense, but interesting nonetheless.'

'If it's nonsense, then why don't you let us go?'

'Ah. I'm afraid it's a little too late for that.'

'So what are you going to do? Kill us?'

A silence fell like a huge weight. With every second that passed, Kas could feel it pressing down on her, trying to break her, but she remained looking up defiantly, knowing Swanne was looking right back.

'I'm still not convinced you've told me everything just yet,' Swanne replied finally. 'I think I will hold onto you for a little while longer. Mr Astell, on the other hand, I do believe.'

'Good,' Astell said. 'Thank you.'

'Unfortunately, that means I no longer have any need of you.'

'What do you mea--'

His words were suddenly muted. His lips were still moving but Kas could no longer hear him.

'Astell?' she tried, but he didn't seem to hear her either. His eyes were wide with panic. The cell door behind him opened wide. He spun around just as three soldiers entered, each dressed in black stealth suits and WASP masks. They formed a small triangle around him and Kas saw the thin lines of nightstrikers in their hands, their tips glowing blue.

'What are you doing...?' she asked the wall. She watched in horror as they nodded to one another and tightened their grips on their weapons. Astell took to his knees, speaking unheard words that looked to Kas like pleading. He didn't see the soldier behind him raising the nightstriker high above his head, nor the swift blur of movement as the weapon was brought down hard upon his upper back. He sure felt it though. He fell hard against the floor, his back curled into a crooked arch while his jaw flung open in a silent scream.

'STOP!' Kas shouted.

But they didn't.

The three soldiers began taking it in turns to pound rhythmically on Astell's back until he was lying crumpled on the ground, eyes bulging while he vomited everything but his guts up. Kas looked away as anger swelled in her bloodstream. It rode through every inch of her body until she could hear her own heart beating in her chest and her mind was numb with hate.

This isn't real... it's not real...

When she looked back, Astell was no longer being sick but he wasn't moving either. Kas looked at his left hand stretched out by his side and saw his fingers curling inward slowly. One of the soldiers stepped over him and planted his booted feet either side of Astell's crumpled body. The nightstriker came up high one more time.

Kas knew she should shut her eyes, should refuse to watch, but she couldn't look away. The nightstriker's tip changed from blue to yellow before it came down hard and fast. It struck Astell on the back of the head with such force that Kas was surprised it didn't split his skull open. He collapsed on his face and became still.

The three soldiers turned casually to the door and proceeded one by one out of the room until Kas was left staring at Astell's limp body. Swanne's voice seeped out of the walls like poison.

'I hope you're starting to understand the lengths I will go to to make you talk. I will give you some more time to come to your senses.'

Kas breathed slow and shallow, trying to clear her mind and think rationally, but she wasn't doing too well.

'I'll kill you,' was all she managed, but Swanne was already gone. She remembered the stimpunk in Yun-Ko who'd made a similar empty threat shortly before she was arrested and wondered if he'd felt even half as much hate as she did in that moment. She looked back at Astell, willing him to move. She concentrated on his left hand, hoping maybe one of his fingers would curl or bend and give away a sign he was still alive.

He didn't even twitch.