Dan Wells - Isolation

Dan Wells is the author of Partials , as well as the John Cleaver series. Find out more at www.fearfulsymmetry.net.

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TURN THE PAGE TO READ THE FIRST CHAPTER OF

BOOK TWO IN THE PARTIALS SEQUENCE

A rtillery pounded the city, fiercer and closer than before. Mei Hao stopped at the window in her rush, seeing plumes of smoke and gouts of flame amid the Chinese half of the city. The fires, too, were closer. The Partials were pressing forward, and the Chinese headquarters were no longer safe. Mei left the window and ran down the hall, a stack of maps in one arm and the armys satbox in the other. She could already hear the two generals arguing.

We have to move our headquarters, said General Wu. Mei was his assistant, and it was no surprise to hear him arguing for retreat. He had proven himself a coward since the day shed met him. She hurried into the room and laid the maps on the table; he spread them out without acknowledging her, and she opened the satbox while he examined them. The devil army has held this line for weeks, he said, pointing at a vague line scrawled through the center of the city with a red wax pencil; the line was vague by necessity, for there was no easy way to tell exactly which buildings were held by which army at any given moment. Now they are pushing past it, General Wu continued, at least to here, and likely even farther. He thumped the map with finality, as if pointing at his estimates had made it so. Either way we are no longer safe here.

General Bao considered carefully before answering, though Mei had learned from experience that this was most likely tact rather than hesitance. Bao was the opposite of Wu in many ways: young where Wu was old, tall and handsome where Wu was round and ugly, brave where Wu was cowardly. He chafed against the older mans caution and cowardice, but Wu was the senior general, and Bao was always very politic with his counsel. We cannot run forever, he said at last. We have been tasked with the defense of this city, though as the invasion wears on we are defending less and less of it every day. We do not have the strength, as you say, to drive the BioSynths back, but a stand must be taken somewhere.

Bah, said Wu, dismissing him with a cursory wave of his hand. He had none of Baos tact. You would stand and die. The civilian section of the city is of secondary concern to usour only true objective is to defend the munitions factory. He thumped the factorys off-center location on the map with his thick forefinger. That is what we cannot lose, and retreating today would put us in a better position to defend it.

An aide rushed into the room, bowed to both generals in turn, and held out a gently glowing tablet. General Bao Xu Quin, a message from the tower.

Bao glanced at Wu and took the tablet, reading it quickly as he tabbed through the photos with his finger.

Ill news, no doubt, said Wu. How close are they now, schoolboy, five miles? One?

They are three miles from our position, said Bao, staring at the tablet, and Mei could just see the movement that held his attention. He was watching a video of the battle, probably a live feed, and from the look on his face, it was not going well for the defenders. They are advancing quickly. Perhaps it is time to move our headquarters. He glanced at Mei, and she dropped her eyes demurely. For the safety of the staff, at least.

Now you speak reason, said Wu, even if you mask it as concern. The question now is where. He studied the map. The enemy cannot pierce a heart it cannot find. Our headquarters will be best hidden in the university, here; they will have no reason to look for us there, and even fewer opportunities to find us in the labyrinth of the campus.

If we could reach it, said General Bao, gesturing at the map. With the BioSynth army crawling up the boulevard here, and the canal beside it here, I think the university will be too soon cut off. He mused a moment, then pointed at another section of the city. If you must leave your heart where the enemy can pierce it, you should at least protect it with armor. The Zuoquan library has deep catacombs below it, defensible and firm. We should move our headquarters there and, when the time comes, defend it far more securely than here.

We would be forced to defend it with our lives, said Wu, for there would be no retreat from it. He pointed at the lower left quadrant of the map. The contours of the city would lead the devil army around us, cutting us off from safety long before they would ever have need to confront us directly. It seems there is only one place left to make our foolish stand.

Mei had known the answer long before either general; she had suspected, in fact, that the Partial advance might be an attempt to drive them to their one and only safe place of retreat.

The munitions factory, Bao mumbled, staring at the map with deep concern. I do not like it. The devils will know where we are, and with a single stroke could eliminate both us and the factory. It is the most valuable objective in the city, and we cannot afford to make it more so.

Wu shook his head. It is valuable because they need to use it, not because they wish it destroyed. Their press into the rest of China will fail without the supplies that factory will provide them, and as such it is the one place in the city they will refuse to obliterate outright. We will be safe from air strikes there, and our ground forces are still strong enough to defend it.

Bao considered a moment, but Mei knew that he had no other recourse. It was truly the best and only place to retreat, and while that made it seem to her like a trap, the generals would have little choice but to walk into it. Bao nodded, though his eyes made it clear that he did not like it. The factory, then.

Mobilize your forces, said Wu, brushing Mei away from the satbox. I will mobilize mine and update our maps accordingly. Do you have us connected?

Yes, sir, said Mei. Wu sat down and activated the touch screen, calling up the map of Zuoquan and adjusting the layout of their forces on it, moving them here and there like pieces on a game board. The changes would be relayed through their network both to the subcommanders, who would align their forces in more detail based on the generals commands, and to the superior commanders overseeing the defense of all of China. The entire war could be coordinated seamlessly through a network so secure it could never be spied on... unless you had access to the satbox. Mei kept it close at all times.

An alarm sounded, and the generals phones both chirped an alert in unison with it. Bao cursed and finished his orders to his men, glancing quickly at the incoming message. The devils are here, he said. We must leave now. Wu finished his work on the satbox and rose to his feet, accepting his coat as Mei held it up to his shoulders. Soldiers were streaming in to defend the leaders and escort them to safety; Mei could already hear gunfire in the street outside. Wu bustled out of the room, leaving her to close up the satbox herself. Bao, more gallant, stayed until she was ready. My men will bring us to the Rotors, miss.