Necahual | Page 4

butterflies. As he was opposed to the sacrifice of human flesh the three sorcerers of Tula drove him out of the city. The people of Tenochtitlan did not follow Quetzalcoatl. Instead, they followed the war-god Huitzilopochtli or Xipe-Totec: the flayed god. Then the fifth sun was destroyed and we lived in the sixth and it became a time of change."
It sends shivers down the back of my spine.
"You said you had communications equipment," I fold my arms. The shivering continues. "We'd like to use it now."
I shiver again, my knees weak. Jami catches me under my arms as I drop to my knees.
"What's happening?" I'm disoriented; the walls of the room seem to bend in on themselves.
"Remember how I tell you you should have read Wells?" Jami says. "Come on." He helps me over to a wooden bench and opens a cupboard. I vaguely recognize the device behind the wooden doors. It looks like a museum piece. But it responds to a wave of my hand and my voice.
Static is my only reply. There is accusation in my angry stare, but Jami gestures at the device.
"Try again. You feeling rough."
Sweet drips from my forehead, the shivers continue wracking my body. This time I find a carrier signal and send a voice request up. Archaic. But they reply.
"Who is this? Identify."
I do, giving personal ID codes and answering questions until the voice on the other side is satisfied.
"We give nothing away by saying we're doing a retreat," it says. "All ground assaults have been infected with some sort of virus, we're losing this battle. We have your touchdown coordinates. Be outside in five minutes for a starhook. You'll be in quarantine upon return."
Then it's gone.
My three companions are sweating and sprawled on the floor.
Infected. Quarantine.
"When we saw you," I say. "You walked over to us, touched me," my hands go up to my face.
"Acolmiztli gave it to me, and I passed it to you," Jami says.
"Is it fatal?" I ask Jami.
He shrugs.
"Better get back up to orbit and find out, right? I look alright, but I could have antidote." He smiles.
I purse my lips.
"Get up," I order everyone. It has been an interesting being in charge. I'm glad to see the end of it coming. Paige, Smith, and Steve struggle up. Smith leans heavily on Steve. "Get outside, now."
We're a pathetic group that pushes through the door with Jami following us. My knees wobble, but I manage a convincing stride through what looks like a bar.
Dim lights cast shadows, and from those shadows loom wooden tables where several men in khaki camouflage toast us with their glasses and sly grins. I see no weapons, but now I wonder if their weapon isn't the fever raging inside of me.
My gut spasms. The pain almost blinds me.
"Come on." I push my three soldiers on in front of, shoving my hand against their hard armor, ignoring an unidentifiable chuckle from somewhere in the room.
But halfway through the room text scrolls over my vision. My own implants are failing, no longer able to heal my body or regulate it. I'm nothing more than flesh right now. I have no soldier-sharp senses, no wired edge for combat.
I trip over a chair, grab the table to steady myself, and when I blink everything is clear.
Right before me is a large aquarium. Something sinuously moves through the tank and presses against the glass. I stumble closer and a woman stares right back at me through the refracted water and solid glass with wide brown eyes. Sheets of her oak-colored hair twirl behind her head. Her super pale skin has an almost greenish tint.
The eyes hold me until my face presses right against the glass.
"Beautiful, isn't she."
Acolmiztli grabs my shoulder.
"She was a present. From one of my brothers. A gift from the Emporer Moctezuma the Ninth."
Her smooth stomach fades into the singular muscle and pilot fins of her tail's trunk. The wide fins are splayed out. They're delicate, yet powerful enough to drive all six feet of her through the water with a flick.
Which she does. Out away from the glass.
Then she turns back, looks at me, and her hands flutter.
It's too hallucinogenic. I walk away from the tank.
"Keep moving damnit." Smith looks at me, face blank. He doesn't understand a word.
His hearing implants have all failed.
But we're moving, and out the door into the sunlight. I lean back and look into the sky. Nothing yet.
"Why are you doing this to us?" I ask Jami, who is still right behind us.
"The Azteca doing it to you."
"But you knew about it," I snap.
"Yes."
"And yet you did nothing. You collaborate with them."
"You the one that drop out the sky and land. We didn't force you."
Overhead I hear a roar, then a rumble.
"But all those deaths…"
"All because of you. Consider: before you