“So, you won’t be coming back.”
“There is no reason to do so.”
“You’re just going to leave us like this.”
“You will rebuild in time.” The head of the image tilts to the left. “It may not be in your estimated lifetime, but eventually. Already you begin to reproduce.”
I narrow my eyes. It says the words as if Hannah is prepared to have this baby—as if she really wants it or would have let her pregnancy get this far if she’d had a choice. Everything Hannah has been through is directly the result of me not giving the order to attack these things when we first saw them. Maybe we wouldn’t have been successful. Maybe they would have annihilated us in a second. They could have also then decided we weren’t worth the effort, and Hannah would be fine.
Fuck this thing.
I pull back on the trigger and hear the blast followed by
a sharp, metallic twang.
Vole doesn’t move.
“Has your curiosity been satisfied?” it asks.
“Fuck you.” I lower the rifle and take a step backward. I’m not surprised by the lack of effect, but it would have been nice if it had just fallen backward or something. I take a deep breath and then shout at it. “If you’re done, then go on! Get out! I’ve got nothing more to say to you.”
“I don’t understand your animosity, Falk Eckhart. Are you not better off than you were before?”
“What the hell is that supposed to mean? In what way am I better off?”
“You were alone,” it says. “You now have a companion—a function. You protect and provide for her, and you will protect and provide for her offspring. Your life has direction.”
I can’t respond. The creature’s words hit far too close to home. I’ve thought the same thing myself—more than once. I had no purpose in my life before, and now I have one. I have Hannah, and I have the need to keep her safe. It gives my existence meaning.
If none of this had happened, I would have escorted her to Washington. She would have testified and hopefully put those bastards on death row for what they had done. Afterward, I never would have seen her again.
“A pretty high cost for the sake of my happiness,” I mumble.
“But a benefit, still,” Vole says. “Do you have any further questions?”
“No.” I would have to be able to wrap my head around what I’ve heard before I could ask anything else.
“Then I shall take my leave.”
I give the thing one last stare, toss my rifle back over my shoulder, and then turn on my heel to head back into the trees.
“Falk Eckhart.”
“What?” I turn and glare at the image and the creature behind it.
“The child in the female’s body is constructed of your DNA.”
I tense, and I can’t take in a breath. Part of me thinks Vole is just saying what I want to hear, but there’s no reason for a lie. I hadn’t asked the question; it hadn’t even occurred to me.
“How do you know?”
“I analyzed the scan of the female’s incubated offspring when preparing the projected image.”
“You know for sure?” I have no real doubt of Vole’s technological accuracy; I just need to hear the words.
“You were scanned during our initial encounter. The match is certain.”
I nod. I’m not about to thank the creature for the information, but it does set me at ease.