Fire and Ash (Benny Imura 4)

“More like dismantling.”

They hurried to catch up to the others, but paused again at the second hangar. This one had a row of quads painted in military camouflage. There were big worktables, chain hoists from which unidentifiable engine parts hung, tool chests on rollers, and machine schematics taped to the walls. But again there was a flavor of disuse about it all. Like the work of repairing the machines had been abandoned. Weeks or even months ago.

“Where are all the soldiers?” asked Nix. “And the technicians? The monks said that there are more than two hundred people over here. We’ve seen maybe ten different soldiers and Captain Ledger. And three or four different voices in the interview air lock.”

“I don’t know, but it’s creeping me out,” Benny admitted. Nix nodded, but she looked more than creeped out. She looked deeply hurt by it.

“Let’s go,” he said, and they hurried off.

Joe and Grimm stopped at the entrance to the third hangar. The smaller door was open, but he stood in front of it.

“I know you kids have about a million questions about what’s going on over here,” he began.

“Maybe two million,” said Riot, “and that’s just me. Red over yonder’s been writing questions in that journal of hers, and she’s got every page filled, front and back.”

Nix nodded.

“I have a few hundred thousand just off the top of my head,” said Benny. “Any chance we’re actually going to get some answers?”

“There’s a lot going on that you don’t know about,” said Joe, “and a lot of it is classified.”

“Why?” asked Lilah sharply.

“Because the military likes to keep its business to itself.”

“Why?”

Joe smiled. “Because secrecy can become an addiction. That’s been a problem as long as people have tried to covet power for themselves. Sure, governments need to keep some secrets, but too often the people inside the government create for themselves the illusion that because they know things nobody else does, it makes them more powerful. That kind of thinking creates a kind of contempt for anyone on the outside. It’s born from a belief that their own power will diminish in direct proportion to the transparency of their actions. So secrets become the currency that buys them membership into a club so exclusive that their agendas are never shared, and the value of what they hold is measured only from a first-person perspective.” He paused. “Are you following me on this?”

“Yes,” said Benny.

“There’s more, though,” said Joe. “Greed and a feeling of inadequacy aren’t the only reasons people keep secrets. Sometimes they hide things—information, the truth, themselves—behind layers of secrecy simply because they’re afraid.”

“Afraid of what?” asked Lilah.

“You,” said Joe. “Everyone who held any kind of power, everyone who kept any secrets, everyone who was part of running the world before First Night is terrified of you kids.”

“Why us?” asked Nix.

“Not just you four—but your whole generation. You scare them to death.”

“But . . . why?” asked Benny.

“Three reasons,” said Joe, ticking them off on his fingers. “Because you want to know the truth. Because you’ll eventually learn the truth. And because you deserve to know the truth.”

Benny looked past him at the open door. “What truth, Joe?”

The ranger said nothing.

“The Reaper Plague,” Benny said softly. “There are all kinds of theories about how it started. A new virus . . .”

“Radiation from a returning space probe,” said Nix.

“The wrath of God,” added Riot.

“Something that was accidentally released from a lab,” said Lilah.

Benny closed his eyes. “None of that’s true, is it?”