I’d taken a seat in Milley’s own brown leather chair and sat facing the fallen soldier. He was as proud as ever, straight backed with chest puffed out. Cris had pulled one of the visitor chairs around to sit beside me.

“Sorry, I should’ve got that for you.”

She scoffed. “Call yourself a gentleman?”

“At least I knew I should’ve got it for you. It’s the thought that counts.”

“Trouble in paradise?” Milley asked.

“We’re not a couple!” I argued. “I wish people would stop saying shit like that.”

“Fine. My old eyes deceived me. Now, tell me what I can do for you so we can get this thing over with.”

“Sit down, General. We’re going to have a chat.”

Both Cris and I took sips from our drinks as he got settled. Judging by the time it took and how awkward he seemed, I guessed it had been decades since the general had been on that side of a desk.

“What do you want to know? Fire away.”

I’d never seen a man more eager to reach the end of his life. “Before we get started, is there any way this room is bugged?”

He surveyed the office with a frown. “No, we have sensors that pick up anything like that. My men do a manual sweep every four hours too. Why do you ask?”

“I wondered if Lake might be listening in,” I replied.

“What difference does it make?”

“My first question was going to be where he was. I didn’t want him to get away from us if he heard you give us the location.”

“He knows you’ve beaten me. He’ll know you’re coming for him.”

“Won’t he try and run?” I asked.

“Where to? He’s already in the safest place he can be, surrounded by those things of his.”

I pulled a map from my pack and folded it out on the desk. “Care to point it out to us?”

Milley stared at us for long seconds following the map’s impossible appearance.

I started to grow impatient with his hesitation. “I’ll answer your questions once I’m done with mine, General.”

This seemed to satisfy him and a finger jabbed the map exactly where I’d guessed Lake would be. “Isla Sonada,” said Milley.

It was the largest of the group of islands I’d spied on the world map when I’d first arrived in the world. Southeast of the jungle. “Of course he’s there.”

Cris started to hum the theme tune to Jurassic Park. “It was inevitable, Mr Anderson.”

“Did you just throw a Matrix line at me?”

She winked.

“Forgive me for saying, but you won’t be smiling when you try and take him down. The place is a fortress. Not only does he have the dinosaurs, but he has the most advanced defence system on the planet. I’m talking next, next, next-gen. Stuff that even I struggled to get. I could launch what’s left of Osterland’s intercontinental missile reserves at him and they wouldn’t get close.”

“You mean he’s got anti-missile systems? Like the ones you see on navy ships?”

“I mean anti-everything-systems. He has the sky and sea locked down tight. He might be a flaky, immature son-of-a-bitch, but the man’s paranoia works in his favour.”

“That sounds like a tomorrow problem,” I finally said.

Cris shrugged, quoting Sun. “One thing at a time. We put him on the backburner for now.”

I turned my attention back to Milley. “Take us back to the beginning. How the hell did you two ever team up in the first place?”

“I commanded two of Osterland’s wars.” He raised a finger and waved it at us. “Successfully, I might add. Not like that fool Baker who came before me. Anyway, the reason I was such a good commander was because I could think ahead of, and around, my enemy. I knew that technology would become the battlefield of the future. It’s why I volunteered to take over the CID when the job became vacant. I got rid of all the old, outdated methods. Poison tipped umbrellas and spies trying to seduce a mark. With the computer age, everyone was already spying on themselves. I just piggybacked their devices with monitoring systems that were years ahead of the competition. Lake was already making waves with his regular software. It was the secret, less-than-legal stuff he’d been working on that drew me in. I recruited him as soon as he graduated college. You could say the seed money I put into his start-up was the key to his fortune. The kid would still be building rigs out of his parent’s garage if it wasn’t for me. Or in jail for hacking people’s bank accounts.”

“I don’t get it. You don’t seem the type of man to be interested in money, General.”

“I didn’t help set him up for a percentage of the income, son. I set him up for all of the knowledge he could provide me. I’m a dealer in secrets. A purveyor of silence. Someone who thrives in playing the game. A gun to the head is so boring, so fleeting. Brute force had its place in the past. Now, the power comes when I have you on camera doing something naughty. It might be drugs, prostitution, taking bribes. I steered the world with the secrets Lake provided. Presidents, Prime Ministers, politicians, they danced to my tune. What’s money compared to that?”

“Not a lot,” I admitted. “But why fuck all that up and help Lake to kill the world?”

He breathed deeply, as if it was the first time he’d considered that point. “I suppose to see if the crazy little bastard could pull it off. I knew he was driven, a high-achiever, but to bring back creatures extinct for millions of years and then take over the world with them? That took big brass balls.”

“He couldn’t have done it without you, though. As smart as Lake is, he’s still a tech nerd. You’ve been the one on the ground laying the foundations. You brought the muscle to the operation. Without that he’d just be playing god on his little island while touching himself.”

Milley chuckled. “Perhaps. Maybe I was just getting bored in my old age. One thing I can say with certainty is that Lake ended world conflict with this stunt.”

Cris frowned. “How do you figure?”

“Everyone’s surrendered, and I mean everyone. Without militaries, there are no governments. Lake is now the master of the world.”

“But the locusts he used will die out.”

“We know that, son, but when you’ve just watched your entire army get wiped out by bugs with an unhealthy appetite for human flesh, do you really want to take the chance there won’t be more waiting to eat you. He’s got a few scores to settle, and then that weird little fucker will take his place at the head of the table. All hail Sheldon Lake!”

“If you’re not keen on the idea, why not just take him out before it got this far?”

“Son, I’d never be his subject. He knows who’s really in charge. He’d be like any one of the hundreds of puppets I’ve installed over the years. I’d be standing in the shadows, still controlling the strings. General Milley, true master of the universe. That had a nice ring to it.”

“Ok. I’m not a megalomaniac, so I’ll leave the motivations aside because they just don’t seem appealing to me. My next question is about the creatures. The phase 1s took the city. We’ve fought the phase 2s today. The ones your men control. What else does Lake have up his sleeve?”

“Full mind control was the first holy grail and he achieved that a few months ago. The phase 1s were flaky, difficult to control.”

“I know. I saw what happened at the docks.”

“That was you? The damage to the crane?”

“It was me.”

“Damn. I punished the officers badly for their bullshit excuses.”

“Boohoo for you. We’re getting off track. What does Lake have that we need to know about, General?”

“Cool your heels, son. I know he has phase 3 and 4s on the island, but I don’t know what that means.” He saw me clench my fists and grit my teeth. “Now, before you get your panties in a bunch, you’ve got to work with what we do know. We took the best and brightest from the scientific community. Bioengineering, genetics, cybernetics. I’d assume they would take the form of something along those lines. He succeeded in taking their minds, and the bodies were next.”

“You didn’t think to ask what he was creating?”

“Son, I’m just an old warhorse. I waited for his requests, tidied them up logistically, then carried them out. I wasn’t involved in any of that specialist stuff. It confuses the hell out of me.”

“So, they could have T-Rexes with miniguns?” I asked.

“I’d be surprised if they didn’t,” Milley replied.

I glared at Cris. “See! I told you!”

“Yeah, yeah. My bad.” She waved me off. “General, you said Lake has the island locked down. How did you get the creatures off in the first place if that’s the case?”

“Miss, when I say locked down I meant in terms of keeping people away he doesn’t want to deal with. Our ships were all cleared to pass the mines and missiles.”

“Did he breed them all on that island? It doesn’t seem big enough with what we’ve seen.”

“No. He did most of it out in international waters. Hidden away from shipping lanes. Specially adapted vessels and rigs. Big ones. That way, if anything went wrong, they would just sink and drown before they gave the game away.”

“What about the Pteranodons?”

“Oh, they were all bred inhouse. A specialist aviary on the island to keep them secure. They’re not that big compared to some of the things he’s bred and they were quite content if we kept them fed and gave them room to fly.”

I jumped into Cris’s head. At least we’ve got confirmation that the hardest fight is yet to come.

I’d say we’ve done the hardest part. We’ve cut Lake off from his support network. He’s alone, even if he’s not alone.

I returned my attention to Milley. “Does he have many men on the island with him?”

“Hundreds. Probably more. All highly skilled and well paid.”

“Mercenaries, like the CID?”

Milley nodded. “Men like that, yes. The best money could buy. Killers of the highest calibre.”

“Ok. Do you have a direct link to Lake’s island computer systems? One that we could use to see what he’s up to or shut off the defences?”

Milley shook his head. “Like I said, the kid’s a paranoid son-of-a-bitch. Anything he needed me to have about the next phase he’d deliver it via a stick or whatever they use these days.”

“So you don’t know anything about the Eos Protocol?”

“Oh, I surely do, son,” Milley replied. “That’s Lake’s reset switch. It’s why we were picking up as many scientists as possible. They were working on a new compound that would affect only the dinosaurs and mammals that he’s brought back. It would be turned aerosol, and dispersed via the atmosphere processors. The dinos would all drop dead within a week, leaving the rest of us unharmed. If you ask me, that should’ve been the first thing he perfected, but what do I know?”

“Has he managed to create it yet?” asked Cris.

“If he has, I haven’t received word to collect and distribute it.”

“And what about the fucked up atmosphere?” I asked. “Was he planning on doing anything about that?”

“The processors can work in reverse too. They would just switch and convert the air back.”

“Just like that?” I demanded.

“So he says. It would take a couple of years, but then it would be like nothing had ever happened. Except Earth would have a new God-Emperor.”

“I can’t believe it’s that easy.”

“Look, I know people, son. Lake is the man for all things technology. When you take him down, you can pick him clean for the answers. Are we nearly done here?” Milley started to straighten his uniform in preparation for the end.

“Not yet,” I replied. “Do you have any way to access the satellites?”

Milley nodded. “We have full access to Lake’s satellite control network. The one thing we lacked was enough skilled manpower to keep tabs on everything you folk were up to once the plan got underway. The regular military had all the specialised intelligence gatherers. It’s the one thing I never thought to bring in-house because I had twenty-four-seven access to the existing infrastructure and operators.”

“I’ll cry for you later. In the meantime, I want you to take me to the computers you’re using to spy on us.”

“You don’t want to know anything else?” he asked, rising from the chair.

“I can tell you once I’ve looked at your setup.”

O’Toole was waiting outside and opened the door for us.

“This way,” offered Milley, leading us down the halls.

I could feel O’Toole’s eyes boring into the back of my head. Turning to him, I smiled. “Funny kind of day, huh? How’re your knuckles? Did you refill the water bottles? I’m thirsty.”

He spluttered worse than I had while being waterboarded.

Milley reached the operations room and keyed in the security code. “It’s not much, just a small hub for the core systems back at our main facilities. They’re still linked though.”

I joined the general in the room and found the large display screen showing an error message.

Milley scowled. “It seems our paranoid friend has already cut the feeds.”

I pulled out Vision’s little black box from my pack. “Let’s see if this little puppy can help.” This time I got within three feet of the server and the magical drive took on a life of its own. Like a miniature spider, tiny strings of black erupted from the casing. They pierced the protective glass and flowed into the machine. Snatched from my grip, the case itself stuck to the glass and started to glow.

“Well, I’ll be damned,” said Milley as the error remedied itself and the screens blinked back into life.

There was nothing of particular note playing out. One inferno was much the same as the next. Marnmouth was one of several cities under siege. The scenes of carnage changed to one of Vision sipping at his soda.

He paused mid-sip and scowled. “Hello?” Leaning in closer, he saw me. “Mark? Is that you?”

“It’s me, mate. That little box of yours is currently…” I looked at the drive and its throbbing tendrils. “It’s currently doing something. I think we’ve got access to the satellites again.”

Vision slipped the drink aside and his fingers became a blur. He slapped the desk and smiled. “We’ve got everything back. Internet, phone networks, satellite feeds. Those tricks of yours are a real mind-fuck, man. How did it go with that douchebag general?”

I dragged Milley into view. “Meet my newest recruit.”

Mythic’s thin arm slipped into view and gave him the finger.

“Are we going after Lake now?” asked Vision.

“You bet we are. Stay on the line, I’d like to check in with how things are going.”

Mythic’s hand came back on screen and gave a so-so wiggle.

“We’ll be here, man. Give that asshole a punch in the dick for me.”

Milley seemed aggrieved at the request, but I dragged him away and moved to a small conference room. “There’s a lot of people wanting to punch you in the dick these days, General.” I side-eyed Cris who gave me one thumbs up while the other fist was clenched in readiness. “I can’t say I blame them.”

The defeated military man looked between us, totally bemused. “Can I ask you some questions now? Just promise you won’t punch me down there.”

“No promises,” Cris replied, swinging a chair round to sit on. Leaning her arms on the backrest, she stared at Milley. “Shoot.”

“If you don’t work for Devken, who do you work for?”

Cris raised an eyebrow and looked at me. “Mark, you want to take this one?”

“Sure. We work for the gods.”

Milley stared at me intently for a full ten seconds. “You’re serious.”

“Totally. The shit you pulled on this world was enough to have them sit up and take notice. They sent us to end your plans.”

He studied me for a while. Whatever argument was taking place inside his head reached its conclusion and he slumped into the chair, losing his perfect posture. “Well, that’s not something you hear every day. If that’s the case, we never had a chance of pulling it off, did we?”

I shook my head.

Something in the general’s demeanour changed. He blinked rapidly, seeming to reach another logical conclusion. “If the gods exist and they sent angels to help, that means there are other gods who aren’t so benevolent, correct?”

“Two for two,” I replied. I could see the gears turning in his mind and figured I should stick the knife in and twist it. Climbing to my feet, I summoned my sword and moved toward him. “Ready, General?”

“Wait!” he blurted, holding up a hand to ward off the killing blow.

“Wait for what? You wanted a good death.”

“That was… before,” he replied, his voice small.

“You’re worried about where you’re going, aren’t you? All that talk about discussing your exploits with Devken in Hell don’t seem quite so appealing now you know it’s real, huh?”

“Not particularly, son, no.”

“You want me to lock you up instead of killing you?”

He nodded meekly. I was tempted to impale him anyway just to speed up the inevitable reunion, but Cris stayed my hand with a humdinger of a point in my mind.

The punishment of knowing what’s coming will be worse than any cell we put him in. I couldn’t even imagine having that hanging over me for the rest of my days.

No redemption?

“Not for the General, no,” she said out loud, shaking her head.

I clicked my fingers for O’Toole. “Is my cell still free or have you got someone else in there?”

“I… umm… I…”

“Just take Milley and lock him up. Who’s second in charge here? Who’s taking my orders?”

O’Toole gathered himself. “I guess I am.”

“That’s convenient,” I replied. “At least I won’t need to learn someone else’s name. I would say take Milley’s shoelaces and stuff, but I don’t think he’ll be committing suicide any time soon.”

The torturer led the broken man away, ready to begin the first part of his eternity-long sentence.