"The payload is, and I've been ordered to use it," Ravenheart said. "I've been ordered to find the new main hive and nuke the thing straight to hell."

"Give me some other choice," Anne Ravenheart said. "Anything at all-I'll take it. By all the gods I swear I'll take it." She was agitated, pacing before the gathered troopers. Kyle and Seeks-the-Moon had convinced her that this was a situation that went beyond corporate loyalty, beyond chains of command and "eyes-only" orders. Reluctantly, she'd agreed.

Kyle had been startled by the reaction of the group once the full situation, in all its terrible details, was presented to them. Most of the Ares troopers seemed not to question the need to use a nuclear weapon against the main hive.

A few seemed nervous and not so sure after Kyle pointed out that a nuclear weapon had been detonated only five times in anger since its invention over a century ago-the two dropped on Japan in 1945 and the three on Libya by the Israelis in 2004. Then the ork trooper, Douglas, brought up another disturbing point. Ever since the Great Ghost Dance that had broken the back of the old United States and forced the return of most of western North America to Native American control, there was no guarantee a nuclear weapon would detonate at all.

"What about, what was it, the Lone Eagle?” the ork asked, looking about the group for confirmation. "Those Indian terrorists launched a nuclear missile at Russia, but it didn't go off. How do we know this one will?"

Kyle turned toward Ravenheart. "I heard other rumors too when I was with the government. More recent stuff. Any ideas?"

She shrugged, but didn't answer right away. "Not really. All I can say for sure is that test nuclear weapons have been successfully detonated since the Ghost Dance, and I can only presume that Ares wouldn't have built a last-ditch defense around an untried weapon."

"It'll blow," said the Asian trooper, Lim. "I don't mink even magic can selectively dampen a subatomic reaction based on whether or not it came from a weapon."

"But we don't know for sure," said Douglas, looking directly at Ravenheart. Kyle could see that the thought of using a nuke frightened the ork as much as it did him. They seemed to be in the minority, however, which was not too surprising, considering the nature of the group.

"How much damage are we talking about?" he asked Ravenheart.

She sighed. "It's just about the smallest yield you can achieve, half a kiloton. Significantly smaller than what was dropped on Hiroshima, fourteen kilotons, or what the Israelis used on Libya, about a hundred kilotons per warhead."

"How much damage?" he asked again.

Ravenheart scowled, obviously trying to remember facts learned long ago. She started to speak, but Vathoss cut in.

"Everyone exposed to the unimpeded blast, out to about one to two hundred meters, will be killed instantly. The full blast itself will carry to about twelve hundred meters or so-breaking windows, starting fires, tossing light debris, and immediately killing about a third of the people exposed. Roughly a third of that number will die later."

He paused for a moment and let that settle in. "Since we're talking about a ground burst, there will be long-term radiation effects within about a five-hundred meter area around the blast. The ground burst may lessen immediate casualties, but it will increase long-term fatalities. There's also the problem of ground-water contamination and prolonged fallout."

"How many dead?" Kyle asked.

Vathoss shrugged. "Thousands. Tens of thousands. Depends on where it detonates."

Ravenheart, hands on hips, had been looking down at the ground while her subordinate was speaking. Finally, she looked up. "Thank you, Sergeant," she said coldly. "I didn't know you were such an expert."

Vathoss matched her stare. "I know what I need to know."

"Then it depends on where the nest is, doesn't it?" said Douglas, ignoring the stare-down. "If it's in a populated area, we've got to find some other way."

"It's too late," Ravenheart said, turning toward him. "We're out of time and we're out of options. The nest may be closer to opening its cocoons then we think. All our numbers are just guesses. Even if we knew where the nest was and went directly there from here, we could still be too late."

Kyle shook his head. "But we can't be the ones to decide this. It affects too many people."

"Then who?" asked Ravenheart.

"The government."

"They have decided-they're going to spray the city."

"Then we have to advise them of the alternatives," Kyle said. "Has your boss told them that the hive might regroup? That you're in position to do something?"

Ravenheart shook her head and smiled lightly. "And said what? Mr. President, we have an elite strike team in position in Chicago prepared to detonate a nuclear weapon. All you have to do is give the word." She shook her head again. "Pardon me, but I don't think Thomas Steele is going to give a megacorp permission to nuke one of his cities."

Ravenheart let her gaze take in the whole group. "Like I said, show me another alternative and I'll take it."

Kyle nodded. "Believe me. If I can think of something, you'll know in a tick. Meanwhile we should probably be preparing as if we were going to use the drone." He looked around and saw resignation in the eyes of everyone gathered around him. Seeks-the-Moon stood silently off to one side. Kyle regarded him for a moment "What about you? Do you have an opinion on this?"

The spirit blinked and laughed lightly. "I do, but it is of no matter."

"Why not?"

"Because this is your land, your city, your people," he said. "Not mine. Regardless of what happens, I can leave."

“True enough," Kyle said. "But I'd still like to know what you think."

The spirit stared at him for a few moments, then finally said, "I think your people have often chosen one terrible solution to combat another. It is your way of things, something you understand."

"So then you think this is a bad idea."

"I didn't say that. If the birthing is not interrupted, it may be unstoppable. Already there are thousands dead in the city. What is the price of a few thousand more against what you fear?”

"Will you help us?"

Seeks-the-Moon paused again before turning away to stare at nothing.

"Will you help us?" Kyle repeated.

"I don't know."

"While you're deciding, will you at least help me find my wife and daughter?"

The spirit looked back at him. "That I will do."

The walk out to Ellen Shaw's apartment would have been a long one, so Kyle and Seeks-the-Moon borrowed the talents of one of the Knight Errant troopers and commandeered a dirty, beat-up Chrysler-Nissan Jackrabbit that was sitting in the building's parking lot. The car's battery charge was three-quarters full, so it took almost another half hour to top it off using the building's still-active power system. Kyle had heard of power outages occurring in parts of the city where power lines or poles had fallen, but so far most of the containment area still enjoyed basic utilities. Natural gas service, though, had been discontinued to much of the area, presumably for fear of fires and explosions.

Kyle and Seeks-the-Moon took the car quickly along Addison to Western, not wanting a repeat of the gang confrontation on Ashland. There, they turned south. The traffic lights still worked, for the most part, but Kyle ignored them. Down the length of the major north-south artery, they saw only four other cars in use. Each, packed with youths, eyed them suspiciously but otherwise left them alone.

"How long before they think of raising barricades to control their land?" Seeks-the-Moon asked.