was just as clearly a tough job. Man had been an expert with death and mega-poison. His atomic weapons had killed not just other men and animal life, but the very flesh of the earth itself. Many of the wounds they would see would take a long time to heal—if ever.
“I just never get over it—what we did to the earth, to the Mother Earth,” Rock said to no one in particular. “How could they be so fucking stupid?”
“The bad ones got control,” Chen replied softly. “Just as they’re trying to do again now. That’s why we’re even up here flying to the very ends of the earth. To stop it from happening again.”
“Still, that’s just a fact—it’s not really an explanation,” Rockson went on, grinding his teeth together. “What is it about man, about men? Do they have a fatal flaw that commands them to destroy—or was it just chance that the demented sons-of-bitches got control of everything?”
“A little of both, I think,” Chen said even more softly now, so that both Sheransky and even Archer, who appeared to be listening intently, had to strain to hear the conversation. “The destructive bastards always try to get control. Men who lead are aggressive. That aggressiveness can drive them to the point of—madness, a lust for sheer destruction. And yet there are also more extreme men within that category of destroyers. There’s men like Colonel Killov, for example. And then there’s men like yourself, a leader, a preserver. Yet I know you kill, but you would stop fighting tomorrow and give up all your power, give up your rank in a second if the enemy were to cease his assault.”
“You got that right, pal,” Rock replied, wincing. “Give it all up. Then the whole bunch of us could just head out from that futuristic basement we call home and start some homesteads out there in the great radioactive outdoors. Be just like the old days. Pioneers, trying to reseed the country, make her whole again.”
“I can just see Rona with the reins of a plow around her shoulders out there in the fields,” Chen commented wryly. “As you and her start your little farm! What exactly were you planning on growing?” The Chinese went on, unable to resist needling him.
“Avocados and pineapples,” the Doomsday Warrior exclaimed, as if it were obvious. “They’re in short supply at C.C!”
“Meee liiikeee beee farmmmerr,” Archer snarled out as the three of them laughed, a little surprised that he had understood the conversation. Rockson could never quite tell just how much the oversized near-mute really took in through those big ears of his. But he was definitely getting the feeling as he spent more time fighting alongside him that Archer was far more intelligent than his primitive speech, and sometimes equally primitive actions, let on. Who could figure it out. Maybe his IQ rose and fell depending on the time of the moon.
“It’s the same in Russia,” Sheransky said as he pulled his blond head away from the cockpit window, though he was fascinated by the jigsaw of death and life below. “Many of the common people—they don’t want to fight. Don’t even wish to occupy America, or any other land for that matter. They have no desire for an empire, just for their own little piece of the earth to grow food in. They want to own a small home, to have a family, children. It is the politicians who want only to further their own ends, who use the power to hurt others. I tell you, the common man—he is the same the world over. If we could just get rid of the damn bastards who run the show—maybe things would work themselves out all right. You know, like—burn all the kings and emperors and commissars and presidents. Then the rest of us could live in peace.”
They were all silent after the little speech. In their hearts they believed it was doubtless true. But such an event seemed, to say the least, unlikely. Still, deep inside, they looked down on the wounded earth that had given birth to all races and
“I just never get over it—what we did to the earth, to the Mother Earth,” Rock said to no one in particular. “How could they be so fucking stupid?”
“The bad ones got control,” Chen replied softly. “Just as they’re trying to do again now. That’s why we’re even up here flying to the very ends of the earth. To stop it from happening again.”
“Still, that’s just a fact—it’s not really an explanation,” Rockson went on, grinding his teeth together. “What is it about man, about men? Do they have a fatal flaw that commands them to destroy—or was it just chance that the demented sons-of-bitches got control of everything?”
“A little of both, I think,” Chen said even more softly now, so that both Sheransky and even Archer, who appeared to be listening intently, had to strain to hear the conversation. “The destructive bastards always try to get control. Men who lead are aggressive. That aggressiveness can drive them to the point of—madness, a lust for sheer destruction. And yet there are also more extreme men within that category of destroyers. There’s men like Colonel Killov, for example. And then there’s men like yourself, a leader, a preserver. Yet I know you kill, but you would stop fighting tomorrow and give up all your power, give up your rank in a second if the enemy were to cease his assault.”
“You got that right, pal,” Rock replied, wincing. “Give it all up. Then the whole bunch of us could just head out from that futuristic basement we call home and start some homesteads out there in the great radioactive outdoors. Be just like the old days. Pioneers, trying to reseed the country, make her whole again.”
“I can just see Rona with the reins of a plow around her shoulders out there in the fields,” Chen commented wryly. “As you and her start your little farm! What exactly were you planning on growing?” The Chinese went on, unable to resist needling him.
“Avocados and pineapples,” the Doomsday Warrior exclaimed, as if it were obvious. “They’re in short supply at C.C!”
“Meee liiikeee beee farmmmerr,” Archer snarled out as the three of them laughed, a little surprised that he had understood the conversation. Rockson could never quite tell just how much the oversized near-mute really took in through those big ears of his. But he was definitely getting the feeling as he spent more time fighting alongside him that Archer was far more intelligent than his primitive speech, and sometimes equally primitive actions, let on. Who could figure it out. Maybe his IQ rose and fell depending on the time of the moon.
“It’s the same in Russia,” Sheransky said as he pulled his blond head away from the cockpit window, though he was fascinated by the jigsaw of death and life below. “Many of the common people—they don’t want to fight. Don’t even wish to occupy America, or any other land for that matter. They have no desire for an empire, just for their own little piece of the earth to grow food in. They want to own a small home, to have a family, children. It is the politicians who want only to further their own ends, who use the power to hurt others. I tell you, the common man—he is the same the world over. If we could just get rid of the damn bastards who run the show—maybe things would work themselves out all right. You know, like—burn all the kings and emperors and commissars and presidents. Then the rest of us could live in peace.”
They were all silent after the little speech. In their hearts they believed it was doubtless true. But such an event seemed, to say the least, unlikely. Still, deep inside, they looked down on the wounded earth that had given birth to all races and
Similar Books
