Free Black Mountain by Greig Beck

puzzle, and we need our puzzles solved, Addy.’
    Adira’s burning anger at Weisz for taking samples from Alex had dissipated. Now she just felt confused and disappointed.
    ‘Weisz said he was cutting him up. You know that was never the deal – you promised he would be looked after. We agreed that we’d seek answers from the man, if that was possible, not just from his biology.’ She sat forward. ‘No one is going to be cutting the answers out of him. I swear this to you: the next person who touches him . . .’ She left the threat hanging.
    The general sighed and shifted in his deep leather chair. Adira felt her foot begin to tap the floor, still at the mercy of her nerves. She saw her uncle’s eyes slide from her jumping foot to her face.
    ‘My child, does he even know you?’ he asked gently. ‘The real you? We know the infection reached his brain. Believe it or not, I worry about your safety – you know what the Arcadian records said about his mental stability. He could tear you in half before he even realised he had done it.’
    ‘No, never. He saw me . . . and he knew me .’ She looked at her wrist, circled by a band of bruises.
    More slow wheezing as the general watched her face for a few seconds. ‘Maybe, Addy, and maybe not. But we need the secrets he holds – you’ve always known that. The Hades bacterium forced our hand, but it also brought him back to us. We must make use of the opportunity while we have it. How long until the American military discovers he is here? For now, they think he is dead, but we know Colonel Hammerson wasn’t authorised to deliver Hunter’s body to you, or to let you take him from the country. This is the age of technology, Addy – nothing, and no one, can stay hidden for long.
    ‘Yes, I promised only to question Hunter, but how could that happen while he was frozen? If he will not talk to us, his cells will – I must have my answers.’ The general leaned further back into the chair and his eyes closed. ‘I’m sorry, Addy, but the bill is coming in and it must be paid.’
    Adira got to her feet and paced to one side of the room, spun and returned. She stood beside his chair, not facing him, talking just as much to herself as to him.
    ‘I’ll get your answers. I can get him to talk – I’m the only one he would trust, and I know what he is capable of. The real secrets are in his head, not just in his flesh.’
    She paused and waited. There was silence. She heard her uncle’s heavy body shift against leather but didn’t wait for his reply.
    ‘Besides, no one is touching him until I say. Or you know what I will do to them.’
    A coughing sound morphed into a dry laugh. ‘Only you would dare to challenge me in my own office,’ General Shavit said. ‘You are truly your mother’s daughter, Captain Senesh. And if I agree, and let you run the debrief, how will that benefit me?’
    She finally turned to face him, going down on one knee beside his chair. ‘You know what he can do. If he chooses to resist you, there is no one who can stand up to him. You’d have to kill him, and then the secrets in his mind are gone forever. But he will talk to me – he trusts me. I can get your answers, and get them quickly.’ She gripped his forearm. ‘Give me six months.’
    Shavit patted her hand, and after a few more seconds nodded his assent. ‘I want a daily report on his progress; and he must report weekly to the Mo’ach Centre for medical testing. You have sixty days only – this is not negotiable.’
    She started to protest, but he held one hand up in front of her face.
    ‘In sixty days, we begin our own testing. If you cannot solve the puzzle in two months, you never will.’ He got to his feet, still holding her hand. ‘You will own this responsibility. Do you understand what I am saying, Captain?’
    ‘Yes, yes, agreed. Thank you, Uncle.’
    He nodded again, and led her back to her chair. ‘Now finish your tea, and tell me all about Beirut.’
    *
    That