Free World War IV: Empires by James Hunt Page B

rich he would swear his allegiance in a heartbeat. All that was left was the execution.

Chapter 6
    Wires, circuits, bolts, screws, washers, scraps of metal, and an array of tools surrounded Alvy as he pulled apart the components on one of the old missiles that they had removed, clumsily but successfully, from the aircraft.
    There was enough technology around Alvy to study for the rest of his life and still not be able to replicate what the engineers of the past had done. The complex innards of these machines were far beyond his capacity to understand, but much of what he saw confirmed hundreds of theories that he’d only been able to guess at, and that was more valuable than the gear itself at the moment.
    Alvy knew what the Mars brothers wanted from him. It seemed like every leader he’d ever met craved power, but what they wielded it for and how they wielded it differed with each man. Governor Mars was the first to give him a choice, the first to let him decide as a free man. And keeping his family safe only solidified his reasons.
    A schematic rested just beyond Alvy’s reach from where he sat, and he leaned forward, his fingertips grazing the edge of the paper. Just when he was about to grab it, the paper was snatched away. When he looked up, he saw that Jason held it.
    “I could look at this for the rest of my life and probably never understand what it means.” Jason shook his head then extended the schematic down to Alvy. “I suppose it’s a good thing we have you on our side.”
    “Yes,” Alvy said, taking the paper. “I suppose it is.” He returned to his work, checking the design he’d created, and then located the necessary components scattered around him. When Jason’s shadow didn’t move, he looked back up. “Can I help you with something?”
    “You know, I’ve spoken to the other engineers.” Jason walked around the circle of materials in which Alvy was centered. “They say the devices you created for Ruiz were some of the best pieces of technology they’d ever seen.”
    “The technology isn’t half as impressive as the theories behind it.” Alvy returned to his work, picking apart the materials. “Ruiz was concerned only with the results I gave him.”
    “That you’re still giving him?”
    Alvy dropped the copper wire in his hands and stood. The Mars brother had at least six inches in height on him and close to sixty pounds, maybe seventy. Alvy knew he was a small man, but his mind had kept him alive this long, and he didn’t expect it to fail him now. “You think I’m still working for him? After what he did to my family?”
    “After what you said he did to your family.” Jason took a step closer. “Ruiz was an ambitious man. He always stacked the odds in his favor, and if there was one thing I learned about him, it was his persuasiveness. He was a magician, really, showing one hand and then stealing your wallet with the other.”
    Alvy rolled up the sleeve of his shirt, revealing raised bumps in odd designs on his flesh. “This was given to me when Ruiz’s men first came to my home after I refused to go with them or let them take my family.” He dropped his arm and pulled up his shirt, revealing a line of scars over his abdomen. “They carved the skin just enough to make me bleed but not enough to penetrate the organs when I told Ruiz that I wouldn’t design weapons.” He left his shirt untucked then pulled up his left pant leg, where a chunk of his thigh was missing. “And this is where he set a dog on me when I demanded that my family be set free.” He kicked a cluster of circuits when his pant leg fell, breaking the tight circle of gear he’d created. He thrust his finger into Jason’s face. “Whatever he asked for I gave, but no more.” He snatched the paper up from the ground, pointing at it furiously. “Do you have any idea what this is?”
    Jason remained stoic before answering, “No.”
    Alvy started picking up the material he’d kicked away, and Jason