Free Nemesis: Book Four by David Beers

about, of course. Rigley, for one. He still had fun to consider—and this creature just gave him the opportunity to go play.
    "I think you might see differently if I'm forced to kill what you brought with you. If I'm forced to wipe out whatever it is you've set loose out there."
    "Threats, Kenneth Marks. Threats. I've told you to kill me now, to kill all of us if that is your prerogative. In the end, you'll see the truth. It might just take you a little more time."
    He nodded. "When I see you again, we'll talk more."
    "This is the only time I tell you this: prepare your people for change and they may live. If not, your species dies."
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    K enneth Marks walked past Knox and Rigley. He didn't look at either of them, didn't look at Jenna either, but when he spoke it was to her.
    "Get the President on the line."
    He sat down in one of the chairs around Knox's makeshift desk. He crossed one leg over the other and stared straight forward.
    "What did it say?" Rigley asked.
    She was bugging him. Past bugging him. He wanted her dead, and he would probably kill her if it wasn't for what the creature now forced him to do. Although force might be the wrong word. He wanted to steer the conversation in a certain way—and despite the brief detour at the beginning, it went as he wished. Rigley would get her sentencing and then Kenneth Marks would have his knowledge.
    The thing in the other room, she would bend when she saw the power he wielded. It didn't matter if there were others much higher than he on this planet, presidents and dictators. He was in charge now. He controlled whether she lived or died, whether her creations lived or died. He had been holding back until that conversation, wanting to see if his hand would be forced or if she would come along easily.
    Things were about to get fun.
    He felt his phone vibrating in his pocket; he reached in, pulled it out and put it to his ear.
    "Hello, Mr. President," he said, his voice jolly but his face still.
    "Good news, Marks. That's what I need to hear."
    Kenneth Marks looked out the open flaps of the tent he sat under. The sun had fallen below the horizon and the moon was making its appearance again. It had been forty-nine hours and some change since Kenneth Marks slept, and looking at Rigley, he thought it was nearly the same for her. Knox was different than Rigley of course, his body had been trained to rely on less sleep, and so it showed less on him.
    "Sir," Kenneth Marks spoke louder, wanting Rigley to hear him. "We have possession of an envoy from the alien."
    "What the hell does that mean? Didn't you send an envoy to it?"
    "We did, and it sent one back."
    "Jesus Christ, Marks, you make me want to kill you. Do you know that? Tell me what the hell is going on down there."
    "I appreciate your candor," Marks said. "It is time that we use presidential pass-codes. This creature… is not reasonable."
    A sigh came across the phone.
    "You realize what you're saying, don't you?"
    Kenneth Marks realized every word that left his mouth, realized the furthest reaching possibilities of what he said. Even the pause from a second ago had been purposeful. This man's idiocy bugged him almost as much as Rigley's new found curiosity.
    "Yes, sir. However, fire will not work against this creature. It thrives on it. We've seen what happens when we send men at it. There is a growth down here, sir, one that is replicating faster and further from its source. It'll cover the state soon."
    He waited a few seconds, the President silent.
    "I know," the President said finally. "I read what the hell comes across my desk. I just don't know how the fuck we cover this up. I mean, you're talking about a neutron bomb, is that right?"
    Kenneth Marks finally smiled, so glad to hear the President say the word. The neutron bomb; perhaps the greatest killing machine humans ever devised. Radiation, and only radiation, cast down from the heavens, flowing through brick and wood alike without even a second's pause. Falling