Free Arcadian Genesis by Greig Beck

one real way to deal with a seeping sore . . .
    He picked up the phone and called his most trusted general. ‘Time to cauterize the wound.’
     
     

CHAPTER 9
     
     
    The afternoon sky had turned slate gray – promising snow, or at least a freezing night. Alex and the team stayed low, watching, on the outskirts of the town, breathing slowly through their noses. This wouldn’t hide the heat bloom if someone had a thermal scope, but it would cut down on the small ghosts of steam that escaped into the air from hot, humid breaths.
    Khamid was kept at the rear; his puffing gasps made him look like a chain smoker.
    Alex ran his gaze over the squat buildings. Even the Chechen capital, Grozny, had few that were over four storeys, and those were all decades old. Farther out in the countryside, many of the small houses and farms had been there for over a century or two.
    But here, the buildings, the streets – even the trees were all new. He knew why; he knew the town’s brutal history. They’d done their homework on the man they were sent to retrieve.
    The original town had been burnt from the map, then rebuilt – a new wound plaster over an ugly scar – but still, something was wrong. Alex was reminded of those small towns built during the 1950s in the Nevada Desert, as testing sites for atomic bombs. Brand spanking new, and yet unlived in.
    Staying low, Alex made his way to Bronson, who was acting as Khamid’s guardian and keeper.
    ‘Looks empty. There should be people around – something. What do you think, Dr. Khamid?’
    Khamid nodded grimly. ‘Yes, yes. Katyr-Yurt should have a population of nearly five hundred – mainly young families. I was here only a few days ago and —’
    ‘Did you see anyone when you placed the package, Doctor?’ Alex leaned toward him.
    Khamid looked up and his mouth worked for a few seconds before he spoke. ‘I, I think . . . it was very late, so maybe . . .’ He stopped and looked around, confused.
    Bronson grunted. ‘Forget it; let’s get the package and fall back to our extraction point. We need a precise description, Dr. Khamid – I don’t want my team coming back with someone’s goddamn lunch box.’
    Khamid nodded and made a shape with his hands. ‘The disk itself is beautiful; only the size of a large coin, but glows even in strong light. We believe it is at least one hundred thousand years old, of extraterrestrial —’
    Bronson cut him off. ‘The case, Doctor. Describe the case.’
    ‘Yes, of course. It is a ceramic-coated lead canister about eight inches by six. Be careful: it’s heavy, over a hundred pounds, and I have no idea if the lead is really sufficient shielding.’
    Bronson shook his head. ‘Great. Potentially lethal, and we’ll be carrying this thing for hours.’
    Kolchek slapped his forehead. ‘Shit, I just knew I should have saved some of my sperm back home.’ He winked at Stozer.
    Stozer snorted. ‘They can get plenty of your junk off the magazine stack under your bed, asshole.’
    ‘Cut it out.’ Bronson leaned in close to the Chechen scientist. ‘Now, where is it exactly ?’
    Khamid pointed down the main road. ‘Second on the left, Surkhaiki Street, number fifteen . . . where my mother’s house used to be.’
    ‘Seriously?’ Stozer shot him a disbelieving glare.
    Khamid shrugged. ‘They think I’m dead, so I am invisible to them . . . hopefully. It’s under the front steps, wrapped in a towel. Be careful with it, and make sure you do not open it under any circumstances.’
    Bronson looked briefly at his watch, then up at the sky. ‘It’ll be dark soon. Hunter, I want you to take Johnson, Stozer and Kolchek in on recovery. Bruda will trail you for backup.’ He nodded at the AA12 rotating machine gun in Bruda’s arms. ‘If we hear that bad boy come into play, we’ll know we’ve got a war on our hands. As soon as the package is secured, I’ll call in the evac. chopper – we’ll then have one hour to make it to a clear