Fragments by Dan Wells

wait this long.”
    Great, thought Marcus. Now I’m stuck in a conversation with Haru whether I like it or not.
    “We don’t have to kidnap one,” said Xochi. “We could just talk to them.”
    “You were attacked last time,” said Haru. “I’ve read the reports—you barely made it
     out alive, and that was with a Partial you trusted. I’d hate to see what happens with
     a Partial faction you don’t know anything about.”
    “We can’t trust all of them,” said Xochi, “but the other thing you must have seen
     in the reports is that Samm disobeyed his commander to help us. Maybe there are more
     Partials who share his perspective.”
    “If we could really trust them,” said Haru, “we wouldn’t have to rely on the one disobedient
     outlier to help us. I’ll believe in peace with the Partials as soon as I see them
     raise a finger to help us.”
    “He talks big,” said Madison, “but he wouldn’t trust a Partial even then.”
    “If you remembered the Partial War,” said Haru, “you wouldn’t either.”
    “So we’re back to the beginning,” said Isolde. “Nobody in charge wants to make peace
     with them, and nobody in the hospital can make the cure without them, so our only
     option is war.”
    “A small attack,” said Haru. “Just slip in and grab one and they won’t even notice.”
    “Which will mean war,” said Marcus, sighing as they dragged him into the argument.
     “They’re already in a war with each other, and that’s probably the only reason they
     haven’t attacked us yet. The group we ran into across the sound was studying Kira
     to try to solve their own plague, their built-in expiration date, and there is clearly
     a faction of them that believes humans are the key and will stop at nothing to turn
     us all into experiments. The instant they win their civil war, they’ll come down here
     with guns blazing and kill or enslave us all.”
    “So then war is inevitable,” said Haru.
    “Almost as inevitable as you using the word ‘inevitable,’” said Marcus.
    Haru ignored the jab. “Then there’s no reason for us to not raid them. In fact, it’s
     better to do it now, while they’re distracted; we’ll grab a few, extract enough of
     the cure to last us as long as we’ll need, kill them, and get out of Long Island before
     they ever have a chance to come after us.”
    Sandy frowned. “You mean leave Long Island completely?”
    “If the Partials start invading again, we’d be stupid not to run,” said Haru. “If
     we didn’t need them for the cure, we’d have done it already.”
    “Just give us time,” said Marcus. “We’re close, I know we are.”
    Marcus expected Haru to argue, but it was Isolde who responded first. “We’ve given
     you a chance,” she said coldly. “I don’t care if we synthesize it, steal it, form
     a treaty, or whatever you want, but I’m not going to lose my baby. People are not
     going to go back to how it used to be, not now that they know there’s a cure. And
     it doesn’t sound like the Partials are going to wait forever. We’re lucky we’re not
     looking down the business end of a Partial invasion already.”
    “You’re in a race,” said Haru. “Make more of the cure, or war is inevitable.”
    “Yeah,” said Marcus, standing up. “You said that. I need some air—the entire future
     of the human race resting on my shoulders is a little much all of a sudden.” He walked
     outside, glad that nobody stood up to follow him. He wasn’t mad, at least not at them;
     the truth was, the future of the human race was resting on his shoulders, on all their shoulders. With barely 35, 000 people left,
     it wasn’t like there was anybody else to rest it on.
    He pushed open the back door and walked into the cool evening air. Twelve years ago,
     before the Break, there would have been electric lights all over the city, so bright
     they blotted out the stars, but tonight the sky was filled with twinkling constellations.
     Marcus