“I love you, James,” Thel said.
“I love you too.”
***
PROLOGUE
It has been nineteen months since the A.I. turned against humanity and was, subsequently, destroyed. In the meantime, James Keats has turned over the A.I.’s powers to a non-intelligent, easily controlled operating system. He and Thel have left the planet and have spent six months vacationing on Venus, which has been newly terraformed without the consent or knowledge of the Governing Council.
PART 1
1
WAKING UP had rarely been such a pleasure. Thel opened her eyes to the brilliant Venusian sunshine and smiled. She stepped out of her bed and her toes were greeted by the warm floorboards that had been heated all morning in the sun; the balcony was open, and the white drapes were blowing gently in the morning breeze. The sun lit the emerald mountains, and the lake twinkled calmly. Thel rested her naked body against the warm palm tree that grew at a sixty-degree angle and cut through the balcony floor. Her skin had browned so much in the sun over the last six months that they were nearly the same color, giving them the illusion of being melded together.
She was going to miss the perfection of Venus.
Her mind’s eye flashed in her eyes, and she answered when she saw it was James calling. “Hello, Superman.”
“Hi there, Supergirl,” James replied. “I got the band back together!”
“Almost,” Thel pointed out.
“Almost,” James conceded. “Djanet is busy at the Council headquarters, but Rich and Old-timer are here with me,” he happily informed her.
“I’m not going to like having to put clothes on,” Thel said, donning a playful frown.
“Hey, I never said you have to. I’m sure Rich and Old-timer won’t mind...”
“Stop right there,” Thel cut him off. “I’ll throw something on. I’m just going to miss the freedom of this place, now that we’re letting the cat out of the bag.”
“I know what you mean,” James replied, as he skimmed across the surface of the Venusian ocean, flanked by Old-timer and Rich. “Listen, we’re going to be there soon, but first I want to swing by the falls to show the guys, okay?”
“Show off to the guys, you mean,” Thel teased. “Okay, flyboy. See you soon,” she said before signing off.
James smiled. She was right: He did feel as though he were showing off his new toy. He wasn’t sure if it was the right thing to reveal to the world that he had terraformed Venus; he even worried that he might be revealing its existence just so that he could get the chance to revel in his creation for an audience. He would never really be sure of his own motivations. All he knew was that he was happy to be with his friends and to be showing them the new crown jewel of the solar system.
He patched back into communication with Rich and Old-timer. “Thel’s really happy to see you guys again.”
“It’ll be nice to see her too,” Old-timer replied. “I have to admit, I can’t blame you for keeping this place to yourself for the last six months. It’s spectacular.”
“You haven’t seen anything yet,” James grinned. “Follow me!” James blasted forth into supersonic flight.
Old-timer and Rich smiled at each other after their initial astonishment and then followed suit. It had been a long time since they’d seen their former commander and friend and an even longer time since they’d seen him with such childlike enthusiasm. There had been a time, long before the events that had caused James to have to destroy the A.I., when James was always filled to the brim with youthful optimism. The slow collapse of his marriage and the pressure he had been under to terraform Venus had withered that away to nothing, and it seemed as though it might be gone forever. Rich and Old-timer were happy to see it back.
“Holy...” Rich whispered as James’s destination became apparent on the horizon. “What the hell is that?”
“It’s...my God...it is the most phenomenal thing I have ever seen,” Old-timer replied.
A massive wall of white vapor stretched from one side of the horizon to the other and stretched up to the blue sky, gleaming and a thousand times the size of the largest mountain on Earth.
“James...what are we looking at?” Old-timer asked.
James’s smile beamed as his companions caught up to him and they collectively slowed their approach. “This is my masterpiece,” he replied. “You have to see it up close. Come on,” he said excitedly as he guided his companions down until they were skimming just above the ocean’s waves. The trio flew toward the wall of white and then, just as they were about to enter, James pulled up. “Okay...hold up.”
Rich and Old-timer stopped and floated just above the ocean surface.
“What’s going on?” Rich asked.
“You’re going to love this,” James replied. “Deactivate your cocoons and shut down your minds’ eyes. I want you to fully experience this.”
All three men deactivated their magnetic fields and were suddenly overwhelmed by the roar. Rich put his hands up to his ears, while James laughed.
“I’ve never heard anything like it!” Old-timer yelled above the roar. “Is that what I think it is?”
“It’s the biggest waterfall in the known universe!” James yelled back, smiling. “It’s a canyon ten times as long and as deep as the Grand Canyon with an ocean spilling over the side! I want to take you over the edge nice and slow. Get ready for the experience of a lifetime!”
He turned and started skimming the waves once again and Rich and Old-timer followed closely behind. Old-timer’s stomach jumped as they entered the massive wall of mist generated by the falls, and the edge of the falls emerged like a dream. Rich began to look queasy, and he unconsciously reached out and grabbed James’s jacket sleeve; he held on as tight as he could as the trio reached the edge and flew down into the white abyss.
2
“Holy crap!” Rich yelled out as he held on to James’s arm for dear life and began to laugh hysterically. “This is amazing!”
James let the mist fill his lungs and clear his mind as he coasted through the beautiful whiteness, until the falls disappeared from sight. The trio flew through the whiteness until they emerged on the opposite side, turning to face the wall of mist and the still-roaring falls. Below them, the water gleamed in the bright sunshine and swirled angrily.
“Isn’t it incredible?” James asked.
“I’ve never seen anything like it,” Old-timer nodded, impressed.
“It’s...I know I should have an impressive adjective here but all I can think is...wow,” Rich added.
James smiled. “There are twelve more just like it on the planet. The mist helps reflect the sun’s rays and to keep the air currents flowing properly to cool the planet. The falls themselves generate enormous amounts of energy, which supercharges the planet’s ionosphere.”
“How is charging the ionosphere productive?” Old-timer asked.
“It’s not just productive. It’s crucial,” James replied. “When I had access to all the information in the A.I.’s mainframe, I searched for information that would be useful for terraforming. I came across an amazing discovery. A scientist who lived in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, Nikola Tesla, had discovered a way to transmit power wirelessly.”
Old-timer knitted his brow.
Rich appeared baffled. “I’m not sure I follow you.”
“No, you do. It’s just like I said,” James replied. “As amazing as it sounds, before the twentieth century had even begun, a scientist had learned how to transmit electricity without wires. The technology had been hidden from the world after his death because certain governments wanted to maintain their power by forcing the use of fossil fuels, limiting those who could access it and keeping most of the world poor for economic reasons. Eventually, the wireless electricity technology was completely forgotten—but a record of it was still in the A.I.’s database.”
“So...are you saying that Venus is...electrified?” Rich asked.
&nbs
p; James smiled and nodded. “Yes! Isn’t it incredible? Venus takes in much more solar energy than the Earth, and with the additions of these falls all over the planet’s oceans, the ionosphere is supercharged and has far more energy than its future inhabitants could ever need. You’ll never need a fusion implant on Venus.”
“That truly is incredible, Commander,” Rich replied. “It’s genius.”
James laughed, “I never would have been able to do this without the information I had access to when I was operating the A.I. mainframe.”
The trio stopped for a moment and let the spectacle of the falls sink in. James watched the power of the water as it churned so far below and couldn’t help but think of his former wife. He’d been considering naming one of the falls after her. It was so rare for a person to die these days—the art of commemorating someone’s life seemed to have been lost.
“You miss Katherine, don’t you?” a warm voice spoke.
James turned to Old-timer and smiled, surprised that his friend could read him so easily. “Yes. Of course I do.”
“What?” Old-timer asked, confused.
“I miss Katherine,” James said. Old-timer’s look of confusion didn’t subside. “Didn’t you just ask me if I missed Katherine?” James asked.
Old-timer shook his head. “No, I didn’t say a word.”
“Oh,” James smiled, embarrassed, “I guess it was...” He didn’t finish his sentence, as he turned to see that Rich had floated several meters away and out of earshot. He was staring up at the white mist as it climbed hundreds of meters into the sky. “That’s the damnedest thing,” James said.
“What happened?” Old-timer asked.
“I just...I swear someone asked me if I missed Katherine. It was as clear as a bell.”
Old-timer could see the sudden distress in his friend’s expression. It was only natural that James was having a harder time getting over the death of his former wife than he would admit to himself. It was true that James loved Thel, but he would always be haunted by the death of Katherine at the hands of the A.I. He put his arm on James’s shoulder and said, “It’s probably just the sound of the falls messing with your ears. Come on, kid. Let’s go see that woman of yours. And I could use a replicator right about now. I’m starving!”
James smiled and nodded. “Yes, of course. Let’s go.” He activated his magnetic field and contacted Rich. “Let’s move out, buddy.”
In seconds, the trio was blasting up into the sky and away from the waves, heading toward James’s Venusian hideaway.
The mystery of the voice haunted him all the way home.
3
Thel stood on the balcony of the third-floor entrance of their beautiful lakeside home and waved the three men inside as they shut down their magnetic fields and landed softly on the lush carpeting. She wore a yellow sundress and was holding a glass jug of cold lemonade. “Hello, men!” she greeted with a smile.
“Hello, woman!” Old-timer responded as he embraced her and then pulled back immediately to take in the changes in her appearance. “You’re so golden!” he commented, referring to her tan.
“I’ve had a nice vacation, as you can see,” she replied, continuing to smile. “And your flight suits are all damp from the falls. I can see he took you in for a close look.”
“Oh, sorry about that, milady,” Old-timer smiled as he stepped back from her. “And while I believe you are his pride and joy, my dear, he did take us to the falls. They were spectacular...and spectacularly wet.”
“Thel, hi,” Rich said as he eyed her drink. “It’s nice to see you. Say, that lemonade looks pretty good, and it’s awfully hot.”
“Hello to you too, Rich,” Thel replied. “I promise you can have some of this lemonade once you’ve dried your clothes. You and the boys can use the dryers in the bathroom.” She pointed toward the back of the house.
“Much obliged,” Old-timer replied with a small bow as he and Rich withdrew.
James met Thel’s eyes, and then stepped to her and kissed her. “I missed you.”
“You’ve only been gone for an hour and a half, and I was sleeping through most of it,” Thel replied, kissing him back.
“I stand by my statement of missing.”
She laughed and gently pulled herself away from him. “You’re all damp too, flyboy. I think you better join the boys in the locker room and dry off.”
“Fine,” James replied before kissing her once more. “I’d rather be with you in the locker room though.”
“Tonight,” she replied. Thel made him feel as though he were the luckiest man alive.
Old-timer and Rich were already under the air vents as James entered the white-tiled bathroom. “How do you point the vents down? I need to dry my pants,” Rich asked Old-timer, who responded by doing it for him with his mind’s eye. “Thanks,” Rich replied.
“So...what do you guys think of the place?” James asked.
“It’s paradise,” Old-timer replied. “Are you sure you want to tell everyone about this? I’m sure you could keep it a secret a little longer. Since the Council canceled plans to terraform Venus for the foreseeable future, no one is going to be looking your way.”
James smiled. “Are you thinking you and Daniella would like to put up a little villa somewhere?”
“Maybe.” Old-timer smiled back.
James laughed. “Well, you’re welcome to, but I think the longer I keep it a secret the more upset the Council is going to be with me when they find out about it. Six months is probably bad enough.”
Suddenly, James’s mind’s eye flashed open. It was an emergency call from Aldous Gibson, Chief of the Governing Council.
James sighed. “Speak of the devil.”
“What is it?” Old-timer asked.
“Chief Gibson. This should be interesting.”
“Wow. I’m not here,” Rich said before James answered.
“Keats here.”
“Commander Keats...” Gibson began before pausing; he seemed to struggle to finish his sentence, “we have an...extremely serious situation brewing. We need you here at headquarters immediately.” The most concerning part of the call was that, for Gibson to ask for James’s help, it meant that he had run out of alternatives. James patched Old-timer, Rich and Thel into the call immediately so that they could listen in.
“What’s going on?” James asked.
“Our long range sensors have picked up something—something massive. It’s headed toward Earth at an impossibly fast rate.”
An image of the mass suddenly appeared in front of James on a map of the solar system that was sent by Gibson. A dark red smudge representing the mass had just passed Neptune.
“We’ve already calculated its speed and trajectory, and we’re expecting it to reach Earth within the next eight hours.”
An instant realization struck James. “My God,” he whispered.
“We need you here, Keats. We’re formulating an emergency plan as we speak.”
“I’ll be there as soon as I can,” James replied, awestruck by the news.
“Immediately,” Gibson asserted.
“It’s going to take me a little while,” James stammered.
“Keats, did you not hear what I just said?”
“I did. It’ll still take me a little while.”
“What’s your ETA?” Gibson responded tersely.
James paused for a moment. “An hour—maybe less.”
A flabbergasted expression contorted Gibson’s features. “Where in the hell are you that it’s going to take you a whole hour to get here?”
“That’s my business. I’ll be there as soon as humanly possible,” James replied before shutting off the communication.
“James, what the hell was that thing?” Thel asked over James’s mind’s eye.
“I have no idea, but you better get your flight suit on. We’re heading for Earth.”
4
Just under an hour later, James and his three companions entered Earth’s atmospher
e, generating a glowing inferno as they did so. James had analyzed the available data a number of times as he made the journey, barely speaking to his companions as he worked his way through the possible explanations. Only one fit—and it was mortifying.
When they reached the front entrance of the Council headquarters, Djanet was there to greet them. Her face appeared stricken by worry, and she began walking with them in step as James hurried into the building. “The situation appears very bad, Commander. No one has any idea what’s going on. The anomaly doesn’t appear to make any sense...and the chief is furious with you for taking so long to get here,” she informed James, her eyes on his flight suit. It would be very difficult for James to explain himself.
“It’s okay, Djanet. That’s a minor concern right now,” he said without even looking at her as he marched toward the door of the emergency strategy room. As soon as he entered, the eyes of all of the Council members who were present, as well as the dozens of assistants and advisors, fell on him.
“Keats, just where in the hell were you?” Gibson thundered as he saw James’s flight suit. His eyes narrowed. “You better have one hell of an explanation, son.”
“I’m not your son,” James replied. “I want to know everything that you know so far, and I want to know now.”
Gibson was aghast at James’s insubordination and exhaled as though he’d been punched. “You arrogant, impudent dog! Who the hell do you think you are, Keats? Flying around in space on some kind of adventure, and then marching in here and giving orders to your superiors? I should have you thrown out!”
“But you can’t and you won’t, and we both know it. You need me, so stop wasting my time and tell me what’s going on.”
“Wasting your time? You have the nerve to—”
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