by Bianca D’Arc
“Listen up, guys. I wish I had better news but Caleb sent a warning through Harry last night and Justin went out into the woods at first light. Grady Prime is gone.”
“Gone?” Dave felt a shiver go down his spine at the news. “He’s sure?”
“He’s sure. Grady had a ship stashed nearby. It was well hidden, but Justin found it. It’s gone and all traces of Grady’s camp sites have been erased.”
“So he went back home to the city then?” Mike asked.
“Harry checked every which way he knew how to check, including hacking into Alvian military computers. Grady’s still off the grid. Coupled with Caleb’s visions of danger, I think you need to stay on your toes.”
“Son of a bitch!” Dave was both pissed off and worried. Not a comfortable combination.
“Justin has no idea how Grady knew Jaci left or how he could have any idea where she went, but Grady’s always been spooky. Justin wants you to be careful. Don’t set foot outside the cave entrance until we know where Grady is.”
“No shit,” Mike grumbled. “We’ve got a lot to explore in here. We won’t go out, but we’ll need to watch the entrance. We’ll need to find out if there’s more than one entrance.”
“There have got to be schematics of this place somewhere.” Dave tried to stay calm but it was tempting to curse a blue streak at this upsetting news. “We’ll look for those first thing and secure the entrances as best we can from the inside.”
“Good idea. I’ll be in touch as soon as we have any news for you. Stay sharp.”
“Thanks for the warning, Mick. Your family has gone above and beyond for us in so many ways…” Dave couldn’t finish the thought as emotion welled up.
“Don’t mention it.” Mick’s tone held understanding and compassion. “We’re all in this together, Dave. Humans have got to stick together and help each other when we can if we’re going to survive.”
“Amen, brother.” Mike’s respectful words summed up Dave’s feelings as well.
Bill was the one who actually found the schematics for the facility. The man was a cunning scout and even though he didn’t know human tech as well as the cousins, he was a fast learner. Bill led them to what proved to be the nerve center for the entire facility. Inside were a series of manuals on every system in the place as well as the core of the giant computer that was in a low-power mode, maintaining bare minimums in the place in preparation for a new shift of inhabitants that hadn’t shown up for decades.
With any luck, the computer would let them take up where the last residents of this place had left off, but Mike knew military computers could be fickle. Still, he decided to give this one a try. With a silent Hail Mary, he switched it on.
“Welcome.” The somewhat androgynous voice sounded from small speakers built into the walls. Mike hadn’t expected a voice interface, but then, this whole facility was unexpected.
“Thank you,” Mike responded, unsure of what to say as he looked over at his cousin.
“You’re late,” the computer voice scolded, surprising him. “Last shift change was incomplete, so I scanned news databases and learned of the bombardment from space. I followed the news until it stopped being broadcast. Can you tell me what has happened since then?”
Mike sat back in his chair, astounded.
“Artificial intelligence?” Dave asked telepathically.
“A really advanced form, I’m guessing. We’ll have to tread lightly here.”
“You’re the master where computers are concerned, Mike. Go for it.”
“The bombardment from space was the precursor to an alien invasion. Most humans perished, but some of us lived on in the more desolate areas of the earth. The aliens built cities and engineering facilities. They took some humans captive, but a few of the aliens have begun to help us escape. My cousin and I are escapees from the nearest alien city. Our wife is an alien and she helped us, as did her friend here.”
“I scanned your presence and noted the differences between your physiologies. They are not major, but enough so that I will be able to tell aliens from humans in the future.” The computer continued to amaze. “Why did you come here and why did you reactivate me?”
“We intended to live here, if you permit it. This is one of the few places we can be free from detection by the aliens. To be honest, I thought I was turning on a regular computer. I didn’t realize you were an AI.”
“My name is BURTIN. Basic Underground Resident Type 1 Intelligence Net. I was designed to run this facility. Apocalyptic scenarios were programmed but I don’t think anyone expected it to occur, or they would have been here when it happened.”
“So you were alone during the bombardment?”
“Powered down, awaiting a new crew,” the machine confirmed. “There were some budgetary changes.”
Mike well remembered the way governments used to work and the bureaucracy involved. In many ways, they were better off without all that, but then, governments had brought order and accomplished great things when all their people worked together.
“Would you allow us to live here, BURTIN?” Mike asked outright. It paid to be clear with computers. Perhaps AI powered computer brains would be just as straightforward.
“Yes. One of my primary missions is the continuation and protection of the human race.”
“What about our alien friends?” Dave asked, speaking for the first time.
The computer seemed to think before answering. “Your DNA has shared traits. I would like further analysis, but I think sheltering them would not be incompatible with my mission. They are very close to human.”
That was news to the cousins, but it sounded promising.
“Our wife may be able to assist with your analysis. She was a genetic tech in the alien city before she escaped.” Mike held out one hand for Jaci, noting her pale features.
“That would be agreeable,” the computer responded.
“I’m Mike, this is my cousin, Dave, and this is our mate, Jaci and her friend, Bill. We’re all pleased to make your acquaintance, BURTIN.” It couldn’t hurt to be polite, Mike reasoned.
“And to meet you, Mike, Dave, Jaci and Bill.” Mike was right. The computer was very polite indeed.
“We may need your help, BURTIN.” Dave stepped up, holding a large drawing of the facility in his hands as he scowled at it. “There are alien soldiers—one in particular—who may try to seek entrance to this facility in order to apprehend us. We’d like to secure the facility so that nobody can gain admittance without our knowledge and approval. Is that possible?”
“It is one of my primary functions,” the computer replied. “I monitor the locks on all ingress and egress points. All are in good working order and secure at this time. I have a log of entries and exits that occurred while I was powered down that you can examine.”
“That’s great.” Mike was impressed with the capacity of this amazing computer brain. “Can you give us active alerts if someone tries to enter?”
“Affirmative. Voice alerts are now active.”
“This is going to be easier than I thought,” Mike sent the words silently to his cousin.
“Let’s not count our chickens before they’re hatched.” Dave, as usual, was the voice of caution.
Mike spent an hour or more talking to the computer before they realized the computer could “follow” them anywhere they went in the facility. There were speakers and pickups throughout the complex so the voice interface could be accessed from just about any location.
BURTIN led them to the hot springs that were the source of the facility’s hot water. He also explained how the temperature was held steady by a geothermal heating system. Electricity was generated underground by a clever combination of hidden wind tunnels equipped with turbines that rotated when the wind whipped through the specially designed channels in the rocks near the top of the mountain. As power was generated, it was stored for future use in a series of batteries that were maintained by a fleet of specially designed robotic careta
kers directed by one of BURTIN’s many subsystems. It was ingenious. Renewable, clean, sustainable, and totally self-contained.
Air was purified through charcoal filtration units in the upper chambers and piped in through the tunnels, and there was a vast underground lake that supplied fresh, cold water for many different areas of the complex. The lake was one of the few places where BURTIN’s speakers couldn’t reach, so they explored it on their own, without their computer guide. They had flashlights from the facility’s store room and a big hand-held spotlight that had been left in a water-tight locker near the edge of the lake. Dave shone the spotlight across the black surface of the lake, but they couldn’t see the farthest edge. The cavern was enormous.
“The rock is different here,” Bill noted, drawing their attention.
“Limestone,” Dave said, taking a close look at the wet walls. “It’s really porous. Rainwater must drip in here constantly, purified by its journey through the rock. Brilliant, really, to use this water for the place. It’s pure and cold and as long as it rains up top, it’ll never run out.”
Bill took off his shirt and spread his wings. It was the first time the cousins had actually seen his wings and Mike marveled at both the wingspan and thickness of those feathery appendages. It was one of the strangest things he’d ever seen. It also reminded him eerily of descriptions of angels he’d heard in his youth.
“If that don’t beat all.” Dave’s words came directly to Mike’s mind. “Any human sees him, they’ll think we’ve got a divine messenger on our hands. Dude looks like an angel right out of the Bible.”
“I was just thinking the same thing.”
“You remember what Caleb O’Hara wrote, don’t you?”
“You mean the bit about the angel in disguise?”
“I believe his words were something like, ‘a blond giant named for Hickok, who’s an angel in disguise.’ I think that fits our boy, don’t you?”
“No shit. They call him Wild Bill. And he’s supposed to lead the resistance?”
“Caleb called him the ‘father of the revolution’.”
“I wonder if he has any idea.” Mike looked at the giant alien and his equally alien wings. Wings, for cripes sake!
“I don’t think he has a clue. The man is still coming to terms with his past. He’s got a boatload of guilt in him and still needs to integrate a lot of emotion. He’s probably been in denial since the emotions started kicking in.”
“Funny how he wound up here, with a mind healer ready and able to help him.” Mike shot his cousin a knowing look.
“I’ve never believed in coincidences.”
While the cousins conjectured silently, Bill took one of the high-powered flashlights and stepped to the water’s edge. “I want to see how far across it is and how high this cavern goes.”
“Be careful,” Jaci warned him. “There may be obstacles in the darkness. Don’t run into anything. And there could also be creatures in the water.”
“Yeah,” Dave agreed. “The Loch Ness Monster could be waiting below for a giant bird to fly across so he can eat you.”
Mike laughed but the two Alvians had apparently never heard of Nessie. He’d have to enlighten them sometime, but Bill took to the air a second later and their attention was diverted by the amazing sight of a man with wings, flying across the mirror surface of a black lake.
They followed his progress with the spotlight, but soon all they could see was the pinpoint of Bill’s flashlight in the distance. Jaci sidled over to Mike and took his hand, fearing for her friend. He tried to reassure her, bending to give her a kiss to take her mind off Bill’s solo flight into the unknown.
Much to his surprise, the light level suddenly increased. Mike looked up to see flecks of crystal embedded in the walls, glowing as he kissed his resonance mate.
“Hot damn.” Dave glanced around. “Kiss her again, Mike. I can just make out Bill in the distance. If we can get more light out of the crystals, we might be able to see the far walls of the cavern.”
Mike didn’t need any more encouragement. He pulled Jaci into his arms and laid one on her. The light level jumped again as he deepened the embrace.
“That’s handy.” Mike came up for air, looking around at the lit chamber. “We’ll need to keep you around so we can see where we’re going.”
Jaci pushed at him, laughing. “It’s the resonance.” She glanced around in wonder. “The small remnants of crystal here respond to the resonance of our embrace. I’ve never seen the like before, except in news reports of Davin’s interactions with his mate before the High Council.”
“We’ve seen it first hand.” Dave took her other hand. “Callie and her mates can light up a room with just a touch. As can we, apparently.” Dave nodded to the glowing walls. “There’s not a lot of crystal here. I bet if we find larger deposits, we’ll be able to achieve daylight down here.”
They put their theory to the test when they found a small crystal-studded hot spring cavern back near the main entrance to the complex, just outside the fortified doors. They’d debated before leaving the comparative safety of the blast doors that sealed the tunnel entrance to the complex, but the men wanted to explore the outside tunnels a little farther. As long as they didn’t actually go outside the cave network, they reasoned, it should be reasonably safe with good ol’ Burt on guard.
When BURTIN mentioned this spot, he’d assured them the spring that fed this small pool wasn’t hooked into the water supply. He’d also said the former inhabitants of the facility used the small grotto for recreation—bathing and soaking in the revitalizing mineral water.
After a long day of exploring, that sounded like just the thing. Jaci, Mike and Dave left Bill behind on watch with the computer and took off for some splash therapy in the hot spring. They frolicked there for an hour before heading back into the safety of the blast doors, welcomed by BURTIN who was monitoring everything in the facility on a heightened basis.
The trio made love long into the night and rose the next day for another round of discovery in their new home. They couldn’t perceive day or night while underground, of course, but BURTIN kept the clocks working and on the second day they discovered the true extent of BURTIN’s very advanced and well-camouflaged security system. It came complete with cameras that kept track of what went on above ground. A monitoring station with multiple camera angles covered miles of territory all around the complex, though there were a few blind spots where cameras had malfunctioned over time.
“Why didn’t we see the cameras?” Dave asked as they monitored the landscape above, marveling at the views.
“Most of the cameras were made to look like rocks,” BURTIN answered in his androgynous voice. “A few have become irreparably damaged over the years. I have small robots I dispatch to perform routine maintenance on the systems and was programmed to run diagnostics once every year even while powered down. Some of the cameras look like tree limbs or sticks, but all are very small and well hidden so as to avoid detection.”
“No kidding,” Dave agreed with the machine as he leaned in to look at another row of monitors. “What’s this?”
“Heat sensor,” BURTIN replied. “There are also motion, radiation and infrared detectors.”
“Amazing.” Dave flicked a few switches, bringing up different views. Mike had to bite back a laugh at his cousin’s interest. In the old world, Dave had left all the tech stuff up to Mike. Now it seemed he couldn’t get enough. How things had changed.
“What’s this?” Jaci pointed to a monitor that showed a long, empty room with strange equipment inside. “This is an interior view, isn’t it?”
“Yes,” BURTIN agreed. “This is the hydroponics sector. There were plans to use the water from the cavern you saw yesterday to grow crops hydroponically. All the equipment is there and ready for use, but the last inhabitants never stocked any seeds. There were—”
“—budget cuts,” Mike finished for the computer. “Right?”
“Yes, Mike,” BURTIN
replied. “But there are many ration packs here. Some of the stored food might still be fit for consumption.”
“We brought supplies,” Dave said. “And we may even be able to get seeds if that hydroponics setup is still viable.”
“It is indeed viable,” the computer replied.
“That could come in very handy,” Dave said, looking to Mike for agreement. If their little community grew, it would indeed be useful to be able to grow some of their own food.
“Let’s think about setting up a small test run for now,” Mike said. “Maybe the O’Haras can give us some pointers and seeds to get started.”
“Which reminds me,” Dave turned back to the monitors, flicking through the channels until he found the view of the main entrance to the tunnels. “Burt, we are expecting a friend to join us here today or tomorrow. He’s coming over land and will probably have a horse or mule. Maybe two. His name is Sam and he’s human. Could you let us know if you spot anyone?”
“Yes, Dave. I will alert you to approach by any humanoids or machines within my active scanning area. That’s what my former commanders elected. Will that suit you as well?”
“Definitely,” Dave agreed with a huge smile. “It’s a pleasure to work with you, Burt. Thanks.”
“You’re welcome, Dave.”
Oh yes, their computer friend was very polite.
A few hours later, BURTIN alerted them to an approaching visitor. They all crowded around the monitors until they recognized Sam’s stealthy approach.
“I’ll go out and meet him,” Bill volunteered.
Bill brought Sam and two pack mules through the main entrance a few minutes later. Sam seemed glad to see them all and wasn’t very surprised to meet Dave and Mike. The O’Haras had warned him that their arrival was a possibility.
“Damned if I know what we’re going to do with the mules,” Dave mused as the cousins stood back and watched the reunion of Sam with his two friends.
