Future Reborn Box Set

by Daniel Pierce

  “And what’s that, other than tough and lucky?” Lasser asked.

  “I have—tech, in my blood. It changed my body and made me different in ways I’m still not sure I understand. In time, I will, but for now, I’m just faster and stronger than most humans, and even my thoughts are clearer than ever before. I’m better, but most of all, I’m alive, and I survived being locked in a metal tube for more years than I can imagine. I aim to find out in a few minutes when I start sifting through Silk’s drives.”

  “And you think to do this in one night?” Lasser’s tone was doubtful, but he thought I intended to sleep. I didn’t.

  “I don’t think I will. I know I will. All I need is some basic information, and then we can take the drives with us. We’re mobile because of the solar array, small as it is,” I said.

  “May I sit with you while you search? I would like to know of the world before mine,” Lasser said.

  “Of course.” I searched the skies, seeing the first stars emerge. “We were going to go there, you know. To the stars. That’s why I went into the tube. Well, that and a helluva lot of money, but the tech was supposed to make us masters of space. I don’t think we made it.”

  “If we did, we wouldn’t be here,” Mira said, her words flat with acceptance.

  “Agreed. Let’s get up to the roof. Silk should be here any minute, and I want us all to see what we find,” I said, moving to the stairs. We left the dishes behind, and if I had my way, Lasser would be leaving a lot more than his table.

  In less than a minute, I had the laptop open and running, the battery showing a partial charge. The internal power reserve would give me a whole night of searching if I used the low power setting, so I asked Natif for a jug of water and settled in to begin my work.

  “Did I miss the party?” Silk asked from the growing shadows, pulling a filthy robe off with a grateful noise.

  “Just starting. Quite the day, lots to talk about. Take a seat, Silk. Care for wine? Water?” I asked, waving at the table. It was bleached wood and surrounded by sturdy chairs. Natif had been busy, bringing supplies up for our night of diving into the past.

  “Mind if we watch over your shoulder?” Silk asked. She poured water for herself and drank deeply. Her long black curls were disheveled from the newest costume, which was an imitation of a beggar with no shoes. I liked her better without the ratty robe.

  “Sure. It might put you to sleep. No promises.” I picked the fourth drive for no reason at all other than it was closest to my hand, and in seconds, I whooped to the stars.

  Inside the drive was the world.

  “Bloggers. You gotta love ‘em,” I said, scrolling through a mass file of compiled tech, games, and culture blogs, their owners now long dead. “Nice to know people were still recording the most ordinary things even while I slept. This is what I want. This is what we want.”

  “What’s that?” Mira asked, pointing to a mass of text.

  “Tech bloggers from ten years after—after I went in the tube,” I said. It was a searchable file, so I did the only thing that I knew to start getting answers.

  Search: Marsten+Dana+Nanotechnology.

  I got two hits, dragging the first open with a rapid-fire action on the touchpad. “I found the doctor who put me under. At least, this is his name.” Sliding my eyes down the page, I felt the wind leave my chest. “Oh, shit. I think I know why I was left to rot in that tube.”

  “What does it say?” Silk asked, trying and failing to read the hovering text.

  “A fire,” I explained. “The doctor was killed along with his team in a second facility, less than three months after I went under,” I said.

  “Why didn’t anyone come for you?” Mira asked.

  The answer was simple. “No one else knew. He was operating outside the lines, on a secret budget with money that was probably being siphoned away from something like wrenches for tanks. Fucking spooks.”

  “Spooks? Like a being in the wind?” Silk asked. Apparently, there were still ghost stories, even in her world.

  “Spies. People who worked for my government but really worked for themselves. They kept secrets and ran ops that would curdle your blood if you knew the truth about it.” My laugh was bitter as I rubbed at my arm, feeling the hard muscle there. My blood did curdle, just not in the usual way.

  “So you were forgotten,” Mira said. She sounded sad, but my grin lightened her expression. I wasn’t sour about my situation. I had too much to do, and wasting time on what could have been was a luxury I didn’t have, not with Taksa and Senet on their way to the circle forest.

  “I guess I was.” I kept reading then added a second search. “Where did the Harlings say those ruins were?” I asked Mira.

  “Alatus, or at least nearby,” came her answer.

  “Okay, that’s something.” I typed, and the second search floated on the screen like a curse.

  Search: Alatus+Nanotechnology+US Armed Forces.

  One hit came back from a source that made me smile stupidly. “God bless conspiracy theorists,” I muttered, hitting the file with a genuine laugh. They were just usually batshit crazy, but once in a while, they hit the same mark I was hoping this particular paranoid blogger knew what she was talking about. “Let’s see what BilderGirl337 has to say about—holy shit. It’s not Alatus. It’s Altus Air Force Base.”

  “A base? For what kind of people?” Lasser asked. The name meant nothing to him since he had no context, but my reaction made everyone sit up and take notice.

  “Air Force. One of the armed forces of my country, the United States. There was a base to the south, which explains a lot as to why there’s tech to be found in that direction. Must be a smaller site, since the ruins are so far to the east,” I said.

  “What kind of Hightec did this Air Force use?” Silk asked.

  “Aircraft. Flying things made of steel that could go faster than anything on earth, along with missiles, bombs, and space technology. The stuff of fantasy—or nightmares, even back then. Figures they would be the ones to push for a program that could let us sleep our way to the stars,” I said. My words made me think of how much we lost, and the weight of it was stifling.

  “You were a soldier, right?” Lasser asked.

  “A Marine. A different kind of soldier, but that’s who I was. I learned computers too, but in my heart, I’ll always be a Marine. That’s why this decision is so easy,” I said, moving the cursor around to read more of the file.

  “What decision?” Silk asked.

  “To stay and get rid of people like Wetterick. To try to build something where it looks like everyone is just hanging on. Which brings me to my next search. I have my answer, sort of, and it’s time to get yours,” I said, typing in the next question.

  Search: Virus+End of the world.

  The answer was right there, and it was the last thing I wanted to see. Since waking up, I’d been thinking about the animals, the life forms—all of it. How did life as I knew end in one way and explode in another? What project went south so hard that it ended up destroying the planet but still managed to leave behind a legacy of things like three-meter-tall ogres, desert crocodiles, and things that scuttled in the shadows, feeding only at night?

  Once again, I had my conspiracy theorists to thank, but as I read file after file, the news became mainstream. It broke out into the open, the governments unable to keep a lid on the horror show that was breaking free in cities across the globe.

  “It started on 19 July 2033,” I said. Everyone was quiet, leaving me to read. Even Natif, a wiggly boy, was still, sensing this was important. “The virus appeared as an outbreak of the flu in three places, but no one died. People got sick, but they got better, so they were allowed to travel.” I shook my head, thinking of the best way to spread a bioweapon. Make people sick, then make them think they were better, then turn them loose to infect the wider population. A two-stage organism, probably engineered with a slow burn rate to make sure everyone got real cozy before the hammer fell.r />
  And fall it did. “St. Louis went first, followed by Hong Kong, Durban, then South Africa. I bet if we had the time, we could trace a single carrier or an aircraft that took freight between those three cities. Once it was in Asia, that was the end, even if nobody knew.”

  “Where is...Durban?” Mira asked. “We have maps of the world, but still—is that an old empire?”

  “It’s on the tip of Africa. It’s—I mean, it was a beautiful city, on the ocean.” I tapped my chin, reading more. “Hmm...on the ocean. And Hong Kong is an island, which leaves St. Louis, which was as midwestern as you could possibly get. Totally landlocked, and not close to any body of water except the Mississippi.”

  “You mean the Atchala? The big river to the east?” Mira asked, pointing vaguely over the horizon.

  “That’s what it’s called now? Huh. Okay, yeah, that’s the river. Biggest on the continent, among the biggest in the world.” I shook my head, clearing it of the rabbit hole I was starting to go down. I didn’t need all the answers, just some. We had a working laptop, power, and enough drives to keep me reading for a decade. The only missing piece was Silk, so I turned to her and made my pitch.

  “I asked Lasser, and I’m asking you. Would you ever leave the post?” I stared at her, watching for any kind of reaction at all, but her dark green eyes revealed nothing except mild interest.

  “Go on,” she said.

  I sketched out a plan of sorts, leaving out the parts where I was going to kill Senet with my bare hands and turn her brother into a punching bag. That kind of information would come later. The important part was securing people who knew how the world should work instead of how this husk of a country functioned.

  When I finished, her gaze was cool and level, flicking to Mira before settling on me. “Is Lasser going?”

  Lasser began to answer, but Silk waved him silent. “I’m asking you, Jack. Is Lasser going with you?”

  I didn’t look away from Silk but merely answered, “Yes. And Natif.” The boy made a small noise of excitement, but Lasser just smiled.

  “Do you know why I needed to know?” Silk asked.

  “I’m sure you’ll tell me,” I replied as the stars brightened overhead. Full night was on, the breeze dropping away to a silent whisper.

  “I’ve been a leader in my house, and I won’t follow someone who is weak. If you’re leading, then I’ll follow. There are—details to work out, but those will happen naturally,” she said, letting her eyes roam over Mira. It wasn’t the glance of a sister, but it wasn’t a rival either. It was someone making a hard decision in a world where life and death were separated by a thin margin.

  Silk leaned back in her chair, our business concluded. “I’ll tell the Hannahs tonight and pack. There are conditions, but my answer is yes.”

  “The Hannahs? You have more than one Hannah?” I asked.

  “It was a popular name among the street girls some years ago. We found a working book reader, charged it, and the girls read about Hannah and liked her. Seems she had a habit of making money from men.” Silk shrugged, smiling. “So we have a few Hannahs around, and two of them are my trusted seconds. They’ll care for the house, but I know what this trip really is.”

  “What is it?” I asked her.

  “A new start. I won’t come back here ever again, I think. Neither will Lasser. We’ve made our decision, and Mira made hers the minute she fought alongside you.” She fixed Mira with her eyes, but there was no anger there. Only curiosity.

  “Stop,” I said. “This isn’t your decision. It’s mine.”

  “How do you figure?” Silk asked. Mira said nothing.

  “Because I’m the one who gets to decide what happens next. I won’t have it any other way,” I said. There was iron in my voice, but it was easier to make my stance clear before we went on the road to fight an unknown enemy.

  Mira grumbled a sigh. “This will take some getting used to.”

  Lasser lifted his eyes to the stars. “I will concede to you, Jack, though I may hate it. I’ll be ready to go at dawn. For now, we’ve got things to do. Natif?” They both smiled, rising to leave, but not before Lasser put a hand on my shoulder, grinning down at me. “Don’t expect me to join you in bed, friend. I’ll follow you, but you must promise to find me a nice woman in the desert.”

  I lifted my hand, making a mock oath. “I swear it.”

  “Well enough, friend. See you at first light,” Lasser said. He and Natif vanished, mumbling to themselves about gear and money and guards. I knew they would be ready, and knew I had chosen well.

  “I have something to do too.” Mira drained her cup then touched my face. There was sadness in her eyes. “After our last trip out, Bel and I—we hid some things. I’m going to go get them.”

  “A stash?” I asked. I knew she was smart, but this was the kind of thing that could save us in a pinch.

  “Just outside the walls. It’s easy to get to, and we need every little bit of help we can get if we’re going to be out in the Empty for the long haul,” Mira said.

  “Be careful. See you back here?” It was less a question than an order. I needed her just as she needed me. Mira was a steady gun. We would guard each other during whatever came next.

  “I will.” She focused on Silk, her expression unreadable. “If you’re coming with us, make it count.” With that, she stalked off into the night, her feet nearly silent on the roof.

  “I have a theory about the virus,” Silk said. Her eyes were bright and intelligent. She’d been thinking about what to say for some time, I could tell.

  “And?”

  “It’s complicated, and we have a long road south. We can discuss it on the way,” she said, standing. She was tall and lithe, soft in places that made me glad to be a man, her hands landing on my chest like butterflies, her fingertips dragging down my muscles with agonizing slowness. “Let’s go to my place. I have to give away my fortune and get dressed for battle.”

  “You have clothes for war?” I asked her. Even to my own ears, I sounded doubtful.

  She looked down at her body then smiled. “Everything I own is made for war. It just depends on how you want to fight.”

  23

  Silk pulled at a small ring in the floor, lifting a trap door with ease. She was stronger than she looked, long and lean with muscle despite all of her curves.

  In seconds, she lifted three bags out of the murk, the first being a backpack of handmade fabric over a bright aluminum frame. The pack was cut to fit a woman of her build, custom and ready for hard use. It was filled, but not too heavy when she handed it up to me. She was prepared for a fast exit, and I gave her an appreciative nod for her foresight.

  The second bag wasn’t a bag at all, but a bundle of high-quality armor. Greaves, fingerless gloves, wrists bracers, and a combo chest and shoulder piece made of stiff, interlocking hide topped by a headband and visor combo, the reflective glass nearly blue in the low light.

  At my raised brow, she muttered, “Magnifies by ten at the top, clear at the bottom. Good for seeing them before they see me.”

  “What’s the third bag?” I asked. It was small but heavy, and the movement within revealed that at least part of it was coins.

  “Coins. Medical. Spare Hightec that I’ve never seen before, and ammo for this,” she said, brandishing a .45 in flawless condition. “I don’t like giving anything a second chance.”

  “No shit.” I marveled at the .45 and its luster. She tucked it back in the oilcloth and heaved the door shut, closing it with a pronounced thump. I knew she was saying goodbye to part of her past, and bringing some of it with her.

  “My rooms next, and then we tell the Hannahs. They’ll be busy until the rush dies down,” Silk said, cocking an ear to listen for sounds of commerce. I heard a laugh, some music, and the squeal of a woman that dissolved into giggles. The House of Silk was in full swing, with no knowledge of our presence in the back storeroom. She nodded to a dim stairwell. “Up this way. I don’t want to be seen on t
he floor. Best if you avoid it too.”

  In seconds, she opened a door with a key from around her neck, the lock falling inward with a mechanical snick.

  “This is where I became Lady Silk,” she said, waving me in.

  It was not what I expected.

  The floors were bare wood except for small rugs in front of her bed, a mirror, and outside the door was an actual, working bathroom. I saw the legs of a tub, a sink, and small lamps at regular intervals, already lit, casting a muted yellow glow throughout the room. To the left was a second smaller room with a desk and three chairs, clearly the place where she did the actual business of running an espionage ring masquerading as a brothel.

  The only thing that seemed personal was a small, weathered map printed on heavy paper. The lines on it were drawn by hand, the ink faded to sepia but still readable.

  “What’s that?” I asked, leaning close to examine the document. Silk came over quickly, placing a hesitant hand on the corner before removing the map and rolling it up with reverent motions.

  “It’s...it’s where my parents vanished. I think,” she said, her eyes hooded with grief.

  I turned to her, and she seemed smaller and very close. “What did you do before all this?”

  It only took her a second to decide. She might trade in lies, but she was leaving with me. The truth was a better decision, starting with her own past. She sat on the edge of her bed, leaning her head to the right. I followed her lead and sat down, waiting for her to reveal the truth behind a woman who carved a small empire out of nothing but sand and danger.

  “For the first sixteen years of my life, I lived as a scavenger with my parents. I know what it means to be hungry. Tired. To run so far and fast you think your lungs will burst, and even then, you can’t stop because something from a nightmare is chasing you across the dunes because you crossed its path. That was my life. Terror. Hunger. Thirst. Sometimes, we found things. Usually, we didn’t, but my parents did well enough to keep us alive. What they couldn’t change was the danger,” she said.