Future Reborn Box Set

by Daniel Pierce

  “I am the weapon today. My ‘bots were installed the right way, and I’ve had two thousand years to let them get used to my body. Now I’m going to push them hard and see just what they can do in real combat. Help me with that small box and grab those pliers. I’ve got an idea for a greeting party. We don’t have a lot of time, but I’ve got an idea,” I said.

  “Does it involve building a fence?” she asked.

  I smiled in the dark as we went back up top. “Not at all. We want our friends to visit the garden. It’s a great place to hang around.”

  31

  “We used these for game, but never for a person. Your people did this? Killed humans in this way?” Mira asked.

  I thought of history and what humans had been doing to each other since the dawn of time. I nodded, twisting a wire loop with my fingers. We were setting snares that used saplings and limbs on the larger trees, covering each with rocks from the paths. Even to my eye, the snares were almost invisible. To someone—or something charging at us with bad intent—they would be an unpleasant end to their day.

  Silk came running up to us, pointing into the distance. “Dust. Not a lot, but too much to be an animal. You see it?”

  I did. Narrowing my eyes, I felt them focus like lenses. A new trick, I thought, waiting a second for the image to clear. Three figures were coming toward us, with no gun in sight.

  “Three people—one kid and two adults, but one of the adults is—” I started, then blinked repeatedly. “Naked? Or almost naked?”

  “Out here? Not a fighter or scavenger, then. We’re not that stupid,” Mira said.

  The people sharpened after a moment of travel, and I waved that we should lower our weapons. “It’s Lasser. And Natif,” I said slowly, trying to make sense of the third figure, red with sun and shambling in between them. “Might be an ogre?”

  “No fur, but tall enough,” Silk said, hand held up to block the sun.

  Just then, Lasser waved, and even over the distance between us, I could sense the exhaustion in his gesture. The Empty was hard, and he traveled with a kid and someone who didn’t have enough sense to wear protective clothing.

  “Let’s take them water,” I said, scooping up our skins and moving away from the garden. The relief on Lasser’s face was a physical thing, and Natif cheered as we made our way to their little caravan of three lonely souls.

  I drew up short when the tall man collapsed between Natif and Lasser, going down with a howl of pain and anger. Mira and Silk had their guns drawn, but I could see we wouldn’t need them. The man was dying, and it wasn’t entirely due to the Empty.

  “What happened?” I asked, lowering to the sand and tipping the waterskin into the man’s mouth, He was tall, skinny from hunger, and his skin was a map of horrible abuse, the whip marks scarring him from end to end. Some were open wounds, the edges angry red, swollen, and radiating a fevered heat that told me he had little time. His eyes were glassy, dark, and his head was shaved to reveal a long skull with vicious marks of torture. “Did you escape the Black Room?” I asked while Lasser and Natif drank gratefully from other skins.

  At first, I thought the man would vomit from drinking, but after long swallows, he grew still, opening his eyes wide enough to regard me with open curiosity.

  “You are the Traveler,” he croaked.

  “I am,” I admitted. There was no harm in telling the truth to this stranger. He was not long for the world, even if I had been a doctor with modern equipment. His body was ravaged by abuse and weather. I was stunned he could speak.

  “Where did you find him?” I asked Lasser, who was wiping his lips with gusto. He looked good considering the journey, and Natif seemed none the worse for the wear, being a tough, resourceful little kid.

  “He found us just before Alatus. Chased us down, waving his arms and screaming. He was completely sunsick and naked. We put the pants on him, but he tore the legs off struggling and never would put on shoes. He’s been howling about his master ever since. He’s telling the truth, Jack. You’ve got two days until the Black Room and all that comes with it gets here, according to our position. We went as fast as possible from Alataus to here, just to get ahead of them and buy some time,” Lasser said. His long hands shook as he took another drink, but his eyes were clear.

  “Taksa and Senet are your—what, exactly?” I asked the man, who I figured to be a slave, although why they sent him out as a messenger in such appalling shape, I had no idea. The point of a messenger was to deliver a message. This man had been abused to the point of death. That meant Taksa and Senet had poor impulse control and little regard for human life, a combination that meant they could no longer live in my world.

  The man’s face went blank as he began to deliver his message in a flat rush. Even wounded, sunburned, and alone, the fear of Taksa was evident on his face.

  “My master is coming. He commands you to turn over all of the singing blood to him or face the Black Room. If you do this, he promises you a half-life under the yoke, instead of death at the hands of Lady Senet,” the man said in his rusty deadpan.

  “Singing blood?” I asked.

  “The cause of life. The power of gods. It is in the holy places, and my masters will have it all, as they are gods themselves. We are tested under them, for they are generous, but we are weak. Some of us die. Some go mad. A few of us survive, but we are imperfect, unlike my masters. They are the sky stuff, made from the light of a power so old none can even dare to know it,” the slave said.

  “Well, I know it. It’s not that big a deal, when you—”

  “You lie,” the slave growled, his teeth bared in a line of hate.

  I put a hand on his forehead, and he flinched as if stung. “I do not, and you know it. Look at my face. Do you see how I speak? What is your name? Does your master give you a name?”

  He looked around, seeing no hand raised to him, so he answered. “Carrier,” he said.

  “Because you carry messages?” I asked, feeling the rage building inside me. This was a person reduced to the name of a job, and he was dying in front of me. I stowed my anger and tried to put a neutral look on my face to keep him talking, although his eyes were drooping, and he began to shake with chills. The end was close.

  “Yes. We all—they take us from the places they find, and then we are broken. Not all of us live,” Carrier said.

  “How long did they have you?” I asked him. Mira lifted his head, giving him more water. Lasser, Natif, and Silk stared in horror at his body. It was an abuse of everything it meant to be a human.

  “Since last year, I think. I don’t know. I had one injection of the singing blood, then woke up in the Black Room. We were in a different place, and I don’t know how long I slept. We have been moving east since then, beyond Kassos and sweeping south.” He looked at me with eyes that were going glassy. Somewhere in that gaze was the man he had once been. “Kill me. Please.”

  “You’re dying,” I told him.

  He gave a small nod. “Finally.”

  “Do you have a family?” I asked him.

  “Dead—all dead in the Black Room. She took us all. She...does things. You can’t imagine—” He died, his breath leaving him in a slow hiss, and his body going still.

  I stared at him for some time before speaking. “How long have we got?”

  “Two days, which is a lot more than I thought,” Mira said.

  Lasser and Natif shook their heads in agreement, but it was Lasser who confirmed the estimate. “The Black Room moves slowly, but I think that’s by design,” he said.

  “To let fear build ahead of the column?” I asked.

  “Yes. Fear, terror, and a lack of hope. Taksa will send word, asking for sacrifices. If the village gives him what he wants, he might keep moving without tearing the place apart. He’s been doing it for years, but I never knew what singing blood was until now. It’s Hightec?” Lasser asked.

  “It’s what makes me the man to kill these fucks and use the Black Room for kindling,” I s
aid, looking at Carrier’s body. “Millions of tiny machines in my blood. They change a person into something else, but not like the ogres. I’m not even sure what the ‘bots can do for me, and I won’t learn until I try them out.

  “Taksa and Senet have been playing with technology they don’t understand. I know this because I was a Marine and a computer expert, and even I don’t fully understand what happened to me. But if would-be gods can find the nanobots intact, then it seems sensible that there’s data around for me to read. We have access to Silk’s drives and the facilities where the ‘bots were injected. We can’t manufacture things—not yet, maybe not ever—but with so few people, understanding the technology will let us use it safely.”

  “You mean to make other people like you?” Lasser asked in alarm.

  “Maybe. If I find a way to administer the treatments safely, why not? I’m going to live a long, healthy life thanks to the ‘bots. I’ll need good people at my side,” I said.

  “A long life if you can stop Taksa,” Natif said quietly.

  “True enough, but I’m not some scared villager who believes their cult bullshit. I see them for what they are, and I know what we have to do,” I said with conviction.

  “You started with traps?” Lasser asked, his keen eyes taking in our equipment. He knew things. He would be a good person to have on the ground floor of whatever it was we built.

  “Snares, but scaled up,” I told him.

  “What will you do with the slaves?” Lasser asked. I sensed something hanging in the balance of his question, then realized it was nothing less than his loyalty.

  “Try not to hurt them, if I can. I want Taksa and Senet. I want them as examples, and if I have to put their heads on poles to signal that the southern reaches of the Empty are free, so be it. How many soldiers are with them?” I asked.

  “Few, if any. They run a caravan of fear, with the slaves paralyzed by the presence of the Black Room,” Lasser said.

  “I saw the slaves,” Natif said. We all turned to listen, and he blushed, not used to being the center of attention. “There were many dozens, some in chains, and some hooked to the wagons. There are two guards with guns and swords. The biggest men I’ve ever seen,” he added in an awestruck voice.

  “A rifle can even those odds real quick,” Mira said.

  “Then do it as soon as you have a clear shot when they arrive. We take guards first, leave the slaves, and let me handle Taksa,” I said.

  “What do we do about Senet?” Mira asked.

  “If she’s in the Black Room, nothing until she shows her face. Then, I’ll take her alive. I have questions, and I think she’s the brains of the outfit. I get the impression Taksa is all hat, no cattle,” I said.

  “What’s that mean?” Natif asked.

  “He’s only for show. He’s like Wetterick in a way. Vicious and cruel, but not really in charge. Some people are just bullies. They don’t have much to say after they get punched in the face a few times. I’m counting on his cowardice, and I think that Senet will, with proper encouragement, be a fountain of information we need,” I said with a grim smile.

  “Where will you question her? In the garden?” Silk asked.

  “The Black Room. I think she’ll be real chatty once we give her a taste of her own medicine,” I said.

  “Fitting. I’d like to be present when that happens,” Lasser said.

  “You don’t strike me as the kind of man who likes the rough stuff,” I told him.

  “Oh, I’m not. But Senet and Taksa aren’t just murderers. They’re thieves. I have questions about some rumored hiding places in the Empty. Places where there are caches of Hightec, goods, and even an underground river that could help build a city. I’ve listened through the years, and all of the stories end at Taksa and Senet,” Lasser said, his lips in a set line, determined and curled upward at the corners. He wanted answers. I would get him answers.

  “I like the way you’re thinking,” I told him. “We’ve got two days, and I’ve got a few ideas, but most of this is going to come down to their pride and me.”

  “Pride?” Silk asked.

  I nodded slowly, thinking through the obvious. “Taksa and Senet are vulnerable because they’re proud. We can exploit that to free their slaves, taking them out all in one action.”

  Mira and Silk both looked at me expectantly. Mira spoke first, her voice simmering with anger. “Tell us what to do.”

  32

  “That’s good enough for snares,” I said to my assembled crew. We were under the trees, near one of the springs that chugged away, filling the inner ring channel before it was carried away.

  “What’s next?” Lasser asked. He was a man used to order, and it showed with how he approached things.

  “This is the part of the prep that gets dangerous, because I have to ask Natif for a favor,” I said.

  “You do?” Natif squeaked. His eyes went round while we all looked at him.

  “How old are you?” I asked.

  Lasser spoke up, putting a kind hand on Natif’s arm, but he had a pained expression. “Twelve or so.” He offered no further explanation, and I didn’t ask.

  Nodding with what I hoped was grave importance, I addressed Natif in a more formal tone. “Do you want to be a part of this place?”

  Natif answered instantly. “Yes.”

  “Good,” I told him. “Your first job is perimeter security. You’re going to keep eyes on the trail for the Black Room, and when you see the first sign, it’s critical that you yell down the passages and let us know. I don’t think they can arrive any sooner than a day and a half, but still, we need to be ready. Can you do that?”

  “What passages?” Natif asked. I pointed to the underground access, and he nodded as if he’d known all along. I liked his confidence, plus, he was tough and smart.

  “We’re going back under?” Mira asked.

  “We all are, unless you’d like to stay up top with Natif?” I asked Lasser. He was an older man but still in good shape. The option was his.

  “Natif is well capable of alerting us. He knows what to look for, but my question is what will we be looking for?” Lasser asked.

  “Everything,” I said. “We’ve only just started looking down there, and everything we find might help us stop Taksa without losing any blood. Velarus was a beast, and no matter how long he was in control of this place, he can’t know the things I do. This is my tech, my culture, and now, it’s our place. We should know every part of it. Since we have a day or more, it makes sense to go back under and see.”

  “I’ll prep torches,” Mira said, rising. She moved away under the canopy, eyes out for danger.

  “What was here? Before?” Lasser asked.

  “Another military facility. They were hidden in plain sight during my time, and they held out after the end of it all. I don’t know what we’ll find, but I think we can build something here with what was left over,” I said.

  “Build what?” Lasser asked, his brow lifted.

  I thought it over, then answered with the beginning of an idea. “The Free Oasis.”

  “A good name,” Lasser said. “You’ll need more than just things. You’ll need people, trade goods, and food. Have you considered the Harlings?”

  “I have. Their invitation stands. They would make an excellent addition to our core,” I said.

  Lasser shook his head. “Not just the Harlings as traders. Their wagons. Have you found them?”

  “Their wagons? You think they’re intact?” Silk asked.

  “Who would raid them down here, other than animals? At the very least, it could offer raw materials for building a shelter,” Lasser said.

  “How many were they missing?” I asked.

  “At least four, but given their success as traders, if any of them are closed to the weather, you stand to gain things that will help immediately,” Lasser said.

  “Would you consider locating them with Natif, while we go under? We could start right now, with full water skins,
and meet at this very spot when night falls. That would give you several hours to look,” I said.

  “I can find them faster than that,” Natif protested, but Lasser only smiled. “Well, I can.”

  “I know you will. You have a nose for, ah, free things,” Lasser said with a laugh.

  “Then it’s settled,” I said, smiling at the boy. “You find the wagons and mark them for liberation, and we’ll go under to scope out the rest of our new home. Between the two of us, we’ll be ready for anything.”

  “What about food?” Silk asked. She had a point.

  “We don’t have time to hunt, and I don’t want to eat anything the creatures left behind. That leaves us with finding the Harlings’ wagons for rations, unless someone has a better idea?” I said.

  “I can get dinner in less than ten minutes,” Natif said with supreme confidence.

  “You can? Really?” I asked, but my smile faded when I saw Lasser nod. “How?”

  “Follow me and bring the rifle. Who is the fastest shot?” Natif asked.

  “I am,” I said.

  “Then get ready, Jack. Right this way,” Natif said, pulling his shirt off to reveal a skinny chest with various scars. “I’ll be just past the edge of your garden. I hope you like blood chicken.”

  “What the hell is blood chicken?” I asked, but he was already running, Lasser and Silk walking alongside me. I checked the rifle rounds and shrugged, watching in mild confusion as Natif went into the open sand and fell over, twitching dramatically and then going still, his arms and legs spread out like a corpse. “Well I’ll be damned. The kid’s a fucking genius.”

  “He is that,” Lasser said. “Watch for the shadow.”

  I didn’t watch long. In two minutes, the first shadow appeared, then the second, and then a third.