“Before we get to that,” Tyson said, “we’ve got a few things we need to iron out.”
Alixs was beginning to feel put-out, but he fought for a civil tone. “Okay, what’s on your mind?”
“Nothing too crazy. It’s just, well, we’re all in the same boat here. Our transformation, I mean. And we’ve — my little Tera-Prime group I mean — we’ve become rather close over these past few days. Being the target of assault squads will do that to a group. I’m sure you can imagine.”
Alixs couldn’t, but he nodded anyway. Liam remained cold and stone-faced, but Tyson was ignoring him anyway.
“We have our own way of doing things,” Tyson said, “but I want to make sure not to rock the boat. My people have been through so much.” He paused, looking straight at the younger Xenolight, and continued; “I think it would be best if we take care of our own uploading process. As a group.”
“Okay...“ Alixs began, but he went silent as Tyson floated in closer.
“With no outsiders.”
His voice was low, and there was a hint of a threat behind it. Alixs swallowed, reflexively, and maintained eye contact.
“Well!” Tyson sang out, suddenly backing off and sounding the same upbeat tone he’d used when their group had arrived. “I think that’s all we really need to go through for the moment. As you can imagine, we’re pretty drained from the trip. I’ll send word when we’re ready to proceed, so you have time to vacate.”
“Hang on just a—” Liam said, attempting to regain control of the conversation. But Tyson had already floated down and over to the door, placing his limbs firmly on the deck before striding out, once more ignoring the freevo leader completely.
88.
Sticking close to the walls, Cain maneuvered his way through the bizarre collection of criminals. The glazed looks on their faces reminded Cain of a cult gathering. This gave rise to some long suppressed memories of his early days on the peace force. Hauling in extremists had been eighty percent of the work back then. These malcontents reminded him strongly of those, and the fact that they’d give up everything to follow a terrorist like Liam and his freakshow lackey was reason enough to loathe them. But he was careful to keep his emotions in check. He offered a fake smile and a polite nod whenever one of them looked in his direction, and avoided any deeper contact.
The commotion that had accompanied the arrival of the new group had subsided somewhat, though the chatter was still alive and excited. Nobody knew much more than Cain, although he heard the term Xenolite bandied around quite a bit, which was a new one. What did that mean, exactly? The Xenolite arrivals are meeting with Alixs now. Isn’t it exciting to see so many Xenolite?
What the hell was this, a soft drink commercial? Either way, these Xenolites were something significant, and had invigorated this crowd.
When he rounded a corner and caught a now-familiar flash of glow, he ducked back as quick as he dared. The xenos around him surged forward, and he slid back into the periphery so he couldn’t be spotted easily. Then he did a mental double-take, as something struck an auditory nerve. It wasn’t the words, but the voice itself. It was, for the first time he was able to recognize for a Xenolight, undoubtedly female.
SHE HAD ENTERED THE building side by side with their leader, Tyson, and now that Tyson wasn’t around, she was receiving the lion’s share of attention. Small pockets of interested xenos had gathered around others, throwing out questions and offering praise for being courageous enough to undergo the change. It was almost as if she, along with Tyson, represented their group. As none of her companions protested, it seemed a tacit agreement, and so most of the other pilgrims gravitated toward her.
“Have there been any adjustment problems? How’s it been for you since the change?”
She fielded this question with a knowing glance at her companions. Apparently she’d heard it before as they worked their way around the site.
“Honestly, it hasn’t been so bad since we left the city. Everything was so hectic and scary there, the ride over has been like a dream. Of course, we’re all still getting our land-legs under us.” She pretended to stumble over her graceful frame, eliciting laughs from the onlookers.
“Have there been any decisions made on which group you’re planning to join up with?”
“Well, it seems as though we’ve sort of formed our own little family, having been together so much these past few days. But no formal decision has been made, no. I’m sure Tyson will be discussing it with your leader Alixs.”
“Alixs and Liam, you mean?” someone said. The concern made sense. Many of the loyalists had been with Liam since the Tera-Prime days, and owed him a lot.
“Sorry, yes of course. Alixs and Liam. I’m afraid I’m not used to the free evolution hierarchy just yet. Just last week I was a junior associate in an advertising firm!” She laughed, disarming the crowd immediately, who settled right back in with the softball questions they’d been dying to ask since the arrival of so many Xenolight.
J.Z. WAS CROUCHED ON the floor of the supply shed, just outside the main doors. They’d been using this place as a repository for junk the pilgrims had brought along and had to leave behind, so it was cluttered, but otherwise it provided at least a small measure of privacy.
“How is he?” Liam bent down to get a better look at the broken drone, his higher functions disconnected while J.Z. worked to patch him back together. Only a faint whine was evident now, reminding Liam of a lost child, crying in the cold.
The analytics display was awash in red, the flashing ERROR DETECTED messages indicating all the various fractures, misalignments and system failures Shooter was riddled with. J.Z. examined one of the stabilizers with a practiced eye. It was still bent out of shape, but the repair process seemed to be going well enough. He turned the drone around, taking a long look at the underside, then finally answered, “He’ll live. But he won’t be flying anytime soon.”
“Maybe we could—”
“It’s okay, Liam. You need to focus on what’s important. I’ll take care of Shooter, once I have more time.”
“He is important,” Liam insisted, trying to brighten up J.Z.’s dull mood. “I’m sorry this happened.”
“Not your fault,” came the flat reply. “Can’t say I think much of those new guys, though.”
“Me neither,” Liam admitted. “Listen, I’ve got to get back...”
“It’s okay, go ahead. I still have more incoming groups to process anyway, I’ve already wasted enough time here.”
Liam was about to argue, but thought better of it. “If there’s anything I can do, let me know.”
“Thanks,” J.Z. said, “I will.”
CAIN WATCHED THE FEMALE for a long time, as well as the rest of her glowing companions as they filtered in. He noticed something particularly curious about the way they moved, and not the etherial, floating quality either. That, he’d already known. What he saw now was the fact that they remained at a cautious distance from each other, almost as if they were nervous. He couldn’t figure out why until a pair of them passed by his position and, with a crack of electricity, one’s limb brushed the other’s shoulder. The both bit back screams, but he knew pain when he saw it. It was like the static electricity of a thousand carpets, and he realized immediately that they were toxic to each other. His theory about thousands of ghosts hanging out together in a small spaceship evaporated. Ghosts or not, they needed space to exist, same as regular xenos. In fact, they needed more breathing room.
He listened carefully for fragments of conversation involving Tera-Prime, anything that might help catch him up on the situation back home. The female didn’t seem to have too many specifics, except to keep referring back to some strike force which had come after them underground. He was surprised Rois had had the guts to go ahead with it. If he didn’t still feel an intense hatred deep down, he might have even been impressed.
Other than that, she revealed little that he didn’t already know. He realized after many repetitions
that they were calling themselves ‘Xenolight’, not ‘lite’. Hardly an improvement in his view. He also learned that her group was comprised entirely of such beings. So they must have changed back in the city. More chatter confirmed that all the others were expecting to change, just as he’d anticipated, and that’s why they had so many questions for these new arrivals. These yet-unchanged xenos were apprehensive. But if everyone was being transformed, then where the hell were they? The place should be crawling with ghosts. But aside from this new group, there seemed to be none.
Moving away from the Xenolight and deeper into the facility, he began a rough head count. From his observations on the hillside, he’d had a fair idea of how many had shown up already, and it was time to confirm the numbers. After three calculations, and a fourth where he literally counted one by one all the way through one of the four floors of the facility — he worked out the mathematics. But there was no way his count could be accurate. No possible way at all.
The number of xenos that should be here could not, in a completely literal sense, occupy this building. Not without the place splitting apart at the seams. And there was no way they were all ghosts stuffed into a closet somewhere, either, because even ghosts had to take up space, and one thing they could not do was crowd in together. They couldn’t even stand to touch each other. What am I still missing?
89.
Cain swept the facility from top to bottom, leaving only the upper level where he knew the Xenolights, best left avoided for now, were holed up. He performed a physical headcount of every xeno he could find, and still he was short. Very short. Unless his logic had failed, he was missing hundreds.
They had to be moving them out of the building. There was no other logical answer. And if they weren’t stacked up like cordwood over the top floor, which was a scenario he hadn’t entirely dismissed, then there was only one other place they could be putting themselves. The rocket.
He moved with urgency, his latest eavesdrop having confirmed that there were only a handful of transports still to come. He also moved with more confidence, since he’d set eyes on just about every remaining xeno, and none of them struck him as familiar. These were all provincials. The only ones from the city were the ghosts, and since their arrival and the ensuing excitement, they’d made themselves scarce. He felt sure he could go unrecognized, as long as he stayed down in the lower levels.
The lower levels, however, would not provide him with the answers he needed. With refugees disappearing fast, called in groups and never to be seen again, he needed to go where they were going. That meant putting himself in a position where he might be caught, if that was the only way to get answers. Since they were being summoned in groups, he needed to join one.
Waiting by the door, he allowed two new groups to pass without making a move. He intended to select his quarry carefully, judging height and weight and features so he could blend in properly. Then he heard that familiar human of theirs radio in, alerting his companions that the last bus was pulling up.
There was no more time to waste. Watching the wide-eyed, frightened faces of the newest arrivals stroll past, Cain chose one from the back of the pack. With a soundless pounce, he reached out from the shadows and plucked him out, covering his mouth as he dragged him into an empty room. He cracked the xeno’s neck with all the emotion of a farmer killing a chicken, then stuffed the body under a desk, stood quickly, and slipped back into the hallway. Stepping lively in order to catch up, he followed this last group of sympathizers into the crowded interior of the site, plastering a wide-eyed, scared look onto his face for good measure.
THE MAIN BRIEFING HALL had to be cleared out every time a new group came in, so the human could have space enough to conduct the orientation. This took time, so the new arrivals circulated and introduced themselves. While Cain had no interest in such idiocy, he smiled and acted interested. He didn’t want to have to kill any more if he could avoid it, so making them think he was just another happy renegade was key.
When they were finally called in, Cain took a seat in the back. Here he could easily keep track of the room, as well as make a quick exit if it became necessary. In front of the group stood that same human. Was there some method to them dealing almost exclusively with him? Or were they that desperately shorthanded?
The human called for quiet and asked if everyone was comfortable, apologizing for the fact that he was human and that they were stuck with him for a while longer, but ‘not too much longer’. Then he launched into a familiar sounding monologue about why they were all here.
“I won’t be diving into everything myself, given how I know just about zilch on how it all works.”—he offered a self-deprecating smile, but didn’t get much feedback—“Anyways, we’ve got a video from Alixs, and that’ll explain most of what you need to know.”
The human looked around. Cain made sure to give him a broad smile and a wave, familiar in an almost creepy way, which diverted the human’s attention to the other side of the room. Just as intended.
“If you have any questions at the end, I’ll be happy to answer them if I can, but I’m supposed to remind you that everyone will have face time with Alixs before the procedure. So if you’ve got any major concerns, you can speak to him.” He paused, turning to look this way and that, his eyes landing on a remote control laying on the ground. He picked it up and half his last sentence was lost on his way back to the microphone. “...s time to watch the holovid, so here it is.” He fumbled around again, finding the on switch and ducking out of the way of the projection grid. Alixs appeared before the crowd, looking much younger and fresher.
There was a several-second pause as Alixs stood staring at the camera. Bad edit, Cain thought. When Alixs finally spoke, it emerged an awkward croak. “Welcome! Hello everyone.” He covered up his discomfort with a smile. “We freevos...” He looked away for a second. “Uh, sorry, free evolutionists, are honored to have you here with us. It’s a historic day.” Glancing off-camera again, he nodded to someone, then spoke faster when he resumed recording. “I’m here to speak with you about the transition, and also the plans for storing our consciousness during the upcoming exodus. This exodus wouldn’t be possible if not for the change, the transition to Xenolight that you’re all going to experience. But more important in the short term is how to fit all of us onboard the Exodus spacecraft. This is the solution I promised when I first spoke with you.” Another off-camera glance. “The media broadcast, I mean. I know I haven’t spoken to you here yet.” He gave a nervous smile. Even though the words were familiar, his delivery was amateurish, and Cain wondered if this bunch would ever manage to get that rocket in the air, never mind into space. He guessed not, but wasn’t planning on giving them the chance to try.
“We figured the best way to acclimate you to the procedure would be to demonstrate exactly how it works, so I’ve asked a volunteer to appear on-vid in order for you to see what we’re doing.” He motioned off-camera, and a xeno stepped into the holographic frame. Cain wondered if he were one of Liam’s terrorists, but he couldn’t be sure on short glance. The xeno lay down on the exam table, and Alixs walked the group through the particulars. Far too much information as far as Cain was concerned. Finally Alixs turned to his compatriot, asked if he was ready, and then all hell broke loose.
As the holovid of Alixs and his associate continued playing on, alarm bells clanged, all around the facility it seemed. This was accompanied by red flashing lights, and several of the females screeched in surprise as the human jumped off the stage and ran for a communicator.
Cain resisted the urge to slip out the door directly behind him. What if they found the body? He dismissed the idea. If they had, he would deal with it, but he had no way of knowing for now anyway. And this was the place he needed to be in order to complete his objective. So he remained in his seat and kept watching the vid.
Nobody else paid attention as holo-Alixs flipped a switch, causing the xeno on the table to glow white-hot, draw a surprised breath, and become
a ghost. He looked disoriented, though he didn’t appear to be in pain. Then Alixs reached over and found another set of controls, and in an instant the glowing ghost, too, was gone. Just...gone. The examination bed was empty.
Alixs then cross checked what appeared to be the containment device. Now Cain had a decent idea of what they were up to, and the fact that hundreds of them had disappeared made perfect sense. They had disappeared, literally, and were now in cold storage, waiting to be shot into space.
In the confusion, the human finally switched off the video, then sprinted for the door, calling for everyone to ‘hang tight for a second!’ They waited a long time, but he never came back. Instead, just when the first few assembled xenos began rising out of their seats to see what was going on, there was a crackle of static, and a new holographic projection popped into view. More ghosts, Cain muttered to himself, feeling a sudden flash of clarity. Now this is getting interesting...
90.
Liam was already on his way to see Tyson when the alarms sounded. Hearing the alarms and worried that their new guests might panic, he bolted for the vacant laboratory Alixs had set aside, a place intended to give the Tera-Prime Xenolight their requested privacy. Bursting into the room, none of them looked particularly concerned about the blared warnings, though Liam did startle a few of them with his sudden appearance. Tyson, on the other side of the room, barely flinched. He hovered there, inches off the floor, staring out the window. Only he wasn’t just staring, Liam realized, as the window was open. A Loktr report was in progress. The ‘bots themselves were all but invisible, but Liam could see the transmission waves — one of the newfound advantages of this body was enhanced senses.
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