by Dan Glover
"We have to go back, sweet Daughter. There is nothing more we can do here."
They were fools to have come so far. He blamed himself. Micah lured them into this trap. He had doubtlessly known they were listening in on his conversation with Lily and purposely led them upon this ill-fated quest.
Turning from the summit and starting down the hill, he saw something high overhead. At first he thought it was another form the nanobots had assumed to drive them away but soon it became apparent a plane was homing in upon the spot they just left. It was approaching too fast for any hope of landing.
Though he knew there were only seconds before impact he increased his pace hoping to gain some distance from the explosion that was sure to result.
Chapter 4 9—The Attack
The army attacked at dawn.
Natalia and Lauren had taken refuge in a stone barn with walls that seemed impregnable yet the make-shift battering ram had already created cracks in any number of places. They were in imminent danger of being taken.
"They're not human beings, lovely Natalia... they are some sort of primates—perhaps chimpanzees—which have been altered somehow. I suspect the nanobot-dragons that came for Lily may well be responsible for this."
Lauren stood over the battered body of one of their attackers who had managed to enter the building through a breach in the floor. After clubbing it into submission they had used loose lumber to secure the opening but she knew it wouldn’t hold for long.
The thing on the floor was bigger than a great ape yet it had the appearance of a smaller creature grown to an unaccustomed size. Its mouth was so full of razor-sharp teeth it would not close properly while the arms were as long as its body with claws like fangs extended from the ends of each finger and bundles of muscles looped about its thickly set torso. When the creature began to move, Natalia smashed in its skull with a large stone, a left-over from construction, no doubt.
"There are so many of them, sweet Lauren. We'll never be able to hold them at bay. They'll pound holes in the walls in just a matter of minutes."
They had used their cell phone to call Toulon Castle the night before and talked to Amanda and Ginger. Though they had hopes of a rescue in the near future, they knew it was unlikely. Even if Pete had been able to fly to the north of old France, the odds were he couldn’t set down in the dark. Besides, if he did manage that, the army now assailing them would rebuff any attempt at helping them escape.
A head with two beady eyes and a snout like a pig poked its head through a hole in the east wall. Lauren crushed it with a single blow from a sledge hammer she had discovered in a tool bin. No sooner had she dealt with that attacker, the body was withdrawn and another took its place. After she pounded four more heads into submission, the last body was left lying and a quiet descended upon their hiding place.
"What do you think they're doing, sweet Lauren?"
"They realize they cannot enter one at a time, my darling Natalia. They are plotting a way to open a large enough hole in the wall to enter en mass. We only have a few minutes. Come... let us climb to the loft where we can better defend ourselves once they are inside."
The phone rang as they climbed up the decrepit steps of an old ladder that seemed ready to break asunder at each step. Reaching the loft, Lauren first helped Natalia pull up the ladder so they couldn't be followed and then she tried to answer the call but it was too late. The phone had ceased to ring.
"It's from Ginger, sweet Natalia. She is probably calling to say they cannot help us. I'll try returning the call."
An enormous blast shook the very foundations of the building as dust billowed upwards from an apparent explosion below. The sound of rubble being pushed aside was quickly followed by growls as the downstairs was filled with angry creatures seemingly bent upon taking prisoners and dismayed at finding them gone.
"Oh... Lady Lauren... I just tried to call you. We are entering town now. Where are you? We'll be there in an instant."
Lauren realized she should have never called Toulon and asked for help... all she had done was lure the others into a trap. For the first time in her long life Lauren realized why human beings invented gods... for times like this when all hope was lost. If only she had learned to pray.
"Don't come, sweet Ginger. We are under attack by a horde of vicious creatures. They'll turn on you if you come too close... there are thousands of them."
"We had Chester with us, Lady Lauren, but he took off just a couple minutes ago. I think he's heading your way."
A tumult ensued below. Lauren heretofore thought the growls were from the hideous creatures bent upon attacking them but suddenly she recognized her mistake. Peering through a knothole to the floor below, she saw Chester. He was surrounded by gigantic chimpanzees. The horde appeared to be glued in place, perhaps afraid move.
The big cat stood erect. He was glaring at what could be the leader of the chimpanzee clan, an ugly mottled beast standing nearly two meters tall but looking like a midget next to Chester.
With one swift move of his enormous right paw, the chimpanzee's head was missing. It banged against the wall as the body danced about fighting some unseen opponent before collapsing on the floor.
The horde turned into a single enraged beast. It set upon the big cat with teeth and claws and as quickly as Chester swiped them off his flanks dozens more appeared. His roars once mighty begin to diminish as blood poured from a thousand wounds all over his massive body.
Lauren watched piles of dead chimpanzees form along the walls like so many autumn leaves and yet still they poured through the gaping fissures in the building attacking Chester like hungry fire ants might attack a buffalo.
"They're going to kill him, my Natalia. What can we do to help?"
"There is nothing we can do, my sweet Lauren. If we go down there, we'll die."
Chester staggered and then fell under the weight of hundreds of deformed creatures rolling over and crushing them before attempting to gain his feet again. It was too late. Within a few seconds he was buried under a mound of bloody writhing fury.
Outside, a rattling of semi-automatic gunfire permeated the air and the odor of bullets, blood, and guts wafted through the cracks in the outer walls of the barn. Lauren peered out to see Amanda, Ginger, and Luciana high in the back of one of Nate's enormous trucks surrounded by a sea of writhing fur surging toward them like a sullen tide.
Apparently their onslaught had turned the attack from the barn to the truck. Lauren realized now was their opportunity to press the assault from the back of the enemy but they had to act quickly before reinforcements arrived.
"Come, my darling Natalia... let us climb down while we have a chance."
The ladder was slick with blood the touch of which sickened Lauren causing her to draw back involuntarily. She nearly lost her footing but with Natalia's assistance managed to hang on long enough to make it down to the lower level.
"Get off of him!"
Natalia's roar startled Lauren and though she tried to hold her lover back she watched as the girl advanced on the few creatures still clinging to Chester's side. Wielding a scythe Natalia had found hanging in the rafters of the loft she hewed at the legs and arms of the fearsome monkeys hacking them to pieces despite their attempts to crawl away.
Lauren had never seen Natalia in a rage like that save for the day they met when the girl believed her Lily was in danger. She realized how lucky she had been that Natalia had not shot her on sight rather than waiting for an explanation.
Chapter 50—Promises Broken
She had broken her promise.
When Karen woke, the villa was too quiet. She knew instantly that Amanda, Ginger, and Luciana had gone on the trip she tried so desperately to dissuade them from taking. In doing so, she revealed her own cowardice in ways she never thought possible.
"We cannot waste time, sweet Karen... the Ladies need us now. If we dawdle they will be dead by the time we arrive."
"You'll be heading into a trap, precious Amand
a. Stay here until we can raise Pete. I know he'll fly here immediately. We'll have a better chance getting there by air rather than attempting to drive."
She made a vow to Nate that she would do whatever she had to do in order to protect his family and Kirk's. Her first mistake was sending Pete back to the Isle of Skye. Though he'd been moping around for days—homesick—she should have insisted that he stay. Now the phones were down and there was no way of contacting him.
"Come with us, darling Karen. Chester is coming along. He won't let anything happen to us."
"Chester is too old to be effective, lovely Ginger. Don't take him with you. He's liable to be killed."
Of course Karen knew whether Chester went along with Ginger and Amanda or not wasn’t up to them... if he decided to go, there was no stopping a one ton tiger from doing as he pleased.
Looking out the window she saw that the big cat was not on his hill where he stood watch over his ambush of female tigers and myriad cubs. Karen had always suspected he picked out that particular spot so he could keep guard over Toulon Castle as well.
Grabbing her phone she dialed Pete, surprised when he picked up.
"Oh, I am so glad to hear your voice, my darling Pete! We've been calling for days. I thought the phones were down."
"They were, sweet Karen... I just returned from repairing several cell towers."
"I need you here."
"It will be at least a day before I can fly again. One of the jet engines is acting up. And Alpin has the other jet... or I surmise he does. Like I told you, it was gone when I returned to the Isle."
"Can't you take the Piper?"
"I'm in the middle of a rebuild on it too, my darling Karen. Why the big hurry?"
"It's all right, darling Pete... I'll work things out myself. I guess I'm just feeling lonesome and I wanted to see your face again."
"I'll be there soon, sweet Karen... the work will be completed by tomorrow, or the next day at the latest, and I'll fly right to you, my love."
She felt like weeping.
Niall was supposed to be here... Nate promised the boy would stay to oversee the vineyards and keep an eye out for trouble if it found its way to Toulon. There were rumors of strange happenings afoot both near and far away.
She was depending on the boy, and of course any time in her life she found herself relying upon the good will of others it invariably backfired on her. It wasn’t Niall's fault... he was still a youngster. She should have known better than to place herself in harm's way... she had lived too long to die a stupid death.
But then again, every death was stupid in these days. She remembered the startled look frozen upon Marilyn's face when they returned from their imprisonment... she had seemed so surprised that she could actually die.
Karen decided she wasn’t going to simply sit around and wait for Lake fever to take hold. She still had time to do something... but what? Who was close enough to Toulon that she could reach them within a couple of hours?
She knew Joshua and his family had left Toulon a fortnight prior on their annual trip to Italy where they frolicked among the Roman ruins and searched for treasures worth saving. He had no way of knowing that Karen was coming to the south old France and even if she contacted him she doubted he could get back home in time... not on the sailing ship they took.
She should have gone with Amanda and Ginger. Going into the unknown frightened her more than it should have, however, and she relied on Niall being here with her when all the other Lake people had vanished... some to help Lily and some to aid Lauren and Natalia. Apparently they had all forgotten about Karen and her susceptibility to the sickness.
There hadn’t been a case of Lake Syndrome in what seemed like ages. She began to think the remaining humans had developed immunity to the disease but now she was exhibiting the all too familiar symptoms. She knew if she didn’t find refuge near one of the Lake people she would be dead in just a few hours.
If Pete could have flown here, she could be back at the Isle of Skye in a couple hours, close to Maon and Sileas. Now her only alternative was to travel by land to the closest village some one hundred kilometers distance where the sons of Nate had taken up residence some years before with the daughters of the People who tended to drift into old Europe from time to time, sick and needing succor.
Nate's son Blane had married her and Pete's daughter Eliza. Karen heard from them often but hadn’t had the opportunity to visit them in their new home yet. From what she understood, they lived close to the coast roughly fifty kilometers to the east in a small village named Salin-de-Giraud.
That was her best chance, most probably her only one. Getting to Salin-de-Giraud was another story, however, as Karen had no idea what vehicles in Toulon functioned and which ones did not.
Going to the barn behind the castle she found it packed with various automobiles and trucks much like the warehouse at Orchardton Hall was always full of Nate's many project cars. She remembered how he had begun rebuilding combustion engines when he was only four years old tearing them completely down and then putting them back together.
She recalled how she though he'd never get them to run again but one day she walked into the courtyard and much to her amazement there he was, sitting behind the wheel of an old Jeep having the time of his life driving it around in circles throwing mud everywhere.
When he pulled up next to her she saw how he was sitting on half a dozen thick books in order to see over the steering wheel. Looking down at his feet she saw that he had contrived wooden stilts that attached to his shins and allowed him to reach the gas and the brake pedals.
"Get in, Dr. Karen... I'll take you for a ride."
The old Ford blue pickup truck wouldn't start. The engine cranked, the gas gauge was nestled on half full, and the engine spit and sputtered but wouldn't catch. She tried the Chevy Malibu next but the battery was dead. From the looks of it she suspected the car hasn’t been started in years. The gasoline had probably turned to varnish.
When she stood up to go to back to the Ford to remove the battery and transfer it to the Malibu a wave of dizziness assailed her along with an intense feeling of nausea. When she bent over to retch, her vomit was black. Like the good doctor she was she recognized it as the first symptom of internal bleeding.
Her eyes hurt. Without looking into a mirror she knew the small capillaries inside her eyeballs were bursting from the increase in blood pressure caused by the proliferation of parasites in her circulatory system. The whites of her eyes were doubtlessly red. When she wiped away a tear trickling down her cheek her hand came back bloodied.
She tumbled to her knees and then fell face first upon the ground. She understood the rushing sound in her ears was indicative of her brain expanding and impinging upon her eardrums. Though death was imminent like the dedicated doctor she once was she couldn't help but observe the telltale signs of her demise. If only she had her notebook handy she could record all these symptoms for posterity.
The sound increased in intensity until she realized it was not inside her head at all but a noise made by an approaching engine. Pete had come after all. Still, the joy of seeing her husband once last time before she died was overridden by the wish that he had brought one of the Lake people with him.
She hadn’t the strength to raise her head. Though her eyes were open the world was but a dim representation of what once was: she was having a nightmare. That must be it. If only she could wake herself she might discover all this was a figment of her imagination.
She sensed rather than saw movement. Someone or something was approaching.
Chapter 51—Liar
He hated lying to his wife.
When Karen called he was readying the jet to travel to old America. Sileas had come to him with doubts that Alpin was capable of navigating across the ocean much less performing a precision landing on a deteriorating airstrip.
"You have to fly there too, Mr. Pete. Please... I know my son. He has a heart of gold but he never stops to consider
the consequences of his actions. If you go to old America, I'll go to Toulon Castle. I have a feeling I'm needed there."
"Won't I get sick if I fly there alone, Lady Sileas?"
"Maon has agreed to come with you. He's ready when you are, Mr. Pete. Please bring back our boy."
Now they were entering old American airspace. The gloomy landscape told him that the nanobots had overwhelmed not only the entire area around Cornell University but a goodly part of the continent as well. He could feel them insinuating their way into his body; only the close proximity of Maon kept the tiny machines from wrecking their havoc upon him once again.
"How far are we from old New York City, Mr. Pete?"
"We're close now... when we left here two hundred years ago the landscape was a lush green. All this has happened since. I'm guessing Micah must have unleashed his nanobots or perhaps they simply escaped on their own. They are doubtlessly evolving beyond what I remember. They'll attempt to stop us as soon as they register us as a threat."
"Perhaps we should land."
"I wouldn’t recommend that, Mr. Maon. If we do, I'm sure we'll be attacked at once. The only thing saving us now is that we are only on the border of the kingdom. As we move deeper into their territory, the nanobots will mount an offensive against the jet and ultimately against us."
"What is the plan, then?"
"Honestly, Mr. Maon, I have no plan. Sileas asked me to fly here in order to rescue Alpin. I don’t know for sure if he is even in old America or not. If he is here, the odds are his plane has been forced down by now, in which case there's no telling where he might have ended up. I suppose our best bet is to make our way to old New York City."
"How will we find it, Mr. Pete?"
"I spent all my life in New York, first as a child, then as student, and later as a researcher at Cornell University. I used up a century as a slave to Micah's nanobots. I have very little memory of that time other than a profound sense of despair. I was a machine devoid of feelings.
