Final Book

by Peter W Prellwitz

  The main NATech compound, nearly three kilometers distant, was brightly lit. It was past midnight, but it looked like early dawn from the glow of the spotlights and the occasional explosions. The distance was too great to make out details, but it was easy to see a great deal of activity. From the internal net connection Deiley had initiated, it had gone as he anticipated. His units had been caught off guard, first by the order to seize Deiley, then by the attack from the Resistance. No doubt it was the combination of the two, coupled with Deiley's silence on the net, that gave us the time to talk.

  While we watched, a pair of hov headlights separated itself from the general melee and began moving toward us. It was a single vehicle, which made it likely that they were dogs, coming to pick me up. The sight of watching them approach brought back another time, and I laughed. Deiley looked at me inquiringly.

  "This is almost exactly like the last time I left here. Except then the base was fine and your house was gone. I hope you weren't too hard on the guard I disabled."

  "I had him whipped, then put him on latrine duty for a month. I didn't actually blame him since I knew I'd sent him to pick up Miss DeChant, and he ended up with you. But I did need to set an example for the rest of my men. They've become too soft and complacent, guarding a refugee camp like this." He nodded his head toward the compound. "It would seem they still haven't learned. I rather think that Lieutenant Gratz will drive the point home fairly quickly."

  "Then he'll be in charge after you're gone? I've never met him."

  Deiley chuckled. "He's certainly met you. He seems to have been most impressed with Miss DeChant. Yes, he'll be in charge. I can't guarantee his actions, but I think you'll find we're cut from similar cloth. He'll be under pressure to retaliate after this attack, and he will counterattack. But I doubt he'll put too much into it. He sees the logic of maintaining Glendale's balance of power. Pushing the Resistance too hard will either start a cycle of reprisals or drive them out of Glendale, leaving the care of the Shards entirely in his hands."

  The hov was less than a kilometer away, and we could see several dogs were aboard, with one man, probably Alan, standing up. Just leaving the compound and giving chase were two more hovs. Deiley turned toward me and quite unexpectedly took my hands in his. He looked intently into my eyes, and in the backwash of light from the compound I could see in him a proud man who had chosen the best path possible, and was determined to see it through.

  "I'm sorry we didn't get a chance to meet under better circumstances, Miss Wyeth. I'm sure we could have been friends. Perhaps we can have another time in the future to sit and talk again."

  "What's going to happen to you, Benjamin?" In a flash of embarrassment, I realized I had used his first name, remembered from earlier briefings. He smiled.

  "Thank you ... Abigail. Miss DeChant could never bring herself to call me by my given name. I understood why, but still regretted it. As to what I'm going to do, I've made several contingency plans for occasions not unlike this one, including a small, one-man phase hov I keep close by. The officer who relaxes on NATech's watch will quickly end up forgotten or dead, and I'm not quite ready to lay down my life. I'll give you a covering fire, then make my own escape." He paused, as if torn over what he was going to say next. "I do have a single favor to ask you."

  "Of course."

  "If the opportunity arises that you can communicate with Miss DeChant, please tell her that I--" He broke off, then continued. "Please tell her that I'll miss her. She was a kind, thoughtful woman, and a good companion. She--" He stopped abruptly.

  "That's why you're doing this, isn't it?" I said softly. "You're in love with her."

  "Of course not," he said with a faulty voice. Was there a sheen in his eyes? It was too dark to be certain. "How could I love a ripe? She was an excellent maid, with a keen eye toward detail. I'll never have as clean a house again." He recovered quickly and spoke with his normal confidence. "Well, I see your ride has arrived. Let's not keep them waiting."

  But it wasn't Alan. It was Gratz, Deiley's lieutenant. He brought his gun up and lined it on Deiley, who had left his own gun holstered to avoid a misunderstanding with my people. I shifted my own gun, fully charged and in my left hand, behind my dress.

  "Please raise your hands, sir. I am under orders to seize command of this base and deliver you to NATech regional headquarters for trial and execution." His eyes flickered toward me. "Please move away from the major, Miss DeChant."

  I was standing on the porch of Major Deiley's house. Why were we here? And what was Lieutenant Gratz doing, holding a gun on the major?

  "I am sorry, Lieutenant. What did you say?" Major Deiley jerked his head sharply at me and swore quietly. I'd rarely heard him use an oath, and then only when very upset. I hoped I was not the cause of this situation.

  "I said, please move away from the major. I have orders to deliver you to regional as well, though under a separate escort." He gave the impression that while he took no satisfaction in his duty, he would perform it nonetheless. I moved away, raising my hands. His tone and voice sharpened.

  "What is that in your hand?" he demanded. Instantly, the guns of his men came up, aimed at me.

  "I ... I ... don't know, m'sieur. I ..." I looked at my left hand. I was holding a gun!

  "Miss DeChant! Get down!"

  I was thrown off my feet as Major Deiley lunged against me. He grunted just before we hit, his body landing on me to protect me. We went down behind the cover of the rose bushes he kept lined along his porch. He quickly snatched the pistol from my unresisting hand, then shoved me along the polished surface against the far corner.

  I hit a chair and yelped as a corner jabbed into my back. The major had leapt to his feet and was lining up his pistol at the hovercraft. Slivers of light danced around him, popping holes in the wall behind him but miraculously missing him.

  The gun in his hand kicked back, the air in front of his gun shimmered, and suddenly my head hurt abominably. I cried out and covered my ears, but the pain persisted. I curled up around it, hoping the pain would go away ...

  ... but it felt so good that I hoped it would stay. But it didn't. I felt someone grabbing me and helping me to my feet. I let go of my ears and looked at him. It was a very handsome man. He had blood on his shoulder. I smiled at him.

  "Hello. That felt nice. Can we do it again? Is that my blood on you?" I touched his bloody jacket and then licked my fingers. It wasn't my blood. Maybe it was his.

  "Miss DeChant, are you all right?" he said with a big voice. I giggled.

  "I'm not Miss Deshard. I belong to Abby. What's your name?"

  His voice when he talked was soft. "My name is Benjamin Deiley. I don't think we've had the pleasure of meeting. What's your name?"

  "Everybody keeps asking me that!" I said, mad that they did. "I don't have a name. I'm not important enough. But I can still do lots of things. Do you want me to play with you?" I forgot his name again.

  "No, that's all right. I do want you to do something, though. I want you to do two things, in fact. First, do you see those hovercraft coming towards us?" He pointed.

  It was dark outside, which meant it was night. There were some lights on a big thing in front of us. It had a lot of people in it and they were all sleeping.

  "You mean that thing with all the sleeping people?"

  "No. I mean the two hover ... things that are behind that. Do you see them?"

  "Uh-huh."

  "Good. Those are your friends, and they're coming to take you ..."

  "You mean Alan and Dorothy and Abby?"

  "Yes, exactly. Except Abigail. I don't think she's with them right now. When they get here, I want you..."

  "But they're going to take me to see Abby, right?" I asked. "She's my owner!" I said proudly.

  "Yes, I understand. I want you to go with them. Here, give this to Alan." He handed me the thing in his hand. It looked like a gun my first owner had owned. He used it on me once, but it hurt too much for me to stay awake, so I
didn't like them.

  "I don't want that. They hurt too much."

  "That's all right. See? I've turned it off. But Alan would ..."

  "Did you turn it all the way off?"

  "Please don't interrupt. Yes, it's all the way off. Give it to Alan. It belongs to Abigail. She'll know what to do with it." He put it in my hand and I held it, hoping it wouldn't blow up or shoot or anything.

  "Okay." I remembered something. "Did you want me to do two things?"

  "Yes. I want you to tell Miss DeChant that I--"

  "I can't remember words very well. I only remember how to make my owners feel good. When I try to remember words ..."

  He took me by the shoulders and made me look in his eyes.

  "Listen carefully. I should have said this earlier, when I had the chance. Tell Alan that Abigail was right. Can you remember that? Tell Alan that I said Abigail was right."

  "O-okay. I'll try." I closed my eyes tight and said the words back. "I'm going to tell Alan that you said Abigail was right." I repeated them three times, then remembered them really good. I smiled at him and said, "Tell Alan that you said that Abigail was right." I frowned. "About what?"

  "Don't worry about that. Abigail will tell you." He took my hand and helped me down the steps. "Now let's get you to your friends."

  The first thing stopped next to the one with the sleeping people. Alan was in it. I laughed and clapped and jumped up and down, happy to see him. He seemed surprised at first, but then he smiled.

  "Hello, Princess. Are you ready to come home?"

  "She's more than ready, Lockwood. She's only just arrived and I can tell she's more than I'm willing to handle."

  Alan acted like he didn't like the man with the bloody shoulder, but he did like him sort of. I could tell. The man hugged me and brushed back my hair. He smiled.

  "There, you do have a name, don't you?"

  "Oh, Princess is just what Alan and the lady who died call me. Only the lady who died won't call me that anymore, because she died."

  "Well, I think Princess is a wonderful name and suits you well. Now let Alan help you into the hov, and remember what I told you."

  "I will. G'bye!" I kissed him on the cheek and ran to the thing with Alan inside. Then he helped me up. Then he took the gun in my hand away from me, which was all right because I didn't like guns. They hurt too much. Then I remembered what I was supposed to say.

  "That man says I was supposed to say that he said Abigail was right," I said, nice and loud. I was so happy I remembered the words I said them again. Alan smiled a little and looked at the man with blood on him. The man shrugged his shoulders.

  "I suppose I deserved that. Ask Abigail later on, what she's talking about."

  "All right. What are you going to do, Deiley?"

  "That's my own business, Lieutenant. See that you take good care of her. She's one of a kind. Rather, she's three of one of a kind."

  "Hopefully not for much longer."

  "Indeed. You have no reason to believe me, Lockwood, but ... all the best. And tell Barrett to read up on Professor LeClaire's work on the KME. I think he'll find exactly what he needs."

  "You know that Barrett is alive?" Alan said to the man. I wished they would stop talking. I wanted to see Dorothy and Abigail. The man stood very straight.

  "I am a major in NATech Supreme. It is my duty to know these things, then act on them. I hope I have chosen the correct action."

  "Me too, Major. Me too." Alan did something to the thing and it turned away from the man. It started going fast into the dark. I sat down next to another man that worked for Alan and smiled at him. Then I remembered the man with the blood on him.

  I looked behind me. We had gone a long way already. The man was still standing there, watching us. I waved at him, but I don't think he saw me.

  Chapter Four

  9:00 a.m. Wednesday, December 3rd, 2679 (Siberian time)

  "Good morning, ladies!" Barrett's cheerfully gruff voice filled every corner of the small medical facility. He held out a plain white garment to Kate, who was seated next to my bed. "Here. Help Abby climb into this and I'll do a final examination before we initiate the integration session."

  I sat up and changed into the gown. Thankfully, it had normal closures and there was no risk of

  CONTAMINATION TO AREAS BEYOND THE ST. LOUIS CRATER REGION. IT IS ADVISED THAT ALL ORBITING SPACE CRAFT SHIFT SOLAR RADIATION FIELDS TOWARD THE PLANET, TO PREVENT INSTRUMENTATION FLUCTUATION OR FAILURE.

  giving free peep shows to anyone. Putting it on brought back a few memories

  SCAN IS BEGINNING TESTING AT LEVEL FIVE. THERE WILL BE A TWELVE PERCENT DEGRADATION OF EFFICIENCY FOR THE NEXT NINE HOURS, FORTY-SEVEN MINUTES. TESTING FIRST SIX TERRABYTES OF MEMORY ... TESTING ... TESTING ...

  from my first experience with Barrett and his doctoring.

  "I hope I'm a better patient this time, doctor, than I was when you first integrated me." I slipped on

  THE ICE ON THE WEST SIDE OF THE BUILDING. MAINTENANCE CREWS WILL HAVE THE ICE DISSOLVED IN A FEW MOMENTS, BUT I REPEAT, THE SUDDEN DROP IN TEMPERATURE OVERNIGHT HAS CAUSED SOME ICY SPOTS AROUND THE COMPLEX. BE CERTAIN TO

  the gown, with Kate helping me She had been sitting only a second ago, but was now standing. My sharding had reached the point

  WHERE YOU WILL NEED TO EITHER SHEER OFF FROM YOUR APPROACH OR BEGIN YOUR REENTRY SEQUENCE. NAVIGATIONAL SYSTEMS INDICATE A NOMINAL TRAJECTORY, WITH CLEARANCE TO LAND AT THE MELBOURNE SPACEPORT. PLEASE KEEP A MINIMUM FORTY PERCENT POWER RESERVE IN CASE OF

  where I still had cohesive thought, but constant episodes accelerated the time. Kate had finished dressing me.

  "Morning, Kate. How's the kid?"

  She smiled. "It's afternoon, Abby, and the baby's doing fine. Since the suppression field

  HAS DROPPED TO LESS THAN SIX PERCENT CONTAINMENT. EXTERNAL SHIELDING IS DOWN, AND THE ARMADA CAN BEGIN DIRECT BOMBARDMENT OF BOTH NEW LA AND VERMILLION SURFACE STRUCTURES. BELOW SURFACE STRUCTURES STILL HAVE FULL SHIELDING AND WILL REQUIRE ADDITIONAL BOMBARDMENT. ESTIMATED TIME UNTIL

  "I'm sorry, Kate," I apologized, only a little frustrated. "It's getting ..."

  "Kate's stepped out, Abigail," Barrett interrupted. "I need to suppress your sharding while you're in

  A STASIS FIELD AND SLEEP YOUR DIFFICULTIES AWAY! WAKE UP TO A NEW WORLD. ADVANCES IN MEDICINE ARE SURE TO HAVE LICKED YOUR PROBLEM, AND YOU CAN LEAD A FULL, PRODUCTIVE, AND MOST IMPORTANTLY, LONG LIFE! JUST THUMB IN YOUR APPROVAL, AND THE HOLOCHURES ARE YOURS FOR THE LOADING. THIS OFFER VOID ON LUNA, IN THE GREATER BRAZILIAN COMMERCE SPHERE AND IN VERMONT. VOID WHERE PROHIBITED BY LAW. THE PROPRIETOR DOES NOT MAKE ANY CLAIMS OR GUARANTEES AS TO THE ACTUAL IMPROVEMENT OF FUTURE SOCIETY, AND IS MERELY SPECULATING BASED ON PAST ADVANCES. THUMB IN NOW! OPERATORS ARE STANDING BY!

  "Doctor?" I asked, lifting my head slightly. I was feverish and sweaty.

  "Hold still, Abigail." He poked a finger at my temple and I heard a whine. He had activated an inducement disk. My vision faded and blurred to the point that I could only see soft globs of light. I dropped my head back down to the pillow.

  "Whatryou doing?" I mumbled. My head seemed heavy and slow.

  "Sorry, Abi..ed to keep...riginal pers...peration...you feel?" His voice kept drifting in and out. I struggled to grasp what he was saying, but I couldn't keep my focus.

  "FeelfinedoesIsposefeelthizway?"

  "Sor...supposed to fee..you see any..." He moved something in front of my eyes.

  "Izhanorfing..canwestarsooon?"

  "...out....en min.....gail?"

  "Zorydocantkeepminonyou..donmakmessinmihedok?"

  He chuckled and it sounded like the far end of a long tunnel. "I'll try not to." I heard him clearly say, and then it was very, very dark.

  I woke up, lying on a warm, black surface in a warm, black cave. I should have been nervous, disoriented, even terrified. I was none of that. I was impatient. I wanted this nonsense ended, my persona completely my own, and my life returned to me. Do
ctor Barrett and I had talked through this many times over the last six days, so I knew what to do. I stood up and began walking. The direction made no difference, the determination did.

  Sure enough, I'd walked no more than two or three minutes when I saw the faint glow of light escaping double doors that didn't quite meet in the middle. I strode toward them and pushed them open.

  The oval waiting room had not changed. There was a bank of various computers lining the right wall with windows starting just past them and looping around the oval and coming up the left wall. Directly opposite the double doors I'd entered through were another set of doors, locked tight and with the legend "Main Gate" stenciled across them in red. The middle of the room was empty until the last third, then had rows of chairs mounted on metal railings that kept them in fixed positions. It looked similar to pictures I'd seen of spaceports but was in fact the waiting area of an old style airport. The air was even tainted with the faint smell of jet fumes.

  There were two women seated in the chairs nearest the main gate, so I walked up to them. It was Miss DeChant and the girl. They turned at my approach. Miss DeChant rose, her hands folded elegantly in front of her, a small smile that lit up her eyes and face. The girl jumped up with a squeal and ran into my arms.

  "Oh, Abby! I'm so happy to see you!" I shouted and hugged her as hard as I could. She was a small girl, very pretty, with long hair and pretty eyes. But what was most wonderful was that I finally got to hug her.

  "Hello," I said, carefully prying myself loose, but still holding her hands, partly to assure her I cared for her, partially to ensure they didn't wander. She was bigger than me, which was surprising for some strange reason. Nearly everyone was bigger than me, but I'd always thought of her as being, I don't know, the size of her intellect.