Orbs III

by Nicholas Sansbury Smith

  CHAPTER 22

  A BEAD of sweat dropped from Sophie’s forehead and landed on her watch. She brushed it away and checked the time. Captain Noble was late. And not just by a few minutes. He should have landed an hour ago.

  Her team waited anxiously inside the cargo bay behind the blast doors. Rays of morning sunlight flickered through the opening in the entry. Bouma stood there, scanning the sky for signs of the NTC chopper.

  Sophie joined him, dragging her arm across her face to clear the sweat. It was still early morning and it felt like they were standing inside an oven. The heat augmented the pain, and while her headache had subsided, the effects of the RVAMP blast still resonated inside her.

  Brushing a curtain of hair from her face, she remembered they weren’t just internal either. She pulled away strands of blond hair.

  “God,” she mumbled, wiping them on her trousers. Like radiation treatment for cancer patients, the RVAMP had killed many of the nanobots, but not without killing healthy cells around them.

  Sophie tugged softly on Bouma’s shirt for a better look. A pile of Organic corpses lay just outside the door, now nothing more than skeletons and pruned flesh. Beyond, the cloudless sky stretched across the horizon.

  Behind her, the children sat huddled around Holly, their eyes glued to her tablet. Sophie wondered if they had any idea what was happening. Their small bags, like suitcases, each labeled NTC, surrounded them. An overwhelming sense of empathy grabbed hold of her. It was heartbreaking. The apocalypse hadn’t just turned the kids into orphans; it had stripped away their innocence, turning Jeff and David into soldiers.

  The distant but familiar thrum of helicopter blades sent a chill down Sophie’s body. She quickly turned back to the tarmac, raising a hand above her eyes to shield them from the intense sun.

  She saw the NTC gunship as it swooped into the valley trailing a stream of dense smoke.

  “Looks like something’s happened,” Bouma whispered. “Kiel, get your ass up here.” He looked back and searched the shadows. “Emanuel, you too.”

  Sophie took a step back, making way for the marines. They fanned out onto the tarmac, their pulse rifles angled at the skyline. Emanuel followed close behind, the RVAMP attached to his back like a turtle shell. Kiel limped into position behind the rusted hull of the minivan they’d commandeered in Colorado Springs a few weeks before, while Bouma crouched in the center of the landing strip. Emanuel stopped at the northern edge of the tarmac. Their weapons skimmed the sky beyond the gunship.

  But Sophie saw no signs of aliens; no blue drones or black ships, just the death they had left in their wake.

  Sophie flinched at the sound of a voice behind her.

  “Are we leaving now?”

  She turned to see Jeff standing in the shadows. He looked past her, his hand gripping his rifle.

  “Yes, gather the others and meet us outside in five minutes,” she replied. The boy nodded and moved back inside.

  The thump of the Sea Serpent’s blades drowned out his footsteps as it descended over the tarmac. It lingered there for a few moments, kicking up a halo of dust around Bouma before finally setting down. The marine approached the chopper with an arm shielding his face from the wind.

  When the hydraulic lift gate hit the concrete Sophie turned to the children. Holly and Jeff had corralled them around the blast doors.

  “Are you guys ready to take a ride?” Sophie asked.

  Owen gripped his blanket in one hand and Jamie’s hand in the other.

  “Is that what’s going to take us home?” he asked, pointing.

  Anxious to get in the air she simply nodded and grabbed Jamie’s hand.

  “Let’s move!” someone yelled. Sophie ushered the children forward, leading them toward the chopper. When they got to the lift gate a pair of NTC soldiers guided the kids into the cargo bay, where a dozen armored men waited. The two men buckled the kids in and then returned for Sophie.

  “Welcome aboard,” one of them said. She looked up to see Captain Noble extending a hand.

  “Thank you,” she said, taking his grip. He helped her up the ramp and led her to a seat next to Jeff.

  “You’re safe now,” he said to the kids. His voice was calm and confident.

  As soon as everyone had piled in, the NTC crew chief manning the doors pushed a red button that activated the lift gate. The hiss of the hydraulics echoed through the compartment and the ramp angled shut. They were in the air before it closed.

  Sophie watched the blast doors of the Biosphere shrink below them.

  “Good-bye, Alexia,” Sophie said.

  * * *

  “What the fuck is left to save?” someone shouted from the back. The voice hadn’t come over the com channel, which meant it was someone on Dr. Winston’s team.

  Noble searched the compartment for whoever had been stupid enough to ask that question.

  “Everything down there is dead,” Kiel said. “The cities are all ruined.”

  “What did you expect?” Corporal Bouma asked him.

  Kiel shrugged. “I guess.” He shook his head and strapped himself in. “I thought there would be something left to save.” His voice was obnoxious, and Noble wished the man would shut up.

  But the farther they flew, the more Noble began to question how anyone could have survived for this long. He reminded himself that it didn’t really matter. Their mission was no longer to monitor the Biospheres, or to find survivors; it was to destroy the aliens. After that he would find his crew a new home.

  He continued to stare out the window. There was a hunger growing inside him. It coursed through his entire body. At first he wasn’t sure what it was, but with every passing second the feeling intensified. He couldn’t shake the marine’s words.

  Noble snapped his fingers in Kiel’s direction. “You’re wrong.”

  Kiel cracked his knuckles. “Yeah? How do you figure?”

  “When those poles come crashing down, and the Organics around the world are flopping on the dirt like fish out of water,” Noble paused to make sure the man was looking at him, “humans will emerge from their holes. There will be survivors. We will find a way to persevere. We always find a way.”

  * * *

  Jeff tried not to focus on his arm. The pain had returned after he’d forgotten to take one of the pills before the flight.

  Wincing, he leaned over to David. His brother cracked an eyelid. “Are we there yet?”

  Jeff managed a short laugh. “Another hour or so. I think.”

  David suddenly looked very serious. “Where are we going?”

  “I’m . . .” Jeff hesitated. He wasn’t exactly sure how to answer the question. Sure, he knew their destination was Omaha, Nebraska, and from there they were going to board a spaceship that Sophie had called the Sunspot. But were they really leaving Earth? Were they really going to Mars?

  “You’re going to a safe place,” came a voice.

  Jeff searched the seats to their left. A helmet with the name DIEGO on the top stuck out from the rest.

  “Safe?” David asked.

  The soldier nodded.

  “Do we get to kill some aliens first?” David added.

  Diego laughed. “Maybe, kid. Maybe.”

  A jolt of pain raced up Jeff’s arm, but he ignored it.

  Soon he would face the monsters again.

  * * *

  Emanuel fidgeted in his seat, wondering exactly what they would find at Offutt.

  But that wasn’t the only thing on his mind, or on the minds of those around him, he imagined. No, everyone had a reason for being on this flight. They’d all suffered loss—they’d all been through the unimaginable. And somehow, they’d survived.

  “Offutt Air Force Base, ETA fifteen minutes,” the pilot’s voice said over the PA system.

  The words confirmed that this wasn’t a dre
am. After almost three months of being cooped up in the Biosphere with little hope of ever making it out, they were now close to salvation. It was hard to believe.

  Reaching over, Emanuel grabbed Sophie’s hand and massaged her palm with his thumb. She glanced over and smiled.

  “How are you feeling?”

  “So far, so good,” she replied. “The headaches are manageable now.” She pulled free from his grasp and itched her scalp. Pulling a strand of hair from her head, she held it in front of him.

  “Not sure I like this, though,” she said with a scowl.

  “The RVAMP blast may have saved your life, but those side effects will probably last a while. Hopefully the Sunspot has a better medical facility than the one we had at Cheyenne Mountain.”

  She turned to face the window. They were passing over what had once been the farm belt, an area of fertile fields that had fed much of the world. Millions of acres were now the same bleak deserts that had marked the rest of their journey.

  Seeing the destruction firsthand was very different from looking at the satellite imagery Lolo had provided. Being a native of the Midwest, the sight was particularly chilling for Emanuel. He had grown up in Chicago, but his grandparents had owned a farm outside the city. He was there every weekend, riding on the lawn mower with his grandfather and playing hide-and-seek with his cousins.

  And now it was all gone. Reduced to dust.

  Disgusted, Emanuel forced himself to look away. Sophie reached for his hand. With their fingers intertwined they sat in silence, hoping that Offutt wasn’t going to be another White Sands and that unlike Secundo Casu, the Sunspot was waiting for them.

  * * *

  The Sea Serpent hovered over a graveyard of X-90s. Captain Noble wasn’t fazed. The rover they’d deployed a week before hadn’t just discovered the Sunspot. They’d also discovered a separate hangar full of jets and drones—more than enough to launch his strike.

  Noble sucked in a short breath and opened the door to the cockpit. Standing over the pilot’s shoulder, he scanned the ground for the building. Through the dirt-streaked windshield, Offutt no longer looked like a military base. It looked like a war zone.

  The dust storms had eaten the formidable symbol of American military might inch by inch, leaving behind a trail of collapsed buildings and the twisted wrecks of aircraft. One stronghold remained—a group of buildings at the center of the base that had been protected by the outer buildings.

  “Put us down,” Noble said, “over there.” He pointed to the largest dome-shaped building, hardly recognizable in the sea of dust.

  “Aye aye, sir.” The pilot twisted the cyclic to the right and guided the gunship toward the cluster of thumb-sized hangars. Noble gripped the back of the man’s seat, bracing himself as they descended over the tarmac.

  “Prepare for landing,” the pilot said over the PA system.

  A corona of dust swirled outside the cockpit. The chirp from a warning sensor followed seconds later, prompting Noble to take a seat and buckle in.

  “Good idea, sir,” the pilot said. He moved his hand across the dashboard and activated the center console. The landing zone, marked by a series of red lines, flickered across the display.

  Noble concentrated on the radar screen. “Any sign of dust storms?”

  The pilot looked away from the center console to check. “Looks clear,” he said. “But I wouldn’t trust that piece of hardware.”

  Noble locked eyes with the man. There was no hiding the apprehension in the pilot’s gaze.

  “Can’t predict Mother Nature. Not anymore,” he said. He shifted back to the main console. “The rules have changed, sir. I just hope a storm like those that ruined this base doesn’t show up while we’re here.”

  “How much notice would we have?”

  The pilot shook his head. “Minutes. Maybe a bit more.”

  The chopper landed with a thump. Noble unfastened his belt and patted the pilot on the back. “Keep an eye on things. I want the Sea Serpent ready to go at a moment’s notice.”

  “Aye aye, sir.”

  Taking one last glance out the windshield, Noble headed back to the cargo bay. He was greeted by a dozen helmets and the Biosphere team staring anxiously in his direction. It was odd seeing the children sitting there with their NTC suitcases, as though they were about to board some cruise liner.

  “All right people, we’re moving out in five minutes.” He stood in the center of the cabin and activated the mini map on the main display. “Location A will be our forward operating base. Location B is the hangar housing the NTC Sunspot. As you can see, they are about a mile apart. If one team runs into trouble it will be difficult for the other team to provide support, so stay sharp.”

  Noble searched the group for Sophie. “Doctor Winston, Lieutenant Diego will escort your team. Everyone else, you’re with me.”

  “You heard the man,” Diego shouted. “Let’s move out!”

  The soldiers made final preparations: checking helmets, loading magazines, and stretching.

  Noble followed the soldiers out onto the tarmac, the excitement building inside him with every step. They fanned out and set up a perimeter around the Sea Serpent. Their movements were precise. Calculated. They’d done this a hundred times before.

  Above them, the sky had turned an off gray, taking on the color of the landscape below. A single crimson smear streaked across the horizon like a bloodstain. Noble couldn’t help but wonder if it foreshadowed what was to come.

  He paused outside the lift gate and said, “Hold position.” He winced as he flung the strap of his rifle over his injured shoulder. The pain was still present, but it reminded him he was alive. And if he was alive, he could still fight.

  Sophie and her team stood at the edge of the ramp.

  “Captain,” Sophie said from the ramp. She ran a sleeve across her forehead. “I wanted to thank you. You risked everything to evacuate us.”

  “Any soldier would have done the same.”

  Sophie shook her head. “Not any soldier, Captain.”

  “It was the least we could do after all the intel you’ve given us,” Noble replied.

  She raised a hand to shield her eyes and looked over his shoulder. Then, gesturing with her chin, she said, “You know, it’s not too late to change your mind. You could all come with us to Mars.”

  The comment took the captain by surprise. He hadn’t considered leaving the planet. This was his home. And if he defeated the Organics, he would return to the GOA and help humanity start over.

  “Can’t do that,” he said. “My duty is here. I have to do what I can to take back the planet.”

  She nodded. “I know.”

  “We need to move,” Diego said, his voice low and anxious.

  Noble nodded. “Good luck, Doctor,” he said, reaching out to shake her hand and then turning to the rest of her team. “Good luck to all of you. When you find Doctor Hoffman, tell him . . .” Noble hesitated. The words clung to the tip of his tongue. “Tell him he was wrong about defeating the Organics.”

  “What do you mean?” Sophie asked.

  Noble didn’t answer. He was already moving with his men. Hoffman would understand the cryptic comment when she found him. If she ever found the doctor, he reminded himself.

  “Let’s move!” Noble shouted. He flashed a series of hand signals in the direction of the buildings in the distance. As he moved toward the domed structures, he recalled Kiel’s words.

  What’s left to save? the man had asked. The question echoed in Noble’s mind, and the closer he got to the hangar the more he wondered the same thing. Were there still humans hidden in bunkers and strongholds that he didn’t know about? There have to be, he thought. There are always survivors.

  CHAPTER 23

  SOPHIE felt one of the children tug on her sleeve.

  “It’s soooo hot out here
,” Owen said, looking up at her. Damp hair stuck to his forehead. She offered him a reassuring smile and wiped a strand from his eyes.

  “Don’t worry, we’re almost there,” she said.

  Ahead of them Lieutenant Diego guided the group across the sea of sand. Wind peppered the unprotected team with rocks that stung Sophie’s bare skin. For her, the pain was nothing more than an annoyance, a reminder of the changed world—a world she was ready to leave.

  Out of the corner of her eye she could see the faint outlines of Noble’s men. They were just specks on the horizon now, blurred by the swirling clouds of dust and dirt. She hadn’t thought much more about the strike on the poles. And while she wished Noble the best, she wasn’t concerned much with the outcome. The Earth was already dead to her. The future was, and always had been, on Mars.

  “Almost there. Stay close,” Diego shouted over the growing wind. Another gust hammered Sophie. She winced, but steadied herself with Emanuel’s help. He’d shadowed her every step since they left the Sea Serpent.

  “Thanks,” she said, “but really, I’m fine.”

  Emanuel shot her a pained look. “Really? Because I’m dying over here.”

  Sophie chuckled for the first time in days. Being so close to the Sunspot had brightened her mood. “Don’t worry. We’re almost there.”

  Owen tugged on her sleeve again. “Sorry,” she said, taking his hand and leading him into the wind.

  The entire team pushed forward. A few feet ahead, Jeff pulled David along with his good arm. To the boy’s right, Bouma carried Jamie on his back. And out in front Holly helped Kiel.

  For a moment Sophie felt as though they were missing someone. They had lost Overton, Timothy, and Saafi. They were all still painful memories, but there was someone else.

  Alexia, she thought.