Heaven’s Fall

by David S. Goyer

  He thought about the rest of the planet . . . the same thing for them. Would they be better off with the Aggregates largely gone, or weakened?

  Or, their big mission in ruins, assuming that Whit could ruin it—would they be more vulnerable to attack? Or would they be ruthless in taking revenge?

  He thought about this target world who-knew-how-many-light-years distant and how his actions might spare them the Aggregate invasion.

  As he thought, he followed the progress of the count. He noted imagery from the staging areas as the tanks and tankers and other vehicles lined up in arrow-shaped formations . . . ready for the Ring cone to turn toward them.

  He noted the insane amount of traffic on his screen, a constant flow of words, numbers, images . . . as if every component of the Ring facility larger than a cell phone were reporting in. Which was probably what it meant.

  Through it all, he kept returning to the purple rectangle on the corner . . . the icon inert, not yet enabled, ready to go live in the last half hour.

  The one he would have to click to authorize the final automatic actions of the Ring.

  As he stared, a new window appeared next to it, a news camera image of what appeared to be a meteor streaking across the sky.

  It was coming from Counselor Kate’s station. “What am I seeing?” he asked her, on their private link.

  “Apparently Keanu has launched an object toward Earth. The NEO has moved, too, and is coming closer.”

  “Are we under attack?” He wasn’t at all surprised that the humans on Keanu might know about the Ring or be trying to attack it, even if it meant that they would be attacking Whit Murray, too.

  “No one seems to know.”

  “Where is this information coming from?”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Is this on the Aggregate networks?”

  “No,” she said. “It’s just a Free Nation news feed—”

  “Block it,” he said.

  “But—”

  “Goddammit, didn’t you just tell me we were entering the terminal phase? We have forty-some minutes to go! Nobody needs any distractions!”

  The window vanished from his screen.

  “Thank you.”

  Counselor Kate said nothing.

  Whit considered his next steps. The OVERRIDE icon would go live in moments, at which point he would click MANUAL, and if there was a God, or Aggregate Carbon-143 had done her job, select UPDATE and RETURN TO AUTO.

  Then what? Run? Surrounded by Aggregates, he would be lucky to reach the exit, much less the outdoors, much less someplace safe.

  He knew the Adventure humans were present and willing to help him . . . but he had no idea how to find them.

  All right, then, your plan is hit the right switch, then excuse yourself to go to the bathroom.

  Even as he thought it, he knew it was hopeless, lame. He had to accept the fact that his best option was dead hero.

  “Murray!” That was Counselor Kate’s voice, but not through the link. Whit turned.

  Counselor Kate was behind him, and she looked shaken. With her were her two THE companions, Counselors Margot and Hans. They had been present in the control center all during the morning but generally out of Whit’s view.

  “Step away from the console,” Counselor Hans said.

  Oh God, Whit thought. He forced himself to say, “Why?”

  “Your behavior is suspect,” Counselor Margot said.

  “You shut down information flow,” Counselor Kate said.

  “For good reason.”

  “It’s inconsistent with your past behavior,” Counselor Hans said. “Step away.”

  The countdown voice said, “One minute.” The OVERRIDE icon glowed.

  “I think your behavior is suspect!” Whit suddenly shouted. He jumped to his feet, pointed at Counselor Hans. “They’re trying to wreck the operation!”

  The Aggregates to either side buzzed into motion, quickly closing on the trio from THE and giving Whit time to click MANUAL, then, as Counselor Hans screamed, “You have to stop him!” UPDATE and AUTO.

  The purple window disappeared.

  Other Aggregates joined the struggle. They were no longer needed at their consoles; Fire Light couldn’t be stopped now. It was like a rocket with engines igniting just seconds prior to liftoff; shutting it down would only destroy it.

  Whit stood back from the console, hands raised. “Fine, I’m suspect? Let’s settle this elsewhere.” And he allowed himself to be hustled toward the rear of the control room by a trio of Aggregates.

  Before they could reach the door, Whit thought he smelled smoke of some kind. Then he saw a cloud of vapor descending from overhead vents.

  The door opened, revealing a giant, strange-looking being with four arms.

  Then Whit fell down.

  FIRE LIGHT

  IN PROGRESS

  IGNITION

  21 MAY 2040 0001:00 MDT

  COUNTDOWN CLOCK AT SITE A

  RACHEL

  “Did you see that?”

  Yahvi turned away from the window with such a look of pure joy and wonder that Rachel almost forgot how much trouble they were in. Her child was happy, and that was all that mattered. “It was a glowing ball flying through the sky!”

  Rachel joined Yahvi. The window looked south to a corner of one of the staging areas and its collection of vehicles. Beyond that lay a high desert plateau.

  And in the sky . . . a bright light moving from the southwest.

  “Looks like an aircraft,” Pav said.

  “It’s moving too fast,” Rachel said.

  So fast, in fact, that it grew to the size of a coin held at arm’s length, then vanished somewhere to the east.

  “Well,” Rachel said, “what do you think?”

  Pav’s face showed the beginnings of a smile, one of Rachel’s favorite looks. “It’s what I saw at Bangalore and you saw at Houston.”

  He was still being a bit too cagey, bless him, but nevertheless confirmed Rachel’s hopeful conclusion:

  What she had seen flashing across the sky, touching down somewhere nearby, was a vesicle, a Keanu-launched object crewed by Zhao Buoming and Makali Pillay and, apparently, Sanjay Bhat and several others, and equipped with enough nasty shit to wipe the Reiver Aggregates off the face of the Earth.

  And maybe take Rachel and crew back to Keanu.

  “I hear you!” Yahvi suddenly said. She walked to the other side of the small room, her hand to her head.

  Pav reached for her, ostensibly to keep her from saying anything too revealing, but Rachel stopped him. “Surveillance won’t mean anything now. Either it’s working or it isn’t.”

  “Is that the vesicle calling?” Tea said.

  “Keanu,” Yahvi said, her face scrunched up.

  “Say that again, please!” Yahvi looked horrified as she and Rachel suffered through the lag. Then Yahvi nodded and told the others: “We have to get to the vesicle now.”

  “And what then? Fly us back to Keanu?”

  “Yes.”

  “That’s going to be difficult,” Pav said.

  “It can’t be more than a few kilometers!” Rachel said.

  “And we’re surrounded by thousands of Reivers!”

  She slapped Pav on the shoulder. “Have a little faith!”

  She desperately wanted to take her own advice.

  When Rachel and Yahvi reached Zeds, the Sentry was already afloat in his pool, looking more serene than he had since leaving Keanu.

  Rachel had no idea what his “malady” was, or what Yahvi was supposed to do about it. But her daughter displayed a surprising flair for improvisation, asking pointed questions about Zeds’s physical parameter
s, then insisting that de la Vega immediately bring her items that someone unfamiliar with Sentry dietary needs would find exotic.

  The resulting moments of chaos gave Zeds time to tell Yahvi about the timing of the cyberattack on the Ring and his plans for evasion and escape.

  Rachel would have loved to know more, but de la Vega was soon on them. And they were forced to leave Zeds.

  While being escorted back to their quarters, they passed Xavier, who was in his glory, giving orders and issuing pointed criticism of those around him like an arrogant chef in a busy kitchen.

  He did manage to wink at Rachel.

  Returning to their cell with Counselors Cory and Ivetta, they found Pav, Tea, and Colin Edgely being guarded by Counselor Nigel.

  “Now what?” Rachel said brightly, once they were all together. “Still restricted to base, I see.”

  “Actually, to this room,” Tea said.

  “Could we help Xavier?” Edgely said.

  Rachel sympathized; she knew the Aussie astronomer just wanted to get out of the room. But Xavier and Zeds needed no distractions. Everything depended on their success with the Aggregate replacement parts and related actions. “He’s doing fine without us,” she said.

  Counselor Ivetta said, “You’ll be here for the next two days.”

  “Then what? Free to go? That would be great!” Rachel smiled at Tea. “You could be our guide to the Grand Canyon!”

  Tea was ready to tweak their captors. “Yeah, I’ve visited a lot. I bet we could drive there in a couple of hours.”

  “Why only two days?” Pav said.

  Counselor Nigel looked troubled. “Our briefings only cover that time.”

  At that moment, a boom shook the building. Counselor Cory said, “What was that?”

  Counselors Nigel and Ivetta rose. “Let’s find out.” All three walked out, leaving Rachel to contemplate the meaning of “two days.” It could not have been good.

  That was when Yahvi squealed.

  To Rachel, it felt strange to be locked in one room while important things were going on a few meters away. It was like huddling in your house while a tropical storm raged outside—only silently.

  And while grateful for the welcome sight of the vesicle, she longed for a view to the north, toward the Ring itself. Would she be able to see the cone? Would it be like some giant searchlight waving from one direction to another?

  Didn’t matter.

  They could hear shouts through the door, then crashes, as if furniture had been knocked over.

  “What’s going on out there?” Tea said. She leaned close to the door to hear, then quickly pulled back, fanning the air. “Oh, God, that’s nasty—”

  “Get to the window,” Pav said.

  Before Rachel could even speculate about what might be going on, the door opened. It was Xavier, looking sweaty and out of breath. Under his arm he carried two mesh bags filled with gray balls the size of oranges.

  “Time to go,” he announced. “And you’re welcome.”

  “What’s going on?” Edgely said.

  “The guards seem to be falling asleep,” Xavier said. “But they won’t be out for long.”

  “Where’s Zeds?” Rachel said.

  “Playing Sandman to a bunch of other guards.”

  Emerging from their jail cell, they saw a pair of human guards flat out, unconscious. One of them had collapsed on a table, knocking a lamp to the floor. “They look dead,” Yahvi said. She didn’t sound especially concerned, just curious.

  “This stuff really puts you out, I think,” Xavier said. “I hope so. It’s supposed to work on humans and Reivers.”

  They all ran for the nearest stairway, passing another guard and an entire THE trio who had been laid out. They stopped at the door to the stairwell.

  “I think someone’s coming up,” Tea said.

  Pav turned to Xavier. “Give me one of those bags.”

  Xavier handed it over. “Just make sure you hit something, so they burst.”

  Rachel gathered Yahvi, and Tea grabbed Edgely. All four dropped behind a nearby desk as Xavier opened the stairway door and Pav threw one, then two balls through the opening.

  There was a shout. Xavier slammed the door.

  Everyone waited. Rachel’s heart beat so strongly it made her shake.

  “We should wait for the gas to clear,” Xavier said.

  “How long?” Rachel said.

  “Only a minute. It mutates when it’s exposed to air, supposed to be harmless then.”

  “What is it?” Edgely asked.

  “‘Neo-fentanyl,’ they say. Sound familiar?”

  “Not to me.”

  Tea said, “And how did you get it?”

  “Made it, of course,” Xavier said. “At the same time we were turning out new pieces for the Ring. When I uploaded those specs to Keanu, I just wrote on them, Give me something to knock people out.” He hefted the bag with a grin. “I wish I’d had this when we landed in India!

  “We should be good now,” Xavier said. “Let’s roll.”

  It was a quick trip down two flights of stairs to a loading dock, where several vehicles were parked. There were no guards.

  Pav was in his element, running to a green sport-utility vehicle and opening the door. Not finding what he wanted, he moved to the next, then a third. “Keys in this one!”

  “No,” Xavier said, pointing to a gray van. “This one.”

  They ran toward it, and Rachel could see that there were items in the back end: a printer and three cartons of Substance K.

  “Sorry,” Xavier said, “but I stopped here before getting you.”

  “Smart move, I hope,” Rachel said.

  The vehicle was big enough to hold them. “Everybody in,” she said. She headed for the shotgun seat, then stopped. “All right, a basic question . . . who knows how to drive?”

  “Me,” Tea said.

  “Good,” Rachel said. “I never learned—”

  “Me neither,” Pav said.

  “And I’m out of practice,” Xavier said.

  They had just closed the doors when Yahvi said, “Zeds isn’t here!”

  Rachel knew that. She also knew that if any of them were to get off Earth, they had to leave this place now. She feared that the Ring was about to ignite, frying everything for kilometers around, and that they were already too late.

  “We’re going,” she said.

  Tea started the engine.

  “You can’t!” Yahvi shrieked, throwing herself at Rachel from the backseat.

  “We have to go now!” She turned to her daughter. The look on her face must have been savage, because Yahvi retreated as if pulled from behind.

  Pav put his arm around her.

  The van pulled out.

  Emerging from the loading dock into the bright desert sunlight, Rachel wished for sunglasses.

  And directions. “Which way?” Tea said, steering them out of a parking lot. A train station lay in front of them. An asphalt road led to the right and one of the giant vehicle staging areas.

  A dirt road ran to the left, hugging the base of a hill. “Left!” Rachel said. “The vesicle came down north and east of here, right, Yahvi?”

  Yahvi blinked again. “Yes.”

  “Are you linked?” Xavier said.

  “Not really,” she said. “I hear bursts, words.”

  “It would be great if Zhao could vector us in.”

  The dirt road was bumpy but well traveled, and it took them along the south and east side of the Ring mirrors. Rachel found herself trying to look up at the brilliant squares suspended atop their towers . . . now and then, as the van turned, she saw the huge spire of the central projector.

  It appeared to be lit, as if ready to fire.

  Then the hill to their right gave way to f
latter ground . . . and a clear view of a staging area filled with hundreds, possibly thousands of tanks and other invasion vehicles. Some of them were moving around the edge of the area, kicking up faint geysers of dust.

  The others saw it, too. “Oh, shit, what if they start chasing us?” Edgely said.

  “I think they’re too busy with their invasion,” Pav said.

  “You hope,” Xavier said.

  Tea gunned the van, subjecting them to teeth-rattling bounces. “Sorry!” she said.

  “Don’t worry,” Rachel shouted. “Keep going.”

  She looked out her window, seeing nothing but stark, bare rocky peaks now.

  Where was the vesicle?

  They drove in silence for another fifteen minutes, passing through rugged canyons and across two different dry washes. Finally Tea said, “I make it a dozen clicks,” she said. “Any ideas?”

  “Other than keep going?” Rachel said.

  “There!” Pav shouted.

  Rachel saw it then, too . . . In a high desert meadow was a giant white sphere thirty meters or so across, maybe twice that high, sunk two thirds deep in a field of yellow stalks.

  It was rotating slowly.

  “End of the road,” Tea said. The road continued parallel to the vesicle, then turned back to the north and west.

  They stopped and got out. As they did, Rachel saw that a truck had pulled over on the other side of the vesicle. A family of what looked like Native Americans huddled there, fascinated and probably terrified, too. “Get away!” she shouted, waving her arms. But they didn’t move.

  “I hear them!” Yahvi said. “It’s Sanjay!” She bounced up on her toes. “He says to wait, that the whole vesicle is going to expand or something.”

  Rachel remembered that rainy night in Houston, her need to see the recently landed Object because it was a link to her father, then lost somewhere on Keanu. How, as she and Harley and others had watched, the giant blob grew and grew, its skin becoming just porous enough to absorb them all—

  “All right,” Rachel said. “We have some decisions to make.” She was torn by conflicting emotions but struggled to be the leader. She couldn’t believe that her visit to Earth was ending, especially since nothing had gone as planned or expected. There was so much left to do! But no more time. “We’re going,” she said, pointing to Pav and Yahvi and Xavier. “Tea?”