“He’s not here?” Mona frowned. “Then where is he, Waters? Aboard the Arrow?”
“No, he is not on the ship.”
Mona looked exasperated. “Good Lord, if he’s not onboard the Arrow and he’s not here on the planet, then where the hell is he?!”
Lifting his eyes to the dark-blue sky, a pensive expression crossed Bram’s face. “In the short period of time since my escape from the void, I’ve not had the opportunity to locate his mental signature.” Mona was about to make a comment when he held up a hand. “If you’ll give me a moment, I’ll attempt to find him for … all of you.”
Suppressing a smile, Gloria knew the last part of his statement was meant mainly for her. She watched as Bram closed his eyes and took a long, deep breath. All eyes were trained upon him. Even Milosevic, who’d continued to work on replacing the two damaged panels, stopped and stared. No one moved for fear that any sound would break Bram’s concentration. He stood stock-still, his face placid, peaceful, like he’d stopped there to rest his eyes and didn’t have a care in the world. Finally, after a full minute, with Dr. Levin beginning to fidget impatiently, Bram opened his eyes and chuckled softly.
“Well? Did you locate him?” Mona demanded.
“He’s farther away than even I anticipated,” Bram told her. “Just a few days ago, I would’ve never been able to find him, but now—” He shook his head in wonder.
“So, where is he?” Mona snapped, placing her hands on her hips.
“He’s safe, for now.”
Mona huffed with irritation. “And?”
“He’s on Earth.”
There was a collective gasp, followed by a loud chorus of, “On Earth?!”
After that, Bram was peppered with questions, which he endured in stoic silence until Mona finally shouted, “That’s impossible, Waters!”
“Not at all, Dr. Levin. Remember, the ship that carried the original colonists here from Earth arrived through a foldway in space. One second they were in the Sol system and the next they were here. Why is it so hard to believe that the same thing could happen to Solomon?”
“It’s just that—” A look of dejection appeared on her face. “If that’s the case, he may as well be dead. The environment will probably kill him—but even if it doesn’t, we’ll never see him again. Solomon’s gone forever.”
Gloria and Bram exchanged fleeting, yet knowing glances. Was it possible? she wondered. Would Solomon still be alive if they returned to Earth? While musing on this extraordinary idea, she was startled out of her reverie. A voice—Bram’s voice—entered her mind.
“Don’t reveal your father’s secret, it’s not ours to tell.”
Gloria stared into his eyes for a moment before offering up the barest hint of a nod.
•
Turning to face Dr. Levin, Bram was satisfied that Gloria would keep her father’s secret. The man deserved that much respect, if nothing else. After all, it would serve no purpose to expose him now, without the opportunity for him to tell his side of the story. What must it be like to know you’ll live forever? With the abundant dangers facing him, Solomon would need every advantage to stay alive. Judging from Bram’s psychic probe, he sensed that many regions on Earth were still uninhabitable, but Solomon was safe—though all alone. Another surprise was discovering that Solomon had sensed his psychic probe. Bram wasn’t sure what to make of that development.
“Is there an extra jumpsuit I can use?” he asked. “These shorts are starting to wear thin.”
Mona looked down questioningly. The shorts were frayed nearly to the point of immodesty. “Those aren’t standard issue, Mr. Waters. Anyway, if memory serves, there’s a few extra pairs onboard the shuttle. You can change during our trip back to the Arrow.” A note of unhappiness entered her voice as she finished speaking.
“Thank you, but I won’t be returning to the Arrow,” Bram stated. At this revelation, he felt every eye turn to him. He sensed their confusion, especially from Gloria, who seemed particularly upset. “The nanobotic AI must be stopped, and I’m the only one who can do the job.”
“That’s crazy, Bram,” Floyd snapped. “You’ll be killed before you get two feet inside the city. You’re going back to the Arrow, and that’s final.”
“He’s right, Mr. Waters,” Richard declared, his tone unequivocal. “En route to your location, I contacted the ship and discovered that the admiral was removed from command. After reporting the nature of our arrest and subsequent escape, it was determined that we acted accordingly. The Arrow’s command has fallen on my shoulders. At this moment, one hundred and ten security personnel are being decanted from their cryotanks in preparation for an all-out assault on New Terra. Rest assured, we’ll find that damnable AI and destroy it.”
“The only thing you’ll accomplish, Commander, is to get a lot of people on both sides killed, without touching Athena.” He could tell that Commander Allison was not happy with what he was hearing. “Athena is located deep underground in a hardened bunker, where not even a bunker-busting bomb or a nuclear blast can reach.”
“If that’s true, what good will one man—even one such as yourself—be able to do?”
“Athena has one fatal flaw: arrogance. I believe it will not only want to see me, it will be compelled to see me, if only to try and defeat me personally, and therefore prove that humans are not superior to machines.”
“You’re daft! What bloody weapon can you use in a hornet’s nest?” Floyd asked. His voice was gruff with ridicule, yet Bram could sense the man’s deep concern.
“The only weapon I’ll need is my mind,” he asserted. Before any of them could mount an objection, he pressed on. “Once you make it back to the ship, Commander, it is imperative that you give the order to abandon this mission.”
The group was in shock by Bram’s outrageous demand, staring in silence until Richard finally yelped, “The hell you say!”
Bram clasped his hands behind his back in resolute determination. “This planet is unsuited for human habitation,” he announced. “Besides, as I previously explained, there’s an intelligent creature already living here. Despite its intelligence, it does not possess our empathetic nature: it wants to consume us. In fact, we have no real future here. This planet is inhospitable to our long-term evolutionary goals, and we must return to Earth.”
Not knowing what to think, the others waited on the commander’s reply. He stood in silence with a thoughtful expression on his face. Dr. Levin was gritting her teeth in frustration.
“This is preposterous, Commander,” she fumed. “You can’t be taking this man’s suggestion seriously. After all the years that Dr. Chavez and I put into this mission, it would be a travesty for us to turn back now.”
Bram turned a compassionate gaze her way. “Wasn’t one of the contingency plans a return to Earth, should none of the planets orbiting Epsilon Eridani prove habitable? I believe Solomon would understand should the mission be forced to alter its objective, Dr. Levin.”
“How would you know?” she yelled. “You barely even knew the man.”
Unable to keep a smile off his face, Bram glanced over at Gloria and chuckled. “Believe me, Dr. Levin; I know him better than you think.”
30
Having finally convinced Commander Allison that it was in humanity’s best interest to return to Earth, Bram sat in the shuttle as it flew toward the city, daunted by the task before him. Soon after boarding the craft, a series of premonitions put him in a somber mood. All involved his forthcoming encounter with Athena, with nearly every premonition ending in his death.
A light hand touched his arm.
“Are you sure there’s nothing I can do to help?” Gloria asked for the third time.
Again, Bram shook his head. Gazing into her coal-black eyes, he sensed that her feelings for him had deepened since their arrival on the planet. He cared for her as well and for a split second found himself with a desire to damn the consequences and return with her to the Arrow. But he couldn’t allow
that to happen. It would be better for her to remember him as a hero than to live the rest of her life knowing the cost of his selfishness.
The shuttle was nearing the spot where they would drop him off. Commander Allison was at the helm, having taken over the controls from Dr. Levin, who sat in the copilot’s seat, wordlessly staring out the window the entire flight. She was unhappy yet resigned to the idea of returning to the Arrow. Commander Allison had assured her that her escape from the brig would not be held against her; apparently saving her shipmates from certain death was enough to put one in good standing.
As the shuttle made its descent, Mona said, “I still don’t understand why we’re kowtowing to a talking mushroom.”
Bram tried again to make her understand. “This so-called talking mushroom is sentient, Dr. Levin—but not benevolent. If it had its way, it would have us all for dinner—as the main course, not as guests. The New Terrans have been harvesting the fungus since shortly after their arrival, and for most of that time, the electronic shielding in their brains blocked exposure to its psychic snares. We don’t have that luxury. If we were to stay, we’d lose many people to the fungus’s appetite … unless we give up natural childbirth in favor of the New Terran birthing method.”
“Perhaps we can strike a peace treaty,” Mona speculated. “After all, you and Solomon and Lt. Muldoon survived your encounter with the creature.”
“This is true; however, there were … extenuating circumstances.”
As the shuttle settled to the ground, Commander Allison said, “The details of which both you and Lt. Muldoon have glossed over.”
“I’m sorry, Commander, but it’s not my place to provide those details.” For the first time, Bram wished he was already inside the city.
“Well then, whose place is it, Mr. Waters?” Mona demanded to know.
“If I succeed, and manage to rejoin you, and we return to Earth, and certain conditions are met, then everything will be explained.”
Bram didn’t like being evasive, but it was necessary. He sent a psychic message to Gloria: “If I don’t survive my encounter with Athena, it’ll be up to you to tell them about your father … if he’s not alive to tell them for himself, of course.”
Gloria averted her gaze, not wanting Bram to see the depth of her sorrow. She needn’t have bothered; he sensed her pain. The man she’d fallen in love with was on the verge of being killed, and she held little hope of ever again seeing her newly discovered father. At that moment, Bram desperately wanted to express his own love but knew it would only make matters worse. Instead, he stood and moved toward the exit.
Floyd grabbed his wrist. “You ain’t passing through that exit without saying goodbye, Bram.” Leaping to his feet, Floyd wrapped him in a crushing embrace.
“I’d kiss you goodbye, you big oaf,” Bram chuckled, “but you might get the wrong idea.”
“Or the right one,” Floyd quipped. With a boisterous laugh, he slapped Bram on the shoulder.
The access ramp had just touched the ground.
“Good luck, Mr. Waters,” said Richard Allison. “I hope you know what you’re doing.”
“Thank you, Commander. There’s no reward without risks, am I right?”
Bram took his first steps down the ramp. On reflex he glanced back at Gloria, hoping to gaze into her eyes one last time. She was staring down at her hands, which were resting limply in her lap. As he turned to go he hesitated, sensing that Dr. Levin had something to say.
“Mr. Waters,” she sighed. “If you plan to take on the nanobotic AI by yourself, you’ll need more than luck, you’ll need a plan. Are you sure you’ve thought this through?”
“One way or another, that fucker’s going down, Dr. Levin,” Bram vowed.
“How will we know you’ve succeeded?” Concern radiated from her in waves, like a stretch of asphalt in July.
“No matter what, you must leave orbit as quickly as possible,” he declared. “Believe me, you’ll know if I’ve failed. The moment the ship tries to break orbit, the AI will swarm from its bunker and intercept the Arrow before the ship can gain enough momentum to outrun it. If that happens, then all hope is lost.”
Before she could ask the next obvious question, Bram continued. “As for why it hasn’t done so already, I’m truly at a loss. Perhaps it wants the passengers and crew off the ship before it tries anything, thinking it’ll be easier to gain control without anyone onboard to fight back.”
“Probably so, but if I’ve learned anything, Mr. Waters,” she reflected, “it’s that things don’t always go as planned. I don’t really know you, but I read your book a few years back and, despite being a scientist and thinking half of it was bullshit, I also realized that you are a man unafraid to put your life on the line for a cause you believe in. If nothing else, that’s an admirable quality, one which the human race needs more of. So, if you happen to survive, and the women of New Terra don’t tear you limb from limb, I hope you instill that same selfless quality in your progeny, should you have any.”
At the end of Dr. Levin’s speech, Bram sensed that her words had sparked a reckless desire in Gloria to stay behind and be with him. Without looking back, he offered his thanks and hurried down the ramp. In a matter of seconds, Bram put hundreds of yards between him and the shuttle, which was lifting off with Gloria still onboard. Good, he thought, for if she’d voiced her desire to stay behind, he’d have been unable to refuse her. Gloria was the polar opposite of the only other woman he’d ever loved, yet there was something about her that struck a chord in his soul. Now she was gone, and his feelings for her were secondary. He had a job to do, and do it he must—for the fate of humanity and every other sentient creature in the universe rested on his shoulders.
Bram raced toward the city, his resolve strengthening. A multitude of possible futures were winnowing down, leaving six outcomes behind, only two out of which were positive; of those two, only one outcome contained his survival. A single misstep and his life—and the life of everyone he cared for—would end.
He could see the city in the distance, which grew in size every step he took. Though he was running faster than humanly possible, he showed no signs of fatigue. He was tapping into an inexhaustible energy source, a source that lay beyond time and space, which precluded a need for physical fuel.
He began to slow, and as he did so, the city gates began to open … as expected. With chin held high and shoulders back, Bram strode fearlessly into New Terra. A contingent of fourteen, spiky-haired Minders waited for him inside. Positioned at their lead were Doric Sardis and Morvan Godley, neither of whom appeared happy to see him.
Stepping forward, Doric eyed him suspiciously. “We were told by the Lord to come here and await your arrival, Mr. Waters.” Four Minders positioned themselves on either side of her, stun-batons at the ready. “Due to the despicably treacherous murder of Lorna Threman, I have been appointed chancellor of New Terra. My first act is to place you under arrest as an accomplice in Lorna’s murder. Please come quietly. I would prefer that we not use drastic measures. The Prime Keeper will see to your atonement.”
“My friends did not kill Lorna Threman, and I have no intention of coming with you,” Bram stated in a calm, rather convivial, manner, “whether it be quietly or not, Chancellor Sardis.”
The last time Bram had seen her, Doric Sardis had been bald, but now her hair was long and blonde. That must be a wig, Bram thought. He was amazed at how closely she resembled the former chancellor.
The young woman’s face grew red with anger. “I don’t see that you have much of a choice,” she snapped, motioning to the Minder at her side.
In a flash, the guard leveled her stun-baton and pointed it at Bram’s chest. Her thumb was in the act of depressing the trigger when a gasp of surprise escaped her lips. The weapon fired, but instead of connecting with Bram, it splintered the gate behind him. He’d moved so quickly that he seemed to disappear. Without looking back, he rounded a corner down the street.
After
racing by a number of startled pedestrians, Bram stopped in front of the first foldway he encountered. Two sandy-haired young women, in green, matching, see-through dresses, squeaked with fear and backed quickly away from the foldway.
“Open a passage to your bunker, Athena,” Bram whispered. “We have much to discuss.”
The darkness inside the foldway promptly shimmered, revealing a dimly lit room on the other side. Stepping through the foldway arch, Bram looked around: he wasn’t in the AI’s bunker.
The lights in the completely empty room brightened, followed immediately by a honey-sweet voice that said, “Welcome, Mr. Waters, to the Room of Atonement.”
Bram suppressed a knowing grin.
•
The first thing Richard did after boarding the Arrow was to go straight to Admiral Axelrod’s quarters. While the crew readied the ship for departure, he intended to witness for himself the changes brought on by her brainwashing.
When he entered, she was standing with her back to the door, gazing at an HV photo of the crab nebula hanging on the wall beside her bed. It was the first time Richard had seen her out of uniform, and the sight of her wearing a pink robe and matching slippers made her situation all the more real. If he hadn’t already known her as “The Battleaxe,” he might’ve easily mistaken her for just any other normal, middle-aged woman preparing for bed.
“Thank you for seeing me, Admiral.”
She turned to face him, and Richard saw the dark circles under her eyes.
“I’ve read the report that claims I was conditioned during my surgery, Commander,” she confessed. “I … I don’t feel any different. However, if the report is accurate, and I have reason to believe it is, then I can think of no better person to command this ship than you. Now, what did you want to speak to me about?”
The two of them sat down opposite each other at her small kitchen table.
“Have you read the report about the nanobotic AI?” Richard asked.
Her eyes went blank for a fraction of a second. “I was deeply sorry to hear about the losses suffered by the landing party after my return to the ship, Commander,” she said. “Now, what was it you wanted to speak to me about?”
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