“Raine.” He remembered something the man initially said, which had been bothering him. “You said ‘a hundred years.’ You know-” He hesitated, not sure of the term. “-that I’m an Ark survivor?”
Another cackle. “Word gets around… word gets around, my friend. How many days you been here? Amazed you’re still alive.” The old man’s eyes narrowed. “Most don’t last long.” He sniffed the air. “I’m Kvasir.”
“Thanks, Kvasir.” A bump jostled Raine, and he winced. He looked at his shoulder. “How’s my arm?”
“Seen worse. Will have to unwrap it at my place. Got a real lab there. Be able to take a good look then. But you got those nanotrites. Probably why you’re still alive. Damn things can be useful. Sometimes.”
“You know about… nanotrites?”
The man laughed loudly, head back, a bark up at the desert sky.
“Know about ’em?” Another laugh. “You might say that.”
Kvasir shook his head at the private joke.
“I was headed to Wellspring.” Raine took a breath. “Or maybe you knew that, too?”
Kvasir took the sarcastic question in earnest. “No. Can’t say that I did. Not surprised, though. Out here, where else would you go?” The tractor hit another bump, moving through a ravine. On either side Raine saw a jumble of random chunks of metal that seemed to stretch the length of the pass.
“Not sure how long you would have lasted there. Still, I guess you’re thinking about what options you actually got.” He looked at Raine again. “Let me tell you, that’s the right thing to be thinking about: options, my friend.”
“If you say so. Where is… what is your place?”
“You’ll see, Raine. For now”-another grin-“just enjoy the ride. Getting dark. Don’t want to be out here in the dark.”
Raine got as comfortable as he could in the seat as Kvasir took him wherever he was taking him. • • •
The ravine opened up to a huge, craterlike gash in the ground ahead. The sun was down, but the sky still had enough light for Raine to see…
A bridge with a gate at one end, leading across the massive hole in the ground, up to a stony hummock with a building on it. Like everything he’d seen in this world, the building seemed made of three or four different structures slapped together.
Kvasir stopped at the gate, pulling up to a device Raine hadn’t thought he’d ever see again. Out of a small speaker-like those from a fast-food drive-thru-a voice.
Kvasir’s own.
“Who’s there? Go away! Don’t want to see anybody.”
The old man calmly ignored his recorded self and said his name: “Kvasir.”
The metal barrier opened up, pulled by a rickety gear and pulley system. Raine noticed it wouldn’t be too hard to ram right through it, so he wasn’t sure how much security it gave Kvasir.
“That sounded like your voice.”
“It was. Works even when I’m not home. I call it ‘voice recognition.’ ”
Raine grinned. “Never catch on,” he said.
Kvasir caught the sarcasm.
“Oh you think that because you had everything in the past, that what we do-what we make -all means nothing?”
“No. I just meant-”
“You may have had all that. So much. And when you weren’t wasting it, you were using it to kill yourselves. And in the end, when the rock fell, what the hell good did any of it do for you?”
“Apparently not much.”
The bridge swayed with the weight and movement of the tractor.
Neither spoke for a moment.
Kvasir might have saved his life, but he also was pretty damn prickly. Raine wished the old man would start cackling again.
Then, like a cloud passing, Kvasir said, “Ah… who can blame you? It’s what makes us humans and not muties, hm?”
Finally they got off the swaying bridge, leaving the disturbing creaking of the metal braces behind, and Kvasir pulled up to his “place.”
Raine walked in, and immediately saw that Kvasir’s home was more like a science lab: tables with microscopes, a row of computer screens, a mechanical arm suspended from the ceiling ending in a series of pointed tools-something out of an operating room or a nuclear lab. Shelves with jars. The smell was of chemicals and machine oil.
Off to the side, in a smaller room, a cot-sized bed was just visible.
Kvasir threw a switch, and Raine heard the sound of an engine from outside.
“Gets cold up here. At night, at least. Got a heater. Uses my ‘special blend’ of fuel. Burns like gas, but I can stretch farther than I could with petrol. Even runs my tractor, but it’s useless for anything like regular buggies. I’m working on it, though.” He nodded to the sound outside. “The generator charges my batteries. And that’s the five-cent tour. Okay-lie down.”
“Hm?”
Kavsir pointed to a metal table. He went to it and cleared a microscope and metal trays.
“Go on. Lie down here. Can’t leave your arm like that, nanotrites or no nanotrites. Got to get something on it. Maybe sew it up a bit.”
“You’re a doctor?”
The cackle came back. “Not exactly. Research is what I do. But I have some of the Mendicants’ herbs. And I know how to sew.”
“Mendicants?”
“They grow the herbs. Sometimes they work. Sometimes they don’t. We’ll see. Now come on, you’ve had that wound just wrapped up for way too long.”
Options, Raine thought. None now but to let this crazy guy look at his wound.
He lay down on the table.
“Well well,” Kvasir said, unwrapping the wound. “Yessir… the nanotrites are definitely doing their work. Almost hard to tell how deep the wound went. Pretty incredible things.” He spread a cream-colored paste on the wound.
It felt cool, and stung when it hit the wound. Other than that, Raine felt nothing.
Kvasir continued. “Those little bastard are good at rebuilding tissue and killing an infection. And I do mean kill. ”
“In my eyes”-Raine wondered whether Kvasir knew that he could see his recovery appear in front of his eyes-“they show that they’ve still got work to do.”
Kvasir didn’t look up-so no surprise at that, either.
“Oh, sure. You need more time. And I do think you should let me sew it up. Take a long time for them to seal you up. Make new skin, and all that. Couple of days at least. The stitches will help that process-that’s the ticket.”
“Okay. Go ahead.”
Kvasir leaned close. His hands still unwashed from their trip, wrinkled, covered with the dust of the desert.
“You know, I don’t really have a local anesthetic. Got something from the Medicants… takes you away a bit. But that’s all.” He sniffed. “It will hurt.”
“I’m okay. Go on.”
Kvasir nodded. He turned and put on plastic gloves, not a pristine pair but a pair he took from a nearby wall.
Then pieces of thread. A needle that looked too big.
Raine looked away.
More steps, and Kvasir was back with some leaves.
“Chew ’em. Chew, turn them into mush. Then swallow.”
Raine took the leaves with his good hand and put them in his mouth.
He started chewing.
In seconds, he seemed to be aware of more things: the sound of Kvasir moving things; the engine outside; the chemical smells, more intense. Then for a moment, he thought he wasn’t really there at all, but back on the desert floor, bleeding out.
Hallucinating that he had been rescued.
He felt the needle go in, except the needle was miles away.
The device with the long arm was above him, now holding a massive magnifying glass above his wound.
The needle began going in and under, then out, pulling its thread, weaving a line to lace the wound tight.
It hurt, but there were so many other sensations to pay attention to.
He barely heard Kvasir say, “Okay, it’s done. Ain’t pret
ty. But sealed up. The ’trites should have you in good shape by tomorrow.”
The words addressed to someone else. The room suddenly a warm, sheltering place. His eyes heavy. Sleep seemed irresistible.
He didn’t resist.
He woke up on the same metal table. The room was dark save for a light coming from the other room, the small bedroom he had noticed on his way in. He leaned up, the surreal feel of the room gone, now back to its reality. The pungent smells, but not so intense. The puttering of the generator, but not quite so loud.
He had no idea what time it was.
“Hello? Kvasir?”
Raine looked down at his arm. Definitely not pretty, but the wound was closed. And amazingly, it already had a scab forming down the line of the stitches. He touched it with his other hand.
A bit of a sting, but not bad at all.
He heard feet hit the ground. Kvasir getting off his bed.
Raine used his good arm to sit up.
Kvasir threw a switch, and the room lit up, painfully bright. The scientist frowned and blinked in the light.
“Thought you would sleep till morning.”
“Sorry. Feeling okay. It’s kinda-” He gestured at the table-“hard.”
Kvasir moved his head from side to side. “Yeah, well couldn’t exactly lift you, now could I?” He sniffed again. “I put a cot over there.” He turned away and started shuffling back to his room.
“Thanks, Kvasir. I owe you.”
Without turning around, Kvasir grunted.
“I know.”
As he disappeared into his room, he muttered as to himself, “Doesn’t everybody in this world?”
Nothing for a second.
Then: “Raine. Listen. I’ll tell you things. In the morning.”
Raine wondered what that meant. Things? His debt to him?
Or something else.
“I’ll be here.”
Kvasir made one last barking laugh, and Raine went over to the cot to sleep.
TWENTY-FOUR
SECRETS AND LIES
Kvasir hovered over Raine.
“There’s a hot drink for you. Over there,” he said, pointing to a nearby table. “And some food. I guess you’re used to eating the synthetics by now.”
Raine nodded. He took a breath and sat up, rubbing his eyes. How long had he been sleeping?
Not much light got in here.
“Thanks.”
Kvasir was already walking back to his worktable, filled with instruments and trays, his workday-whatever that was-already begun.
The old man sat on a metal stool and peered down at one tray.
“Took a look at your buggy. It’s fine now.”
“The problem?”
Kvasir shook his head. “Fuel line clogged. You can only burn that crap they use for fuel for so long before you have to go in and clean it out.” He looked up from his work. “Didn’t they tell you anything?”
“Not much.”
“Well, you better learn how to repair your buggy yourself or you won’t last long.” A snort. “Not that you’ll last long anyway.”
Raine walked over to a side table. A chipped mug with a hot liquid. Tiny cloud vapors rose from it. Next to it, a chunk of something to eat. Cheese, bread, soy, chemicals? All of the above?
He picked up the warm mug and took it over to Kvasir’s table.
“How long did I sleep?”
“Through the night and most of the day. Guess your ’trites needed time to do the repairs.” He looked up again, eyes narrowed. No cackles yet today. Definitely in a more serious mood. “How’s it feel?”
“Good. I think.” Raine raised his injured arm above his head. “Yeah, almost like nothing happened. Even after the stitches. Guess the nanotrites are one bit of tech from the past… that’s turned out well.”
The laugh. Directed right at Raine. “Oh, really?”
Kvasir dropped the two metal scalpels that he held and they clattered onto a tray. Raine saw that he had been doing something to a rock, a clunky analog microscope nearby.
“You think so?”
Then again the grin.
“Think again. ”
Kvasir paced as he spoke.
“Sure, the nanotrites are wonderful biomachines. They’d do incredible things for you. Lifesaving things. Or so it seemed. Then something happened.” He stopped by Raine and looked him right in the eye. “Those miracle machines could turn bad.”
“I don’t get it.”
“Not with everyone, not all at once, but they can take over in a way that nobody saw coming. Instead of healing, the ’trites started changing. Some people just died from them. They were the lucky ones.”
Kvasir’s laughs had vanished. His face was set now, grim.
“You think the asteroid, that radiation, made all the muties? Think again, stranger.
“Sure, the asteroid may have made some of them, the subsequent radiation and all that. But when the Authority began experimenting with mutants and the ’trites, suddenly those savages were everywhere.”
“What? The Authority made muties?”
Kvasir shrugged. “Word is they took people, prisoners, and regular mutants, too… and let the nanotrites take over. Maybe like those things you left dead on the desert floor.” He sniffed the air. “Bottom line, they turned people into muties using the nanotrites, and also made the mutants worse. ” He took a breath. “Nice folk, huh?”
“And they just let them out, let them escape?”
Kvasir grew quiet. Not saying anything, as if he had something secret and debated telling Raine. “I don’t know.”
Not true, Raine thought.
“Who knows? In the end, who cares? They got out. They spread. The fact is that these new mutants loaded with ’trites became like a plague, a disease. Something that could be passed on. You’re already infected, so at least you don’t have to worry about any muties taking a bite out of you!”
Another barking laugh from the old man.
Raine reached out and grabbed Kvasir’s arm. “You mean to say I’m going to turn into a mutant?”
“Are you listening? Hell, doesn’t seem like your ears are working too well. Something can trigger the change. Doesn’t hit everyone. You could be one of the safe ones. He paused, then:
“I wouldn’t bet on it, though.”
“When will this happen?”
“You’re new. The ’trites inside you have been sleeping as well. Could be months from now. Years. Maybe never. The Authority spent years trying to find out what triggered it and how to control it. In the end, any of the Ark survivors left opted to have the nanotrites removed. Your best option, too, friend.” Another laugh. “Kind of an exclusive club.”
“I should get them removed, then,” Raine said.
“In good time. Don’t think anyone ever had them turn this early. For now they help you, work for you. Eventually, you’ll have to get them out.”
“And then… the mutants will become even more dangerous to me.”
“Yeah-just like the rest of us… Gotta say, though… most people don’t know much about this. Most think it’s just the asteroid. And that was part of it. Strange type of rock, I tell you. It’s why I’m working here.” He nodded, then picked up the chunk of rock on the table. “Something unknown, something strange inside that rock. And I want to find out what it is.”
Kvasir put it back down on the table in front of Raine.
Raine’s eyes moved to the table. The chunk of rock on a tray. Thin slivers of a strange material on smaller trays.
“Wait. You mean- that’s part of the asteroid?”
“It’s called feltrite. The core material of Apophis. The rock that changed everything.” He started laughing, degenerating into a cough, his mad humor probably the only thing that kept him sane.
If indeed he was sane.
“I promised you secrets. And you know what, Ark man… I keep my promises.”
He started walking to the door.
“Come
outside. You have some decisions to make. Some options. ”
They sat on a metal chest, like a footlocker.
From this porch-itself a piece of wavy metal that bounced if they shifted their weight-Raine could look out at the nearby hills and the metal bridge.
For the first time, he got a sense of the world here.
“Sun’s going down.” Kvasir looked over at him. “Gets even more dangerous out there in the dark.”
“Guess I won’t leave today. First thing tomorrow.”
Kvasir spit, sending it flying past the porch. Though it looked clear, Raine could taste a salty grit, the fine dust and sand from the desert, filling the air and coating his lips.
“And where do you think you’re going?”
“Wellspring. Only place I know to go. Been told I can disappear there.”
“Disappear,” he snorted. “You know, you are a prize, Raine. An Ark survivor. You know things. You could be useful. Though not based on your buggy-fixing abilities.” A cackle.
Raine ignored the laugh. “You mean for the Authority?”
“They won’t stop looking for you. They will find you. At best, you will be their prisoner. At worst, they will kill you. They have killed so many others. And some end up as prisoners-the scientists, the researchers-trapped in Capital Prime working for the Visionary.”
“And who the hell is that?”
“Leader of the Authority. Don’t know much about him. There are theories. Point is, they have all the power. The guns. The science. Everywhere you see, and beyond-it’s all their world.”
“And you’re saying they won’t let me be?”
“That’s for sure.”
“So I go somewhere else?”
Kvasir turned and looked at him.
“Yes-and no. Okay, Ark man. Now I gotta just take a chance I can trust you. Can I trust you, Raine?”
“What do you think?”
“Anyone ever talk to you about the Resistance?”
Rage Page 13
