Orbs IV_Exodus_A Post Apocalyptic Science Fiction Survival Thriller

by Nicholas Sansbury Smith

  And then? What would be next?

  Jeff’s foot slipped. His weight shifted under him, and he kicked to regain his footing. He started to lose his grip on the chunk of decking he’d grabbed. A piece of charred plating fell away and clattered against the deck below. The impact let out a hollow, metallic ringing that echoed throughout the cavernous corridor.

  Regaining his grip, Jeff pulled himself close to the wall. His heart thumped rapidly in his chest, and he fought to control his breathing.

  David looked down, but Jeff couldn’t see his brother’s face in the darkness.

  Raising a thumbs up, Jeff indicated he was okay, and then he pointed to direct David to keep climbing.

  A scratching noise stopped them both before they could get much farther. Jeff pressed his body against the bulkhead, and David followed suit.

  But it was too late. The blue shape of a spider emerged over the top of the precipice. Light bleeding through one of the wounds in the ship’s hull silhouetted the monster. Its mandibles clicked together like it was tasting the air. The alien must have heard the piece of plating hit the floor, but had it seen them yet?

  Jeff had to remind himself that the Organics’ sensors didn’t detect volumes of water as small as children.

  The spider twisted a claw around the edge of the wall. David was only a meter under it, and Jeff was just half a meter below him. Maybe, like the scorpion alien, the spider was just making its rounds.

  But it continued to linger there on the edge. It was almost as if it already knew they were there and was just teasing them. What if it stood there until Jeff’s air ran out?

  The spider shifted, and hope buoyed Jeff once again. It was actually backing up. They would be able to finish their climb and find an oxygen canister and—

  A hiss shot out of the spider’s maw. It suddenly lunged forward, its claws slamming down around David.

  “No!” Jeff screamed.

  — 12 —

  A fire still burned in the back of Sophie’s head. She couldn’t tell if the pain was growing worse, or if her elation at initially seeing Emanuel had momentarily stalled the tide of agony now building within her. A red hue seemed to float at the edge of her vision, threatening to encroach on her sight. She struggled to think straight at times, feeling her consciousness wash over her like the changing tides.

  “We’re never going to find this colony,” Diego said. “For all we know, we might’ve already passed it.”

  The Rhino’s motors hummed as usual, adding to the pounding in her head. One of the wheels had progressively worsened from the damage it had sustained. Now, every time they went over particularly rocky terrain, the whole Rhino bucked and the wheel groaned as if it might fall off.

  “I don’t think we’ve missed the colony yet,” Sophie said.

  The soldier shot her back a confused look. “How do you know?”

  Even Emanuel appeared bemused.

  “I’m not sure,” Sophie said, “but I don’t think we’re anywhere close yet.”

  Diego’s brow remained scrunched even as he turned back to look out the windshield. She could tell he wasn’t convinced. She didn’t blame him. She had no way of knowing where the NTC colony was. The information available to her on its location was the same as the rest of the crew had.

  But something at the back of her mind told her it was true, and that they were headed in the right direction.

  Fear of the nanobots returned. Maybe they were slowly resurrecting within her, trying to take over again? A shudder ripped across her cold flesh. She was feverish, and did all she could to prevent herself from trembling.

  “You okay?” Emanuel asked.

  “I’ll be fine…”

  Emanuel nodded, but the concern etched across his bearded face showed he wasn’t convinced about her condition either. Thankfully he didn’t press the issue.

  Sophie took a moment to study the rest of the Rhino. Owen and Jamie stared out the windows with groggy expressions. Bouma and Holly sat nearby, keeping a watchful eye on them. Ort and Diego remained steadfast in guiding the Rhino over the alien terrain at the front of the vehicle. A bit of cryostat fluid still sloshed around the floor. Some of it had evaporated, and the rest had been syphoned into the self-cleaning ventilation system. Thanks to the cryostat fluid going through the filters, there was a sweet tang to the atmosphere.

  That sweetness only seemed to make Sophie’s headache worse.

  There was no way to confirm it, but the more Sophie thought about it, the more certain she was that the nanobots were indeed coming back. What if the nanobots could replicate, like bacteria or viruses? What if they were propagating in her bloodstream and preparing to take over her brain? How long before she condemned the rest of the group, the people who might be the very last remnants of humanity, to a bloody death at the claws of the Organics?

  Emanuel was now working on one of the portable RVAMPs he’d created. The small device was their last line of protection against the Organics. Better that they avoid the aliens altogether than engage in combat, but at least they no longer had to fear the impermeability of those shields like they had at the beginning of the Organic invasion. These weapons had given humanity a fighting chance.

  “Sophie, your intuition still telling you we’re on the right track?” Diego asked from the front of the vehicle. The flat landscape unrolled before them in a desert devoid of signs of either humanity or Organics.

  And still, somehow, Sophie knew they were headed in the right general direction. “Yes, keep going.”

  It gnawed at her that she couldn’t explain how she knew this. All of this had something to do with her visions, the nanobots, and the Organics.

  If her fate was going to be anything like Lieutenant Smith’s back at Cheyenne Mountain, she couldn’t rely on her intuition any longer. The particle physicist side of her kicked in. At heart, she was a scientist. No one had designed a spaceship to Mars because it “felt right,” or created cures for all kinds of cancers because “their intuition told them the cure would work.”

  No, they needed hard data and scientific principles. That was the only way to guide a spaceworthy ship for Mars, or create a nanoparticle drug delivery system to selectively zap cancer cells in the human body.

  She needed to don that science hat now because, whenever the nanobots took over and her mind failed, at least the rest of the crew would have hard data to take them to the NTC colony.

  “Sonya, have you uncovered any signals that may be of interest?” Sophie asked.

  “I have not, Doctor Winston.”

  Ort shook his head. “We’ve already asked her the same thing a million times. Nothing.”

  Sophie wasn’t convinced. “No electromagnetic waves? No optical signals? Not a single suspicious X-ray?”

  “No, Doctor.”

  Sophie looked to Emanuel. “How’s that possible? You don’t just sit a human colony down here and let it get swallowed by a black hole.”

  “Maybe they’ve gone dark,” Emanuel said. “They’ve been quiet so the Organics don’t find them.”

  “Sure,” Sophie started. A flame within her skull burned hotter. She pressed a hand to her temple in a futile attempt to assuage the pain. “I understand radio silence, but there’s no way a colony is surviving out here without electronics.”

  “Then Sonya would’ve reported them,” Emanuel said. “She wouldn’t have missed that.”

  Something about that didn’t sit right with Sophie. She’d worked closely with Alexia back on Earth and knew the power of AIs. Sonya seemed off, somehow. Earlier, Emanuel had mentioned that he thought her transfer wasn’t complete. The AI was able to answer generic questions and help them operate the Rhino, but Emanuel was right; something was missing.

  And Sophie reckoned she knew what that was. “Sonya, can you tell me the status of your intuitive framework?”

  “Such a framework does not exist,” Sonya said.

  “And why not?”

  “Transfer from shipboard syste
ms to the Rhino was not completed in time. Priority was given to functionality systems in lieu of systems deemed extraneous to mission success.”

  “Uh, Doc, can you translate that into English?” Ort asked.

  Sophie rubbed her head, leaning back against the Rhino’s seat. “Sonya started with the programming she thought we’d need to make it to the colony. She didn’t send things like personality programs or AI intuition—all the bits and pieces that give AIs the ability to really think creatively. Those take forever to upload.”

  “Which means she doesn’t understand subtext,” Emanuel added.

  Ort snorted. “Y’all are still losing me.”

  “When we asked if she sensed any signals, we weren’t asking the right question,” Sophie said.

  “‘No signals’ means ‘no signals’,” Diego said. “How’s that wrong?”

  Holly grinned, understanding immediately. She might not be a physicist or computational expert, but she was a psychologist, and Sophie knew she understood human thinking—and as a result, the weaknesses of nonhuman thought.

  “She might be telling us she cannot and has not detected anything, but what she isn’t telling us is whether she actually has the ability to do so,” Holly said.

  “Exactly,” Sophie said. “Sonya, what is the effective range of electromagnetic signal detection on the Rhino?”

  “Currently two point six kilometers,” the AI replied.

  That was extremely low. They should be able to detect EM signals at a couple hundred kilometers at least.

  “And optic signaling?” Sophie tried.

  “Zero meters.”

  “How the hell is that possible…?” Diego said. His words trailed off and he slumped in the driver’s seat. “Oh, God. The damage we took in that Organic attack.”

  “Exactly,” Sophie said. “We’ll need to repair the comm equipment and the sensor arrays.”

  Ort straightened in his seat, craning his neck to look back at Sophie. “Then we get our comm systems back online and send a message to the colony?”

  “No.” Sophie pushed herself up from the seat. A wave of pain followed, and she almost fell. Emanuel reached to help her, but she waved him off.

  “We can’t risk sending any communications. We’ve got to go for passive detection. The last thing we want is to send out a beacon that calls all the Organics to our position.” Sophie moved to the supplies and started to shovel through them.

  Emanuel watched her, concern in his gaze.

  “Trust me,” she said. This was her realm of expertise, and she needed to do something to help, and keep her mind off all the worries. Besides, they’d all risked their lives to get her comatose self off the Sunspot.

  “Sonya, identify potential reasons for communication system failure, along with expected probabilities of each,” Sophie said.

  Prompting the AI, she troubleshot all the potential realms of failures for the comm systems. Emanuel worked as her assistant as they replaced fuses and removed melted wires behind a panel near the controls.

  The Rhino continued onward, bouncing over the terrain as they worked. The group shared rationed meals and water, all the while keeping a nervous eye out the windows. Holly and Bouma entertained Jamie and Owen, sharing bits of an MRE with them. Ort drove for a while, giving Diego a chance to rest. Hours ticked by. Hours they didn’t have.

  They hadn’t detected any Organics tailing them before, which had given them a false sense of security. Now the suspicion was that they might not have detected them simply because of their compromised comm system and sensor arrays. For all Sophie knew, the aliens were toying with them, waiting until she succumbed to the nanobots.

  She continued working, even as the pain spread from her head and into her muscles. The nanobots were probably burrowing into her nerves and muscles now, remodeling their new home and turning her into a compliant Organic host.

  She vowed she wouldn’t give them the pleasure of finishing their job. As she put the last pieces in place to connect one of the Rhino’s antennas to a repaired nanocircuit board, she eyed the RVAMP. When she felt reality slipping from her fingers once again, she would activate that device, aiming it at herself. This time, she might well fry her own nervous system completely.

  Yes, risking her own life with the RVAMP was definitely better than the alternative. They might have already lost Jeff and David, and there was no way she would be responsible for any more deaths.

  She slapped a plate back over the nanocircuit board. “That’s it. Sonya, bring comm systems and sensor arrays back online.”

  A low hum resonated through the Rhino.

  “All systems back online,” Sonya said.

  The rest of the group cheered, but Sophie didn’t share in their joy. The systems might be online, but that didn’t mean the range of detection limits were restored to adequate levels yet.

  “Give me a gauge of system functionality relative to full,” Sophie said.

  Diego gave her a look like she’d just spoken in Russian.

  “Sixty-five percent of normal,” Sonya said.

  “That should be enough,” Sophie said. “Ort, see anything on the display now?”

  Ort’s face drained of color, and his mouth fell open. “We got a signal.”

  ***

  They drove on. The distance between the Rhino and the mysterious signal was closing. Diego studied the display. Now that they were closer, their IR sensor arrays had kicked in. They still didn’t have a visual on where the signal was originating, but at least they had new intel.

  “Sonya,” Diego said. “What does this new IR signal mean?”

  “We are within detection limits of the unidentified object.”

  “Yeah, yeah, I get that,” Diego said. He reminded himself to talk in AI language like Sophie had done. “What are the probabilities that this signature is that of the NTC colony?”

  “I have no information regarding the purported energy output or the physical size of the NTC colony. Calculating such a probability is impossible. Please provide the inputs.”

  “I think I can handle that,” Sophie spoke up. She was sitting in one of the back seats. Jamie had her head in Sophie’s lap, and Sophie was stroking the girl’s hair. She gave Sonya rough estimates on the size of the colony, and drew up some quick calculations to estimate the energy output. “Sonya, please use the maximum and minimum values I’ve provided to calculate a range of possibilities for this unidentified object being an NTC colony.”

  Sonya disappeared for a moment. Diego blinked, and she was back on their screens. “Dr. Winston, according to the values you provided, there is a zero percent chance that the signature matches that of the colony if it is functional.”

  “If the colony is functional?” Diego asked. “What does functional have to do with it?”

  “Dr. Winston provided values for a colony that had been damaged or operating below normal as well,” Sonya continued. “However, these values, too, do not match up.”

  “Then what the hell are we looking at?” Diego asked.

  Sonya began to explain. “We are looking at an electro—”

  “No,” Diego interrupted. He’d let himself slip into another phrase the AI had taken too literally. “I mean, what is another potential explanation for this signal?”

  “According to the data I do have from the Sunspot, the signal is within the expected range for a ship of that size and nature,” Sonya said.

  “Holy shit,” Diego said. “Another NTC ship out there? Would that signature match a functional ship?”

  “That would be correct,” Sonya said.

  “Why the hell didn’t you tell us that in the first place?” Diego asked Sonya.

  “Because you didn’t ask.”

  Diego’s chest felt light. This wasn’t exactly an NTC colony, but an NTC ship that was actually in working order had to be a good sign.

  Hopefully…

  As they carried on toward the signal, Diego worked hard not to get his hopes up. Memories of th
e Radiant Dawn haunted any ounce of optimism that dared buoy his spirits. The signal only continued to grow stronger, and Sonya’s confidence that it was a ship like the Sunspot increased as they went.

  Now even Sophie seemed to be unable to contain her anticipation. Bouma offered her his seat near the front display, and she gladly took it, monitoring their progress and any incoming signals from the ship.

  “Should we send out a message?” Ort asked. “We’re close enough to warn them we’re coming.”

  Sophie shook her head. “No, even now I want passive detection only. If we try any kind of active signaling or communications, the Organics may intercept it. The last thing we want is to broadcast our location when we’re this close to another NTC ship.”

  Diego started to speak. “That makes sense, but—”

  Sophie froze. Her sudden rigidness drew Diego’s focus away from his driving.

  “Something wrong?” he asked.

  Instead of answering, Sophie’s eyes rolled up. Her mouth locked open, and she slumped into her seat.

  — 13 —

  Athena ignored Griffin’s advice about sitting this mission out. Crossing the seabed again did terrify her, but she couldn’t back down now, especially after her speech on the bridge. Her crew needed a leader.

  Since Captain Noble’s capture and likely death, she had done everything she could to fill his shoes. Today, she wondered if she had done enough. Her crew was split on whether to stay or leave the submarine. But there was only one real option in her mind—leave the GOA and make the journey to Pelican AFB. She had promised Captain Noble she would take care of his crew, and that’s exactly what she planned to do.

  She continued on point across the sand toward Los Angeles. Her muscles were still tight, and she was running on fumes.

  Griffin walked to her left, his RPG angled up and helmet scanning the blue sky above. Taylor flanked her on the right, his RPG also at the ready. Behind them, Trish and Malone held rear guard with pulse rifles and the remaining EMP grenades.

  The plan was simple: head out to the location of the vehicles, and take them if they still worked, then head back to the GOA. People like Posey and Collins would, in the meantime, have plenty of time to think about if they wanted to leave the submarine or not.