Alyssa sometimes wondered if this was all just some horrible nightmare. Maybe she died with her family and they’d gone to heaven while she went down to hell.
What did she do that was so bad that God hated her this much?
Running her hand along her leg she could feel that the tissue had healed almost completely. She would have no trouble running if she needed to. For now, though, she sat and waited, watching the tiny floaters flapping their delicate bodies gently under the moonlight.
She picked up her teddy bear and held him close. She knew he was just a stupid stuffed animal, but he made her feel better. He made her think of her father, who’d given him as a gift last year.
Alyssa didn’t have to wait long.
The floaters ceased their random movements and began lining up and moving toward her cage. Then just around the corner, little Susanna peeked in from the hallway. She was scrunching up her face in deep concentration.
The floaters glided across the room, like dandelion puffs caught in the wind, and touched her cage. They flickered ever so slightly, and a hole opened up instantly on the wall. Then they fluttered away. Alyssa walked out through the hole and stepped quietly to the floor. The Wrender might be near, stiffing around. The last thing she needed was to get eaten just as she was about to finally escape.
She tiptoed across the floor, barefoot, and met Susanna, who’d stopped her straining but had a layer of sweat dripping down from her forehead. Alyssa touched her finger to her lips for Susanna to stay quiet. She grabbed the girl’s hand, cradling Teddy in her other arm, and they tiptoed out into the main area.
The Vorsh slept together in a big pile in a cushiony section of the home. The girls eased past the mound of alien flesh. The Wrender stirred in the corner, rustling its feathers, but didn’t wake up. They made it safely out of the building and into the courtyard.
It was dark, but the partial moon lit their way, as did the pulsing roots beneath them. Alyssa knew her way around somewhat since Flost carried her a lot. On the other side of the courtyard, there was a path that led out of the city. Once they reached it, they moved faster.
Overhead, Vorsh air cars sped by, tiny lines of light progressing in an ordered fashion.
When they got just outside the compound, Alyssa felt something moving under her arm. She immediately dropped Susanna’s hand and tried to get it off of her.
Teddy fell to the ground.
Then he stood and spoke softly in the child-like voice of a young boy.
“Alyssa and Susanna, I need your help.”
“What? What are you?” Alyssa asked.
She was shocked to see Teddy moving like this. He'd never done that before.
“I’m a robotic reconnaissance unit made by humans. I’m here to learn as much as I can about the aliens so we can fight them.”
“There are other humans out there alive?” Susanna asked, jumping up and down.
“I don’t know,” Teddy said. “But if there are, I will find them. We will find them together. And then I need to get to Boston, to Harvard University, if it's still there.”
Alyssa grabbed Susanna’s arm tight as the thrill of hope filled her heart.
“But before we go I need to get more information on the aliens.”
“How?” Alyssa asked.
“I’ve been observing Susanna and the way she can interface with the floaters. I believe that through her I can connect to what would be considered the alien Stream. But I need her mind to do it.”
Susanna backed away. “But I don’t know how I do it. And I’ve never connected to any Stream.”
“Don’t worry, I’ll help you. Here, take my hand and pick me up.”
Teddy held out his furry little hand, and Susanna grabbed it, then pulled him up and close to her chest, like a baby.
“I’m going to need to access your cochlear implant.”
Teddy reached up and covered Susanna’s ear with his paw. Her eyes immediately rolled back into her head and her eyelids began blinking erratically. Then her whole body shook, like she was having a seizure. Alyssa grabbed her by the shoulders to steady her. Then just as suddenly as they started, the tremors stopped and Susanna relaxed, staring vacantly up into the night sky.
One of the floaters came drifting down, slowly flapping its soft body like a jellyfish in the ocean. The long end of it touched Susanna on the forehead, landing ever so gently. Then it began glowing, a dim white light that countered the red pulsing under their feet.
Alyssa waited for what seemed like an eternity as the floater pushed its data into Susanna’s skull. Finally the glowing stopped and the floater lifted up and continued on its way, randomly riding the air currents like thousands of others.
Teddy lifted his paw from Susanna’s ear, tiny wires and probes retracting back into his body. Susanna collapsed into Alyssa’s arms.
“I have what I need,” Teddy said. “She should recover in just a few minutes, then we can get out of here.”
Moments later, Susanna regained consciousness, but her eyes were glassy and almost unblinking.
“I saw everything, Alyssa. Their home planet, their history, their travel through space . . . All of it.”
She looked awed, her eyes wide.
“You can tell me about it later,” Alyssa said. “Right now we need to leave.”
She helped the younger girl to her feet and they continued on their journey, this time with Teddy walking beside them. Then Alyssa felt a tug in the back of her head. She tried to ignore it and kept walking.
There it was again, pulling at her.
Oh no.
She felt Flost calling out to her in her mind, probing, wondering where she was. She tried to block her out, but the connection was too strong.
Then Flost looked through her own eyes, seeing what she was seeing.
“Run!” she screamed at Susanna and Teddy. “She’s awake and coming for me! Flost is coming! Leave before she gets here!”
Alyssa heard the galloping thump of a running Vorsh. Flost would easily be able to cover the distance to them in seconds.
Fear spread across Susanna’s face as she dropped Alyssa’s hand and began running. But before she could even take two steps, Flost was on them, grabbing both girls up in her arms.
“Poor baby . . . New friend bad. Got out . . . Scared. Flost love, but must . . . punish.”
Alyssa could only make out some of Flost’s words in between the gurgling and grunting of the Vorsh language.
Hope faded and despair set in as Flost carried her and Susanna back home. Her friend was whimpering and crying beside her. But this time Alyssa refused to cry. She’d learned from Teddy that there was still hope. Other humans could still be alive. She would learn to control the floaters like Susanna did and she would escape again.
The Vorsh would not hold her.
She would not be their little pet.
As they left the path and started back to the compound, she glanced back and saw that her little mechanical bear was gone.
She whispered quietly under her breath, “Goodbye, Teddy. Good luck.”
Chapter 34
11:00 a.m. EST, January 16, 2038
Harvard University
The laboratory slowly came back into focus as the horrifying scenes of the future faded from Mattie’s mind. His heart went out to poor Alyssa and her friend Susanna. What a terrible future they faced if he and the other survivors weren’t able to succeed in their mission.
“Mattie. Mattie? Are you there?”
Holly was tapping his arm, trying to rouse him from his trance.
“How long was I out?”
“About half an hour.”
It had felt like two days. He rubbed his forehead as the throbbing in his temple returned.
“I need to contact Paulson.”
He tapped behind his ear. Thank goodness the military com-lines were still operational.
“Hello, Mattie, I’ve been waiting for your call.”
“Claire, I was trying to
reach the vice president—can you please put me through to him? I have urgent data.”
“I’m prepared to download that data.”
“But—”
Before Mattie could finish, he felt a strange tingle from his ocular implant. Then a flood of alien data burst across his vision—star charts, histories of alien planets, hundreds of species, mathematical formulas, pictures, videos, strange writing, buildings, machine diagrams—all of it speeding through his mind faster than he could process.
It was over within minutes. Claire had forcibly downloaded the teddy bear’s data. Mattie had no idea she had that ability.
“I’m sorry for being so intrusive, Mattie, but we need that data and we don’t have time to wait. I’ll report to the vice president that your mission was successful. Thank you for your service. We’ll take it from here.”
“Claire! Claire! I need to talk to Paulson!”
Mattie tried to connect again, but the line was no longer functioning.
“What happened?” Holly asked.
“Claire just downloaded all the data from the bear, but she won’t let me talk to Paulson. Something’s not right about her.”
“I’ve felt the same way for some time.”
“We need to get to the base. I need to make sure Paulson gets what’s still in here.” Mattie tapped his head. “So he, and not Claire, can make the right decisions for us,”
“Agreed,” Holly said. “Patrick, Darren? Is the generator ready for transport?”
Chen and Corvin were busy extracting some type of metal box from the mechanical port-a-john they were so excited about when they first got there.
“We’re just about done,” Chen said as he disconnected several wires still holding the box to the larger device.
“What is that thing?” Mattie asked.
“That’s what we’re calling a temporal chamber, and Patrick and Darren are pulling out the generator that makes it work. The chamber is a sort of safe room against major waves in the time stream. It’s complicated to explain, but basically a bubble forms and whoever is inside the bubble is safe.”
“Safe from what?”
“Changes to the timeline.”
Mattie wasn’t grasping the chamber’s purpose. He tilted his head, and frowned at Holly.
“Think of it like this,” Holly said. “If someone were to go back in time and commit some type of horrible act, like wiping out an entire animal species—say, the first wolves—we could theoretically place a dog into the temporal bubble and it would be safe when the time wave hits the present day. Then it would come out of the bubble and be the only dog ever in existence.”
“In theory, of course,” Corvin added for emphasis. “We haven’t tested any major timeline changes, nor do we ever want to.”
“So why did you build it?”
“It was my idea to start with,” Chen jumped in. “I wanted some type of recording device to be placed in the causality bubble that would forever keep a record of actual events in the alpha, the prime, timeline. That way we could periodically check it and see if anyone was manipulating the timeline.”
“Did it work?” Mattie asked.
“Apparently so,” Chen said. “It was able to identify the feeble manipulations of Howard Nichols.”
“And eventually Jing Wei,” Holly added.
“Yes.” Chen nodded. “But we haven’t been able to completely sync up the data analysis between this device and the Chronos virtual mainframe. Hence the delayed reporting on both Jing and Howard.”
Mattie understood what they were trying to do and could see the implications.
“You’re anticipating a jump to the distant past to counter the alien attack,” he said. “I’m sure that Paulson has planned for this. If that happens, then the timeline could be drastically altered.”
“Exactly,” Holly said. “And do you know what could happen to everyone left in this timeline?”
Mattie paused to consider the possibilities.
“I don’t know, it depends on what changes take place. The variables are infinite. You could completely disappear, never having been born, or you could be the President of the United States.”
Holly smiled, as did Chen and Corvin.
“I think we could make a theoretical physicist out of this one,” Corvin said, chuckling.
“That’s another reason we made this device,” Holly said. “So we don’t just wink out of existence. Whoever is inside the bubble is safe.”
“That’s all well and good,” Mattie said, his thoughts returning to their mission. “But we need to get out of here. We have a long trip ahead of us. Are you almost done?”
“Just about . . . there.”
Chen pulled the generator loose and held it out like a baby that had just emerged from the birth canal.
“Great, bag it and let’s go,” Mattie said. He stuffed the teddy bear into his pack and readied his weapon. “Follow me.”
He led them out of the basement lab, back the way they’d come, and emerged outside into a cold, cloudy January day. Mattie checked overhead, but didn’t see any bot scouts, nor could he feel any in his mind. But the alien ship was still there, hovering over their heads ominously. Part of it had changed color, appearing slightly whiter, and tiny tendrils were growing out of its underside and quivering in the high altitude winds. Whatever was going on with the thing likely didn't bode well for them.
They hopped in the car, but Dr. Corvin hesitated.
“I think maybe I should stay here. Someone needs to watch out for the temporal testing facility, and I have my underground bunker at my home. I should be okay.”
“You don’t want to stay here, trust me on that,” Mattie said. “I’ve seen the future, and there is only torture and death for anyone left. You should come with us.”
Corvin’s face paled.
“What . . . what did you see?”
“I’ll tell you about it on the way to the airport.”
“He’s right,” Holly said, glancing at Mattie, concern on her face as well. “You can help us at the new Chronos base.”
“But what about the people still here in the city and those that fled to the countryside?”
“If they aren’t dead from the swarm by now,” Mattie replied, “they will be very soon. And those who do survive will wish they died.”
Corvin didn’t need any more convincing. He jumped into the back of the car, and Mattie took off for the airport. He couldn’t help but feel this was the calm before the storm. The city was mostly cleared out, a few stragglers remained, and a few cars passed by them. A couple drivers waved to them, trying to get them to stop. But there was no way to know what these people wanted, if they needed help, or simply information. Mattie ignored them. They had no time to stop. They needed to get to their plane.
The airport was the same as when they’d left it—empty for the most part—although it looked like looters had been through the shops recently and made off with as much merchandise they could carry. They quickly passed through the vacant airport security checks to get to their plane.
“We have a long way to go, Mattie,” Holly said, “so perhaps it’s time for a transportation upgrade?”
She was right. The little twin engine plane they’d used to fly cross country was not going to make it very far for their journey to the other side of the world. They needed something bigger, something that would get them to Iraq on one tank of gas with no stops. Mattie scanned the tarmac.
“I see just what we need.”
Sitting in a refueling area was a giant new model, long distance FedEx cargo plane. Packages lay scattered on the tarmac beside it, and several loading carts were parked nearby, full of packages ready to be shipped. All that meant the plane was likely empty or only partially full. It would be light, and a full tank of gas in the newly designed fuel efficient engine should take them anywhere in the world.
“Let’s check it out,” Mattie said, pointing at the plane.
Holly jogged up the ramp, duc
ked inside, and then called out to the men below, “Looks like we have our plane. It’s not first class, but it’ll get us there. And it’s nearly empty.”
Mattie checked the fuel lines and made sure the auto-refueling bots had done their jobs. Then he climbed into the cockpit.
“Strap in everyone, we’re heading out.”
The back area was designed primarily for cargo, so passenger space was limited. The others managed to find a few stiff seats. Mattie checked the instruments and initiated the co-pilot AI.
“Greetings, who am I speaking with?” the AI asked in a firm, masculine voice.
“Colonel Mathew Tedrow, United States Army.”
“Welcome, Colonel Tedrow. What is our destination today?”
“Baghdad, Iraq.”
“Cargo hold is very light—will we be taking on more packages?”
“No, just what we have now. Speed is the top priority on this trip.”
“Understood, Colonel Tedrow. Coordinating with tower systems. We are clear to begin take off. Picking up strange readings on radar. A large object is on approach.”
Oh shit.
“On screen.”
A 3-D radar image appeared over the cockpit control panel in front of Mattie. A large section of the alien ship had broken off from the main body and was descending. Radar indicated it was about a mile up and dropping rapidly. It was behind them, so he couldn’t see it out of the front cockpit window.
Mattie climbed out of his seat, ran to the side door, and opened it to peek outside. The section of the alien ship was coming down, directly over their heads. White root-like tendrils were growing out of the underside of the craft’s bulbous body. Protruding from the top were more sprigs, making the whole thing look like a giant spider plant.
A plant that was about to land on top of them.
Mattie slammed the door shut and raced back to the cockpit.
“What is it, Mattie?” Holly asked.
“It looks like a giant alien city is about to embed itself on top of Boston. I’m going to try to get us out of here before we become plant food.”
NanoSwarm: Extermination Day Book Two Page 29
