She chuckled, and it was a slow, sultry noise that made my pulse race. “Our autonomy ended the moment we went to bed, and our homes were entwined when we woke up the next day. You’re going to have an unpleasant discussion in your near future, Jack, and the sooner you have it, the better.”
“With you?” I asked, uncertain of where she was going.
She shook her head, and a blonde wisp of hair floated down on her cheek. “No, with your women.”
“Why? They know I’m here, and they understand the world we live in. We’re honest with each other, Aristine. That’s why this—whatever it is—works.”
She caressed my cheek, then kissed me again. “For now. But I’m a woman, and I know how they think. You’re a rare man, and they’re all rare women. That doesn’t mean they will welcome me with open arms.”
“Welcome you? Where? The Oasis?”
She shrugged. “At some point, maybe. Yulin is ready for command, and at some point we’re going to emerge into the sun, Jack. If I do, I intend to be with you, fighting by your side, and helping you link us all together. I want more than just the Chain. I want the same things you do, but I have other concerns as well, because of my people and who I am. I’m a woman.”
“And you’ll want children?” I asked, gently.
“Of course. But not until we’ve scoured this world in a large enough circle to guarantee their freedom. I want my children to walk freely under the stars, without fear of the things that would do them harm. I want a complete society, Jack, and I’m not sure it can be done from here in the permanent twilight of the Eden Chain.”
I paused to consider her intentions, then nodded slowly. What she said was what I’d known all along but had been too busy fighting and building to consider. There had to be more to this life than blood and war. She was looking ahead, like a general.
“Then we’ll find out together,” I said.
“Together.” She climbed on top of me, her body a warm expanse of skin that stippled under my touch. I kissed the hollow of her neck, running my hands along her hips, marveling at the perfection of her legs, her muscles, and finally, the small of her back, smooth and elegant. Her breath was warm and sweet, and I pushed her up to plant small kisses on her breasts, the nipples going rigid at my first touch. I entered her smoothly as she slid up and then down, taking all of me in and then staying agonizingly still as the muscles of her core pulsed around me in a delicate beat.
“Good,” she said, then kissed me, running her tongue along the inside of my lower lip. I nipped at her, then we explored each other’s mouths in the slow way of lovers who have nowhere to be for a while. I cupped the sides of her breasts as she began to move, inch by tantalizing inch, until we were in unison, our bodies becoming slick with sweat despite the cool air of her room. When she began to grow even more tense around me, I withdrew, laying her down and diving between her legs to lick in a delicate pattern of circles that made her teeth click together as she hissed in raw pleasure.
I stayed there, my tongue a flickering serpent that brought her close, then closer, and then she broke, twisting the sheet in a furious joy as her hips jerked up and down in erratic movements, fading away after an eternity of sighs and a final, silvery laugh. She covered her eyes with one hand then peeked out between her fingers, smiling.
“I’m going to need a minute,” she said.
“Take all the time you need. I’m practically immortal, right?” I said, and she laughed again, but her voice was still thickened by lust. After a series of deep breaths and another languid smile, she drew herself up, turned over, and balanced on her elbows. “Your turn.”
I grabbed her hips and entered from behind, making slow, deep strokes that found every inch of her slick interior. We began to move faster, then slower, and then she looked back, lifted her brow, and urged me on by blowing me a kiss. Something about that let a beast loose in me, because I pulled her close, grinding against her in a fevered rush that built and built until I came with a muffled shout as she collapsed forward, me covering her body with mine from head to toe. I felt myself pulsing inside her as the echoes of my lust made a drumbeat, then I slipped out, lay next to her, and ran my fingers along the exquisite skin of her back. My fingers lifted and fell on the divots of her spine, and she shivered then turned to kiss me.
“Still think I’m going to die in here, away from the sun? And you?” she asked. Her eyes were bright.
“I hope not.”
“Good. Then in the morning I’ll show you your gift,” Aristine said. I could see half of her smile; the rest was buried in a pillow.
“This wasn’t my gift?” I asked, taking in all her nude perfection.
“Not even close. This was already yours. What I have for you tomorrow is not as interesting as what we just did, but I think you’ll appreciate it just as much.
I began to trace the line of her hip then shook my head. “I doubt that very much.”
9
There was no change to the day or night in the Chain, but when her alarm chimed, Aristine and I rose and showered together then drank real coffee—slowly, because it was still amazing to me that it existed—before stepping out into the low light of the open chamber.
We were greeted by two different sets of people; one heading left on horses, the other heading right along a wide path, riding on a narrow electric truck with an open bed.
“What’s that built for?” I asked. The vehicle was oddly shaped, and the back wheels were set wider than the front under the slim aluminum bed.
“Arborists. They’re constantly trimming, pruning, or grafting. Those trucks were purpose built to handle big limbs that are being grafted, as well as long cuttings for addition to the fertilizers. It’s good that they drove by, because that has something to do with your gift.”
I rubbed at my neck, half smiling. “I’ve got to be honest here. I was decent at growing tomatoes, and that’s about it. I don’t really have a green thumb.”
She peered at my hands. “Is that a condition associated with agricultural skill? It’s new to me. I could ask our geneticists to—”
“It’s just an expression,” I said, holding out my hands for her to see. “Although, there is a preexisting condition in my pants. One so grim, I may not survive it. You see, it only happens when—”
She laughed and kissed me. “Don’t be lewd. I’m a general, not a teenager, and yes, I fully intend on examining your, ah, condition again later, just as you will be asked to help with mine. It’s equally dire, I can assure you.”
“I like the sound of that. Consider me at your disposal.”
“I’ll make a note of it.” She winked as we climbed into our own four-wheeler, but it was a standard model, if emblazoned with her name. When I raised my brows at that, she shrugged. “There are some benefits to being in charge. Not many, but some.”
“Where to?” I asked. The Chain was big, and I’d only seen a small part of it on my earlier trip.
“Transport. That’s the name of it, but it’s more than that. It’s connected to our manufacturing, which is linked to our power systems and development platforms.” She pulled out onto the path, and we moved swiftly under the canopy of massive trees, the air fresh in my lungs. “In essence, everything in the Chain has always stemmed from our ability to make power cells, or reactors, or any kind of energy transfer. We built the forest above us by using power below to irrigate. We use reactors to power this entire facility, which in turn makes devices we can use. Devices like this little truck, or the one you saw earlier.”
“How? Do you have an assembly line?” I asked.
“Not even close. We have printforges, and we’re always looking to adjust whatever we make to a new purpose. Since your arrival, we have more new reasons to push ahead than in the past thousand years, and our first results are here.” Aristine was a commander, but her smile was like that of a child. She was bursting with good news.
“Printforges?”
“You called them threedee?” she a
sked.
“Oh, gotcha. Three dimensional printers, but ours were limited somewhat, though. I take it the technology advanced while I was asleep.”
“It did. We can effectively duplicate almost anything in the Chain, given enough raw materials. That’s where we’re running into an issue, but for the time being, I think we have the first steps in connecting our people in an easier way,” she said.
We rode on into the tunnel then emerged in the next section of the Chain. She cut the wheel hard to the right, and we skirted the massive wall, following a well-worn path until there was a ramp that forked, with the part closest to the wall going up.
“A highway?” I asked, as we leveled out thirty feet above the floor. The view was spectacular, with the forest and homes spread out before us like a faerie city. For Aristine to leave this behind was an honor, and I resolved to make her new home into something she could be proud of.
“A service road of sorts. Right side north, left side south. In case you need to get somewhere in a hurry.”
She floored the little truck, and we skimmed through the cool air at speeds that would have seemed dangerous if not for her skill. The path was arrow straight, and we only slowed to go back down, enter the next tunnel, and emerge into the next section. We did this twice more before Aristine pulled up outside a pair of doors that were ten meters high and twice that width.
They slid open silently, and she parked with a smile. “We walk from here. I want you to get the full effect.”
As we entered the space, lights flared into life overhead, meeting a space fifty meters away that was brilliant with light and noise. “Transport?” I asked.
“The outer chamber. Where the finished products are,” she said, then took my hand and led me forward into the shining space. A dozen people were waiting, their red and blue uniforms all sporting a silver track emblem that looked like a stylized train.
“Hey,” I said, waving to everyone. There was a chorus of greetings, and then everyone stepped back.
“Your gift,” Aristine said.
I stood mute, staring ahead. “Is that—what is it?”
“It’s two things. The front half is a transport, what you might call a luxury coach or bus. Like a train, but with wheels that can handle any terrain on earth. The back half—all fifteen meters—is cargo. It can carry twelve tons of freight and up to fifty people—and their gear—in comfort. And it does it with a pocket reactor tailored to run on our new highway system,” Aristine said. “Team, introduce yourselves.”
The next few moments were a blur of shaking hands and backslaps. The transport shone like a mirror, was bullet-smooth and tapered at the end. There were eight wheels, but only a third of each wheel was visible and the tires were a substance I couldn’t identify.
“I can’t believe it. We’re going to be a nation again,” I said.
“We already are, Jack. We just needed a faster way to connect. This isn’t the only one. There’s another nearly complete, but it will be for a very specific purpose,” she said.
“Which is?”
“Oil. We need it to run the forges, and we need it now. We’ll work on an ore carrier next, but first we needed to connect humans. We would like to bring your people here, to see how we live, and in turn send our people to you. I’ll be the first to go, and we’ll link the Cache, too, and anything else that falls under your protection as you continue to grow. What do you think?” Aristine asked.
I turned from her intense blue eyes to regard the crew, who were waiting for an answer. “I think we need a list of the first people for exchange.”
A young man stepped forward, blonde and slender like Aristine, but with a hint of Asiatic features in his cheeks. “Um, Jack, I mean, General Bowman?”
“Jack is good. What’s your name?”
“Tybur,” he said. “I’m a driver.”
“So you’ll be running the highways?”
“The first,” he said, and there was pride and apprehension in his voice.
“How can I help?” I asked him, because there was a question waiting somewhere under the surface. Tybur was young—maybe the youngest person I’d seen in the Chain.
His eyes flicked to Aristine, who forced a smile from her lips and nodded gravely. When she did, Tybur looked back at me, still nervous but determined to speak.
“What’s your policy on, um, fraternization? Between our cities?” Tybur asked.
My laugh was instant, as was Aristine’s and several other more seasoned members of the team. Tybur flushed and looked down, then he spread his hands.
“We encourage it, and after the first run to The Free Oasis, I think it would be best if you stayed overnight. Provided you have permission form your commanding officer,” I said, glancing at Aristine.
She waved my concern away. “I agree.”
“It’s settled. You—and anyone else—are welcome at our fire, and everywhere else in the Oasis. We’re part of something bigger now, and I’m honored,” I said.
Like that, we became a team, and I could see the start of a future that was more than just reborn. It would be retold, with each of us adding to the story. Like Tybur.
10
The expedition that left in the morning was impressive. Two vehicles pulled away—the transport and the oil hauler—along with six Daymares in full battle rattle, a dozen engineers of varying stripes, Aristine, Yulin, and a tall geologist named Norring, who had an impressive array of tools and scanners loaded on the cargo section of our new ride. We also brought three seasoned fighters who hadn’t been topside for some time, but that detail didn’t matter as they were destined for the Cache. After a brief discussion of security and logistics, placing full time troops at the Cache made a lot of sense, and there were plenty of volunteers. They would also work on building a communications net that extended to the Cache, both digital and hardwired—the latter being built by two clever robotic units called Sandhogs.
Tybur wheeled us out into the sun, and the windows dimmed automatically. It was a clear day, and the wheels bit in the gravel as we climbed up and out of the plascrete ramp from underground, emerging onto a path that had been purpose built over the last week. The transport was nearly silent, save the crunching of gravel.
“What a power system,” I said. It was surreal. Tybur didn’t use a wheel, but two paddles that moved less than a finger length in any direction. The ride was smooth, and in moments we were accelerating to forty klicks, then fifty, and then, in a final push, to sixty, when he took his hands off the controls and turned in the chair to face us. “Auto engaged.”
“Autopilot too?” I asked, more than a little surprised. The Empty was not a place to fuck around with untested tech, let alone something going sixty klicks and carrying people.
“In a sense. It’s a primitive AI, but we can resume command in a second. We road tested for a month before you arrived. It’s a damned fine system, and down the line we hope to run oil tankers without anyone at the helm. That’s been a goal of ours for some time, and now it looks attainable,” Aristine said.
“There’s plenty of oil. That I know for certain. When we go south, we’ll be in an area that is more desert than here, and there are lingering gullies and ruts from the storm season, but—will the AI be tied to current sat network data?” It seemed like a logical connection, but I was curious how extensive the AI could network.
“It does, and it’s already plotting courses based on hourly updates. As long as we don’t encounter animal herds at greater than our own speed, we’re fine,” Yulin chimed in.
“So the AI can adjust to stampedes, too? Impressive,” I said, and it was. If we could get enough highway and transports, then the only thing left was to find more people. I suspected that would be the biggest challenge of all.
We arrived at the Cache in six hours, a feat I considered nothing less than miraculous given the conditions of The Empty and my own experience making the trip on foot. Since we were expected in The Oasis, it was a short stop—some gear, a few g
oodbyes, and moving on, leaving the three salty veterans to explore and speak with Andi by their communicators. She would walk them through the startups and any other processes needed to begin building the net we needed. Step by step, my vision was coming true. We were reclaiming the world.
“We’ll arrive at dark,” I told everyone as we pulled away from the Cache. “You’re in for a treat with the stars. Clear night. Take a look once the sun goes down,” I said. Smiles and nervous laughter greeted me, and I realized that despite their age, everyone on the transport was heading into something new—an unknown, which was a rarity for them. When a pair of massive, furred rhinos thundered across our path, the AI slowed, and we all watched them go into the fading dusk, horns gleaming like steel.
The faces around me were tinged with awe. “It’s a big world, and it’s about to get a lot bigger. My people are your people now. You are going to a place where there’s only joy at your arrival. Never forget that, no matter how big the sky might seem.” When I said that, a few smiles broke out, and I sensed that our first night as a unified people would be better, if not great.
Tybur took the controls back when a low chime sounded and our wheels began to hiss on an actual road. “Ten klicks out, and we’re on a paved track. Tracks, I mean.”
“Breslin has been busy,” I remarked. Ten klicks was a lot of work, and the crew was pushing out farther with each passing day. At this rate, we would have highways in a year, and that was far ahead of any schedule I’d ever dared to dream of.
“How many towns will connect here?” one of the engineers asked. His blue eyes were round with curiosity.
“Three at least, with more being planned. We’re building near water, and the forest goes with us. Not unlike your model, but above ground,” I told him.
“There is much to do.” His tone was admiring, as he saw the problems we had as things to be fixed.
“There is, and we can start tomorrow,” I said as the lights of The Oasis came into sight. “For tonight, we’re going to mingle. When we get off the transport, head to the center of town with the crowd. We’ll do introductions there, and then—”
Future Retold Page 6
