Earth Keepers

by Jorge Alejandro Lavera

  Gea saw the hologram image and tried to contain her tears but couldn’t.

  “Papa, and the baby? Is she dead? I can’t feel her.”

  Tzedek concentrated on the infant. She was on her side. The projectile had pierced her spine and head and gone through. He followed its route and found the starting point in a place he hadn’t looked before, in Gea’s lower back. Everything was covered in blood and now he could feel the small hole there, too. Tzedek frowned. Why weren’t the wounds closing? He quickly searched through Gea’s seat, and between the blood stains, found a small hole in the metal seat back, in which he found the small projectile that had been embedded. He cleaned it off, took it to the light and analyzed it with another gadget, a scanner that among other things was a spectrograph. The machine confirmed his suspicion. The fragment was of the same metal that Atlantean swords were made of—the only material capable of destroying and annulling nano-organisms. And it had pierced Gea and her baby through and through. For a second he wondered if someone had shot her, but looking towards her seat, noted that her position coincided perfectly with the possibility of having been injured by a fragment from the explosion that had come in through the door.

  Gea cried, but more weakly. She looked at Tzedek and he returned her look. Gea saw her father’s desperation and impotence.

  “Gea, I’m sorry,” thought Tzedek. She screamed and arched on her back, desperate over having lost her baby.

  In her anguish, Gea lost control of her emotions and her tiara lit up with a blinding flash. A discharge of energy came out of her, burning all the devices left in the ship.

  “Gea, no...” moaned Tzedek, looking at the ultrasound and the other instruments that were left. They were off or smoking. How were they going to get the baby out now?

  “You said it, it was going to be the best Atlantean of all the ages,” sobbed Gea, weakening.

  “Gea, why? Don’t give up...”

  His daughter sobbed more and more quietly. For a moment, Tzedek thought she was not going to answer, and he took her hand until he heard her thoughts. Barely.

  “You saw back there. There is no more Atlantis. I don’t have a baby any more. My baby, Papa! How can this have happened? I’m nothing now. Why go on?”

  “Gea, you can get healthy and have another baby, let us take this one out and order your nano-organisms to repair. Do it!”

  She didn’t answer.

  “Gea?”

  She was quiet, in silence. Suddenly her bracelets opened and the tiara peeled off her forehead with a snap.

  Musa started to cry, and even Ponteus uttered an exclamation of anguish. Everyone knew that Gea’s devices were designed to stay with her all her life.

  “No, no, no, it’s impossible,” thought Tzedek, totally desperate. He held Gea and cradled her head, crying. No, no, and no. So much experience, so much power and training, to die because of a stupid piece of shrapnel just when they’d escaped. All of that wisdom lost. And what hurt the most, aside from her being his perfect daughter, a supreme achievement of engineering, it was that she had touched his heart. After so many millennia of life desensitizing himself to the losses, this was such a low blow. She had always treated him with affection, and tried to meet his expectations, in spite of the little affection he’d always shown his children. It wasn’t fair. For a minute, he let his anguish take over and he screamed. A terrible scream, of anguish, of loss, that transformed into something else—a howl of absolute fury.

  Losing his daughter was unacceptable. And he would not accept it.

  His training as an engineer pushed him.

  He moved quickly toward the gold chest where they kept the special equipment. He took several of the small stasis capsules and an extractor. He supported the chest on Gea’s side, took her bracelets and tiara and put them in the bottom of the chest. Then he started extracting blood samples, filling one stasis capsule after another, until he had half a dozen, which he stored very carefully in the chest. Then, with a sob, he cut Gea’s belly very gently, until he could see the baby. If the infant had been alive, he could have saved it by taking it out this way, but the baby was quiet, like its mother. He knew that what he was doing might be useless, but he did it anyway. He took the last two capsules and filled them with the baby’s blood. Still kneeling next to his daughter, he stored it all in the chest. Ponteus put his hand on Tzedek’s right shoulder. Tzedek hesitated a second, and finally accepted the gesture, putting his left hand over Ponteus’ hand. No words were needed.

  “We must find the others,” Tzedek announced.

  “We don’t have instruments, the ship is useless. And we’re near human populations. I don’t doubt that we’ll soon have company. If anyone else survived, we won’t know right away. I fear that we’re incommunicado for quite a while, unless we find each other by accident. We’re on our own,” Ponteus informed them.

  “Gather the provisions and get everything ready to leave. We must cremate Gea’s remains and what we can of the ship. We’ll do the farewell ceremony accordingly.”

  The extent of the disaster was overwhelming. But they set to work and in a couple of hours got together everything they could, including all the unusable devices and machines, and stacked them against the ship. They got everything they might be able to use and loaded it all in backpacks. And lastly, while Tzedek waited to one side, they carried Gea’s body with her baby and put them carefully on the pile of remains.

  They all gathered around and Tzedek lit some pieces of wood and leaves they had gathered, and put them under the pile, making a pyre.

  The fire burned and for the first time in tens of thousands of years, Tzedek cried.

  THE PROMISE

  Rho, December 2, 2027. 3:30 p.m.

  “So...it’s true. I’m just a memory in a computer.”

  “Yes and no. You’re much more than that. But you must understand that you’re not Gea any more, Queen of Atlantis. You’re a guest in the body of this girl. Without her, you don’t exist. If you hurt her, you hurt yourself. If you try to control her by force, you’ll destroy her and that would be the same as suicide.”

  Sofía kicked.

  “Papa, that can’t be! And what about my baby?”

  “Everything in its time. I can help you, but first you must help me. This body where I am now is badly tuned to the Atlantean nanites. We must correct that and you can do it if I tell you how. Otherwise, I’ll be dead in a few hours and I won’t be able to help you.”

  “What must I do?”

  “Relax and give me your hands again.”

  Sofía put her hands out and Juan Carlos took them between his.

  Tzedek knew how. And Gea was the instrument. The problem was that Juan Carlos wanted to get Tzedek out and vice versa.

  Juan Carlos slowly explained the problem to Gea. As one of the great engineers of all time, Tzedek knew exactly what was happening. With his ability to handle computers, Juan Carlos knew exactly what the solution was.

  Modern nanites accepted remote orders, Tzedek’s didn’t. They had to change the behavior of Tzedek’s in a very complex way. They’d do it locally. Besides, Juan Carlos had to make the changes without Tzedek interfering against him. Or Gea.

  Juan Carlos concentrated on the molecular changes that the nanites needed to incorporate a new set of instructions. He began to rock almost imperceptibly back and forth. His face changed by the moment, from anguish, to anger, to anguish again and finally to resignation.

  “I promise you,” he suddenly exclaimed, and his aspect appeared to suddenly relax. He went back to concentrating on what the nanites needed to do and he showed it to Sofía. She, through the tiara, understood what she had to do, but suddenly she broke the contact.

  “How do I know that you’re not really just trying to kill what’s left of my father??”

  Juan Carlos thought for a moment, not sure whether it was Sofía or Gea asking. He finally said:

  “You must trust me. I’ve just reached an agreement with Tzedek.”


  Sofía thought for a minute.

  “Okay, this will only change the compatibility of the nanites with the biological part,” she explained, and concentrated completely on Juan Carlos’ body, first seeing his whole body, then his organs, his muscles, his bones, his cells, his blood, and finally every molecule in his body. Hundreds of billions of small units of information were processed one instant after another. Sofía isolated the modern nanites in accordance with what Juan Carlos had shown her. She introduced a series of instructions, and ordered them to execute. The modern nanites started to search out Tzedek’s and instead of avoiding them, went directly to run into them. As if it were a battle, every one of Tzedek’s soldiers tried to exterminate the foreign mechanisms, but they found their defenses annulled and invaded by a link that changed part of their behavior. The new instructions basically ordered them to do two things: transmit it if they ran into more original nanites of Tzedek’s, and then abandon the body.

  Sofía relaxed once she’d made the modifications, but she kept watching to see what was happening at a molecular level, even when Juan Carlos had released her hands. She got pale.

  “Quick, bring a stasis capsule,” ordered Juan Carlos.

  Althaea ran to bring one of the empty capsules from the Atlantean chest and following his instructions, stuck a needle in his arm, putting the capsule at the end instead of a plunger. A few seconds later, a thick golden liquid started to fall through the needle into the container.

  A few minutes passed before they could tell if the change worked. Sofía went back to her normal view of the world and laid back in the chair to look at her father. He was also resting in his chair, with his eyes closed, while Althaea continued to hold the capsule. Nothing more fell into it. Sofía sat watching them for a while. Slowly, so imperceptibly that if she watched the whole time, she couldn’t tell if anything was happening, Juan Carlos’ hair started to darken and his wrinkles to disappear. The process was exponential, so it started slowly, but as more and more nanites copied her instructions, they were executed more quickly.

  Althaea was in absolute silence the whole time. She knew that any interruption could be fatal. Now, when she saw that Sofía had finally relaxed, she also noticed that Juan Carlos was getting better. His smile was dazzling. And Sofía noticed.

  He opened his eyes and slowly looked around. Althaea closed and sealed the capsule and removed the syringe, which she threw in the trash. She approached Juan Carlos, held him and gave him a kiss. He tensed up for a second, then he relaxed and she looked into his eyes. Juan Carlos’ eyes were yellowish green.

  “Did you really fall in love with me?”

  Althaea snorted.

  “I knew it would be hard for you to believe after sharing my father’s memories and I’m really sorry they’re there. Believe me, I’m not amused about my father looking over your shoulder every time we touch. You also need to know I never lied to you, even though I didn’t tell you everything, and I’m sorry I didn’t. I like you. “I like you and I love you,” she added mentally.

  Juan Carlos’ brow had been furrowed and he suddenly relaxed.

  “Right now we have to help Sofía and Gea. What do we do? How did Tzedek plan to separate them?”

  “That’s the problem. Tzedek never planned to separate them. His plan was for Sofía to be more mature, which biologically would make her more adaptable to the tiara, so when she used it she’d be completely controlled by it. He planned to get Gea back...Sofía was never important to him as an individual. However, I’m sure there must be a way. He also planned to eliminate me, but now he’s here, temporarily,” he pointed at the capsule.

  “That cunning sneak! And to think I liked him!” Sofía raged.

  “Yes, that sounds like my father. When you live that many years, your perspective on the value of life changes. In some cases, for the better, and in others...what do you mean temporarily?” asked Althaea, sighing.

  “Your father made me promise him that at some point in the future I would find him a new body,” Juan Carlos answered.

  “And Tzedek trusted you?” Althaea asked, shocked. “I don’t say that because you aren’t trustworthy, but because seeing my father trust his existence to a human’s word is incredible.”

  “Well, maybe he wasn’t that sneaky or cunning after all. And know that I’ll do all I can to keep my word, given that he was seeing into my mind live.”

  “Well, it will be better if you think of something in regard to my problem right now, because I may be just a program with memories of a person like you all say, but I feel real and I don’t want to disappear.”

  “At least, the urgent problem has been solved. Juan Carlos was dying. The problem with Gea and Sofía doesn’t appear to be causing any immediate physical damage.”

  “It isn’t urgent for you. You have no idea what it’s like to be fighting all the time with someone trying to control you every time you turn your back.”

  “And you have no idea what it’s like to be in the body of a spoiled child.”

  Sofía turned red.

  “Calm down, both of you,” Althaea sighed. “It’s like watching two sisters fight.”

  Sofía opened her mouth and it wouldn’t have surprised her to hear both of them speak at the same time, so she put out both hands to stop them.

  “Enough. I understand you, I understand you both. We’re going to find a solution, but right now you need to work together. Besides, we also have other urgent problems. Many lives can be saved if we handle it right.”

  “What are you talking about?” asked Sofía.

  “A cruise ship full of people is almost at our door, in the sea, around the mouth of the Negro River. Thousands of people, but unvaccinated. And we only have a hundred doses.”

  Sofía thought for a moment.

  “The factory doesn’t have the equipment to fabricate them?”

  “Yes, it does, but the synthesizers can only create a hundred at a time and it takes two weeks to make them.”

  “Well, use the factory to make more synthesizers. It makes everything automatically through the computer. We’ll make fifty synthesizers. If you program them now, they’ll be ready in less than twenty-four hours, and in two weeks we’ll have five thousand doses.”

  They were all dumbstruck for a minute.

  “That’s a good idea,” Juan Carlos agreed.

  “Excellent idea, I’ll go ask Raquel right now, she can take care of it all,” said Althaea. “Though we still have the problem of how to keep them going two weeks without coming onto land. According to what they said, they only have enough food for two more days.”

  “How are you going to get the vaccines to them if they get contaminated in the process?” asked Sofía.

  “We were thinking we could use a drone that we have.”

  “So why don’t you use drones to send them food?”

  “Because we only have...”

  Once again, they were quiet, while Sofía looked at them significantly.

  “I see your point. When we finish fabricating the synthesizers, we can make drones. Even so, the power to transport food doesn’t mean we have it. Where will we get food for thousands of people?” asked Althaea.

  “We’re surrounded by food. Are the fish safe? We can do an analysis, and if they are, send them fishing nets, tackle, hooks, lines...they can take all they can get from the ocean. That will substantially reduce what we need to send them. I suspect there will be more fish than usual. And it will be much safer than what we could send them from here, that we’ll need to sterilize.”

  “I don’t know if I’m talking to Gea or with Sofía, but you have some really good ideas.”

  Sofía was quiet for a minute.

  “I think it’s a little of both. Gea has the experience and I have the knowledge of what we need and what we can do in today’s world. The ideas were a little from both of us at the same time.”

  Althaea and Juan Carlos looked at each other.

  “Well, I think it’s great
that you’re working together instead of trying to kill each other,” said Juan Carlos.

  “We weren’t trying to kill...oh, that was a joke.”

  Juan Carlos sighed.

  “Time is of the essence for these people. Let’s get to work. Ah, and Althaea, it would be best if you put away that capsule in the Atlantean capsule. Put a sticker on it or something. Maybe one day...”

  SPECIAL DELIVERY

  MSC Grandiosa, December 2, 2027. 6:30 p.m.

  They watched with substantial anticipation from the bridge as the drone approached. In the city, they were doing analyses of the air, the ground, the water and the people, to detect the presence of the virus. Meanwhile, the whole machine, a remote control quadcopter with a camera, as well as its cargo, had been carefully sterilized before sending it off. The machine made an impeccable landing on the upper deck, where the bridge was. Althaea had advised Leora to handle the package carefully, because the hundred vials with the V110 sticker were the only doses of the vaccine that existed at the moment.

  Leora waited until the revolutions of the small motors of the drone slowed down and then went to get her cargo.

  Ever since they’d talked with land, they’d been discussing intensely about who should get the vaccines.

  In the end, they made a selection from a list of volunteers with whom they’d discussed the issue. Leora and Robert were among the eligible, as well as some engineers, architects, electrical technicians, and people with general knowledge about agriculture, hunting...Leora knew the occupation of every passenger on the ship and of course knew what each crew member was capable of, so it was she who made the first choice of people, explaining the situation to them and making the risks very clear. She gave them until nightfall to think about it.

  Leora carefully opened the package of vaccines and then just looked at it. Robert saw that something was bothering her.

  “What’s up?” asked Robert.

  “Look at the vials.”

  “They look unbroken, what’s wrong with them?”