The Orbs Omnibus

by Nicholas Sansbury Smith

  Noble smiled. “I can assure you, Alex Wagner, you’ll be very safe—”

  Hearing the man say his name reminded Alex of all that NTC had done. “Listen, I appreciate the rescue, I really do. But NTC knew about this shit from the beginning!” Alex said, his voice echoing off the walls. “You could have done something to stop it . . .” He trailed off as he considered his words. Maybe he was wrong. Maybe NTC couldn’t have stopped it. Maybe that’s why the sub was hiding under the ocean.

  Noble didn’t immediately respond. Instead he turned toward the monitor, running a finger through his beard. The screen had switched to a video feed of a pair of jellyfish gliding by, a beautiful purple glow from their bodies illuminating the water around them. There was something tranquil about their movements. The anger building inside Alex subsided as he watched the creatures. He had seen them on documentaries before, but it never occurred to him that he might someday see these animals in their natural habitat. As he watched their bodies pulsate, Alex shifted uncomfortably. The jellyfish were far too reminiscent of the aliens that had been hunting him for the past week.

  “Fascinating, aren’t they?” asked Noble. “The fact that they can live so far down, where the pressure would kill a man in seconds, is nothing short of miraculous.”

  Alex shook his head. “With all due respect, I doubt you paid me a visit to discuss biology. Why are you here? Why did you save me?”

  Again, Noble remained silent, his blue eyes studying Alex. The tension between them built in the stillness. Finally the captain said, “If you want to find out, follow me. I think we can answer all your questions.”

  Noble stalked out of the room, not bothering to see if Alex followed. Alex looked down again at the tray of food and noticed a small tube of medicated ointment. He would have smiled if his lips weren’t so cracked. NTC had certainly laid out the red carpet for his arrival. They had given him food, water, and medication for his dry lips. That was enough for him. Grabbing the tube, he raced into the hallway, yelling, “Wait up!”

  Noble was waiting for him a few doors down, his hands clasped behind his back. He eyed Alex’s wrist before continuing down the hall.

  “How’s that feeling?”

  Alex looked down at his injured arm and shrugged. “Not bad.”

  For the next several minutes he led Alex through the bowels of the massive sub. They walked in silence, and Alex took in the sounds of the ship. The scuffling of feet from busy crew, the sporadic chirps from engineering monitors, the hissing of steam. He soaked it all in.

  As they passed through an auxiliary machine room, he realized he was not on a tour. Captain Noble was leading him somewhere. With every step, Alex felt a growing tension. Weeks of constant vigilance had left him on edge, and although there were no alien monsters here, NTC might be hiding something much worse on this secret submarine.

  They continued through another series of passages. Blue screens and control panels lined the walls, monitoring everything from life support systems to the sanitary sewer.

  “Morning, sir,” a crew member said as Noble squeezed past him. Alex didn’t recognize her as one of his saviors from the night before, and he wondered how many people were aboard the submarine.

  The captain nodded and smiled. “Morning, Pearce.”

  As they traveled deeper into the vessel, Alex took note of the interaction between Noble and his crew. The captain made a conscientious effort to stop and say hello to every one of them. He wasn’t like the other NTC brass Alex had met. They had all been humorless hard-asses, exactly the sort of people who toed the company line even if it meant sending the rest of the world to hell. Alex hated the bastards on principle, but Noble seemed more, well, noble than the rest of them.

  When they arrived at the CIC, Noble stopped. He turned to face Alex, his shoulders blocking the entrance.

  “We don’t normally let civilians in here, but I’m making an exception for you,” he said. “This is the nerve center of the Ghost of Atlantis.”

  Alex raised an eyebrow.

  “Those of us in the know call her GOA—and luckily there aren’t many of us in the know. Our coordinates are top secret, and from what we’ve seen so far, the aliens apparently have a hard time detecting us through all this water. Ironic, isn’t it?”

  Alex shrugged. He was just glad the Spiders hadn’t followed them into the water.

  “Technically, you are standing inside the most advanced submarine ever engineered. Like Atlantis, we’re deep below the waves, hoping to stay hidden from an invading force. We have more than enough food and weapons in case we get into a dicey situation,” Noble said, smiling. “But enough about all that. Are you ready to see why I brought you here?”

  Alex nodded, but as he followed the captain into the dimly lit room, he had the sinking feeling that he wasn’t ready for whatever Noble wanted to show him.

  * * *

  Everyone in the Humvee froze when they saw the ship. The drone was flying low to the ground, cruising across the skyline.

  Overton eased the truck to a stop and wedged the vehicle behind a pair of sedans. Killing the engine, he turned to look at Emanuel.

  “Is that thing charged yet?”

  The biologist shook his head. “I need more time.”

  Bouma poked his helmeted head into the front seat. “Maybe it won’t see us,” he said.

  Overton turned to watch the drone make another pass. It was circling, looking for something or someone.

  Hunting.

  They were only a few miles from the turnoff for the Biosphere—so close, but impossibly far at the same time. With a blink, Overton switched his HUD to infrared again, just to ensure there weren’t any other Organics in their path.

  “I need to get back to my brother,” Jeff said.

  “I know kid, I know. Let me think,” said Overton. He turned to Emanuel. “Don’t bullshit me. Will that thing work if we need it?”

  “Yes,” said the scientist, “but the effect will carry over a shorter range than the last time.”

  Overton exhaled, fogging up his visor. “All right, we sit here for five more minutes. If the drone doesn’t pass us by, we go to plan B.”

  “What’s plan B?” Kiel asked.

  “I don’t know yet, but I have five minutes to figure it out.”

  “Guys . . .” Jeff whispered. Louder, he repeated, “Guys!”

  “What is it, kid?” Overton barked, turning to look at the boy. As soon as he did, he saw the horde of Spiders barreling down the highway.

  Jeff looked up at Overton, squinting. “Let’s kill ’em,” he said. “Let’s kill ’em all.”

  Overton saw Bouma smile from the backseat. That was his line.

  * * *

  The CIC was packed with staffers, some carrying tablets, others carrying old-fashioned notebooks. A chorus of chirps and beeps echoed through the space. Overhead, red and white LEDs flickered in every direction. The entire scene was chaos. After being alone for so long, the noise made Alex feel uneasy.

  “This is where we monitor everything. And by everything, I mean everything. See that over there?” Noble said, pointing to a hologram of what appeared to be the UK. “They got hit the worst. The Biosphere there has been silent since invasion day. We’ve had intermittent contact with the Brazilian Biosphere, but nothing in the past week.”

  “How many Biospheres are there?” asked Alex.

  “There were fifty, strategically placed throughout the world. Truth is, we didn’t know about them until we received a message from Doctor Hoffman. Before that, we had been drifting through the Pacific for five months with no details about our deployment.”

  Noble paused and looked at the electronic map of the world.

  “There are only ten Biospheres left that we know of. Every week it seems like one of those red dots fades off the screen. Thankfully, a few are still holding strong. O
ur Cheyenne Mountain facility seems to be faring much better than the others.”

  “Dr. Rodriguez,” Alex blurted, remembering their conversation. “From Cheyenne Mountain. I spoke to him on the radio back on the beach. He said something about developing a weapon that could change the course of the war.”

  “What else did he say?” Noble asked, his eyes instantly growing wider.

  “That’s it. I was being chased by those things.” Alex looked at his feet.

  Noble nodded, and didn’t press any further. “You’re damned lucky to be alive, Alex. Damned lucky. Without that radio sending us signals, you would have been fish food by now.”

  Alex glanced at the radio sticking out of his pocket. The top of the device was scratched from when he had tossed it aside a few days before. He tucked it deeper into the safety of his pocket.

  “You okay?” Noble asked.

  “Yeah. I just don’t get it. If all modern communications have been knocked out—including satellites—then how does this radio work?”

  “Good question,” Noble quickly replied. “Truth is, we don’t really know why, but anything analog seems to work. The magnetic disturbance above the surface,” he said, pointing toward the ceiling. “It fried most everything on invasion day, and it continues to disrupt communications. Whoever designed the radio for the Biospheres must have known something we don’t. This sub is linked directly to the channel these analog radios transmit on.”

  Alex scowled. “So you’re saying that NTC knew about the invasion?”

  “I’d say there’s a good chance, although I don’t know much more than you,” Noble replied. He turned to check one of the monitors before continuing through the CIC. They passed a pair of holographic charts and stopped at a large monitor. “We’re learning more and more about the aliens every day, which still isn’t much in the scheme of things, but enough to start planning.”

  “Planning?”

  “An offensive. This vessel is humanity’s best hope and her most valuable weapon. We’re equipped with nuclear-tipped missiles, three NTC-44 helicopters, a smaller sub for recon, and a crew of 120 brilliant men and women. We’re more than capable of waging a full-fledged war from eight hundred feet beneath the surface.”

  Alex surveyed the CIC again. He was impressed, but after seeing what had happened on the outside, he doubted the sub could do much more than annoy the Organics.

  “Follow me,” Noble said, motioning Alex past an NTC guard at the hatch. As they made their way down a small flight of metal stairs into the heart of the CIC, a man in a neatly pressed blue NTC uniform approached them.

  “Captain on deck,” he said.

  Noble smiled. “Lieutenant Commander Lin, this is Alex Wagner.”

  Lin reached out to shake Alex’s hand. “Welcome aboard.” Though his words were friendly, there was a calculating intelligence in his eyes.

  “There’s someone else I’d like you to meet,” Noble said. “Irene, are you busy?”

  An orange avatar shot out of a console next to the door. Alex knew right away it was the ship’s AI. She had the cropped hair typical of other AIs, but she wore glasses—something he’d never seen before.

  “Hello, Alex. I am Irene. Welcome to the Ghost of Atlantis. Please do not hesitate to ask if you need anything,” she said with a thick Russian accent.

  “Thank you,” Alex said as he followed Noble past another row of terminals. “A Russian AI?” he whispered.

  The captain chuckled. “I failed to mention the most advanced submarine in the world was actually built by the Russians. Commissioned by NTC in twenty fifty-nine.”

  “Don’t they have an entire research division that designs AIs?”

  “They do, but Irene was part of the deal. And she was worth every dollar.”

  “Thank you, sir,” Irene replied.

  “I see,” Alex said, strolling over to a translucent image of the Earth that was speckled with glowing blue circles. “What do these dots represent?”

  “I take it you’ve seen the human farms.”

  Alex shook his head. He’d seen a lot in the time he’d spent outside, but nothing that he would have classified as a human farm.

  “Wait, do you mean the orbs?”

  “No, this is something much worse,” Noble said. “You aren’t the only survivor out there, Alex. And this may be hard for you to believe, but there are millions of others. Only . . .” Noble paused as one of his crew members squeezed by them.

  “Only what?”

  “Come with me, I want you to see something.”

  The two men walked through the gallery of monitors and holograms, maneuvering carefully past staffers who were busily analyzing a constant stream of data. When they finally reached the middle of the deck Noble stopped and rested his hand against a metal pole extending from the ceiling with two handles attached to it. This was not a modern piece of technology; this was a tool from the past. Alex wasn’t sure what the device was at first, but then he remembered seeing one in a military book his father had kept on their coffee table.

  “Is that a periscope?” he asked.

  “Ever seen one?”

  Alex shook his head. “Not in person.”

  “Most people haven’t. The navy stopped using them years ago. When NTC commissioned this ship and selected me as captain, I requested one. Why? Because I believe the best way isn’t necessarily the newest way. Our instructions from Doctor Hoffman were clear, but he gave me the leeway to carry out the mission as I see fit.”

  “And what is that mission?”

  Noble nodded as if he approved of Alex’s question. “We are to be observers only.”

  Alex hesitated before responding. “Meaning what, exactly?”

  “Doctor Hoffman gave us strict orders. Do not interfere with the Biospheres. He didn’t want us to risk being discovered. Our job was to watch and document what was going on. But after realizing how bad things really were outside, I broke protocol and had my chief communication engineer tap into the channel. We’ve been trying to contact the Biospheres ever since.”

  Alex had so many questions that he had trouble narrowing them down. “What about other submarines and military bases? The army, the navy, the marines, NTC—you said there were other survivors. Have you been able to reach any of them?”

  Noble shrugged. “You’d think so, but we’ve only been able to get through to the Biospheres on the encrypted channel. If there are other subs out there, then they’re hiding just like us. I’ve tasked two of my communications officers with trying to make contact, but so far, nothing.”

  Alex’s mind reeled. It was hard for him to believe the military was gone or hiding. Even with a bellyful of food and a bit of rest, Alex was feeling light-headed. He was still severely dehydrated—which reminded him he needed to piss again. The mere thought sent pain racing through his groin. He knew it was going to hurt.

  “At any rate, we got lucky,” Noble continued. “With these old tools, we aren’t completely blind. Check this out.” The captain spun the periscope in Alex’s direction. “I had them include the most advanced fiber optic system on the market. You can see inside moon craters with this one. I’ve had Irene load some images we captured last time we used it. Go ahead and take a look, but be prepared for a shock.”

  Alex grabbed the handles, pulling the eyepiece to his face. The captain was right; what he saw was beyond belief.

  Are those really people?

  Alex finally realized what Noble had meant when he had used the term human farms. The images were horrifying, revealing not one but hundreds of poles lining the beach in the distance. There was no way to determine how many humans were attached to them, and no way to determine if they were alive or dead.

  Pushing the scope away, Alex felt a wave of dizziness rush over him. He tried to speak, but his lips were numb. His body was tired. He’d been on the ru
n for so long. And now he had seen something that couldn’t be unseen. It was too much for his brain to handle.

  Noble reached out to steady him, but it was too late. Alex’s legs gave out, and he collapsed onto the metal deck. He struggled to stay conscious, but pain pounded in his head as he lay helpless on the floor.

  “Get us some help!” Noble yelled, crouching by Alex’s side. “It’s going to be okay. I’m sorry; I should have warned you first.”

  “Captain!” Another staffer yelled from the back of the room. “Sir, you need to see this.”

  Alex caught a quick glimpse of an older female NTC officer, her freckled face filled with fear.

  “Sir, we didn’t pick anything up on radar. Whatever this thing is, it’s using stealth technology,” she continued.

  “Irene, switch on the lights,” Noble ordered. “Lin, prepare to take evasive measures.”

  The massive LEDs blinked on at the bow, shooting a brilliant beam through the darkness. The beams lit up a sleek black object. At first Alex thought it was another submarine, but as it crept closer, he realized it was something much, much bigger.

  Alex squirmed on the floor trying to blink the stars out of his vision, but the booming pain in his head was just too much. Defeated, he closed his eyes and heard Irene’s Russian accent break over the com.

  “Contact heading right for us, sir. Impact in T minus thirty-five point five seconds.”

  CHAPTER 18

  WITHIN seconds, the first wave of Spiders exploded over a tangled mass of empty cars. Like hungry ants, they swarmed over the useless vehicles, scraping and clawing their way closer to the Humvee.

  Overton scanned the highway for an escape route. A small ridgeline would provide them some cover on the north side, but the south was nothing more than an empty field of dead grass. If they tried to outrun the Spiders by heading west, the drone would catch them. The east was overrun with the advancing horde. There was no clear option.

  With one hand on the steering wheel and the other on his rifle, he looked at his men. They had been in the muck for weeks, and Overton was about to put them through more of it.