The Collective military was putatively commanded by the Fortizi brothers; responsibility for deaths and for a poor strategy to get the Human would be laid at their feet. This was a blunt instrument attack; the new commander assumed, and therefore told his lieutenants that he expected tens of thousands of Collective soldiers to die. It troubled him not. They weren’t his soldiers.
His name was Collin Turnbull. He had one unbelievable ability generally unknown to the Collective military leadership but known to all his men.
He could change the color of his skin, his identity and his abilities. He was of no race and every race. A changeling, an aberration and a miracle. He was formidable and dangerous; undefeated in combat. And when this was over, he was coming for the Fortizi brothers. He could be them, with all their powers, or be any other creature, be they human, Gens or a new species. He could even be the new Chosen One, if he could touch and absorb his DNA.
How could the Fortizi’s not have known this, Paulo thought to himself? Their fear elevated to high alert.
Enzo thought they were dead men now; only the date and time of their demise remained to be decided. Paulo clung to the belief that he would rule the world; that the rogue Immortals would restrain this monster and keep their word to him. Enzo decided that carnal fulfillment was all he had left to enjoy, along with first crack at the Human. He would immerse himself in pleasure for the time being, and hope the raid would fail, and this Australian monster destroyed along with the Gens in the field. If he killed the Human later himself, perhaps he would be spared.
If Adam was murdered, Liara would kill him, and his brother Herself, slowly, then the whole planet, erasing Her mistake, ridding Herself of proof of failure. But Enzo had no way of knowing that. He wasn’t Immortal, and privy to their long-term plans stretching over millions of years.
Ignorance is bliss, as the humans say.
Chapter 34
Collin Turnbull sat in his situation room fifty miles due north, and slightly east of the cabin, just off the I-5. He had put his men in position with the cabin and compound now surrounded on all sides, perhaps a half mile back from the perimeter of the bubble boundary. Turnbull failed to understand that while his men couldn’t fire in, the men inside the bubble could fire out. The men inside fired traditional armaments as well as new long-range Nano-tech projectiles and bomblets, with ever increasing range.
Turnbull didn’t understand how this was possible; ever changing weaponry built inside the compound? How? The answer was barrels, and barrels of base materials, sunshine for power generation and wireless communication with scientists worldwide who provided the software to make every conceivable kind of weapon on demand. Smaller barrels of toxic, and lethal materials were stored in the compound away from the sight, and surveillance of Collin Turnbull. All that was needed was software and engineering; software Adam provided for the engineering Maria had already developed.
The aircraft had separate nano-poisons ready to go; there were separate projects for each team with separate goals.
The temporary measures taken by Turnbull were designed to annoy and harass more than penetrate and destroy. They dropped napalm and other explosives on the roof of the bubble, things that might weaken it and add burden to Liara. It did, but not much. The response was to kill hundreds of Turnbull’s soldiers in a targeted fashion. Eventually both sides stopped the harassment.
Though he was rejecting the notion that the humans had the airborne weaponry the Fortizi’s assured them they had, he nonetheless planned to take out air support first while still on the ground. Then two waves of fifty thousand Gens, in human, and natural state would attack the compound as soon as the Immortals brought down the bubble.
No sense losing men when the prize couldn’t be gotten immediately. The deadline for attack had arrived, and been postponed for hours on end, then for days. The bubble didn’t disappear, or dissolve as expected. These activities, of course, meant that Liara and Hecate were now warned of the Collective’s presence surrounding the bubble, so Cindy and Misti put the teams in the City of Light on high alert. Attacks could be imminent if the Immortals had searched for and identified the precise location of Paraiso.
Who was coming for them in Paraiso and how many? How many of all Collective forces were already in southern Oregon? Alana would be instrumental in finding out, one way or the other, but the human and Gens folk in Oregon outside the bubble had already been brought into the compound, and the bubble extended to a full one hundred acres. The planes were also moved and reinforcements from Paraiso ordered up.
The enemy would move in close, but would they bother to look behind them? Cindy thought not so, Rod, and Francois organized an airlift of maybe a thousand more combatants plus new nano bomblets and additional air support. Anti-aircraft tech would come into play, so new defensive tech developed by Maria and Adam would deter surface to air missiles. But it couldn’t prevent all ground defenses and couldn’t be successful every time. The number of Collective combatants was an unknown as was their weaponry and training. If they were suited up against Nano-poisoning bomblets, alternate plans using penetrating Nano-projectiles would be required. That was merely a software adjustment.
Maria and Adam had designed such a counter punch. They hoped it would work. But, they had no idea that over two hundred thousand Gens had massed in Oregon, surrounding the compound.
When Alana informed them, Rod told his wife to explain the situation to all concerned. None were ever going to leave the compound alive if the bubble didn’t hold and the Collective’s troops weren’t somehow dispersed. Rod would come to their rescue when he could; he would get new planes and retrofit them with enough modified Nano-poison projectiles to kill them all. But that would take a week, maybe longer. If the bubble came down sooner, everyone would die. He would be unable to stop the Collective and its allies.
The Immortals were stunned that they could do little but grind away at the bubble and, like a machine grinder, keep up the pressure day and night. Inside, Liara was using all her strength of maintain the bubble but even She expected to be unable to do so for more than a few more days. She couldn’t call out to other Immortals; none would come. This was of her making, not theirs, and if changes were coming, then they would come. If Liara defeated the rogues, they would be dispersed widely in the RealVerse, never to take form or have Immortal consciousness again.
They would not die, but it was as close to death as an Immortal could suffer. If Liara won, her strength would be redoubled; no one would even dare think of insurrection again. Not for billions of years, if even that soon. Hecate thought all was not lost; the humans and Gens of Paraiso would not forsake them.
In Paraiso, Rod and Francois received word of a new plan. Rod flew to Seattle via South Dakota while all hands in the City worked another project. Rafi and Finn were activated as were Hannah and Vera. Edward had his assignment, and resources vital to Paraiso were rerouted to Oregon, and Northern California.
***
Hecate appeared to Cindy and Misti late one night. “After weeks, and long past due, we’re done with the procedure, but now he needs forty-eight to ninety-six hours minimum for the healing to set.”
“Then what?”
“Then She will remove him and take him, and only him, to Paraiso via Her Air Immortal. He will be dematerialized at the subatomic particle level you humans don’t understand, then rematerialized in the City. After that, Paraiso will need to be defended for months. As many as four more months, maybe five. This may not be easy, but if we succeed, Liara will then cause these rogue Immortals and their Gens allies to die. They will journey to space and be allowed to breathe deeply the nothingness of the black, cold vacuum. The Immortals will be deconstructed alive and spread out over the entire RealVerse. It will take one hundred billion years to reassemble and be fully alive again. But not Enzo, and not Paulo. Adam will still have to fight them, separately; he must fight and defeat them. That will change the course history of the remaining loyal or indifferent Imm
ortals and make the RealVerse safe for most of eternity with Liara as Creator.”
“And Adam?”
“He will die by my hand, but the world he loves and all that is in it will live on. She will not allow his insubordination to Her as Creator to go unpunished. She cannot allow this any more than She can allow these renegade Immortals to go unpunished. Keeping all Immortals in line in the RealVerse all the time is virtually impossible. Insubordination is not one of the things She can allow to be ignored, no matter who or where it comes from. Many have failed as Creator before Her; She has succeeded longest, and must succeed again now to establish stability, and prevent chaos. As bad a She may be, other Immortals would be even worse.”
“She will escape with Adam and you; the rest of us will perish.”
“Yes. I’m sorry, but there is no other way. There is nothing I can do to change this. You are too few and they are too many. We can move Adam if you can hold out long enough, but we need time.” Hecate disappeared.
***
Cindy said, “Our only shot at buying enough time is to use our aircraft now and throw all our assets at them all at once.”
“Give them a bloody nose, make them regroup and think twice,” said Misti. If we get enough of them, it might make them decide to proceed more cautiously. Like we’re stronger than we really are.”
“How much time do you think we can buy?”
“Can’t say. They may decide to overrun our compound as soon as the bubble weakens. Sacrifice tens of thousands of soldiers in their quest to kill Adam, but I just don’t know. If we commit everything, and if they stop, the next time they come, we’re dead. You know that, right?”
“If you have a better idea, now’s the time.”
“We need to summon Hecate for a timeline.”
Hecate appeared and answered questions she couldn’t be certain about.
“He needs thirty-six hours, that’s minimum. The bubble could last in part for forty-eight hours. But at a strength needed for full safety, much less. Maybe less than eighteen hours.”
Can it be directed, like a tunnel to get our people, or some of them out?”
“Maybe. I’ll ask. We can scrunch everyone up and make the bubble smaller, but that will buy us only hours, not days.”
“Why can’t she use all Her power and keep this going indefinitely?”
“She lives in an incorporeal RealVerse and exists simultaneously in all of them. To appear in physical form, which is what the bubble is, means she must appear in physical form and she must use her essence to do so. Saving Adam by ignoring the rest of the RealVerse might lead to the destruction of other worlds, worlds She protects at great expense. Some more than others. Other Immortals can have Mars or Mercury; but they can’t have Earth. Her essence is life itself; what she gives to Adam, she takes from Herself. It might regenerate, but even if it does, it would be slowly and by then, the rogues might be in control. I know you all love Adam and want to save this planet and would sacrifice all for him. But you can’t. I’m ashamed to say that if you had enough essence to matter, I would have asked you for it all by now. You combined essence would last a microsecond. We’re trapped. We need help or time, or both.”
***
Hecate said to Liara, “Take my essence. It will last long enough for the other humans to get here. Please, Creator, you must do this.”
“You would do that? For this lower life form with no particular value or important meaning except to possibly save this wretched planet. You would sacrifice your Immortality for him?”
“I would. I would a thousand times over. To save him and save this nothing planet he loves so much. He defied you and for that he will die. But before then he will set things right, your mistakes, and he will do so willingly and die willingly.”
“When you take human form in the final battle at the Manor, we’ll see how easily he goes, or whether it will be your blood pooling on the floor.”
“He has said he will not stop me. He will not fight me, and he forgives me for what I must do.”
“Why? Why would he do that? He could’ve been ruler of this planet, every living creature a slave. Many worlds are ruled like this; I allow it. These are lower life forms who simply do not matter. Let them destroy each other; he made his choice, not you.”
“Take my life force. I will materialize now.”
“Don’t be a fool. I will take nothing from you, now or ever. You are Immortal and have much to learn about our race. You will survive and return to our home. These creatures will do what they do best: kill each other. We will stay until the bubble comes apart. Then we take Adam and hope he survives.”
Hecate seemed disconsolate.
“The others offered their essences?”
“Yes.”
“Sad. I cannot and will not save them. Adam either, if they penetrate our protection. Then we will leave, both of us.”
“I will stay. There will be death on the field of battle. Collective deaths uncounted when I am done. You will give me this greater power. I do not have enough of it now, but I demand it from you if all turns out wrong.”
“As you wish. I will grant you the power at the proper time, then I will complete the rest of the job later. The Collective and their Immortals will regret this victory. I will obliterate the rogues while you massacre the Gens. They will flee before you, but not until you have decimated their armies. Kill the leader who hides in the background, directing but not leading. His name is Collin Turnbull. I will point out his location before I leave. Now, we must return to Adam, and maintain the bubble. We cannot do both and fight.
Chapter 35
The Troops of the Collective were confident that their victory was assured; Paulo, and his brother now had the support of at least two powerful Immortals while the humans within had but one, or, so they thought. The bubble protecting the compound, they were told, was wearing down and, when it collapsed, the troops had, but one job: find the Human, kill him and obliterate the structure, and all beings within.
Several things were unknown to each side. One was that Turnbull had read the reports of the Hueys, and the cargo planes outfitted for delivery of toxic projectiles. That mistake wouldn’t be repeated here. Hand held anti-aircraft weaponry was brought in and anything not pinging commercial passenger aircraft would be shot down immediately. Since the Collective troops would scatter in every direction, remaining in Gens natural state, no traces of normal destruction would be found. Human dead bodies, at least those not taken for body parts as prizes and meals, would be found. It would look like a drug deal gone bad with these humans on the losing side.
Turnbull also knew of the hand-held Nano-weapon devices, but with only a few hundred men, the humans could not stave off an attack of one hundred thousand assault troops in addition to one hundred thousand more in reserve. There was no way out this time. There would be no Hueys this time to ferry survivors to safety.
Turnbull asked for an ETA on the breakthrough and was told to remain at the ready and refrain from asking questions. If he needed to know something, the rogue Immortals would tell him. He decided to move his troops in closer to jam communications from within, and to cut off any possibility of communication with the outside world, a minor glitch in the strategy of using bubble tech to protect Adam. A distress signal wouldn’t have helped anyway; too many Gens, and too few police.
Turnbull moved his men in range, a few daring to approach the bubble with claws extended. The response inside was to point weapons at them without firing, drawing closer and closer to their prey. Mocking the enemy was not a Gens habit, but these were young highly trained elite troops trained in countries around the world in national armies. They were aggressive and dangerous, and wanted revenge for Idaho. Though normally disciplined, Turnbull thought they had earned a little fun before the killing began.
However, several items were unknown to Turnbull. First high-level jets beyond the antiaircraft capability of the Collectives troops were now outfitted and carrying Nano-poison weapo
nry; the Hueys and the cargo planes were decoys. Rockets were outfitted, and the poison was no longer in pellet form; Maria assumed they would use some sort of protective gear, probably basic plastic with an air filtration system. Her new bomblets carried razor sharp projectiles, tiny but able to penetrate standard decontamination suits. She also gamed an assault with Bitsie which anticipated a second wave, probably less effectively protected, as backup or as mop-up troops. Less well trained, but still dangerous.
Some were probably in human form, as were some in the first wave, so Pops created a poison that killed humans and Gens; the antidote was standard issue to the troops from South Dakota, the City and elsewhere.
Turnbull was also unaware that while his troops couldn’t pass through the bubble, the men on the inside could go from the inside out. And they could shoot out. Maria had made the delivery systems for the hand-held bazooka like weapons containing Nano-poisons far greater in range; several miles in fact. Release of cannisters from within would be followed by smaller more lethal short-range weaponry using the Nano-poisons. As the Gens fell quickly, the human troops within the bubble, now suited up, would continue to send cannisters of death in all directions. The logistics of the death grid were developed by Francois and Rod, while the likely patterns of attack, counterattack and resistance was gamed out by Bitsie Tolan. Rafi watched his amazing friend and lover as she monitored satellite telemetry, confirming which scenarios were most accurate, and adjusting tactics on the fly.
He whispered something lascivious in her ear, which made her smile, then ordered him to leave her alone. She was already wet with excitement, and he wasn’t helping. Still she thought, for a guy, he knows his way around female anatomy, hers in particular, and he was always open to being guided in pleasing her.
Rafi left. He had other logistics to monitor, which he did in Ops.
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