Absolution

by Peter Smith

  She had taken nineteen years to realize who the man was, to stop deluding herself and accept the facts of the world around her. If it had taken her that long, then she had no right to expect what remained of the world to stop blaming her for father’s actions so soon after his death, if ever.

  He smiled, “What’s not to like about being married to the hottest woman on the planet, and who has her own personal army of robots at her command?”

  She laughed shaking her head and sat up, sweeping her hand across her view, “As if there was a lot of competition for that title right now.”

  He sat up, his hand gently cupping the side of her face as he pulled her in for a kiss. Her eyes closed, falling into the sensation. After they parted she could hear the smile in his voice rather than see it, “I stand by my statement”.

  She was getting ready to push him to the ground when a notification popped up in her virtual vision. An instant later Sean let out a sigh, the one of a man who knew he would have to sacrifice something he really wanted for something even more important, “You get it?” He asked.

  She nodded, and he motioned toward the pile of clothes they had been laying on. Clothing that she had forced Sean to go collect before they had sex. While movies from before the fall made it seem desirable to do it on bare ground, the fact was nobody enjoyed getting sand and leaves involved in the process. If they did, she was of the opinion they could have sex by themselves and keep her out of it, “We should probably get dressed.” Sean said.

  She huffed, “Trying to get me to hide my fat, huh.”

  “What fat?” He exclaimed.

  “The fat you made me gain you selfish bastard,” She chided, pulling her clothes on.

  His eyes were filled with disappointment as he watched her pull her shirt on and then with a sigh he said, “There’s hardly an ounce of fat on you, I promise, I’ve checked pretty thoroughly.”

  She smacked him, “Put your pants on you perv, they’ll be here any minute,” she said as she stood and jumped into her underwear and shorts.

  He had barely gotten his own pants on when Tobor came around a bend in the brick path. Its white and grey carapace polished to a shine as its flawless stride brought it to them at the side of The Lake. Before her robotic companion had taken its last step, something had dislodged itself from its back and rocketed into Sean’s legs.

  “Daddy!” Alex squealed as he slammed into Sean’s legs, forcing her husband to stagger backwards.

  Sean reached down and grabbed their son by the hips and pulled him upwards, flipping Alex as he did. Alex’s shirt slipped down and his mop of hair fell everywhere as he laughed, “Put me down.”

  She knew he didn’t mean it as he continued to laugh. Sean pretended as if he were eating Alex’s exposed lower back, using his lips to rapidly nip at the ticklish flesh and make wild animal sounds. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Tobor take a step closer, it’s hands moving upward ever so slightly. She knew the machine wasn’t worried that Sean would intentionally hurt Alex, but she was sure it was running the math on the likelihood of his young charge accidentally slipping loose from his father’s grip. Toby clearly wanted to be ready to catch him should that happen. She smiled, knowing that Toby was worrying enough for the both of them.

  The laughter died down and Sean righted Alex, holding the little boy on his hip, “Daddy, Toby says that Grandpa is coming home today!”

  Her son’s energy and excitement at seeing his grandparents, who had been away at the Kauai conference for over a week now, was the only thing that kept her from frowning. David Williams, Sean’s adopted father and whose last name Alex shared, would not be returning alone. Maria had wanted to speak with his traveling companion seventy-two hours ago, but the General was adamant in reinforcing his independence from her. Hell, she would have preferred a quick virtual conversation, but he had insisted on seeing her face to face.

  Williams had been engaged in the negotiations in Kauai when the attack in London had occurred. General Kellen had immediately recalled him to London before flying back here. The departure of Williams from the negotiations and the Russian Spire’s treachery nearly derailed the entire conference. But the decision by the Director to remain in Kauai and her ability to save the bulk of Trotsky’s commando forces from being obliteration, had kept the hopes for peace alive, if only just barely. She knew however that General Kellen would not see it the same way.

  She stepped toward the two of them, her hand smoothing out Alex’s hair, “I’m sure he missed you too”

  Alex reached for her and Sean handed him to Maria who took him into her arms. She let out a slight grunt as she did. At four years old he was taking after his father’s size, a fact that she never forgave the man for every time she recalled the birth. At twenty and a half kilos he was already a third of her weight and she felt every gram pressed into her hip. But beyond the initial exhalation as she adapted to his mass, she didn’t mind or show any outward distress at holding him. In fact, she loved every single moment of it as his little arms wrapped around her neck and he pecked her on the cheek. She pulled back, smiling at him, and for the briefest of a moment she understood why her father had done what he had.

  It was easy to think of the man when looking at her son. He had spent so much of his time re-birthing humanity by cloning many of his victims. On many occasions she had seen small children that reminded her of the staff of Multi National Robotics. But what her father had just started dabbling in, nature had mastered long ago. Her son was nearly a spitting image of his biological grandfather. There were elements in there of Sean’s mother, the angle of the nose, the texture of the hair, but her father was the dominant influence here.

  She kissed him back, “So why are you being so lovey right now my little wallaby?”

  He looked down and played with a small thread that had come loose from the collar of her shirt, “Can I keep Grandpa’s gift this time?”

  “Well, that just depends on what Grandpa brings you.”

  “What was wrong with the last gift?” Sean asked.

  Maria arched an eyebrow at her husband, “Are you serious?”

  Tobor chose that moment to add to the conversation, “A knife is not a developmentally appropriate gift for a four-year-old.”

  “It was a multi-tool” He said, glowering at the robot. Sean looked between Tobor and her realizing that they outnumbered him, “Okay, maybe he could have chosen better but it’s not like it was a machete”

  Maria could feel herself getting upset, “He nearly cut himself”

  Sean stepped up and mussed up Alex’s hair, their son playfully batting at his hand to stop his father, “The knife wasn’t even all the way out”

  She huffed, “I think I’ll be running by myself next time.”

  Sean looked from Alex to her, realizing that he might be annoying Maria more than he realized and smiled, “I’m sure he’ll have chosen something more appropriate this time”.

  Maria let out a breath to calm herself, realizing that she was misplacing her nerves from the upcoming meeting onto her husband. He was still wrong, and she would make sure he understood that later, but he meant well. Just like his father did. David Williams was a strong-willed man, more so than even she was. He thought his grandson should be prepared for anything and that his education should start earlier rather than later. She understood why he felt that way and she wasn’t going to make a huge deal about it, but she had asked her mother to speak to him about more age appropriate gifts.

  She also understood that Sean just wanted to be loyal to his father and after losing his biological parents she was more than willing to let him keep doing so. But she couldn’t help who she was any more than any of them could.

  She, like they, were the product of the experiences and the world around them. Right now her world was Alex, and that was why she was overbearingly protective. He was the reason she should wouldn’t let the fools such as Trotsky, or even those that meant well like Kellen, to lead the world back to the brink
of war and destruction.

  She understood why her father had done what he had because she was so tempted to control the world too. The difference being that she wanted nothing more than for people to live to make their own choices, whereas her father had wanted a world that reflected his idea of perfection.

  A roar filled the air and the three of them looked up into the air, all of them shielding their eyes from the brilliant glare of the sun off of the surface of their home. Toby never took its visual sensors off of the three of them as they watched a Marine transport slowly fly overhead, entering the hangar that existed two thirds of the way up the Spire. The four jet engines on either end of its two sets of wings held the metric tons of metal, electronic equipment and aircrew aloft as the plane slowly disappeared into the side of the building.

  Maria looked at Tobor, “Please let the Supreme Commander know that we’re on our way.”

  Sean ran a hand through his buzz cut, the light blonde hair making a scratching sound against his palms, “Guess it’s time to see the boss again”

  She raised an eyebrow at him, “I thought I was your boss”

  David Williams

  In Transit

  David watched as the muscles around Eva’s eyes tightened, creasing the soft tissue and creating lines of worry. Her breathing came in quick bursts and he still wasn’t sure how she had avoided hyperventilating.

  The transport shuddered slightly as the air thickened around it, pockets of warm air swirling their way upward and destabilizing the flight of the aircraft. There was no danger, the AI operating the craft was constantly aware of the environmental conditions outside of the plane. A consistent stream of data from weather satellites and monitoring stations throughout this part of the Northern hemisphere, allowing it to map local atmospheric conditions. But even with that knowledge and hundreds of flights to her record, Eva Patterson still couldn’t let go of her fear of flying.

  “Thank you,” the words came out of him, warm and reassuring, or at least the best that he could muster. He still hadn’t adapted to this new role. He had experience from before, when the world was still whole. But much of the last twenty years had been spent in a highly regimented military society, his only non professional interactions being with his son Sean who he had shifted to a military mindset early in his childhood. There had been others, those that he had shared intimate moments with, but nothing that had lasted and every one of them had felt temporary from the outset, almost convienent for both parties involved. This relationship though, this one felt more familiar, like the one that had been ripped from him over two decades ago.

  His free hand brushed Eva’s hair behind her ear as hers tightened its grip, “I hate you.” she whispered.

  A chuckle rose from him, “I know”.

  She took a deep breath and slowly opened her eyes, as if afraid that revealing them too quickly would cause the fuselage of the plane to peel back. She deliberately turned to face him, “If he doesn’t kill you I will.”

  The laugh returned, “You and I had a good run then I guess.”

  The look in her eyes evolved from one of tension to resolve, “Really though, if you choose him over Maria” she trailed off, not wanting to finish the sentence. He knew that she didn’t want to lose what they had developed, and neither did he.

  “You know what one of the great things about associating with good people is?”

  “You can more easily manipulate them?” She replied, sardonically.

  “No” And not for the first time he realized how practical Eva was, and certainly not for the first time he reveled in how perfect a choice she was to be a partner to a life long Marine.

  “It’s that their paths always combine, they might stray from one another now and then but they always come back to each other.” He finished.

  “You have far more faith in people than you should.” Eva said, a bit of acid in her voice that he knew came from the relationship she had with her former husband.

  “Your daughter survived more in just a few weeks than most people ever will in a lifetime. She came out the other side a person who still cares and James Kellen is the best man I’ve met in my life, we’ve been friends for a long time.”

  Eva smirked, “The Supreme Commander,” she said, choosing to distance herself from his humanity by utilizing the man’s rank, “Is a man of power and I promise you power corrupts absolutely”.

  David shifted and looked forward, for a second wondering if she were right, “He’s a practical man, but he’s loyal.”

  “So was Jacob.” Her use of his name sent a spear of ice into his heart. He wasn’t sure if it was because it was the first time since they had begun their relationship that she had said his name or if it was because she was right.

  He frowned, “James has never wanted to end humanity.”

  “He didn’t start off that way either.” Eva said referring to her late husband, looking forward again, her eyes closing. David continued to stare forward, not sure if he was more worried about James going down that path or possibly Maria. Both James Kellen and Maria Patterson wanted what was best for the people they cared for. What he wasn’t sure of, were the lengths they were willing to go to make sure they achieved that goal.

  He looked out the window, a break in the clouds revealing the blue of the Atlantic Ocean as they soared toward the New York Spire. He shifted in his seat several times and Eva smirked, “Get up and walk around already.”

  He smiled at her and unbuckled. Standing, he stretched his back and then looked at the door that led to the other passenger compartment, the one where General Kellen and their guest were currently discussing matters of state. There was a lot for them to talk about given how fluid the situation here on Earth was.

  “So what was Trotsky like before ‘The Fall’?” He asked Eva. General Kellen had recalled him from Kauai, ending another round of fruitless negotiations with the leader of the Russian Spire. The man had been a minor player during the time of Patterson and Chen. So much so that Williams hadn’t invested too much time or resources learning about the man prior to Maria’s upending of the global order. Since then, Trotsky had methodically dominated the lesser spires of Eastern Europe and much of the Middle East to take command of an impressive force. He wasn’t sure if the man was brilliant or lucky, but every time they interacted in Kauai he suspected it was the latter.

  She shrugged, “Anyone who could get onto the board of MNR had to be capable, anyone who could survive in the Eurasian markets had to be brutal.”

  “Then why wasn’t he a bigger player on the world stage?”

  She sat up a little straighter, the talk of politics distracting her from her discomfort with the flight, “That’s kind of like asking why Saturn isn’t a bigger player in the solar system when compared to the Sun and Jupiter.”

  “So he was still a big deal, just not as powerful as Patterson or Chen.” He mused, wondering if he had failed in his role of intelligence chief for General Kellen. They might have been able to use Trotsky in their efforts against Patterson and Chen if he had realized the man’s potential sooner.

  She wobbled her hand from side to side, “More like if they hadn’t existed he could have been much more impressive. In our solar system, both the Sun and Jupiter sucked up most of the gases. If they hadn’t, maybe it would have been Saturn that became the largest body.”

  “So I should have prioritized him for an influence operation?”

  She smirked, “No. That he can only do what he’s done recently in a power vacuum is the reason he never would have been useful to you. He’s smart, but not enough to outmaneuver his opponents. He’s brutal, but not sufficiently to frighten everyone into following him.” She paused, considering her next statement carefully, “You remember microwave pizzas?”

  “They might be how I survived college.” He chuckled.

  “It’s amazing you lived this long,” she said with an eye roll, “So when you saw them in the freezer section, with the delicious picture printed on the
box, it seemed like a good idea until you ate it.”

  “You didn’t drink as much as I did in college.” He added.

  She shook her head slowly, closing her eyes as she spoke to herself, “He’s really good in bed Eva, let little things go.”

  He laughed and sat back down next to her, “Good to know that I have positive qualities.”

  “Yes you do, Trotsky, not so much. He loves to talk, the sound of his voice is like a drug to him.”

  David took in a breath, “Yeah I got that, fortunately that’s Canine’s problem and not mine.”

  The former Director of National Intelligence had spent the fifteen years after ‘The Fall’, running the remains of several intelligence services. He had spent nearly his every waking moment learning how Patterson had destroyed the nations of the old world, what the weaknesses of the Spire families were and how better to leverage them to ensure ultimate victory.

  It was Canine that had created the profiles for Gisela Warin and James Dawson that showed they were the best candidates to turn against the rest of the Spire families. The electronic security measures of the Legacy forces, the ones that kept them from being detected by Patterson and the other Spires, were all developed by Canine and his team. The man was dedicated to cause and could keep himself laser focused. However, it was becoming clear that even Canine’s patience was wearing thin with the irritable leader.

  “Canine is a better person than I am, I could barely stand Trotsky during board meetings, let alone when we were stuck in the room with him in Kauai.” Eva stated.

  “He doesn’t intend on creating peace, does he?”

  Her head dipped, “Probably not. He’s been able to build his alliance on a foundation of fear. Peace is the antithesis of that.”

  He rested his hand on hers and rested his head back, “I’m tired of fighting. Here’s hoping we’re both wrong because I don’t want what we have to change.”