Absolution

by Peter Smith

  Pushing that thought aside, he helped to pull the door open after Sean input his code into the main controller. The heavy door swung open effortlessly on its well lubricated hinges and both men trotted into the space. Most of the equipment was still here, another bad sign. It meant that far too few of their fellow Marines could get here.

  They went directly to the large rectangular lockers where the combat armor was stored. Williams accessed the local system and allowed them to have access to all the equipment and weapons within.

  “Suit up first, I’ll help you in.” He stated.

  Sean shook his head, “No way, you’re the better fighter, you suit up first.”

  “This isn’t a discussion Sean, follow my orders.” He growled at his son.

  “You aren’t thinking like a Major, you’re thinking like a father. Lead to win, sir!” Sean said, standing his ground in this argument.

  Williams swore and opened the locker, grabbing the torso from its rack he thrust it into Sean’s hand, “Right now, there’s only one battle that I’ve got a chance in hell of winning and I will not lose it. So get in that gear right now or so help me God I’ll beat your ass and shove you into it.”

  Sean glared at him, but then after a moment grabbed the torso section for his father and donned the powered armor. Williams helped him at every stage, getting him strapped into the suit and helping him to reach the hard to access points of the armor.

  In less than four minutes they were both inside their own power armor, the fuel cells were secured and they were running through their combat checklists. Williams went to a weapon locker and removed the standard assortment of assault rifles. He grabbed an IMP from it’s cradle along with its magazine of tungsten darts. He dropped them on the bench next to Sean and as his son mounted the weapons, David walked into a secure room in the back of the bunker.

  He had to input his command code again and walked through another heavy door. The room was cramped but sufficient for its task, protecting the most powerful weapons ever devised by humanity. On a single table were three backpacks. He grabbed one of the packs, slinging it over his shoulder and ordering his suit AI to link to the computer in the nuclear warhead within the backpack.

  As he walked out Sean was shouldering his rifle, his visor pointing directly at the backpack that Williams was carrying.

  “Really think that’s necessary?”

  Williams frowned, wishing that it wasn’t but knowing that it was, “You got a better idea for dealing with a techno death cloud?”

  Sean shrugged, the motion being lost some in the bulky combat armor, “What’s the plan then pops?”

  “We run like hell to the auxiliary airfield, set this on a timer, leave it in a building, fly to New York and we protect the girls.”

  “Dad why are you so worried about the girls, who did you see?”

  Williams wanted to tell his son. He knew that was it was appropriate given the stakes they were facing. But he also worried that it would shake his focus and if they were to get home in time to protect Alex, Eva and Maria then they couldn’t be distracted. He shook his head, “It was nothing, I was just seeing things.”

  “Tell me.”

  He clapped his gauntleted hand onto Sean’s shoulder, “It was a trick of my eye, nothing more, let it go.”

  Sean gripped his hand and removed it, “Damn it dad, no more bullshit, who did you see?”

  Williams looked away as he exhaled through his nose. The air rolling through the confined space between his visor and face. He looked back at Sean, “Patterson. I saw Jacob Patterson. He emerged from the cloud in the conference room and killed Trotsky.”

  He couldn’t see Sean’s facial expression, but given how his head dipped forward and his shoulders rose, he suspected it was shock or disbelief. Sean shook his head vigorously, “He’s dead, it isn’t possible.”

  “I know, I was there when we fed his remains into the incinerator, but when it comes to Patterson anything is possible.”

  Sean let his rifle drop, and his rifle strap kept it from falling to the floor. His hands went to the top of his helmet as he spun in a circle, trying to process the emotions he was feeling. The last time Sean had seen Jacob Patterson, the man was preparing to have Tobor drop him from the top of the New York Spire.

  Sean’s arms slipped down and he looked back at Williams, “Well, upside is, I get to watch that son of a bitch die twice.”

  Pride filled Williams, and he smiled, “Oorah.”

  The Auxiliary airfield was less than half a mile away and an easy run in their powered armor. With his suit now equipped, and its passive sensors at his disposal, he learned that the cloud was in fact billions of tiny nano machines. While he didn’t once look back while barreling toward their destination, he was watching the rear feed that his Restricted Artificial Intelligence was showing him as the nano cloud ripped the complex apart.

  Every time one of the tendrils swept through the structures, vehicles and people below, the cloud above the island grew in size. The machines converting the material that their targets comprised of into additional nanites.

  It tore at him to know that the men and women that he had served and survived with for decades, were being subsumed into the machine that had claimed their lives. That their deaths were fueling the cloud’s reach and destructive abilities.

  As they neared the airfield, he could see that there were several transports, both heavy and light and ready for launch. He wasn’t sure why he wasn’t seeing any sign of the support crews and security that should have been stationed here. It was possible they had run toward the fighting to save as many of their fellow Marines as they could.

  He felt hope nip at his thoughts as his visor noted the extent of the edge of the growing cloud. The nano weapon had only recently grown to where it was directly over the auxiliary field. It wouldn’t take too much time to get out from underneath it if they pushed the engines of their transport. He prayed silently that getting out from beneath it would improve their odds of survival.

  His RAI sent a directional radio burst to the nearest of the transports. It then daisy chained the signal and the order that it contained to the others until his system had a complete inventory of the status of the transports. Luck appeared to be smiling on them. The ground crews had kept all of them all charged and ready for departure. They all ran their pre-flight checks as both he and Sean barreled toward them.

  His plan was selfish and simplistic. He felt guilty for what he was setting into motion, knowing that it would deny other survivors an evacuation option. He knew however, as he checked his rear video feed that the chances of anyone else making it to this location were slim and once he and Sean took off, there was no way that the cloud would fail to deal with the auxiliary airfield.

  The cloud above them rippled, pulses running along it’s surface, “Move faster old man!” Sean hollered over their shared frequency.

  The cargo ramp for the transport nearest to them dropped to the ground as they flew down the dirt road. They were nearly to the aircraft and the safety that it represented.

  A tornado of the dark nanites struck the ground less than twenty-five meters before away, cutting them off from their escape. Williams could not see the transport they had been running for, but one other was just visible beyond the curve of the twister. Even though he could see it, the nanites swirling through the air were denying him the ability to establish a connection. They both skid to a stop as the tornado raged before them.

  A figure materialized deep within the center of the funnel. Its legs formed first, as they strode toward them, both limbs without a body to support them. As they advanced, the form came together, from the legs up. Its torso flowed into existence, arms yet to be attached to shoulders swinging through the air. The complete figure exited the tornado dressed in an immaculate business suit.

  The moment its head coalesced, Williams snapped his rifle upward, placing three tightly grouped bullets into the center of Jacob Patterson’s newly formed face. />
  Patterson smirked, “Really?” His voice overwhelming the sound of the artificial cyclone behind him, seeming to come from the air surrounding them.

  Williams and Sean both discharged their rifles again, bullets penetrating through Patterson’s torso and forehead. The dead man looked bored as they both fired dozens of armor-piercing rounds into him. After several seconds Williams stopped, “Cease fire” he ordered over the radio.

  Sean released the trigger, but the barrel of his rifle never left Patterson’s chest, “Mr. Williams, it is so good to finally meet you” Patterson said, the corner of his mouth ticking upward in a sardonic smile.

  “Oh, we’ve met already.” Williams said through his suit’s exterior speakers.

  Patterson’s eyes feigned shock, “Really, I think I’d remember meeting the man who was fucking my wife and the father of the filth who defiled my daughter.”

  “You don’t remember because you were a bag of jelly that the drones scraped off the ground outside the Spire.” Sean snarled.

  “It shouldn’t speak unless told to” Patterson stated acidly, his right arm swinging upward, dissolving into a cloud of nano machines. It stretched out, and in the blink of an eye was slicing through the air. Sean jumped to the side, barely avoiding most of the contact, but the newly formed blade sheared off a section of his suit’s left arm material. Had Sean been slower by a fraction of a second, he would have had his arm severed from the rest of his body.

  Williams strafed to the left and away from Sean, his rifle bucking against his shoulder as he sent more bullets into Patterson. He knew the effect would be the same as before, but he hoped to draw Patterson’s attention to him.

  The blade snapped back into Patterson and his arm reformed, he looked at Williams, boredom visible, “That’s the best that you can think of to save your son, to keep shooting at the demigod that absorbs bullets.”

  The magazine counter in his vision ran to zero at the same time a connection notification displayed on his visor and he smirked. Using the attack as the pretense, he had gotten a better angle on the still visible transport without signaling to Patterson his intent.

  He slowly removed a fresh magazine from the pouch on his stomach and gave the RAI a quick series of instructions. He drew out the reloading procedures as long as possible, putting on a show. Sparing just enough time to send Sean a hand signal rather than send a radio burst. With Patterson and the haze of nanites in the path, Williams didn’t want to take the chance that he could disrupt electronic communications.

  His son moved further to the right. The distance between the two of them was opening, and Patterson shifted his gaze. Their movement forcing him to lose sight of the other as he focused on one of them.

  “You two realize that my eyes aren’t really there right, that they’re just a facsimile and that I’m receiving sensory inputs from every inch of surface area that this,” he raised his hands and performed air quotes, “Body, has.”

  “In fact, I’m receiving data from my entire force as we stand here. So if you’re thinking you’ll be able to take me by surprise, you’re wrong.”

  Williams shook his head, “Why are we having this conversation Patterson, if you’re so powerful why don’t you just kill us and stop wasting our time.”

  “Excellent question David, I understand now why you’re the head of your intelligence services.” Patterson said, as a chair formed beneath him, and he took a seat, crossing his leg.

  “Before I kill you both I just figured it would be appropriate for us to get to know each other. Honestly, I don’t really care that you’re screwing my ex, that bitch betrayed me so you can have her.”

  Patterson held up a finger, his lips pressed together in rage, head tilting to the side as he forced an overly dramatic sigh through his fake nostrils, “What I really need to know, is how that filth over there” His finger jutted toward Sean, “Managed to insidiously insert itself into my daughter’s life.”

  Before Sean could speak and Williams knew that he was going to, he engaged with Patterson, “That what this attack was about, arranging a chat with us. Could have done that without killing a lot of people.” His RAI displayed an update and Williams silently prayed, hoping that they had enough time for his plan to come into effect. He knew they couldn’t take Patterson, not with the weapons they had ready to fight with. The only weapon they had that he was willing to use with Sean in the AoE was the IMP, but it required a power up sequence and they wouldn’t get the time they needed for that. He needed to keep Patterson distracted, otherwise both of them would die.

  Patterson waved his comment off, “Maria has always been my priority, the key to my entire plan for saving the human race from our cultural filth. I can’t save the species, if I can’t save her. And if I don’t know the source of the infection, I can’t cure her of it. So I need to learn how your spawn turned her from me.”

  “You did it, you self-centered asshole.” Sean spoke.

  Williams grit his teeth. The timer that the RAI was displaying running down quickly to zero but not there yet. Patterson distorted, nanites flowing from him, and Williams was sure he was watching the formation of a second body, facing toward Sean. In that moment, as he watched what he knew was the creation of a machine of death, he saw Sean as he had the first time they met. His small little body curled next to the tent of his biological parents. Mud caking his skin, clothes and hair. His flesh deathly pale. Here and now his heart broke, and he knew that he would do anything to protect his son.

  “It was Eva and I!” Williams shouted, taking a single step toward Patterson.

  The original Patterson stood, the second form ceased coalescing and its nano machines flowed back into him, “Please elaborate.” Patterson said with a thin smile and a cock of the head.

  “I turned her, years earlier on one of her trips to Europe.”

  Patterson made a circular motion with his hand, showing that he wanted to hear more. Williams panicked for just a second, trying to recall enough information from the time between ‘The Fall’ and when Patterson had put into play his final plan against the other Spire families.

  The best fabrications were the ones that were wrapped around the truth. They used it like a foundation and if you could design them well enough, you could use the bias of your target to to strengthen them as well. He was gambling that Patterson’s anger at Eva could be used to his advantage. All he needed was a few more seconds.

  “I met her in London, when I was coordinating with Dawson. I pretended to be one of his advisors. A couple drinks in her and she was more than happy to complain about how you had killed her parents, how she didn’t trust what you had in store for her… or Maria.”

  Patterson dropped the false smile, his face going blank, “Yeah, she said that anyone that could murder the human race, could condemn billions of children to death, couldn’t be trusted with his own daughter.”

  Williams took a step back as Patterson walked toward him. The fingers at the ends of his hands merged and their definition blurred, “I told her she needed to protect Maria, that she was the only one who truly cared for the girl.”

  “Lie!” Patterson hissed.

  The timer had neared zero and Williams stopped, “Yeah it is,” He stated. Patterson stopped and David continued, “but what isn’t a lie, is that time is up.”

  Patterson’s head snapped toward the tornado still raging behind him, “Hit the deck” Williams yelled at Sean through their radio.

  Both he and Sean threw themselves to the ground as the timer on Williams’ visor reached zero. The mass of the largest of the transports hurtled through the tornado. It’s exterior already being eaten away by the nanites. But its sheer size and velocity meant that they didn’t have enough time to consume the craft before it impacted their master.

  The transport nose dived directly into Patterson, driven there by the instructions his RAI had inserted into its system minutes earlier. He was pancaked under it’s nose, as the plane folded in on top of him. Patter
son and the aircraft dissolved in an explosion of fire and metal.

  Williams barely avoided the large piece of spinning death that had been a turbine blade within one of the jet engines. Now it was a whirling dervish of death, hopping along the soil, missing his thigh by centimeters.

  He wasted no time scrambling to his feet as pieces of debris rained down around him, puffs of dirt announcing their arrival. Williams ran around the nanite twister that had rolled over the crash site, smothering the flames and, he assumed, devouring the remains of the sacrificial aircraft. Once he cleared the tornado, relief flooded him as he saw Sean running toward their originally planned plane. Neither of them waited to confirm if Patterson was dead, both having concluded that the direct hit was likely not enough to get the job done.

  Sean had just landed a foot on the transport, Williams directly behind him, when a shaft of black seared past the side of his helmet and embedded itself in the ramp's metal. Williams skidded to a stop as the material pulled itself free from the aircraft and returned to its source of origin. He turned and looked back toward the tornado, still raging over the area where the plane had crashed.

  Walking toward them, methodically, was Patterson. He lifted a hand, his other one still retracting back into his body, his head slowly shaking as he wagged his index finger. Williams looked back to the transport. Sean was already in the cabin, waiting for him to join. He looked toward Patterson and understood that it was death that was marching toward them. The sky was black now, the cloud above having grown to dominate most of the island. If Sean was going to live, he would need a distraction to give him the opportunity to escape.

  He grabbed the strap of the backpack with the tactical nuke and placed it on the ground. He unslung his rifle and placed it on the ground next to it.