The Trial of Extinction

by Stan C. Smith

  Desmond spotted the other vehicle, this one with both riders. The two vehicles were facing each other, perhaps twenty yards apart. They appeared to be confronting something between them, but that space was obscured by trees and brush.

  “Why are they just sitting there?” Gideon whispered.

  Infinity ignored the question and gestured for them to move closer.

  They inched their way forward and to the right until they could see the space between the two vehicles. Desmond blinked and shifted his head from side to side to make sure the remaining brush wasn’t distorting his vision. But there was no mistaking it. The four Marines were there, two of them lying on the ground motionless, the other two on their knees. Surrounding the Marines were at least fifteen lemurs.

  But these lemurs were neither city dwellers nor ring-tails. They appeared to be another species entirely. The creatures were similar in size to the ring-tails—weighing perhaps a hundred pounds each—but they were almost entirely white except for their black faces and bronze arms. Even their legs and their fluffy tails were solid white. Like the ring-tails, these white lemurs wore no clothing. They were all facing outward, apparently protecting the huddled Marines from the city dwellers.

  Desmond looked around for the fourth city dweller and spotted it lying motionless about thirty yards behind the vehicle that was missing a rider. Somehow the Marines—or maybe the white lemurs—had managed to incapacitate one of the attackers.

  “Looks like a standoff,” Gideon whispered.

  Desmond nodded. “Yeah, and it looks like we may have some new allies.”

  One of the vehicles emitted another stream of amplified lemur vocalizations. Desmond was tempted to ask his wrist device to translate, but although the device was impressive, he doubted it was smart enough to keep its volume low.

  “They seem to be reluctant to shoot the white lemurs,” Infinity whispered. “I’m betting because wealthy city dwellers will pay big bucks to hunt them.” She turned and looked at Gideon and then at Desmond, her jaw muscles tightened with resolve. “The only advantage we have is the element of surprise. So I say we surprise the hell out of them.” She glanced at Gideon’s gun. “You said you have two more darts?”

  He nodded.

  “Do you think you can get close enough to take out the single rider?”

  He turned toward the vehicle, his eyes scanning the groundcover to the left and right of it. “Good chance I could. This thing’s wicked accurate.”

  Infinity’s jaw muscles rippled as she thought for a moment. “Then this is what I think we should do,” she finally said. “It may not work, but it’s the best plan I’ve got. At the very least, hopefully it’ll show Kitty how determined we are to take care of our own.”

  Desmond’s gut began to knot up. Infinity wouldn’t bother to explain all this unless she really believed there was a good chance the plan would fail.

  She gazed intensely at Desmond. “The moment Gideon shoots the single rider, I’m going to take out the pair of riders on the other vehicle. At that same moment, you’re going to jump on the first vehicle and make it attack the other one.”

  Desmond stared back at her. “You’re not serious! I have no idea how to control that thing. It was created by an entirely different species.”

  “You’re a hell of a lot smarter than I am. You’re going to have to figure it out.”

  “In ten seconds? Because that’s how much time I’ll have before the vehicle starts shooting at you.”

  Her stare didn’t waiver. “Maybe you can use that thought projection thing you do.” She put a hand on his arm. “Please, Desmond, you have to do this. We’re not letting those bastards take the Marines without a fight.”

  He started to open his mouth to object again, but then he just shook his head in bewilderment.

  Infinity’s eyes flicked to Gideon. “You in?”

  Gideon rubbed his forehead as if he had a migraine. But then he nodded grimly. “Give me two minutes to get in place.”

  “You got it” she said. “By that time, I should be in position too. Desmond, follow Gideon and get yourself near enough to take that robot when the rider drops.” Her eyes lingered on him briefly, just long enough to make him want to reach out and embrace her in case he never had the opportunity again. But then it was too late—she crouched and began making her way quietly around to the other side of the circle of lemurs.

  Gideon cuffed Desmond’s back gently with his palm. “She’s right, you know. If we’re going to die anyway, we might as well do a bang-up job of it. Maybe earn a few points.”

  Desmond tried to steady his breathing. “I doubt suicide is the only way to earn points, but it looks like I’m outvoted. I’ll do my best.” He paused. “You know we both think of you as family, don’t you?”

  Gideon nodded once. “Damn right.” He then ducked and started creeping toward the single rider.

  As Desmond followed, one of the robots spoke again. One of the white lemurs answered with rapid vocalizations, but Desmond’s translator again remained silent, and he was grateful that it only worked when someone was speaking directly to him.

  He and Gideon moved silently, using any available brush as cover. When they were about thirty yards out, Gideon turned to Desmond and nodded, signaling that this was close enough. Desmond crept forward another few yards. At least two minutes had now passed, if not more. He looked back at Gideon and nodded. The guardsman carefully raised his weapon and looked down the sights. He then took a deep breath and held it. Desmond turned his attention back to the robot rider. His pulse was pounding in his ears, and he had to fight the impulse to spring into action before Gideon took the shot.

  Several long seconds passed.

  Gideon's gun fired with a snap.

  Desmond didn't wait to see if the shot was good—he leapt up and used every bit of speed he could muster to close the distance to the vehicle. His feet pounding the ground, he glimpsed a figure tumbling off the vehicle toward him. He jumped between two of the robot’s legs, soared over the falling figure, and slammed into the chassis. Grabbing at whatever he could, he swung a leg over the vehicle.

  The machine was now turning beneath him, perhaps confused. Lemur vocalizations and human shouts came from somewhere, but Desmond didn’t dare take his eyes off the mechanical beast beneath him. His hands found protrusions to grip, and he pushed himself upright to look at the vehicle’s controls.

  He saw nothing that even remotely resembled buttons, levers, or any other mechanical controls. How the hell did the city dwellers drive these things?

  The robot kept turning, first one direction then the other.

  “Desmond!” It was Infinity’s voice, and she was screaming at him, but he couldn’t even tell the direction.

  There was a pop, and then another—the unmistakable sound of shots fired by one of the vehicle’s weapons.

  He cried out, “Infinity! I… can’t do anything!” The robot suddenly bucked violently, maybe because it had heard his voice, and he was nearly thrown from the vehicle.

  He was now holding on with only one hand. Had Infinity been shot? He didn't dare take his attention off the vehicle. He started frantically punching and pulling everything he could find with his free hand, hoping to get lucky and discover a control. Nothing was working. It was hopeless, and it was too late.

  The vehicle’s movements were becoming even more erratic. Desmond threw his chest against the machine and held on with both hands. He was starting to panic, not seeing any way out of the situation. Then he remembered Infinity saying something. Projecting his thoughts—that was it. It probably wouldn’t work, but he had no other options. At any moment the vehicle might flip itself over and crush him to death.

  He pressed his chest and cheek against the machine’s shell and formed words in his mind. “Stop turning and attack the other vehicle. Do it now!”

  Nothing. The thing just kept turning.

  He grunted in frustration. Now what? Then something occurred to him. Of course
the machine couldn't understand his words—he was speaking English. He tried again, this time forming a mental vision of the vehicle charging the other one, knocking it over, and kicking the crap out of it. He imagined the vision traveling from his head, into his arms, and into the vehicle’s mind—or processor, or whatever.

  The vehicle stopped.

  Inches from Desmond’s head, a series of deafening pops came from the machine, at least ten in a row. The vehicle then fell silent beneath him and remained still.

  “Holy crap!” someone said.

  Desmond situated himself on the robot’s back and righted himself into a sitting position. About twenty yards away, the other vehicle lay mangled and motionless. It wasn’t even twitching. To one side was Infinity, sitting on her butt and staring at Desmond with an expression that could almost have passed for a smile. The two city dwellers from the other vehicle were sprawled on the ground, both of them alive and being held down by white lemurs. Two other white lemurs were lying motionless and bloody.

  Gideon walked up from behind Desmond, his weapon resting on one shoulder. “Well, what now? The plan wasn’t supposed to actually work.”

  One of the white lemurs pointed at Desmond and emitted a few barks and whistles. Desmond’s translator said, “Confusion. Questions. Who?”

  Apparently these lemurs didn’t speak the same language as the ring-tails or the city dwellers.

  The lemur that had spoken turned and stared toward the enclosure fence, apparently listening. Then the others did the same. One of them squealed, and the entire group erupted into chaotic chattering.

  Desmond’s eyes met Infinity’s. She said something, but he couldn’t hear her over the lemurs’ cacophony. Most likely she was pointing out that more city dwellers were probably coming, and it was time to go.

  He glanced at the Marines. Two of them, Deon and Bishop, were unconscious or dead. The other two, Vic and Terry, would no doubt be reluctant to leave them behind.

  Desmond tightened his grip on the machine beneath him and projected a vision of the robot walking over and stopping beside the Marines. The robot responded.

  The chattering lemurs immediately fell silent and backed up a few steps. A couple of them pointed into the forest, presumably in the direction of more approaching city dwellers. Desmond didn’t break his concentration to look—it was already obvious there was no time to waste.

  “Terry, Vic,” said Desmond, pointing to the two motionless Marines. “Put them on the vehicle. We have to go.”

  “No point,” Terry said. “They’re already dead.”

  Vic added, “We’d be dead, too, if it weren’t for our new friends here.”

  Some of the white lemurs were starting to move away into the forest, and Desmond got the feeling that the whole group was about to break and run. Several of the white lemurs were still restraining two of the city dwellers. He projected a vision of his vehicle stepping over to the restrained city dwellers and pressing a leg against each of them to hold them down. If the vehicle would actually comply, he could jump off and flee with Infinity and the others.

  As his robot responded to his command, he heard the chittering of more vehicles approaching. They were close—really close. His machine began walking toward the restrained city dwellers but then stopped several feet short. He projected the vision again. The robot began to take another step but stopped again. It wouldn’t comply.

  Most of the white lemurs had already begun fleeing, disappearing into the forest. Finally, those holding the city dwellers down released their prisoners and fled, running on all fours, their tails bouncing above their backs.

  Infinity and Vic charged the two city dwellers to keep them from getting up, but the creatures had already lifted themselves to a fighting stance and were ready. The four tumbled into a mess of thrashing arms and legs. Desmond leapt off his now-useless robot as Gideon and Terry rushed to join the fray. He glanced toward the approaching vehicles and counted at least five steadily making their way through the vegetation.

  He ran over to the others, who were just getting the two city dwellers under control. “Get up! We have to go. Now!”

  Infinity slammed her forehead into one of the baseball-sized eyes of the lemur beneath her and jumped to her feet, leaving Vic to deal with the creature.

  Gideon rolled away from Terry and the other lemur, grabbed his weapon off the forest floor, and rose beside Infinity. He took one look at the approaching vehicles and said, “You guys go! I’ll slow them down.”

  The two city dwellers had now turned their attention to Vic and Terry, who were still struggling to disengage from the fight. “Goddammit!” Terry growled as he threw himself on top of one of the creatures and drove three rapid punches into its face. “These bastards don’t give up!” He threw one more punch and then pulled away and got to his feet. He drew back his foot and delivered a full-force kick to the head of the lemur Vic was fighting and then grabbed Vic’s arm and pulled him to his feet.

  The vehicles were now spreading out to surround the humans.

  “Go!” Gideon ordered. He raised his weapon and took aim at one of the robots.

  A pop sounded. Gideon grunted. He dropped his gun and collapsed to his knees and then onto his back.

  Desmond stared. Blood was gushing from Gideon’s shoulder. His left arm was lying at an awkward angle, barely attached to his body by threads of shredded tissue.

  Desmond’s mind barely registered the sound of a blunt smack as Terry delivered one more blow to one of the lemurs on the ground.

  Gideon groaned loudly as he rolled to his left side and pushed his weapon toward Infinity, who had knelt beside him. “One dart,” he said. “Make it count.”

  She took the gun and looked up at the vehicles. “Don’t worry, I will.”

  Vic’s wrist translator began speaking, apparently interpreting the vocalizations from the approaching vehicles. “Do not fight. Stop. Put weapon down.”

  Desmond spun around. The humans were completely surrounded. He turned back to Infinity. She was now on her feet, glaring furiously at the city dwellers on vehicles. She was still holding Gideon’s weapon down at her side, but the muscles in her arm rippled as she gripped it. Desmond knew without a doubt she would throw it to her shoulder and shoot within seconds if he didn't do something.

  “Drop the gun, Infinity,” he said. “You’ll be dead the moment you aim it at them, and you know it.”

  Her chest heaved rhythmically and her nostrils flared.

  Desmond glanced down at Gideon, who was no longer conscious, and then returned his gaze to Infinity. He tried not to envision numerous projectiles shredding her body. “Infinity, please. We need you alive.”

  She blinked. The muscles in her arm started to relax. The weapon tilted forward slightly as she loosened her grip. Then the gun dropped to the ground.

  13

  Captives

  April 11 - 4:44 PM

  Infinity arched her back and twisted her neck, trying to see Desmond—or any of the other humans. But the yellowish substance was restricting her movement to the point that it was difficult to breathe, let alone look around at her surroundings. There was little she could do except endure being tossed around by the vehicle’s jerky gait as it made its way through the forest, presumably back toward the city.

  She was behind one of the vehicles, suspended several feet off the ground by two mechanical appendages that had emerged from the rear of the machine’s body. The appendages had obviously not been designed with the captive’s comfort in mind.

  The moment Infinity had dropped Gideon’s weapon, she had been splattered with no fewer than four blobs of goo. After that, she had managed to catch a few glimpses of what was happening to her companions, and she had heard them shouting and cursing, but she had no idea whether Desmond or the two remaining Marines had been hurt in the struggle. And she had no idea whether Gideon was even still alive.

  “If you hurt my friends, I swear I’ll kill you all!” she shouted. But the city dweller
s had removed her wrist translator, and she didn't know whether it could still hear her or whether it would translate her words, even if it could.

  After Infinity had been jostled around for what felt like fifteen minutes, the vehicle stopped. She heard mechanical chittering near the front of the vehicle. The robot moved forward several steps, passing through a fence, then turned to the right. Strands of the yellow restraining substance were stretched across her face, but with one eye she was able to see two city dwellers leap from the robot and step over to the fence. One of them held the gap in the fence closed while the other used a black tool the size of a screwdriver to fuse the mesh back together.

  Infinity twisted her body with all her strength, but it was useless—she couldn’t break the substance’s fibers. “Hey! I want to see my friends.” The lemurs ignored her and got back on the vehicle. She twisted again. “You ugly bastards!”

  The jostling resumed as she was carried through a shrubby field, perhaps the same field she and the others had run through the previous evening. The field gave way to the shantytown’s pitiful shacks and piles of trash, and she was quickly overwhelmed by the odors of animal waste and rotting garbage. City dwellers in grimy white bodysuits spotted her and gathered around to walk beside the vehicle and gawk. They chattered excitedly until the vehicle riders barked at them, at which point they backed off. Soon another group had gathered, only to be chased off like the previous one. This same scenario occurred over and over as the vehicle made its way through what seemed like miles of filthy shanties. Infinity still saw no sign of Desmond or the others.

  Finally, the vehicle stopped again. Peeking through the gaps in the restraining substance, Infinity could see only a handful of white-clad onlookers here, all keeping their distance. The two black-suited riders dismounted and stepped back beside Infinity. They stared silently at her.

  “Give me my goddamn translator.”

  As always, their faces showed no expression, at least none she could recognize—just saucer-sized eyes ogling her, as if the creatures were no smarter than hamsters.