End of the Line

by N. D. Roberts

  Bethany Anne’s voice, the Colonel’s, and others she didn’t recognize spoke into her mind while she walked the red-dust path to the stage. Their voices lifted her up, her mood soaring.

  Grinning from ear to ear, she took the stage to raucous applause.

  Everyone had come out for the groundbreaking ceremony. There were some bleary eyes; not everyone had been to sleep yet. Overhead, a number of camera drones controlled by Jim zipped around recording the event. The footage would be sent to Salem to show everyone what was happening up here.

  Sarah Jennifer tapped the microphone to test it. “Good morning, teams. Nice to see no one slept in.”

  “As if!” someone heckled.

  Sarah Jennifer laughed. “Before we get started, I’d like to say a few words to mark the occasion. To quote my grandfather’s reaction when he found out this was my plan, ‘Mars is every science nerd’s wet dream.’” That raised cheers and laughter from the crowd, three-fourths of whom were science nerds. “The Colonel has his particular way with words, but this is no dream.”

  She lifted a hand to the east, where the sun was making its ascent. The sunrise would soon give way to the yellowy-brown that reminded Sarah Jennifer of caramel or pudding, but for now, it was robin’s-egg blue, pale and clear. “We’re here, and we’re about to break ground on the first human colony in the Solar System. Everyone here today has earned their place by being the best at what they do. Whether your specialty is construction, engineering, civil planning, agriculture, or magic, you have outshone everyone on Earth to make it onto this project. Those who have read the pre-WWDE texts we have in the Salem library are well aware that humanity has always looked to Mars. The ancients sent all kinds of robots here, hoping to gather as much data as they could without the ability to set foot on the planet.”

  She choked up, thinking of the hopes those ancient scientists had held. “We honor those who came before us by making the most of this new world. We have found the rovers, and they will take pride of place in the museum. We are the first humans to build here. It’s kinda special. You will be remembered as the founders of this world. That’s a responsibility as well as an honor.”

  The people received her words with solemnity, everyone having their own personal reasons for pushing themselves to heights they still didn’t believe possible to qualify for the teams. Sarah Jennifer knew. She was as familiar with every person standing before her as their own mothers. They had been handpicked, not just for their expertise in their individual fields, but for their steadfast adherence to those qualities she’d had drummed into her since the moment she could walk.

  Honor. Courage. Commitment.

  “Enough talk. Sergeants, start up your excavators.” Sarah Jennifer took the scissors Brutus handed her as Linus, Dinny, and Reg switched on the gargantuan machines. She walked to the ribbon and held the open scissors over it. “I declare this project to be commenced. Welcome to Promessa.”

  The cheers were deafening as she cut the ribbon.

  The excavators moved in, their gigantic buckets scooping out the first plugs of Martian dirt. Below the regolith, the soil was rich and dark, altered by the bots to remove toxins.

  Sarah Jennifer opened her datapad and checked the schedule for the day’s work as the sleepy scientists extracted themselves from the crowd to return to Habitat One in the Etheric-powered roamers they used for everyday travel.

  She was standing on the site of the city park, modeled on Central Park in New York in both shape and size to account for the planned grid layout of Promessa. She already saw the completed city in her mind’s eye.

  There would be other parks and recreational areas, but this one would be the most easily accessible by everyone in the city and the one they used for community events. Sarah Jennifer imagined children playing hide-and-seek in the arti-forest, couples taking romantic strolls along the walking routes, families and friends picnicking on the rolling green spaces—all the things that were at present not doable by the citizens of Earth.

  Esme joined her. “That’s some imagination you have.”

  “I’m seeing the future,” Sarah Jennifer told her, smiling. “This is going to be our home. We’ve had enough heartache to last ten lifetimes, and once you and Lilith are ready to roll the patch out to humanity, we’ll be able to focus on building.”

  “That’s what I came to see you about.” Esme’s eyes twinkled. “We’re almost ready. I have to get back to New Romanov.”

  Sarah Jennifer’s eyes widened. “Really?”

  Esme nodded. “Yes, really. The latest patches were a hundred percent effective at rewriting the corrupt code in most of our test subjects.”

  “Meaning?”

  “Meaning, we have the cure for everyone but the nomads.”

  “The Were nanocytes they inherited from their blood-leech parents are still causing issues?” Sarah Jennifer didn’t like it, but they had to work with what was achievable, and they’d held off long enough.

  “Unfortunately, yes. Lilith is reporting that the subjects aren’t Mad, but they’re not fully regaining their humanity, either. There’s some remnant of the desire to consume flesh in them, she thinks because there’s an interaction between the disabled Pricolici code all Were nanocytes have and another line that bastard Arthur Drake added that can’t be erased.”

  Sarah Jennifer sighed. “They won’t be able to infect anyone else with it or spread it to others?”

  “No,” Esme confirmed. “We were able to remove that part of the programming without killing them all. The nomads are only a tiny percentage of the global population anyway. Everyone else will be cured. All we have to do is get the patches out to everyone.” Esme explained that the process was two-step. “First, we have to distribute a blanket of nanocytes over Earth, much as Bethany Anne did, to replace the corrupted nanocytes saturating the planet. Then, we use the BYPS to keep the nanocytes in Earth’s atmosphere. Once the saturation process is complete, we activate the new nanocytes and send out the patch code.”

  “How does that account for the different variants?” Sarah Jennifer asked.

  “The nanocytes will go out with the generic patch, and the BYPS will introduce whichever patch the host needs. It’s an if/then situation. Lilith has the printers working overtime to produce Madness-resistant nanocytes. How’d you feel about leaving all this in Brutus’ capable hands? The BYPS won’t take commands from me.”

  Sarah Jennifer’s heart soared at the prospect of moving on from the Madness. “Give me thirty minutes and meet me at the Enora.”

  Earth, New Romanov

  Lilith was fully occupied with preparing for Sarah Jennifer and Esme returning and doing what she could to assist Olaf with taking care of the recuperating men and women who had been released from their cells after waking up confused but Madness-free.

  They were weak from the battles waged inside their bodies and needed to rest while their repaired nanocytes worked to rebuild them from the inside out. Lilith intended to talk to Sarah Jennifer about how they were going to provide support worldwide once the patches went out.

  Olaf entered her cavern from the side cavern they were using as the recovery suite, his expression thoughtful. “Lilith, I need to go into the town for supplies.”

  “Very well,” Lilith replied. “Give my regards to Mayor Kuznetsova. Sarah Jennifer and Esme will be arriving within the hour.”

  That was news to Olaf. The Were pushed his hair out of his eyes. “Yeah? What about Mars?”

  “Sarah Jennifer’s access to the BYPS is required for us to distribute the nanocytes I am printing,” Lilith explained. “She has left Lieutenant Timmons in charge of the construction project for the time being.”

  Olaf nodded. “Fair enough. Did you hear from Amelie yet? I know she wanted to be here when we made a real breakthrough.”

  “I sent her a message, but she has been dealing with a request for assistance from Marrakesh.”

  “How long until the fleet is due back?” Olaf inquired. “May
be I should requisition a Pod from Boston and fly over to pick her and Eoin up.”

  Lilith laughed. “You have enough to take care of, bear-warrior. Didn’t I hear you invoked the anger of one of the Urai warriors?”

  Olaf reddened. “I wasn’t cheating, which would have been clear to everyone there if they weren’t weed-addled.”

  “That’s what you have to say,” Lilith teased. “You forget I have access to the communication network. All of Urai is talking about you. Mika especially.”

  Olaf cursed under his breath, rubbing his jaw where Mika had broken it. “That woman…” Still, Mika hadn’t left his mind since the fight in the dive bar. Her ice-goddess looks and her ferocious right hook left quite the impression on a man. “Okay. I won’t leave to find Amelie right now. But if Mika comes here looking for me, you tell her I’m far away from Siberia, you hear me?”

  Lilith’s laughter followed him out of the mountain.

  The Kurtherian busied herself with checking on the patients while she waited for the Enora to arrive. She was monitoring the ambient Etheric energy when she felt a mental “knock” she’d had little hope of.

  Ezekiel?

  Hey, Lilith.

  The silence stretched out. Lilith didn’t speak, afraid to scare him off. She could feel he was as ready to bolt as a small mammal that saw the eagle’s shadow pass overhead. Still, she had to say something.

  Ezekiel spoke first. My friend is going Mad, and she can’t fight it anymore. Have you and Esme found the cure yet?

  I’m sorry, Lilith put all the emotion she could muster into her words. We can’t reverse the Madness in a vampire at this time.

  Fuck. Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, FUUUUCK! His mental voice was torn with anguish. I love her, Lilith. She’s been there for me. Filled the void I created when I left Salem and Sarah Jennifer. She’s one of the smartest people this world has ever known, and I’m going to lose her to the damned Madness just like I lost my parents.

  Lilith was silent while Ezekiel raged.

  There’s another vampire. She’s infected, too. Do I have to tell her people that she’s got no hope of beating it? I’ve only just met them, but they’re good folks.

  Lilith didn’t know what to say. Ezekiel, come home. Bring the people you’ve bonded with along with you. All I can promise is that we’ll do what we can for your friends.

  Helena doesn’t have that long, Ezekiel told her. The journey will kill her if the Madness doesn’t take her first.

  Then make her last days on the Earth memorable, Lilith advised. Spend them together. Cherish what time you have remaining, and then come home.

  Lilith registered a spike of anger and fear, then Ezekiel was gone from her mind as suddenly as he’d arrived.

  She tried to reconnect, but the link had vanished.

  The Kurtherian fretted for a long moment, but she knew there wasn’t anything she could do. “Sarah Jennifer isn’t going to like this.”

  The Enora broke atmosphere over the Pacific.

  Sarah Jennifer radioed Salem to let HQ know she was onworld for the next few days.

  “Good to know,” Izzy told her. “We’ve had increased Mad activity here. There’s been a surge of outbreaks in the nomad populations on the West Coast running all the way into Central and Southern America and an outbreak along the coast of Africa. Something has the Mad riled up. Annie says it could be a ripple effect from Samhain, magic spreading out from Salem.”

  Sarah Jennifer had assigned most of the Defense Force to watch over the world while the Mars project got underway. “Are we stretched?” she inquired, a frown creasing her brow. “We can divert from New Romanov if anyone is in a jam.”

  “We’ve got the Americas covered. Amelie has taken the merchant fleet to the port at Marrakesh,” Izzy informed her. “They’re carrying warriors and mages from all over Europe to answer the SOS.”

  Sarah Jennifer muted Izzy and waved to get Esme’s attention. “You hearing this?”

  Esme nodded. “I’m inclined to agree with Annie until we get better information.”

  Sarah Jennifer unmuted the mic. “What about Siberia?”

  “Mostly in the southern regions. Arkhangelsk hasn’t been affected so far.”

  Esme’s expression was severe when Sarah Jennifer finished taking Izzy’s report. “This was an unexpected turn of events.”

  “And you’re the queen of understatement.” Sarah Jennifer wanted to assist with the outbreaks, but she knew the best way to overcome the Madness was to keep on track with the plan. “It sucks not being able to do anything for them, but I trust everyone to do their duty. We need to get to New Romanov and start the process of getting the patches out.”

  “Couldn’t agree more,” Esme replied.

  Sarah Jennifer couldn’t shake the feeling their time to turn the tide was running short as the Enora passed over Siberia. Mad were visible even without zooming in, huge groups of them bunched together in the snow, moving north. “A mutation of Mad,” she murmured.

  When they arrived at Lilith’s mountain, Sarah Jennifer gave Enora instructions to do a sweep of Siberia to get a better idea of the number of Mad roaming the tundra before following Esme off the airship.

  Esme scrutinized her as they walked into the mountain. “You’re concerned they’re going to head this way?”

  Sarah Jennifer shrugged. “I’m just plain concerned. I have this feeling something is hanging over our heads, waiting for us to take our eyes off the ball before it drops.”

  Esme patted her arm. “We’re about to take the final steps toward rescinding the apocalypse. You’re feeling doubt, but that’s all it is—a feeling.”

  Sarah Jennifer appreciated the comfort. “All we can do is keep moving forward.”

  “How are the patients doing?” Esme called as they entered Lilith’s cave.

  “Well enough,” Lilith answered. “I heard from Ezekiel.”

  Sarah Jennifer almost dropped her pack. “You got through his mental block?”

  “He reached out,” Lilith clarified and relayed their conversation.

  “He was sure it’s too late for Helena?” Sarah Jennifer asked.

  “She’s in the final stages,” Lilith told her. “I saw her through his eyes. She’s held on for a long time, but she’s beyond help. All he can do is be there for her.”

  Sarah Jennifer listened with her heart sinking. “We don’t have a patch for Mad vampires. I didn’t know there were any vampires left on Earth besides Royland.” She broke off. “We should call Prince Edward Island and see if he’ll give us a blood sample we can work from.”

  “I wouldn’t care to see Cammie’s reaction if he said no,” Esme called after her.

  Sarah Jennifer ran to the control room and put the call through, but Cammie and Royland weren’t there, and their seconds couldn’t say more than the couple had gone off with a bunch of strangers on a dirigible. She ended the call and reached out to Salem to have Izzy send a unit to Indiana to pick up Ezekiel and whoever was with him.

  “I’ll send someone as soon as we have someone to send,” Izzy promised. “Best I can do, I’m afraid, Major. Everyone is out west dealing with Mad incursions.”

  “Thank you, Sergeant. That will have to do.” Sarah Jennifer didn’t like it, but Ezekiel wasn’t going anywhere until his friend had crossed the boundary into full Madness.

  She returned to the main chamber, somewhat crestfallen.

  “What’s to do, Duckie?” Esme asked.

  “Neither of them are there,” Sarah Jennifer told her. “It’s bad enough Ezekiel is going to lose the woman who’s been there for him so close to us resolving this. I wanted to do something for his new friends.”

  “I can take care of it,” Esme assured her. “Soon as Ezekiel gets here with his new friends, I can take a blood sample from the infected vampire and work from there.”

  Sarah Jennifer had to be satisfied with that. Her urge to act resurfaced. “Okay. I’m going to visit with the patients in the recovery room.”


  “Sounds good to me,” Esme told her. “I’m going to go down to the lab and get the nanocytes we already have printed ready for transport.”

  Olaf had returned by the time Sarah Jennifer emerged from the control room. He dragged his sled behind him, the simple platform on skis piled high with food and other supplies. He was surprised to find her there. “You’re already here? I could swear I just saw that airship of yours coming in from the east.”

  “Nice to see you, too, Olaf.” Sarah Jennifer accepted his handshake. “Enora is surveying the Mad in the area.”

  Olaf snorted. “Could have saved her the trouble. They’re everywhere.”

  He began unpacking the sled. “Lilith tell you how well the patients are doing?”

  “I’m about to go visit them,” Sarah Jennifer told him. “Coming?”

  Chapter Nine

  Sarah Jennifer wasn’t sure what to expect when she walked into the recovery suite.

  The walls were lined with the same metal as the rest of the complex, creating a sterile environment that contained sixteen fully equipped hospital beds. Thirteen of them were occupied by people in various states of consciousness.

  Olaf noticed her scrutiny of the still forms in eight of the beds. “Not everyone is awake. Some are sedated while their bodies heal the damage they took when they were made Mad.”

  Sarah Jennifer didn’t suppose she’d like to be awake while her internal organs were rebuilt, either. She recognized signs of water damage in two of the people asleep in the beds. Not so affectionately named “rotters,” their skin was still mottled with bruises and pruney from long-term immersion in swamp water.

  “Olaf!” one of the men sitting up in bed exclaimed, his voice hoarse from disuse. “We were beginning to think you weren’t coming back!”

  Olaf laughed. “Not a chance, Marlon.” He smiled at the interest everyone who was awake showed in Sarah Jennifer. “This is Major Walton. She’s the one who had you brought here.”

  “You can call me Sarah Jennifer,” she told the patients. “It was my men who brought you here. How are you all feeling after your ordeal?”