He looked Dr. Hannu in his welcoming eyes. “Thank you for telling me. Hopefully my service to our country will give me opportunity to see her someday, when I know she’ll be safe from…” he intended to say that tyrant bastard governor, but even when they, if they, took him down, he knew a dozen more who would eagerly step into the void to make The Gov’s power their own. “Well, safe. We have a lot of work to do.”
“Yes.” Dr. Hannu shifted to check on his computer’s active programs. “Now to item two.” He clicked open a list bulleted off by green circles, then turned with a grin. “I already have a store of The Gov’s blood.”
They could load up a few wasps and ship them out to the surface right away!
Dr. Hannu beamed with the same unspoken enthusiasm. “I know. I’ve been cross checking a few things, so that’s why I didn’t mention it. We have the pieces at our disposal, but I have something bigger in mind, and which may be crucial to us harnessing the mess of M-MANs he unleashed from Fort Pope.”
“Okay.”
Dr. Hannu turned to reopen the program analyzing Rush’s blood. Complete read underneath a blue bar that stretched across the top middle of the box. He then dragged the box for the wasp program next to it.
Fragmented pieces of an idea hovered just outside Nedzad’s grasp.
Dr. Hannu worked some file copying and renaming between Rush’s blood’s sample and the wasp program. He wasn’t going to reveal that Rush had to die, was he?
“I about jumped out of my chair soon after Rush told me about the unique qualities of his nanos.” Dr. Hannu paused to quickly type and click into the wasp program. He stared at the screen, scratching the stubble on his cheek. “Huh.”
“What?”
“Nedzad,” Rush spoke into Nedzad’s earpieces.
“Loud and clear.”
Dr. Hannu picked up on something and continued working.
“Found tracks leading into the sand outside,” Rush said.
“How many?” Nedzad asked.
Dr. Hannu huffed in frustration, then switched to the program for Nedzad’s broken visor and clicked through messages and command options.
Rush told Nedzad about the tracks and what he found at the hospital exit, introducing a new problem about newer footprints and how they’d left with only one dive suit. He asked for a minute and the comms went silent.
Nedzad mentally muted his mic via his visor.
Dr. Hannu unplugged the other visor from the computer and lifted it to fit on his head.
“So what were you doing?” Nedzad asked, pointing at the screen. “Did something go wrong?”
“Not necessarily. Still thinking through making it work.”
“Making what work?”
With the visor perched on his head, Dr. Hannu made a hope-filled and conniving face. “Replicating the wasps and sending them out to deliver a program of M-MANs that will shut Warren out, eliminate any and all connection he has to influence those he’s infected. I hope there aren’t many, but if he gets more, we should be able to track them down.”
“With the same for The Gov’s infected?”
“Yep.” Dr. Hannu took a deep breath, exhaled. “If they’d have had what I have before everything fell apart, we might never have had to hide underground or in small pockets of societies.”
“Found some M-MAN concentrations in a room on the northwest side,” Rush said. “They don’t seem to be active.”
Dr. Hannu pulled his visor over his eyes, the earpieces fitting behind his ears.
After dealing with what Rush found, and the comms went silent, Dr. Hannu mouthed, “Mute,” and pointed at his ear.
Nedzad obeyed. “Yeah?”
“We can take this stuff and join them.” He motioned to the laptop and a few things on his desk. “I’ll leave behind enough to come back to if something happens.”
“If something happens to us, who’ll implement your plan?”
“I’m going to leave two wasps, one programmed to find Warren’s strand, the other, The Gov’s.”
“Can you activate them now?”
“I could, and we’d likely be okay, but I don’t know how long the Warren wasp would take to find Fort Pope, let alone get in, and then there’s Star. Not only does she have The Gov’s strand, but…see, Rush’s mutated different characteristics than mine and Cool’s. Since Star has The Gov’s, but got it through Rush, who has Warren’s…it’d be much better if I got a sample of her blood before I felt comfortable automating this plan.”
Nedzad checked in on Rush. Dr. Hannu shared thoughts on the human body fueling nanos without plasma. When the conversation went silent, Dr. Hannu motioned for a mute on their end.
Then he said, “There’s one last thing.”
Nedzad chuckled. “Let me guess, you really have two heads, and the other shares a brain with The Gov?”
Dr. Hannu laughed, shaking his head. “No…though this is pretty bad, too.” His demeanor turned south as he spoke.
“What’s that?” Nedzad asked, fearing for the answer.
“Avery.”
I knew it. “The guy who shot me and left me for dead? Who Rush still trusts with his life?” Nedzad stood, stretching his lower back in preparation of leaving.
“Yeah. I’m afraid that trust’s misplaced.”
“Why…? I mean how would you know that? He told us he was working for The Gov because he has his wife.”
“The Gov has his wife, but not against her will, nor his. That’s why I didn’t mention his blood with Avery here.”
“That bastard. What’s he doing? Do you know?”
Dr. Hannu shook his head. “I don’t know. Beyond just being one more point man to set up The Gov’s base here and at Fort Pope.”
“I’ll kill him myself. You ready?”
“No. Sorry. I need…” He turned back to his computer. “Ten minutes.”
Nedzad hovered behind the doctor while he worked, going faster than Nedzad could process. He lost connections between clicks as daydreams of Mara and what she might look like hung in the air. His daughter, born seconds ago with eight years of living outside of his love.
Adopted parents or not, he wouldn’t let one unnecessary breath pass before he could embrace her with the passion he and Jules knew she deserved.
59 - Rush (8:02 am)
Rush connected his comms to the submarine’s antennae. “Wayfinder to Hidden Doctor, this is Captain Rush.”
“Loud and clear, Captain,” Doctor Hannu huffed. “We’re on our way.”
Rush had his visor down, pressed against the lens of the periscope. The mirrors inside reflected his dock view at the mess he’d made of the doorway. The Wayfinder grew outside as pieces from vehicles buried outside flowed through the sand at his imagination’s command. He switched to dive view and adjusted to see two figures running down the hall fifty yards away. To his immediate left, hospital walls of red separated their pocket of purple air from the haze of yellow beyond.
He spread his focus to blueprint view. Dark streetlights stood at bent angles in the open space of the intersection straight out from the exit. No life signs or electricity, just sand and ancient death. Same in the buildings hundreds of yards away. Blocks of space held decay and the glint of possible life in the air trapped inside.
As proud as he was about his new creation, tracking someone undersand was different than on the surface where they left footprints. Undersand, he had to look for action, where someone’s passing pushed open space and left a path of settling sand behind.
Hard thumps struck the hatch on the ceiling behind him.
“I’ll get it,” Cool said.
Rush continued his deep stare into the sand ocean beyond.
No movement. No settling. He could waste all of his suit’s power expanding his view far enough to find them. Each second was a drain he considered halting. His visor showed 39% power remaining. He set up a charging port, but drain too much and he might not have time to charge back to full power before they reached their de
stination.
He halted, blinking to dock view and turning around on his seat toward the clang of boots on the darkened, hard sand form of his ship. The doctor and Nedzad approached with Cool hustling to stay in the lead. Nedzad stared at Avery, saw Rush watching him, and had a reaction in his face as though fighting between anger and confusion. Something had caused his grudge against Avery to rise to the surface.
“Come a long way, sentry,” Nedzad said, gaining control on his face and letting a sly smile form. “How does it run?” he asked, slowly scanning the view from the periscope.
Rush sat on the starboard ledge and patted a container embedded in the hardened sand. “The bike had oil and gas that M-MANs from the plasma replicated. This thing won’t go very fast on its own, but it’ll move.” He pointed at the poles sticking out of four points on the two sides. “We can paddle, too.”
“You found wiring to make it charge sand?” Nedzad asked.
Rush shrugged. “Replicated the exterior from the exterior of my suit, including the wiring. This thing’s like one large suit.” He pushed a button on top of the generator shielding. The engine hummed inside. “And that’s your dive button.”
The ship buoyed and rocked as Rush moved to the closest paddle. The propeller whirred as it spun air behind the ship. “Let’s give `er a push.”
The group joined him on the paddles, save for Cool, the smallest of the bunch. Rush lifted his paddle to scrape the ground outside and heaved into his first stroke. The resistance was similar to mud, but their conjoined effort pushed the ship far enough to keep it moving by the time they synced their second stroke. They pushed off and slowed, likely meeting the hospital exterior. “Push!” Rush grunted, as he and his new crew dug and thrust their paddles into softened ground.
The ship moved, nearly slowing to a stop before their next paddle thrust. Three more turns were needed before the propeller caught the sand water made by their ship’s generator. The Wayfinder greased into the sea of sand with what Rush imagined was an old dog’s glee as it hobbled after a thrown bone. Their paddle strokes smoothed out her speed to the pace of a healthy jog.
“One of us with visors should be on the periscope,” Nedzad said, still an edge to his voice Rush needed to pinpoint. “She’s your ship,” he said to Rush.
“Cool.” Rush pressed the paddle handle into Cool’s hand and stepped up to the periscope.
A blueprint image of a sideways row of cars approached abruptly. He pressed on the right pedal to lift them and turned the wheel left to steer port side. They climbed with a good two hundred meters before their path would cut between the two multi-storied buildings ahead. He kept the lift pedal pressed until they were fifty meters above ground, sailing near the tops of the buildings, and then eased off to let them coast level above their roofs.
No life signs in the buildings nor below. “Where are they?” Rush asked.
“If Warren’s M-MANs are in The Gov’s men,” Dr. Hannu said, “they’ll have gone back to the Plaza building. It’s a couple miles pretty straight north and is the tallest building in the city.”
“Those could be the extra footprints,” Rush said. “We’ll set the course that way, then.”
“Rush?”
“Yeah, Cool.”
“I found a map back in the hospital garage.” Cool took a folded paper out of his pocket and extended it to Rush. “The X near the top might be the building you’re looking for.”
Rush saw what he was talking about then turned the paper for the doctor to see. “Look about right?”
“Yeah, I think so.”
“Very good, Cool. Thanks!”
Cool blushed and rocked into another stroke on his paddle. “You’re welcome.”
Rush studied the map a little more before returning to his periscope. They sailed past a six-story building with a large crater cracked open at one corner. “Still doesn’t explain how they got there.”
“They had more plasma,” Doctor Hannu answered. “Two of The Gov’s men had suits. So did one of yours. We’re witnessing how things get done when you combine plasma and suits.”
Rush plugged his suit into one of three ports on the console behind the periscope, charging from the electricity generated by his crew’s paddling. He navigated north using the map’s directions, floating stories higher than the buildings on both sides. The metal lying around unused reminded him of Star’s comment of them not being afraid of The Gov, that she dared him to come because of all she could build with her new power.
What was she building now? Fisher? Star? he thought, with as much concentration as when he built the Wayfinder.
Nothing happened. After they had defeated Warren and walked across the Depository’s oatmeal floor, they had felt Jeff’s arm and its concentration of M-MANs with each sway. He felt the submarine carving through the brush of sand around its tubular form, but beyond that he felt nothing. What was different? He had a suit, and while not nearly as much as he’d like, he still had the buzz of plasma in his veins. He missed the extra strength Singer gave his mind.
A lot had happened in the day between now and then. Too much, probably, to pin down reasons for every step of evolution. All he could do was try and evaluate pass or fail. After all those years as Dive Master, now he was the student. Pass or fail meant life or death for him, his crew, his wife, their child, and those living above the sands.
Don’t react, scrolled on his visor. This is Nedzad. His N and the doctor’s H were highlighted on his icon dashboard. Avery’s S had a red slash through it.
Okay, he thought-typed back, keeping his gaze on the buildings passing below them in blueprint view. I assume this has something to do with Avery not being included?
It does, Nedzad wrote. Bastard’s playing both sides. Dr. Hannu says he and his wife both. Hostage my ass.”
Rush fought the urge to look left at Avery, watching in the corner of his eye as his old friend rowed his paddle. How do you know Dr. Hannu isn’t playing both sides? Rush asked, not sure he considered that plausible, but he didn’t know. He also adopted Nedzad’s shorthand for doctor.
Avery rowed twice before Nedzad replied with, I don’t. And yet, he didn’t lock Dr. Hannu from their comms before answering. But just like I read you as someone worthy of sentryhood, I never liked Avery. I like Dr. Hannu. I’d lay my life on that.
You might, Rush wrote back, if that’s all you have.
Oya will be with him, Dr. Hannu texted. If you get close enough to check, it should be obvious she hasn’t been subjected to the kind of harsh treatment a true prisoner of The Gov would have endured. I fear if you get that close, though, it will be too late.
What kind of long con was this? He’d known Avery nearly as long as he could remember. Oya was tower folk, so they hadn’t met until she and he had been dating for almost a year, but even that was ten years ago. Could be this was something new, if they were speaking truth.
Come on, Avery. Don’t do that to me. With what problems he had with Star and watching him become something nearly too different than the woman he loved, he feared crossing the line where Avery could become his enemy again.
Are you proposing something, Nedzad? Rush wrote.
Not right now. We need to see his play. Just warning you so you have an eye out to react before it’s too late.
Gotcha, Rush wrote back. Avery would have to make that play before he believed it. His friend deserved that much. Rush hoped he was fast and smart enough to have the last say if it came to that.
“What’s on your mind, Poke?” Avery asked. “Aside from how much longer I plan to let you stand around while we do all the work?”
Rush looked Avery in the eye. For a second, Avery may have read his suspicion. Rush tried covering it with a smile and tapped his head. “You surprised I’m being recognized for what’s in here?”
Avery slowly grinned. “Not as smart as you think you are, even if you did build a submarine faster than it used to take you to defecate.”
“Ugh, that reminds me
. Shoulda built a toilet right here so I could spend even less energy while navigating our way to glory.”
Avery chuckled, possibly forgetting the previous suspicion. “Huh…glory.” He growled out the next row. “While you dream away our future glory, want to help me scan our antenna’s reception for something other than what some of us have kept secret?”
Rush couldn’t help the shame that flushed across his face.
Avery watched him. Shook his head. Then looked back at Nedzad across the aisle and Dr. Hannu behind him. “May not be able to tell when I’m muted, but I know how radio reacts to digital messages.” He hefted another row. “So do you plan to share now that you’ve been caught, or should I just proceed as though any of you plan to knife me when I’m not looking?” He finished his comment with a long glare at Rush.
“How about you first,” Rush said.
No, Nedzad wrote. Not yet.
Too late, Rush sent back, then said to Avery, “Anything you might like to admit, considering we have someone here,” Rush motioned toward Dr. Hannu, “who knows any number of secrets you’ve failed to divulge?”
Avery set his hands on his hips. “I’m sorry I wasn’t immediately up front about my relationship with The Gov and how I obtained coordinates to Fort Pope—”
“And Denver Health,” Rush added. “Those were the coordinates on your paper. Not Fort Pope.”
Avery conceded. “Yes. Look, I haven’t told you everything. You haven’t needed to know everything.”
Rush opened his mouth to speak, cut off by—
“But you have my word I have been straight with you ever since you collapsed the ceiling on Warren. Whatever they think makes me untrustworthy can be explained without guilt on my conscience. I did what I had to in order to get us to this point, but going forward I have nothing to hide.”
“When we get topside and your wife is just fine,” Dr. Hannu started.
Scavenger: A.I.: (Sand Divers, Book Two) Page 23