by Greg Logan
Jeff had his arm around Chloe’s middle and was gripping Sara’s arm with his free hand as they pushed past strands of energy. Colors blending from one to another. Chloe found it dizzying. Sara tried to ask what was going on, but because of the distortion of stepping through time, all that came out was a long, drawn out, “Whaaaa..,”
And then they were back in Boston. Being yanked through time like that when you weren’t prepared could be jarring. Chloe held it together but Sara lost her lunch on the pavement.
Jeff connected with Quentin telepathically again and was able to beam himself and the two girls to them. They piled into the SUV Quentin had appropriated. They then drove until darkness and hid under a bridge in a small town eighty miles west of the city.
Rick found them. He hadn’t been at the facility when it was destroyed. And the Darkness found them because, as he said in his Orson Welles baritone, “I can always find Sondra.”
And they began their life of running. Trying to always remain one step ahead of the drone army. And the aliens that commanded them.
Others joined their little group. They obtained information in pieces, often days or even weeks apart. The central computer at the complex had somehow been infected with a virus that caused it to use the defensive weapons Scott had installed to attack them. Jeff’s father was dead before he could even power-up. Scott was blasted to atoms before he could hit the device on his belt that would activate a force field. April and Chuck were taken out in similar ways.
Sammy was unaccounted for, but three months later they found him. He had managed to evade the blasts that had killed the others and had climbed down the mountain and made his way cross country to Massachusetts in hope of finding the others. He was the one member of the team Quentin couldn’t contact telepathically.
And now, here they were. Seventeen years later. They had wandered as far south as the Blue Ridge in Virginia and as far north as Quebec. Always roaming, but they seemed to return to Boston again and again as they tried to stay ahead of the robot drones.
They gradually learned what had happened. Some sort of invasion force from space. Massive POW camps were being set up in some of the major cities, and smaller ones in places like Providence and Buffalo. Most of the humans had been obliterated as they were deemed expendable, and those surviving were interred in agricultural camps. They grew food from plants that were not native to this planet, to feed what was apparently a vast empire out there in space.
Jeff and the others simply ran and tried to survive. And he and Sara fell in love. Chloe had eventually settled in with some survivors in Philadelphia. They had a meta who could screen them from detection. A boyfriend she had known from college was from there, and had been visiting when the attacks began. Once she found him, she didn’t want to leave him. Jeff and Sara could understand that.
Their wanderings had eventually brought them again back to Boston, and now here he was, standing in the derelict remains of Boston’s Logan airport in his bare feet. The love of his life was sleeping in the makeshift bedroom that was theirs.
He walked along as he thought about the early days of the invasion. He stepped into the central concourse. The alien light cube was still activated, casting its pale light. Some members of the group were lying about in sleeping bags or wrapped in blankets. Others had commandeered the former shops along the concourse had turned them into bedrooms.
He was starting to feel tired. He thought maybe he could finally get to sleep. It was late. In fact, it was beyond late. It was early. Sunrise was only a few hours away.
He was about to start back down the corridor to his and Sara’s room when he heard Quentin’s voice in his mind. JEFF.
QUENTIN, Jeff thought. WHERE ARE YOU?
ON THE ROOF. CAN YOU SLIP AWAY?
Jeff shrugged. He had figured Quentin was long asleep by now. BE RIGHT THERE.
On the roof, he found his flashlight wasn’t necessary. Thick dark clouds were scattered across the night sky, but an opening allowed moonlight through and gave everything a sort of silvery glow.
Quentin was standing there along with a humanoid figure that looked like little more than a dark silhouette. Any facial features were impossible to discern.
“We should be safe,” Quentin said. “They seem to cease their fly-overs after midnight.”
“I’m glad you’re here,” Jeff said to the Darkness. “We need to talk about some ideas our leadership group starting talking about tonight.”
The silhouette spoke, its baritone voice seeming to come from all around Jeff. “I am fully aware of your plans to launch an attack on the central computer complex. I was in the room as you spoke.”
Even after seventeen years of working with the Darkness, Jeff found the guy still creeped him out. But he decided to let it go.
Jeff said, “I didn’t mention one aspect of my idea because I didn’t want to worry Sara. Which is that, once we find Chloe and locate the central computer, we won’t be using her to disable it. After all, how long can she keep it disabled? And I don’t think reprogramming it will be feasible. I’ll have to power-up and attack it directly. The planetary monitors will be able to detect the spike in zeta energy, so I’ll need you to cloak me for as long as you can.”
“And what makes you think I can do that?”
“Because we know enough about your dark energy to know it sort of distorts the planetary sensors. It’s hard for them to locate you. The question is, could you shield me long enough for me to launch a physical assault on the Machine itself?”
The Darkness said, “First, I need you to come with me to the roof of the old New England Bank building. Bring Quentin. Use your ability. I will shield the area in darkness so the satellites will not be able to pick up the tachyon energy spike.”
“All right,” Jeff said with a sigh, knowing he couldn’t rush this man. Any attack he could launch on the Machine would be pretty much futile without the Darkness’s help, but you couldn’t rush him. You had to let him have control of the conversation. “Let’s go to the bank roof.”
Jeff grabbed Quentin by the shoulder. Quentin said, “God, I hate this.”
Jeff reached out and parted the threads of time and pulled Quentin through with them, and they were suddenly on the roof of the old New England bank building.
Quentin dropped to a sitting position. “I find that so dizzying. Fortunately we are on limited rations, so I have nothing in me to throw up.”
Jeff said, “Oh, don’t be such a baby.”
Jeff found this rooftop so different from that of the airport. For one thing, they were now twenty-five stories high. For another, instead of looking at the deserted and war torn city from across the harbor, he was now in the middle of it. Down below were hollowed out buildings and free standing walls, and huge craters of torn up pavement.
The Darkness was suddenly standing beside him.
Jeff said, “For some reason, I’ve never been able to get used to how you do that.”
“I am what I am. I am the Darkness.”
Jeff sighed wearily. “I know, I know. You are vengeance. You are the night.”
Quentin chuckled. But the Darkness didn’t. The baritone said, “I do not understand.”
Apparently the Darkness had never seen the animated Batman series.
Jeff said, “Just an old joke. Sorry. What’s here that you need to show us?”
“Come.”
The Darkness didn’t walk. Instead he seemed to glide along the roof top, his legs not moving. His feet not quite touching the rooftop. What looked like tendrils of black fog seemed to drift from him.
One time, in a light hearted moment, Jeff had said to him, “Do you have a name, man? I mean, we can’t keep calling you Darkness. The newspapers used to call you Midnight, sometimes. But when you were a kid, you had to have a name. Pete or Joe, or something.”
The Darkness ignored the question. He often ignored people. He had the people skills of a rock. Jeff found it hard to believe the Darkness had ever been hu
man at all.
Rick Wilson stood at the far end of the roof. He was in his battle suit. As far as Jeff knew, it was the only battle suit remaining. At one time, everyone who had lived at the Colorado facility had one. Rick’s was orange, and on the chest was the image of a flaming comet that had been painted by April Hollister. What seemed like a lifetime ago.
Beside Rick was a cubical device. Its sides and top appeared flat, so Jeff knew it was of alien design. Their machines were powered by nanobots and microcircuitry, so no wires or moving parts were visible.
“Hey, Jeff,” Rick said. “Quentin.”
“Hey, Rick,” Jeff said. “What’s that?”
“An alien device we captured a few days ago. The Darkness and me. We actually just took it from them, from a small convoy a few miles outside of Savannah, Georgia. He surrounded them with dark energy, leaving a little tunnel for me to move through, and I just ran in and snagged it and brought it here.”
Not hard to believe, Jeff thought. Rick could cover the distance from Boston to Savannah in less than fifteen minutes.
Quentin said, “What is it?”
“It’s a device that allows you to monitor communication signals. They use a subspace communication system, far beyond the technology of radio waves. More like what Scott used to communicate with us when we were in the field. But they can be monitored with this.”
“And what earthly use would we have for such a device?”
The Darkness spoke, his voice booming about them. “I have been searching for such a device for some time. To explore suspicions I have had.”
Jeff had always thought there was a sort of Orson Welles resonance to his voice, but after the Batman joke Jeff had made, he was starting to think the Darkness sounded more like Kevin Conroy.
Jeff said, “What kind of suspicions?”
“That there is one among you who might not be what he seems.”
Yep, definitely Kevin Conroy. The voice of the animated Batman. He was vengeance, he was the night. Yup.
Quentin said, “What do you mean, one who might not be what he seems?”
“One who is in contact with the Enemy.”
Jeff’s brows rose with surprise. He hadn’t been expecting this. He exchanged a glance with Quentin and said, “A traitor? Among the survivors? I find that hard to believe.”
As filled with disbelief as Jeff was, Quentin was finding himself annoyed. “And you didn’t feel it necessary to tell us of this until now?”
The Darkness said, “Mother knows. And Sondra knows, because she knows everything I know. When we commune, there are no secrets. Her consciousness and mine blend together. But I saw no need to inform anyone else because I was not sure who I could trust.”
Quentin said, “You are a suspicious one, aren’t you?”
“It comes with the territory.”
Jeff wasn’t sure if the Darkness had just made a joke, but he found himself having to suppress a grin.
“All right,” he said. “Is the device operational?”
Rick nodded.
“Then, what have you found?”
Rick said, gravely, “There actually is a subspace communication signal being broadcast from the airport.”
Jeff’s mouth fell open. “You’re not serious. Please tell me you’re not serious.”
“I wish I could, man.”
The Darkness said, “Since you both are here and the signal is still originating from the airport, it means neither of you is the traitor. And I would trust Mother with my life. And of course I know it’s not Sondra. But this means everyone else there is suspect.”
Jeff looked at Quentin. Jeff said, “Holy shit.”
Quentin nodded. “The plot seems to be thickening, doesn’t it? And at the most inopportune time.”
NINE
2017
Jeff stretched out in his bed. He was still fully dressed. He should get to sleep, he knew, because of the big day starting in the morning. It wasn’t every day you got to journey back to the Boston of 1880 and scan for DNA samples.
Anyone else would be restless with anticipation, he knew. But not him. To travel back a hundred and forty years was like a long-distance trip to him, but nothing more. And it was just another part of the life here that he was growing more and more tired of.
He had expressed these feelings to only one person, and he found he needed to talk to her.
He said into his wristband, “Chloe.”
It took but a moment, and he heard Chloe’s voice coming to life in an audio field forming around him. “Hey, Jeff. What’s up?”
“Can you talk?”
“Yeah, I guess. I’m in my room. You want to come over?”
“Yeah. Be there in a sec.”
He climbed off the bed and glanced in the mirror. He and Chloe were friends only. That was all they would ever be. She was four years older and would always look at him as a younger guy who was like a little brother to her. And he supposed he had accepted that long ago. And yet, he found himself stepping into the bathroom for a quick once-over in the mirror.
God, I look terrible, he thought. His hair was tousled and he needed a shave. Not that he had a lot to shave at seventeen, but he had enough that his chin and upper lip were a little dark with short brown fuzz that was almost stubble. His face was a little pale and he had dark half-moons under his eyes. He really needed sleep, to rest up for the following morning’s journey. He didn’t need to be zipping off the west coast to see Chloe. And yet, he supposed, it might be exactly what he needed. Of all the people he knew, both here in the complex and among the Society in Boston, she was the only one he could really talk to.
The strands of time surrounding him seemed so vivid to him, he was often amazed no one else could see them. They were as plain to him as the mirror on the wall would be to anyone else. He then simply stepped into them, reaching out to part them, stepping a little sideways as he did so. The storm from 1384 made them shake a little, like tree branches blowing in the wind. And he stepped out of the time stream and into the dorm room at UCLA that belonged to Chloe.
She was standing and waiting for him with a big smile, and took him into a big hug. “How’s my kid brother?”
He returned the hug. “I don’t know. I’ve been better, I guess.”
She was in a tank top and a pair of white boxer shorts with the Dodgers logo on them. Her hair was a little longer than he remembered. For years she had dyed it black, but now was letting it grow out to its natural deep brown color.
He glanced at the desk over by the window and saw a couple books open, and her laptop on.
“You’re studying,” he said. “I’ve come at a bad time.”
“Bullshit. There’s no such thing as a bad time when you’re concerned. You want a beer?”
He snorted a quick, disapproving chuckle. “I’m under age, remember?”
“Not here, you’re not. Not tonight. You look like you could use one.”
She went to a small dorm fridge that stood in one corner. It was about the size of one his dad and Scott kept in Scott’s main lab. She pulled a Bud Light from it and grabbed a second one for herself.
“So, how’s it going?” he asked, as he unscrewed the cap. “College?”
“Not what I expected. I mean, for so many years I was part of the Society in Boston. Living in old, abandoned tenements. Living day-to-day, often with only the clothes on my back. And now, here I am. Living like everyone else. No one here knows about meta-genes, or anything like that.”
He sat on the bed. He was making himself to home. It wasn’t the first time he had visited Chloe here at college, though no one at the facility knew about it.
“How’s Snake?” she said.
“He misses you.”
“I’ll be home for Christmas. And I’ll spend summer break with him. He knows that.”
Jeff shrugged. “Doesn’t mean he doesn’t miss you. You’re like a daughter to him. But like any good father, he wants you to do what you gotta do.”
He took a sip of beer and said, “How do you feel about all of this? Being so far away from home? Do you sometimes feel like maybe you’ve abandoned the people who are a part of you?”
She frowned a bit. “Is that how you feel?”
He shook his head. “Not at all. But I wonder if it’s how I will feel, if I do what I think I want to do.”
“And what’s that?”
“Follow your path. Go on to college and lead a normal life.”
She sat on the bed beside him. “Is that what you want?”
“Part of me does. But part of me feels like I belong back at the facility, living the life Scott and Dad do. Exploring the universe and all of that shit. Did you know, tomorrow we’re heading back in time? To 1880? To explore the history of the genesis gene and how it came about. I mean, we’re heading back to 1880 and it’s like just another day at the office. I mean, is that really normal?”
Chloe shrugged. “It would sound like science fiction to the kids I know here. I haven’t told them anything about my past. They know me as just Chloe, college kid.”
“That’s so cool.” Jeff took a sip of beer.
“Are you going to be driving, or are they using their teleportation field?”
“I’m going to be driving.”
“Are you up to that? I mean, 1880 is a long time ago.”
His turn to shrug. “I’ll be all right. It’s not that hard to do, really. And we’ll be dressed in these period costumes. And we’ll try to just remain in the background and take DNA samples with Scott’s tricorders. I mean, I can’t believe we call them tricorders, for God’s sake.”
She smiled and nodded. “I know what you mean.”
“I lived among them, the people in Boston, even longer than you did. From the time I was an infant. I mean, Mother and Snake raised me. And then I moved in with Dad and Scott at the facility at about the same time you did. And their life became mine, even though I still hop back to Boston a couple times a week to say hi to everybody and make sure they’re okay. But if I do what you did, if I leave it all behind to go to college and start leading a normal life, will I be betraying them?”