Linda looked up, startled, and grabbed a firm hold of her husband once she saw the look in his eye. “Are you crazy? You’d be killed! It’s a miracle that we’ve all made it out together! We have to stick together!”
Rich’s eyes didn’t move from the planet that was slowly shrinking in the distance. The alien swarm was now starting to dwarf the Earth, and he knew there wasn’t much time. “If I stay here, I’ll regret it the rest of my life.”
“What? Richard!” Linda shouted as the rest of the people in the room started to take notice of the commotion.
Rich spun and took a firm grasp of his wife’s arms and looked her in the eye. “I love you, Linda. But I have to help them.”
He kissed her, but she clutched hard on his shirt, trying to prevent him from leaving. “Don’t,” she said.
“I’m not a coward. I have to go,” Rich asserted as he struggled to remove her grip on his shirt.
“No one thinks you are a coward, Richard! Everyone loves you! We need you!”
“Not as much as they do, Linda,” Rich responded in an almost desperate tone that Linda had never seen before. “Don’t you see that? I have to help them! I have to, or I’ll never be able to live with myself!”
“If you go, you’ll die!” Linda screeched as she plummeted into sheer desperation. “Are you insane? You can’t leave your family! What kind of person would abandon his family at a time like this? No one thinks you’re a coward!”
Edmund reached into the fray to hold his mother back while Rich put on his jacket and grabbed his helmet.
Linda’s words had stunned Rich, but he had no choice now, and he knew it. “I promise you, I am coming back. But keep going!” Rich put a firm hand on his son’s shoulder and then gave his wife one last smile before heading out the front door, igniting his cocoon, cutting through the house magnetic field, and blasting at top speed back toward Earth.
24
“One minute until contact,” James announced gravely. “This is all your doing,” he growled at the A.I.
The demonic entity performed a bow.
“Not everyone has managed to get away yet,” James continued. “There are still millions of people on the surface.”
“The ones who have only launched recently are not out of danger yet either. The alien numbers are so vast that they’ll be able to snag a great deal of the fish that think they’ve gotten away.”
“Every death will be on your head,” James seethed.
“It won’t be the first time—and may I point out once again that it was you who attacked the aliens first.”
“If they didn’t want to be attacked, they could have tried to communicate. No one is blocking communication,” James replied.
“They’ve reached the atmosphere,” the A.I. suddenly observed as he watched the spectacle unfold.
Every second, tens of millions of androids reached the atmosphere and began to freefall toward the surface. Just as they had on Mars, they swarmed the post-humans who were trying to leave, driving them back to the surface. Having waited too long to launch, millions of people abandoned their ships and made desperate bids to fly solo into space, but very few were able to negotiate the torrential rain of androids that were darkening the sky. As with Mars, once the androids made contact, the post-humans’ magnetic fields were neutralized, and they were rendered unconscious before being dragged up into space, where their bodies were discarded.
“It’s a precision strike,” James said as he watched the slaughter. “This was planned. I did the right thing when I attacked them.”
The A.I. snickered. “Your personal affirmations are touching, but the very fact that you feel the need to say them aloud means you’re still unsure—and so you should be. So you should be.”
25
Below ground in Purist territory, the Purist ship was going through the final stages of completion. Almost all of the Purists were onboard, however, as the last of the electrical systems were brought online by the nans. Governor Wong walked with the last group of Purists to board the ship, flanked by Alejandra, Lieutenant Patrick and Old-timer. Just before they crossed the bridge and entered the hull, Governor Wong paused. “What was that?”
They stopped and listened. Every few seconds, there was a large thud as something landed on the roof of the hangar. Each thud was like a drop of water hitting the tin roof of an old barn at the beginning of a summer storm. In just moments, the thuds began hitting the hangar roof at such a rate that it became a thunderous clatter. “Jesus,” Lieutenant Patrick said in a dread-filled whisper.
“We better get onboard,” Old-timer said, keeping his calm, yet placing a firm urgency behind the words.
In the cockpit of the ship, James, Djanet, and Thel worked furiously to bring all ship systems online. James was shouldering most of the burden, however, since the ship was his design. “They’ve landed on the hangar now, James,” said the A.I. in James’s head. “They’ll tear through the roof and kill you all before you have a chance to escape.”
“Shut up,” he replied under his breath.
“What was that, James?” Thel asked.
“Nothing,” James answered her. “Keep monitoring that door,” he said to her.
“I am. The machines are on top of it and they’re starting to claw through. Structural integrity is still holding, however.”
“It just needs to hold for a minute or so more,” James said as he frantically worked to get the ship’s electrical system running. “I’m not going to have time to test our systems. We’re just going to have to hope this bucket of bolts works!”
Meanwhile, high above Purist territory, Rich streaked toward the Earth while he watched the swarm of androids entering the atmosphere. Rich had faced dire situations before, but nothing compared to what he was facing now. “Rich, you crazy son of a gun. What the hell have you gotten yourself into now?” he asked himself as he pressed on, the androids drawing near.
He patched into communication with James and the others as he approached. “Commander, I’m en route!”
“Rich?” James reacted, stunned. “What the hell are you doing here?”
“You know…I just missed you guys so darn much!”
The androids were now all around Rich, and he flew in an extremely erratic pattern to avoid making contact with them. They didn’t have magnetic fields, but their appearance was human, and he could see the expressions of determination on their faces as, one by one, they made their way toward him, attempting to apprehend him. He blasted energy at each one, knocking them unconscious and sending them plummeting toward the surface.
“Rich, we’re launching in about thirty seconds, but there are androids crawling all over the hangar!” James shouted. “You’re going to have to try catch a ride with us as we lift off!”
“Affirmative!” Rich shouted, gasping for air as he desperately fought off the thickening hordes of androids. “Commander! Hurry up! It’s raining men out here! Not hallelujah! Not hallelujah!”
26
“Are the doors holding, Thel?” James asked for confirmation before launching.
“The outer surface is torn to shreds, but the release mechanism appears to be operational!” Thel responded.
“Okay, then we’ve got to go! Keep your fingers crossed!” James shouted as he activated the launch sequence.
The hangar doors began to slowly open, allowing the thousands of androids that had crowded on top of the door and had been ripping the metal apart in their attempts to penetrate the hangar to leap down on top of the ship. The hydraulic launcher pressed into action and pointed the nose of the zeppelin-shaped ship up toward a sky that had been darkened by a rainstorm of androids.
Old-timer entered the cockpit, with Governor Wong, Alejandra, and Lieutenant Patrick in tow. “Old-timer,” James said as he engaged the magnetic engines, “keep an eye on the hull. Those things are bound to breach it at some point.”
“On it.”
“Djanet, keep an eye on Rich,” James said.
“I’m already on it,” Djanet said while she watched Rich’s desperate flight toward the ship as hundreds of attackers quickly became thousands.
“Launching now!” James shouted as he throttled the engines and the ship thrusted out of the hangar, shaking off thousands of android attackers as it did so. However, hundreds more managed to maintain their holds on the hull and they used their enormous strength to pound and claw at any ridges or weak spots in the structure that appeared exploitable.
As the ship picked up speed, hundreds more androids surged toward it, joining the fight and covering the ship like frenzied bees on a honeycomb.
Rich saw the ship too as it made its way toward him. He kept blasting magnetic energy at his attackers as he flew in kamikaze fashion, hoping to elude the androids by being completely erratic and unpredictable. “This was definitely a bad idea!”
27
As the ship neared, Rich had to negotiate a landing on the hull of the enormous structure as it rocketed upward, without allowing any of the myriad of androids to get a hold of him. He was nearing exhaustion as he flew and blasted in self-defense.
“I cannot believe what I am seeing,” Djanet said as she watched Rich’s valiant one-man battle. She had witnessed Rich’s bravery once before, but this was on a whole new level. She’d never seen anyone try anything like it. “I have to go out there,” she announced as she began to leave the cockpit.
“Djanet! No!” Old-timer shouted. “It’s suicide!”
“He’s right, Djanet,” James concurred as he gently grabbed her arm to stop her. She roughly pulled it away.
“I’d rather die out there with him than in here, watching.” She stormed out of the room and toward an exit.
“James,” Thel said with pleading eyes that urged him to do something to stop Djanet.
“Let her go, James,” the A.I. asserted in James’s head. “You know you need her out there. It’s a dirty job, but someone has to do it.”
James was rattled as he listened to the A.I.’s words. He instinctively wanted to rush to save Djanet and to resist the A.I., but once again, the electronic Satan appeared to be speaking the ugly truth. “She’s right, Thel. I couldn’t possibly order any of you outside, but we need help to get out of here alive. We need someone to clear the hull of the ship, and that’s exactly what Rich and Djanet will be doing.”
“But they’ll die!” Thel protested.
“Make the hard decisions, James,” the A.I. urged in an unusually sincere tone, suggesting that it had its own survival in mind—if it thought Djanet’s exit increased its chance of survival, it probably did.
“I didn’t ask either of them to go out there, but they’re a special breed,” James replied. “Old-timer, I need you to keep monitoring the hull and direct Rich and Djanet to any serious trouble spots. Thel, I need you to see if you can tap into the engine power without compromising our thrust to generate an electromagnetic pulse strong enough to get rid of the rest of our hangers on.”
“I’ll see what I can do.” Thel nodded as she flipped through a plethora of screens in her mind’s eye.
Meanwhile, Djanet stood outside of an outer airlock and ignited her magnetic energy cocoon. She knew Old-timer was right. This was most likely suicide—but there were times when it was better to die than to live the rest of your life knowing that you could have done something but you didn’t. She popped the handle of the lock and was swept outside by the change in pressure. Seconds later, she was blasting androids on her way to rendezvous with Rich. She had to save him.
After all, he was the man she loved.
28
In mere seconds, the androids on the hull exponentially increased. Every moment, hundreds more landed on the hull, until finally, they covered every inch of it.
Meanwhile, Rich was surrounded, and his muscles ached from exhaustion. He was spinning wildly and blasting at his attackers, but even with the nans helping him to recoup his energy, the fatigue was about to overwhelm him.
Djanet’s attack made the difference—she cleared a path for Rich toward the ship. She knocked out several of Rich’s attackers and left a hole just big enough for Rich to squeak through. When Rich reached her, he nearly passed out, and Djanet enveloped him into to her magnetic field. He grabbed her, and gasped for air as he held on.
“I got you!” she shouted to him. His clothes were soaked with sweat, and she could feel the thunderous beat of his heart against her back.
“You just saved my life…again!” he replied as Djanet flew back toward the Purist ship as it streaked upward, toward the sun. The darkness of space was beginning to become visible as the stratosphere came into sight.
“They’re alive, James,” Old-timer delivered the news.
Thel sighed a heavy sigh of relief. “Tell them to get inside!”
“No!” James interjected. “If they open a door now, we’ll be overwhelmed by those things!”
“James!” Thel shouted, shocked at his line of thinking. “We can’t leave them out there! If the androids get in, we’ll fight them!”
“We’d be putting the Purists at risk, Thel! Too many of them have already died!”
“Are you willing to sacrifice Rich and Djanet?” Thel asked, appalled.
“It’s up to you, James,” the A.I. spoke. “The humane thing to do would be to open the doors, but it’s virtually guaranteed that the ship would be overwhelmed, and you’d lose everyone onboard.”
James sighed and bowed his head. “Thel, I’ve analyzed the situation and, believe me, if we open that door, we all die.”
“What’s wrong with you?” Thel reacted after she heard James’s words. “You sound like a computer.”
James clenched his teeth—it was becoming increasingly difficult to delineate a line between his consciousness and that of the A.I.
“I think we have to trust James,” Old-timer said, attempting, as was his custom, to be the voice of reason. As much as he wanted to save Rich and Djanet, as his eyes moved toward Alejandra, he knew he couldn’t risk their lives. “At least Djanet and Rich can defend themselves.”
“We’re willing to fight, Craig,” Alejandra retorted.
“Agreed,” Lieutenant Patrick chimed in. “You shouldn’t sacrifice your people”
“You need more than willingness,” Old-timer replied.
“Enough,” James asserted. “Old-timer, tell them they’re our only chance of getting out of here alive. Keep an eye on that hull and a close watch on the doors and the engine.”
“They’ll die because of that decision,” Thel insisted.
“Not if you follow my lead, Thel. Find a way to electrify the hull.”
Outside, Djanet continued blasting as Rich felt he was ready to separate. “I’m okay now. Thanks!” He let go of Djanet and reengaged his own magnetic field as he started firing at any androids in his path.
“Old-timer!” Djanet shouted as she opened communication, “We need you to open the starboard airlock!”
“That’s a negative,” Old-timer replied.
“What?” Djanet asked, stunned.
“James analyzed the situation and, if we open the doors, the chances of the ship being overwhelmed are too great.”
“Old-timer!” Rich shouted as he continued blasting, “Open the damn door!”
“We need you to clear the androids off the doors and away from the engines first!” Old-timer shouted back.
James entered the communication at that moment to plead for Rich’s and Djanet’s understanding. “Guys, we’re not going to make it unless you help us from out there. I’m sorry, but we have no choice. You’re our only hope!”
Rich continued desperately shooting as he and Djanet reached the starboard side of the vessel, still coated with androids that were clawing at the titanium frame of the ship like wolves attacking a bloody piece of meat. “There are too many of them, Commander!”
“You don’t have to destroy them all! Just give us the time we need to set up an electromagnetic charge to get
rid of the rest of them!”
“How long do you need?” Djanet asked through gasps as, like Rich before her, she neared exhaustion.
“Three minutes,” James shouted back——the number was random. In actuality, he had no idea.
“Better speed it up! We’ll be dead in thirty seconds!” Rich shouted back.
29
“We’ve got our first hull breach!” Old-timer shouted as he scrolled through the ship map to see where the breach was located. “The engines!”
“Of course,” James growled. “Djanet, Rich! One of those things has breached the hull next to the engines! We need you to knock it off there, or this is going to be a short ride!”
“Copy that!” Djanet answered as she and Rich worked their way to the back of the ship. They were immediately caught in the wake of the massive magnetic engines, tossed around like cotton balls on a windy Chicago day.
“Well…isn’t this just a walk in the park!” Rich grunted as he struggled to stay on course.
“The good news is that it’s tough for the androids too!” Djanet replied. “They can’t get to us while we’re in here! It might just buy James the time he needs to ready the electromagnetic pulse.”
“Not if we can’t get those alien freaks off the engines!” Rich shouted back. “Do you see them?”
Djanet peered through the brilliant azure distortions created by the engines until she could make out a large group of androids who’d peeled back a small portion of the titanium casing surrounding the engines. The small portion was threatening to become a large portion, as nearly a dozen of the androids had grabbed a hold of it and were tugging at it violently, thrashing it. “Yes, I see them!”
“Can you get a shot?”
“It’s hard to hold steady, but I think so!” she responded. It was like holding on to the rope after falling while waterskiing, waves throwing you around violently until you didn’t know if you were facing up or down. She tried to stay steady and, when she thought she was in as good a position as she was going to get, she fired. Unfortunately, the blast got caught in the distortion of the engines and boomeranged back in an arc, glancing off of Rich’s magnetic cocoon and temporarily driving him out of the engine’s wake and back into danger—there were still millions of androids in the vicinity. “Sorry!”
Post-Human Trilogy Page 42