by Dan Glover
They'd nearly made it when a noise like distant thunder resounded and echoed through the concrete tunnel. Even the concrete beneath his feet seemed to shift. At that very instant, the sand swarming over Kirk's body had fallen to a standstill and his body became so heavy they had to set him down.
"What happened, Micah?"
"The nanobot nest must have been destroyed. Without that functioning as a control center, the rest of the particles are effectively rendered inert."
"What does that mean for Kirk?"
"Death, or perhaps worse."
Chapter 63—Salt
"It may be your affinity for salt water that saves us all, my darling Alpin."
It was one of those dreams where he knew he was dreaming and so had the advantage of winnowing facts otherwise hidden from him. Though it was strange for him to find himself in bed with the good doctor he did not dwell upon the circumstances so much as the knowledge which she sought to impart.
He had never been attracted to human girls. Even Amanda had been a monumental error on his part... he should have never indulged the whim which came upon him like the want for sweet things that ruled his childhood.
Though Karen was a beautiful creature in her own right, it wasn’t her body that he desired. It was her thoughts. She knew that which might save his life if only he learned the lesson well.
Alpin had been caught up in the spider web for what seemed like ages.
Struggling to get loose caused him to only become more deeply ensnared in the steel strands binding him in some invisible fashion... he had about given up on the fight when the detonation resounded in the distance.
The next instant he was free.
For just a moment before the explosion he thought he saw something skittering across the sky—a large bird, perhaps—but he put it off to the play of the clouds still obscuring the blue canopy of the sky and the luscious light of the sun. Jumping down from the trap where he'd been deposited by the dragon he tried to get his bearing.
The misty gray particles heretofore blotting out the light were dissipating so rapidly that fingers of sunshine began poking through the canopy. He didn’t know if it was morning or afternoon, however, so he still couldn’t gauge direction in any meaningful manner.
Remembering the suicidal thoughts of his failed Kamikaze mission he wondered if Pete had succeeded where he'd fell short, or if some new disaster was brewing. He thought about his father and what had become of him... was he somewhere trapped in a web too? Was he even alive?
Alpin couldn’t remember how far the dragon had taken him though they hadn’t been airborne for long. Maybe he had lost consciousness, however, and all sense of time. Perhaps they'd flown farther than he realized. Either way, he had no idea how to get back to where he started from.
Old New York City was situated on the east coast... he knew that much. Unless the dragon had taken him away to the northeast, once he got his directions sorted out he had only to head east. The City was so enormous he was bound to run into it sooner or later, and if not the City he'd hit the ocean.
H felt the familiar pull of the salt water.
"Why do we prefer swimming in the ocean, Dr. Karen?"
He remembered talking with the doctor during one of the seemingly endless rides to Lake Baikal, wondering at the differences between him and the full blooded people of the Lake. Ena too preferred swimming in the salt waters.
"As near as I can determine, darling Alpin, it has to do with a dominant gene surfacing during the mating process of the two species. You, like human beings, require salt for many of the biological processes in your body. The Ladies, on the other hand, while their genetic makeup is the same as yours, have evolved a recessive salt excreting gene.
"I don’t know what to make of this other than it is probably a fluke that occurred millions of years ago and has been passed on ever since. I'm guessing that you and your descendants will no longer feel the need to submerge your bodies in the waters of Lake Baikal but instead will be drawn to the oceans."
It had been too long since he'd immersed his body in the sea. It called out to him the way Lake Baikal called out to the Ladies. His Grandfather Nate felt the pull of the Lake too. Alpin remembered journeying there every seven years with the rest of his family but that was in the distant past. He hadn’t left the Grampians in decades, perhaps centuries, other than short trips north to visit Ena.
He should have appreciated those Lake trips more than he did... he recalled whining about having to go even though it was a time of togetherness, of laughter and good times. Instead of cultivating those passions he had slunk off to be alone among the ruined villages that once flourished on the shores of the Lake.
Old bones fascinated him the same way the ossuary back at Orchardton Hall seemed to call out his name. The People who once inhabited the cabins on the shores of Lake Baikal seemed so familiar and yet entirely alien at the same time.
In some of the homes, plates and eating utensils were still waiting upon the tables where they were set so long ago. Dried up husks of what were once human beings lay in beds or upon the floor where they had fallen in their death agonies. Though these people had been dead some three centuries he still felt like an intruder, trespassing into private domains better left alone.
Here in old America the deserted homes must have been swept away or perhaps buried under the avalanche of sand. He imagined the nanobots insinuating their way into the old bones bringing them to life again in some macabre way, perhaps using them to fashion the very dragon that had carried him away.
Walking through the sand sapped his energy in ways opposite to how the sea water charged him. He felt the need to rest yet he loathed to sit down in the coarse cursed stuff. He thought if he kept walking he would eventually come to a building or some other landmark that might offer a respite from the never-ending sea of particles.
The nanobots were no longer functioning, that much was clear. The outburst he had felt and heard must have rendered them inert, the explosion. He became convinced that Pete had flown his jet into the nest in a desperate gesture to save the rest of them, like he had been prepared to do until his jet engines flamed out.
Or had they? He recalled one of the engines spouting fire and though the jet fought him like a wild bronco he had managed to get it under control and set it down on an old highway. The nest was right in front of him but he had turned back at the last minute, afraid, perhaps, even though he told himself he might well have missed his target and given his life for nothing.
Still, when he had the opportunity to be a hero like his father, he had failed, just like he screwed up everything else in his life... his marriage, his children, even the writing that had occupied his thoughts for two hundred years.
He planned upon writing the first great novel of the new era... one that would be read by countless millions as the years mounted. The words were there... right there... yet summoning them had been impossible.
It was funny how the time went... one second he went to bed just a boy yet full of verve and ready to shake the foundations of the earth while the next moment he woke up a grizzled man of the mountains, alone and uninspired.
He wondered how he would get home. He felt guilt for such thoughts but at the same time knowing Pete's jet was destroyed and that the jet he flew to old America was no longer airworthy, Alpin envisioned spending the rest of his short life plowing through sand dunes in search of something he could salvage to eat and to drink.
He had never had the misfortunate opportunity of meeting Micah but he thought now how much he detested even the idea of the man, and if indeed he found him here how nicely his long slender fingers would fit around the man's neck.
Karen had told them all of how intelligent he was—a genius—and how as a child Micah had invented the nanobots as an altruistic device. She said Micah had intended them as a salvation for humanity... that they would put an end to disease and to death.
Something had gone terribly wrong with his vision. Rather t
han giving up on his intentions, the man had set his machines free to evolve on their own. He allowed them access to the world instead of keeping them safely sequestered.
The thing was, he'd been warned... the professors who oversaw his work at the university had insisted that the nanotechnology that Micah was obsessed with be kept in tightly controlled chambers and sealed inside the laboratory where he worked. Apparently he heeded the advice at first but later he had disregarded all the brilliant counsel he received and set them free.
Rather than following strict protocols during the experimental phase of his work, Micah had used his own body as a test subject. By doing so, he effectively voided any hope of having his work validated by the scientific community and inadvertently sentenced himself to a lifetime of exile on the top floor of Cornell University.
Karen said Micah was dying from a genetically inherited disease. He invented the nanobots to cure his own illness. When the horrendous side effects began to manifest upon his body, Micah continually reprogrammed his machines in a never ending effort to forestall the more onerous consequences of his ill-founded actions.
She seemed to pity the man but Alpin saw through Micah's good intentions to realize he was a megalomaniac bent upon remaking the world in his own demented image. He should have died centuries ago along with the rest of humanity.
He didn’t know if Micah would survive the decimation of the nanobots but Alpin imagined if he stayed with Lady Lily, her influence would save his life. As he trudged up one sand dune and down another he made a silent vow to himself to put an end to Micah once and for all if they should ever have the occasion to meet.
What had he been dreaming? Of Karen... and of salt... and how it might save his life.
Chapter 64—Waking
Lauren woke in her lover Lily's arms.
She had been floating in and out of surreal dreams, ones in which the bright dead spoke and the gray of the living were buried beneath eternal seas of sand. Clawing her way to the surface of waking, Lauren realized her wounds were nearly healed though her spirit was still heavy.
"You've come home at last."
It hurt to talk and there was a rattle in her throat. When she breathed deeply to cough and clear her lungs of phlegm a shooting pain in the middle of her back between her shoulder blades caused her to grimace.
"Be still, my lovely Lauren. Your injuries are many and severe. If not for Amanda I fear you may well have perished long before I could get home to you."
"Where are we?"
The room didn’t look familiar. Lauren was certain they weren’t home yet at the same time a tremor of uncertainly shivered through her mind. She wondered if perhaps she still dreamed and all this was but an illusion.
"We are in Toulon, my darling Lauren. This is Karen's room. She insisted upon caring for you personally."
"I had a nightmare, sweet Lily. I dreamt that Karen's husband Pete did not return from a long journey. Others are missing as well. Please tell me I am wrong."
"We suffered many grievous losses, my gorgeous Lauren. We have time to talk of those dread tidings later. Now, you must finish the healing that Amanda, Karen, and I have started. Please don’t trouble your mind with things you cannot change. Instead, focus on that which can be obtained: your renewal and your health."
Chester was dead, and where was Natalia? Had she perished as well?
"Poor Chester... I wish I could have done more to save him, darling Lily... and where is our gentle Natalia? Did she give up her life for me as well?"
The thought of the big cat giving his life for them came rushing over her, a torrent of hurt. She had wanted to go to his aid but fear held her back. Chester, who had given so much, was abandoned in his own time of need, left to die under the swarm of manic monkeys.
The thought of never seeing Natalia again was too much to endure. Lauren would rather die herself than to live a life bereft of the love that had sustained her for centuries. A tear escaped her eye rolling down her cheek. Lily seemed to read her mind as she reached out a gentle hand to wipe it away.
"Our Natalia is safe and sound, darling Lauren, as are your other rescuers. Chester isn’t dead."
"I saw Chester die, sweetest Lily."
"You saw him fall, my sweet and precious Lauren. He is being nursed back to health as we speak. The nanobots still carried in his bloodstream saved his life."
"He's alive? And Natalia too?"
"Yes, precious Lauren... he is recuperating in the north of old France... Natalia insisted upon staying there with him until he can travel. Luciana is there too."
"We were attacked."
"If you and Natalia had not decided to travel to Lake Baikal when you did, those horrid monsters would have swept down upon old France unawares during the night and obliterated Toulon. They'd been massing for an attack. Your trip through the Chunnel stirred them up like kicking a hornets' nest.
"Micah said his nanobots had plans to wipe out all life on earth. The swarm evolved to the view that life was weak. Metal was impervious. For the betterment of the world, the galaxy, the universe, all higher life forms had to be assimilated or stamped out. Once that was completed, then the rest of life could be dealt with leisurely."
"Micah is here?"
"Yes, sweet Lauren... he returned to Toulon with me and Nate. He is fully human now and poses no danger to any of us. He is no more than a young blonde boy and extremely handsome too."
"This is a person to watch, sweet Lily. Never trust him."
"But he saved my life, my darling Lauren."
"I'm exhausted, my precious Lily. Please allow me to sleep. Think about what I said, however. Watch Micah closely. Should he begin his experiments again, he must be stopped immediately. Micah's designs may have failed but he hasn’t given up."
"I promise, my lovely Lauren. Now hush and sleep."
She could see it in Lily's eyes; her lover didn’t take her words seriously. Doubtlessly Lily thought she was delusional after the injuries that had nearly taken her life.
She knew men like Micah, however. Oh sure, they attempted to shield their thoughts behind a façade of normalcy. As long as the world thought of them as inconsequential they were free to work their dire deeds in secret and in silence.
She had married one such man.
Though he was enamored of her, she never loved him. She needed him and the property that he and his family owned. To her, ownership was a foreign concept. Beneath the Lake no one owned anything. Yet when she emerged onto the land and made the acquaintance of human beings she quickly learned they did not share willingly.
"But how can anyone own the land?"
Her husband had laughed at her question and though he looked at her with adoration in his eyes she also sensed that he thought she might be a bit insane, or at least out of touch with the world and how it was.
"In the case of Orchardton Hall, Lauren, the estate was bequeathed to my family many hundreds of years ago for services rendered to my forefather's feudal superior. My castle is regarded as heritable property. That means when I die, the estate will pass directly to you, my love. That is how I came into possession of it... when my father and mother passed away, I became owner."
"Did you own your mother and father too, sweet husband?"
She had said the words humorously yet it sickened her the way her husband treated her like an inferior. To him, she was nothing more than a beautiful woman to grace the end of his arm when he attended state dinners and high-end function.
When he died, as she knew he would sooner or later, it did not grieve her in the least. In fact, it gladdened her heart that she would no longer have to sit idly by while he paraded about like a makeshift king... an emperor in his own mind.
Still, she had used him too. Theirs was a marriage of convenience. In those days Lauren had no silly schoolgirl notions of love. She knew the world for what it was: a hard and a brutal place made up of men that raped and pillaged all that lay around them and women who took all that meanness and buri
ed it deep in their hearts always waiting for the day when things would be better.
Though the humans demeaned her in their own ways, the men of her own species were far more intimidating. She imagined that was a big reason why the people of the Lake had never proliferated as did the scrawny and short-lived monkeys only just down from the trees.
Lauren often found her own son all but unapproachable, especially when he fell into the foul moods which beset him during the rising of the full moon. During those days he turned into a morose beast unsettled and dangerous, like the legendary werewolves of old. She wondered if the mythology of the two overlapped in some obscure fashion.
As sleep took her down into its deep embrace she dreamed of jagged teeth and gentle bites devouring her lovingly and with aplomb.
Chapter 65—Salvation
He woke to the feeling of something compressing his chest.
He remembered nothing. Of course for him it was rare for any memory to surface... thoughts of old lovers, friends, enemies, even cherished family escaped into a sundered sort of chasm that hid even the dearest of memories.
He had no idea where he was, nor did he care enough to ask the girl who seemed to be sleeping in an overstuffed chair close by his bedside. He could not speak but he knew somehow he had only to bend his will in her direction and she would wake. The room where he lay was darkened like a sickness had taken all the light. He couldn’t tell if it was night or if the draperies had been drawn to blot out the day.
They all left him behind anyway... now they were no more than figments of fog traipsing through the dim recesses of his mind. Why should he trouble his mind with such things as ghosts? Somehow, though, this girl was different from the other phantoms that haunted his scarce and fleeting dreams.
Her name was Daughter.
It wasn’t a memory surfacing so much as it was the truth of love emanating from her mind even while she slept. He saw a vision of her dragging him over a desert of gray sand only stopping when they had reached the salvation of healing arms.