The Rebirths of Tao

by Wesley Chu

  The Rebirths of Tao

  Wesley Chu

  To Amanda, Lee, and Marco

  1

  Redwood Rush

  What is the meaning of this? Do you know who I am? I will have your skulls!

  Huchel, Genjix Council – Eastern Hemisphere, when apprehended by Interpol Extraterrestrial Task Force while trying to flee Germany following the Great Betrayal

  * * *

  The problem Vladimir had with this damn country was that everything was too damn big. The cars were too big, the music was too loud, and the ridiculous trees in this forest were too tall. The raggedy group he led detoured around the giant redwood tree blocking his path. Blasted thing was big as a house. And the stupid trees weren’t even red, though in this pitch-black darkness, he could barely see Alex clinging to his hand, let alone determine the color of tree bark. His eyes wandered up to the forest canopy. It was so thick he couldn’t see the stars. That made it nearly impossible to navigate. Where the hell was south?

  At least the food portions here were healthy. That was something Vladimir approved of. He’d never had such a large breakfast before, much less in the middle of the night. Who eats burritos with five eggs in the middle of the night, anyway? His little group did, and to be honest, it was pretty good. It was too bad the meal had been two days ago.

  “I need to rest,” Sachin said, leaning against the too-damn-tall tree. He propped his rifle against it and slid down to the mossy ground.

  Vladimir reminded himself that the seventy year-old Indian man had spent the majority of his life in a classroom at the Institute of Technology, recruiting promising students for the cause. The professor wasn’t used to running around the forest in the middle of the night, fleeing armed assailants. Vladimir looked down at his daughter and gave her a gentle nudge. She pulled out a canteen and walked over to Sachin, who drank his fill, pouring water down his chin and neck, letting it dribble down his shirt. Alex took out a rag and wiped the old man’s brow. Vladimir shook his head. She was a good girl, so much potential. She deserved better than this.

  Somewhere in the distance, the barking of dogs in pursuit pierced the otherwise quiet night. Vladimir closed his eyes and listened. Twenty, maybe thirty minutes behind. His gaze moved from his daughter and Sachin to the other refugees: Petr, a Russian colonel he had had dealings with in the past, Rin, the Japanese nuclear physicist, Marsuka, her research assistant, Ohr, the former South Korean Senator, and the remaining survivors of the Siberian Epsilon Shock team.

  He grimaced. His entire life had collapsed in the blink of an eye. His fortune confiscated, his wife murdered, and now he was nothing more than a destitute refugee with a teenage daughter in a land unfriendly to his kind, a far cry from the affluent businessman and power broker he had been just a few weeks earlier. He looked back at Alex, still helping the old professor. Well, at least part of his wife escaped. Tabs would continue living in his daughter.

  Move. Every second of delay is costly.

  “Yes, Ladm.”

  “Break is over,” he barked. “We go. Now.”

  He walked over, hooked an arm under Sachin’s armpit, and lifted him to his feet. “Let’s go, old man. You can rest when you’re safe. Or dead.” He looked over at his daughter standing on the other side of the elderly professor. “Alex, help him walk.”

  The small group continued south, following the twisting and winding paths when they could, and making new ones when they had to. Vladimir was sure they had missed the rendezvous. The coded message at the diner back in Portland had said to hit 42°, -123° and follow the river. However, they had gotten picked up by a Penetra net and had had to deviate from their course. The scanners the Quasing invented to detect others of their kind residing within a living creature were now used by the humans to hunt them down.

  Now, nine hours later, the federals were closing in, and the group was completely lost. They passed another giant tree, this time so big Vladimir couldn’t see its edge in the predawn darkness. The dogs’ barking was getting louder and louder.

  This group would be a prize capture. None of them would allow their Quasing to be taken, though. Vladimir looked down at his beautiful daughter. All except for Alexandra. Vladimir didn’t care about sacrificing himself for Ladm, but no one was going to hurt his little girl, Quasing or no Quasing. There had to be a way out for her.

  Do not forget your place, Vladimir.

  They picked up their pace and for a while, it seemed to keep their pursuers at bay, but soon enough, the exhausted group began to lag again, Sachin most of all. As the first rays of light peeked through the forest canopy, Sachin broke. By then, he was stumbling badly. He fell to his knees and rolled onto his back. He shooed Alex away when she tried to help him up. Instead, he leaned against a tree trunk and looked up at the lush leaves overhead, and then at the greenery of the forest. He closed his eyes and shook his head.

  “Come on, Sachin,” Rin urged.

  He waved her off and kept his eyes closed. After a few seconds, his pained face changed. He nodded and looked at the rest of the group. “This place is beautiful and peaceful, like a painting. The air is clean and there is abundant life. Mawl would find serenity here.”

  “Shut up, old fool, we’re all in this together,” Vladimir growled. “We’re not leaving you in the wild.”

  Sachin struggled to his feet and slung his rifle around his shoulder. “It’s already settled. Mawl is at peace with this and by Brahman, I look forward to it. There are worse places to meet my maker, and for him to live free. Get moving. Go. I’ll buy you time.”

  Vladimir moved to grab him. “I said we’re not leaving…”

  Sachin spun around and aimed his rifle at Vladimir, then slowly lowered it to point at Alex. “I mean what I said, you stubborn Russian. You have your little girl to think about. Now get out of here before what time I buy you doesn’t amount to anything.”

  Do it. I have only known Mawl a short while on this planet when we fought together against the Bolsheviks. He will be remembered. I will return one day to find him.

  Vladimir bit his lip. “Crazy fool.” He walked forward and embraced Sachin roughly. “Until the Eternal Sea, my friend. Mawl, stay out of sight of humans. Your part in this is over for now. Ladm will return for you one day, if not this lifetime, in the next.”

  “Mrithyur maa amritham gamaya, my friend,” Sachin said, then turned around and limped in the direction of the sounds of the pursuing dogs.

  Alex took a few steps after the professor and made the traditional Hindu sign of peace. “Phir milenge, Mr Sachin. Goodbye, Mawl. Tabs says she’ll see you in the Eternal Sea.”

  The sounds of humans shouting added to the increasingly loud barking of the dogs. By Vladimir’s estimate, they were probably no more than a few minutes behind them now. He put his arms around his daughter’s waist and hurried her along. “No time for sentiments. Let’s go!”

  Vladimir sprinted into the darkness, pushing Alex ahead of him. The others would keep up with him, or maybe they wouldn’t. He had survived with them for weeks now, sharing food, sleeping in the same beds, fighting alongside them. But now that things were looking their worst, and the group was about to be captured, it was every man for himself.

  All he cared about was getting his daughter to safety, even at the cost of his own life, or those of his companions, if necessary. Maybe if he outran the rest of the group, they would buy him some time to escape their accursed pursuers. Vladimir felt ashamed for thinking this, but when it came to Alexandra, nothing else mattered.

  Do not feel ashamed. My only regret is involving her in this situation. Tabs should never have inhabited her when her mother died.

  “I don’t blame you or Tabs, Ladm. I blame those assholes that killed Marta
and these damn Americans breathing down our necks.”

  Unfortunately for this plan, everyone else was in better shape than Vladimir, so they all kept up pretty easily. A few minutes later, the unmistakable sound of a Kalashnikov pierced the early morning air, its familiar peck-peck-peck joined by a chorus of higher-sounding rat-tat-tats. Flocks of birds took off, flying around trees as the forest came to life. The exchange continued for a few minutes, and then stopped. The forest settled and became silent again. The group stopped in unison and looked back into the thickets.

  “Be well, Sachin,” Rin bowed. “May you find a–”

  “Later! We don’t have time to mourn.” Vladimir shoved her forward urgently. “We have to keep going.”

  Ohr looked at the others and then shook his head. “It’s no use running. We’re not going to outrun dogs and federals in their own country.” He pointed at a small ledge off to the side. “That is as good of a point as we’re going to get. I say we make a stand there and die fighting. I refuse to be run down like an animal, with my back to the enemy.”

  Vladimir shook his head.

  He is right.

  “No,” he said, looking down at Alex. “We keep going.”

  There is no other chance. You have a day’s worth of forest in front of you and the enemy only minutes behind. This will be the only time you can choose the battlefield. This ledge is an elevated spot facing west, your back will be against the sunrise. It is the right strategy.

  Vladimir grimaced. He had hoped it wouldn’t come to this, but it seemed the damn federals had forced their hand. He swung his rifle from his back and stomped toward the stone ledge. The others followed suit, climbing up the steep slant and stripping themselves of their gear. He watched as the surviving Epsilons attached their signature bayonets to their rifles and pistols, and then huddled together and prayed. Vladimir wished he had that sort of fervor. Over the past few months, his faith had been shaken.

  A few minutes later, the group was entrenched in a defensive formation around a cluster of boulders elevated several meters above the ground. Vladimir hated to admit it, but Ladm and the others were right. By now, the sounds of the barking dogs were all around them, and he expected to see their hunters any minute. Hiding would be useless; no doubt the federals were carrying portable Penetra scanners.

  Vladimir turned to Alex and pointed at a small crevice off to the side. “I want you to hide in there until this is all over. Don’t come out until I get you. If we fall, you keep running, understand?” His daughter made a face and drew her pistol. Vladimir snarled. “Definitely not. You are not…”

  She cocked the pistol in one smooth motion. “Don’t be silly, Papa. I cannot escape the scanners. Besides, you’ll need me. I’m a better shot than you.”

  Vladimir stared at his daughter, half with terror that she was about to wander into a firefight and half with pride. He dropped to a knee and drew her close. “Your mother would be so proud. Keep your head down. Shoot only when you have a clear target.”

  “I got movement,” Marsuka hissed.

  The others scrambled to the edge and took up position behind cover. Vladimir pressed his back to a boulder and unclipped his satchel of spare magazines. He placed three on the ground and handed the bag to Ohr, who was kneeling against the other side of the boulder. He looked over at Alex on the other side of him, positioned in between two smaller rocks. Dark figures emerged from woods, moving in between trees and brush, flanking them on both sides.

  “They know we’re up here,” Petr growled. “Fire at will before they entrench.”

  He opened fire and the rest followed suit. Within seconds, the dark forest was lit up by yellow bursts of enemy muzzle flashes. The rattling exchanges punctured the previously calm dawn. The sky came to life as hundreds of birds took to the air, adding to the chaos and confusion.

  The fight went well at first. Between the skill of the Epsilon-trained operatives and their elevated position, the body count initially skewed heavily in his group’s favor. The federals had far superior numbers though, and as Vladimir’s group’s casualties began to mount, so did the enemy’s ability to sustain the fight. Slowly, the tide changed.

  To his left, Polski, one of the Epsilons, took a bullet to the head. Vladimir pulled Alex from the edge and pointed at the body. She nodded and scampered on all fours to rifle through the dead Epsilon’s coat for spare magazines. She found four and tossed one to Vladimir.

  He caught it mid-air and pointed at the other end of the ledge. “See if the others need some as well.”

  He glanced to his right as Ohr pulled back to reload. He only had one magazine left on the ground next to him. All of them must be running low by now. Ammunition wasn’t light after all, and most of their carry weight was reserved for food and supplies. He heard Marsuka call out that he was dry. He looked to his left as Alex slid another magazine toward the scientist.

  No sooner did Marsuka pick up the magazine, than he stiffened, a bullet puncturing his neck. Alex dodged out of the way as his fell to the ground and rolled toward her. Vladimir’s heart broke. She was far too young to witness such things. Then, if it was even possible, the situation took a turn for the worse. Just as Vlel, Marsuka’s Quasing, rose into the air, a jet of flame shot up from below and consumed him. The small group watched horrified as the millions year-old being evaporated into the morning sky.

  Their dwindling group fought on with renewed vigor. Vladimir shot two more federals before he had to reload, and then four more. By that time, only Rin had ammunition left. A few seconds later, she had run out as well. They had lost, and this ledge would become their grave. The gunfire became one-sided, until eventually, someone below ordered a ceasefire.

  “Come out with your hands over your heads, aliens,” a voice bellowed through a bullhorn. “We know there are five of you up there. We have scanners. There’s no escape.”

  Vladimir held Alex tightly as he desperately prayed for an escape. The best he could hope for was the so-called Alien Containment facility, a top-secret prison where the Western countries incarcerated and ran tests on the Quasing. The worst and most likely outcome was torture and death, and with that, the death of Ladm as well.

  The time has come to surrender to the Eternal Sea.

  That was the logical thing to do. Give Ladm, Tabs, and the others a chance, but Vladimir had never been one of those fanatics. He had come to Ladm later in life and had never developed the zeal that many others of his rank possessed. He looked over at Rin and Ohr; those two weren’t hardliners either. All three were just smart, capable people who saw an advantage with the Quasing and took it. Now it had led them here.

  His gaze wandered to Petr. He was as fanatical as they came. If his Quasing told him to kill everyone in the group to allow the others a chance to escape, he would do it. Right now, the man was praying with his eyes closed, preparing to sacrifice himself. That was the group’s next move. That was the only move they had left.

  Logically, it is the right decision. Make your peace.

  Vladimir squeezed Alex tightly and knew he couldn’t do it. She was an innocent; she had her whole life ahead of her. Surely, the federals would show mercy. Not even they could be so cruel.

  “You have one minute before we gas your location, aliens,” the voice from below called through the bullhorn. “I cannot guarantee your safety then.”

  Petr finished his prayer. There was going to be little mercy from either him or the federals, but as of this point, he knew on which side his little girl would have a better chance of surviving.

  Before Petr could carry out that last deadly deed, Vladimir took his rifle and swung it with everything he had at the man’s face, knocking him out cold. Before the others could stop him, he stood up and held his hands over his head. “There is a child here. We are unarmed.”

  This is unacceptable! You know what will happen to us.

  “Shut up, Ladm,” growled Vladimir aloud.

  “Drop your weapons and come down off the ledge. Kee
p your hands over your head,” the voice below said. “We can track all of you so don’t even think about trying anything.”

  Vladimir grabbed the unconscious man’s feet. “Ohr, help me pick up Petr.” The Korean grabbed the colonel’s arms, and together, they carried him down the ledge.

  As soon as they reached ground level, they were surrounded by eight uniformed men. There were nine bodies on the ground. Vladimir grunted in satisfaction. At least they had put up a good fight. Still, only the end result was important. In this case, the result was defeat. Vladimir slumped his shoulders as all five of them were handcuffed and forced to kneel down. Even Alex. Seeing her like this brought tears to his eyes. How had it come to this?

  “Agent Kallis, we have the group of aliens rounded up,” the lead agent spoke into a small black box attached at his shoulder. “Bagging and tagging now.”

  “Good,” a voice crackled back.

  “We have a new signature,” one of the federals standing near the back barked. “Just appeared out of the blue. Behind that tree.” The team of federals standing out in the open scrambled for cover, leaving Vladimir and his people kneeling on the ground.

  “How many?” the man with the bullhorn said.

  “Just one. Stationary.”

  Six of the federals spread out facing the giant redwood on the western edge of the clearing. Two remained behind to guard their prisoners.

  “Come out with your hands up,” the leader yelled through his bullhorn. “You are outnumbered and we have the rest of your kind held captive. No one has to get hurt.”

  Two soft pings came from the east and the two men guarding Vladimir’s group dropped. Then three more pings, and two federals on the outer edge of the clearing fell. The remaining federals, now believing themselves flanked, dove for cover.

  “How many signatures,” the leader yelled.

  “Still one!”

  “Damn it, they must have ghosts with them.”