The Ghost and the Machine

by L B Garrison

  Atropos smiled. “I will play my part and finish what I’ve begun.”

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  T

  he sky’s orange glow brightened to a soft gray as the sun rose. Across the street, the spider machines were nearly finished with the glass and khaki brick building. Mandy’s coffee had cooled long ago and she didn’t know how to summon more. So, watching the building grow and the paint dry was her only entertainment.

  “Mandy.” Cisco’s voice rang through the walls of her cell.

  Her heart jumped at the shattered silence. She turned to the membrane, but he wasn’t there. “Cisco? Where are you?”

  “On my way.”

  Thunder rumbled. No, not thunder. Mandy touched the glass. It throbbed with a rhythm, like the hoofs of a colossal horse. “Cisco, what’s happening?”

  “The weather satellites were still in orbit. Alex planned to bounce a distress signal off one, but someone else got to them first. They were being used to watch us. Bailey managed to get a good look at the area before shutting them down. The voids are expanding and we can’t call for help. We’re abandoning Skylax. Bailey and Alex are collecting telemetry. To save time, Bailey suggested I come get you.”

  Beyond the twenty-foot-high fence, trees cracked and snapped. The building spiders swarmed from the brick and crawled along the fence, spinning a net of glossy fibers across its’ surface. Shadows stirred above the tree tops and a sound like a dying tuba echoed through the forest.

  The hair on Mandy’s scalp prickled. “Something’s coming.”

  “Bailey saw a group of elder tumtum trees heading down the migration trail that parallels the fence. Normally, they only move to hunt water when Demeter drops closer to the sun and the clouds burn off. The voids must have stirred them up early. They’re harmless.”

  A leafy red form split the forest. It looked like an unkempt hedge the size of a three-story building, with six redwood-trunks for legs. Its crimson leaves shook and the upper branches bounced with each step.

  “Cisco, it’s not harmless.”

  The tumtum slammed into the fence, taking out three posts. The carbon fibers snapped like bullwhips as they broke and released the braided tension. Spider-bots went tumbling through the air. Hunters surged in with the tumtum, circling and nipping at it to urge it on. It was moving fast, considering it was so large—and a tree.

  “Oh, jeez.” Mandy stepped back from the window and scanned the bare room. The cage had no place to take shelter.

  “Mandy.” Cisco’s voice sounded different.

  She whirled around as Cisco stepped through the membrane.

  “We have to go!” Mandy grabbed his uniform and pushed him ahead of her. Hopefully, holding the cloth would be enough to get her through the membrane with him. If not, at least Cisco would be safe. Charging red leaves filled the window.

  The floor rolled like liquid and collapsed. The world went tumbling. Mandy bounced against the membrane, while Cisco went through it. Glass exploded into the cage. The building shuddered and split with a thunderous crack.

  The tumtum’s branches thumped along the window as it scraped against the outer wall and changed course, shedding leaves through the broken glass.

  Mandy pulled herself off the floor and sat, leaning against the unyielding membrane. The room was warped and tilted upward towards the stormy sky, where lightning arced and clouds billowed. A chill wind poured into the room. Glass shards crawled like inchworms across the floor, around the spilt coffee and up the broken window, seeking niches to fill.

  Mandy sat gasping and staring at the creeping glass, her head pounding with every heartbeat. She slid her trembling hand across her aching forehead, but it came away clean. No blood.

  “Cisco?” She pulled herself around. The hallway was twisted and cluttered with wreckage. The floor tilted at a steep angle.

  The membrane dimpled and frosted around her fingertips as if reinforcing under the pressure, but it didn’t give. Mandy pulled herself up onto her knees and leaned her shoulder into the surface. Her legs trembled with the effort. “Come on.”

  The frosted area grew and hardened. It crackled, like ice in a warm drink.

  “Mandy,” Cisco said.

  She exhaled and released the membrane. It snapped into place and cleared. “Are you okay?”

  Cisco climbed over the debris. “I’m all right. You?”

  “Bumped my head, but no harm done.” Her breath turned to mist and she shivered in the chilly air. “You scared me a little.”

  “Afraid I left you?”

  “Not the sort of place I want to be alone.” But mostly, she didn’t want him hurt. She sat on the floor and tried to release the tension. “Say, is there any chance I can get time off for good behavior? It’s freaking cold in here and I hate being freaking cold.”

  “I’ll get you—”

  His gaze shifted to a point over her shoulder.

  Mandy turned. The hunters moved like flickering shadows. One slammed her into the membrane, punching the breath out of her. Two others leaped through the broken window and took up flanking positions. A forth peeked through the shattered glass.

  With the pressure on her chest, she could barely breathe. Mandy squirmed, squeaking down the membrane, but she couldn’t wiggle away from the hunter. Hundreds of thin tubes, like flexible hypodermic needles, bloomed from the hunters’ backs. Purple slime dribbled from the tubes. Mandy’s heart raced, but her thoughts were calm, almost cold. The hunter intended to inject her with nanomechs. This wasn’t knowledge she should have, but she was sure of it. The flanking hunters sprouted blades and rushed in.

  Bright metal flashed in the gray dawn.

  Hands seized Mandy by the shoulders and yanked her through the membrane. Cisco pulled away from the cage and drew his pistol.

  Mandy stumbled to her feet beside him. “It won’t hold them.”

  The hunters went into a frenzy, slashing the membrane. It frosted until they were only wavering shadows, hacking at the barrier.

  Cisco widened his stance and awkwardly aimed his gun with his left hand. Blood seeped from his shoulder and dribbled from the fingers of his right.

  Mandy cringed at the trickling blood and reached for him.

  Cisco glanced back. “I can’t stop them, if they break through all at once. I’m going to shoot them one at a time through the membrane. That might weaken it and let them out. Run past the office. The double doors on the far side are the way out.”

  The tears in the frosted surface grew wider. The dark forms of the hunters moved beyond the gashes.

  Mandy glanced down the hall. The exit lay maybe a hundred and fifty feet away. Jittery energy thrummed her muscles. “We should leave together while it’s still holding.”

  The barrier ripped.

  “Go!” Cisco fired. One of the shadows fell back.

  A three-round burst struck another hunter in the head. It went limp. The membrane sealed around its waist, holding it suspended off the floor. The other two hunters tore through. Their claws clicked and slipped on the polished wooden floor.

  Cisco fired, striking one on the shoulder. It didn’t stop.

  The hunters angled towards her and leaped.

  On impulse, Mandy reeled and threw a hand in front of her to block the onslaught, knowing it was useless. She was helpless before the machines.

  Time slowed. No. Mandy’s perception sped up and expanded. She could feel the placement and path of everything around her, down to the smallest dust mote. The sensation was dizzying. Breathless.

  A swirling azure orb crackled to life in her palm. The pounding of her heart quickened. Flickering light painted the walls and cast shadows over the hunters as they arched lazily toward her.

  Mandy’s breath stuck in her throat. She knew what this was. The tumbling globe of possibilities would expand to destroy more than the hunters and this side of the building—the plasma backlash would kill Cisco and she was about to unleash it.

  She struggled to hold the sphere i
n place, but her fear had started something she couldn’t control. Sapphire lightning arced between her fingers and the sphere pulled away from her hand.

  These machines mustn’t have her. More than she and Cisco hung in the balance. Mandy knew it with certainty, though honestly, she didn’t need any more motivation to avoid being ripped apart. But, could she kill Cisco to save herself?

  “No!” She grabbed the sphere.

  It popped. Pain fried her hand and smoke seeped between her fingers. A strangled cry burst from her lips. Nausea overwhelmed her.

  Her muscles tensed. Alex’s sim-net pulled tight to contain her, but she was too powerful to hold. It shattered into a mist of golden dust. Mandy’s body knew what to do. Mandy stopped resisting.

  She struck, twisting through a curved path to avoid the creature’s spines and slammed her injured fist into the lead hunter, where the neck met the shoulder. The impact was like grabbing the burning sphere all over again. Mandy grit her teeth. Armor splintered and the hunter went tumbling. She spun and kicked the second hunter from below. It exploded in a spray of debris and purple goo.

  Normal time resumed.

  With the danger gone, her strength ebbed. The hunters slammed against the walls, scattering parts and splattering purple slime across the room. Mandy fell to her knees, clutching her seared hand to her chest. Slime dripped from the walls to form puddles that wandered aimlessly about the fractured floor. Parts tumbled and rattled to their final resting places.

  Mandy panted on the cold floor. Her hand burned, as if she held scorching coals. When she had told Cisco her mind held dark secrets, she had no idea.

  Cisco surveyed the destruction and knelt beside her. He put his hand gently on hers. “Mandy? Are you hurt? Let me see.”

  “I—I don’t know what happened.”

  The ruin she had wrought was all around them. No one could blame Cisco for being afraid, but he took her hand without hesitation. Her skin tingled at his touch. The pain dwindled.

  “You must be more enhanced than we thought. It doesn’t matter. It’s over with now.”

  Mandy opened her fist. The scorched skin had completely healed.

  “No, Cisco. It’s just begun.”

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  M

  andy dug her fingers into the space between the jammed doors and strained. She growled, but the door remained unmoving.

  She sat on the floor and waited. “Stupid capricious super-strength.”

  Water dripped through gaps in the main room’s rumpled ceiling. Shadows spilled through, avoiding the shafts of dull sunlight. The glass panels around the office area crackled as they healed. A few hours ago, they’d eaten pizza in this room. Strange how a power outage made a building seem so dead.

  Cisco brought a bar of some golden metal. Maybe a chair leg or something. “This might work. At least we can get some leverage with it.”

  He wedged it in the gap between the doors.

  Mandy moved close and added her weight to his, leaning on the makeshift pry bar. Cisco’s cardamom scent had more of a musky undertone now. “Any word from Bailey?”

  He grit his teeth and shoved against the bar. “Not yet.”

  The door didn’t budge. The dark stain on Cisco‘s jacket started spreading again.

  Mandy stopped pushing. “Cisco, your shoulder.”

  He pulled the bar out of the split between the doors. “It looks worse than it is. I don’t think we’re getting out this way.”

  Mandy reached out to touch his arm. “It looks bad to me.”

  Clattering came from the dark hall, in the direction of Mandy’s cage. She let her hand drop. Before they left, the membrane had resealed. Could more hunters have gotten in?

  “I don’t think it’s them,” Cisco said. ”It could be the building settling.”

  Mandy shivered. It didn’t sound like hunters, or the building settling. Was he trying to reassure her?

  “If we can’t get out, Bailey and Alex will come and get us,” Cisco said. “We need to talk about something. Alex will know you broke the net, but we shouldn’t mention your speed. At least not right away.”

  Whatever the sounds were, they didn’t repeat. Mandy sat beside the door. “I’m not opposed to that, but if you don’t report it, you would be choosing me over Alex. Long term that might not be best for you.”

  Cisco leaned against the wall. “We need you, but what you did to the hunters . . . ”

  “Is outside Alex’s comfort zone. I know.” Mandy drew a smiley face in the dust with her finger and swished it away with her hand. “How about you? Are you afraid of me?”

  “No. Bailey and I both trust you. We don’t want to give Alex any more reason to be concerned.”

  Mandy looked at her hand. She had come close to killing Cisco by accident. She had to be very careful until she understood what she could do. Cisco and Bailey had her back. She intended to return the favor. “Thanks Cisco. I appreciate the help. And I trust you too.”

  Mandy’s face warmed. Why did she have to add that?

  “If you both are done bonding, we should get back to the war.” Bailey stood a few feet behind them, hands on her hips. The colors of her skin and clothes were brighter than they should have been in the dim light. Probably a hologram.

  Mandy looked over her shoulder. “And how long have you been there?”

  Bailey smiled. “I was only waiting for you to say something interesting. On your feet, love. Two hunters are patrolling the base, while twelve have surrounded your building. I’ve locked up the other entrances, so I expect they’ll be at the window shortly. Meet me in the southwest corner.”

  Bailey vanished and reappeared in the far corner. “Come along.”

  A swarm of the building weaving spider-bots clattered across the ceiling. That’s what they’d heard. They trailed filaments and began spinning a web over the door.

  Mandy followed Cisco. They picked their way through the upended furniture.

  “Right,” Bailey said. “The grounds are littered with hunters. So, no going outside. The buildings are connected with service corridors we can travel through.”

  The wood floor rippled and flowed open, revealing a dark cavity. Dank air gushed from the opening.

  Mandy peeked over the edge. The hole opened into a pipe-lined box five feet wide and five feet deep. It looked cramped and not to her liking.

  Bailey kneeled by the opening. “Alex and I are preparing to enter a similar tunnel that leads directly from the command center to the motor pool. Cisco, I’ll send you the directions, so you can meet us there.”

  Cisco sat on the edge of the hole and dropped in. The threshold of the opening came up to his shoulders.

  The spider-bots crawled up the wall and onto the ceiling, leaving a haphazard arrangement of fibers sealing the door.

  Mandy glanced back at the hall from which they had entered. The hunters would come from that direction. “If you block the front door, we’ll be trapped with them.”

  Bailey appeared to be looking at something that wasn’t in the room with them. “That’s why the webbing is incomplete, love. So they can break through. You would have to inquire of Lieutenant Sun Tzu as to the reason.”

  Alex huffed somewhere off camera. “Because we don’t have time to build a barrier over the hallway that will keep them out of the room where you are. If we partially block off the main entrance, they’ll think we don’t want them to go that way and that’s the way they’ll try to go.”

  Bailey looked back at Mandy. “And there you have it. Additionally, I shall harass the hunters with the building weavers.”

  Cisco held his arms up to lower Mandy into the hatch. “We need to go.”

  Mandy didn’t want to stress his injured shoulder or appear like she couldn’t pull her own weight. She climbed over the threshold and eased herself down.

  The hole was deeper than she had thought and her grip not as firm. Her feet skidded on the smooth pipes. She slipped, landed on her butt with a squeak. Damn her
lack of gross motor skills.

  Bailey peered into the hole from above. “Also, I purposely didn’t mention that the tunnel allowing egress from your junction box is blocked by a lattice. I thought you might hesitate. The code is intelligent and constantly changing. Orions are quite paranoid. I’ll have it sorted momentarily.”

  Mandy put her hand on the dense diamond mesh covering a round opening in the wall. “We’re trapped?”

  Bailey moved away from the opening. “For a moment. Do try to be quiet.”

  The cover above them flowed closed again, leaving them in darkness.

  The seconds and the silence from above dragged on. The air in their little coffin seemed thick and hard to breathe. Mandy pulled her knees to her chest and wrapped her arms around her legs. She winced at the pain in her bottom.

  “Are you all right?” Cisco whispered. He was closer than she thought.

  “Just bruised my pride,” Mandy whispered back. “How’s your shoulder?”

  “The nanomechs stopped the pain. They should have it fixed in an hour or so.” He shifted position. “I’ve noticed you don’t accept help. Just because someone offers, doesn’t mean they think you’re helpless.

  Mandy swallowed her next breath. “That’s a lot like the last thing my roommate said to me. Actually, at the very end she called me a crappy liar and threatened to drug me—but that hardly represents the relationship.”

  He made a sound like stifled laughter. “That’s the kind of answer I’ve come to expect from you. I only mention it because we will have to give and accept help to get through this.”

  “I know.”

  In the dark, the minutes stretched to eternity. Tension knotted the muscles in Mandy’s neck. She rubbed the pressure points on her shoulders. It helped, but only a little. More time went by. She ran her tongue across her bottom teeth. Strange. They didn’t seem as crowded as before. Why was it taking Bailey so long to open the damn grate?

  “Why are you like that?” Cisco asked.

  “What?”