The Wasatch mountain range was aglow with the most brilliant of dawning colors. It was beautiful, really. A spectacular sunrise. The first the group had seen since . . . since before the dark days of the clinic. And somehow, it brought a sense of peace to their souls. Yet they knew . . . knew what this burning glow foreshadowed—this lovely blaze which crawled so exquisitely on the peaks, and which painted the low rolling clouds in amber flame above . . . it was death. To run would be pointless. In all directions was desert, flat and shade-less. The sun was ubiquitous here. Pervasive and certain.
Eli slowly treaded back to his beloved group. They each took hands and drew together in a circle. Now they had to decide. They could go back down the fire escape and live in near slavery, or run into the desert’s dawning light. As they looked into each other’s faces, no words were spoken, just a sense of absolute harmony and love. Soon, each had nodded their heads in an unspoken bond. Together, hand in hand, they began to run. They ran fast and resolved toward the east, toward freedom . . . toward death. As they ran, the horizon began to turn a turquoise-blue. The sunlight crept out from behind her distant mountain rise. Across tree-tipped summits, down canyon walls and around ledges and overhangs, chasing the last vestiges of night before her. Harder they ran toward the approach. It wouldn’t be long now. Their lungs burned, their legs ached, but still they ran—the desert never felt so vast and endless. They closed their eyes—still running—nearly anxious for the end. Anxious for the few seconds of real sunlight on their faces . . . the warmth before the consuming pain.
Then something strange happened. A change on the hazy horizon brought a shadow to their faces. A tremor followed, and before they knew it, all had been tossed to the ground, tumbling head long into the sands. Dust and air swirled and debris blew upward in a wall of grit and haze.
A line of Goliaths appeared. The metal creatures synchronized, and then began to move, clicking and clanging as they rumbled toward the frightened runaways, their EMR weapons trained, their single, ugly eye rolling and scanning as they netted in closer and closer.
From the distance, a trail of dust spiraled upward as a convoy of army Growlers sped toward them, their outlines barely visible in the dusky light of dawn. Briggs was coming to join his robotic bloodhounds in their successful catch.
The shocked group slowly helped each other to their feet. They gawked around as if unable to grasp the reality of their situation. It was emotionally devastating, as heads dropped in hopeless submission. Tears made dirty trails down their dusty faces. It was over. Unless they found a way to break through the line of Goliaths, they would all be going back to Mole Hole Base, and things would be very, very different. Tanner now knew the sting of Ruthanne’s abilities. He would order his guards to take unprecedented precautions . . . and worse, he would be sniffing for similar traits in the others.
As the Goliaths continued to surround and enclose, the Four rejoined hands. There was no need to consider their options. Death was a far better choice. The sunlight was nearly upon them now, and even the Goliaths smothering hold could not halt the sun in her glorious rise. Mole Hole Base would not be hosting these four tenants again.
But then, the metal guard unexpectedly dropped their massive arms. Their weapons geared back into slotted positions. This action enabled them to draw even closer inward, shrinking the circle so tightly that their terrible frames began to push up against their human captives.
An awful realization suddenly came to Jacob: the robotic sentinels were purposely blocking out the sun. He could see that now. How ironic, he thought in those last moments. That these horrible machines, dark aberrations of his own genius, were preventing their final act of freedom—suicide by solar radiation exposure. Jacob watched as the line of sunlight crawled along the sands, ever nearer. He thought about the twins, Morty and Mary, and he remembered that terrible scene so many years ago. How their bodies had wreathed in searing pain as sunlight took the life from them. He could not witness this horrific scene again; not with those he loved so dearly. He hadn’t thought of that. A terrible panic began to set inside him. And he knew in an instant what he had to do next. He would be the first to break free and run into the sunlight. He would be the first to die. But he had to act now!
In the next instant, Jacob had spotted a small opening between two of the Goliath’s frames, but it was shrinking fast. Now! He told himself. And he crouched for the dash. But just as his weight shifted, the bright line of sunlight in his fleeting gap, vanished. His head shot up. And there she was! In all her glorious, silver majesty! The Sandray!
Her door flew open, and out poured clones of the finest android Jacob had ever conceived, had ever built—his Three-Of-Ten!
The Goliaths immediately broke into a defensive formation.
“Run for it!” hollered a forgotten voice. “Get in! Get in!”
Jacob felt his feet spinout even before he knew what he was doing. He grabbed Ruthanne’s hand and ran for his life toward the craft. Eli and Ellen were right on their heels. As the boy leaped onto the ramp, he nearly gasped to see a strange figure standing over him in the entrance.
“Move it!” Brant shouted, and took a couple of shots at a Goliath moving right at them.
Jacob did just that. He moved it! He rolled into the Sandray’s aisle and yank Ruthanne in behind him. Ellen had passed up Eli and made the ramp first, but she had a tight grip on her brother’s arm, and nearly yanked it out of the socket as she pulled him along behind her. They both jumped for the entrance and flopped in like a couple of tuna on a line.
Brant lurched for the button to close the door, but just as he hit it, a horrific force of energy smashed into the Sandray. She pitched up abruptly, and threw everyone to the floor. Screams filled the cabin as bodies tumbled over seats and down the aisle.
Out of stealth, the small transport was vulnerable, and a Goliath had just found that weakness. “Stealth!” Brant shouted with all his might. “Stealth or we’re dead!”
Teresa struggled to pick herself back up and into the pilot’s seat. She pounded at the panel, and found the one button she recognized. The Sandray vanished from sight, and the sunlight once again poured across the sands where the craft had been.
“That was way too close! Now we need to move!” shouted Brant.
“Wait!” Jacob cried out, scrambling up to his feet. “We can’t leave Three-Of-Ten!”
“We won’t,” Brant returned, helping the boy and the others into seats. They were all gasping like fish out of water. “We’re just getting clear of the area,” he replied with an assuring nod. “Three-Of-Ten’s orders,” he winked.
Jacob eased. “Hi, I’m Jacob,” he gasped. He took a few long gulps of air then sat upright. “Okay. I’m good,” he said, jumping to his feet. “I’ll drive now.”
Teresa scooted out of the way. “Oh thank heavens! I don’t know the parking brake from the steering wheel!”
The instant the boy’s bottom hit the seat, the Sandray was in action. With her boy pilot at the helm, she was a wonder! She lifted, whirled and turned to face the fight. The desert had become alive in dust, fire and exploding light, as the battle between Goliaths and androids grew fierce. In the distance, the Growler precession had halted.
Jacob pounded at several more buttons on the panel and a targeting system appeared.
Brant grumbled and clicked his tongue. “Well that could have come in handy.”
Jacob shook his head. “Gracie did not authorize this weaponry,” the boy replied. “It was concealed for a reason. It is lethal!”
Ruthanne stood. “Jacob! The cardinal rules!”
“Sorry, Ruthy. Hate to disappoint. I somehow knew we might need this defense system someday. It appears I was right . . . looks like our androids are taking a beating!” He tapped at the screen’s targeting system. “Now we’ll even the odds.”
From the front nose of the Sandray, a burst of energy exploded off in a blinding sphere. It blew outward in a skewed angle like a giant flare. It spun aroun
d them in a radial trail of hot plasma before shooting straight up into the sky, its lingering tail aglow as it rose and vanished to a star-like dot.
“A . . . looks like your weaponry could really use some work,” Eli shouted.
Jacob just grinned and put his finger to the screen. “Let’s see . . . you’re an extraordinarily ugly one,” he said, then tapped at an illuminated blip. The energy pulse came down from above like a bolt of lightning. The ground shuddered as it impacted its target. The Goliath disintegrated.
“Whoa!” yelled Brant. “Add that baby to my gotta-have list!”
Jacob continued to target the Goliaths until finally, the last one vanished in a burst of hot particles. But even with the aid of the Sandray’s powerful defense system, the androids had taken a terrible thrashing. Bits and pieces of them lay smoldering all around the area. When the dust finally cleared, only two of the metal companions remained—and they were badly damaged. Jacob quickly maneuvered the Sandray toward them. He bolted from his seat and opened the door. “I can’t go out! Please, Brant! Please get them inside!” he shouted.
Eli hurried to the exit, but like Jacob, stayed clear of the blazing sunlight.
Brant shot past them in one bolt and hurried down the ramp. To him, the two androids appeared identical. But to Jacob, they were as different as night and day. “That’s my Three-Of-Ten!” the boy shouted, pointing at the only android capable of standing.
“Three-Of-Ten!” cried Teresa. “Oh! I love that hunk of metal! This is the third time he’s been nearly blown to bits saving our lives!”
The android had a large, smoldering gap blown out of his side torso, but he managed to bend, then lift, his android comrade—what was left of him—and the two shambled back up the ramp and finally, into the entrance.
Jacob grabbed hold of his faithful companion. He threw his arms around the broken figure. “You survived!”
Three-Of-Ten patted the boy’s head. “Jacob,” he spoke. “My Jacob. Three-Of-Ten is complete again.”
“As am I, my friend,” Jacob sniffled back. “As am I.”
“Can we do this airborne!” hollered Ellen, pointing out to the line of vehicles once again on the move.
“That’s not all!” shouted Teresa from up front. “We’ve got incoming! Apache helicopters! Eight of them!”
“We’re in!” hollered back Brant! “Go! Go!”
The Sandray engaged her stealth once more, and was gone in a huff of dusty cloud.
--
Briggs slowly lowered his binoculars. They dangled for a moment at his arm before dropping to the floor of his vehicle with a bang. Overhead, the Apaches roared past the convoy.
“They’ll be there in seconds!” hollered the captain leaning back from the front seat.
“Halt the precession, captain,” ordered Briggs.
“But sir?”
“Do as I say,” he demanded.
Soon the line of vehicles had rumbled to a stop. Each driver waited and wondered why they had halted so abruptly. As the dust-cloud wafted slowly past, and the air cleared, all seemed to be strangely silent, and each soldier waited for his radio to announce their next strategic move. But nothing came . . .
Briggs shook his head. “You might as well call the Apaches back as well, captain.”
“I don’t understand, sir? What happened out there? I’ve never seen anything like it.”
“And you never will again,” Briggs mumbled. He sighed. “It doesn’t matter anymore. The Four have returned to their desert, as fish to the sea. We will never see them again.”
The thrum of helicopter blades was all that could be heard in the distance. Briggs sat motionless in his seat. He gazed out toward the endless white sands in a silent assessment, his head turning this way and that. From the east, the morning sunlight was just reaching them. It suddenly burned across his view and watered his eyes. It was so blindingly bright.
Chapter 61:
The morning dawn beamed as it trickled in through the solarium’s prismatic glass dome. This was the hour of performance; the pinnacle of the building’s spectacular architecture and engineering genius. Gracie had often visited her vaulted sanctuary just before sunrise. It was her favorite time to witness the magical spectrum of dancing light and color—the building’s true coup de maître. But there would be no audience to applaud the beauty, nor to bask in the tranquility of the domed Eden on this morning . . . quite the opposite in fact.
A sudden crash shook the massive structure, and in an instant, all her grandeur was ripped away. Glass shattered from walls and ceiling, metal supports tore and splintered, marble ledges and overhangs tumbled. In an instant, the serene silence of the solarium was gone forever, replaced instead by a cacophony of noise and destruction.
Through a gapping rip in her northwest wall, rolled in a squad of Goliaths. They took no notice of what was trampled under the weight of their massive frames, nor of the magnificence in the interior craftsmanship which surrounded them. Like tanks in a rarified glass museum, they smashed everything in their path. After leaving their trail of destruction, they grouped on the bottom level and halted as their human counterparts—armed soldiers—filtered in behind them.
Tanner was the last to step inside the ruined wall. He gave the area a cautious scan, as an animal sniffing the air for a scent. “Yes,” he muttered with a smirk. “Someone is here.”
His lead commander approached. “The Goliath’s scanners are clear, sir,” spoke the lieutenant, his voice tinged in doubt. “But something isn’t right.”
“What do you mean?”
“Well,” the man explained, “there’s a strange echo on all Goliath’s sensors.”
“Echo?” Tanner’s brow furrowed.
“Yes sir. It’s quite odd, actually. I mean, they are reading our human signatures normally—you, me and my men. But they are registering exactly double the amount of Goliaths. It’s as if each one is broadcasting a duel presence.”
Tanner’s expression went ominous, and then, like the headlights before the impact, the blood drained from his face. “Reitman!” he shouted and drew his sidearm. “Prepare for attack!”
In the next instant, the air held a pulse of its own. From a large patio above, a line of Goliath’s suddenly appeared out of nowhere. They rumbled to the edge and lined the upper courtyard, their EMR weapons trained on Tanner and his men.
“Should we engage!” shouted the lieutenant.
“Negative!” Tanner ordered, and put out a suppressing hand. He calmed and holstered his own sidearm. “All men and Goliaths stand down!” he ordered.
His men and their killer machines obeyed and lowered their weapons. But not those Goliaths locked on them from the tier above. They remained rigid and ready to open fire.
“Jim!” shouted Tanner, his voice returning in a mocking echo. “What in heaven’s name is this about?”
The tap of footsteps on marble reverberated throughout the structure. Jimmy appeared on the edge of the platform alongside his own Goliath force. He peered down. “Hello Tanner,” he spoke. “I don’t think I’ve introduced my own little group of bodyguards. They are loyal to a fault and never complain about anything.”
“What is this all about, Jim!” Tanner hollered back, his voice nearly innocent. “I’ve been trying to contact you since hearing about that terrible mishap at the island condo. I’ve been worried about your mother . . . and you!”
“Ah,” Jimmy replied. “Yes. The mishap. I wanted to chat with you about that. But I’ve been a bit occupied,” he went on. “You see, my own security men—those who have worked many years for me—were all slaughtered there . . . like animals. And I really don’t like to travel without a security detail of my own. So I decided to conscript these little babies,” he gestured to his row of Goliaths. “Pretty nice, don’t you think?”
“Jim. It was a terrible malfunction. Those Goliaths were ordered to the island home by Briggs. To keep that renegade android, Three-Of-Ten, from getting to your mother. They were
there to help your men, not hurt them. But something terrible happened. One of them malfunctioned. It made me sick when I heard what had happened. I’ve been trying to reach you to explain. I’m very sorry for your loss. I just hope that your mother is alright.”
Jimmy shrugged. “I couldn’t say.”
“We think she might be here, Jim. With the android. She may be trying to sabotage HOPE. Do you know anything about this?”
No reply.
“Come down, Jim. Help us secure this facility. Then we’ll discuss locating Gracie. I know we can find her. We’ll get her safely back to a comfortable facility. One where she will be absolutely secure. We’re in this together, Jim. You and me. By tomorrow at this time, we’ll have the encryption codes. We can access the Four’s data-vault and bring the Wendover facility online. You’ll be a very wealthy man.”
“I’m wealthy now. I’m not in this for money. I’m in it for respect and recognition.”
“And you’ll have it. Your name will be honored as the greatest scientist and inventor of our time.”
Hmm,” Jimmy said, rubbing at his chin. “Can you just clarify one thing for me, first?”
“Anything.”
“I’ve become a bit of a Goliath expert, as you may know. These fine machines, for example,” he gestured to his line of robots, “were some of the original models created at Mole Hole. I took them right from under your nose, and modified them for my purposes. I hope you’re not too disappointed?”
“Of course not. You were the one who made the Goliath technology available to us. For which we are ever in your debt,” Tanner embellished. He was beginning to sweat.
“Ah-huh. You see I did wonder about the incident at the island. I mean, we have had the Goliaths malfunction before. And I was quite distressed. I needed to trust my new security detail. How was I going to find out what really happened, I asked myself. So I disappeared for a day to figure it all out. And I did.”
Of Salt and Sand Page 82