Rich choked and then vomited where he stood. He doubled over as Djanet went to his aid, putting her hands on his back and shoulder. “We can’t breathe this air for long, Commander,” Djanet asserted. “It’s filled with... death. It’s toxic. There’s no one here anyway.”
James could no longer respond. He slumped to his knees, his breath now a soft wheeze, and leaned his glistening and pale forehead against Thel’s shoulder. She looked at her rapidly weakening companion and answered for him. “We’re not leaving. James spoke of underground bunkers built by the Purists in case they were ever attacked. Someone must have survived. We’ll ignite our magnetic fields and breathe our air supply but we’re not leaving Purist territory until we need to replenish our air or until we find someone who can help James. Is that agreed?”
Of course no one could refuse. Every one of the omegas felt genuine affection for the others—they were like a family, and James was both a son and a father to all of them. To Thel, he was even more.
“Until we find a doctor, we’re with you,” Old-timer assented.
But before any of them could ignite their magnetic fields to begin the arduous and seemingly forlorn task of looking for survivors, a white-gold flash as bright as lightning suddenly appeared to their flank, accompanied with a deafening, explosive roar.
Chapter 3
The wasteland’s air rippled with the percussion of the blast and washed over them in a tidal wave of death. Djanet had saved them. At the last moment, she had seen the surface-to-air missile approaching them out of the corner of her eye. She turned and instinctively generated a protective magnetic field that sheltered her and her companions from a direct hit that would have been fatal for all of them. She had gone down on one knee and looked up in the direction of where the missile had come and followed the cotton smoke trail to where three darkly dressed figures were scrambling down a small hill and towards a jet black ridge.
“What the hell was that?” Old-timer reacted, still holding his hands over his ears as the explosion continued to echo softly in the distance.
“People!” Djanet shouted. “I’m going after them!” she announced, already in the air and about to ignite her magnetic field. She streaked towards their assailants before the others were even aware of what was happening.
“Follow her!” Thel shouted as Old-timer and Rich lifted off and bolted after her. Thel held James’s face close to hers and whispered into his ear, “You were right. There are people here, James. We’re going to find you a doctor. Just hold on, my baby.”
He struggled to open his eyes into narrow slits and spoke in a labored murmur, “I love you.”
“I know you do. I know. I need you to stand, James. Don’t give up. Hold on to me as best you can. We have to follow them.”
James slowly got to his feet, leaning heavily against Thel for support as he did so. He’d entered the realm of the dying now. He was becoming aware that he could no longer function without the aid of one of his companions. He could not stand alone, walk alone, go to the bathroom alone, eat alone. Soon he would be unable to speak, unable to open his eyes, and eventually, he would no longer be able to draw breath. This realization wasn’t met with panic, but rather was accompanied by a pervasive calmness that stretched its black cloak around him as it softly rocked him towards a lasting sleep. Thel could sense this, and she clenched her teeth in determination to beat back the alluring rest James desired as she ignited her magnetic field and carried James with her in the direction that the others had flown.
Meanwhile, several hundred meters away, Djanet was stalking her prey. She hovered above the three attackers as they scrambled as fast as they could over the uneven terrain. They were trapped and they knew it, but they ran anyway, not having any other options.
This was the sort of moment that defined Djanet’s life. As she glided overhead, she thought of her mother, remembering how she was told by her to put dreams of a life working for the Governing Council on other planets out of her head. How would you stand out? her mother asked. She could be no smarter than anyone else and those positions would always go to those centenarians already established. Why set yourself up for failure when a lifetime of leisure was only as far away as a click in her mind’s eye?
But Djanet was rebellious, stubborn, and determined. Her life had to have a higher purpose. She couldn’t spend her life only existing. Why live if not to pursue a dream?
And now Djanet was taking that determination and purpose and focusing it on a new goal. Everything had been taken away from her, but it wasn’t over yet. If James needed a doctor, by God he was going to get one, and these people who were scurrying away from her as quickly as possible were going to help her—like it or not.
Djanet was quickly joined on either side by Rich and Old-timer. Old-timer signaled to her to move in and block the progress of the three fleeing Purists. She nodded and swooped down, landing with enough force to be intimidating and sending small globes of sludge splattering into the air. She was only meters in front of the ragged and battle scarred soldiers. They’re faces were blackened by the sooty material in the air and on the ground and their skin was streaked with blood and sweat. Each wore cloth over their faces to help them breathe the putrid air. There were two males and one female, all wearing the same dark gray uniform with a rifle strapped over one shoulder. One of the men pointed his rifle at Djanet in a defensive posture, while the other two combatants took similar positions against Rich and Old-timer behind them.
The six people locked into a tableau together as painful seconds ticked by. Old-timer felt a responsibility in the situation to be the first one to lower his guard for a moment to communicate with the Purists. It only seemed right. If one of them had to die, it should be the one who had already had the longest life. Yet his hands shook. The nans would have released a mild dose of dopamine in this situation to keep his nerves from getting the best of him. Never had he experienced such nervous feelings. He could die. The implacable void of death seemed to surround him and ice formed in his chest. He couldn’t imagine a worse feeling.
Carefully, he disengaged the protective cocoon of his magnetic field. He did, however, keep a large magnetic shield hovering just in front of him so that he would have a chance of blocking one of the projectiles the ancient weapons of the Purists were ready to fire.
“We aren’t here to harm you! We’re on your side!” Old-timer found himself stammering. His lips were dry and shaking—his voice nearly failed him. His voice had never before failed him.
The man and the woman who crouched before him, their weapons trained on their adversaries, gave each other careful, quizzical glances. Old-timer waited for a few moments for a response, but the tableau continued.
“Djanet! They must not speak English! Perhaps they speak one of the old languages? Spanish?”
“I haven’t practiced any Spanish since I was a little girl, Old-timer. I can try,” Djanet replied. “Somos sus amigos. Nosotros no tenemos malas intenciones!”
The Purists shared more quizzical glances. A few moments passed before the male facing Djanet replied to her, “I don’t know what the hell that freak just said, but we’re not as backwards as you cyborgs think! We know how to speak English!”
The tableau continued a moment longer before Old-timer finally managed to utter, “You do?”
“No! I’m lying to you! I don’t speak a damn word of English! I memorized this phonetically just to piss you off at the right moment!” the Purist shouted back at him.
“Gernot! Watch your mouth!” the woman called back to her companion.
“Why should I?” Gernot responded. “You think these freaks are telling us the truth? If I’m gonna die right now I’m sure as hell going to tell these pieces of crap where to go before I do!”
“You’re not going to die!” Old-timer reassured. “We’re here for help! The A.I. has wiped out everyone who was connected to the internet other than me and my companions! We’ve come here looking for other survivors!”
&
nbsp; “It can’t be,” whispered the man to the woman crouched next to him.
“We can’t trust them!” Gernot called back to his companions. “It’s all bull!”
At that moment, Rich finally disengaged his magnetic field. Like Djanet and Old-timer, he held a shield in front of him to protect himself but his voice was still filled with trepidation as he spoke, his anxiety almost paralyzing. “So, how’s it going? Are we friends yet?”
Old-timer locked an intense glare on Rich and shook his head.
“Oh,” Rich replied, before shrinking back and re-igniting his full cocoon.
“Why should we believe you?” asked the man crouched facing Old-timer.
Old-timer took a moment to find a line of reasoning. He nearly shrugged his shoulders as he attempted to capture the right words. Djanet jumped in before he could speak. “If we wanted to kill you, you’d already be dead.”
“Or you might keep us alive so that we could show you if there are any other survivors!” Gernot shot back. “We’re not idiots! No matter what you calculator-heads might think!”
Djanet knitted her brows and looked across to Old-timer who mouthed the word calculator-head to her quizzically. She shook her head and held out her hands, exasperated.
“I think we should trust them,” the woman asserted to the male next to her, who seemed to be in command of the small triad.
“Are you sure, Alejandra?”
Old-timer noted that her words carried an enormous weight with their leader for some reason.
“Don’t do it, Lt.!” Gernot shouted.
“If you’re wrong...” the Lt. began.
“I’m not wrong. I sense enormous good in them. Especially in him,” she said, locking eyes with Old-timer. Her eyes were unlike any Old-timer had ever seen. They carried something within them that made Old-timer see beyond the crystal blueness of them and into something altogether more beautiful. He didn’t know how to respond.
Just then, Thel and James swooped into the scene behind Old-timer and Rich. Their appearance was sudden and startled the Lt. “You said you were the last!” the Lt. yelled.
“What?” Gernot shouted before turning to see even more assailants approaching. He opened fire with the instinctive response of a trapped mouse watching a hawk swoop down towards it. With no more room for flight, it was time to fight.
Chapter 4
The battle was over almost before it began. Bullets on fire bounced off the protection of Thel’s magnetic field harmlessly while Old-timer re-engaged his full protection. Gernot’s back was now turned on Djanet and it was only a matter of a quick thought before energy flashed towards him, instantly rendering him unconscious. The Lt. and Alejandra watched in horror as he fell over limply, his face planting into the soft, dead earth.
“What did you do to him?” the Lt. demanded, panic still the tune of his vocal cords.
“I’ve had enough of this,” Djanet asserted, as she flashed more energy out towards the weapons to which the Purists clung. The guns were knocked out of their hands and sent flying several meters away. Once she had disarmed them, Djanet strode over to Alejandra and grabbed her roughly by the hair, pulling her towards her. “You’re going to help us whether you like it or not!”
Alejandra responded by taking hold of Djanet’s wrist and twisting it until she sharply shrieked. In the same fluid motion she swung her leg up and kicked her under the chin, sending Djanet tumbling backward onto the ground.
“Don’t touch me.”
Old-timer quickly disengaged his magnetic field and ran over to Djanet’s aid while Alejandra and the Lt. tended to Gernot.
“We shouldn’t be fighting!” Old-timer shouted. “We’re all on the same side!”
“You said you were the last!” the Lt. replied, indignantly.
“We are!”
“Then who the hell are they?” the Lt. demanded, pointing towards Thel and James. Thel was helping James lay down against the cold, black ground.
“That’s the last of us. The people you see before you are all that’s left. Believe me!”
“What did she do to Gernot?”
“Your companion is fine,” Old-timer replied. “She just gave him a mild shock. He’ll start to come around any time now.” As he spoke, he watched Djanet’s eyes flutter as she too began to come around. A purple bruise was already beginning to form on her chin and her lip was cut where she had apparently bitten down.
“I’m sorry about that,” Alejandra said to Old-timer. She was kneeling with Gernot’s head in her lap.
Old-timer looked up at her and their eyes met once again. The blue disks stole the breath from Old-timer as he felt something unlike anything he had ever felt. Only one word reverberated in his mind:
Pure
Thel entered the scene and knelt beside the Purists. She spoke earnestly to the Lt. and Alejandra. “We need your help. If you have a doctor we need to get to her right away. Our friend is dying.”
Alejandra’s eyes met Thel’s for a brief moment before she reached out and touched her arm. She smiled and then regarded the Lt. “We can trust them. “
The Lt. looked exasperated as the spiraling situation nearly overwhelmed him. “Alejandra, they could kill everyone. I’d rather die than...”
“But they won’t. Trust me.”
Old-timer watched as the blue pureness calmed her companion. The heaving of his shoulders as he panted suddenly began to slow and his eyes began to narrow and focus. What is this power that this woman has?
“Ok. We trust them.” The Lt. then turned to Thel. “We aren’t far from a doctor. Almost everyone who is left is located in a complex three clicks from here. How bad is your wounded?”
“He’s in bad shape. We have to get him to a doctor as quickly as possible. We can transport you there if you’ll show us the way.”
“Transport us? How?”
“Piggy back,” Old-timer interjected.
“Djanet, are you all right?” Thel questioned as Djanet rubbed her neck and jaw. She was now sitting upright next to Old-timer.
“I’ll live,” she replied, grudgingly resisting the urge to fry Alejandra with the ease of a thought.
“Can you piggy back one of our new friends back to their base?”
It was clear from the look on Djanet’s face that she didn’t like the idea, but she nodded anyway. “Yeah.”
“Good. You take their leader.”
“Lt. Patrick,” the Lt. announced, introducing himself to the group. “Nice to meet you all.”
“Thank you for your help, Lt. Patrick,” Thel replied. “Old-timer, you take the young lady.”
“Alejandra,” Old-timer said. He didn’t know why he said it. Nervousness was beginning to capture him again. He hoped he wouldn’t sweat.
“Rich, can you take their wounded man?”
“I’m not wounded,” replied Gernot. “I’m fine. Although I owe that bi...”
“Just try it, junior” Djanet replied acidly.
“I’m not scared of you, cyborg!” Djanet responded by igniting an energy field in front of her and elongating it until it was only centimeters from Gernot’s face. Frightened, he jerked his head back.
“Yeah whatever, you calculator head!”
“Oookay, so I get to transport the psycho,” Rich whispered to Thel, “Good. I’m really happy about this. I think this will be fun. Thank you, Thel.”
“I’m sorry, Rich. We have no choice. Just drop him if he tries anything.”
“Yeah. After he pulls out my eye I’ll drop him. That will make me feel all better.”
Thel stood to her feet. “Okay, Lt. Patrick. We will follow your lead. Everyone, let’s move out quickly!”
The three pairs awkwardly joined together. The Lt. and Djanet barely spoke to one another. He quickly said, “Hi” and she nodded in response.
Alejandra locked her eyes onto Old-timer and smiled but he couldn’t match her gaze. He put his head down and smiled sheepishly before saying, “Heya.”
&nbs
p; She smiled and said, “Heya,” back.
Meanwhile Gernot glared at Rich and spat before walking behind him. Rich closed his eyes in disgust. “You just fly nice and careful. Got that?”
Rich replied, “Yep, I’ll do my best, Sir” before quietly adding under his breath, “just please don’t eat me.”
“What was that?” Gernot demanded
“Nothing. Clearing my throat. Ahem.”
Thel gathered James into her arms. “We’ve found a doctor, James.” He opened his eyes slightly in response and smiled. He was too weak now to help her and she struggled to hold him in front of her. “Okay! Let’s go!” she shouted to the rest of the group. One by one, the pairs cocooned and lifted off the ground into a sky that was quickly growing dark. As James was carried towards possible salvation, he opened his eyes and watched the light fade.
Chapter 5
Old-timer knew that he should not have been feeling this. The last time the sun faded into the west, he was with his wife of seventy-seven years. Another walk on the beach; Daniella always liked to watch the sun set on the beach. Always. They flew down from San Antonio and watched the waves crash against the shore in Corpus Christi. At this time of year, storms forming off the coast of Africa would create powerful waves that would pound the shoreline. Yet, beautiful as they were, they didn’t fill him with awe. He barely paid any attention. He looked down at his toes in the sand and counted as he took each step. There was going to be an interesting interview broadcast in an hour about tomorrow’s download and he wanted to be sitting in his armchair and sipping ice tea when it started. He would set himself to sleep after that and wake up early enough for a big breakfast before he headed out to Venus. The evening was perfectly comfortable. Perfectly routine. Daniella’s fingers twitched in his hand, reminding him that she was with him. Seventy-seven years of marriage, a courtship that lasted 3 years, and now she was like a part of his body. They were always together except for the hours that he spent on Venus. He liked it that way.
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