Transcendent (9781311909442)

by Halstead, Jason

  “Yeah, so that means I’m probably faster. And remember before—they didn’t kill the kids, they captured them and—”

  “Krys, they shot first and captured later,” Fina said. “I saw, okay? I was there when Dieter was carrying Emma and we were running away. He told me to keep running no matter what.”

  Krys bit his lip and nodded.

  “They killed him!” she continued. She took a deep breath and stared up into the leaves of the trees. She shook her head and blinked the tears down her cheeks. “Shot them both,” she whispered.

  Krys glanced at Angelo and Janna and saw them both watching Fina. They looked away and continued walking through the ferns and bushy underbrush of the forest. “Look, it’s not like I’m going to stick around for them to catch me. I just want to see. Maybe figure out how they’re following us so easy.”

  “You took the locator out of the picker, right?” Janna asked.

  Angelo grunted and looked down at the machinery in his arms. He frowned and held it away as though it might bite him.

  “Yes,” Krys said.

  “Are you sure?”

  Krys opened his mouth and hesitated. Was he? “My dad showed me all sorts of stuff on them, including the locator. I know how to fix just about anything we’ve got from working with him.”

  “We don’t have much of anything,” Janna pointed out. “But I can’t figure out how else they’d know.”

  “Then let me go see if I can find out!”

  “No,” Fina said. “I’ve lost one baby already. I don’t want anyone else getting hurt.”

  Krys bristled and was about to snap back that he wasn’t a baby when he caught the glare from Janna. She always bordered on being rude but something about the way she looked at him convinced him to keep his mouth shut.

  He turned to glance at the highpicker again and then snapped his fingers. “Put it down! The picker, I mean.”

  Angelo set it down so fast he nearly dropped it. He jumped back, staring at it with wide eyes as he said, “What? Is that how they’re doing it?”

  Krys pulled the control pad for the picker and connected the power cell to it. It flared to life, allowing him to bring up the on-screen controls for it. A moment later, the rotors began to spin and in seconds it lifted off the ground and hovered in the air.

  “We don’t have time for this!” Fina hissed.

  Krys turned the pad towards her and displayed the viewport on the screen. “It’s got a camera—we can see it from here.”

  “Oh!” Fina said. She glanced at the others and smiled.

  “I think I might know how they were tracking us, too,” Krys said. “The picker was powered on but in sleep mode. It still emits a signal to notify the system that it’s ready for a mission, though.”

  “A mission?”

  “A command to do something,” he explained. “I guess they could use that ping to figure out a direction to go.”

  “Is it still doing that?”

  Krys shook his head. “Not while it has a mission. Right now I’ve switched it to manual controls, which is basically the same thing.”

  “So we should go now?” Fina asked.

  “I’m not sure this is how they’re doing it,” Krys said.

  “Better safe than sorry,” Janna agreed. “We can move a little.”

  “Better yet, let me move the picker,” Krys said. He sent it up high enough to clear the underbrush and then tilted it forward so it gained speed and began to move through the forest. He sent it south and out towards the open ground.

  “How will we know?” Angelo asked.

  Krys frowned and saw the others looking just as mystified. “We’re back to me going and watching.”

  “No!” Fina said a little too loudly.

  Angelo hushed her while Janna glared.

  “You want to go?” Krys asked the young woman.

  She clamped her mouth shut and shook her head.

  “Look, they’ll follow the picker if I’m right, so I’ll be safe hiding in a tree or something.”

  “I’ll do it,” Angelo offered.

  Krys frowned and looked at the others. Fina’s chin was trembling as she wrestled with her waking nightmares. Janna shook her head after a long stare with the big man. “You’re too big,” she said. “Too easy to spot.”

  Krys nodded. “You sound like a herd of vison moving through the brush.”

  Angelo harrumphed. He looked at Janna and said, “You’re not any better.”

  “No, I’m not. I’m a farmer,” she agreed.

  “Can’t you see what they’re doing through the camera on the picker?” Fina asked.

  Krys realized they’d switched the direction of the conversation and she hadn’t followed them. Angelo blinked, confused at her question. Krys had to fight to keep from chuckling at the man’s confused expression. “Sorry, this is confusing. If I send the picker to watch them, we won’t know if they’re following it because they see it or because they’re using some other way of finding it.”

  “Oh! I get it. So you have to watch them to see if they’re following it, even though they can’t see it. That is complicated.”

  Krys kept himself from pointing out how obvious it was and nodded instead. “And we’ve lost a lot of time and distance just talking about it.”

  “You’re sure about this?” Fina asked.

  “Fina,” Janna growled. “Stop and think for a minute. Who’s been working the hardest and coming up with the most ideas and plans for all of us?”

  “What?”

  Krys’s eyes widened as the surly farmer stood up for him.

  “Krys and Mig, that’s who,” Janna continued. “We’ve all been moping about how lousy things are and about what we lost. Those two have been working on keeping us alive. Mig got us together but since then Krys and Mig both have made sure were doing the right things and keeping food in our mouths.”

  “Okay, but Krys is just a kid! No offense, Krys, but I can’t imagine what this must be like for you. Losing your friends and family and—”

  “Stop,” Angelo said. “He’s gone through what we all went through. Janna’s right. Krys has kept his head on straight.”

  “And coming through like he has through what happened? As far as I’m concerned, he’s no more of a child than you or Angelo are,” Janna agreed.

  Krys cleared his throat. “Okay, this is weird. I’m standing right here. Can we stop talking about me?”

  Angelo walked over and put his beefy hand on Krys’s shoulder. “Just be careful, okay? You run hard and fast if they don’t fall for it.”

  Krys nodded and handed Fina the infopad. “You know how to control one of these, right?”

  Fina nodded.

  He pulled out his smaller infopad and tucked it under his arm so he could hand the satchel to Angelo. “All right, Fina, keep it moving south and away. I’ll go look and try to catch up after I see what they’re doing.”

  “We’re heading east?” Janna asked.

  Krys bit his lip and nodded. “East, to the Pyrus Mountains. If you don’t run into Mig’s group, head south to where they meet the Shatterplates. Wait there.”

  “What if they don’t show up?” Fina asked.

  “Then you do what you need to do to survive,” Krys said. “I’ll join you, but if it takes me awhile, keep sending someone back to find me. Find a cave and lay low until the sun rises again.”

  “How are we going to survive that long?” she wondered.

  “Caves should have water in them. If not, find a stream. For food, do whatever you need to. Raid a village or try to find some natural berries or nuts or something. You’ll find a way, and if you don’t, I’ll be there to help.”

  “You’d better get going,” Janna said.

  “Good luck, Krys,” Angelo added.

  Krys nodded and smiled. He waved to each of them and turned back to the west. With a deep breath and a shrug of his shoulders, he took off at a jog towards the growing sound of falling lumber.

 
Chapter 18

  Lily stood among a row of ten other students. She was in the front row of five since she was younger than the rest and shorter than all but two of them. Guards, standing at attention for the spectacle, stood at both sides of the stage. They weren’t traditional honor guards; these soldiers were dressed in full combat armor that reminded her of the biomechs and some of the soldiers she’d seen when they’d taken her from her home. They held their rifles across their bodies without wavering, adding to the silent threat.

  President Ondalla walked out onto the stage and was greeted with cheering that grew slowly. Lily stood as stiff as she could but she looked over the standing students and staff of the station and she could see that a lot of the cheering was forced. Children taken from Venus only made up ten percent of the student body of TLC-1; the others were from Mars, Earth, lunar bases, and other agricultural and habitation stations. The revolution was over before Lily and the people of Venus even knew it had begun.

  As Lily studied the students—her peers and classmates—she realized that history texts could be written and names could be changed, but her memories and the memories of others would not. They would know what happened. She wondered how many of them still woke up in the middle of the night screaming for a friend who was taken from them in a burst of dirt and fire.

  “Thank you, students and faculty. Thank you!” President Ondalla addressed the gathered crowd. Not all of the station’s population could fit in the auditorium that had been built into one of the outer rings, so it was being filmed and broadcast throughout both the station and the other human settlements throughout the solar system.

  When the applause died down, President Ondalla continued. “I want to congratulate you all on being the first in a new age of young adults who will reap the benefits of our centralized education system. I know, it’s school and you’re thinking how boring and miserable it is.” He paused and received a smattering of laughter from the older kids and staff of the station. “I remember being young and eager to get into the world myself. But let me assure you this educational approach has been studied and received the approval of scientists, doctors, and working professionals throughout the entirety of human-colonized worlds.”

  He waited for a moment and was greeted with more applause. Lily could barely see his face but she was pretty sure he was smiling for the cameras. She was certain he believed what he was saying and she had no reason to doubt it, but he seemed too stiff to her. Or maybe she was still feeling defensive after her meeting with him the day before.

  “Historically we, as a race, have struggled with misunderstanding and ignorance. This will put an end to that as you all get to know one another and understand the value of your fellow human beings.”

  He paused to smile for effect and then continued. “Finding a meaningful job and supporting yourself and your family? That’s long been a worry for young people trying to make their way in life. Our new way of living fixes that problem! Just think, you don’t have to worry about finding a job and putting food on your table! The system will take care of that for you. All you have to do is find what you are good at and follow that dream. Or, if you’re equally suited to multiple professions, you can choose among them when the time comes and then follow that path in life.”

  Lily risked breaking form and glanced at her peers around her. She was the only fourteen-year-old; the rest were sixteen, like Palla, or older. They knew what they were going to do with their lives. They’d either chosen or been suited for one profession already. She was the only one who had no idea what was out there to do, let alone whether she wanted to do it or not.

  “Life’s not all about work without play, though,” Ondalla said and earned a few smiles from the crowd. “We have decided to change the format of how professional sports works. Don’t worry, you’re not losing your favorite teams or sports. We’re simply sanctioning them and taking away the preposterous excess and waste built into the system. After all, if your job is to provide something essential for the human race to survive and grow, why should you receive less than someone who gets to play a game for a living?”

  Genuine cheering erupted from the crowd. He held up his hands, bringing the low roar down so he could speak again. “This is where I open up and speak as honestly as I can. I can talk all day about how humanity is destined for greatness if we just work together and put our society before ourselves. It sounds good and the more you think about it, the more it wins people over. But let’s be honest. We still have that nagging voice inside that wants something more. Something we can take pride in. Something we can invest ourselves and get excited about, even though maybe it’s a little bit shocking. A little bit dangerous. Maybe even a little bit sexy?”

  Lily glanced at the crowd and saw that he’d managed to pull them in with his teasing speech. Even she had been suckered by his lowered voice and sense of friendliness.

  The president turned and gestured at the large display screen behind him. It flickered to life and showed a life-sized view of a biomech. It was greeted with gasps from the crowd and a few cries. Lily felt her chest tighten, preventing her from breathing for a moment. It was just a picture, she reminded herself. Not a robot about to gun down her friends and family.

  “This is not the antiquated robotic defense systems of days past. The military and private sectors alike struggled for years to develop something long considered the realm of science fiction—a mechanized humanoid fighting machine. What they discovered was that it was too slow, too prone to breakdowns, and too fragile to handle real combat situations.”

  Ondalla paused and studied the crowd while they, in turn, stared up at the figure on the screen. The biomech began to move, walking at first and then even breaking into a jog. The sound of each thudding footstep boomed from speakers in the room.

  The biomech raised the gun in its hand and took sight at something off screen before it fired the massive projectile from the cannon. A few moments later, wings deployed from its back, stretching out until they were twice as wide as the biomech was. It crouched and leapt up into the air while powerful blasts of air were vented out of ports on its chest and back to allow it to do a controlled hop of what appeared to be close to a hundred meters. The crowd awed and gasped as it landed amid a cloud of dust and debris that shook the camera. When it cleared, they saw it standing among several other biomechs, each bearing varied weaponry, paint schemes, and designs.

  “These are not your grandfather’s robots,” President Ondalla repeated. “These are biomechs, a combination of technology and biology. Melding man and machine into a perfect fighting unit. These units are deployed with our armed forces throughout the solar system but the best of the best of our biomech pilots will be invited to a new arena. An old sport enjoyed through the ages with a new modern twist. Instead of gladiators fighting lions, we will have biomechs pitted against biomechs!”

  The crowd fell into a stunned silence that was soon replaced as whispering spread between students. President Ondalla turned to glance at Lily’s group, an eager grin on his face, and then he turned back. “What you’re seeing is being streamed from Earth, near the Mojave wasteland,” he announced.

  He turned to the screen as the biomechs faced off against each other. Each saluted, raising arms or weapons in a show of respect, and then the battle began.

  Lily’s gasp was drowned out by the cries of others as the six biomechs fought one another. The sound of gunshots and explosions washed over them, leaving everyone cowering and staring in amazement. A few people, especially the younger kids, cowered as the sounds brought back memories. Lily flinched time and again with each explosion and clenched her fists at her sides. She blinked repeatedly but couldn’t stop the tear from rolling down her cheek.

  Several minutes passed until a lone biomech stood tall over the others. They were fallen and in various states of disrepair. Limbs were broken or torn off and armor was rent and gaping. Fluid stained the ground, though it was anybody’s guess if it was organic or not. The survi
vor, the same biomech with the wings they’d first seen, raised its remaining arm with its gun into the air in salute to the camera.

  “Wow!” President Ondalla said, his voice jarring everyone out of their shock. “That was a show! But don’t worry, the odds of one of the pilots being hurt is very slim. They’re protected inside the bodies of these massive machines by layers and layers of armor.”

  People reclaimed their seats and their positions, organizing themselves slowly while the president took a moment. Lily stared at the surviving biomech and noticed hatches opening on the fallen ones and allowing people to emerge. The pilots looked shaken, to say the least. The picture went blank, ending her speculation on the giant robots that had not yet released their pilots.

  “So we have education, a system to sustain and advance ourselves through working in careers that we are suited for, and we have entertainment. This is the future of humanity!” President Ondalla raised his arms and was greeted with applause that started out scattered and rough, but quickly grew until even Lily’s skepticism had her thinking everyone was buying into it.

  As the applause died, President Ondalla turned to Lily’s group. “And now, to congratulate these special young students who have excelled beyond the wildest expectations, tell us your name and what you’re chosen path is. We’ll start at the top, on the left.”

  “Joss, science path,” the first boy, an eighteen-year-old, said.

  “Karin, technology path.”

  “Ode, science path.”

  “Palla, administration path.”

  And so on it went until Lily was the only one left. Tomas, on her right, had spoken, leaving it to her to speak up.

  President Ondalla spared her the agony. “This, as most of you have already heard, is one of the newest students here. Lily came from an agricultural colony on Venus and has done some astonishing things in her short time here. We’re all very excited to see how far she can climb, but as it stands, she is only fourteen years old and among the top one percent among all students. Looks like more than just good food is grown on Venus! So Lily, tell us, do you have any idea what path you might like to go for?”