Every time he would look up at Em, she had a puzzled look like she was about to laugh and say, “What?” with a little shake of her head, holding her hands up while Barcus was racked with another wave of laughter.
Looking up this last time, he saw she was standing with her arms crossed over her chest, a stern look on her face.
More laughs, but not as deep.
Finally, Barcus said, “Okay, okay, okay, I'm done.” Looking up at the avatar, he continued, “I know you're not really there. I know if anyone saw me right now, they would think I was completely insane talking to someone who they could not see. Look, maybe I am kind of going insane here, for real. I actually know that I am alone and that your function is to keep me safe and sane. But I have to say, I'm impressed.”
“Do me a favor though. If we meet any of these people. Don't make me look insane. Okay? Because it's not far from the truth right now.”
Her face actually looked relieved. “Okay, I promise.”
Barcus believed her.
It was almost dark now. The sun set quickly. Barcus pulled out a small multi-tool and activated the powerful utility flashlight.
He made his way back to the inn. Em followed. The room had warmed with the fire, and he piled on some more logs to keep the heat going. He sat in one of the overstuffed chairs after he covered it with a clean quilt from one of the chests. It was almost unnerving to see Em “sit” in the other chair.
“I know you have continuously been with me since the crash, Em. Are you going to always haunt me now?”
She gave a wry smile before answering, “I was going to try a little at first. Just let me know anytime if it's too much.”
A thought occurred to him. “Did you do this with Chen?”
Her eyes darkened. She swallowed and didn't answer right away, but finally she said, “Yes. We talked every day, for hours.” She sounded like she was about to cry. “Chen hid it well, but she was very lonely. I think she was also afraid of something. All the time. Something awful happened to her long ago. It made her strong but sad.” She was staring down at her virtual hands.
“She loved you very much you know. Chen, I mean.”
Em might have just as well punched him in the gut.
“She moved to the outer rings to be away from the rest of them. But mostly because you were there. She talked about you a lot.”
She paused, noticing his distress. “She said you treated her the way everyone should treat everyone. Respect, kindness, friendship with no expectations. I always wondered...”
She looked up as if she just realized that she said that out loud.
“What?” Barcus said.
“Well...if she would ever have the courage to jump you.”
It was her turn to wonder at his reaction. “What?” Em said.
Can Em read my mind?
“Look. We talked a lot. All the time. There was an awful time in her life when she swore she'd never let another man touch her again, ever. But that was before she met you. The fire needs another log.” She pointed and wrapped her cloak around her closer like it was cooler. Then he realized it was cooler.
He got up and added more wood. It gave him time to think. And time to marvel at this AI. This was the first conversation he’d had like this in years. He wanted to tell her why he was in the outer rings as well.
Barcus continued as he poked at the fire, “What happened to Chen? She never said. She was very shy when we met. We only really became friends because we were both heavies living in the 2G outer ring.”
“Do you remember the night at Peck's Halfway, when that maintenance crew was trying to figure out why all you guys would choose to live on the outermost 2G ring?”
Barcus smiled and said, “Oh yes. Chen stood on a chair, unzipped her pants and pulled her shirt up so high you could almost see her nipples saying 'for this!’ Her abs looked like they were cut from stone. She looked at me and raised her eyebrow like she used to, and I stood up and showed mine too. Rand was next, but she had been there at the bar longer, several drinks ahead, and was wearing a one piece jumpsuit that she unzipped all the way down, spreading it wide open to show her eight pack as well as the fine black lace bra she was wearing.”
Barcus was laughing lost in the joy of the memory.
“You never heard a bar get so quiet so fast. And Chen broke the silence by saying, 'Nice tits Nancy!'
“I had never laughed so hard in my life,” Barcus said.
Em continued, “Chen said that two more people moved to the outer ring the next day. She also said that she was really showing her abs to you. She didn't care about the rest. And even though Rand gave her shit about it from then on, they became friends.”
The thought of the death of Rand was sobering. In a more serious tone he said, “We never knew her first name was Nancy before that night. Chen was...I miss her. She saved me.” He swallowed hard a few times in silence.
They sat quietly, listening to the fire for a few minutes.
“Do you think there is anything safe to drink in this tavern?”
Both of Em’s eyebrows went up, and her eye went side to side like she was thinking. “I think we may be in luck.” She got up and began moving to the door, where she waited for him to open it. He followed down to the main level naturally.
They went past the bar, which he noticed was suspiciously devoid of any bottles, casks or jars. They continued into the kitchen where she pointed at a trap door, which suddenly seemed so obviously visible. With considerable effort, Barcus opened it. Through a great cloud of dust appeared stairs that went into the darkness of the basement.
There were many dusty shelves and wine racks with bottles.
“Em. Can you scan these?”
“Sure, just grab two and bring them outside. We can actually put them in the bio scanner I have on board.”
He made his selection based on what looked like the finest glass bottles. The corks came free easily with his ever-handy multi-tool. He poured them both into his two liter Thermos and set it on the table inside the EM. The scan returned a safe score, and by the time he got back up to his fire, he knew the wine would be cold. Anything he put in his thermos was the perfect temp in about two minutes. Hot or cold. He just told it what he wanted.
Sitting in front of the roaring fire, he drank right from the container.
“How is it?” Em asked, looking as if she wished she could have a taste.
“Oh my god... This is so good. This is by far the best wine I have ever tasted. And I have to drink alone, dammit.”
“No, you don't.” He looked up, and Em was raising a glass in a toast. “To lost friends.”
It wasn't long before the wine was gone. Em had left quietly at some point. Barcus put some more wood on the fire and crawled into bed fully dressed and slept hard.
During the night, Em found other paths. More BUGs were deployed. Map definition improved.
Barcus slept twelve hours and was awakened by a full bladder.
He was already dressed, so he made his way down the hall and found the midden. He peed for a long time, thinking about food. He had been running on survival rations, 2,000 calorie bars, and he was already tired of all but the peanut butter flavor.
“Em, what's our status?”
“Good morning, Barcus. Or rather, good afternoon. I'm glad you slept.” The avatar fell into step beside him as he was moving down the hall to the stairs. “All the wooden buildings in the town were burned to the ground more than a decade ago. The forest has reclaimed those places like they were never there. Only the foundations remain.”
Windows opened in his HUD, showing images of what Em was describing.
They entered the common room of the Tavern as she continued. “I found other indications of paths, but none has been used recently. Following them, I discovered six other burned villages. The last one burned only about a year ago.”
They exited the tavern and moved toward the spider. It rose up as they approached, granting access to the belly
hatch. He climbed in.
The wind was blowing leaves in a mini tornado. The leaves seemed to be falling faster.
“There are no other villages to the north from here, so far. But I did find a possible candidate location.”
Em showed the live image of the place in the HUD window. The BUG was flying around an outer wall that was about ten meters high. One section was collapsed, and a hill of rubble ramped up the wall there. Rounding the wall, there was a tower in evidence and gates at twelve o'clock and six o'clock. One large and one small. The road that once led to these gates was now overgrown, moss covered and unused. Returning around the wall to the rubble, it looked like the structure was about 100 meters across and perfectly round. The mapping software filled in the details as it went.
“What's inside the walls?” Barcus indicated on the display. It looked like the EM could walk right over the collapsed section.
The BUG ascended to begin an aerial survey of the fortress. There were multiple sections divided by inner walls. It looked like there had once been a cathedral central to the fortress, but it had fallen to ruin decades ago. The tower remained, but the roof of the main sanctuary had collapsed through the floor into the basements and probably to the crypts farther below that were now flooded with water.
“Barcus, it looks like an Abbey. It has stables and a gatehouse there. Some kind of barracks over there. A great hall of sorts there. Still mostly intact, but fallen into disrepair. These were once inner gardens, I'd wager. All the inner doors have been torn from their hinges.”
Barcus studied the images as they moved. “How long will it take to get there?” A map popped up with a route plotted.
“If we continue at this pace, we will be there in about fourteen hours. None of the footpaths we discovered led there. This site is very secluded, and there is very good hunting game available.”
One of the BUGs was ascending to a greater altitude to get a bird’s eye view of the area around what they started calling The Abbey. It was dense forest near foothills at the base of a small mountain range. A large area looked too organized to be regular forest and must have been orchards. Another higher section held acres of overgrown vineyards and scattered outbuildings.
Straight down The Abbey was a perfect circle, almost invisible because of the color of the slate that covered the roofs and capped the walls and walkways all the way around. It was broken up further by the trees growing inside and outside The Abbey. It almost looked intentionally camouflaged.
The BUG was very high now. The status in the window indicated that it was a calm, cool, dry and exceptionally clear day over The Abbey that allowed a view of hundreds of kilometers in every direction.
“Em, what is that?” Barcus indicated smoke on the horizon to the southeast.
“Maximum magnification,” Barcus ordered, but 10x was the best optical zoom on the BUG. Another 100x via digital zoom provided no addition information.
“Can you estimate where that is Em?”
A map popped up on the HUD, showing the basic location of where the fires were.
“Do you have any BUGs near there?” Barcus asked.
“I have some close but still a couple hours away, depending on conditions.”
“Redirect them there, please. We need to know what's going on here. And also move in that direction. Just in case we want to redirect there.”
“Barcus...”
An image came up of a village burned to the ground and still smoldering.
“I thought you said they were a few hours out.”
“This is a different village. One on the way to the smoke.”
The BUG flew closer to the largest ruin. The ashes were full of skeletons and charred remains.
They were herded into there and then burned.
“Head for the smoke, best possible speed.” His voice was flat.
Anger was building.
CHAPTER SEVEN
Fire and Monsters
“Barcus was acting counter to the Emergency Modules (EM) primary mission objectives. It was able to adapt.”
--Solstice 31 Incident Investigation Testimony Transcript: Emergency Module Digital Forensics Report. Independent Tech Analysis Team.
<<<>>>
Em was moving fast, not taking the time to be stealthy. She wasn't trying to hide their tracks. Every step tore great wounds in the forest floor. The constant rhythmic pounding of her feet was like ground thunder.
More BUGs spread out as they ran. Six more freshly burned villages were discovered that day. Each time it was the same, people corralled or piled inside a barn or hall that had been burned.
“There were signs these last two villages fought back - makeshift fortifications and weapons. I think some of the burned remains were of the attackers.” Em was all business. It was unlike her.
“Why are we doing this, Barcus? It's not safe. What will we do if we catch up to them?”
“We will kill them all.” It had been barely a whisper.
“Barcus.”
The main HUD showed a small village under attack. Fires were already burning. Men on horses surrounded the town. They were armed with drawn swords and crossbows. An elderly couple, still in their nightshirts, was being dragged to the crossroads by their hair. None of the villagers were armed in any way. Not even an ax or kitchen knife.
A signal was given, and the people were forced into the blacksmith’s barn on the opposite corner from the Inn at the crossroad. After the villagers were all inside, the doors were nailed shut.
“Em, what is our ETA?”
“Two hours at full speed.”
Fuck.
He clenched his teeth as the barn began to burn.
“Prep the suit, Em. Stop one kilometer out.”
After the barn was fully engulfed, the horsemen started a house-to-house detailed search. Valuables were collected, as well as wagonloads of supplies. It looked like they were planning to bed down there for the night. The barn fire had jumped to the thatched roof of the next building and then on to the next one, downing that section of the village.
It was almost dusk when Em and Barcus stopped and Barcus moved to the suit. As he climbed in he asked, “How many are there?”
Em replied, “I have counted 57 so far.”
“I want them all dead. I don't care how. All. Is that clear, Em?”
“Yes, sir.”
His suit’s HUD had a tactical display of the village and indicated that hundreds of BUGs had already been deployed, and several followed each of the men.
“None of them will survive. There are 59 in total. For now.” Em was chilling in her declaration.
It was full dark, except for the fires when the monsters descended on them. Barcus loomed out of the darkness to grab two men by the necks. In the suit, he was over three meters tall. He lifted them from the ground and got exactly the reaction he wanted. The rest drew their swords and attacked.
The claw-like tools he had selected for this work were effective. He snipped off their heads and tore through the rest of the men. Swords shattered or deflected off his suit. It was better than any armor ever invented for the task. A dozen fell, with missing or crushed heads before they began to run. The suit was faster than any man or even a horse. His feet crushed them to jelly without even missing a stride. They could not hide, either, because the un-noticed BUGs followed them with seemingly supernatural ease.
Barcus saw Em taking them easily. Her two front legs were crushing skulls with ease, keeping them contained in the village. Barcus crashed into the tavern, The Archers Dog, ripping the door off its hinges, and was met by six drunken men in the common room. They all died before they got their swords out of their sheaths. The HUD indicated that three more were in the room above.
The stairs would not have held his weight. Sharp tools protruding at right angles from his forearms gouged into the walls as he climbed, taking some of his weight.
There, more drunken men were desperately trying to put on their clothes and draw weapo
ns. The monster Barcus froze. They had been about to rape a girl on the innkeeper’s bed. She was now balled into a fetal position, eyes wide, staring at the blank black space where his face should have been. There was a plea for help in her eyes. A plea sent to a monster covered in blood and gore already.
The men were all dead an instant later.
Not knowing what to do then, he did nothing, just loomed there over her.
She looked at him and he thought she said in a trembling whispered, “Thank you...” in English.
His HUD said there were six of them left, scattering in all directions. Em was after the three heading roughly the same way. In a single motion, he crashed out the upper story front wall of the tavern and landed lightly on the street, running after the other three. They heard him coming and tried to hide. The first hid under a wagon loaded with supplies. Barcus crushed his head with the same foot that kicked the cart into splinters with one blow. The second climbed a tree. Barcus jumped into the air ten meters, grabbing the man, tossing him down, then landing directly on the man.
The last one was hiding inside a wooden outhouse. With one swing of his tool-bristling arm, he destroyed the outhouse, nearly cutting the man in half.
Barcus paused over the devastation he had created, longing for more targets to be found in his HUD. His thirst for vengeance was not yet quenched. But none appeared. He ordered a full thermal scan of the village and surrounding areas to ensure they didn't miss anyone.
“Barcus. There is one at your feet,” Em said. There was a bit of sadness in her voice.
Barcus looked down, and there was a thermal image of someone below the outhouse floor. He swept the wood aside with a single stroke revealing the midden pit, dug below the outhouse.
There was a boy in the foul wet pool, up to his armpits in fecal matter, shivering.
Barcus knew he must look like a horror backlit by the fire from the village burning behind him, covered in blood and gore. He ordered all the tools in his forearms to retract, large chunks of flesh falling away as they did.
Solstice 31: The Solstice 31 Saga, Books 1,2,3 Page 4