Preserving Will

by Alex Albrinck

  Hope had nodded. “He told me a few times that his childhood was very difficult. Now we know why.”

  It was that thought, the idea that the infant Will might be in danger, that motivated her to action this day. She climbed from the soft, warm bed, forcing herself not to look at the spot Will used to occupy. She stretched, using a bit of Energy to loosen her stiff muscles. After a quick shower, she packed clothing suitable for a woman spending time in the United States in 1995 into a backpack, shrugged the pack onto her back, and walked out the door and into the Cavern.

  Three centuries earlier, the hidden, underground city known as the Cavern hadn’t existed. The space had been empty, devoid of all life, and lacked even a trace amount of air to breathe. Will had located the empty space within the Antarctic landmass, along with the access tunnel, a passageway starting thousands of feet below the ocean’s surface. He possessed a vision and a degree of persistence that seemed more supernatural than the accomplishments achieved with the Aliomenti and Alliance. That vision had been more than fulfilled. If they’d teleported someone into the Cavern today, the visitor would swear they were outdoors in a tropical oasis, not inside a rocky cave buried under miles of rock, snow, and ice.

  A slight breeze caressed her cheek, and reflexively she put her hand to her face. She knew that fans had been embedded in the rocky walls forming the Cavern’s exterior, but it felt real. The air was fresh and clean, more heavily oxygenated than the air they’d breathe Outside, and there was faint hint of some unidentifiable scent that lifted her spirits. The grass and plants lining the path she traveled were real, grown from seed harvested from similar plants now native to the Cavern. The sound of rushing water greeted her ears, and moments later she crossed a footbridge spanning a modest river. The water was deep enough to enable boat travel; the bridges were designed to sense foot and river traffic, and would rotate aside to allow boats to pass in safety.

  A rumble of distant thunder sounded, producing reverberations in the ground as she walked. The winds increased in speed gradually, starting to whip her dark hair about. A single raindrop fell on her head, and she couldn’t help but laugh. Who could imagine an artificial thunderstorm happening three miles below the most desolate and deadly land on earth?

  As the rains increased in intensity, she thought of the man who had, and her mood rumbled like the thunder surrounding her. Nothing would stop her from protecting him as long as she was able. There were so many who owed their very existence to his courage and imagination.

  Hope bolted toward a small building along the path toward the center of the city, her motion off balance as she tried to move with the bag on her back. The building was a small food distribution facility, one where residents could make smoothies, and she looked around to see if anyone was working. Most functions in the Cavern were automated. Food production and preparation happened without human intervention… unless a human wanted to intervene. Complete automation meant everyone could work at the projects and activities of their choice; if no one wanted to work at a smoothie bar, the bar would still function without issue.

  “Hello?” Hope called. “Is anyone working here today?”

  “One moment!” The voice was sprightly and full of enthusiasm, and the Energy reaching her told Hope the speaker was a neophyte. The young woman emerged a moment later, beaming as she recognized Hope. “Shadow! What a pleasant surprise!”

  “Hello, Samantha,” Hope replied, smiling. Few knew her real name, and even fewer knew her birth name. Arthur’s obsession with finding and capturing Will had been legendary; they’d little doubt he’d employ a scorched earth policy if he learned his only daughter lived. And so Hope, who’d lived in the shadows for centuries, was known as the Shadow inside the Cavern, her true identity hidden for the safety of all.

  “I’ve been experimenting with some new combinations that have been quite refreshing,” Samantha explained. She began selecting fresh bits of fruit and vegetables. “Apples, bananas, and some mango, along with some greens. Interested?”

  Hope nodded, suddenly famished. “That sounds delicious. Thank you!”

  She watched as the young woman bustled about, clearly enjoying the work. It wasn’t something Hope had seen Outside. The humans living there rarely engaged in activity that was both productive—enabling them to meet their basic survival needs—and in line with their true passions. It made for many lives of quiet desperation. She hoped that she, or her children, might one day help alleviate that sad reality. Perhaps the vast fortune Will would accumulate in the human world could be put to work helping people live out their passions, with less concern about having a place to live or food to eat.

  Samantha chopped and blended the ingredients together, and then handed Hope a frothy mix. “It’s one of the new recyclable cups, by the way. There are bins scattered throughout the city for disposal.”

  Hope took a sip, and her eyes closed as the sweet flavor raptured her tongue. “This is absolutely delicious. Thank you so much!”

  Samantha beamed. “My pleasure.”

  The storm subsided; the random rainstorms rarely lasted for long during the day. “I’ll be heading out. It was good seeing you, Samantha.”

  “Likewise, Shadow.”

  The rainwater was absorbed into the walkways and into the underground drainage system. She maneuvered through the center of town and headed toward the beach and the end of the exit tunnel, enjoying the post-storm freshness to the air. She continued to sip on her smoothie as she walked, keeping her eyes open for one of the bins used for the disposal of nano-based dishware. Alliance research into miniaturized machines, robots, and building materials enabled them to create cups, plates, and cutlery that never had to be washed. Once used, the discarded items were dropped in bins that disassembled them into their component nanomaterials, and those were recycled into new dishware the following day. After finding one of the specialized bins, Hope finished her smoothie with a loud slurp, and dropped the cup inside. The cup disintegrated.

  She lifted her eyes toward the beach in time to see Eva materialize in front of her. The older woman had just returned from a trip to Coral Beach. “Eva!” Hope called. Eva had once been like a second mother to her, and she felt a strong attachment and fondness for the woman.

  Eva saw Hope and returned a warm smile. “Hello, Shadow. Are you leaving soon?”

  Hope nodded as the two women approached each other and embraced. How did it go?

  Very well. Our second target arrived just as I did, and I was able to speak with both of them. She has some work to finish there, and then they will both return to the Cavern for further briefings on the project.

  Hope raised her voice to a normal speaking tone. “I am. I have some interesting possible Alliance targets that I’m following up on. And…” She paused, feeling herself choke up, and forced herself to steady her voice. “I… just need to spend some time away from here.”

  Eva’s face clouded, and she reached out to squeeze Hope’s arm. “I wish that I knew the words to make the pain leave you. The best way to preserve and honor his memory is to continue the work of the Alliance in the world.”

  Hope nodded. “I agree. That’s what he’d want, more than anything else.” I’m going to go check on him.

  Eva’s eyes widened at the thought, exhilarated at the idea that Hope knew where a living Will was hiding, before the actual meaning of the words registered. You are going to see the infant Will. There was a tremendous sense of disappointment at the telepathically transmitted words, and Hope winced inwardly at the renewed sense of loss the words triggered.

  Eva then nodded in response to Hope’s spoken words. “Then that is what we will do. I wish you a safe and productive journey Outside, Shadow.”

  “Thanks, Eva.”

  Hope teleported into one of the subway pods used to move Alliance members between the Cavern and the undersea dock where the fleet of submarines rested, pulling the backpack into her lap for the journey. One of the docked vessels, a replica of the origi
nal Nautilus, was for her exclusive use. The original had been retired and sat hidden beneath the sea at a location that only Hope knew. That was the destination she set for the new Nautilus as she teleported aboard. As the vessel set out at a high rate of speed, invisible to the human eye and all artificial sensors, she checked the supplies. She found several days’ worth of frozen meat—mostly fish—along with fresh fruit and vegetables harvested from the Cavern’s automated farms. The on-board juicer would enable her to create fresh juices as desired, and the craft would create all the fresh drinking water she might need. The submarine, with its highly-developed air purification systems, could serve as her home for weeks, or months, if needed.

  She grimaced. Living underground for two months without seeing the light of day? She knew just such an experience awaited her in 2030. The difference? In that instance, she’d have her son there to keep her company.

  The rear of the craft boasted the most notable enhancement over the original Nautilus. The shuttle craft attached to the exterior was the most advanced flying transport vehicle the Alliance had yet created. Spherical in shape, the craft used gravity to power movement in all directions, including vertically—and did so invisible to the human eye and all human sensors, including radar. The all-purpose craft didn’t boast the long-term cache of supplies of the submarines. The underwater vessels stored volumes of food, clothing, and water, whereas the all-purpose flying craft were intended for short-range transport in the water, on the ground, or in the air. She’d use the submarine to reach the outskirts of Young Will’s home town, and then take the shuttle craft the rest of the way.

  Everything about the sub checked out, and Hope ordered the computer to plot the second leg of her journey to the United States for use after her initial side trip. That second trip, the official one, would take her through the Atlantic Ocean, then the Gulf of Mexico, up the Mississippi River, and then traverse the Illinois River before she made the remainder of the journey in the flying transport craft.

  The thought of her final destination made her think of Will.

  Adam had been quite certain that the wound inflicted by Porthos had been fatal. He had no protection from such a wound, either. Will had taken a sword splitter—a vest that displaced the atoms forming a sword around the intended victim—but Adam reported that Will had taken it off before moving to meet the Hunters. He’d fully expected he might die on that trip, and the loss of the vest, and Adam’s fury at the hypnotized traitor in their midst, had convinced Hope and many others in the Cavern that Will was dead.

  She thought of Eva, though, of her questioning of Adam. Had Adam actually seen Will die? No; Will had teleported far away, based upon the massive wash of Energy the teleportation effort had produced. Did Porthos go after Will? No, the Energy expended would put Will beyond even Porthos’ Tracking senses.

  She felt the flicker of something inside, something she’d not dared allow herself to feel often since Adam’s crushing announcement. Could Will still be alive? And if he was… where had he gone? Why hadn’t he contacted them?

  The last was the easiest question to answer. All clues extracted from Will’s memories, all communications from the “diaries” sent back in time with Will from the distant future, said Will didn’t exist after that encounter with the Hunters. Nobody had seen him, nobody knew if he was alive. Will was someone very bound to his perceived duty; if he was alive and wasn’t supposed to be, then he’d figure out a way to stay hidden. He’d still find a way to do good, to be the change he wanted in the world. But they’d never know. Not even her.

  But he had to go somewhere. Adam’s description of the events that day suggested he’d traveled a long distance from the island housing the Aliomenti Headquarters and casino. That meant he’d had a target in mind, and probably had picked out his spot before he’d ever left to go to the island.

  In her rare moments of quiet hope, she’d thought through that scenario, the one where Will had survived and traveled into hiding. It didn’t take her long to figure out the most likely spot he’d visit. It was a spot only she knew. But that knowledge was a double-edged sword, for it gave her the chance to confirm her worst fear, to end all wishful thinking that he’d survived. She might arrive there and find Will’s body. But she’d know for certain he was dead, then, and the closure might well be for the best.

  But she might also learn that he was alive, that he’d survived that attack after all.

  She glanced at the map showing the submarine’s course, watching as the craft moved toward a set of coordinates in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. The new Nautilus was travelling to the final resting place of the original.

  It was Will’s style. He wouldn’t compromise her by letting her know ahead of time his plans, for her emotion at his supposed death might not be genuine. It had happened from the very beginning, when he’d not told her Eva had survived Arthur’s literal backstabbing, for he’d not wanted to put on her the pressure of maintaining a false mask of grief. Yet he’d set things up so that she would be the only one who could learn the truth, and she could do so at any time.

  She was on her way there now. But until the journey ended, she could do nothing but wait.

  Hope spent as much of the trip sleeping as her body could manage. Single-person journeys like this were a mental challenge, for she missed the companionship to be found on the full-sized submarines carrying dozens of people. There were books aboard the vessel, and she took the opportunity to read. Human imagination fascinated her, and she enjoyed the science fiction and fantasy worlds authors crafted with nothing but words, marveling at the degree of accuracy with which they’d predicted the advances that the Aliomenti and Alliance had already achieved in their visions of future and foreign worlds. She’d read, nibbling on bits of baked fish, sipping away at the sweet nectar of blended fruits and vegetables, enjoying the comfort of the mattresses that always made her feel like she was sleeping on air.

  And then, suddenly, it seemed, she was there, as if she’d teleported the craft the distance rather than sailed it for thousands of miles beneath the ocean waves. She had a copy of the original Nautilus’ remote, and used it to trigger the vessel’s exterior light. She saw it: the brief flash illuminating the otherwise dark undersea world.

  There was no time like the present. She took a deep breath and teleported aboard the remote craft.

  The air smelled stale, reflecting the fact that no one had been aboard for months—or far longer. She looked around, listening, trying to sense if a living man was aboard, or had been aboard recently. She listened with higher senses as well, trying to find a hint of Will’s Energy aboard the boat.

  She found nothing. No Will. No body. No hint of Energy. No sign that he’d been aboard this vessel at any point in time in the past year.

  That made no sense. This was the only place he could have gone, where he’d be safe in terms of masking the Energy burst of his teleportation arrival, and where he’d have the isolation he’d need to recover from his injuries. It was the only location that made sense when paired with the amount of Energy expended upon his departure from the island.

  She sat down a moment, thinking about the man once again.

  His every action had been calculated to keep her safe, to protect her from even the possibility of danger from Arthur. He’d insisted she be called the Shadow in the Cavern. He’d discouraged her use of Energy in the presence of the Aliomenti, not because she couldn’t hold her own, but because he didn’t want Porthos having anything he could use to Track her. Everything was done to protect her and ensure that she survived to meet Young Will, and that together the two of them would bring Josh and Angel into the world.

  The children.

  Something suddenly snapped clear in her mind, something that had nagged her about one of Will’s memories, something she’d never before been able to articulate, but which she now saw with perfect clarity. She scavenged around the submarine, locating several sheets of paper and a pen, and ran several calculations. When she f
inished, she wrote a note to a man who might not be alive, but whom she was certain would come through this ship at some point in time if he still drew breath.

  Hope teleported back to the new Nautilus.

  She’d not answered her key questions about Will’s survival and possible whereabouts with any certainty.

  But her realization about the children, and the note that realization enabled her to leave behind, gave her more hope than she’d had in months that everything was happening exactly as it was supposed to happen.

  III

  Redemption

  1996 A.D.

  “They are here.”

  Clint looked up as Eva walked into his home, her heels thumping loudly on the solid wood floors of the old manor house. The house had been built more than a century earlier, and though it lacked many modern amenities, it fit Clint’s needs perfectly. Most critically, it was highly isolated from large human populations, giving him the opportunity to practice his Energy skills without fear of observation by those untrained in its usage.

  But Clint didn’t expect to live here long.

  “How much time do you think we have?” he asked.

  “I doubt they will wait long,” Eva replied. Her voice was grave. “After Will was lost to them, they will wonder as we do if he has survived. They have spent time healing their wounds, but I believe they will now step up the frequency of Hunts. If Will is gone, they believe such efforts will drive a stake through the heart of the Alliance. If Will survives, the increased abductions of his friends may draw him out of hiding.”