The tall, striking, blunt, sometimes goofy ex-astronaut had tears in her eyes. “Take me with you. I have nothing here.”
Pav hugged her.
“Colin, what about you?” Rachel said.
“Love to take you up on the offer,” he said. “But I have a family.”
“I understand.” She hugged him, realizing that it was their first physical contact of any kind . . . which seemed inadequate, given the man’s importance to her and her family. To Tea she said, “We should give him the keys and let him get away.”
“Me, too,” Xavier said.
Rachel turned to him. “What are you talking about?”
“I’m staying.”
“Why?” Yahvi said. She sounded stricken.
Xavier slipped an arm around her and smiled. “Kiddo, there is a shitload of work to do here. Planet’s still full of Reivers.” He pointed to the van. “But we’ve got the proteus and Sub K, and me and Edgely here might be able to do something about that.”
“Zhao is doing it,” Pav said.
“No,” Yahvi said. “They couldn’t deploy all their weapons. They chose to come for us.” She frowned, still listening. “There maybe be new orders.”
“Hey,” Xavier said, his voice growing more serious. “Once I’ve got this Reiver thing dealt with, I’m going to figure out how to build a Beehive right here. I think people might really be interested in not being dead forever.”
Xavier’s ideas always surprised Rachel. She was going to miss him terribly. “You’re sure?”
“You know I really hated cooking on Keanu,” he said. “This will be better.”
Edgely was already in the shotgun seat of the van. Xavier took the keys and ran around to the driver’s side. “Which way are you going?” Tea said.
“Always forward,” Xavier said, slamming the door and gunning the van.
“Good move,” Pav said, pointing back the way they had come.
Dust rose from the road. “How far away are they?” Rachel said.
Pav sighed. “Not far enough.”
A tank rolled over the hill into view. It was dark green, tracked, twice the size of their van . . . and sporting a nasty-looking weapon pointed at a forty-five-degree angle. “Now what?” Tea said, jerking a thumb toward the vesicle. “Do they have missiles on that thing?”
“No,” Rachel said. “And it won’t matter. This could be the first of a hundred of those things.” She was out of energy, out of ideas. The vesicle and a return to Keanu was right there! So close . . . even if the vesicle ballooned out now, it would suck up hostile forces, too.
At least Xavier and Edgely might get away.
Without firing, however, the big brutal-looking vehicle slewed to a stop a few meters away.
“Mommy . . .” Yahvi said. They were all rooted where they stood, Rachel realized. Like plants.
The side hatch opened, and Zeds emerged. “What the hell?” Pav said.
Yahvi was running toward the Sentry, throwing herself into both sets of arms.
“I have others,” the Sentry announced. And out of the car behind him came Counselor Nigel, looking shaken yet excited. “I want to come with you,” he said. “If you’ll have me.”
“Sure,” Yahvi said, surprising Rachel.
One more passenger emerged from the tank . . . a Reiver Aggregate anteater. “Oh, Jesus!” Pav said, and bent to reach for a rock.
Rachel felt like doing the same thing, but Zeds stepped in front of the creature. “This unit has shown independence and initiative. We would not be here without her.”
“We can’t take a Reiver back to Keanu!” Pav said.
“She will be my responsibility,” Zeds said.
He had no right to claim responsibility . . . except that he had risked his life. “Fine,” Rachel said, “she comes.” Sometimes you had to make quick decisions. And live with them.
“Mom!” Yahvi said. “It’s happening!”
Rachel turned, just as the white bulk of the vesicle expanded and enclosed them all.
Keep watching the skies!
LAST LINE OF THE THING FROM ANOTHER WORLD
(DALE SCOTT’S FAVORITE MOVIE)
DALE
After what seemed like weeks (twenty minutes had passed since the integration), there was no longer any way of telling where Dale Scott ended and Keanu began. The entity that was formerly Dale Scott had been absorbed and uploaded. There was no longer an I or an individual—some residual memories survived, like a drop of cream in a cup of coffee . . . separate, but for how long?
There was no regret, only mutual acceptance. Especially as electronic eyes opened and ears engaged and data flowed. First there was total awareness of Keanu itself, the habitats buzzing with life and energy, then the tunnels and passageways pulsing with fluid—like blood in veins—and, finally, the sense of size. . . . Keanu rotated slowly, feeling to a former human like shoulders being shrugged, like rising from a chair. Then dived forward, in a slow fall—
Beyond a growing awareness of Keanu’s self, the universe opened. The crackling storm of solar radiation—it had a smell like woodsmoke and a sound like heavy rain.
Tens of thousands of stars and nebulae colored the sky, some of them feeling so close that there was an urge to reach out and grab a handful—
But close by, there was a world that could be grasped. Or certainly could be known. Images. Data. So many signals and sounds.
Then, more closely, more intelligibly . . . like a three-dimensional image clarifying:
Terrified crowds gathered at religious sites in Asia and Europe.
Radio, television, and Net channels shuddered under the weight of warnings, reassurances, commentaries. . . . What was Keanu doing? Was it out of control? Was it on a suicide dive—impacting Earth would destroy both worlds.
Was it attacking? Missiles in the western region of Free Nation U.S. were armed but not launched, almost certainly because the controlling authorities realized the futility of detonating a bomb on Keanu’s surface. Agencies could easily assess the minimal damage caused by the explosion that destroyed Venture and Brahma in 2019. It would be futile, a pebble bouncing off a containership.
Within the habitats . . . the Skyphoi were indifferent. The Sentries were alarmed. Humans, however, were eager and curious. Voices called out for a view; at least one human was trying to re-create the Keanu protective-suiting system in order to go onto the surface. (He would fail.)
But Keanu itself, Dale himself, saw the sights . . . the blinding snowy landscape of Keanu . . . the huge, shadowed crescent of Earth growing visibly larger with each passing moment.
The former Dale Scott had fragmentary memories of low flights, hazy greenish targets, the grunting release of weapons, the glorious explosion of light.
This was so much better. So, so, so much better.
The sky is falling!
ONE BILLION TEXTS, APRIL 23, 2040
CARBON-143
CONTEXT: As the countdown to Fire Light entered its final ten minutes, Carbon-143 noted a system-wide surge in data use and access. This information triggered first concern, since additional access might well signal examination of her searches and modifications, then satisfaction, since it also indicated extreme bandwidth consumption and confusion.
NARRATIVE: Assembly ceased at the minus-two-hour point, as the Ring system required every possible unit of energy for Fire Light. The order was hardly necessary; so many units had been withdrawn from assembly and ordered to the staging areas that activity had essentially ceased.
Carbon-143 and her formation were ordered to the staging area and their 732 vehicles, as part of the third wave. She wanted to remain at her station, where she could monitor the data flow from the control center, specifically the actions of Whit Murray.
But that was no longer possible. She could only hope t
hat Whit was able to override the command and take brief control of the process.
And stop the Ring from allowing the invasion and the destruction of most human life.
DATA: As she and her formation emerged from the operations and assembly building and moved toward their staging area, joining up with four other formations, Carbon-143 noticed movement in the shadows to her left. The area was open and used for the delivery of raw materials. There should have been no activity, but there was.
She turned toward it, hoping for additional visual information, and registered an anomalous being known only from historical data: a four-armed entity known by several names, most recently encountered by the Aggregates as a “Sentry” on the Near-Earth Object Keanu.
CONCLUSION: Sentries were hostile to all Aggregates, and Carbon-143 anticipated the commencement of violence. Then she noted a second figure, this one human, staggering next to the Sentry.
“Hey!” the human said, waving to Carbon-143. “It’s me, Whit!”
EVEN MORE THINGS WE DON’T HAVE ON KEANU
TV shows and movies, except for the handful on the computers that came with us
Automobiles
Cats
Cat videos
Oreo cookies
XAVIER TOUTANT, AS QUOTED BY EDGAR CHANG
FOR THE NEWSKY NEWS SERVICE
XAVIER
“Why are you stopping?”
Xavier had gotten the van out of the meadow and beyond another range of low hills when he suddenly slowed and pulled off the road.
“Don’t you want to see?”
“I’m ten thousand kilometers from home,” Edgely said. “I want to flee.”
“Some fucking astronomer you turned out to be.”
No matter what Edgely said or did, Xavier wasn’t going to miss the show. Especially because—his optimism with Rachel to one side—it might be the last thing he ever experienced.
He had gathered sufficient data from Zeds to know that the ignition of the Reiver Ring was likely to mean bad things for organic life all around the site. There was no way Xavier and Edgely could get far away fast enough.
Now, there was no guarantee it would be bad . . . especially, Zeds said, if something happened to shorten the Ring’s operation. Which was apparently the goal.
Xavier could have avoided the risk by going aboard the vesicle, which had just shot itself into the sky behind them. But his time on Earth had convinced him . . . he didn’t belong on Keanu. Life there was too limiting for him, professionally and otherwise. Even his romances, such as they were, had grown messy. Had he been living on Earth, he’d have had to leave town or join the Army, as friends had done.
He was willing to risk death to live on Earth again.
And the view was worth it. “Come on, Colin,” Xavier said. “Look!”
Edgely was behind him. “Oh, I’m looking.”
The Ring above Site A was one of the most spectacular things Xavier ever hoped to see. It was like watching a Ferris wheel the size of a city, glowing and rotating in the sky.
And growing bigger as he watched. “Crazy, isn’t it?”
“Not as crazy as this, mate,” Edgely said, forcibly turning Xavier to the east.
At first it looked like a full moon, the biggest and brightest he’d ever seen.
But this moon continued to grow brighter, becoming so bright he wanted to squint.
And it was moving, beginning to glow as it created a plasma field with its passage through the incredibly thin but still detectable atmosphere of Earth at a thousand kilometers.
Keanu on approach.
And streaking toward it, another bright light—the vesicle.
Would they make it?
And if they did, where would they be? Even Zeds had been unsure . . . the Sentry thought Keanu was making a close approach, to strike at the Ring and Reivers while allowing Rachel and the others to get home.
But no one knew for sure.
The vesicle seemed to merge with Keanu. Hard to tell . . . Keanu was so big that Xavier felt he was only seeing part of it now.
“The Ring is moving!” Edgely said.
Xavier turned. Good God, the Ring had expanded so much that all he could see now was its lower rim.
And even that was edge-on.
Feeling overwhelmed and about to be crushed, he stepped back, stumbling.
“Don’t bother,” Edgely said. “There’s nowhere to go!”
Here came Keanu, filling the sky, its very passage creating a hot breeze, roaring like an electric waterfall.
He knew he should close his eyes because this collision would be blinding, explosive, deadly . . .
“Oh my God!” Edgely said. “It went through!”
Xavier blinked, and thought he saw the last section of Keanu disappearing through the Ring.
As it vanished, the tower behind them exploded with a zap so loud it hurt their ears. They could see it toppling. Flashes from its destruction were reflected in the mirrors.
Now his eyes hurt, too.
He covered them, looked away, hoped for his vision to return.
And hoped that he wasn’t being baked by radiation.
“How are you doing?” Edgely said.
“As well as can be expected. How about you?”
Edgely opened his mouth to speak, then closed it and shrugged.
“Now we move,” Xavier said, heading back to the van.
Edgely was still staring at the fractured sky. Finally he turned, shaking his head. “I imagine this is going to be challenging.”
“Las Vegas is only a few hours away. It’s not Houston or even New Orleans, but amazing things are possible in a place like that.”
“Won’t police be looking for us?”
Xavier shrugged. “I think everyone is going to be a bit distracted for quite some time.”
Epilogue
How you have fallen from heaven, O morning star, son of the dawn! You have been cast down to Earth, you who once laid low the nations!`
ISAIAH 14:12
“Are you up?”
Rachel stirred, opened her eyes. She was in the small residence she shared with Pav. All was quiet, calm, as it should have been.
As if she had never left.
“I think so.” Pav lay next to her, spooning her, his voice muffled.
“I suppose it’s time,” he said.
They both began to stir.
It wouldn’t have been difficult to convince Rachel that the past eleven days had been a kind of feverish nightmare . . . that she had never launched to Earth, met other humans, fled across half a planet, escaped from Reiver captivity.
And returned a Reiver to Keanu.
In every morning of their life together, she and Pav had held each other briefly, exchanging kisses, resetting their relationship ahead of the day. Even on Earth.
It was especially necessary today, because they had to go to the Temple now and face Jaidev and Harley and Sasha and the others, all seven hundred of them.
And Yahvi and her new friend, Whit—and her other new friend, Nigel.
And Zeds and Carbon-143/A72.
And Zhao and Makali Pillay, their rescuers—Bobbi and the others aboard the vesicle.
And Sanjay Bhat, still alive, thank God, demonstrating with every breath that Revenants might live longer than a few days. He had relayed a message from Keanu itself, or rather, from Dale Scott, who had vanished while somehow inserting himself into the system. “Keanu wanted to go home,” he said, the only real explanation Rachel had received for the NEO’s dive through the Ring.
She pondered their new situation, living inside an entity that was now alive and functioning in a new way. Would humans be able to control Keanu? Or were they now just passengers, insects carried by an indifferent, uncaring vessel? She hated tha
t idea, not only because it might lead to her death and the deaths of those she loved.
It was just the wrong way for humans to face the universe.
More immediately, Rachel had yet to consider what might still happen with a working Beehive. Would Pav’s father, Taj, reemerge now? Would her own father, Zack? For that matter, what about her mother, Megan?
And what if Keanu chose to create Revenants from people none of them knew, the dead of Earth? Rachel simply didn’t know what to expect, if anything.
That much hadn’t changed.
They had been back on Keanu a day, by their internal clocks. But Keanu was in a new place, a new space . . . and aimed toward the home world of the Architects. Soon, surely, they would detect signals, perhaps direct communications. They might be welcomed. After all, this was Keanu returning . . . the original Architect warship launched ten thousand years ago.
They might be shot at. They might be destroyed.
They might be ignored. It was impossible to predict. All Rachel knew was that she and the others would deal as best they could.
She wondered, though . . . had their magic leap meant a farewell to Earth? A door had opened to take them here. Might some other door open to take them back one day?
That would be another adventure.
Assuming anything that had happened in the past twenty years was an adventure. Yes, she had had unusual experiences—but so had those she left on Earth. Love was a unique experience. Parenthood. Work. Accomplishment. Failure.
Death.
Adventure was really just life, the days flowing into and out of each other.
And a new day was beginning.
Acknowledgments
Our families have been silent passengers on Keanu’s voyage for the past five years, so we thank them: Marina, Sayle, and Milo; Cynthia, Ryan, and Alexandra.
We are also grateful to Simon Lipskar at Writers House, to Ginjer Buchanan at Ace and Bella Pagan at Tor/Macmillan UK, and to Nellie Reed and Lauren Bello at Phantom Four.
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