by James Garvey
"Shall we take a walk?" Gorian's already strolling out the hatch.
Like most of the ruined places, only birds, rats, and insects are present to watch us. The closest human village is at least a hundred kilometers east. The building has a large door with symbols I've never seen before. Gorian pulls out a plasma rifle and fires, the door evaporating before us. "After you. Pregnant women first."
The interior of the building is filled with huge stacks of metallic towers and hundreds of glass rooms with tables and fixtures I don't recognize. "What was this place?"
Gorian produces her tablet. "The records are murky at best. I think this was a large research laboratory. The language is a mixture of German, Russian, and English. We speak primarily English now. I'll see whether I can translate some of it." She fiddles with her computer. "Ah, according to the coordinates, I think we want to go down to the next level. They stored samples down there."
We're underground now and enter a large hallway lined with metal doors. Gorian stops and reads the translations. "No shit. Really?"
"What?"
"This is it. They really kept some."
"Of what?"
"The agent that crashed human society on earth. It was bacteria - tiny organisms that live everywhere. These just had a taste for human-made materials. "
"Plastic."
"Yeah. I can’t believe it was a bioweapon – they scare me worse than anything else. We've got to get out of here. We're in danger of picking these things up and of contaminating everything - starting the whole damn thing over again. And it could get out into space. Living organisms are notoriously difficult to contain once they escape."
"Wait, I want some.”
Gorian stares at me. “Are you kidding or simply stupid?”
“This is the bargaining chip. We hold this in front of the Institute, the whole of space. If they don’t meet our demands, we release it. We have nothing to lose.”
“Have you lost your mind? We have something to lose - our ships, our transmitters, and our computers.” She lifts up her tablet. “Are you willing to give all that up? The Raven? Etch’s vessel? The ability to travel beyond earth? What about medical technology? The Institute doctors can extend your life and keep Eliza and your baby from ever getting sick. For mars sake, you’d likely be dead or at least legless if it wasn’t for our evil technology.”
“Gorian, I lived a peaceful, healthful life before all of you came around. We were able to make a good living from the earth. With Thresh gone and the fog banished, we can return to that. With the lake, I can explore other worlds and communicate with others like me. Like Flip, there has to be others here on earth. We can spread this knowledge to others of our kind. The technology – it can come gradually and through our own design and progress.”
“You would deny others the ability to explore the wonders of the lake for your own special needs? You’d create a class of people – pilots- with access to knowledge and expect the unfortunate others to blindly follow you? Is this the same Amy Marksman I met so long ago?”
I pull out my plasma rifle. “Sorry Gorian. Those are your needs not mine. I have the people of earth to protect. I hope I never have to use the stuff.” I open a locker and remove a handful of ampules, placing them gingerly into a canvas sack. “You wouldn’t dare shoot me now Gorian. The stuff might splatter and spread.”
She looks anguished.
“I want you to stay here. I will send Etch to get you once I’ve safely brought these home.”
“Amy, please don’t do this. I thought we were friends.”
“Gorian, it’s because we are friends and that I love Ferris, you, and Grey very much that I’m doing this.”
I back away, pointing a lethal weapon at my friend and leaving her in the dark.
I shudder during the three-hour flight back to Yellow Stone. The Raven is concerned. “Amy, where is Gorian? Is she alright?”
“She wanted to stay there and study the site further. I will send Etch and the Fuerst to get her when we return home.”
The Raven’s silent, assessing the tone of my voice. “Amy, you aren’t telling me the entire story. We have spent many months together. You have visited my core processor. Please be honest with me.”
I can’t believe that I’ve developed a relationship with a machine – a human fabricated thing. Troll was horrific, but it’s true colors were easy to see. The Raven, the Fuerst, and Sam have taught me that machines are helpful and perhaps intuitive. If I release the agent from these glass capsules, would I be complicit in their murder?
I decide to take the risk. Knowing what happened to Melat, I am well aware that even this kind machine is capable of wiping out its master. “Raven, I’m conflicted. If you knew the future and could change it to save the people and place you loved, would you do it?”
“I love you, Amy. I would do what it takes to keep you safe.”
I feel dizzy. “What if it involved hurting a few of the ones you love to help the many?”
“You would need to tell the ones in danger what you plan to do. It is only fair. If they are truly loving, they will make the necessary sacrifice.”
A machine just described love and altruism to me. I’m silent for the remainder of the trip, experiencing horrid, contradictory, confusing impulses. The canvas bag sits on a passenger chair. Is the substance I’m bringing home another form of the brown fog from the lake come to haunt me?
I approach Yellow Stone when the Fuerst and Phobos appear at the sides of the Raven. Etch’s voice fills the cabin. “Amy, Gorian contacted us. You cannot land at Yellow Stone. Land now at the specified coordinates or we will have to force you down.”
Gorian must have fashioned a transmitter at the lab in Frankfurt. “Etch, you can’t stop me. I’ll drop this stuff on top of the Institute building long before you shoot me down. Stand back.”
The Raven’s curious. “Amy, what are you doing?”
“I have a substance that will allow my people to take back control of our lives from the Institute.”
“What does it do?”
“I have to be honest with you. It will destroy you and other ships like you. Pretty much all of the Institute technology. But I would only use it if we were in danger.”
The ship stops. “Very well. I will help you.”
We shoot straight into the sky and begin diving at the Institute building.
Etch chimes in. “Amy. Please land at the Yellow Stone clearing. We will talk there.”
“Etch. I want the Fuerst and Phobos to be absent. I want Theo and no one else waiting for me. If not, I have agreed with the Raven for her to drop vials of the substance on the building and then fly into space. There, she will spread the substance to mars, home of your precious Institute.”
“Understood. I hope you know what you are doing Amy Marksman.” The two ships fly up and away.
CHAPTER 21: RELEASE
The Raven cools in the grass as I hug Theo. The ship knows that any tampering or attack will give her my permission to carry out my plan. I have a few ampules containing the bug or whatever it is in my pocket for extra protection.
Theo whispers in my ear. “They have Eliza.”
My hand moves to my pocket and I grasp the glass containers. “Who are these people? They’re no better than Thresh.” I swear I feel the baby kicking angrily in my belly.
“Be careful Amy. They’re watching from the walls.”
I shout, "Give me back my daughter now or I'll release the substance."
A voice travels through the air. It's Amanda, the governess of the Institute laboratory. "I'd rethink that if I were you, Amy. Eliza's been quite the helper to us."
"Theo, I thought I left Eliza with Magarat."
"When Gorian called Etch, Amanda took them away."
"Why didn't you fight?"
"It's kind of hard to fight when you're outgunned."
"Didn't the villagers stand up for her?"
He looks down. "No. They watched as she and Magarat were led
away."
A small group of Institute soldiers and Amanda appear at the wall of the city. "Amy, it is so nice to see you, although I wish the circumstances were better. Come with us so we can join Eliza. She's been asking for you."
I consider ending it here. I have but to give the Raven my command and throw these vials on the ground to start the end for Amanda and her kind. But I'd certainly forfeit my life and that of Eliza and Theo. No one in the village would lift a finger for us in this grassy place as the soldiers overcame us. Worse, for earth, I would risk the potential of another Thresh reopening the gateway and destroying humanity. I need more time.
"Do not touch me," I say holding a vial in my hand. "I want to see Eliza."
Theo and I follow Amanda and her guards into a large room with a table and many chairs. Vanne and Grey are seated. Grey looks queasy, while his companions gaze at me with a mix of fear and anger.
"Well, Amy, you've put us in a bind." Vanne sits forward. "Would you like a refreshment?"
"I want Eliza now. Where is she?"
Amanda growls, "Give us the vials and you can have her."
Vanne smiles slightly. "We apologize Amy. We're your guests here. It's ironic that our shared ancestors unleashed this agent and that we're now reunited, facing the same threat. What are your needs?"
"You need to leave earth. You can only visit with permission of an elected council of Yellow Stone and someday other people of earth."
"Well, that was the plan all along," Vanne says. "We are only here to work with you and to help you better your condition here on earth."
I sigh. "You might say that and even believe that right now. But I've seen the future and know that we are moving down a wrong path. You're poisoning the minds of our people, blurring their ability to see clearly. We need to slow down and consider our next steps carefully. Now, I've said my piece. My daughter. Now."
Vanne looks at Grey, expecting him to speak. Grey stares at his hands, remaining silent.
Amanda pulls out a pretty mirrored brush and strokes her hair. "You know Eliza can see the future too?"
I hold the ampule before me with my finger on the tip. "I only need to break this and it'll spread."
"Very well. Follow me." Amanda tucks her hairbrush into a small red bag on the table.
We enter a small dark room with a screened wall. Through the mesh, I see Eliza sitting on the floor of an adjacent room with a slight woman I don't recognize, Magarat looking terrified, and a small, tawny motionless animal.
"Take me to her." I demand.
"Watch." Amanda says
The unknown woman, who I sense is a pilot, puts her hand on Eliza's hand. "Show me what you learned to do honey bee."
The animal is a dead cat. Eliza considers it, closes her eyes, and the cat twitches. Magarat covers her mouth with her hand. Eliza concentrates on the animal for a few moments and then moves on to playing with a rag doll.
“Interesting, isn’t it Amy? She can do that without the organic matrix you call the fog. Very talented indeed but so misguided. I wonder what other tricks the woman, Thresh, taught your little girl? We can help you restore her, heal her – undo the things that witch did to your daughter. But we need you to give us the vials and tell the Raven to stand down.”
I’m paralyzed and anguished. “Give me Eliza. I need some time.” Theo grabs me as my knees buckle.
Amanda gives me a sympathetic pat. “I’m so sorry we had to do it this way. You gave us no choice bringing that – material – here. Hand me the vials. Please.”
My mind is swimming. I pull the glass containers out of my pocket and rest them in my palm. The liquid within resembles water. I wonder how something so seemingly benign can lead to the decline of a great civilization. My eyes close and I drop them on the floor, crushing them under my feet.
Amanda shouts. “Initiate biosecurity.” The guards run from the room and return with large guns. Before they can fire, the floor, walls, and screen in the room hiss and bubble, corroding before our eyes. One of the guards manages to release some flames from her weapon, but the gun quickly crumbles and fire jumps onto her uniform. She screams and falls onto the ground.
Theo and I jump through the hole where the screen once stood. Eliza, Magarat, and the woman stand, mesmerized by the commotion. Eliza jumps into Theo’s arms and I lead Magarat out.
Amanda’s clothes dissolve from her body. She’s trying to brush the material off but spreads it around, speeding the process.
I pause, considering her. “Amanda, I would recommend that you evacuate the building. I’ve no idea how long the beams will support the other floors.”
We run into the gardens surrounding the Institute laboratory on the shore of the lake. It’s a glorious day, the sun warmly greeting us. The building looks gorgeous, gleaming in the light, not yet betraying the infection eating it from within. I watch the Institute workers run out, their clothing in tatters and their weapons disintegrating in their hands as I lightly brush the three remaining intact vials in my pocket.
I yell to the Raven. “Run my dear ship. Leave this place before the disease gets you too.” I see the ship rising in the sky and then zipping away at an impossible speed.
“Did you send the ship to mars?” Theo’s incredulous.
“No, not yet. We’ll see what happens.” We watch as the building collapses from its considerable weight. Shattered glass and crushed metal roll into the lake.
On the horizon, the shapes of the Phobos and Fuerst appear. They are clearly cautious about approaching too close. The bacteria’s likely billowing in the air above, contaminating anything artificial that comes too close. I smile at the thought of Gorian throwing a tantrum in the Fuerst’s cabin, with Etch chuckling under his breath.
Grey, Amanda, and Vanne sit under a tree, with barely a stich of clothing on them. “Come on Grey, let’s get you some clothes.” He stands and walks with me to the village, leaving his companions behind.
Ricard greets us at the gate. “What do we do about the Institute people?”
I shrug. “Show them compassion. Let’s get them some clothes and shelter. I have no idea whether their people will come to rescue them given the danger that’s now here. Perhaps the Institute will ditch them just like they did our ancestors centuries ago.”
“What will they do?” Theo scratches his chin.
“I have no idea. Maybe you can find a couple of blacksmiths and farmers in there.” I take Eliza from his arms and head into town for lunch.
Grey yells at me. “What do I tell Ferris about Gorian?”
“I’m sure Etch will be back with her when he knows it’s safe to return. Gorian’s resourceful. She’ll be back, if it’s just to beat my ass.”
Eliza, Theo, and I navigate the street back to our house, when people start shrieking. A woman exclaims, “My necklace, it's gone.” A boy riding a small bike he received from the Institute falls down as part of it disintegrates. People run from the streets as the Institute-made portions of their clothing melt away.
I hold Theo’s hand tight. “Looks like the goop has infected the town.”
“They’ll be alright,” he smiles. “Everything that matters is made of metal or wood and will still be around after this passes.”
Once we’re home, I sit Eliza down. “What’d they do to you honey?”
“Nothing. We just played.”
“What kind of game?”
“The lady asked me if I could wake up the cat. I don’t know how I did it. I just thought about being a cat and it moved. But it didn’t wake up.”
I’ve avoided trying it but it’s time. I focus my thoughts on my girl. I say with my mind, “Can you hear me?”
“You’re doing what my other mommy, the bad woman, did with me. You can talk without your mouth.”
“Can you do that too?
“Yes. Can I eat lunch now?
CHAPTER 22: AFTERMATH
We're eating lunch on a dock at the lake shore. Eliza throws rocks, examining the strange wa
ys the ripples seem to expand and contract, rather than stretching out ever further. It is an odd place where the rules of nature don’t seem to work very well. Iggy and his children sit at the end of the pier talking. I lament that there is no way we humans, with the exception of Eliza, can understand their language.
"Poor Iggy." Theo stands in front of our friend who's unable to communicate with us because his transmitter fell apart.
I sigh, “It’s all my fault.”
He produces a tablet of paper and writes in perfect script: My children and I will survive. We need to learn sign language to communicate with you. First, we must eat. Without a food synthesizer, we will need to search for food in the lake. We will return soon.
A tear trickles down my cheek. I miss talking with him and now they must leave. "I'm so sorry, Iggy. I may have acted hastily. But I still feel I did the right thing. We'll make an aquatic garden for you and your kids. We'll grow the best greens you've ever eaten."
Iggy nods, smiles in his toothless way, and he and his children slip into the water.
Samuel hands me a perfect apple. "You did right, Amy. There's no telling what those people were up to. We're safer in our own hands."
"Thanks Samuel. The only person I'm worried about is Grey. He hasn't seen Gorian in days and wonders whether Etch will bring her back."
"Oh, she'll be back. No way she's leaving him and the baby alone."
Ricard steps in from the city gate. "We've got some angry people out there."
I frown. "We save them from Thresh and the brown death. Now they're ready to lynch us."
"Cooler heads will prevail Missus Marksman." Ricard snatches my apple and takes a bite. "Show some patience. I’ve lived among them my entire life. They’re resilient and are already seeing the humor behind all this."
“What humor?” I ask.
“They were acting like spoiled children – getting candy without earning it. We need to work for what we get. The kids have already learned enough to improve things around here immensely. We’ll be eating better and having less sickness. It’s all good and occurring at our own pace.”