"Luna's your daughter?"
"Yes. Alejandro was my brother."
Solly glanced across at her as she gazed out over the water. "Did he pass away on the Long Night?"
"No, he was injured bringing Luna to me."
"I'm sorry," Solly said. He paused for a moment, working out whether he should follow his line of thought and then decided to go for it. "Were they the only ones, aside from you, to get the new implants? Among people you know, I mean."
She looked across at him. "Yes. I've been thinking about that—it seems to me that the upgrade might have saved our lives, though it didn't help my brother, in the end."
"There's definitely a connection," Solly pressed on. "Most of the people with implants died that night, but not everyone. The four of us survived. I had an upgrade before I took the job in New York…" His voice trailed off. "Oh my God…"
"What is it?"
"I had my wife—my ex-wife—and my kids upgraded at the same time. They might still be alive!"
Suddenly, the dull ache of grief was replaced by the agony of desperate hope. "I've got to go to Texas. I've got to find them!" His entire body exploded with sudden energy and he wanted nothing more than to step outside and begin the journey south.
He felt Paulie's hand on his arm. "Hold it, cowboy. I reckon you're right about your family, but let's just finish what we're talking about and see where it goes. We know that the Lees are planning a second wave of some sort that will finish off the survivors. That must include somehow hacking into the newer implants, and that means your family is still under threat unless we do something about it."
Solly was going to respond, but Scott Lee, who'd been sleeping when Solly had last looked at the back seat, spoke first.
"The Lees don't want to kill the survivors," he said, his voice betraying exhaustion and pain. "They want slaves."
Paulie twisted around to look at him. The makeshift bandage Ross had wrapped around his shoulder was stained with blood and he looked pale. Ross himself had clearly only just woken up and was looking at them all with bleary eyes.
"In that case, why did Khaled say that it would mean extermination?" Solly asked.
"Because the Lee Corporation isn't in charge of its own destiny. What really matters is what Annabel Lee wants."
"She's not alive too, is she?"
Scott shook his head, then winced and put his hand over his wound. "Not in the sense you or I would mean," he said. "Her organic form died that night and that event set in motion everything that happened in the following hours. But the avatar we so nearly didn't escape from is Annabel and it controls Lee Corp to a greater degree than they imagine."
"Okay, so what does this version of Annabel Lee want?"
"The death of every human being on the planet."
"I didn't like her," Alison said.
"That's because you're not like her at all," Scott responded.
Solly wanted to ask more about Alison and how she came to be, but he decided that this wasn't the place to do it. Scott was less likely to be honest and forthcoming when Alison could hear him. So he decided on another approach.
"Did you work at the Lee Corporation?"
Scott seemed surprised by the question. "Of course. It was started by Annabel and me, not long after we got married. I forget, sometimes, that most people associate the company with her alone, but I was there throughout. We were on a mission to heal the world. Hopelessly idealistic, probably. But we nearly made it."
"So, you invented BonesWare together?" Paulie asked.
"It was Annabel's idea," Scott said. "She was at MIT when I met her, studying for her doctorate, and she'd already achieved more by her twenties than most manage in a lifetime. She'd become obsessed with health and had worked on some amazing projects in India and China. Her mother was Chinese—did you know that?"
Solly nodded. "I knew one of her parents was from China."
"Her father was British. I was born in England, and it was that connection that first drew us together, I think. We began working on her doctorate together. She was the tech genius, my speciality is …"
"Artificial Intelligence," Solly said. "Which is why Alison calls you 'Creator.'"
"Yes. The implants don't contain AIs themselves, but the whole BonesWare system is controlled by a small community of them, or, at least, it was. Maybe just the Annabel personality."
"So, you developed Alison …" Paulie began saying.
"Perhaps this is a discussion for another time," Solly said, spotting the alarm on Scott's face.
"We're approaching the Lee Corporation airstrip." Alison said.
Solly looked at the scene below them. The lake had been replaced by residential roads arranged in military order and now they were flying over a golf course carved out of the surrounding green. Beyond that was the landing strip.
"Scott!"
Solly spun around to see Ross slapping Lee's unconscious face.
"He keeps doing this. I think he must have a head injury," Ross said.
"We need to find a safe place to help him out."
Paulie pulled her gun from her pocket as the helicopter hovered over the grass. "First, we need to get out of here. I can't believe this place is left unguarded."
As if in answer, the cracking of gunshots rang out from a position above them and to their right. Solly grabbed the back of his seat as Alison rotated the helicopter on its axis. There was a small control tower, a hundred yards or so away. A figure stood, silhouetted against the fading sky, firing on them.
The helicopter shuddered as a short burst of rounds emerged from its undercarriage and shattered the railings of the tower. When the flying debris had cleared, there was no sign of the shooter.
Alison landed the helicopter with barely a jolt and Solly and Paulie leaped out, scanning the surroundings for any other security forces. Alison's cylinder was stowed in his backpack.
"Look out for a car!" Paulie called.
Ross struggled out of the back of the helicopter with Scott's arm around his shoulder. Lee was awake again, though unsteady on his feet. "Is there a private jet here?" he said, his voice betraying utter exhaustion. "There should be."
"How would that help? None of us can fly it," Solly said.
"Alison can. Probably. We have to go to New York. We have to find Khaled. He is the only one who knows the full truth. He is the only one who can help us stop the second wave."
"I thought you said Alison was the key?"
"She is the weapon, but he knows where to strike better than any of us."
This was too much for Solly. "Then why did he give her to me in the first place? Why didn't he simply use it?"
"Because he feared being captured. And it is not time yet—Alison must be used at the right moment or all is lost. She should not have been exposed to Annabel at Seattle. We can only hope they don't work out the full implications."
"Put your weapons down!"
Half a dozen figures in black uniforms emerged from the shadows, carbines pointing at them. There was no escape. After all the struggling, they'd finally been caught because they'd spent too long trying to work out the crazy.
Paulie and Solly dropped their handguns as the figures approached. Then, quite suddenly, the helicopter's engine fired up and, moments later, the rotor blades began to turn.
"Get out of the aircraft! Get out, or we will open fire."
The force of the wind was pushing them down, their ears ringing with the deafening roar of the engine as the feet of the copter lifted off the ground.
"Drop!" Solly screamed.
The security guards opened fire on the helicopter, shattering the windshield as it swiveled to face them. Paulie grabbed her handgun and began firing at them. Dirt exploded over Solly's head as rounds landed inches from him. He rolled to the side to where he'd dropped his gun, grabbed it and pulled the trigger.
And then, from above and behind them came the staccato thudding of machine gun fire. The whole exchange had lasted no more than a fe
w seconds and yet, when Solly looked up, the guards were lying on their backs looking sightlessly into the heavens.
"More are coming!" Paulie called as she got to her feet. Solly followed her pointing finger to see vehicle lights in the distance.
"Find a plane!" Scott said. "Come on, Ross."
The two of them began to stumble towards a low, metal-roofed hangar. "There!"
Three private planes sat on the tarmac.
"Quick!" Solly called, grabbing Scott's arm and, with Ross, dragging the injured man towards the nearest one. They were all pure black in color with Lee Corporation painted white on the fuselage.
"Yes, this one," Scott said, panting. Steps led up to the door and they pushed him up, flung the door open, and bundled him inside.
Solly sat in the pilot's seat and brought the cylinder up to the portal. "Are you there?"
"I am now," Alison said.
The cockpit displays burst into light.
"This is different. Hmm, there's someone else here. But I have shut him down."
"Can you fly it?"
"I think so, Father."
"Then get on with it! Bad people are after us."
"Oh, and this plane doesn't seem to have any weapons. How boring. Okay, powering up. Where are we going?"
"It doesn't matter!"
"Well, I need a flight plan. Shall I use the one that's already programmed in?"
"Would that be quicker?"
"Much."
"Do it!"
With that, the engines fired up and Paulie pulled the door shut. "I hate flying," she muttered.
Solly leaned back in the pilot's seat as the plane lurched.
"Sorry. It might be a bit of a bumpy ride."
It was like being in the passenger seat alongside a driver using a stick shift for the first time but, yard by yard, Alison seemed to be familiarizing herself with the controls and, by the time they got to the grass runway, she'd mastered it. Solly found himself wondering whether this would apply when they were airborne, and then swiftly shut down that thought process.
"They're coming along the landing strip!" Paulie called. She had dropped into the copilot's seat.
Solly looked out. The headlights of three vehicles were heading towards them.
"Do you have enough runway, Alison?" Solly called.
"I think so, Father. Let's find out."
Solly's insides turned to ice, but they were committed now. The people driving towards them in what looked like military vehicles certainly meant them harm, so they had no choice.
The whine of the jet engines got louder as the plane picked up speed, heading straight for the lights.
"If they know we've got Alison on board, they won't fire on us. If they think we're here to steal a plane, well, would they destroy it to stop it being taken?"
"You know what your trouble is, Solly?" Paulie said. "You think the world works by logic. You should have learned your lesson by now."
Solly gave a weak smile, and then turned to see that Ross was buckled up with the semi-conscious Scott Lee lolling in the seat beside him.
The headlights got closer and closer. Surely Alison wouldn't be able to pull up in time.
"Alison!" Solly called, instinctively covering his head with his hands as the lights were almost on them. And then, at the last moment, they scattered.
"Chickens!" Alison called as, finally, the plane took to the air. "Oh, this is easy!" she called.
Chapter 12
The office of Mayor Kaitlyn Kennedy was warm, bright, and welcoming, but the crocodilian smile on the mayor's face chilled Bella to the bone.
"Thanks for coming in," she said, shaking hands with Bella, Al, Maddie, and Luke, then gesturing them onto a long couch before sitting down opposite them. The mayor smoothed away the creases in her navy blue shirt and leaned forward to pour them each a cup of tea.
"You can go, Matthew," she said, reinforcing the command with a dismissive wave. She waited for the muscle-bound guard who'd fetched them at gunpoint from the RV to leave, before turning back to her guests.
"Now then. I am told that you know the man who disrupted our lawful proceedings yesterday. In fact, I believe he was one of your party. He even received medical treatment in our hospital, did he not?"
Bella nodded.
"Well, he certainly seems to have recovered quickly, doesn't he?" Bella made no response. She felt like a trapped mouse waiting for the cat to strike.
"Unfortunately, our officers have been unable to locate him, or the condemned criminal he helped escape. They will be captured, in time, but it would greatly aid our efforts if you could provide some insight into this man. You will find the community of Elizabeth very generous to those who help it. Many wish to join us here permanently, but room might be found for cooperative people."
Bella shrugged. Staying here was the last thing on her mind after the brutality she'd witnessed the previous day. It was interesting that the mayor thought what she was offering was so valuable that Bella might betray her friend for it.
"You know, it's a rare thing in this fractured world to find safety and security such as we have here. Every day, newcomers arrive with tales of destruction and bestiality, and we can offer only temporary respite before sending them back out into the nightmare. They often find us by chance, before heading off in search of another Nirvana."
She lifted the porcelain tea cup to her lips and sipped delicately.
"Please, drink your tea. Help yourself to something to eat." She indicated the cups in front of each of them and the tempting selection of cookies arranged on a plate next to the tea pot.
"Where were you heading, may I ask?" she said as Bella put her cup down.
"D.C. They're rebuilding the federal government."
Kennedy's eyes narrowed. "Then you were on a fool's errand. I hear that Washington and the area around it is choked with refugees, camps springing up everywhere on the approach roads. And as for the government? Just a bunch of Yankee power grabbers who couldn't organize a fire in a match factory."
Bella was taken aback by the venom in her words but decided not to interrupt.
"Elizabeth is an example of a town built from the ground up on the right principles of community and a respect for the law. Washington is just the last twitches of the old federal system that never worked and now never will. You're much better off here, with us."
Bella could think of nothing to say, so she merely took another sip and waited for the mayor to continue.
Kennedy was looking at her now, as if appraising her. Since they'd sat down, she'd ignored the others entirely. "You feel our justice is brutal?"
"I saw a respected priest who'd been accused of theft being dragged to the gallows," Bella said. "It seemed disproportionate."
The mayor held her gaze for a few moments before nodding. "I understand that it might seem that way, but he had betrayed the faith placed in him by the community. He had stolen the food from their mouths."
"But the community didn't want him to be executed."
"That's why we have to have leaders," the mayor snapped.
She put her cup down and sighed. "This new world is living off the remains of the old. We scavenge for food, materials, and fuel. At the moment, these things are relatively commonplace, though we find that we have to travel further and further from the safe zone to obtain what we need, at great risk to those concerned. One day—one day soon—we will have to begin sowing new seed, standing on our own feet. And, to begin with, the resources we grow or create will be scarce, and there may come a crucial moment when the old supplies are running out and the new cannot yet sustain us. My job, as mayor of this town, is to make sure that doesn't happen. Do you understand me?"
"Perfectly," Bella said.
"We have over two thousand souls in this town, most of whom have come from outside. Perhaps I should have stopped accepting incomers before there were so many of us but, then, maybe I am soft," she said with a sarcastic smile.
"So, in order to g
ive us the best chance of surviving until we can stand on our own feet, we have strict rationing and severe punishments for those who flout our policies. For those who steal, we are, as you would say, brutal. If everyone acted as the priest did, we would all be dead in months. It must be stopped before it becomes endemic. That is our law."
"But didn't someone in the crowd say he'd stolen the food to give to some children?" Al said.
The mayor turned her smiling face on him. "He would claim that, wouldn't he? He'd make up any story to clear himself of this unforgivable crime."
"He's a priest!" Al said.
"Which makes the betrayal all the greater," the mayor responded, before turning her attention back to Bella. "Now, tell me about this criminal you harbored."
"I honestly don't know very much. We met him a few weeks ago, and he's traveled with us since. He saved us from an escaped convict but was injured. That's about it."
The mayor shook her head. "No, that is not enough. You say he's traveled with you? Then you know much more than you reveal. Or you are hopelessly naive."
Bella shrugged. Now that she came to think about it, she really didn't know much about Skulls' background and history. He'd proven himself in the rescue of Luke, then in the escape from the community at the intersection and again in the woods. But aside from his love of the work of Hopper, she had no idea of what his life had been like to lead him to where he was now.
"Do you refuse to help us capture him?"
"I don't see what we can do. We barely knew him."
The mayor leaned forward and fixed Bella with a predatory stare. "Do you understand the principle of collective responsibility?"
"Of course," Bella responded, feeling Al tense up beside her.
"Our little community is an island of civilization in a sea of barbarism and it will only survive if we are accountable for not only our own actions, but also of those we have influence over. That friend of yours has jeopardized us by openly defying our justice, and he must be re-captured and punished or our cohesion is lost."
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