They rose through story after story until the glide car hovered at what looked like a large balcony. It was a large space bounded by some transparent material through which he saw the blue ball that was earth. Luke went down first and followed the robot, his steps ringing on the thick metal floor.
At the far end of the room was a throne-like chair before a set of chairs. “You may sit,” said the robot escort. “Commander will be here presently.”
There was nothing else to do until he knew where Maya was. Luke sat next to Conway, the robot standing at attention behind. Bored by the long wait Luke tried to strike up a conversation but the robot ignored him, not giving any sign it heard him. He jerked a thumb at it. “Do you think robots hate me?”
“Some behaviors are appropriate only in certain situations.”
Luke sprang to his feet. The voice could belong to only one person, and the last person he’d expected to see in the converted ore ship was Maya. Although he was a good eight feet tall now, he had to crane his head up to look into Maya’s smug face. Despite his anger at her, he had to admit that the only word that aptly described her was awesome. “You are Commander?”
“Surprised?” she said, sliding into the huge chair. “You must think you have seen the last of me, but you’re mistaken, like most people, and especially your pitiful resistance. I run the whole show regardless of whatever your girlfriend must have to you.” She nodded at Conway. “I only wanted your craft for use as an ore for our intergalactic ship to a new world, not knowing that you were inside it, but sit, Luke.”
He sank into the cushion so soft he almost didn’t feel it.
Maya went on, “I have a feeling that you were looking for me as I was looking for you. Tell me what you want.
“Only one thing,” Luke said. “Stop or reverse the progression of the effect of the gorilla genes in the kids and I’ll let you live.”
The corners of Maya’s eyes crinkled as she laughed for the first time. “Very entertaining. I was under the impression that you owe me something. I must admit that all the roboforce resources couldn’t find you and the kids but here you are so all my wasted effort doesn't matter. I’m glad I found you because my plans, the work of more than half of my life, depend on them. I need them to settle in a new world. Give them to me and I may let you live. There is the easy way, and there is the hard way. Make our choice.”
Luke glanced at Conway and stood. “I will never give you the children, no matter what you do.” He shrugged. “I guess we have to take the hard way, so what are you waiting for, Maya?”
“Very noble indeed. You seem not to mind that she will find herself another man the minute you are dead,” Maya said, clapping her hand. “But you seem to have come a long way from the cowardly self-conceited school teacher to someone willing to sacrifice himself. I haven't mentioned that the study of the human mind is another hobby of mine. I'm eager to see if your determination stands up in the face of a true test.” She paused, her face serious again. “Robot, break the woman’s hands.”
CHAPTER31 THE ULTIMATE BOON
Having risen to the status of godhood, the hero can now access the gifts of the gods.
Maya produced an unfamiliar weapon from the fold of her clothes. It was a clunky metal tube with a thick white handle. The top of it was covered with flashing buttons. She pressed a button. A red light blinked on and continued to flash as she waved the weapon impatiently. “Sit, and don’t be silly. I don’t have the time for suicidal heroes. So get back in your seat before I blow your face all over your girl.”
Luke stared at the blunt muzzle of the device, knowing that it was some sort of energy weapon. He sat down as he was told.
“Excellent. I see that you have kindly decided to comply. Thank you, but I don’t have much time. The mother ship is ready to leave your little solar system in a few hours, so the children have to be on board.”
Luke shrugged. “Never heard of them.”
“Be serious,” Maya said, “the entire enterprise is useless without the children to start a new form of the human race.” She paused and looked out of the corners of her eyes, her lips pressed into a thin line, her eyes remaining sizable although she had narrowed them into what she might have taken for slits. “Luke, for the last time, where are my children?”
“I don’t know where they are,” Luke said.
“Are you sure about that? There are countless ways to rip the needed information from your brain but the time is too short for me to use the most pleasant ones.” She swiveled the energy gun, pointing it at Conway.
Luke’s eyes flitted between the deadly-looking device and Maya’s face, and then he glanced at Conway. With a fierce look of pride on her face, she lifted her head, holding herself straight. Luke froze as Maya’s arm stiffened, the weapon steadily trained. Her thumb hovered above the large button on the side for a second too long. Luke was sure that he could spring at Maya but he doubted if Conway would survive his heroism. He stared, regretting the distance between him and the giant woman. His eyes widened when Mays lowered her hand, a look of anguish flashing across her face. Then she placed her left hand on the top of her weapon and pressed the flashing red button.
Her fingers digging deep into her stomach, Conway hit the ground a second before Luke’s legs buckled, his knees only a few inches from the floor, his face a grimace of unspeakable agony. He caught himself before he fell and, using his utmost effort, forced himself to stand straight. His legs trembling with the effort to keep upright, he looked into Maya’s surprised eyes. He wanted to tell her he would never bend to her will but the words came out as a garble he could hardly recognize as his voice. He staggered toward Conway but Maya’s robot blocked his way.
“Unbelievable,” Maya said, “I could never have withstood the medium power of this pain disseminator. I think I might be onto something here and should have paid closer attention to you, my creature. But let us see if you will still look so smug after you get a taste of the highest setting.”
Luke raised his hand, remembering the fleeting look of pain in Maya’s face. “You don’t have to do this,” he said. “I believe you’re better than this. Somewhere within you, you must be a good woman, a kind woman. Look into yourself and remember who you were a long time ago…” pain-wracked Luke. His muscles shivered and trembled life on their own, as if a thousand volts surged through him in relentless waves, stealing his vision and almost his awareness. Deep within, he worried that Conway would suffer more than he did from the energy attack and even die. He couldn’t allow that to happen. He pushed back against the black blanket of darkness that wrapped him, becoming warm and fuzzy with time, suffusing him with a rapidly blossoming inner peace and calm. He knew he wasn’t in a good place. He knew those drowning people eventually reached a state where everything seemed all right, but that was the sign of the closeness of death.
“Where are my children?” Maya’s voice came through the thick layers of fog. “Give them to me and I’ll give you an easier death.”
Luke drew a long shivering breath and forced his eye open, the pain a seeming solidity that he pushed against. “I know you’re a good person, Maya,” he managed to say. “Do you have children, even a single child? Don’t you have compassion in you?” he was surprised that he still stood on his feet. The relief of the torturous pain falling away nearly made him crash on the floor. His vision slowly returned. His chest heaved with desperate inhalation as Maya removed the point of her weapon from his head. He hadn’t even known when she advanced and pressed the pain disseminator against his forehead.
Maya stepped back, her long stride taking her out of Luke’s reach. Her weapon hanging limply by her side. “You idiot,” she said, “Why did you have to bring my child into this?” She flung the pain disseminator at the robot, covered her face with her hands, and wept like a baby. Luke looked away from her and shuffled over to where, unconscious, Conway lay curled up in a fetal position.
CHAPTER 32
Conway lay immobile, her chin t
ucked into her neck. Luke shook her several times. “Conway! Conway!” he said. He put his hand over her nose and got no sign of breathing. A little pressure on her inner wrist rewarded Luke with a faint pulse. He had hope, but there was only one thing he could do. He took a deep breath, sealed his lips against hers, and pumped air into Conway’s lungs until he was dizzy. Heavy steps approached from behind, but there was no time to look behind. He continued to blow air inside Conway until the weight of Maya’s hand pressed down on his shoulder.
“I’m sorry,” Maya said just as Conway spluttered and opened her eyes.
The thud of her right fist connecting with Maya’s nose was one of the most pleasant sounds Luke had heard in recent times. Afraid of what Maya might do to her, he grabbed Conway as she readied a second punch.
“Hold on, Maya has already stopped the attack on us.”
Conway rolled into a squat and then stood glaring at Maya, and then Luke. “Don’t tell me the two of you are not in a confederacy against me. I want to kill her for abusing Sarah.”
“And the other kids,” Luke said. Conway lunged at Maya before he could stop her. The robot caught her in midair, a blade telescoping out of its chest towards Conway’s neck.
“Robot, deactivate,” Maya commanded.
Luke had his hands around the robot before it went into instant hibernation mode. Maya went and pried its hands off Conway and set the angry woman on the floor. “You should not attack me in the presence of my defense robot, especially after you squashed my nose.”
Conway smoothed her rumpled shirt and said, “I’m going to squash you like a bug if you don’t heal my daughter.”
Luke patted Conway on the back. “There are other kids too, remember?”
“I know that,” Conway said. “Let’s get cracking before the children become like this monster.”
“Not so fast.” Maya held up both hands, tears at the corner of her eyes. “I’m sorry about what I did to your child and the others, but you would do the same in my position.”
“What bloody position?” Luke and Conway said to her.
Maya’s eyes looked distant, and then she took a long breath and exhaled. “When SEAC discovered that I had chanced upon the Internet Dump and that I was working to resuscitate knowledge, using the vast digital information to set the world back on track, they abducted my son James. They injected him with my gorilla genes serum and then forced me to reactivate the roboforce and all the advanced old tech. they made me train their instructors and leaders, promising to release James to me if I do all they told me to do. For twenty-six years, I have not seen my son, but every year, they show me a picture of my son, showing me as he progressively lost his humanity.”
Conway sniffed. “now you want me to believe you’re not the monster that you are, right?”
“Feel free to believe what you want, but I have told you the truth. It’s your responsibility to do whatever you want with facts.” She buttoned her black cape and rolled the wide sleeves up to her elbows. “I don’t know about you, but as for me, I’m ready to atone for my sin, even though I hurt the children and there’s almost nothing I can do right now to reverse the change in those children.”
“There’s no atonement without restitution,” Luke said, “but I might listen if you tell us your plan.”
Maya rubbed her palms together. “My plan is simple. I believe that my son is more human than an animal now. The picture I saw was so horrendous that he would think me to put him out of his misery.”
Luke raised an eyebrow. “So?”
“So the mother ship is in earth orbit and I need to pay them a visit. That’s the only way to stop this madness. Help me reach the mother ship.”
Luke shook his head. “What do you want to do with it when the kids are changing?”
“The only way to help your pupil is for someone to continue my research from where I stopped. I’m at the brink of a breakthrough. Any scientist can complete my studies now.” She smiled at Luke. “Get me into the command module of this ship and I will give you the key to the Internet Dump and my secret research facility. Will you help me seize this ship?”
“Yes!” Conway said. Luke glanced at her. The ghost of a smile trembled at the corners of her mouth. She nodded to him. Luke nodded one.
“Excellent!”Maya said. “I’ll open the loading bay hatch for you as soon as I’m in control. That’s the only way you can get out of this scavenger ship. Promise me that you will fly away very fast.”
“Why? Luke asked.
Maya beamed. “Tonight, there’s going to be such a glorious light that, for a second, the darkness will flee from a very large portion of the sky and earth. When I let you go, make sure you’re as far away from me as possible.”
“What do you mean, Maya?” Luke asked, stepping closer to Conway.
“You’ll see.” Maya turned to the robot. “Activatvate and arm.” The robot’s eyes glowed yellow, and then a light shade of blue. Two energy weapons telescoped out of its hands. and the muzzles of three large guns protruded from its chest. “Open armory,” she said. The robot's chest slid open, revealing a small rack of weapons. Maya jerked a thumb at the robot’s inside. “Take your pick.”
If this was what he must do to get the keys to Maya’s secret place so he can heal the children, so be it. Luke grabbed a heavy weapon that whined as he touched it. He glanced at Maya. “What’s this?”
“A ray gun, believe it or not. Grab the other one, Conway,” Maya said.
Conway stood with the same type of weapon LUke had selected. She clicked its short tube against Luke’s own. “Let’s go kick some ass.”
“Let’s go,” Luke said, leading the way.
CHAPTER 33
Maya paused at the door. “You will be tested, but be steadfast.”
“That’s clear.” Conway held her weapon at the ready.
“Excuse me,” Luke said and sat on the glide car next to Conway. Maya got on.
“Robot, come on,” she said.
The robot grabbed the glide care and hurled it against the wall. Crashed and bounced back, leaving the four of them tumbling to the floor. Its weapons blasting, it sailed through the air, homing in on them. Moving faster than he could imagine, Luke followed its path through the air with a continuous burst of amber rays. Ashes and pieces of electronic pars showered him and the others where they crouched as the robot disintegrated. Only a thick metal sphere remained intact.
“We’ve been compromised. The SEAC knows we are coming. They must have hacked the robot to spy on me.” Maya rushed to the metal ball and quickly used the robot’s dismembered hand to crack it open. She flicked a metal tube out and kicked it toward Luke. “That contains the passcodes to the only existing database of old knowledge. Guard it with your life.” “Promise me that you’ll use the knowledge for good.”
“I promise,” Conway said, “can we move now?
Luke grabbed the warm tube and tucked it into his most secure pocket. “What are we doing now?
Maya showed her metal teeth. “Exactly what we wanted to do; seize the command module. Only this time, they know we’re coming. We have to split now. They will think I will secretly attack them because they have been spying on me through the robot and think they know my plan. You will pass through that secret way that I will show you how. I will rush to the control module and see if I can enter. You have to trust me. Move.”
The glide car hovered against the far-off wall. “Let me get it over here,” Luke said.
“I’m sorry,” Maya said, “you have to get there on foot, like me. The glide car can be hacked. Everything in this place can be turned into a weapon against us, but we had better move now. I know an easier way. Meet you at the control module.”
They raced through to the other end of the room. The sound of shooting and the whine of energy weapons came in through the open door. “Watch out!” Conway cried. Luke whirled in time to place himself in the path of the speeding glider. Its momentum carried him with it and smashed him into
the wall in front of them. He crumpled to the floor. The glider backed up and caught her with the edge. It backed up again, giving Conway a clear line of fire. She blasted it into nothing.
In an instant, Conway knelt beside him, glancing backward, firing her blaster at the far-off door to prevent the attackers from entering and overwhelming them. “Are you OK?” she shouted in Luke's ear. He shook his head and climbed to shaky hands and knees. Then he crawled to a place on the wall, counting steps as Maya had told him to do. He tapped a code on hidden keys. A trapdoor opened, revealing a long, smooth passageway. He pulled herself through and beckoned.
Luke pushed Conway through. He joined Conway who now stood on her feet, staring at the blood trickling down the corner of her mouth and dropped from his chin. The trapdoor locked with a brutal snap. Luke hobbled at first, but with time, his movement improved and he soon led the way with a loping run that Conway was hard to put to keep up with. Luke put Conway on his shoulder and kept increasing his pace. His instinct warning him, he skidded to a halt. The floor yawned open, releasing a blast of acrid heat.
“Thank you,” Conway said, staring into the chasm that went into the ship refuse incinerator. “That must be a long drop.”
“Long? You’ll die before you reach the bottom,” Conway said.
“That’s not funny.” Luke easily skirted the thin edge of the hole in the floor. “We must keep moving because they know where we are. Go,” Luke said. He held his breath as Conway pressed herself against the wall and shuffled to the other side. Reminding himself not to look down, he made his way across too. Then ran after Conway. For what seemed like a very long time, Luke led them through communication pipes, sewage conduits, and power tunnels and even across what seemed like a warehouse for supplies for a long journey.
MARK OF THE EARTHWALKER: Evolution Protocol Page 11