The Days of Tao

by Wesley Chu

  Cameron shrugged. “Probably. The Prophus and IXTF are all over the world. Why?”

  His friend looked out the window. “It’s not a secret that India can’t stay neutral forever. I just hope my country chooses the right side.”

  Stop the truck.

  “What is it, Tao?”

  Just do it and then get out.

  Cameron dutifully complied, pulling the truck to a stop on the slight incline of the hill. He got out, walked ahead several meters in front of it, and stared into the dark abyss.

  “What’s going on?” Negin called out.

  I recognize this place. You see that mountain in front?

  “Not really.” Cameron pointed in front of him. “There?”

  To the right of that. Up about a quarter ways should be a villa on top of a rolling hill.

  Surrett stuck his head out of the window. “What are you doing, Cameron? Are you conversing with your alien?”

  Cameron ignored them. “I don’t see anything, Tao. How do you know?”

  Like I said, I lived here for thousands of years, and the stars change little over time.

  “Who lives there now?”

  No one. It belongs to the old Keeper, Meredith’s family. Thousands of years ago, it was the Keeper’s residence, better known as a Temple of the Oracle.

  “Holy crap, she was the Oracle?”

  There were a few competing oracles sects. The Keeper’s never made it mainstream.

  An image flashed into Cameron’s head. All of a sudden, it was day again, and he saw a winding dirt path cut into the side of a mountain leading to a small gray temple with two rows of burning urns leading to the entrance. An old, bent, sun-parched woman stood at the doorway, flanked by four young girls. All wore white robes that draped down to their ankles. The old woman’s eyes were bound by a white strip of cloth.

  “Is it intact now, or is it a bunch of ruins? More importantly, does it have four walls and a roof?”

  Even better. She built a summer home next to it a few hundred years later after the oracle business dried up. Even soothsayers love modern amenities. The former temple became the stables, then later storage. The Keeper was never one for sentiment.

  “Will she care if we use it? She hates your guts.”

  Probably, but oh well.

  “Oh well indeed.”

  “What is it, Cameron?” Negin asked again. He felt her hand on his shoulder. “Are you all right?”

  He pointed into the darkness at where he thought Tao said the villa was. “I think we’ve found a place to stay for the night.”

  She frowned. “I can barely see your hand, let alone where you’re pointing.”

  He clasped her wrist and gently directed it to the right direction “Trust me.”

  “I do, Cameron.”

  He felt a slight tingling. He also heard a noise coming from inside his head, something like a groan or a grunt.

  Using the stars and Tao’s memory, they eventually found the dirt path that Tao had shown him. Unfortunately, just as they turned onto the road, they ran out of diesel and had to go the rest of the way on foot. By the time they reached their destination, the birds were starting to chirp, which meant the sun wasn’t be far behind.

  Calling it a villa was a bit of a stretch. It was more like a twostory shack, with three bedrooms and four other small rooms that once served different functions. The kitchen, or what was left of it, was its own separate building in the back yard. It was also dusty, seemingly having not been lived in for years. However, it was a roof over their heads and beds to sleep in, so no one complained.

  Nazar and the girls each got a room, and the guys shared the largest. Cameron decided that even though it seemed they were in a remote area, someone should keep watch. He settled down to take the first shift.

  Negin shook her head. “You’ve been going hard, Cam. We’re going to need you for the days to come. Why don’t I take the first watch?”

  It would be nice. You need the rest badly.

  Cameron wasn’t comfortable trusting anyone to keep watch, but he was so exhausted, he accepted her offer. He passed out as soon as his head hit the mattress and slept soundly for two hours, according to Tao. Then his worried mind woke him up and he went to check up on Negin. He found her on the front porch curled up in a chair, completely passed out.

  Civilians. Go figure.

  He went back into the villa and grabbed what was left of a throw from one of the old couches and covered her up to her neck. Negin shifted in her sleep and maybe murmured thank you, then was once again oblivious to the world.

  Cameron sat down on the stone railing and leaned against the corner of the building. His vantage gave him a clear view of the valley below, and there was now enough daylight to see the path they had taken all the way up from the road. In the distance, he could just make out Athens, or at least see the smoke rising from it. There were a dozen dark gray stacks that reached up and out into the sky.

  The city had to be in the grips of chaos. He wondered how many people were hurt or injured, how many fewer people were seeing the sun rise. Was this happening elsewhere? Everywhere?

  Yang came by few minutes later. “I heard you leave the bedroom. I couldn’t sleep, so I came to keep you company.”

  “I came to check up on Negin,” Cameron replied.

  Yang grinned at the sleeping girl and then sat on the railing opposite of Cameron. He leaned his back against the front column and stared out into the valley and beyond. “It looks bad, doesn’t it?”

  Cameron nodded.

  “We’d have been stuck in there if it wasn’t for you. You got us out in time.”

  Cameron said nothing. He picked up a handful of rocks from the ground and began to toss them down the hill one by one. He thought about the students who were still trapped there: Annelie, Marilyn, Chris, Nick, and the others, the ones he had failed to convince to come with him. What would happen to them?

  That is unfair, Cameron. You did all you could. More than what honor and duty would ask.

  “My duty was to get Nazar out. Seems I’m failing that too.”

  Wait until his funeral before you declare your mission a failure. He is still alive as far as I know.

  Yang followed Cameron’s lead and picked up his own handful of rocks. “I…I wanted to thank you for letting me bring my viola. I know you didn’t want to.”

  Cameron grunted. “You’re the one without any clothing. I’m sure a clean pair of underwear looks good right now.”

  “Only if it’s cotton, so I can wipe down the viola with it.”

  Cameron bounced a pebble off of Yang’s chest. “You’re obsessed, dude.”

  “We all have our vices.” Yang bounced one off Cameron’s leg.

  It became a game of close-distance stoning as the two pelted each other with pebbles. It continued until Cameron miscalculated and hit Yang’s glasses. Yang took off his glasses and scowled at the scratch. Cameron made an apologetic shrug and dropped the remaining rocks in his hand.

  Yang put his glasses back on and looked out over the valley again. “Why don’t you get some rest? I’ll take watch. We need you at your best. Besides, you’re grumpy when you’re sleep-deprived.” He looked over at Negin. “Don’t worry, I’ll stay up.”

  Cameron swung his legs off the railing. He had to start trusting people one of these days. “All right. Thanks.”

  He headed back into the villa, but instead of going upstairs to the bedroom, went to the back yard. He sat down on the bench, took out his phone, and held it up in the air. The government must still be blocking the wireless network. He took out the battery and replaced it with the encrypted spare he kept in his back pocket. Cameron took a long deep breath and slowly exhaled. He called the wake-up service and authenticated himself, and then he had them transfer his call.

  Jill’s voice came sharp and forceful. “Cameron, about time you reported in. Where have you been? Are you in Italy by now? Be careful. That entire country is a damn humanitarian cri
sis. I can’t believe Dawson activated you. I gave everyone explicit directions that you were to focus on your studies. When I get my hands on him, he’s going to wish I sent him to a Siberian outpost. Anyway, what’s your status?”

  “Hi, mom.” Pause. “I’m still in Greece.”

  Jill exploded. She started shouting so loud Cameron had to pull the phone away from his ear.

  “Tao, have you noticed mom getting more short-tempered over the past few years?”

  I used to think Meredith was just loud and mean, but now I think it comes with the job.

  “Maybe it’s you, Tao. You’re the common thread in both cases.”

  Apt observation, Mr. Tan.

  It took Jill about two minutes of motherly ranting and raging before she got it out of her system. Then she went into full Keeper solutioning mode. “Where are you? Are you injured? What resources are available? Are you being followed? Is our agent with you?”

  Tell her where we are vacationing. Baji will get a kick out of that.

  Cameron told her everything that had happened from the moment he was activated. It took Jill all of five minutes to put together an escape plan. To be honest, the relief Cameron felt for his mom taking over was more than a little shameful. He didn’t know what in the world he was thinking when he thought he could handle this job on his own.

  “Listen, Cameron Tan.” Addressing him by his full name was Jill’s way of saying these orders were not up for debate. “The extraction team that was supposed to meet you and the agent was forced to withdraw. However, they buried a CRRC in the sand just in case you arrived late. You know what that is, right?”

  “Of course I do, Mom,” he replied.

  “Tao, what is—?”

  A combat rubber reconnaissance craft. Basically, they buried a raft for us.

  “Good, it’s on the western tip of Alonaki Fanariou beach. Dig it up and head straight west to Italy. Find the nearest IXTF or Prophus command group. You are under strict orders to avoid all hot zones. Your package is more important. Do you understand?”

  “Yes, Keeper.”

  “Good. Now…” Cameron could hear her take a deep breath. “How are you? Are you all right?”

  Ask her for a status with the Genjix. How are the Prophus and IXTF responding?

  “I’m fine, mom. The government here has completely locked down Internet and phone access. What’s going on with the rest of the world?”

  The news was as bad as he feared. At exactly 2300 Greenwich Mean Time, an all-out attack from the Genjix countries hit Poland, the eastern-most Prophus-allied country in Europe. Fortunately, between Nazar’s warning and early detection systems, the Prophus-allied countries were able to send out an alert and weren’t completely blindsided.

  Midnight in France. Lucia’s birthday had multiple meanings. It also indicated when the attack was to commence globally.

  The Genjix had also hit South Africa, Canada, Australia, India and South Korea. Taiwan, Finland, Peru, Thailand and several other smaller countries and territories had already fallen. Like Greece, the governments of Tanzania, Colombia and Egypt had declared alliance with the Genjix. Canada, Venezuela and Greece were rapidly falling into civil war.

  “I mean, do you believe that?” Jill sighed. She sounded tired. “Quebec is allying with the Genjix. I don’t even know where to start with that.”

  Even Tao seemed to have one of his extraordinarily rare speechless moments. Oh. My. This…this is much worse than I could possibly imagine.

  “What about dad?” Cameron asked.

  “Your father is with Kallis, the IXTF chief, telling the Security Council to get off their collective asses.”

  The door behind him banged open, and Cameron jumped out of the bench with a start. Yang, wheezing and out of breath, staggered up to him. “I was looking all over for you. You said you were going to go sleep.”

  Cameron covered the phone with his palm and silently mouthed a “what?” to Yang.

  “Wait, how is your phone working?” Yang frowned.

  “Never mind,” Cameron replied. “What do you need?”

  “Someone is coming! Two cars heading up the path.”

  We are in a pretty remote area. It has to be the Genjix. How did they find us?

  Cameron put the phone back next to his ear. “Mom, I have to go!”

  “Wait, Cameron, I love—”

  Cameron didn’t hear the rest of her words. He didn’t need to. He had known that his entire life.

  Found

  Unmarked,but definitely a model used by the Hellenic police.

  Cameron wished he had binoculars, but he didn’t need them as long as he had Tao. His Quasing was able to maximize the use of all of a human’s abilities, including sight. Now, as he watched the two cars rumble up the windy path, he couldn’t decide what to do next.

  “Can it be a coincidence?” Seth asked. “With the chaos going on in the cities, they could just be rangers checking up on rural residences.”

  Nazar, standing next to Cameron peering through the window, drew his pistol and checked his magazine. “Can’t risk it. No other choice.”

  Cameron was inclined to agree and drew his as well. He only had six rounds left, but that would be enough.

  Yang, standing off to the side, stared at the guns. “Wait, these are police. Maybe they’re just doing their jobs. Let me talk to them.”

  “No way.” Cameron shook his head. “Nazar, I want you upstairs near the far window, where it’s safe. I’ll take the close one down here so we can catch them in a crossfire. The rest of you head out to the back and hide in the temple.”

  “What if they get inside?” Nazar asked. “I’ll be trapped up there.”

  “If they do, I’m dead and I guess one of you gets promoted to a host. Congratulations.”

  “What if I don’t want him?” Emily said.

  “I don’t want him either,” Seth added.

  Well I feel loved.

  Nazar patted Cameron on the back with his bad hand. “How about neither of us die today?”

  Yang shook his head. “Ambushing the police is wrong. They probably just found the truck on the side of the road and were checking to see if anyone needed help. We should to talk to them first.”

  “This is ridiculous,” Cameron pressed. “You can’t even speak the language.”

  Seth stepped forward. “I can. Kind of at least.”

  “Are you kidding?” Cameron sputtered.

  “Yang’s right,” Seth said. “One of the things my parents had always taught me about the Prophus is that they value human life and that we treat them as equals. If we just open fire on these possibly innocent people, then that’s murder. We can’t shoot first and ask questions later.”

  Well, maybe not technically equals, but I see his point. Sometimes being safe is not worth the price of being righteous. They could be completely innocent Hellenic police following up on a truck on the side of the road, but I highly doubt it. Whoever goes to meet them will be out in the open and dangerously exposed. You will also lose the element of surprise.

  “Yang, why don’t you hide with the others and let Seth handle it then,” Cameron said. “No need to risk both of you.”

  Yang shook his head. “No, this is my idea. I’m not going to hide and let Seth take all the risks. Besides, two kids who got lost hiking in the mountains look a lot less suspicious than one wandering by himself.”

  “What if they throw you in jail?” asked Negin.

  Yang smiled bravely. “Once they find out who my family is, I’ll get a free ride home. Trust me, I’ll be fine. I’m worth a lot more unharmed. The worst that could happen is they send me home flying coach.”

  “What if they fly you home first class and throw Seth in jail?” asked Emily.

  Yang shrugged at Seth. “I’ll tell them he works for me. It’s not uncommon for wealthy kids to put their friends on their payroll to keep them company. He’ll be under my protection.”

  They had a point. There was a big d
ifference between fighting Genjix and fighting local law enforcement. If Yang spoke with them first, this could resolve peacefully. Perhaps bloodshed could be avoided. Besides, if anyone had a free get-out-of-jail card, it was the son of Chinese millionaire industrialists.

  “Fine, you guys,” Cameron said, throwing his hands up in frustration. “If it’s anything other than a random check, I want you to drop to the ground and lay flat. Do nothing. Just lie still and pretend you’re dead.”

  “Don’t have to worry about me. I’m sure I’ll just faint anyway,” Yang replied. He turned to Seth. “You have your passport on you? Let’s get our alibis straight.”

  Cameron sent the rest to the temple and told them not to come back until he retrieved them. He exchanged some last-minute instructions with Nazar, and then positioned himself next to the window. By now, the cars had pulled up to the front yard. He counted eight people total, four uniformed, two in suits, and two in fatigues. The suits concerned Cameron more than the two military men.

  That is a lot of bodies for a house call.

  Yang and Seth, trying their best not to look nervous, waited at the end of the driveway. The four officers got out of the car and stayed in front instead of surrounding them. Their hands were relaxed at their sides. Yang and Seth handed them their passports and exchanged a few words. A couple of the officers laughed. They appeared to be able to understand what Seth was saying and the conversation seemed friendly. These were all positive signs. For a second, Cameron thought Yang was going to pull it off.

  The men in suits were speaking in the back. The two in fatigues were wandering to the sides, eyes scanning the perimeter. They were definitely looking for something. Then, one of the suits took something out of a briefcase and held it in the air.

  Penetra scanner!

  No sooner did Tao say that, one of the suits pointed the Quasing detection device directly at Cameron’s location and yelled something in Russian. Everything happened in an instant. The officer closest to Yang tackled him to the ground. Everyone else pulled out their guns. Seth turned back toward the house. A loud crack of a gunshot echoed in the air, and then he fell.

  Cameron screamed and opened fire, hitting one of the officers before being forced to pull back behind cover. The concrete walls of the house began spitting fragments as a barrage of bullets shot through the open window and bit into the wall just over his head. He crawled to the next window, exhaled, and then spun into it, taking out another of the officers with two shots.