by Jake Bible
“Yes, sir,” Beth said, her head throbbing. “I’m on it.”
She pushed the building pain aside and concentrated on the BC that was about her. She’d already used a lot of energy bringing the BC to the coastline, even though much of it had almost sunk to the bottom of the ocean just outside the bay. The sea water had added resistance, not because of the weight and pressure of the water, but because the chemical make-up of ocean water seemed to hamper her BC control. She hadn’t noticed it before with other tasks while they had been at sea, but then she hadn’t tried to salvage ten ships worth of BC before.
The forward panel, as Blue had called it, was a thirty foot high structure of pure BC. It went another fifty feet down and was anchored into the bottom of the bay. The wall stretched across the bay, an amazing feat of engineering even for the most accomplished designer, but for a novice that was winging it it was close to a miracle. Only Beth’s natural BC manipulative abilities kept the structure from collapsing.
While Beth worked her BC magic, Melissa spent her time going from one wounded American to another. She’d shown her own genius by making biochrome into field dressings that slowly helped knit wounds back together. With the help of one of the other Americans that had some training in field medicine, she was able to keep dozens of Americans alive that would have otherwise bled to death.
Blue watched it all, the work Beth was doing, the work Melissa was doing, and the way those that could help pitched in without orders of any kind. It wasn’t wholly American behavior he witnessed, but it was behavior brought on by a sense of purpose that only a people drawn together by severe tragedy could have.
He just wished...
“He’s out there somewhere,” Desmond said.
“How the hell did you know what I was thinking?” Blue asked. “You’re fucking blind.”
“Um, that has nothing to do with it,” Desmond said. “I couldn’t read minds when I had two eyes. Or even when I had one. So my being blind is irrelevant.”
“So?” Blue asked, his eyes moving to the two other ships that were fused to the one he was on. Beth had created a base behind the wall. And considering the fact that only maybe ten percent of the Americans were left, it was plenty space enough. “How’d you know I was thinking of Charlie? I have a lot more lives I’m responsible for than one lost shock trooper.”
“You grind your teeth,” Desmond said as he shifted his position. He forced himself not to cry out as white hot pain filled his head.
“You okay, Lieutenant?” Blue asked as he crouched next to Desmond.
“Despite the lack of ocular ability?”
“Don’t get smart, Hale,” Blue warned. “I’m still your superior officer.”
“You grind your teeth every time Charlie is out on a mission,” Desmond said, finishing his observation. “You always have. It’s your tell.”
“My tell,” Blue nodded, not that Desmond could see him. “Good to know.” He patted Desmond on the shoulder and stood up. “Get some sleep if you can. It’s a cool evening, but tomorrow this deck will be roasting hot. We’ll have to move the wounded below, not that it will be any cooler inside.”
“Power still not up?”
“About twenty percent capacity right now,” Blue said. “Techs will have it going soon, but I can’t say when.”
“You think Capreze’s people are coming for us?”
“I don’t really know, Hale. I don’t really know.”
***
The grief was overwhelming. It shut out the pain of his injuries, the severity of which he didn’t even know. As he stared up at the night sky, floating on his back, the shock suit keeping him from going under, he cradled his Nancy’s body to his chest. He knew he needed to let her go, that he needed to get back to the coastline and rendezvous with the rest of the Americans.
But he couldn’t. He just couldn’t.
He didn’t know if he had left her and her father in the UK whether or not they’d still be alive. The chaos, murder and destruction the Three had caused all across Europe told him that she probably wouldn’t have been left to live. Especially if her connection to a damn jack had been found out.
But he didn’t know and that uncertainty petrified him. What did it matter, what did any of it matter, if the ones that were loved the most were lost? He asked himself that question over and over as the waves gently rocked him and Nancy’s corpse.
Fresh tears welled in his eyes and he laughed, actually laughed at them, thinking they had dried up hours before. He’d pulled himself together enough to keep his shock suit on and not send himself to the deep below. He’d said his sorrys and goodbyes to her, kissing her cold face over and over. And he had come to terms with the reality of her death.
But the heart didn’t give a fuck about reality and Charlie began to sob once more.
His whispers of apology lifted on the ocean air and were lost in the briny mist that had formed about him as the night cooled.
***
The fabric adjusted, allowing the healing vectors of the nanobot components and BC sutures to go to work, as Melissa shifted the material about a wounded tech’s abdomen. With the blood and shit and piss she’d dealt with since they’d rendezvoused in the Monterey Bay, she could have cared less that the tech was stark naked and she had his crotch just inches from her hand. Modesty was gone when you were fighting for your lives.
She made sure the BC fabric was secure and moved to the next person, but didn’t stay long as the trooper was already gone, the gaping wound in her chest too much for Melissa’s creation to handle. She sucked it up and forced the sorrow away. She’d felt worse loss than a stranger’s death. Not that the woman was a stranger since Melissa had been training with her for weeks and even helped adjust her shock suit hours earlier.
But Melissa made her a stranger in her mind because a stranger’s death didn’t hurt, right?
She happened to glance over at Desmond and could see him talking with Colonel Masterson. She wanted to yell at him to shut up and rest, but that would have disturbed those that actually were resting. The man could be infuriating and it took every ounce of control not to stomp over and give him a piece of her mind.
But for what? Saving her life?
She had headed for the coastline, just like the rest of the troopers. She had to duck and dodge sinking ships and fiery debris as her suit propelled her through the water. Then it all went black. She remembered hearing the explosion, but had no idea what had been destroyed; maybe another ship, maybe a torpedo going off next to her. She didn’t know.
What she did know was that she woke up with most of her suit blasted off her body and she was secured to a floating piece of debris. Next to her, his arm wrapped tightly about her waist, and his head bleeding everywhere, was Desmond.
There had been so much blood.
She called his name over and over, but he didn’t respond. When she went to wipe the blood away she realized that his eye, his last good eye, was missing and most of the bone around his ocular cavity was shattered with splinters sticking straight out from his face. She’d wanted to wail in anguish, but she had been taught better than that and the Ghost training kicked in.
In an instant she’d sent BC sutures through the wound to clear the bone fragments and stop the blood. Her on-the-ocean field work was rough and she knew that even if they did survive, Desmond wouldn’t be able to get an ocular implant in that socket. It was too destroyed. She’d kissed his forehead again and again as they floated along, praying, wishing, hoping he’d wake up.
By the time Beth had come along in a makeshift boat she’d clapped together, Desmond had started mumbling something about needing his wench and Melissa had cried with joy.
“Fuck me,” Beth said as she slumped down next to Melissa, bringing the girl out of her reverie. “I think I died about six tons of BC ago.”
“How’s your head?” Melissa asked.
“Fine,” Beth replied quickly.
“Fucking liar,” Melissa said. “I can
see the pain on your face. How bad is it?”
“I’m fine, Mel, really,” Beth insisted.
“Bullshit.”
“Okay, it’s bullshit, feel better?”
“Yes. You know being right always makes me feel better,” Melissa smiled.
“Bitch,” Beth teased.
“Twat,” Melissa joked back.
They sat for a second until someone started to call for Melissa. She began to get up, but Beth grabbed her hand.
“I need to talk to you,” Beth said and her tone of voice told Melissa just how important it was.
“I’m needed,” Melissa said. “Let me just make sure no one is going to die and I’ll be right back.
“Ok,” Beth nodded. “But hurry.”
“I always hurry, freak.”
***
The destruction around what was left of the Americans was enough to send any man into a tailspin of depression and despair, but Blue Masterson was not just any man.
“Will that hold against the Three’s navy?” Blue asked as he walked up to Beth. “How much time will it give us?”
Beth got up wearily and looked out at the wall of BC she’d put together. The wall’s shiny surface was easily visible due to its size and the lights reflecting off it. It towered above any ship that the Three had, but that wasn’t the issue.
“I honestly don’t know, sir,” Beth said. “It should take quite a few direct hits from torpedoes or cannon. I can repair as it takes damage if I concentrate, but if we’re at that point it may already be too late.”
“Understood,” Blue said. “Just trying to get a handle on our situation.”
“Not the best situation, is it?” Beth asked. “Not unless we get the shield down. Capreze has people on their way now.”
Blue spun on her, startled by the news. “And how the fuck do you know that?”
Beth tapped her head and frowned. “I spoke to his daughter, Rachel. She is walking her mech this way with another mech and pilot and their doctor.”
“Themopolous is coming?” Blue frowned. “Don’t know if I trust her.”
“I think Rachel does,” Beth said. “I didn’t feel her lying.”
“I’m not going to even ask how you communicate,” Blue said. “I helped approve the project that created you. I know there’s some weird shit in your DNA.”
“Should I be offended?”
“Are you?”
“No,” Beth replied flatly.
“Good,” Blue said. “How close are they?”
“Tomorrow evening they’ll be in Monterey,” Beth said.
Melissa came up to both of them and nodded to the colonel.
“You up for that chat?” Melissa asked. “If you don’t need her anymore, Colonel.”
“I’m good,” Blue said. “Gonna try to get some shut eye for a few minutes. You girls talk away.”
They waited until Blue was out of ear shot before sitting down.
“What’s up?”
“I hear voices,” Beth said.
“Yeah, I know,” Melissa replied. “You’ve always heard voices.”
“No, no, those went away when I fully integrated,” Beth said. “Now I can hear real people’s voices.” Beth looked about to make sure they weren’t being listened to. “I could talk with Rachel Capreze with just my mind.”
“Rachel Capreze?” Melissa asked. “Isn’t that the chick you got your rockin’ bod from?”
“You think my bod is rockin’?”
“Damn straight! You never see the guys staring at your ass when you walk away?”
“Fuck you,” Beth smiled. “I’m being serious.”
“Seriously insane.”
“Dammit, Mel! I didn’t just hear Rachel!” Beth grabbed Mel by the shoulders. “I fucking heard Stone, too!”
Melissa nearly shit, pissed and puked at the same time. “What the fuck, Beth?” she whispered. “Stone? The mother fucker that killed Heather? The guy that chased us halfway across the fucking globe?”
“Yeah.”
“He’s dead.”
“No.”
“Where is he? Tell me where he is, Beth, so I can kill the fucker. I’ll walk across mother fucking water to get to him.”
“You don’t have to,” Beth gulped. “He’s coming here.”
“You sure? How do you know?” Melissa asked.
“I just caught glimpses of his thoughts, but he’s definitely coming this way. I think he’s with the Three’s navy.”
“We have to tell Masterson,” Melissa insisted as she got up.
Beth grabbed her hand and held her there. “No, you can’t!”
“Why the fuck not?”
“Because if I can hear his thoughts he might be able to hear mine,” Beth said. “What will Masterson do to me if he thinks I may be a liability?”
“You’re too valuable,” Melissa said as she shook her head. “We’d all be dead or floating in whale piss in this bay if you weren’t here. He’ll listen and understand.”
“But I don’t understand, Mel. This isn’t supposed to be happening. I talk to biochrome, not people. But now I’ve been in two people’s minds in one night. This is outside the parameters of my creation.”
“You’re creation? You aren’t fucking Frankenstein!”
“Are you sure about that?”
Thirty-Five
“It’s alive,” Mr. Gein joked as he stood next to Stone on the ship’s deck. The view on all sides was warship after warship. Their ship, the Three’s command ship, was insulated from any attack by about ten ships deep in any direction.
“The joke is old, Gein,” Stone said as he gripped the railing and took in the ocean air. Not that he needed to breathe. He’d tested that theory. He also didn’t need to eat, shit or piss. Even though his body looked and felt normal, he knew it wasn’t. Sure, it could perform basic bodily functions for appearance, but Stone had figured out how to mentally override those functions. He, of course, hadn’t mentioned that to anyone. “Get some new material.”
“I see you are adjusting well,” Mr. Gein said. “Same Stone as always.”
“What do you want?” Stone asked, his eyes taking in the dawn light that crested over the horizon. “Here to give me another speech about duty and honor and all that shit? Here to try to convince me to play the part of the puppet? You know you can’t.”
“They’ll kill you, Stone,” Mr. Gein said. “They’ll do it permanently.”
“That’s what I’m hoping for,” Stone replied. “Some bloody peace finally.”
Mr. Gein rubbed at his haggard face. The days of non-stop drinking had taken its toll and his skin was grey and hung from his cheeks, he hadn’t shaved and he smelled of alcohol from every single pore.
“There won’t ever be peace,” Mr. Gein said. “They have a backup plan.”
“A backup?” Stone laughed. “There’s only one me. You even said so in our little welcome back to life chat. Once my upload took it cleared from the database.” Stone turned from the ocean view and leaned one arm on the railing, his eyes locked on Mr. Gein’s. “This isn’t like my conditioning before, Gein, I know that. I’m something new. Not a clone, that’s not it either. So if they kill me and there’s no backup then there’s no more Stone.”
“No more Stone, no,” Mr. Gein said.
What Mr. Gein left unsaid played at the edges of Stone’s mind until he realized what Mr. Gein had been getting at.
“No,” Stone said flatly. “They can’t.”
“They can,” Mr. Gein said. “And you know he’ll obey every order. It’s who he was…or could be.”
“Fuck,” Stone swore. “That’s where he is.” Stone tapped his head. “I’d gotten used to him in here so it was obvious when he was gone. Have they started?”
“No, Ms. Isely won’t bring him back unless you go rogue,” Mr. Gein said. “So don’t go rogue.”
“Wait…,” Stone said and flashed a grin at Mr. Gein.
“No, Stone, for fuck’s sake, no!” Mr.
Gein nearly shouted. “I said don’t go rogue!”
“But if I do then they bring Reginald back, right?” Stone said, his grin widening. “And the team will be back together.” He slapped Mr. Gein on the shoulder. “Me, Reg and you. One big happy family.”
“Jesus fuck, you’re crazier than before,” Mr. Gein said, shaking his head. “I honestly didn’t think it was possible. Do you even know how to stay out of trouble?”
“Why would I do that?” Stone said. “Trouble is where all the fun is.”
***
“Completely unstable,” Ms. Isely admitted as she stood before the Three. “The process worked, but none of the mental conditioning held. He’s just as free willed as before.”
“And the subconscious triggers you installed?” Mr. Plain asked. “Those aren’t in place?”
“I scanned him last evening,” Ms. Isely said. “The son of a bitch has overwritten his entire cerebral matrix.”
“Overwritten?” Mr. Brown Eyes exclaimed. “Then he knows what he is? He knows what he can do?”
“I don’t think so,” Ms. Isely said. “Or we would all be dead.”
Mr. Continental chuckled, but the look on Ms. Isely’s face stopped him cold. “Are you serious? The fail safes, everything you promised for our safety, they aren’t there?”
Mr. Plain shook his head in disappointment. “Ms. Isely, we counted on you. We explicitly allowed this project based on the fact that you could make sure Mr. Stone was controlled.” He looked at his colleagues and they both nodded at him. “I am sorry, but we cannot let this come to pass.”
“Come to pass?” Ms. Isely asked, fear and anger fighting for control in her panicked brain. “It already has come to pass! The man-!”
“He is not a man,” Mr. Brown Eyes corrected.
“No, he’s not,” Ms. Isely agreed. “But when he was a man he was one of the most dangerous men on the planet. Now he’s an engineered killing machine capable of things none of us, even myself, can possibly imagine. I told you there would be risks! I told you there would be a chance he would rebel!”