by E. R. Torre
“He probably named the Thanatos after his favorite fucking dog,” Nox injected.
“As long as the Locust Plague exists, it’s a danger to all humanity,” Becky Waters continued. “You weren’t sent here just to find Spradlin. You were sent here to make sure the Thanatos does its job.”
“How do we do that?” B’taav asked.
“I’m not sure, but I have an idea,” Becky Waters said. She again pointed out the window. “Look toward the southern end of the Big City. Keep your eyes open.”
They did and, after a while, they saw it. A faint yellow light came on and shone directly at them. It lasted for a few seconds before turning off. B’taav was absolutely riveted by the sight. He couldn’t take his eyes off it.
“The light’s been coming on every fifteen minutes on the dot,” Becky Waters said.
“When did it start?” B’taav asked. His voice was low, almost a whisper.
“Right after we received the Thanatos’ first transmission. The ship’s arrival activated the signal, which means Spradlin’s behind it. That means it’s very damn important to us.”
“The Thanatos will wipe everything out,” Cer said. “I don’t understand the need to—”
“After all you’ve seen and all we’ve said, do you still doubt Spradlin’s plans?” Becky Waters said.
“What could possibly be out there?” Cer said.
Becky Waters shrugged. Cer turned to B’taav and realized he was still staring at the remains of the Big City.
“What do you think, B’taav?”
B’taav didn’t answer.
“B’taav?”
As if emerging from a trance, B’taav reached up and rubbed his eyes.
“I think,” he began and stopped. He put his hands down. “I think Becky’s right. If Spradlin’s behind that signal—”
B’taav paused. His eyes were suddenly very alive.
“We don’t know what the Locust Plague’s ship is capable of withstanding. For all we know, she might be strong enough to survive a supernova. The Thanatos’ payload might not be enough to…”
Again he stopped talking. His eyes returned to the Big City’s remains. They did not waver.
“We have to have faith in Spradlin,” B’taav said. “We have to investigate that signal.”
The Independent checked his watch. They had two hours and ten minutes left.
“And we better make it quick.”
53
They readied their gear and moved to a lower level chamber.
It was a large garage that smelled of oil and gas and was filled with antique land cruisers. Almost all of them were dismantled, some more so than others.
“Over there,” Nox said, pointing to the chamber’s far end.
Two vehicles were parked there, a large, sturdy desert truck with a highly reflective silver surface and, next to it, a motorcycle. Both had oversized tires designed for desert driving.
“We’re going in these?” B’taav asked.
“Yeah,” Becky Waters said. “We’ve been fixing them in preparation of our trip.”
“It would be quicker to use the Xendos,” Cer said.
“It would,” Becky Waters said. “But it wouldn’t be wise. I saw your ship come in and fade away when the drones appeared. She possesses some kind of invisibility?”
“Camouflage.”
“The Locust Plague nano-probes weren’t ready for that kind of tech but they’re nothing if not adaptive. Expose your ship to them a couple more times and they’ll figure a way around her camouflage and attack.”
“How’s using this truck any better?” B’taav asked.
“It may not be invisible, but it has a stealth coating,” Becky said. “The nano-probes will have a hard time locking onto her. At least for little while. Either way, we keep your ship out of their reach.”
B’taav rubbed his hand over the truck’s hood.
“You sure it drives?”
“What’s the matter, Independent?” Nox said. “Don’t trust the primitives and their old technology?
B’taav turned away from the truck and examined the motorcycle. Despite its age, it looked pristine.
“She’s a beauty,” the Independent said.
Nox was taken aback by the comment.
“If nothing else, you’ve got taste,” she said.
“Before this is over, maybe I can take a—”
“Fuck no,” Nox said. “No one rides her but me.”
“I’d say the same if she were mine,” B’taav said. “You’re quite a mechanic, Nox.”
“Last of a kind.”
“We leave in five minutes,” Becky Waters said. She faced Nox. “Get everything you need. We don’t come back.”
Becky Waters and Nox retreated to the other side of the garage and grabbed their gear.
Inquisitor Cer entered the desert truck and examined a computer mounted to its dashboard. Like everything else in the base, it was an ancient terminal which Inquisitor Cer doubted could compete with even the simplest such devices back in Phaecia. She pressed a button and it turned on. She checked the information within.
Cer was surprised to find the computer held a robust history of Earth complete with images and sounds from the planet’s distant past. She scrolled through some of that information, confirming much of what Nox told her about the years leading up to the great Exodus.
B’taav entered the truck. He looked over Cer’s shoulder.
“Would you really leave them behind?” Cer asked.
“I don’t want to, but if Spradlin—”
“Forget Spradlin,” Cer said. “They saved our lives.”
“They did,” B’taav acknowledged. “But what they’ve got inside them could threaten the lives of everyone in the Empires.”
“Not if the Thanatos does its job,” Cer said. “With the Locust Plague gone, there’s no reason to think the nano-probes within them will act up.”
“How do you know?”
Cer sat back in her chair.
“I don’t.” she said. “But… but something tells me I can trust them.”
“Even Nox?”
Cer smiled.
“Yeah, even Nox,” she said. “It’s you I’m worried about.”
“Me?”
“What happened back there, when you saw that light signal?”
“What do you mean?”
“You looked like you were in some kind of trance.”
B’taav thought about that. He shrugged.
“There was nothing—”
“Don’t say that.”
Lines of worry filled Cer’s face.
“Just before I left the Dakota and while in the company of Overlord Octo, I had a… a premonition. There’s no other way to describe it. I knew Octo was about to do me harm. I shook the feeling off, thinking it was my imagination. It wasn’t.”
“You think I might harm you?”
“No,” Cer said. “Not at all. I just feel there’s something you’re keeping from me.”
“I’m not,” B’taav said. “What you saw back there… maybe the mission’s importance finally hit me.”
He managed a smile, but Inquisitor Cer saw something hidden behind it, something she knew he wouldn’t tell her. At least not yet.
Cer’s attention returned to the truck’s computer.
“So many people and places and events,” she said. “It’s fascinating to see where we came from.”
She scrolled through the images before clicking on the search function. She typed in two words and on the monitor appeared a grainy black and white photograph. It was of a handsome, athletic looking individual who appeared to be in his early forties. His short hair was dark but graying. His eyes were remarkably clear and steady.
“General Paul Spradlin,” Cer said. “The man who poisoned a world to save the universe.”
“You mean the man who irradiated—”
B’taav abruptly stopped talking.
“What is it?” Cer asked.
&nb
sp; “Spradlin irradiated Earth so that the Locust Plague couldn’t feed off her,” B’taav said. “On Pomos, I saw machines that cleaned radioactive waste. It didn’t mean all that much to me at the time, but it meant a lot to Latitia.”
“What are you thinking?”
“I don’t know,” B’taav said. He shook his head. “What would the Locust Plague give for that knowledge?”
54
The desert truck drove out of the cave just as the sun slipped toward the western horizon. It wouldn’t be long before nightfall and darkness.
“How much time do we have?” Becky Waters asked.
“An hour and a half,” B’taav said.
“It’ll take us at least forty minutes to get to the city,” Nox said.
“We’re cutting it close.”
The air outside remained as stagnant as before, lifeless and controlled, for what it was worth, by the Locust Plague’s machinery. All was not still. High in the sky buzzed a group of drones. They hadn’t tired in their pursuit of the Xendos. Off to the west, the dust cloud was much larger.
Nox drove with her sunglasses in place and her attention fully on what lay ahead. Next to her and on the front passenger seat was B’taav. Behind her, in the rear seats, were Inquisitor Cer and Becky Waters.
“The storm’s moved,” Nox said.
It was much closer to the city.
The truck followed the last ridges of the mountain before reaching the soft sands of the desert plain.
They spent the next thirty minutes of the drive staring out their windows and at the bland scenery.
Eventually, they approached the city ruins. By then, dusk settled over the land and the light from the sun was rapidly dying.
“I’ll be,” Nox said.
Becky Waters leaned forward to look out the front windshield.
The ancient city’s buildings crumbled over time, leaving rusty hulks and glassless windows. Despite being built with metal and mortar, the areas still standing looked like they were melting into the ground.
“The Big City, in all her glory,” Nox said.
She recalled the many times she cruised the long lost highways and roads while taking on urgent, sometimes life-and-death missions. Now, thousands of years later, every single one of those missions amounted to nothing. Everyone she knew, everyone that laid foot here, were long gone. All their struggles, all the problems they had that she helped them with, all their desires and hopes…
All of it was gone.
If not for her memories, forgotten as well.
“I didn’t think I’d ever see her again,” Becky Waters said.
Nox aimed the vehicle in the direction of the city’s center and, ten minutes later, approached its outer edges. She stopped just inside the border.
Off to the west, the storm cloud was lit up by the last rays of sunlight. It was large enough to take out most of the west ward view.
“Wherever Spradlin’s light came from, it has to be near,” Nox said.
Nox shifted the truck into gear and moved into the dusty remains of asphalt roads.
They drove down what was left of the Big City streets, inching their way block by block deeper and deeper into the ruins. Nox swiveled the lights on the front and roof to get a clearer look at what lay around them.
They spotted strange mechanical devices on rusted girders at the sides of the road. They saw the shells of once mighty buildings and architecture laid to waste. Patchwork robots similar to the ones that attacked them on the mountain littered the streets. All were frozen in mid stride.
The truck moved along, dodging the fallen ruins and avoiding the robots’ bodies.
“They’re alive,” Nox said. Her voice was low, masculine. “Don’t mistake slow motion for no motion.”
Becky Waters laid her hand on Nox’s shoulder and the Mechanic shook.
“What?” Nox said. Her voice was back to normal.
“He was talking through you again,” Becky Waters said. “You know what he said?”
Nox nodded.
She pressed the accelerator and the noise from the engine drowned out any other conversation.
The truck rounded a corner and passed a field of debris.
The passengers gasped when they saw another robotic figure, this one as large as a building and carrying a strange metallic box, frozen in mid-stride. It was headed west. Their eyes followed its path. It was walking toward what was once the center of the Big City. There, and barely visible in the darkness, were thin metallic wires that reached up from the ground and disappeared into the sky. They came from one location. Once every few minutes, a crackle of energy ran across their body.
The truck stopped and her passengers gazed at what lay ahead.
There was an army of metallic beings between them and the city’s center. Many of the robots faced away from that center, staring in all directions as if on the lookout for intruders. Many of them carried fearsome looking weapons.
Nox pointed to a larger field of debris that lay beside the still figures and stretched out into the distance.
“We have to go through there,” Nox said.
“Very conveniently,” B’taav said.
“A trap?”
“What do you think?”
“I think I agree with you,” Nox said. “For once.”
Nox faced her fellow passengers.
“We’ve got two choices. I use the motorcycle and take one of you with me to find the source of the signal or we use the truck and all of us go through the debris path. If we use the cycle, we’ll be detected for sure but save time. If we use the truck, we have whatever remains of our stealth but it’ll take longer to get there.”
B’taav checked his watch.
“We’re down to fifty three minutes.”
They mulled their choices and were about to make a decision. Before they did, a scraping sound was heard coming from the side of the truck. To the passengers’ surprise, one of the robotic figures’ rusty hands was on it.
Realization dawned on them quickly.
Several of the frozen robots were indeed moving. Though their motion was almost imperceptible, they were gradually speeding up. The Locust Plague’ security forces were activating.
“They’re still weak and vulnerable,” Becky said. “They won’t be for long.”
55
The desert truck lurched forward.
Nox allowed plenty of space between them and the approaching debris field. As they moved, the Geiger counter on the central control panel clicked.
“Radiation levels are increasing.”
“Swell,” Nox said. Her voice grew deeper. She said: “Hurry.”
Becky Waters pressed down on Nox’s shoulder. She pressed very hard.
Nox let out a faint grunt.
“Stay with us,” Becky said.
Nox shook her head.
“That fucker’s getting real chatty.”
Nox moved the truck even closer to the debris field. Just before reaching it she hit the brakes and skidded to a sudden stop.
“What is it?” B’taav said.
“It’s a trap all right,” Nox said. She pointed to the ground.
Thin metal rods emerged from the debris. A couple of them sported faint red lights.
“Charges,” Nox said.
“How do we get around them?”
“We don’t.”
They backed up a hundred yards and parked the truck near a pair of rusted figures.
“What’s the plan?” B’taav asked.
“I’m going out,” Nox said.
“Won’t the nano-probes detect you?” Cer said.
“They will,” Nox said. “But we’re not getting through until I clear us a path.”
Nox opened her door. Inquisitor Cer did the same.
“I can do this alone,” Nox said.
“It’s not wise to split up,” Inquisitor Cer countered. “Especially when you’re not always yourself.”
“Hear that, Becky? Everyone wants to baby
sit me.” She gazed at B’taav. “Well, not everybody.”
Nox exited the vehicle and walked to its rear. Inquisitor Cer drew to her side.
“I have Spradlin under control,” Nox said.
“Then my company won’t matter one way or another.”
“What the hell,” Nox said. “Enjoy the fresh air while you can.”
Inside the desert truck, B’taav and Becky Waters watched their companions walk away.
“You surprised me back there,” B’taav said.
“How’s that?”
“Nox is right to be angry,” B’taav said. “Given what I said, given what I’m sure you’re capable of, you could have easily…”
“Killed you?”
“I don’t think there’s anything I or Inquisitor Cer could have done to stop you.”
Becky said nothing. B’taav frowned.
“I spoke out of turn,” B’taav said. “I shouldn’t have.”
“It was the truth, wasn’t it?”
“Yes.”
“You’re wise to be suspicious,” Becky said. “Especially with what’s at stake. The fate of humanity is in your hands.”
B’taav was startled by what Becky said.
“What’s out there?” he asked. “What’s that signal for?”
“I don’t know,” Becky said. “You don’t have any ideas?”
B’taav shook his head. Too vigorously.
“I suppose we’ll find out soon enough,” he said.
Becky’s silver eyes betrayed no emotions.
“Soon enough,” she repeated.
Nox and Inquisitor Cer stepped past the rusted figures. Nox looked around for a flat spot. While doing so she said:
“Are Inquisitors like Independents?”
“Not at all,” Inquisitor Cer said.
“Then you’re the good guys?”
“You’re implying Independents are bad?”
Nox didn’t say. Cer frowned.
“I was raised to hate all things related to the Epsillon Empire and Independents are an integral part,” Cer said. “Not all Inquisitors are good and not all Independents are bad. Coming from me, that’s is quite an admission.”