Kane immediately noted the juxtaposition—a building long abandoned, set against a manicured lawn and a cornfield ready for harvest. Doing some quick calculations in his head, he estimated that the entire structure was about the same land area as the island of Manhattan; it could house and sustain a lot of people . . . a lot of people who were nowhere to be seen. What’s going on here?
Coming out of the cornfield, the tram veered to the left. To its right lay another parklike lawn, encircling the base of the tower. The tram came to a stop where the corn transitioned into what looked like a field of wheat. Beyond the gold of the wheat, Kane could see a green, leafy crop. Beans? He wondered how Earth crops had come to be grown here. The various fields were planted in precise, pie-sliced sections emanating from the tower.
The robots filed off the tram and waited at the base of the tower. Exiting the tram, the passengers meandered over the lawn, gawking at their surroundings. The air was slightly humid, but not unpleasant, and the aroma of the crops was carried to them on a light breeze.
The supervisor addressed the crowd. He pointed to a set of doors at the base of the tower. “These are your living quarters.” Two silver robots opened the doors. “Inside, you will find food and drink, bath facilities, clothing, and sleeping quarters. Now, please choose no more than five representatives to accompany me to see the Professor. The rest of you will remain here.”
In stark contrast to the outer ring of the city, the tower was well maintained; it even looked accommodating. As the passengers started making their way to the entry doors, Captain Tygert sprinted ahead and waved them to a halt. Complaints rippled through the crowd; they were hungry and tired.
Tygert held up his forefinger. “Give me just one more minute.” He waved Sam over, and together they entered the tower. True to his word, they returned a minute later and announced that it was clear.
As the passengers streamed into their new quarters, Tygert pulled Kane and Sam aside and told them that he wanted to call an ad hoc council meeting to discuss the situation and choose their representatives to meet with the Professor. Then he motioned for the supervisor and told him he would return shortly with his representatives.
Inside was a cafeteria-style dining room with rectangular tables and chairs, more than enough to seat all the passengers. The room was pristine white, even the furnishings. Sunlight streamed through large panoramic windows facing onto the lawn. In the middle of the back wall was an open hallway leading to two floors of living quarters. At the far end of the cafeteria, a crew of silver robots moved in and out of an adjoining kitchen, delivering flasks of water and trays of what looked like fruit and vegetables, bread, and some kind of protein patty. Watching the others dig into the food, Kane felt his stomach growl; he really had no idea how long it had been since they had last eaten.
The captain selected his council and invited them to a table. It was a larger group than Kane would have chosen. He understood the captain’s desire to get a wide range of perspectives, and he knew it would help with group buy-in when decisions were made, but decision making could get unwieldy. The council included Tygert; Kane; Sam, the copilot; Dr. Manassa; Marshall, the business tycoon; Shannon, the senior flight attendant; Arthur and Joanie, the elderly couple who had helped Charly out of the plane; Javier and Leslie, the captains of the two soccer teams; and a young couple named Ham and Jenn. Ham was the big guy who had helped the passengers exit the back of the plane. He was really big—NFL lineman big. Jenn stood in stark contrast to her husband; she was petite, wearing a conservative dress, with her long brown hair pulled back into a ponytail. Not wanting to leave Kane’s side, Charly joined them.
The silver robots brought them several trays of food and there was a short period of silence as they ate together. The fruit and vegetables were tasty and crisp, the bread freshly baked and hearty, and the protein patty flavorful.
Tygert opened the discussion. “Thank you for your willingness to help. We need to see to the needs and safety of the passengers first. We’ve got food, water, bathrooms, and a place to sleep. And I understand there is clean clothing in the rooms. As for safety, the robots seem concerned enough about our well-being; I don’t think they’re a threat. Thoughts?”
Marshall practically exploded. “Captain, we’ve been kidnapped, lives have been lost, and our treatment has been inexcusable. Not to mention that my business was at a critical juncture and it’s probably losing millions without my guidance. I want to know who’s responsible and . . .”
Inwardly, Kane cringed. He knew the captain had invited Marshall to the table to keep an eye on him, but it came at a cost. To Kane’s relief, Arthur, the elder council member, deftly stepped in when Marshall paused to take a breath. “You’re quite right, young man; we have a lot of serious questions that need to be answered. But in my experience, things are rarely all that we see on the surface. I have a sense that we’ve been invited into a desperate situation and we may feel differently about our abduction once we hear the full story.”
“I don’t disagree,” Dr. Manassa interjected. “But we know nothing about these robots or this place. And I’m uncomfortable with the thought of any of us splitting away from the group. For all we know, this Professor could be a trap.”
In deference to the captain’s leadership, Kane raised his hand, indicating that he’d like to respond. Tygert nodded for him to speak. Kane turned and faced the doctor.
“You could be right about the Professor,” he said. “And I support your caution. But these robots have gone to a lot of trouble to make sure we safely reached this very place. All the signs indicate that we’ve been brought here with great deliberateness and, I suspect, for a specific purpose. I believe the failure of their shield, and the serpent attack, was as much a surprise to them as it was to us. From what I’ve seen so far, the robots are protective of humans by nature and they are serving a higher purpose . . . one which we are all keen to discover. I believe a mystery is unfolding here, not a trap, and we have some kind of role to play. But in case I’m wrong, I suggest we send no more than two or three to meet with the Professor.”
Everyone agreed, and after a brief discussion—and despite Marshall’s insistence that he be included in the group going to see the Professor—they decided to send Captain Tygert, Dr. Manassa, and Kane. Sam and Shannon would be the designated leaders in their absence. Standing on a chair, the captain called the passengers to attention and informed them of the plan.
Charly was not happy, reminding Kane that buddies stayed together. He could see that she was anxious about him leaving, and he fumbled with a response. Standing nearby and overhearing them, Jenn, Ham’s wife, came to his rescue.
“Charly, right?” she asked in a sweet voice. Wearing a yellow sundress that favored her petite, hourglass figure, Jenn looked the epitome of girly.
“Yeah,” Charly replied, not taking her eyes off Kane.
“I’m Jenn. You seem to be handling all of this really well. I was wondering if you might help me with some hospitality—you know: try to help everyone feel a little more at home.”
Charly turned and stared at her with a you’ve-got-to-be-kidding look. “Hospitality isn’t really my thing.”
“It’s the little things that make a difference.” Jenn was extremely sweet mannered, but genuine.
“Why me?”
“Why not you?”
After a pause, Charly shrugged. “Yeah, I guess so.”
Kane gave Jenn a grateful look, then put his hand on Charly’s shoulder. “Thanks for helping. I’ll be back as soon as I can.”
“You better. I can’t protect you when we’re apart.”
5
Day 1
1700 hours
Central tower, Alto Raun
The supervisor led Tygert, Kane, and Dr. Manassa around the tower until they came to a garden. Set in the base of the tower, a short, white picket fence stood in stark contrast to the polished silver siding. They entered the garden through a vine-covered arbor and found an assortment of manicu
red shrubs and colorful flowers, natural light bathing them through a unique skylight system. The walls on each side of the garden were covered in a dark-green, climbing vine. A square toolshed made of ancient, grey wooden slats was nestled in the far left corner. The entire back wall was painted in an ornate, Asian-style mural. Following a moss-covered path inset with stones, the supervisor led them to the center of the mural and waved his hand across an unseen sensor. A small panel opened in the wall, revealing a touchpad and a circular receptacle. He inserted the tip of his right forefinger into the receptacle, and a door-sized section of the mural depressed into the wall and slid to the left.
They stepped into a small, rectangular room with no furniture and a polished metal door opposite the one they had just entered. The supervisor inserted his fingertip into another receptacle on the far wall and the door closed behind them. Immediately, a wall of red light formed on one end of the room and began moving toward them.
“Do not be alarmed,” the robot said. “We must be scanned before we can enter this section of the tower. The scan is harmless.”
Kane felt nothing as the light swept over his body. When it had scanned the entire room, the overhead lighting dimmed and the inner door slid open. Beyond was a brightly lit, sterile white hallway, thirty feet long, with another polished metal door at the far end. Once the group had entered the hallway, the door slid closed behind them. The lighting in the hall changed to a greenish hue, and Kane felt a wave of warmth wash over him. The supervisor led them down the hall.
“More scanning?” the doctor asked.
“Yes. This scan is confirming that you are the same entities that were in the prior room.”
“And if we weren’t?”
“A defensive mechanism would be activated. If the intruder tried to continue down the hall, the defensive measures would increase in intensity, ultimately incinerating anything in the hallway.”
“Why the heat then?” Tygert asked.
“It is decontaminating the surface of your body.”
“And it leaves you feeling so minty fresh,” Tygert said sarcastically. Kane smiled. Dr. Manassa did not.
The supervisor opened the far door and they entered an elevator. The elevator ride was long, and there were no floor indicators. Kane felt unusual shiftings; he was certain that the elevator moved horizontally as well as vertically. When they finally stopped, the elevator doors opened into a large penthouse located on the exterior of the tower. The far wall was one big panoramic window, revealing a light-blue sky with thin, wispy clouds outside. Entering the room, Kane noted that the hardwood floor was newly polished, dotted with several area rugs. There was an oval conference table on one side of the room with a dozen chairs around it. On the other end of the room was a sitting area with a large sofa, lounge chairs, end tables, and a coffee table. In the center of the room was a square dais rising two feet from the floor. The inner wall was dark wood paneling with no visible doors other than the elevator. They were hundreds of feet above the sunroof, which extended for miles in every direction. Kane stood several paces back from the window.
“Impressive,” Dr. Manassa said, pressing his hands to the glass.
The captain joined the doctor at the window and whistled. “Quite a feat of engineering.”
“There’s a wide variety of crops,” the doctor said. “And they all look very familiar. I wonder if they brought them here from Earth.” He gave Kane a curious look and waved for him to join them. Kane moved cautiously to the window—he was afraid of heights. It had been a challenge during his military service and had only intensified with age. A deeply held secret, he knew how to manage it, but it always required a very deliberate exercise of mental willpower.
“The Professor will join you in a moment,” the supervisor said. “I am returning to your comrades to assist with their settlement.” And before they could say a word, he entered the elevator and was gone.
As the three men exchanged concerned glances, a panel on the inner wall slid open and, to Kane’s surprise, the golden robot walked into the room. He stopped next to the dais, where a square column of light erupted toward the ceiling, swirled, and formed into a holographic image of the Professor in his all-white outfit. This time, he was leaning on a cane. Seeing him close up, Kane suspected that the Professor could easily be a hundred years old.
The golden robot spoke first. “We are very sorry for the loss of your people and your aircraft. While we expected the appearance of the leviathan, we did not anticipate the failure of our defensive shield. I deeply regret that we were not better prepared.”
“You saved my life . . . and many others,” Kane responded. “Thank you.” Tygert and the doctor nodded.
“I was just performing my duty. I regret that I could not intervene sooner.”
“What is your duty?” the doctor asked.
“Our primary duty is to serve and preserve human life.”
“So, why didn’t you destroy the serpent before it reached the runway?” Kane asked.
“We are programmed to preserve all life forms. We did not want to destroy the leviathan; we simply wanted to delay its progress until you were safely in the hangar and we could engage the city’s external polarity shields. Unfortunately, a shield coupling exploded, sending a chain reaction back through the power network, severing several links to the city’s central power source. The shields have not been used in a long time, and we suspect that—”
“You know,” Tygert interrupted, “I really don’t care what happened or why. We wouldn’t be having this conversation if you hadn’t kidnapped us in the first place. Why have you brought us here?”
As if that was his cue, the hologram of the Professor flickered and spoke. “Yes, you are due an explanation. Since we are now in my personal quarters, I can only surmise that my introduction upon your arrival was disrupted and the Director has brought you here. I am sorry for the delay. I hope there has not been a problem.”
The captain exploded. “A problem?! Everything has been a problem. Against our will, we’ve been taken from our own planet, we’ve lost our plane, and twenty-one of our people are dead. Where the hell are we, and why have you brought us here?”
The hologram flickered, and the Professor spoke with genuine sadness. “I am very sorry to hear this, truly sorry.”
Kane wondered where the Professor actually was; for all Kane knew, he could be in the next room—or on the other side of the planet.
“I can only hope,” the Professor continued, “that you will have some empathy for our desperate actions when you hear the circumstances that have led us to bring you here. You are on the planet Ahlemon, the fourth in our solar system. I am Science Master Gheno Ra, commonly referred to as the Professor. The golden robot is the Director, the senior authority in my absence.”
“In your absence?” Kane asked. “Where are you?”
“I am no longer living. The image you are speaking with is an interactive hologram of me responding in dialogue with you through an advanced communications processor in our central computer. I am also linked to the Director, who supplements the processor for real-time responses.”
“How long have you been . . . not living?” the doctor asked.
“Two thousand, twenty-eight years and seventy-four days, based on our solar calendar, which is only slightly shorter than your Earth year.”
The doctor gasped. Kane tensed. This added a whole new level of uncertainty to the reasons behind their abduction.
“Yes, a long time, longer than we expected. But we are very pleased that you are finally here.”
“What do you mean, ‘you are finally here’? Were you expecting us?” Tygert asked.
“Yes and no. Please sit down and allow me to tell you our story; you cannot understand without hearing what has led to this moment.”
The Director motioned Kane, Tygert, and Dr. Manassa to the lounge area, where they sat on the sofa. The robot then went to the inner wall of the room, where a panel slid to one side, revealing a
small kitchen. He returned with a tray of glasses and two clear flasks, one containing water and the other an orange-colored drink.
“Two thousand twenty-eight years ago our race died off. I was the last surviving human on Ahlemon. Prior to this, our planet had reached what we considered a mature state of civilization. We had achieved unified world governance and a stable world peace. With this stability we were able to fully devote our collective resources to various cultural and scientific advancements. We had cured most terminal illnesses. To manage for population growth, we collectively chose to institute reproduction management, and people were allowed to die comfortably of natural causes without life-prolonging intervention. We shifted our resources away from military and medical development and focused on other sciences and new technologies.
“Our first advancement was in robotics, leading to the development of the Mekens. They are a sophisticated amalgamation of mechanical, biological, computer, and materials engineering. The Director is a Class 5 Meken, the pinnacle of our robotic program, the most advanced in every aspect of design. The Supervisor, identified by white eyes, is a class 4 Meken. He is identical to his Class 3 brethren with the exception of his advanced programming. Class 3 Mekens are the Sentries and the Builders. The Sentries are blue-eyed and designed to protect, and the Builders are green-eyed and designed for engineering. The remaining autonomous robots, including most of our aircraft and submersibles, are Class 2 Mekens. All Mekens have a capacity for independent judgment, decision making, and learning, but the Director exceeds them all. I must say, while the human mind and body are the ultimate creative masterpiece, the Director comes close, which is now affirmed by the fact that he has completed the unfinished pieces of our research and, through a relentless quest, has discovered you and brought you to Ahlemon.”
The Professor turned toward the Director and bowed. “My congratulations to you, Director, on your achievements and success.”
Tygert fidgeted, while Kane and the doctor were more tolerant of the pleasantries.
The Last City (The Ahlemon Saga Book 1) Page 5