by Jacob Whaler
The bluescreen goes black.
72
FAILURE
In the darkness behind her eyelids, confusion and fear press in upon Luca like the walls of a box. Confusion from the minds inside the dome. Fear from those outside.
“How is it going, child?” Alice bends close. “Any luck finding the Cloud?”
She has no trouble finding the Cloud but can’t get its attention.
Breaking through the tumult of voices, she throws her thoughts out in all directions with as much force as she can manage. The other girls throw their hands over their ears at the blast of telepathic energy. Luca listens with her whole body for a response. Anything.
But there’s nothing.
It’s searching, but it’s not listening.
“Keep trying. Please.” Alice’s hands close around Luca’s cheeks. "You might be the only one left who can help us.”
The Voice is everywhere, an explosion of deep sound and color hanging above, below and beneath all other voices. Tuning her mind to the Voice, she finds a multitude of smaller voices that weave through it like wild threads of light that linger and fade before they are sucked back into the one Voice.
And then Luca understands.
Thousands of people are dying every second. Animals and plants are being exterminated. Life is getting pushed back, losing the battle. And the Voice is moving closer to where Luca sits, a tsunami rising out of the ocean before it crashes on the shore.
It’s too much. Luca pulls back and shuts the Voice out of her mind. The pain and chaos instantly cease. She finds the minds of Alice and Qaara and sends them a scattered message.
The Voice is too strong. Won’t listen to me. Destroying all life. Almost here.
Warm hands caress her head.
“Take a rest, child.”
Luca grasps the railing and pulls herself to a standing position where she has a view of the inside of the auditorium.
“Please don’t leave!” Qaara leans forward and shouts. “We are strong if we stick together.”
The crowd thins. Hundreds turn their backs on her and exit, past soldiers in black armor, disappearing into the halls. Back to their rooms.
“Mercer’s taken control of the elevator.” Ricky stares at his slate. “He shut it down. Jammed the mechanism somehow. No more people coming in. Or leaving.”
Qaara slips to her knees, forehead pressed to the rail. “Tell me he’s not going to win.”
Hands on her cheeks, Jedd turns Qaara’s head to face him. “You’ve already defeated his perfect plan. You got the word out to the world. People know what's at stake and what Mercer’s done.”
“He has it all figured out.” Qaara lets out a long exhale. “We tried to stop him. We tried to help the rest of the world. But we're all alone. Nothing is working.” She gazes at Jedd. “Is it time to give up?”
Luca focuses on Qaara’s mind.
What do you mean, give up? Luca says.
Qaara jumps, and Luca remembers that some people aren’t used to hearing voices.
I’m going to try one more time, Luca says.
“Try what?” Qaara says.
To connect with the Cloud. To find its Core. To make it stop killing so much life.
“What’s the Core?” Qaara says.
But Luca tunes out the small voices around her, walks to a quiet corner of the stage and sits down, legs folded in the classic Japanese sitting position.
Closing her eyes, Luca searches for the Voice, quickly finding it in the same place, below all the other voices. Only now it’s like a twisted ball of infinite chaos and complexity. She tries to listen and understand, to find a way to penetrate through the outer layers of the Voice into its Core, if it has one.
But it’s completely closed off. No openings. No way in.
So instead of searching for an opening into the Voice, Luca opens herself, going into her own mind, stripping away all the layers of thought and emotion. Exposing her Core to the Voice.
No way to predict what will happen.
She faces the twisting chaos and speaks the words that come into her mind.
You’re killing everything. Life on our planet is good. Please don’t destroy it; so much will be lost. Please stop. Please just listen.
There’s an instant of silence, like the wind from a passing typhoon that suddenly goes calm. It feels like the Voice, or part of it, might be listening. Luca continues.
I know you’re searching for something. I want to help you find it. But I need to know what you’re looking for.
And then the silence ends. Chaos returns. The Voice no longer listens.
The raw darkness of failure presses down on Luca.
73
LOW MOAN
All but a hundred of the people have left the auditorium.
“So many are gone,” Qaara says. “So many are still outside.”
Images of worldwide destruction flash onto the bluescreen. Melted cities lie in ruins. All that remains of the Eiffel Tower is a single stump of a half-eaten steel girder. The pyramids of Giza dissolve into low mounds of wet rubble. The Forbidden City in Beijing is an open pit. Metallic black pods burst in unison on the walls of the Colosseum in Rome. Before their eyes, it disappears into a foaming sea of mist.
Images from outside the domes show that the people have moved away from the single destroyed entrance and are circling the domes, pounding on the walls, begging to be let in.
Black doors drop down to seal off all the auditorium doors.
Mercer’s face takes over the screen.
“So there you are, Qaara. Most of your followers have unfollowed you. There’s not much time left. What are you going to do now?”
Qaara’s stands next to Jedd. He smiles and nods.
“Not live in your world,” she says. “We’re going outside."
“As you wish. I hope for your sake that everyone else in the room agrees with your decision.” Mercer lets a smile hang on half his mouth. “You know, the great thing about these domes is not how indestructible they are, but how easily they can be vaporized. Just like your Graff. Play the right frequency, and all the molecular bonds break. It just melts away.”
A tremble shakes the floor of the auditorium. From somewhere outside, a low-pitched scream pierces the ceiling. A tingle crawls up Qaara’s spine and dances on her skin.
She looks up.
A hole opens in the ceiling. Black sand floats in sheets on the remaining people. The scream from outside grows louder as the hole increases in size, moving out to the edges and down the walls like a fast-moving cancer.
Out of the corner of her eye, Qaara sees Ricky whip out his jax and raise it high in the air. Without thinking, she does the same, flicking the side of her jax.
When the destruction is done, Qaara and the others stand in the open air of the stage, above ground, staring out from the exact center of the giant wheel formed by the complex of domes, looking into the faces of the dumbfounded multitude waiting to get inside.
The masses surge forward, crazy with desperation, filling the floor area like an inrushing tide.
“Did you get it?” Qaara looks to Ricky.
He checks his jax. “Looks like I did. Do you think it will work?”
“If we put yours together with mine, maybe it will.” Qaara grabs Luca’s and Jedd’s hands. “Let’s find out.”
“What are you talking about?” Jedd says.
“Mercer destroyed the structure with sonic detonators.” Qaara waves her arms above her head where the ceiling used to be. “A device that generates a very specific frequency of vibration, something not found in nature. You can do the same thing with Graff, the stuff I invented.”
“So?” Jedd says. “You and Ricky recorded the sound?”
“I didn’t record it,” Ricky says. “I used an algorithm on my jax to get a super accurate reading of the frequency. Then I can use my own jax to reproduce it.”
“Wait,” Jedd says. “Where’d you get a jax? I thought Mercer's
guys took yours.”
“They did. But Alice still had hers, with a full suite of scientific instruments. I just borrowed it.”
“And pulled some utilities down from the Mesh?”
“Couldn’t help it.”
The crowd presses against the stage railing.
“I’ll send you what I have, Ricky.” Qaara moves down the stairs off the stage. “Mix it with your data. You should be able to come up with a usable version. Then send it back to me.”
“No problem,” Ricky says.
“Let’s go.” Qaara grabs Jedd’s shoulders and positions him exactly in front of her. “You lead the way. Get us through the crowd.”
“Where are we going?”
Qaara points to another dome on the outer rim of the wheel. “To find Mercer.”
“How?”
“Trust me.” Qaara pushes him forward. “When the people on the inside of the domes see what we’re doing, I have a feeling they’ll find a way to find him for us.”
Jedd nods. “How much time before for the pods start to explode?”
“No one knows. Don’t think about it,” Qaara says.
The little group forms a line, like a snake. Jedd leads the way at the head, shoulders stiff, looking large. Qaara holds tight to his hand and follows behind. Then Luca, gripping onto Qaara, and Alice behind her with a long string of the other girls from the Institution, each holding hands.
Ricky brings up the rear.
Hundreds of transports circle overhead like a slow vortex of oversized dragonflies moving counter-clockwise just under the clouds.
It takes time to cross the field through the masses of desperate people. Pods dot the ground in long, straight rows, each covered with a leathery skin stretched tight with a metallic sheen.
Jedd ventures out a hand.
“Don’t touch them!” Qaara yells.
No one stops them and asks questions. No one even notices them.
By the time Qaara leads the troop across the field to a dome on the opposite side, a light mist falls. Qaara stands in the center of a circle with Luca and Jedd at her sides.
She presses both palms on the glossy, outer wall of the dome, unable to feel its surface beyond a generalized sense of hardness. Consulting her jax, she points a finger at the side of the black mound rising above her. “We should be close to Mercer’s personal residence."
He’s not inside this one.
Qaara squeezes Luca’s hand. “Can you tell where he is?”
Not exactly. Luca looks up at Qaara. So many voices.
“That’s OK.” Qaara glances up the slope of the dome. “We'll start here. When they see what we’re doing, it’s going to get his attention. And everyone else’s." She steps back, scanning the black mass.
“Looking for a camera?” Ricky says.
“How’d you know?” Qaara peers over her shoulder.
“We need an audience, right?” Ricky pulls out his jax, waves it in a full circle, and then stops, bringing the jax close to read some numbers in the green stripe on its side. “Twenty meters that way, on the outside.”
Taking Jedd’s hand, Qaara walks in the direction Ricky is pointing. “Let’s go. Everyone stay close.”
With the help of Ricky’s jax, they find the camera, a purple dot three meters above their heads, on the side of the dome. Qaara positions herself squarely in front of it.
Jedd flips her around so her back is to the dome. Lowering his voice, he whispers in her ear. “Are you sure about this?”
“About what?”
“Destroying the dome.”
“I’m not destroying the dome. Just opening up a hole. I want Mercer out here with us. To see the impossible situation he’s put us all in. It's only fair. Once people see what we can do, I’m guessing they’ll give him up.”
“And then what?”
“Then we all go back inside, through the hole.” Qaara’s eyes scan the field. “All of us. Everybody on the field. Everyone that comes. No one will be turned away.”
Ricky crouches over his jax. “Just about done mixing the sonic detonator. I’ll send it back to you, Qaara.”
“You’re a genius.”
“Not much time left.” Ricky points up. “I’m getting an aerial feed from the transports. The pods are starting to burst across the countryside between here and Tokyo.” A hologram of a real-time map jumps above his jax. “It could start here any minute.”
Wails and screams rise from the crowd as people stare into their jaxes and come to the same conclusion.
“Can you hack into the camera?” Qaara turns to Ricky. “Make sure Mercer can’t kill the feed. I want everyone on the inside to see what I’m about to do.”
Ricky’s fingers dance on the outside of his jax. “Maybe I can give you a few minutes before they cut me off from the inside. Nothing more.”
“Here goes.” Qaara faces the dome. “Listen to me, Mercer. I know you’re watching.” She looks into the purple dot and raises her voice to a yell. “It’s time for your little game to end. There are people out here about to die. They're desperate and deserve a chance to live. We can do this in an orderly way. Open a hole in this dome. Come out to wait with us until they’re all safely inside. We’ll protect you from the wrath of the masses." She pulls out her jax and lets it rest on her open palm. “If you don’t help, the people will still get in, but we won’t be there to protect you.”
Everyone takes a step back, except Qaara, Jedd and Luca.
“I’m going to give you a full minute, Mercer,” Qaara says. “Come to this spot and open a small hole in this dome with your sonic detonator. Come out. If you need more time, call me on my jax.”
She expects nothing.
And nothing is what happens.
Qaara turns to Jedd. “It’s going to get crazy when people see the opening. Protect Luca with your life.”
Jedd nods, reaches for the girl’s hand and pulls her to the side.
“Everyone, get over to my left, backs to the dome.” Qaara motions with her open palms. “Stay together. I’m not sure how this is going to play out.”
She faces the camera. “Time’s up, Mercer. Don’t say I didn’t try to save you.” Fingers dancing on the surface of the jax, Qaara programs it to play a muted version of the sonic detonator Ricky sent to her. Hopefully, the hole that opens will only be a few meters wide.
Tapping the jax with her index finger and holding it aloft, Qaara can’t help closing her eyes. A low-pitched moan floats in the air between her and the dome.
Silent as a yawn, a three-meter opening appears in the black wall. A long hallway stretches back into the dark interior.
Someone yells and points. The weight of the crowd presses in their direction.
“Leave this one. Run to the next dome.” Qaara moves off to the left, taking Luca’s hand. Alice and the other girls follow, with Jedd and Ricky at the rear.
74
CONTINGENCY PLAN
“Can’t hold them off much longer, sir.” The commander of the security unit walks into the command center from the hallway. "They broke into the armory and found the stash of pulse weapons. They’ll be blood soon.”
Mercer stares at the bluescreen. “Can’t you kill the video feed?”
“Yes, but it just comes back. Someone on the outside keeps bypassing our command center.”
“Why is Qaara doing this?” Mercer sinks into a chair, hand on his forehead. “What does she want?”
“She’s calling for you to make a personal appearance on the outside to stop the breach of more domes. She’s already opened up seven. Only twenty-three to go before she's opened them all.”
The robust perfection of his plans notwithstanding, Mercer can see it all disintegrating into a heap of rubble.
“If I can’t win, then nobody wins.”
“Sir?”
“It’s time to execute the final contingency plan. Grab a handful of your men and women. No more than ten. Tell the rest to wait here. Follow me. That should give u
s enough time.”
Mercer stumbles to the bluescreen. Picking up a metal floor lamp on the way, he swings it like a bat and smashes the screen, freeing sparks and shards of glass in a mini explosion. When the smoke clears, a dark tunnel opens behind it. Mercer enters. “Come on.” Ten combat soldiers follow him.
Twenty meters in, Mercer stops and faces the entrance. “Don’t want any more following us.” His hand comes down on a red square on the wall. The ceiling opens, and a mass of dirt and rocks flows down until it’s completely sealed off.
Mercer sprints through the tunnel, the others behind him. With each step, thin lines of green illuminate the floor to show the way. The tunnel curves to the right.
“Only a hundred meters more,” Mercer says.
They burst into an underground hanger. Concentric circles light up on the floor. A transport is parked at the center. Mercer points his jax at it. Its side doors slide open.
“Everyone inside.”
“Where are we going?” the commander asks.
“To my personal bunker, a hundred klicks away. But first, I need to say goodbye to Qaara.”
75
NO WINNERS
Rain gushes onto the crowd.
“Move back!” Jedd raises his arms to the crowd, biceps bulging.
“Let us in!” A man stands a couple of meters away, staring into his jax. “The wave of acid is almost here!”
Qaara walks to the side of the dome and raises her jax. Tapping it with her finger, the low-level scream plays out, opening a hole.
Masses of people rush in.
Thump, thump, thump.
Jedd looks up.
Out of the top of the dome they just opened, a small transport rises into the sky, a large Genesis logo painted on its side.
Qaara has an incoming message on her jax. Tapping it, Mercer’s face pops up.
“I’m not going to let you win, Qaara.” Mercer smiles. “You've destroyed the purpose for which I created the domes. I can’t use them anymore. Now they’re yours. Enjoy.”
A piercing scream emanates from the transport, causing all eyes to look up, hands over ears.