King's County
Page 16
“God, I must be an idiot thinking that stupid mission would have taken so long.” I say.
“I don't remember seeing...how were we kept unaware?” Ed says.
“You saw what we wanted you to see. You know the main window on your craft is an electronic display? The exterior sensors were overridden and a preset sequence was run.” Tyndall says.
“We never really studied...but I suspected something weird was going on. I knew it. They hustled me onto that train damn quickly, too. Never trust the military.” Ed says looking at me.
“You did this? Were you military?” I say to Tyndall.
“Some of us here were, not me. You could say our group re-purposed some of the military's resources. You know as well as anyone that they didn't exactly need them.”
“The old governments and armies are obsolete now, technologically unnecessary. There are a few factions still holding power in a limited sort of way. They're only held together by inertia, like an echo of the past. At least they generally get along with each other.” Leland says.
“Tell that to those poor fuckers in Seattle. The whole place was wiped out. The ground forces came from a factory with your symbol on it.”
Leland shakes his head,
“Those ground forces, those things, Waller, came from you.”
**Ω**
Leland and I are alone to talk further:
“It's times like this, John, when you have to push through the crap to really understand. The crap inside, I mean, all that garbage that's steering you in different directions. It can steer you in the wrong directions. All that anxiety, it's toxic.” Leland says.
“The problem is I don't trust you. I don't trust anybody here. I want off, like Ed. I'm not interested in this project or whatever it is you're doing. This is not for me.”
“But it is. It really is exactly for you. You're one of us.”
“I don't think so. If I was one of you, I think I’d know it.”
“Maybe. Well, what if I told you this is the only future you'll ever be able to have? Perhaps you don't have all the options that you think you do.”
“Can't you be honest with me? What is the point in all these secrets?”
“Would you like to go back to the Estrella train? You can always do that. You can see Ed. Maybe the two of you together will be able to figure a few things out.”
“I don't want to go back to the train.”
“So...well then, I think maybe I do know what you want. But this way, John, means you'll never get to come back here. You'll be alone.”
“I've always been alone. I realize that.”
“You'll always be if you go back. You may become quite powerful, more than you are now even, but you'll never be strong enough to escape this situation by yourself. Because of who you are, you'll always be isolated.
“And we're coming, John. We're coming to wipe the slate clean, this station with this asteroid bringing total annihilation to all that remain on Earth.”
“You want to destroy the Earth?”
“We'll destroy the AI, the cities, all living things and most structures - 100% certainty with a mass of this size. Our colony will have detached and we'll be in near orbit with the knowledge and technology to rebuild in the aftermath.”
“To rebuild as you see fit.”
“Yes.”
“When – I mean, how long until the asteroid makes it to Earth?”
“Something like...162 years, I think by now.”
“Leland?”
“Yes.”
“I don't think I like you very much.”
* * * * *
Olympia State Park
October 25, 2093
I'm staring at familiar moss covered trees. I see her. I'm standing but supported by something around me. It's a shrine, encasing me in packed moss and fresh flowers.
She's holding my right hand to her face and waiting for me to speak. My eyes clear and I see she's not alone.