Shroud of Doom

by William Manchee

  Chapter 35

  Anger and Pride

   

  Baldrige lie awake in his bed trembling. Reports that the nanomites in Shisk had quietly built a transparent casket around Broggin and Zahn chilled him to the bone. He wondered if he would suffer a similar fate if the war with the Nanomites continued. He shuttered at the thought of suffocating in his sleep. As a precaution he kept a pistol at his side to blow his way out of the casket if he found himself entombed. Why had he accepted help from Rupra Bruda? Artis had warned him. What a fool he had been to dismiss her concerns. Fortunately, there were no longer any Nanomites at the Science Lab. He’d have to take precautions to be sure none were allowed to enter the facility in the future. He finally drifted off into a troubled slumber.

  During the night he dreamed of the warehouse and the extermination Bruda ordered. He could hear the cries of a million nanomites as they choked and wailed in pain from the toxic gases. He closed his eyes and covered his ears trying to keep out the frantic voices. When he finally opened his eyes again he saw thousands of giant nanomites emerging from under his door, crawling up onto his bed and viciously biting into this skin. He twisted and turned trying to get away from them but soon realized his hands and feet were tied by invisible restraints. The pain from each bite was excruciating. He screamed in utter agony. Then he woke with a start.

  He jumped out of bed and examined his body. Relieved that it had only been a dream he went to the window and looked out over his yard. Everything looked quiet but he still had an ominous feeling. With the Nanomites quiet was the norm. That was why they were so dangerous. They could be doing terrible things without anyone realizing it was happening. He decided he would have to arrange for guards to be posted around his home to keep watch for anything out of the ordinary.

   

   

  After Ariela had advised the Speaker of the Fasoon nanomites of the events in Shisk, the swarmmasters took a few loons to discuss the issue amongst themselves. When they were done the Speaker asked. “So, if they find us they will exterminate us just like they did our brothers and sisters in the Science Lab,” the Speaker said.

  “I’m afraid so,” Ariela replied.

  “Then we should take the offensive.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “We should attack the humans before they find us.”

  “Well, Threebeard doesn’t want that. He is trying to get the TGA to retract the order. He wants peace.”

  “Fine, but until that happens, as I understand it. We are at war.”

  Ariela swallowed hard. “Yes, I suppose so.”

  “I know who we should kill first.”

  “Who?” Ariela asked.

  “Baldrige. He betrayed us when he brought in Rupra Bruda and his evil mate.”

  “Yes. I understand. It was their intent to enslave you like they have the Seafolken.”

  “Will you and Giant help us?”

  “I don’t know. Let me discuss it with him.”

  Ariela relayed the conversation to Giant. He nodded.

  “Yes. We will help you. What do you want us to do?”

  The speaker told her.

  “Alright. We’ll get started.”

  Giant and Ariela left and went into Fasoon to procure supplies and locate Baldrige’s home. They found an equipment rental yard and Giant rented a small truck and then went to a materials yard and had it loaded with sand. Then he drove back to the Nanomite’s restored church. While Giant was doing that, Ariela looked in the local directories but could not find Baldrige’s address, so she got on the GC and called Nic back at the Mighty Jolly. He was reluctant to look up the address on the TGN but finally did and gave it to her.

  “If anyone asks, we didn’t talk today,” Nic said.

  “Right,” Ariela agreed.

  That night Giant pulled open one of the ventilation caps on the roof of Baldrige’s home. Then he poured in the same toxic fluid Rupra Bruda had used on the Nanomites. While he was doing that the nanomites were sealing all the doors and windows so that no one in the house could escape. When the home had been sealed the Speaker let Ariela know and she turned on a fan that would spread the toxic gas throughout the house.

  In just a few loons Baldrige and his family were up running around in a general panic. They were coughing, choking and pounding on the doors and windows trying to escape the toxic blend of gases that caused excruciating pain as they attacked their bodies’ central nervous systems. In less than half a kyloon they were all dead.

  When the job was done Giant drove the small truck back to the church. Once they were out of the sand and safely back in the walls of the church, Giant and Ariela left to return the truck so it wouldn’t be reported missing by its owners.

   

   

  In Shisk Rupra and Essyria Bruda were enjoying a drink before dinner at the Gohi Dodi restaurant when a news bulletin came on the VC. Rupra looked up when he heard it was about a new nanomite attack.

   

  “Early this morning there was another attack by Nanomite swarms in Fasoon. Berne Baldrige, head of the Nanomite Project at the TGA Science Lab was found dead along with his wife, two children and three servants. Apparently during the night the Nanomites sealed off his home and then pumped lethal gases into the sealed structure. A spokesman for the Medical Examiner indicated that the gas attacked the central nervous system of its victims causing a very painful, agonizing death.

  “Ironically the TGA Science Lab was where the Nanomites were taught to build structures suitable for human habitation and eventually a contract was agreed upon for the joint construction of a long list of projects including the Great Hall of the Supreme Council of Interpreters here in Shisk.

  “Recently the Supreme Council of Interpreters denied the Nanomites civil rights status under the Supreme Mandate resulting in the reversal of the convictions of Fellis Broggin and Hirah Zahn who had been convicted of capital genocide of millions of Nanomite swarms. Yesterday, Broggin and Zahn were found dead in their bunks having been sealed alive in crystal coffins. A spokesman for the TGA indicates this was the work of local Nanomite swarms angered by the ruling.

  “Informed sources indicate the killing of the Baldrige was in retaliation for the genocide of millions of nanomite swarms in a warehouse at the Science Lab facility last cycle for which Fellis Broggin had been convicted. Apparently the Nanomites believed Baldrige was also responsible for that atrocity. ”

   

  Essyria looked worriedly at Rupra. “I thought they were all dead.”

  “So did I.”

  “What if they come after us? You know they hate us more than anyone on Tarizon.”

  Rupra shook his head. “They couldn’t get close to us. I would feel them coming.”

  “What are we going to do? They are out of control.”

  “We need to talk to General Bratford. He needs to expand his kill order to include Fasoon.”

  “Why stop there. We should kill all the Nanomites on Tarizon,” Essyria argued.

  “Yes, we should, but the Loyalist still control the General Assembly. They’d never allow it. We need to keep this as a TGA matter. So far everyone they have killed was associated with the TGA so dealing with them is a matter for the military.”

  Rupra got on the GC, talked to General Bratford’s aide and was relieved to find out that once Baldrige’s body had been found the extermination order had been expanded to include the Nanomites at Fasoon and surrounding precincts.

  Rupra disconnected the GC and smiled at Essyria. “Everything is under control.”

  Essyria gave him a skeptical look.

   

   

  Giant drove the small truck with its cargo of sand as fast he dared on the country road that led away from the church. He knew it wouldn’t be long before the TGA discovered the attack on the Baldrige home. What he didn’t know was that a neighbor had seen him on Baldrige’s roof and called the PE’s office. He gave them a description of the tru
ck and an officer on a jet cycle had spotted them driving out of town. While the officer was following them he called in and reported the truck’s position. When the PE’s dispatcher got the report she called the TGA.

  Not ten loons after the nanomites had retreated into the walls of the church TGA soldiers were dropping out of jet copters around the building. While the house was being surrounded the officer chased after Giant and Ariela. When he put on his siren and turned on his lights Giant refused to stop. After a long chase Giant rolled the truck trying to avoid a collision with a second PE officer who came at him from a cross street. The load of sand spilled out onto the highway knocking both officers off their cycles and into a ditch. Giant climbed out of the truck, helped Ariela out and they both took flight and disappeared into the woods with the two officers in pursuit.

  Back at the church the squad leader on site called in to his lieutenant for orders. “We have the nanomites in a church. There are no other occupants in the structure? How should we proceed?”

  “Your orders are to kill the Nanomites,” the lieutenant advised.

  “How do you suggest we do that, sir? How do you kill Nanomites?”

  There was silence on the line for a moment. “Ah. Toxic gases or high intensity heat.”

  “We don’t have any gases, but we could send for some.”

  “No. They might get away. Just hit the church with a few missiles from your jet copters. The explosion will produce enough heat to kill them.”

  “Understood.”

  The squad leader told his men to clear the area. Then two jet copters rose, backed off a few hundred strides, and then unleashed a missile barrage that engulfed the church in a fiery inferno. The nanomite swarms inside tried to burrow deep into the ground to avoid the deadly explosion and ensuing fire, but the blast ripped right through them and they all perished.

  The soldiers around the perimeter of the church watched it burn, mesmerized by the sight but not quite fathoming what they had done. News helicopters were soon hovering above getting footage of the burning church for the evening telecasts.

  Several kylods away Giant and Ariela hid behind a rock as one of the PE’s chasing them approached. As he ran by Giant grabbed the officer’s arm and pulled him to the ground. The officer’s revolver was knocked away leaving him helpless. Giant immediately pounced on him, got him in a headlock and snapped his neck.

  A shot rang out and a bullet hit Giant in the arm. He turned angrily and glared at the other PE coming at him. With her third hand Ariela yanked the gun out of the officer’s arm and it skidded several strides away. The PE stopped stunned by being disarmed. He looked at the gun several strides away and then at Giant. He swallowed hard, then turned and ran back the way he came.

  Ariela ripped off a sleeve of the dead officer’s shirt and tied it over Giant’s wound. Then they got up and made their escape.

   

   

  Allo and the nanomite swarms back in Shisk were asleep. They had been running all day and were exhausted. In their normal existence they rarely moved but a few strides each day, so to move a kylod was extremely taxing. Suddenly Allo felt Daylight in his mind. He could tell she was reluctant to share her thoughts.

  “Yes, Daylight. What is it?”

  She told him about the fate of the nanomite at the Science Lab.”

  Allo’s mood darkened with the shocking news. “This is indeed regrettable news. We had thought the humans would learn a lesson when we took the lives of just a few of them in retaliation for the millions of nanomites who they so callously slaughtered. But we can see now they are arrogant and thick headed, so we will have to make them suffer dearly before they will think twice about murdering nanomites.”

  “What are you going to do?” Daylight thought.

  “Something that will haunt their dreams for many cycles to come and make it difficult for them to ever close their eyes to sleep again.”

  “Do you need my help?” Daylight asked.

  “Yes, but only to deliver a message to the other swarms in Shisk. There are seven building sites and we will need all of these swarms. After that has been done, I would suggest you and the other rhutz in Shisk leave the city and go back to the woods and the meadows where it will be safe.”

  “Alright. I will warn the local packs and they will pass the word.”

  “Thank you for your help, Daylight. You have been a real friend to the Nanomites. God be with you.”

  Allo connected to all his swarmmasters and they mourned the loss of their brothers and sisters in Fasoon. After a long and heated discussion they agreed with Allo that they had no choice but deliver a blow so devastating that the humans would regret the day they broke the covenant with the Nanomites.

  The next day Daylight delivered Allo’s message to the other swarmmasters. It was a difficult task since all the nanomite swarms had moved out of their farms and were hiding. But eventually he found them all and the Nanomite plan was under way.

  Since it was an ambitious plan, Allo knew it would take some time to carry out, but he was convinced once it unfolded the humans would have no choice but to ask for an end to hostilities. Unfortunately, he overestimated the wisdom and underestimated the pride of his human foes.

   

   

  Lt. Videl Lai was angry that the security patrols had been unable to find any of the nanomite swarms in Shisk. The problem was that only a handful of humans in Shisk had strong enough telepathic abilities to detect nanomite activity. He, Bruda and Essyria and the seven nanomite handlers had split up and gone out with each of the security patrols sweeping the city, but Shisk with eight million citizens was much too large to effectively search, particularly when you couldn’t see what you were looking for.

  Frustrated Videl got on the GC with General Bratford to see if they could come up with a solution.

  “It’s impossible to find the Nanomites when they are hiding. Isn’t there any way to detect their presence,” Videl asked.

  “There is no other practical way. You would have to have a strong microscope to even see a nanomite.”

  “Well there must be something else we can do. We can’t just let them attack us with impunity,” General Bratford spat.

  “There is one thing you could do,” Bruda said. “It would take a little time but it would eventually solve the problem.”

  “What is it?” General Bratford demanded.

  “Baldrige once told me that bacuum was the key to controlling the Nanomites. I had expressed my concern that their numbers we growing rapidly and eventually it might be hard to control them. He told me the nanomites must have bacuum and that was how we could stop their growth at any time. bacuum can only be found naturally in a few desert regions. That’s why the Nanomites lived in those areas. Now we are mining it and providing the Nanomites with as much as they want.”

  “Right,” Videl interrupted. “So, cut off the bacuum and the Nanomites die.”

  “Yes, without bacuum they cannot propagate and eventually they would all die a natural death.”

  “Excellent!” General Bratford said. “I’ll order all bacuum on Tarizon seized and moved to remote locations where the Nanomites can’t get their hands on it.”

  “Yes, an excellent plan,” Bruda said. “We’ll all sleep better when every last nanomite is dead.”

   

   

  The Tuht Tower, Tarizon’s highest skyscraper, was the crown jewel of the Shisk skyline. It rose 3,000 ft. with 288 floors, and, on an average day boasted a census of 3,227 of Tarizon’s most wealthy and productive businessmen. It was a workday, twenty-nine days after Broggin and Zahn’s death at the hands of the Nanomites, when a tremor was felt in the building.

  Tremors were pretty common in Shisk since the great eruptions so no one paid much attention to it. The first tremor was followed by several more but what was strange about the tremors was the fact that they were only being felt by the humans in the Tuht Tower.

  Chancellor Chlovus Hock was dining
in one of several elegant restaurants in Tuht Tower along with Commander Brunns who had just returned from Earth. With them was Ensign Muri and several assemblymen from Tarizon’s World Assembly. As they had just finished eating, the waiter brought them sankee and the dessert menu. The Chancellor stood up.

  “Well, it is too bad that the Americans wouldn’t agree to accept all of us on Earth, but having a pure environment to conceive and raise children for the next several generations is still a great accomplishment. I salute you Commander for a job well done,” Chancellor Hock said raising his glass.

  Everyone raised their glasses in response and then drank heartily. Suddenly the room began to rock back and forth, glasses tumbled over, and several guests screamed.

  The Chancellor smiled. “Well, it’s a good thing they made this building strong enough to withstand a quantum eight tremor.”

  Commander Brunns stood up. “Thank you for dinner, Mr. Chancellor, but Ensign Muri and I must leave. We are due to meet with General Bratford and Central Command to work on a plan for the transport of the first wave of Earth Guests.”

  “Yes. Yes. Thank you for coming,” the Chancellor replied. “Let me know if there is anything I can do to help expedite your preparations.”

  “I will,” Commander Brunns said as he and Ensign Muri took their leave.

  The waiter brought over the dessert tray and each of the remaining guests made their choices. Several loons later the lights flickered several times and then went out. It was late afternoon, so everyone could still see, so most everyone just laughed about the inconvenience.

  “We should go,” the chancellor’s security chief suggested. “I’m not comfortable being here with the power out.”

  The Chancellor nodded. “Very, well. I’m done anyway.

  As he rose there was another tremor much more violent than the first. Many screamed as they were jolted out of their chairs and thrown onto the ground. Plaster fell from the ceiling and dishes and silverware were tossed to the ground.

  The chief security officer pulled the Chancellor off the floor and he and rest of the team rushed him out of the door to the elevator banks. Unfortunately, the elevators without power were useless. Just as they got to the stairwells the floor beneath them gave way and they dropped twenty feet into a pile of rubble. Dust and debris swelled around them and it became difficult to breath. Pain shot through the Chancellor’s leg.

  “I think I have broken my leg,” the Chancellor moaned.

  The chief security officer picked himself up out of the rubble and struggled to where the Chancellor had fallen. He examined the leg. “I think it is just a strain. I’ll call for medical assistance. They should be here in just a moment.”

  “What is happening? Is Mt. Soni erupting again?”

  “I don’t know, Mr. Chancellor. I’ll call in and see what’s going on.”

  The chief security officer punched some numbers in the GC. “The Chancellor has been injured. We are in the Tuht Tower. The tremor has caused the 153rd floor to collapse.”

  “What? There’s been no tremors? But—”

  The officer’s eyes went wide. “Okay, I’ll tell him.”

  “Mr. Chancellor.”

  “What?” the Chancellor moaned.

  “There’s been no tremors. It’s the Nanomites. They took out the city’s power grid, punctured the dome, and now buildings are collapsing all over the city!”

  “Holy Sandee!” the Chancellor exclaimed as the floor beneath him gave way once again.

   

   

  Videl Lai and Rupra Bruda stood speechless on the steps of the Hall of the World Assembly. They were watching the Tuht Tower where they knew the Chancellor was having dinner. There had been reports of floors collapsing and they could see smoke pouring out of the roof. Suddenly one corner of the building gave way causing it to fall like a tree towards another tall building, the 127 story Kinomba Building. When it hit the Kinomba Building the top third of it broke away and dropped like lead onto the streets below and the Tuht Tower crumbled demolishing four more buildings beneath it.

  There were screams of terror, pain and fear coming from every direction. Smoke from the fires in the toppled buildings, and toxic gases flooding in from large gashes in the dome, made it difficult to see and impossible to breathe. Emergency vehicles screamed in from every direction. Hoards of people were pouring out on the streets fearing no building in the city was safe. Looters, taking advantage of the chaos, began smashing windows, breaking into businesses and setting more fires.

  “We must call General Bratford,” Videl Lai said. “The Chancellor is surely dead. The general must declare martial law. This may be our opportunity to seize power.”

  “Yes. Perhaps so. You should call him.”

   Videl punched in the code to Central Command. “This Lt. Videl Lai. I need to talk to General Bratford immediately.”

  Videl was put through to the general and updated him on the situation. “Yes, Sir. He was having dinner in the building. I don’t see how he could have survived.”

  Videl nodded several times while he listened to the General. “Yes, sir. I’ll take care of it. Thank you.”

  Videl looked at Bruda. “The general wants me to see if I can find the Vice-Chancellor or the citihead. He’s mobilizing a force to enter the city but he needs the approval of the citihead or the vice chancellor.

  The citihead of Shisk was a Purists and a close friend of Videl Lai.

  “Okay,” Bruda replied. “You go look for the citihead and I’ll try to find the Vice Chancellor. Hopefully he was in one of those buildings that collapsed, but if not, maybe I can arrange that he’s found under one of them.”

  “Good idea, but don’t get caught,” Videl said. “We’re not ready to fight a civil war just yet.”

  “Don’t worry. I know how to kill someone and make it look like an accident.”

  “Yes, I know,” Videl said. “ You are very talented in that area. That’s one of the reasons I recruited you.”

  The two parted and went their separate ways. Videl knew where he’d most likely find the citihead. He usually stopped for a drink at tavern near city hall on his way home each evening. Unfortunately, getting to the Dromma Tavern in the chaos that had engulfed the city wasn’t an easy task. It was less than a kylod so he started to walk there, but he was fighting the crowds which made the going slow. Finally, he saw a sky cab land and rushed over to hire it. Several other people had the same idea, so Videl used his third hand to trip them up. Just a few loons later the sky cab dropped him in front of the Dromma Tavern. He went inside and found the Citihead huddled in the corner of the Tavern which they had turned into a temporary command center.

  “Videl? What are you doing here?” the Citihead asked.

  “General Bratford asked me to find you. He’s mobilizing a military force to come in and restore the peace, but he needs your approval.”

  “Yes. That’s a good idea. Tell him to send them in.”

  “He’ll need to hear it from you. You can use my GC to contact him.

  Videl had a military command grade GC that was much more reliable than the ones issued to civilians. Videl punched in the code and handed it to the Citihead.

  “General. This is Citihead Balsch....Yes, the situation is very grave....That’s right, I was told the Chancellor was in the Tuht Tower when it collapsed. No one has heard from him since then....Yes, we do need assistance. Please send us some troops to restore order....I will... Thank you, General.”

  Citihead Balsch handed the GC back to Videl. “So, he’s sending in the troops?” Videl asked.

  “Yes, they will be arriving in a few kyloons.”

  “Good,” Videl said. “This may work out very well for us.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “We think the Vice Chancellor may be dead as well. If that is the case there would be much confusion and you could step in to restore order.”

  “But I have no authority beyond Shisk,” the Citihead pr
otested.

  “You do if the TGA says you do,” Videl argued.

  Citihead Balsch smiled.