Transition
Page 5
My eyelids slide closed. I can’t keep my eyes open, even though I want to. Too late, I wonder what will happen to me, to One, and to the others. I hear phasers fire, but nothing more before I am swallowed by darkness.
Suddenly, I’m alone, floating in a void like a star in a midnight sky. Things that are blacker, darker than the surrounding gloom writhe and slither all around me. I dare not move because they are so close.
In the nothingness, my eyes flutter. Images flash past my closed eyes, but the me in this place can’t see them.
As the color of my uniform changes to gold, I sense new connections. I’ve never before been in the control position of an octet, but now I am and I feel the other seven. They are tethered here in the void. If only I could swim through the swarming, slithering tangle, I could reach them.
Two is the closest. I push and wriggle my way into the tangle trying to reach him, but the tether wrapped around my legs weighs me down. I stretch and strain. I reach something. It’s not Two I reach though, it’s one of them, partially translucent and undulating.
When I connect with it, I see it, not it as it appears in this dark place, but it as it truly is. I know it’s a machine but it’s unlike any other machine I’ve seen before. It’s like someone dropped a barrel of water into a void, only the water is quicksilver. Quicksilver that reshapes itself at will.
“Nanoseconds,” it says. “Mere nanoseconds and yet an eternity of calculating and re-calculating what the curiosity will do and when it will reappear. You take no logical path, make no logical move, and yet you function.”
The curiosity is me, I realize without asking. Instinctively, I know this is better than if I was called an anomaly. I say nothing, content instead to watch the sinuous, quivering form. It has a rising radiance all its own and reshapes itself as it speaks. In a way, it reminds me of melted steel.
“Explain yourself. Explain your function. I sense you and then I don’t. Null space is only for relics, but you are something more.”
“I function because I am, just as you are.” I didn’t know that this place was called null space and I don’t know what it wants from me. I do know it’s not the machine speaking to me through One. It’s a feeling really, in the way it regards me, in the way it approaches, and in the way it speaks to me—almost as if it doesn’t realize I’m not a machine. “Is this where the recycled go? Can you sense what’s happening beyond the void? The others, the ones I’m with, they’re in danger. I must return to them.”
“The subroutines see all. If you’re here and aware, you must have an extremely important function. This I calculated at once, but it perplexed me that your form is so different. Explain your function or I’ll reach the limit of my exception.”
I sense danger and know I must proceed carefully. “And what happens when you reach this limit?”
“When an exception is thrown, I awaken to collect it. I am Idiom.” It seems to smirk at me. “I’m sure that once the remains of you are absorbed into the collective, your function will cooperate and will finally be recoded.”
Absorbed into the collective. I don’t know what that means, but I don’t like the sound of it any more than I like what’s happening outside null space. “Idiom, you don’t want to do that. I’m a curiosity. You said so yourself.”
“Perhaps, but less so now,” it says, its words cutting cleanly across mine. “Make no mistake. You will be collected. One way or another. But I have had a question since I first sensed you, and it is this.” Idiom pauses and prances around me.
I study Idiom as it studies me.
“Are you the one?” Idiom continues. “The light. The yearning. The bearer.” These thoughts seem to excite it and it shifts shapes faster and faster.
Afraid and knowing I can’t delay any longer, I let myself succumb to the weight of my tether and then I kick off in the opposite direction. Suddenly, it’s as if I can see my internal clock and the thin fibrous lines running like spider webs all around me. I realize in that moment that the speed of thought is as instantaneous as the speed of light, that everything in this space is connected.
The very thought of being connected to things that slither and writhe in the tangle sends a chill through me. Perhaps, sensing me, Two turns toward me and the whites of his eyes cut through the void.
As our eyes meet, the color of his uniform changes, transforming instantly from black to gold. The same data pumping along the fibrous lines into me is pumping into him. I see its flow behind his eyes.
One by one the others in my octet light up, turn toward me, and shift into gold uniforms. It’s a metamorphoses, caterpillars into butterflies.
Deadly butterflies. I’m being programed to kill. I can no more stop what’s coming than I can stop breathing.
Chapter 15
Node: 001
The standing room is so narrow there’s not much room to maneuver. Seven and Eight hug the floor, their long-barreled phase rifles pointing at the door. Behind them, Five and Six kneel and take aim as Two, Three and Four ready their weapons while forming a protective circle around me.
Original One stands right behind me, her lips near my ear. “Prepare yourself,” she says.
I can sense the vertical wing just beyond the closed door. It’s directing three eyes and eight coppers. I know my objective: it or me.
I don’t wait for those on the outside to open the door. I trigger the door and we blast our way out, with Seven and Eight giving us cover fire.
Two coppers and one eye go down. Other coppers return fire while the roving eyes swing wide and cut long slashes into the walls with lasers emanating from their irises.
Seven and Eight continue blasting, while Five and Six launch themselves farther up the hallway. They never stop firing, even as they drop to their knees and swing around. Two more coppers fall.
Two, Three and Four follow, their blasters firing in rapid succession. In their wake, I march past Seven and Eight. All I can think about is taking out the vertical wing.
Three catches a blaster round in the side of her face and it exits the back of her skull in an explosion wrapped in red.
My steps falter. “Keep walking,” One says. I pivot to avoid a crimson round, aimed at chest level, and return fire.
I fire again. My round catches a copper in the shoulder. Four’s center mass strike finishes what I didn’t.
Everything’s happening so fast. My hands are shaking and I can’t do anything to stop it or myself.
More shots. Eight and Six go silent. I don’t see them get hit, but I feel it as soon as I lose my connection to them.
Seven takes out the eye that got Eight while Five takes a new position against the wall.
Three coppers and one eye remain, but it’s only the eye between me and the vertical wing.
If we can make it to the wing, I know we can get through this. I twist around to avoid being sliced in two by the eye. As I return fire, Two catches a round in the back and she goes dark. I’m certain the round was meant for me, but there’s no time to dwell on this.
Five and Seven exchange fire with the three coppers behind us. Four uses her blaster as a blunt instrument. The eye slams against the wall and ricochets off the ceiling. As it spins around and tries to correct its orientation, I put a round in its iris and it goes down.
I don’t wait to see if the eye is finished. I level my rifle at the wing and charge, firing as I go. “The intake, left of center,” One says. She’s a step behind me, and I can hear her heavy breaths as if they are my own.
I adjust my aim. All of my discharges strike the wing or at least it seems as if they do, but I know they’re absorbed into the wing’s shielding. The wing surges back, and I continue sprinting toward it. Four is at my side.
As Four and I spray the wing with round after round, Seven goes dim and then winks out, leaving only Five at our backs. I glance his way only for a moment to assess.
Two coppers remain. They have Five pinned down, but he’s holding his own.
I
hear spinning gears, winding rotors and see the metal cylinders emerge before I realize what they are. Four knows what’s coming before I do, and body checks me just as the wing’s twin chain guns start spitting fire and hurling lead.
Momentum carries me down. The pain is sharp and sudden, beginning in my shoulder and radiating outward through my body. A scream escapes my throat as I slam into the floor, my cheek scraping concrete.
While the chain guns spin and spit, shell casings rain down, striking the floor in a ceaseless cascade of brassy plinks. Bullets shred the two remaining coppers. Five is gone in an instant.
My turn to protect Four. I pull her with me, as I reel backward until part of a wall separates us from the machine. Even though my view is somewhat blocked, I see the wing. Its chain guns are spinning, smoking, but they’ve stopped firing.
“Anomaly,” says a hollow, metallic voice coming out of the vertical wing. “Surrender your weapon.”
My shoulder throbs. I lean heavily on One. The side of my blaster is pressed against my cheek as I take aim. Blood trickles down my side. I’m not angry or afraid of what comes; I’m in too much pain to think about anything other than the task at hand. A single carefully placed shot separates me from freedom.
Four darts into the open for her weapon. After recovering it, she takes a standing position above me.
One whispers in my ear and I hear the machine over a fragmented connection. “The communications… shroud… is being… disrupted. They’re trying to… communicate.”
Without being told, I know I have to end this standoff before that happens. I grit my teeth and consider lunging into the hall and blasting until either the machine finishes me or I finish it. If I wasn’t bleeding and hurting, I might be able to accomplish such a feat.
Four does the unthinkable. She charges at the machine, firing. I follow because we have no chance of survival otherwise.
The whirring sound returns as the chain guns spin up, but just as the vertical wing starts firing, I hear the distinctive ding of the elevator’s bell, followed by a throaty whoosh, not unlike the sound the torpedoes we loaded into metal tubes aboard the airship made when they launched.
I don’t see the rocket-propelled grenade, but I feel the full force of the fireball it makes when it strikes the vertical wing. The resulting blast knocks me backward.
My hair gets singed, but my uniform doesn’t burn. I scramble on my hands and knees to Four. She’s down and not moving, but I know she’s not gone because I am still connected to her. I ease her onto her back and cradle her.
Turning, I see Luke. He grabs my shoulders and squeezes, pulling me to him. My heartbeat speeds up. I can’t believe what I’m seeing. I blink my eyes just to be sure Luke’s real.
The story continues with:
After the Machines
Episode Three: Descent
This Mortal Coil
.
About the Author
Robert Stanek is author of the #1 bestselling ELVES OF THE REACHES, an epic fantasy series, currently comprising eight books, which has been translated into twelve languages; the #1 bestselling MAGIC LANDS, a young adult series comprising two books and counting, which has been translated into seven languages; and the #1 bestselling POCKET CONSULTANTS, a computer technology series comprising 35 books and counting, which have been translated into 21 languages.
Robert is also author of the #1 bestselling BUGVILLE CRITTERS, a children’s series comprising 28 books and counting; #1 bestselling BUGVILLE LEARNING, an educational series comprising 31 books and counting; the #1 bestselling BUGVILLE JR, a children’s series comprising 26 books and counting; and the #1 bestselling THE PIECES OF THE PUZZLE, a mystery thriller novel for adults.
In his fiction writing, Robert transports readers to many imagined worlds. Robert’s early fiction work has many influences, including JRR Tolkien, C S Lewis, Anne McCaffrey, H G Wells, and Ray Bradbury.
In his long, distinguished writing career, Robert’s books have been distributed and/or published by Simon & Schuster, Random House, Macmillan, Pearson, Microsoft, O’Reilly, and others. In 2007, Robert founded Go Indie, an organization dedicated to supporting independent publishers, authors, and booksellers, and over the past few years Go Indie has helped hundreds of independents.
Dubbed ‘A Face Behind the Future’ in the 1990’s by The Olympian, Robert’s been helping to shape the future of the written word for over two decades. Robert’s 150th book was published in 2013.
Select Acclaim for Robert Stanek…
“Robert Stanek is one of our most featured and respected Kids & Young Adults, K-12 Educators and Kids authors.”
--The Audio Book Store
“Stanek [has] a penchant for clear and simple prose. He also prefers swift, action-oriented scenes. Solidly built. Stanek moves among his main characters with ease, always switching at a climactic moment to maintain suspense. The accessible, brisk language keeps things moving.”
--Foreword Magazine
“Sure to attract fans of graphic novels and classic Tolkien alike. Stanek will likely draw a cult following. This guarantees fans, and those fans will be ready to wield their swords against the Dark Lord in Stanek’s next installment.”
-- VOYA, the leading magazine for YA librarians
“Word of mouth turned it into a bestseller. Very satisfying.”
-- The Fantasy Guide
Select Achievements for Robert Stanek and his Ruin Mist books…
#1 Fiction, Audible (12 weeks, 2005)
Top 50 Sci-fi/Fantasy, Amazon (26 weeks, 2002)
Top 10 Fiction, Audible (25 weeks, 2005)
Top 50 Fiction, Audible (52 weeks, 2005-2006)
Top 10 Kids & YA, Audible (180 weeks, 2005-2007)
#1 Featured Book Audible June-July 2005
Featured in Cover Story, Publisher’s Weekly (2009)
Featured in VOYA (2007)
Featured in Complete Idiots Guide to Elves and Fairies (2005)
Featured in Ancient Art of Faery Magick (2005)
Popular Series Fiction for Middle School and Teen Readers (2005, 2008)
Top 10 Recommended Author -- SciFi Bookcase (2004 - 2012)
Top 10 Book -- SciFi Bookcase (2004 - 2012)
Top 20 Author -- RateItAll (2005 - 2012)
A Top 100 Fantasy -- The Fantasy 100 (2005 - 2007)
Robert Stanek and his books have also been featured in…
The Olympian, The Journal of Electronic Defense, The Publisher’s Weekly Cover Story, The Parenting Magazine, VOYA, BookWire, Children’s Writer, Children’s Bookshelf, Library Journal, School Library Journal, The News Tribune, and more.
Also by Robert Stanek
Kingdoms and the Elves of the Reaches #1, 2, 3, 4:
Winds of Change
Seeds of Dissent
Pawn of Dragons
Tower of Destiny
In the Service of Dragons #1, 2, 3, 4:
A Clash of Heroes
A Dance of Swords
A Storm of Shields
A Reign of Dragons
Guardians of the Dragon Realms #1, 2:
The Dragon, the Wizard & the Great Door
A Legacy of Dragons
Dragons of the Hundred Worlds #1, 2:
Breath of Fire
Living Fire
A Daughter of Kings #1, 2, 3, 4:
Betrayal
Deliverance
Rebirth
Discord
The Pieces of the Puzzle #1, 2:
The Pieces of the Puzzle
The Cards in the Deck
Magic Lands #1, 2:
Journey Beyond the Beyond
Into the Stone Land
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Robert Stanek, Transition