Raphael stared at him with cold, dead eyes, then ducked out of sight.
A black blur flew over Mattie’s head.
It was the cocker spaniel.
She landed on the deck of the Golden Princess, then leaped into the cockpit of the Harrier just before its cover closed.
The jet shot skyward, a thousand feet up and out over the vast blue ocean.
There it paused.
Two missiles erupted from the John Paul Jones, flying straight for the Harrier. They slammed into the plane from both sides. A huge explosion lit up the darkening sky. Flaming debris fell to the ocean—the plane and the two robots completely destroyed.
The cocker spaniel had sacrificed itself to destroy Raphael.
Mattie was alone. For the first time since he was five years old, he felt no mental connection with Raphael, no pull on his mind. There was only silence.
A cold wave washed over him as the Golden Princess fell away, headed to its grave at the bottom of the sea. He felt a strong pull on his feet—suction created by the sinking cruise ship.
The dark ocean swallowed his thoughts as water poured down his throat into his lungs.
Chapter 15
Four Days Later, 4:30 PM, July 29, 2002
Stillwater Igneous Mining Complex, Montana
Crunch. Crunch.
The sound and feel was like stepping on millions of tiny cockroaches, Buddy Paulson thought as he marched over the dark Montana foothills.
“Damn nanobots,” he mumbled.
“The next loader is on its way,” Evangelista said.
A bandage was still wrapped around Evangelista’s forehead, covering the wound from the embedded nail. He was lucky to have survived his encounter with the boy, Mathew Tedrow, in San Diego.
“Good, we’ll need it if we want this place cleaned up in my lifetime.”
Paulson looked out at the vast Stillwater mining complex. The entire area was covered in a layer of bluish-silver nanobots a foot deep. It was like a metallic snow had fallen, leaving the landscape looking like something from another planet.
“Make sure you keep a watchful eye, Lieutenant.”
“Don’t worry, sir. I plan on taking a bowl of these nanobots back and eating them for breakfast tomorrow morning with milk and sugar.”
Paulson chuckled.
He and his crew arrived on site a couple of days ago to clean up nanobot remains and make sure none were still alive. He had fourteen EMP cannons positioned around the site, with men ready to fire at the first sign of movement. They were using huge cranes with round magnets suspended from them, like those used at junkyards for lifting cars. The magnets picked up the dead nanobots and moved them to dump trucks which transported them to onsite smelters confiscated from the mining operations.
They had enough samples of the nanobots to study, but the millions of others would be melted down. They weren’t taking any chances at having even one of the little bastards reboot and come back to life.
Standing ankle deep in the creatures, Paulson thought again how lucky they were to have averted this catastrophe. If the creatures had spread, everyone would be dead.
And they had Claire to thank for saving them. He was still not quite sure what to make of her taking the initiative with the nuclear strike, but she did the right thing.
President Bush, and his people hadn’t been able to figure out how NORAD missile command had been hacked. Of course he wasn’t going to tell them about Claire, at least not yet. No, he would keep his robotic creature from the future secret for now. He needed her too much to have some government officials confiscate her for study.
But what she was turning into frightened him.
A transport copter flew low overhead to the landing zone they’d established at base camp. He glanced at his watch. Time for the debriefing. He returned to the collection of large military tents as several people exited the copter.
“Good to see you again, Jeff,” Paulson said, shaking the hand of the man from the future.
He had a bruised eye and cuts on his face and hands, but otherwise looked pretty good for what he’d been through. Paulson greeted the others with him—Holly Scarborough and Dr. Patrick Chen.
Seeing this version of Chen still unnerved him. The battle in the desert with the superhuman, virus-infected Chen from the future was still fresh in his mind despite the passing of over ten years. Watching the man, he had a quick flashback of burying his knife in the beast’s eye socket.
“It’s good to see you all,” Paulson said, trying to keep pleasantries in place despite all of the hardships they'd been through. “Come this way, please. We have much to talk about.”
As they walked, Chen picked up a nanobot from one of the many piles around them.
“Doctor, you’ll have plenty of time to analyze those and we have more than enough for you to choose from. All these in the piles around you will be smelted down. We have men combing the land with metal detectors to make sure all are accounted for.”
Chen held the nanobot up to his face to get a closer look, then dropped it on the ground, bent over, picked up a rock, and slammed it down on the creature.
“Oh, I’ll be analyzing these things, all right. Analyzing how I can kill them. I want to make sure none of these are going to wake up again and come back to bite us on the ass.”
Paulson was glad the good doctor was on their side.
The group entered the tent. Paulson saluted the men positioned there and dismissed several to wait outside. He and the others sat around a large round table with a single laptop on it. Evangelista, Banks, and Mijatovic also joined him. It was time they got the full story.
“Thank you all for coming here today,” Paulson said to the group. “I know we all lost good people as a result of this attack. I lost men in the pursuit of the boy, and Jeff I understand you lost your friend and bodyguard, Chase Arrington. You have my deepest condolences."
Jeff nodded, then looked down in sad thought of his friend.
"I think it's appropriate for us to have a minute of silence for all of those lost," Jeff said grimly.
"Agreed," Paulson added.
Everyone bowed their heads in silence and he thought of all the good sailors on board the Essex and John Paul Jones that were killed. Then he said a silent prayer for all the cruise ship passengers and their families that were taken as well. It had been a horrendous tragedy. Then his mind drifted to the Apocalypse facing them down the road and the horror of more attacks.
After sixty seconds Paulson lifted his head and said, "Now, let's get down to business so that we can prevent many more deaths in the future. Dr. Chen, why don’t you start. What have you learned about the first group of nanobots?”
Chen cleared his throat. “As some of you know, the bots are able to replicate at an incredibly fast pace using any raw material. The bot that emerged from the Lechuguilla dig site was damaged and needed palladium to repair its replication function. When it reproduced, its offspring were also limited in their replication ability. Hence the need for a large deposit of palladium.”
He gestured toward the tent entrance.
“Now, as I mentioned over the phone, several dozen of the bots were disabled at Lechuguilla. Preliminary data reveals they were destroyed after consuming radioactive palladium.”
There were a number of inquisitive looks around the tent.
“Radioactive, Doctor?” Paulson asked.
“Exactly. Underneath the lead covering of Abe Conner’s cross, which he was wearing around his neck, was radioactive palladium. Upon questioning Abe as best I could after the tragedy of losing his wife, I found that the cross had been a gift from his mother.”
Paulson had heard what happened to Abe’s wife, and he couldn’t imagine the grief the man must’ve been feeling. To see his wife die in such a horrible way right before his eyes was something so terrible and traumatic that Paulson didn’t see how anyone could return to a normal life.
“Abe’s mother was from the Norilsk–Taln
akh region in northern Russia,” Chen continued. “Where at one time palladium and uranium were actively mined together.”
“So the cross saved his life,” Holly said.
“It did. It saved all our lives.”
“Why didn’t his wife have one?” Holly asked.
Chen bowed his head. “Sadly, she was an atheist, like many of us scientists. Although I may start to rethink that after what I’ve seen.”
“How’s Conner taking her death?” Jeff asked.
“Not well, as you can imagine. He’s been spending a lot of time at the local church and speaking about God and Jesus and the coming Apocalypse.” Chen paused for a second and pulled his phone out. “Then there’s this. I snapped this picture of Abe in the hospital before I left.”
Everyone pushed closer to the phone. The image showed Abe’s chest, and in the middle of a large red, bloody, mangled area was white unharmed skin—in the shape of a cross.
“The nanobots ate his flesh around the necklace, leaving the skin here untouched.”
Paulson gasped, couldn’t help himself. And he heard others making the same sound. The scar was certainly a bizarre one to have. But the question was, did it mean anything or was it pure coincidence?
“Thank you, Dr. Chen.” Paulson said. “If you could send my aide everything you have about this incident, we’ll be able to use this data in our research on ways to destroy the bots. Is construction of Project Chronos back on schedule?”
Chen knocked his phone against the table, clearly frustrated. “We’ve been delayed with all that’s happened, and we had a number of workers quit as a result of the bot attack and deaths. But I’ll make sure we get back on track by the end of this week if I have to take a shovel out there and dig myself.”
Paulson chuckled. He had no doubt Chen would get the job done. He was a coldly efficient taskmaster.
“Now let me update you on where we stand here,” Paulson said, meeting the eyes of everyone at the table. “The high-altitude nuclear explosion wiped out all electronics over roughly a five-hundred-mile radius. This has crippled communications, the power grid, and other utilities and services over a large swath of the United States. The president has instituted martial law and called up the National Guard for all the states affected. That has, for the most part, quelled looting and property damage. There’s been some degree of panic in the larger cities, and several thousand lives were lost as result of this tragedy. But in most of the rural areas people have banded together and are helping their neighbors as best they can. Reconstruction has already started as well, and this time the infrastructure will be built stronger and more resistant to EMP attacks. We’re lucky that one EMP blast did not send us back to the Stone Age, as some scientists predicted.”
Paulson cleared his throat and took a swig of bottled water. In the middle of July, even Montana got hot.
“The important takeaway from this incident is we now know we can destroy the nanobots. Our future defense preparations will center on controlled EMP weaponry and munitions.”
Paulson turned to Jeff and Holly, who were sitting close to each other and holding hands. It looked like the tragedy had brought them back together. He hoped they could work things out this time. He’d always felt they belonged together; he could see the love and respect in their eyes. His wife looked at him that same way.
“I’ve been briefed by my men and the captain of the John Paul Jones, as well as the surviving members of the Essex. Jeff, and Holly, I’ve read your reports on what happened in San Diego. Is there anything you want to add?”
Holly and Jeff glanced at each other. Holly spoke first.
“Sir, I’ve told you everything that happened from my perspective, but my concern is Lady and the Mutant Turtle.”
“All evidence shows they were both destroyed. Jeff has confirmed that from his visual as well. More importantly, though, we can detect no signal, not anywhere on the planet, that matches the frequency the turtle-bot was using. We’re still actively searching the debris field and divers are combing the bottom of the ocean, so it is possible that we may find some parts of the creatures.”
If they did find electronic parts of either of the two robots, they might provide clues to their origin and purpose. Paulson had a feeling he would be seeing them again in the future. But that was the thing with time travel. Eventually the future came up to meet you, head first, and right in the gut.
“And Mathew?” Jeff asked.
“A rescue boat from John Paul Jones fished him out of the water. Just like they pulled you and the little girl out, Jeff.”
Jeff smiled and nodded.
“They pronounced him dead from drowning,” Paulson said. “But as they were taking his body off the boat, he miraculously revived. He knocked out three seamen, then took off running. We have no idea where.”
Jeff’s eyes narrowed. “And his mother?”
“We had her in custody, but she disappeared as well, en route out of San Diego. We suspect Mathew took her.”
“We can’t have another Chen-like creature running around again,” Holly said with fear in her voice. She reached a hand out to the present-day Chen. “No offense, Patrick.”
“None taken, Holly,” he said matter-of-factly.
“But he saved our lives,” Jeff said, jumping in. “He didn’t seem like a maniacal crazy person, but a rational young man.”
“We don’t know what he is,” Paulson growled. “He killed three of my men with his bare hands and seriously injured several others. You saw his inhuman speed and strength yourself, Jeff.”
“But those were situations where he was trapped and felt threatened and probably thought you were going to hurt his mother.”
Paulson said nothing.
Jeff threw his hands up.
“I’m not condoning what he did, but I think we have to consider the possibility that we’re dealing with a frightened teenager here.”
“Maybe.” Paulson grunted. “But until we have him in custody, we won’t know anything.”
“And we’re still no closer to finding out who is behind this whole thing,” Jeff said. “We have a bunch of clues that don’t fit; two robotic toys, one good and one bad; a boy with superhuman powers; and nanobots. What the hell does it all mean?”
They considered each other, and their conjectures, in silence.
“We still have time,” Chen whispered. “We will find the answer.”
Paulson hoped so. Thirty-six years was a lifetime, but with so much at stake, their margin of error was zero. If they didn’t figure out who was behind the future attacks and how to fight them, then humanity would go painfully and permanently extinct.
Chapter 16
Three Days Later, 0900 HRS, August 1, 2002
Unknown Military Base
The door to the holding cell opened, and a man walked in. The two guards standing on both sides of the entrance saluted as he walked by.
He was sitting at a small table, finishing up his breakfast of scrambled eggs, ham, and orange juice. He could tell by the man’s stride and the number of men who’d shifted their positions in salute that this was a high-ranking officer.
“I hope they’ve been kind to you, Mathew,” the man said.
Mattie nodded and looked closer at the man’s face. It was familiar. After his mental awakening, courtesy of Raphael, he could look back on his memories and play them like a video in his mind. He could slow the picture down, speed it up, zoom in and zoom out as he wanted, and the whole process took only seconds.
What was his name?
“Hello, Charlie,” Mattie said.
The man looked shocked for a second, then his face brightened, as if a light bulb went off in his head. He smiled, pulled up a chair, and sat across from Mattie.
Mattie was grateful Charlie saved him, his mother, and all the other Branch Davidians. But he was often angry they’d left his father to die, burned up in the horrible fire.
“You can call me Commander Paulson. So, you remember me
. You were very young back then.”
“I remember everything,” Mattie replied coolly. “Where’s my mother?”
“She’s safe. You can see her in a little bit. But first you need to answer some questions for me.”
“I told the last guy in here everything I know,” Mattie replied, angry once again.
He didn’t like being kept prisoner. He would’ve broken out of this cage already if he knew where they were keeping his mom.
“Yes, I’ve read that report. But I would like to know if Raphael gave you any indication about his plans. What did he want?”
“He just wanted to be my friend and keep me and my mother safe.” Mattie tried his best to look innocent and childlike.
“Mattie, don’t pretend with me,” Paulson said. “I know you’re much more than a fifteen-year-old boy. What do you really know about Raphael? Did he ever tell you that he came from the future?”
The future? What game was Paulson playing?
“He never said anything about that. He only told me stories about the past.”
“So this is the first time you’ve heard this. Yes, Raphael came from some point in the future; how far, we don’t know. Nor do we know his true purpose here. What we do know is that he was infected with a virus that sabotaged his original programming. And that same techno-organic nanovirus, or some form of it, is coursing through your veins.”
Mattie thought for a long moment. Could that really be true? Was he infected with a virus?
“What . . . what are you talking about?” he stammered.
“I can show you the blood sample we took from you if you don’t believe me. Don’t worry, though. This virus is not going to kill you, but instead gives you the enhanced healing, speed, strength and other abilities you’ve grown accustomed to. I’m sure you know your abilities are not normal and they had to come from Raphael.”
Mattie drank some juice, wondering what he should admit, but eventually he nodded and said, “Just after my awakening, Raphael told me that we would be closer than ever. He said he was helping me and one day I would need to help him.”
NanoSwarm: Extermination Day Book Two Page 12