“Exactly.”
“What’s the latest from above?” Jeff asked, still hoping for word from Holly.
Paulson grimaced.
“Still the same: widespread death and vanishing cities."
Jeff felt a wave of sadness at all of those lost. They had yet to have any type of memorial service for anyone, not even those friends and colleagues lost at Chronos One. Right now, priority one was just staying alive themselves. Proper grieving for the dead would have to wait for now.
"There are swarms of reconstituted bots flying everywhere," Paulson continued. "These are much larger than the ones we encountered earlier. Not really nanobots anymore. We’re still in contact with the remaining underground bases, but those are dropping off as the bots find them.”
“And the group with Holly?”
Paulson shook his head. “Still no contact. I wish I had news for you, Jeff.”
Paulson turned as sparks flew out from the metal a welder was working with his blow torch.
“I should be getting back inside.” He pointed to a large two-story building toward the middle of the complex. “There was an issue with a few of our key people refusing to participate in the time jump. I didn’t expect everyone to just merrily go along with this plan, so I need to discuss what’s at stake with them. Apparently not everyone believes the world is ending.”
He turned to go, then stopped and tapped behind his ear.
“Yes, what is it? What’s landing?”
Paulson flipped up a holo image from his hand. Jeff watched from over Paulson’s shoulder.
“This is from a drone surveying the West Coast.”
It was early morning. The gentle waves of the ocean lapped onto a beach. The camera panned, revealing the scattered remains of what once must’ve been a great city.
Jeff gasped.
The Golden Gate Bridge lay in ruins, half of it gone, as though a giant creature had taken a bite out of it. Beyond the bridge the once familiar skyline of San Francisco had disappeared to reveal the land under it, the gently rolling hills, much as it might have looked before the city was founded centuries ago.
The camera panned upward.
Slowly descending from the sky was a massive structure. Long white spikes protruded from its underside, like roots. The middle was bulbous and bluish green, while the top had strange purple branches shooting out in all directions, like bizarre dreadlocks.
The craft landed on the exact spot where San Francisco had once existed, its root-like structures digging into the earth, dust and debris flying up in all directions.
“There are reports from all over the globe of similar craft landing in spots previously occupied by major cities,” Paulson said solemnly.
"All those people," Jeff whispered. "Just gone."
Paulson put his hand on Jeff's shoulder to comfort him as he looked down at the floor, trying not to show emotion again.
"I'm afraid so. The ones the singularities didn't get, the swarm is now hunting down. But Jeff, I know what you're feeling. We're all feeling the same horrible grief at such an unfathomable loss of life. But we need to be strong and think of the ones that we can save."
Jeff knew he was right, but it was a nearly impossible task to try and move forward, to stay focused on what they needed to do to fight.
“Are those things colony ships?” Conner asked, trying to break the sad tension hanging in the air.
“Perhaps," Paulson said. "There’s nothing we can do now but wait to see what comes out. Jeff, in the first timeline you saw none of this?”
"None. The timeline has changed, or perhaps all of this took place after we jumped. When Holly and I went through the vortex the nanoswarms had just landed. What happened after that, I have no idea."
Jeff stared at the holo as the craft settled into its new home. He wondered just what the hell would emerge from that thing. Then he wondered if there was a way they could kill it. Then he thought about Holly. She was still out there with these things coming down. He quickly said a silent prayer, asking God for her safe return.
Holly was a fighter and so were the men with her. If any group could survive, it was them.
But now that the aliens had landed, were any of them truly safe?
Chapter 32
Just past midnight Local Time, January 16, 2038
Sunport International Airport, Albuquerque, New Mexico
The grotesque nanobot dug deeper into Holly's skull, stabbing her brain with its pincers. She screamed in agony as she tried to claw it out. But it was in too deep.
What a horrible way to die.
But then the creature stopped. And it started to wriggle out of her eye socket.
All over her body the bots stopped eating her flesh and just flew away. She sat up slowly and painfully, looking around, trying to make sense of what had happened. She was completely blind in one eye, but could see that the bots were leaving the cabin. She instantly felt sick to her stomach and vomited all over the floor, her body shaking as it convulsed.
Standing before her was Mattie.
“I can’t keep them away for long. We have to hurry.”
He reached down and grabbed her, his face strained in deep concentration. He threw her over his shoulder, then grabbed Chen and Evangelista in his other hand. Both were covered in blood. What was left of the bodies of Jing, and Charles lay in the aisle; only the gruesome bloody lower torsos of each remained. Various other body parts lay scattered about—the unidentifiable remains of the passengers that had climbed on board at the last minute. Then Mattie jumped out of the plane and landed on the tarmac.
The swarm was all around them—spinning, huge, and ominous, like a dark purple cyclone. But none of the creatures came within about a ten-foot protective dome around them.
The sea of bots opened as Mattie moved through them. Soon he was running at an incredible speed. Moments later the swarm thinned, then disappeared. Before them was a hangar, some distance from the main terminal but still beside the runway.
Mattie kicked the door open.
Inside was a small plane. He set Evangelista and Chen down, opened the plane door and placed Holly inside, onto one of the seats. She tried to move, but pain over her entire body had her moaning. She was still bleeding heavily from cuts and bite marks. She reached up and delicately touched her eye. There was nothing there but a gaping hole. She shuddered, sick to her stomach and lightheaded at the same time.
Mattie carried Chen and Evangelista into the plane and placed them in seats in the row beside Holly. Both were unconscious and covered in blood. Mattie pulled out a MedKit.
“Auto-mode. Emergency treatment, three patients,” he said to the MedKit.
“Responding, beginning treatment,” the MedKit said in a soothing female voice.
Multiple parts, probes, and legs extended from the square box. The MedKit skittered back and forth between the three mangled survivors.
“I’ve got to get us out of here,” Mattie said. “The main body of the swarm will reach us soon, and I can’t hold them off much longer.”
He climbed into the cockpit.
“Administering painkillers and sedative,” the MedKit said as it hovered over Holly with a needle.
She didn’t want to lose consciousness but the trauma to her body was too much for her to handle. She barely felt the injection as her eye slowly closed.
#
The small twin engine plane touched down and taxied into the terminal at Logan International Airport in Boston. Mattie looked back at his passengers. The MedKit had done its job. Both Holly and Chen were stable and would survive. The cuts and gashes they'd all suffered from the biting bots had all been repaired and were healing nicely. Most wouldn't leave a scar.
Evangelista, however, hadn’t been so lucky. He’d passed away en route, the trauma to his brain too severe to recover from. He simply drifted off to sleep, never to awaken.
Mattie had known the old soldier a long time, ever since that first encounter in Logan Heights, whe
n Mattie put a nail through his skull all those years ago. They’d become good friends in the ensuing years after Mattie joined the team. He felt a deep sadness at having lost him. Mattie hoped he could last long enough to avenge his friend.
Holly’s eye couldn’t be saved. Medical science had made some amazing advances, but not to the point where it could regrow an eye. Skin biopolymers would minimize scarring, but for now Holly would have a gaping hole where her eye had been. The best they could do, until they got to a hospital, was add a bio-elastic bandage for protection.
First, however, they had to accomplish the mission—retrieve the recon unit.
During their flight cross country, Mattie had avoided flying bot swarms and those strange floating man o’ war things. If a swarm came too close to them, Mattie had sensed it and gently pushed it away with his mind. The process had been taxing. He had a throbbing headache from the concentration he’d needed.
The plane slowed to a stop, and Mattie went to the back. He needed to get Holly and Chen up and walking. He couldn’t leave them unprotected, and he felt too weak to carry them.
He shook Holly slightly to wake her.
“More rest is recommended for this patient,” the MedKit said as it hovered protectively.
“Not an option. We need to move and move fast,” Mattie said sternly. “Return to transport mode.”
The MedKit obeyed and folded its legs and arms back into a tight suitcase. Mattie grabbed the handle and threw the kit over his back, where it clamped itself into place like a backpack. He hoped he wouldn’t need it, but he'd learned from experience to always be prepared for the worst.
“Unnn.”
Holly was starting to wake up. Her hand went immediately to her eye.
“Careful, Holly. It’s bandaged. The MedKit has sealed it for now and treated your other wounds. You’re going to be okay. We’ve just landed in Boston. I need to retrieve the robotic recon unit, and you and Chen need to come with me. Can you stand?”
Holly struggled to sit up in the reclined airplane chair.
“W-w-will I be able to see?”
“I’m sorry, Holly. Your eye is gone.”
She looked sad as she slowly stood, then her lips pressed together firmly with determination. She was a fighter, that was for sure. Not many soldiers would survive what she’d been through and still be standing and pressing forward. An arm lost to the swarm and now an eye gone as well.
Mattie truly didn’t understand how she could handle such losses.
He reached out to steady her. “Can you walk?”
“I think so. How’s Patrick?”
“I’m going to get him up now.”
Mattie jostled Chen awake.
“You’re not the beautiful flight attendant I was dreaming about,” Chen said groggily. “Augh. Why don’t you get me a cocktail?”
Mattie chuckled, then said, “Doctor, you can have all the cocktails you want after we get in and out of this city. My treat.”
Chen rose to his feet, shaky at first, then he got his balance.
Mattie said, “We lost Evangelista en route. I’m sorry.” He looked down, trying to hide his sadness. “He was a strong soldier, but his head injuries were too severe.”
Chen frowned, and Holly looked like she was about to cry.
“He died protecting us,” she said solemnly.
“Let’s honor his memory by completing this mission,” Mattie added firmly. “I’ve managed to avoid the bot swarms, and those that get close I can repel mentally, but it’s a horrible strain on my mind and body to keep them off. I’m weak right now so if we encounter more swarms, I may need your help. Let’s just do this as fast as we can and get the hell out of here so we can make our way to Chronos Two.”
“We’re with you, Mattie,” Holly said, her voice shaking, but her tone resolute.
Mattie opened the door and they shuffled down the steps. The airport looked deserted, a far cry from the scene of panic they’d left in Albuquerque. Spots of blood had been casually splattered, Holly noted as they walked to the terminal. The swarm must’ve already made its way through the airport, devouring whoever had been trying to escape.
Out on the tarmac the smoking hulks of commercial airplanes littered the runway. All had been partially eaten away, leaving shards of metal jutting out at odd angles and pieces of hulls strewn over the area like eggshells.
Inside the terminal were more scattered human remains—torn shreds of clothing, blood, pieces of flesh, and bone. Seats had been flipped over, windows broken, and the display screens showing arrivals and departures were flickering on and off. An automated message played again and again, asking for patience for flights that had been temporarily delayed.
“Let’s find a car and get the hell out of here. This place is giving me the creeps,” Holly said, crossing her arms and rubbing her shoulders.
“I don’t think we’ll find the scene outside much more inviting,” Chen said.
In front of the terminal entrance, cars were slammed together from the rush of people who’d been trying to reach the airport. They were packed in so tight that they needed to climb over some to make their way through. Most of the cars had broken windows, where the swarm bots had eaten their way in and devoured the people inside.
Mattie thought about the families trying to escape with nowhere to go as those horrible creatures crawled all over them. He couldn’t imagine the terror and pain they must’ve felt.
They continued walking along the line of cars until it started to thin. Eventually they found one that could be driven away. There was a gaping hole in the side window, and Mattie reached inside and opened the door. Before he sat in the driver’s seat, he wiped off the crusty, blood-soaked remains of the driver’s clothing.
With Holly beside him and Chen in the back, he used his military clearance to hack the car’s mainframe and start the engine. He blinked a map overlay into his optics and started driving.
It was a short twenty-minute drive from Logan to Harvard along Interstate 90 West. Normally the streets would be crowded with traffic, but today there were only scattered vehicles crashed into the sides of the road. Mattie hoped most of the people had made it out of the city. Of course now, with the swarm rapidly spreading, eventually there’d be no safe area.
A gigantic blue-green alien ship hovered over Boston, engulfing the skyline. Pulses of red and white lights shot across its surface and the whole thing shimmered like a blob of Jell-O.
"I wonder how many of those there are," Mattie said.
"Hundreds most likely. Enough to target all of the major cities of the world," Chen answered.
"The thing is massive isn't it?" Holly said. "It has to be at least ten miles in diameter."
"Yeah, and it's just sitting there watching," Mattie said, wondering just what the ship was waiting for.
"For now," Chen said.
Mattie glanced over at him. That last comment got him worried.
"We should hurry," he said.
"Indeed."
As they drove through Boston, all around them large stretches of the city were just gone. Smooth circular craters had taken chunks out of the skyline. The drive was treacherous as many roads no longer existed and they had to wind around the city to find a path to Harvard. Mattie constantly scouted for signs of swarm activity. His headache was finally starting to subside, and his strength was slowly returning.
"My God, the Apocalypse has arrived," Holly muttered numbly.
"There's no one left," Chen said. "Do you think anyone is still alive?"
"If they are, they're hiding," Mattie said, trying not to break down, trying to stay focused on the task at hand. He'd been in many warzones in his lifetime, real hell holes, but the aftermath of this alien attack was the worst he'd seen.
"At least no one is shooting at us," he added, trying to come up with something positive.
"Not yet," Chen said.
Mattie nodded in agreement.
They arrived at Harvard without incident, an
d surprisingly most of the buildings were still intact.
“Before communications went down, I told Darren to wait for us at his home. He built an underground bunker in preparation for E-Day. It’s one street over on Hancock,” Chen said, pointing to a narrow tree-lined street with Victorian-style homes and brick apartments. Mattie pulled into a parking spot on the street, and they all went to the door of Dr. Corvin’s house. Several minutes passed before he answered their ring.
“I didn’t think you were going to make it, old friend,” Corvin said as he wrapped Chen in a hug.
He was tall, with a reddish-brown beard and light blue eyes
“And you too, Holly. It’s been a long time."
“We’ve had to fight to get here, Darren." Holly said. "We’ve already lost one good man, we’re under attack, and nowhere is safe.”
Corvin nodded. “I saw those things come in and destroy Boston. I’m glad to see you brought military support.”
Corvin held out his hand to Mattie. Mattie shook it firmly.
“Colonel Mathew Tedrow. Nice to meet you. I understand you have something for me.”
“Yes, Colonel. Quiet a sophisticated robotic unit, that one. I wanted to study it some, but the little thing is quite cantankerous. It has a short list of people it’ll divulge information to, and apparently you’re at the top of the list.”
“Where is the unit now?” Mattie asked, anxious to complete the mission.
“I wanted to bring it here to my home. I have a sophisticated underground bunker, you see. But it refused and actually shocked me when I tried to move it. So I left it at the lab, in the basement of the temporal testing facility.”
“We need to go there immediately, Darren,” Holly said, glancing overhead nervously. “We may not have much time.”
“Yes,” Corvin said, pointing up at the gigantic ship positioned overhead. “I suspect they’ll want to come down and check out their new territory very soon.”
“There are also other things moving about,” Chen added. “I’ll brief you on what’s happened in the car.”
They drove to the science center. Mattie noticed several small objects flying high in the sky, though it was hard to tell what they were at a distance, even with his advanced eyesight. They didn’t move like birds, but they could be bugs of some type. But then again they could be scouts for the bot swarm. His fear began to build, and he pushed down on the accelerator.
NanoSwarm: Extermination Day Book Two Page 27