by C Cato
Glancing at something over her shoulder, his eyes narrowed. His arms wrapped her tight, and he whirled them both around.
“Sorry, baby.”
There was a small thud, and Cole grunted before the lights in his eyes dimmed.
“Cole?”
Power: 2%
Warning! Shut down.
“Cole!” They were falling. His body limp and lifeless, and hers refused to cooperate. They landed with a spray of sand.
The red lights above them flickered and died.
Sonya desperately tried to listen for a heartbeat.
“Cole.” She was still in his arms, and streaks of white rushed passed them, snarling with teeth and claws bared, but Sonya could only see Cole. Only hear his heart as it beat once. Then once again, before… nothing.
“Cole—” She no longer had the strength to move. She wanted to touch his face one last time.
Power: 1%
Shut down in 3…2…1.
CHAPTER FIFTY-FIVE
Sonya
Sonya woke to an all-encompassing blackness. No green-tinged world to light the way. A silence unlike anything she’d ever experienced before surrounding her. She wanted to wrap her arms around her chest but couldn’t feel them. Couldn’t feel anything.
A screen appeared, suspended in the void. Blue eyes, full of love and regret that grew dark.
She watched with the dispassionate observation of a stranger.
“Cole,” she said as the screen grew dark.
“Sonya?”
She waited for the quickening of the heart or shortened breath. She knew she should be feeling something, but nothing registered.
“Sonya, where are you?”
“Hmm. I don’t know, actually.”
“Are we dead?”
“Maybe. How would we know?”
“Sonya, wake up, damn it!”
“That was Risa. She sounded angry. I guess that means I’m not dead, then.”
“What about me?” asked Cole.
“Do you think maybe we are in the Halo?”
“In it? What do you mean?”
“Cole, do you really want to get into a philosophical debate on what consciousness is?”
“Give me the Cliff’s Notes.”
Sonya thought it odd that she could feel so detached but still understand the nuance of emotion behind the words.
“We know next to nothing about the thing Ian put in our head. It’s a highly sophisticated computer that controls an army of robots that create building blocks of life. Beyond that what do we know? How can we be sure our brains are still even in our heads? Ian had some plans we didn’t know about. Could we be more of an experiment then we thought? Just be a series of recorded brain waves meant to simulate our personalities.”
“You think we are robots?”
“No. I’ve seen inside my body a few too many times to think that, but maybe the Halo was a replacement for our brains. We don’t have anyone from our time to tell us if we are acting out of character. So how do we know that we aren’t, and now there’s this.”
She would have waved a hand if they were there.
“But what does that make us?”
“Are you sure it’s working?”
“Poor Talic and Keet. They will be sad if we are both gone.”
“Probably. Sonya, I don’t…feel anything.”
“Neither do I. It just lends validity to my theory. Ian did say we’re networked. Maybe we have the capacity to store another consciousness from our circle. I don’t know. Ian was the computer coding genius. I worked on the hardware.”
“An arrow hit me in the head. I should be dead.”
“Maybe. Who’s to say what a completely synthetic human would do under those circumstances?”
“Completely synthetic? You said we’re not robots.”
“No. We’re not. The purpose of the nanobots was to reproduce cells that died. For two hundred years, we slept in that room. There was no cryo-equipment or life support. We just slept. Then we woke up. No aging, no crumbling to dust. The nanobots did their job. They recreated new cells as our old cells died. All of them. Until there was nothing left of us, but an echo. A memory. Maybe the Halo preserved the parts the nanobots couldn’t remake.”
“So, we died long before we woke up?”
“I did say it would be a philosophical discussion.”
A spark of pain made her gasp.
“You felt something?”
“I think…I need to try something. Halo?”
Halo System: On standby
The words were bold neon floating in the empty space.
“Halo? Activate system.”
Provide reboot command code: _
“Ian… you asshole.”
oooOOOooo
Sonya sucked in a massive gulp of air, her lungs burning. Her arms flailed, awareness of her limbs coming suddenly.
“You’re okay, Doc. We’re here,” said a blurry and darkened Risa, pinning her arms down.
She had to blink hard three times before her vision cleared enough, but she couldn’t see clearly. Why was everything so dark? The surface beneath her was soft and swayed softly with occasional hard jolts.
There was no sudden recall or blank spots. She remembered everything, including her conversation with Cole.
“Where’s Cole?”
Risa let her go and sat back on her heels.
Sonya sat up and cracked her forehead on Risa’s chin. “Ow!”
“Lose a little coordination there, Doc?”
“No, I can’t...” She put her hand up to the level of her eyes but couldn’t see them. The familiar green vision that came with the dark was gone. “I can’t see anything.”
Risa sucked in a small hiss of air. “I think there’s a light in here.”
“A light?”
Warm ambient light flooded the car. Sonya had to blink again. “We’re on a train?”
There were two palettes on the floor of the car and not much else. It was the length of compact SUV and only a little wider. Large windows reflected her image back at her with the backdrop of the night sky behind it.
Risa waggled her hand from side to side. “Close enough.”
“It’s not important right now. Where’s Cole?”
“He’s in another car with Keet and Talic,” said Risa. She pressed herself into Sonya’s side as she sat down. “Sonya, I don’t know how to tell you this,” she sobbed once. “Cole’s dead.”
“No, he’s not.” Sonya knew with certainty that he wasn’t gone. There was hope. That one idea is what kept her from the panic attack that skirted her waking thoughts. She almost wished for the emotional numbness of the void. “He’s not dead Risa, and I need to see his body.”
“Are you okay? Maybe the bracelet hasn’t charged you enough?”
Sonya fingered the thing that circled her arm. It was slick to the touch and extended from her wrist to mid forearm. “I feel okay, but I think my Halo is offline.”
“What? Are you sure?”
“I’m not sure of much of anything right now, except that Cole isn’t dead. Can we stop? Who’s driving this thing?”
“Sonya, we’re kind of on the run right now. We don’t have time to stop. After we loaded everyone up, we headed out. Been traveling north for about five hours now. We’re going to pick up everyone from the Vault and head to Lirra’s place.”
“Farm? Okay, I’m assuming I’ve missed a lot, but we need to get somewhere that we can stop, and I can help Cole as soon as possible, and I need Soren. Do you know where he is?”
“Probably fucking. Been a rough day. It’s how he unwinds.”
“Risa, is she awake?” asked Talic.
“Yes, she is,” replied Sonya. She lurched forward slightly when the train car stopped moving. “Thought we couldn’t stop?”
“Apparently, we can,” said Risa, blandly.
The door flung open, and Talic shoved inside. He didn’t wait for her to get to her feet, instead he li
fted her by her arms and swung her around in the limited space. “Hey!”
Further protests came out muffled when she was crushed face-first to his broad chest.
“We thought we had lost you,” said Keet, his voice strained.
Sonya relaxed into his hold and pressed her palms flat on his chest between them. Another body pressed against her back, barely leaving room for her lungs to expand.
“I’m still here, but I have a problem, and I need to see Cole.”
“But he’s—”
“Not dead!”
Keet flinched, and Talic let her go.
Remorse sent lances of heat to her belly. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to yell, but time is important here. I need to see him.”
“That’s what she was telling me, too,” said Risa. “But Sonya, there are patients that need your help more.”
Sonya noticed that Risa’s eyes were red-rimmed. For Cole? “Why were you crying?”
“Because I’m losing people I care about. I thought I was going to lose you.”
“He was in my head, Risa. He’s not dead.” She pushed against Talic’s chest to get some space. “Soren! Where are you?”
“Basking in my mourning afterglow. Glad you’re awake,” he replied. There was no humor to his tone, despite the light words.
“I need you to get to Cole, please. When I was out, I spoke with him. Our Halo’s store us somehow. He’s not dead, but there must be some damage. You need to fix it!”
“I’m on it.”
“Is there a problem?” asked an A’amoth woman that Sonya hadn’t seen before.
Sonya had been impressed with Lafa’s beauty when they first met, but this woman seemed to put her to shame. Their appearance was identical like the men, but there was something majestic about her. She was tempted to bow.
“We need to keep moving.” She gazed at Sonya with what she considered to be a critical eye, and then turned her attention to Talic. “Why did you stop?”
Talic spoke rapidly. The language was unfamiliar and reminded her of Arabic but with hissing. Keet put his arms around Sonya’s shoulders but didn’t bother to offer translation.
The decidedly heated debate ended when the woman slashed the air with her clawed hand. She turned enough to see Sonya and Keet. “Although I am happy to see you are awake, we don’t know if the Valkyrie will rally and come after us. We need to put some distance on them.”
“I don’t have time for this!” She shrugged out of Keet’s hold. “If I can help Cole, I will.”
“Soren can take care of it, Doc. If it’s electronics, you’d just be in the way, anyway, but can you come see the other patients?” said Risa, fighting a hitch in her voice. “They’re human, and we don’t know how much longer they have.”
A lick of panic had beads of sweat popping out all over Sonya’s body. She grabbed fistfuls of the linen pants she had on. “I don’t know if I can.”
“Please, Sonya,” pleaded Risa. “Please.”
She raised her gaze to Talic and Keet who stood together next to the mystery woman. “Will you come with me?”
“You never need to ask,” said Talic, a soft smile transforming him to a pure work of art.
“Lirra,” said Keet. “Give Sonya time to assess Ray and Dallas. We’ll send out patrols to monitor our back trail if needed.”
Lirra grunted and left without further argument.
“Thank you,” said Risa, taking her hand.
Sonya stared at it. Risa had never been that affectionate before without a purpose.
“I don’t have any tools or anything,” she said, stunned.
“They are in the medical car. We should have what is needed,” said Talic.
“Don’t you have doctors, then?” she asked, confused.
“Field medics,” replied Risa. “They brought the equivalent of Deets with them.”
“We are four to five weeks away from home, at least. With so many humans with us, it may take longer. The humans will likely die without your intervention.”
They’d backed her into a corner. She couldn’t ignore someone needing her help, especially if they were important to Risa.
Outside the air smelled of ozone with the promise of more rain. Risa pulled her along the length of the vehicle, and Sonya was able to get an idea of it. The car they were in resembled a short version of a bullet train car, but instead of rails it moved on large off-road tires. Like some sleek millipede. It was too dark for her to see how many cars there were.
Risa stopped in front of a larger car and ushered Sonya inside. The familiar smells of antiseptic, medicine, and old blood surrounded her, and her head swam. One set of rough hands grabbed her waist and another her shoulders, and the waves of dizziness subsided.
There were bunks in this car. Twenty at a quick count, but only two occupied. One, a silver-haired man who was almost pretty, had a large bandage over his abdomen soaked with blood. The second had a bandage that covered him from his right shoulder across his chest. Risa sat by his head and stroked his hair. Both men were unconscious. An A’amoth woman waited patiently at the end of the beds.
“I’ll need your assistance,” said Sonya.
“Of course, what do you need?”
“More clean bandages, water, gloves if you have them.” There was a slight tremor in her voice.
“Mate, do you need us?” asked Keet softly.
She nodded as she tried to control her rapidly accelerated breathing. “Touch.”
Something wound around her thigh, and she squeaked and glanced down to see a tail wrapping around her. “You have tails? How did I not know that?”
“We kept them hidden in our pants, so the Valkyrie wouldn’t abuse them,” said Talic, moving close enough to wrap her left upper arm. She found it helped. They held her tight enough to make their presence known, but still allow free movement.
“You know they probably did see them when you were examined and unconscious, right?” The men shifted uncomfortably, and the idea of those women hurting any part of them made her burn.
The medic brought a stool for her to sit on and a small table with everything but the gloves. “Thank you. What’s your name?”
“Pasha.”
“Thank you, Pasha. I’m going to remove the bandages from them so I can get a better look. Will you assist me?”
“Certainly.”
Dipping her hands in the water, she cleaned them as best she could, and Pasha helped her dry them. Carefully, she pulled away the bandage. It stuck in places, and the man stirred with a moan, but didn’t wake up. “Risa, do you know his name?”
“It’s Dallas. Please save him. Tessa can’t handle the loss of another husband.”
Sonya regarded her friend. This was more than just concern for a friend. “I’ll do my best.”
With the bandage off, she could better see the jagged cut that crossed over his chest. The blood had mostly stopped, but there was an especially deep area of the cut that was concerning. Sonya bent her head to listen to his breathing.
“I think his right lung is collapsed. His left lung is taxed, but he’s still able to breath on his own for now. Do you have a way to deliver oxygen to patients?” she asked Pasha.
The woman left and returned with a thick mask. There were holes in front for releasing air, and lights flashed on the surface.
“Risa, your ears are better than mine. We need to find where his lung is nicked. Pasha, are you comfortable repairing it when she finds it?”
The woman nodded solemnly. “Okay. I’ll leave this to you then. When you are done carefully re-inflate his lung and apply the mask.”
“Understood.”
Her security tails squeezed gently. She rose and repositioned herself in front of the other man. His skin was shiny, waxy. Breaths labored and quiet. She dipped her hands in the bowl again to clean them, but this time Keet was there with the towel. She smiled at him in approval. He kissed the top of her head.
The bandage was harder to remove, and she coul
d hear congealed blood tear and skin part. Underneath was a nightmare. The deep gash ran the width of his stomach. It was only a miracle that his intestines hadn’t sprung out. Sonya bounced her foot fast and fisted the sheets on the edge of the bed.
There was so much blood.
“Mate, we are here with you. We won’t leave you.” Talic pressed against her back, his heat becoming her own. Callused hands steadied her shoulders.
“Pasha?” she said, her voice steady. “I will need sutures and silk. Clamps, if you have them. More bandages.”
Sonya used the bandages she had already brought to carefully clean the wound to see if his intestine or bowel were cut but didn’t find anything. When done, she cleaned the wound as best she could with what she was hoping was the antiseptic. She tried a little on herself first to make sure. Pasha had silently provided everything she asked for except gloves, and she focused all her attention on closing his wound. At some point, Keet helped by wiping blood away and mopping her brow as needed.
After the last stitch, she leaned back into Talic who had not moved since she started.
“I can finish and bandage him, Doctor,” said Pasha, from her left.
“Is Dallas okay?”
“He is doing much better. Now I’ll need to monitor for infection, but his color is already returning, and his breathing is improving.”
Sonya glanced over her shoulder to see Risa curled up at his side asleep. She yawned wide and blinked.
“I think we should get you to bed,” said Keet.
Sonya loved the sound of his voice. What she heard in her head didn’t do the rich baritone justice.
“Not yet. I need to find out about Cole.”
“I checked with Soren while you were working. He did find an obstruction that had damaged the Halo. He thinks he has the damage repaired but can’t bring the Halo back online.”
“It needs a reboot code,” she said, quietly.
“Do you know what it is?” asked Talic.
“No, but I need it, too.”
Keet’s tail tightened his hold around her thigh. “What’s wrong?”
“My Halo is offline. Not sure how I’m even awake without it, but we’ll just count that as lucky.”