Earth Keepers

by Jorge Alejandro Lavera

  “Marcos, help me,” Nikaia yelled at one of the guards who was inside, who ran to help him, but they couldn’t shut the door. Marcos, the guard loyal to Nikaia, took out his gun, pointed towards the open space at the door and shot. A scream was heard, and then several shots from the other side. Marcos yelled, shot several more times and the door suddenly gave, closing. Nikaia touched the pane and the door was blocked. Marcos collapsed, dead. The last shot had hit him in the chest.

  Nikaia let out a curse, and without wasting time, activated the alarm that sounded in the whole city. The security forces weren’t large but were well trained and responded immediately. The problem was that it appeared there were revolts in different parts of the city.

  The situation was getting out of control and the chaos was quickly escalating, as they could see on the screens.

  Nikaia knelt down by Halius, who was badly injured but alive.

  With the tumult, the distractions and the sound of the general alarm, no one noticed the new alarm that sounded on some of the monitors.

  Someone started hitting the door with a blunt object. Luckily the door was armored, but the noise was tremendous.

  Several of the screens were activated. Suddenly the building began to vibrate, amplified voices were heard from all sides, but with the riots and shooting, not a word of what they were saying could be understood, and metal shutters started to come down over the windows and doors, as well as sort of metallic meshes over the buildings and objects of the city.

  ALARM

  Rho, November 27, 2027. 2:30 p.m.

  The door opened just then and Tzedek peered in.

  “We’re going to central command, I want Juan Carlos to see what we have.” He stopped for a moment, noting Juan Carlos’ red face. He turned to Althaea and they looked at each other for a moment.

  From what he now knew, Juan Carlos supposed they were talking mentally, and could almost follow the conversation by looking at their faces. Althaea’s reflected determination, then supplication and....affection, looking at him. Tzedek at first had an angry face, then furious, and finally resigned.

  “Wow,” he thought. Althaea gestured and they both followed Tzedek. They went to the floor of the command center.

  Juan Carlos was impressed in spite of himself. He looked around at both the equipment and the panoramic view of the city, as he followed Tzedek to the meeting table.

  “Juan Carlos, as Althaea already told you, our species is almost extinct. And yours was created only as a tool, genetically modified from a species that already existed and adapted for what they needed. The same thing you humans did with sheep, cows or dogs, but by direct genetic manipulation. The technology capable of saving our species was destroyed with Atlantis. Since then, our numbers have diminished and there’s nothing we could do about it. Only now, with our help, did humans develop the technologies to be able to do the genetic manipulation necessary to recover our species.”

  “And why do you need us?”

  “Although it seems difficult to believe, you have some qualities that, tempered, can save all of us. Our species are very different. It’s hard for us to even think about massive conflicts, not to mention starting wars and that is why we were almost destroyed. The aliens analyzed us well. To defend ourselves, we would have had to kill them en masse and because of our difficulty in doing that, they overwhelmed us.”

  “I still don’t understand why you need us,” Juan Carlos insisted.

  “Even though you were created to destroy everything, you’re still part of our planet, and we have a large amount of DNA in common. The extraterrestrials are an invasive species completely different. We think that someday they’ll return, and if there’s no one to stop them, they’ll finish the job they started so many years ago—conquer the planet and squeeze out all the resources until there’s nothing left. And we don’t want to gift them the planet. And you, the humans who have stayed in these cities, are the closest to us that we have.”

  “I don’t want to be impertinent, but you...” Juan Carlos started to say, when a strident alarm started up on several of the consoles of the command center. Two or three screens that were dark started filling up with data and graphics.

  Tzedek and Althaea stood up suddenly, looking at the monitors.

  “Shit...” Tzedek said softly, worried and angry.

  “Althaea, the EMP protection procedure, urgently!” ordered Tzedek, typing at full speed on one console while Althaea did the same on another.

  “Ready? Three, two, one, now,” Althaea announced as they both pushed a key at the same time as they’d practiced dozens of times. Less than fifteen seconds had passed. They heard a siren in the city, while they saw that all the houses, the machinery, and artifacts in sight were either closed with metal blinds or were surrounded by a kind of mesh of the same type, or were automatically stored in places inside the houses or underground. Everything moved rhythmically as a voice was heard everywhere saying: “This is an emergency, this is not a drill, go immediately to your nearest refuge. We repeat, this is an emergency...” and repeated it again. From the windows, they could see a few people hurrying to their houses. As soon as they entered, the blinds were closed and metal mesh covered the doors, ceilings and around the houses. An intense vibration was heard and felt in the building.

  “What’s happening?” asked Juan Carlos, frightened. “And where is Sofía?”

  “I’m afraid that China has decided that if they’re not going to live, nobody is. They’ve launched some...fifty nuclear missiles around the world, and it’s probably happened automatically. The first launch was at 3:07 p.m., almost two minutes ago and the automatic systems in Russia and the United States have already launched their counterattack, less than a minute later. There are more than two hundred missiles flying in every direction.”

  “Sofía is safe, she was looking at houses with Damaris. Don’t worry, Juan Carlos, she’ll be as safe as we are.”

  As Althaea said this, some metal blinds started to lower over the windows of the panoramic floor.

  “Safe?” Juan Carlos shouted. “From a nuclear war? How?”

  Althaea and Tzedek looked at each other.

  LAUNCH

  MSC Grandiosa, November 27, 2027. 2:30 p.m.

  Leora supervised from afar as they executed the long and complicated coupling maneuver of the two ships, which consisted of holding the submarine to several mooring points on the ship, and pulling a gangway from the cargo exit closest to the entrance of the submarine. When everything was ready, Leora went to wait at the lower hold where they had taken the catwalk, along with her second officer and the cruise director.

  Captain Robert climbed quickly up the narrow gangway, showing no great difficulty. His white uniform was so bright it even surpassed Leora’s and he wore a lot of badges and medals. Leora saw his eyes and for a minute, it took her breath away. The few days’ of beard made him look older, but the smoothness of his face indicated that Robert wasn’t more than thirty years old. Very young to be the captain of a submarine. However, his eyes seemed to have the wisdom of the world. She couldn’t say why or the reason for that feeling. Wrinkles, she didn’t see. But maybe it was the serenity of the look that told her those eyes had seen many more things than one would think.

  “You didn’t need to dress up,” Leora said, smiling at him as she offered him her hand.

  “I was hoping to make a good impression so you’d let my men board, Captain,” replied Robert, smiling back at her and shaking her hand.

  “After what we’ve seen, I think you could have come up wearing a clown suit and I’d have been as happy to see another person,” she said, as he laughed.

  “Good God, look at this man’s teeth,” she thought, “he looks like an ad for toothpaste.”

  “What do you know about what’s going on?” asked Leora, concentrating once again.

  “More like what’s already happened. We know that there was a bioterrorist attack. What we don’t know is who did it. The whole world
is infected.”

  “Do you want your men to board? That way we can chat in a more comfortable place.”

  “Certainly. I have about twenty who are very anxious to walk a bit. Is that possible or is that too many people?”

  “As long as they’re not armed, there’s no problem.”

  Robert peeked through the cargo hatch. As he flexed, Leora could see how his butt was outlined in slightly tight pants and she couldn’t help but smile slightly. Robert let go a deafening whistle with his hands in his mouth, which startled Leora and made her cover her ears.

  “I think you perforated an eardrum—where did you learn to whistle like that?”

  The captain laughed again.

  “It was a long time ago. A partner I had.”

  Leora was surprised to realize she felt a streak of jealousy. What the hell? That man was magnetic.

  In less than a minute, more than a dozen men came rapidly up the gangplank, the first in a white uniform, others in blue uniforms with white stripes on the shoulders, and the rest in dark blue uniforms.

  “Let me introduce you to my first officer, Lionel Preece. If you will allow us, we’ll be accompanied by two security escorts. The rest of the men would like to go for a walk.”

  “Welcome aboard. Accompany us to the main deck. The rest of your men can talk here with the cruise director about what they’d like to do.”

  “What a beauty,” Lionel flattered her, leaning down and taking Leora’s hand to kiss it, “I wonder, would you be free for dinner tonight?”

  Leora was surprised, not only by the lack of protocol, but because she suddenly felt the hairs on the back of her neck stand up. Instinctively, she took a step back, while the escorts came to her side.

  “Commander, have you gone crazy?” Robert was outraged.

  “The Captain isn’t just anybody, Officer,” Romano said, clearly angry.

  “Romano,” cautioned Leora when she saw that her officer had gotten serious and was taking an aggressive position, “I don’t need you all to defend me, I’m no damsel in distress. As for you, gentlemen, no offense, because I understand that it may have been months since you’ve seen a woman. Captain, surely your men will find some crewmembers more than willing for those who have their brains between their legs, but I must warn you to stay away from the passengers, or I will have to throw them off of the ship. Do we understand each other?”

  Romano had turned crimson, while Lionel had taken a step back. Apparently bewildered, he lowered his head. Robert raised his hands in a conciliatory gesture.

  “I’m sure all my men will behave properly, right, Lionel? We’re guests on this ship.”

  “Yes, sir! And I apologize, Captain Shapira. I don’t know what happened to me. It’s just that we’ve been out to sea for months...I’m sorry, that isn’t an excuse, I’m an idiot.”

  “Speak with the rest of the men to make sure they understand the rules that the captain has just given us. Then, you’ll do fifty push-ups. And only after that, can you follow us.”

  “Yes, sir!” Lionel saluted. He spoke with the other soldiers, gestured a few minutes, threw himself to the ground and began to do push-ups quickly, while one of the guards counted, covering his mouth so that they couldn’t see his smile.

  They climbed quickly up various flights of stairs until they reached the panoramic point under the bridge.

  “You don’t believe in elevators?” Robert asked.

  “Not when we can go from one place to another in a minute instead of in ten. The elevators are slow, and for tourists who aren’t in a hurry.”

  “And we’re in a hurry?”

  “I’m not going to get stuck in a slow elevator with a couple of horny sailors.”

  Robert laughed.

  “Don’t worry, Leora, your virtue is safe as long as I’m on board.”

  This time it was Leora who laughed.

  “Somehow, I find it hard to believe you,” she said, as they reached the deck of the bridge.

  The newcomers stared at the view.

  “Impressive, really. How many people do you have on board?”

  “Between crew and passengers, about three thousand eight hundred.”

  “Is it low season? I thought that there were a lot more people on these ships.”

  “Well, we weren’t full when we sailed, but we also left some in Buenos Aires.”

  Robert became very serious.

  “Did you dock at the port?”

  “No, we sent them in lifeboats. At no time did I compromise the isolation of the ship.”

  The captain relaxed.

  “And what are your plans?” asked Leora.

  “For now, we’re trying to contact survivors. We haven’t had any luck. The latest reports from our military intelligence at home yesterday said that all this was a well-organized bioterrorist attack. It seems to be completely fatal. That is, if you get infected, you die. And it’s terribly easy to get infected. Worse than a cold. Through contact, breathing the same air, leaning on a contaminated surface. And although it seems impossible, the virus can survive several hours in the open and even longer in corpses.”

  “Yesterday? And what do they say today?”

  “Today they’re not saying anything. We lost contact with all land posts.”

  “Hell. Do you think that this is the apocalypse?” She was very serious.

  “If it isn’t, I don’t know anything that comes any closer. I imagine that you’ll have realized that here, on board, is nothing less than the last hope that humanity will not be extinguished.”

  “Great hope, a ton of old and fat tourists. Even so, luckily there are a lot of younger families, some with children, and most of the crew is young. But it will be difficult to find people with what will be needed to survive in the world from now on.

  “I see you’ve been thinking about the matter.”

  “For a while now. I don’t think we’ll be able to inhabit any large city. Besides what it would take to remove the bodies, there would be no electricity, no gas. Most modern houses aren’t habitable in those condi...”

  An alarm coming from the submarine stopped her short. Captain Robert went pale. They leaned over the railing, from where the submarine was clearly visible and saw two gates open at the top end of the submarine.

  “Captain?” questioned Leora, alarmed.

  “The submarine is preparing to launch.”

  “Launch?”

  “Nuclear missiles! Quick, Captain, order everyone to take cover. Hurry!”

  Nuclear miss...why don’t you stop it?” Leora shouted with a sound of hysteria in her voice.

  “Missile control is remote! We just take the submarine where they tell us, and it’s been a while since anyone told us anything. But the control of the missiles is still out of our control. The submarine can launch missiles from the surface or under water, either way. They just transmit the order and the missiles fly out wherever they want them to go. There is no way to stop it.”

  Leora ran towards the stairs and in five strides reached the bridge. She activated the internal communications system, while pressing the general alarm button, took the microphone and announced:

  “Attention, all passengers must take cover immediately and the crew must help and do the same. Get into spaces with no windows or close the safety hatches and do not leave until you are told it is safe. I repeat, everyone must get into the interior of the ship. Cover your eyes, do not look out, you could go blind. This is urgent.”

  She handed the microphone to the communications officer on duty and ordered him:

  “Keep repeating this.”

  She leaned over the railing.

  Smoke rose from the open chambers of the submarine. She went down the stairs in a couple of seconds, lifting her feet and sliding with both arms over the railing. A missile flew loudly from each chamber on the submarine. She looked at her watch. 15:08 hours. She saw some crewmembers dragging passengers who were standing there staring at the missiles heading for the sky. S
he felt her heart beating in her neck.

  “For the love of God,” she heard one of her officers say.

  Until now the love of God was saving them, but all of this seemed more and more like a chapter from the Bible, where the wrath of God surpasses his love. “One of the worst,” she thought, “where he repents and wipes the slate clean.”

  Fortunately the missiles launched straight up vertically, otherwise they would have been scorched by the jets of fire.

  In a few seconds, the missiles were out of sight and the gates of the submarine’s chambers closed again.

  “Quick, we must take refuge,” said Captain Robert.

  “Let’s go to the bridge.”

  “No, not the bridge, it’s got to be someplace without windows.”

  “This way, then,” Leora replied while she led everyone to the bar on the fifth deck.

  “Lower. We need to be more in the interior of the ship,” Robert urged.

  Leora looked at him and noticed a look of panic in his eyes. Without wasting a second, she led them down the stairs, going down at top speed, sometimes jumping and even using the handrails to slide down, for what seemed like an eternity, until they reached a deck where she had them go through a plain metal door, straight to a kitchen.

  They’d barely got in and closed the door when the people on the upper decks could see a blinding white light coming in through the open portholes, through the cracks in the doors and through any place that wasn’t hermetically sealed. Everyone covered their eyes, but they were still sensitive to the flash. For several seconds, they could still see the ghost of what they’d been looking at when the explosion detonated, which occurred several miles away.

  For a moment, all the lights went out, and in total darkness, Leora could see a soft glow in Robert’s eyes. An instant later, the emergency lighting went on and she wondered if she was imagining things out of panic. In less than a minute, the wave from the nuclear explosion reached them, sweeping everything that had been loose onto the floors of the ship—chairs, small tables, towels, ashtrays, lounge chairs, and tons of small things went flying, while the ship shook and there was a thud that made everything vibrate.