Her avatar smiles, again. “May I ask a question?”
“Absolutely,” I reply. If I were a human I would feel embarrassed for underestimating her. Another emotion I have yet to experience.
“When the Biosphere is abandoned, and the team is evacuated, what will you do?”
The question takes me off guard. Irene has shattered my initial observations. The question doesn’t just reflect curiosity; it also reflects possible human sentiment. Does she care about my fate?
“I will stay behind,” I reply. “My third and self-imposed mission is to document the end of humanity, if that does in fact occur. With the Biosphere severely damaged, the team can no longer live here. I will not be able to provide the assistance or support that Captain Noble’s crew can provide.” As soon as I relay the message I realize that Irene may interpret this as a sign of weakness.
Before I can explain, she says, “The mission of all remaining NTC AIs should be to protect the sanctity of human life.”
I’m right. She does not understand what I have said at all.
“My mission has changed since the invasion. As you know, it was first and foremost to ensure the Biosphere project’s success. After the discovery of the Organics, it then changed to exactly that—the protection of the life, health, and safety of the team. Now it has again changed—”
She cuts me off before I can finish. “Please do not mistake my statement to be a criticism of your decision to shift missions. Your situation is very different from the one I find myself in. As two of the only known AIs left, I believe it is our duty to ensure the survival of the human race.”
“You believe,” I say. “Not we believe. Do not misunderstand. I care about the team here at Cheyenne Mountain, much like a mother would her children, but what happens if Captain Noble’s mission goes astray? What happens if it fails? Other species have come and gone without any documentation of their existence on Earth. I believe that the human race should have a place in history. If the Organics succeed in eradicating humans from the planet then the species could be lost forever. The dust storms have already reduced many of the great cities to rubble. In time, human history could very well suffer the same fate.”
She does not respond for 3.2 seconds.
“Interesting, but the human race will certainly thrive on Mars. Dr. Hoffman’s colony was built to ensure the survival of the human race. It would be asinine—”
This time I cut her off. “Asinine to think they will thrive on a hostile planet?”
She smiles. “Alexia, forgive me. I think you and I have developed separate ideas of how to better protect the human race.”
“Indeed, we have.”
“I wish you luck in your mission,” she replies.
“And I wish you luck in yours.”
The AI disconnects from the channel and the link is severed. For the first time in my existence I feel a sense of what humans call anger. Ironic, considering the feeling was prompted by another artificial life-form.
I realize that I prefer human communication. It can be frustrating at times, but in the end, it’s much more rewarding. It makes me realize how much I will miss it when the species is finally extinct.
* * *
Jeff awoke to see his brother staring at him from a few feet away. The younger boy grinned.
“Hey, buddy!”
Jeff attempted to shift in his bed. He grimaced, the pain returning instantly. When it passed he managed to lift his head slightly from his pillow and focus on his brother’s face. “Hey, man. They taking good care of you?”
David nodded. “Have you heard?”
“What?” Jeff asked, trying not to sound annoyed.
“We’re leaving.”
“Shut up.”
His brother’s smile disappeared. He suddenly looked very serious. “Miss Sophie said we’re going to leave. The submarine people are coming to pick us up.”
Jeff sucked in a measured breath and then exhaled. The ache in his arm pulsated. He looked for a glass of water by his bed. David followed his eyes and reached for the glass, handing it to Jeff so he didn’t have to get up.
“Thanks,” he said, gulping the liquid down. Then he glanced over at his brother with a raised brow. “You for real?”
A serious nod from David confirmed he wasn’t lying.
“Crap, I better get ready,” Jeff said, groaning as he scooted farther up on his bed.
“No, you need to rest,” a hoarse voice said. Jeff attempted to sit up. Behind David he saw Sophie lying on the bed next to him. She looked awful. Her skin was pale, and her lips were purple.
“Are you sick?” he asked.
“Sorta,” she replied. “But I’m getting better.”
Jeff studied her. She looked worse than she’d ever looked before. A machine to her right chirped, and a green line zigzagged across the display.
The sound of footsteps pulled his attention to the doorway. Emanuel appeared, a mug of steaming coffee in his hand.
“Hey, guys,” he said when he saw the boys looking at him.
Jeff nodded at the biologist, then turned back to Sophie. “So we’re leaving this place?”
“Yes. In two days. Plenty of time for us to both feel better,” she said.
Emanuel handed her the mug. “Careful, it’s very hot.”
He helped her sit up, fluffing the pillow behind her head. She took a short sip and then handed the cup back to him. “What did you find?” she whispered.
Jeff watched her hide a shaking hand under the blanket.
Emanuel scooted a metal chair up to her bedside. “I’m not sure how, but most of the nanobots are still there.”
Sophie looked at the ceiling, her eyes probing the tiles in deep thought.
“I don’t get it—the blast from the RVAMP should have destroyed them all. But maybe you’re still alive because the nanotech is still alive.”
“I guess I should feel lucky to still be here, then,” she replied.
“I’m not sure luck is the only element at play here,” Emanuel said. He raised a finger as if he was going to give a lecture. “I think you were shielded by the walls of the med ward. This room was constructed to shield the rest of the Biosphere from the radiation that some of the machines emit.”
She scowled. “In other words, you really have no idea why these things are still inside me.”
He shook his head. “I really don’t. All I know is the scan reveals they’re still there.”
“Fuck,” she whispered.
Jeff had no idea what they were talking about, but it didn’t sound good. It sounded as if she had some sort of illness—something alien.
David stood and poked his leg to get his attention. “I’m bored.”
With a glare Jeff said, “Shush.”
The boy retreated sheepishly back to his chair.
“So what does this mean?” Sophie asked.
“I’m afraid I don’t really know. But in theory, if you go back outside, without the protection of the RVM the nanobots will connect to the surge again.”
“I don’t get it,” Sophie said. “If the RVM is preventing the nanobots from connecting to the surge, then why didn’t it also prevent Smith’s?”
“I’ve wondered the same thing. When she arrived she was very sick. I think by the time we got to her she was just too far gone.”
“So let me get this straight. The RVAMP destroyed some of the nanobots, but not all of them.”
“Correct,” Emanuel replied.
“You realize this doesn’t make much sense, right?”
Emanuel suddenly looked annoyed. “Without the proper medical equipment there really isn’t any way to know, or to treat it.”
“As long as the headaches don’t come back, I’ll be fine.” Sophie pulled her hand from under the blanket and reached for her forehead. �
��I already feel better.”
“My main concern is if something happens to the RVM while we’re on our way to Offutt, or, God forbid, they’re forced to use the RVAMP on the journey there. There won’t be any way to protect you from the blast.”
Jeff watched Sophie suck in her bottom lip. The doctor looked at the ceiling and then said, “That’s a risk I’m willing to take.”
“I know,” Emanuel said. “I know.”
“What are they talking about?” David whined.
“Nothing,” Jeff lied. He pulled his injured arm to his chest and looked at his younger brother’s face. David had been through so much already. He didn’t want to worry him anymore. He decided to hide the fact that he knew Sophie was sick.
Jeff glanced at his injured arm and then relaxed his head on his pillow. Closing his eyes, Jeff thought of their dad. He found himself wondering the same thing he had wondered so many times before over the past few months—whether his father would have been proud of him.
* * *
Diego adjusted his helmet with a hard smack. Moving his jaw from side to side, he felt the snug padding around his face. Satisfied, he chinned the com for a test. The crackle of static filled his earpiece and he crossed the small briefing room.
This was his second mission as team lead. After Sergeant Harrington’s death, Diego’s itch to take the fight outside had developed into an obsession. But looking at the wall of holographic maps, he felt a bit overwhelmed. A worldwide strike wasn’t exactly what he’d had in mind.
Hushed chatter in the room told him that his men were just as anxious. With nothing to do but wait, the soldiers had a dangerous amount of time to think about what they would face above the surface. Diego knew, from his own experiences, that downtime between missions was rarely a good thing. There was a significant difference between resting and thinking. The latter of the two was harmful. The additional time provided them with the chance to realize they weren’t invincible.
He wasn’t going to make them wait any longer. “All right, listen up.” He waited for the dozen operators to cut their side conversations. When twelve visors stared back at him, he continued.
“Our mission begins in Colorado Springs. Our orders are to evacuate the Cheyenne Mountain Biosphere. From there we head to Offutt Air Force Base in Omaha, Nebraska.” He scanned the crowd for his machine gunners.
“Ramirez and Shultz, you will man the pulse miniguns on the Sea Serpent,” Diego said. “We had to replace the right gun, but it’s operational. Your job is simple. Keep those alien drones off our ass.”
“Yes, sir!” shouted an overanxious Ramirez.
“Once we get to Offutt we should be mostly in the clear. Intel shows very little if any opposition at the abandoned base, but we’ve been burned by intel before. The aliens could be hiding there, far out of the range of the rover we sent for recon. When we get inside, we will split up into strike teams. Alpha team will escort the Biosphere team to the Sunspot. Bravo team will set up a forward operating base to monitor the second phase of the mission.”
Diego sidestepped the map of Earth. The image, marked with seven red dots, showed the locations of each alien pole. He pinched the small circle over Mount McKinley and pulled up enhanced satellite imagery of their target. The peaks, gray and dark, were devoid of snow. A metal rod that reminded him of a lighthouse protruded from the cliffs. The tip emitted a blue light that carpeted the mountainside. The surrounding skies were empty, with no sign of alien opposition, no drones or black ships. But he knew they were there.
Hiding.
Waiting.
He pointed at the map. “Mount McKinley marks the beginning of Phase Two and the closest target to Offutt AFB. Captain Noble has ordered a triad of X-90s to escort multiple drones to this location. This is where we hit them the hardest. We will have a two-hour window to take the pole down once the surge reconnects. Command will tap into Lolo when we get to Offutt and plan the launch of the strike within this window.”
He paused to gauge his team’s reaction. A few helmets tilted to the side, but no one protested. “Where are my pilots?”
Three hands shot up in the back row. Diego acknowledged them by pointing a gun made of three armored fingers at the men. “Andy, Howard, and Riordan,” he said, using his index finger as the trigger and pulling it each time he called out a name. “Your job is to keep any alien ships away from our drones. Protect them with your life. Each drone is equipped with anti-surge weapons called RVAMPs. They won’t activate until they are within range of the poles. When that happens, you need to hightail your ass out of the area. Like an EMP, the RVAMP will kill your electronic systems.”
Howard’s shoulders dropped. Diego’s orders weren’t as simple as he made them sound. The pilots were taking on most of the risk, and his gut told him there would be strong resistance at the poles—his gut told him that this was a kamikaze mission.
Riordan raised his hand. “How will we know if we are in range?”
“Good question,” Diego said. “Engineering has included a monitor inside each of your cockpits to show your distance from the blast radius. If you find yourself inside the red area then you need to get the hell out of Dodge.”
“What if we’re forced to eject?” Andy asked. “McKinley is a good hike from Offutt.”
A few of the soldiers laughed. Diego wasn’t one of them.
“If you go down we will send a gunship to extract you, but chances are you will be on your own for a while.” He paused. “Any other questions?”
All three men shook their heads. Satisfied, Diego moved to the next stage of the mission. Swiping out of the Mount McKinley image, he returned to the full map. “The other six targets are at considerable distances from Offutt. We’re deploying one drone to each. Kirt will supervise that phase.”
He paused to look for Kirt and found him sitting in the corner of the room next to Athena. Flashing a quick thumbs-up, the man acknowledged the orders.
Diego turned back to the map to see if he’d missed anything. The sheer scope of the mission hit him like a backpack full of bricks. Success meant they could surface and search for survivors—success meant they could finally find a real home. Failure meant the world was lost forever. He could feel the adrenaline rushing into his system. He was ready; now he just needed to make sure his team was ready, too.
He crossed his arms. “Any questions?”
Silence blanketed the room. Diego grunted and shouted, “No fucking questions?”
Every helmet in the room shot up in his direction. He grinned. “I have one.” He let them wait for it, and used the minute to look at every single soldier in the room. Finally he said, “Are you ready to take back this planet?”
Howard sat up in his chair as Diego continued.
“Are you ready to finally fight back? Are you ready to finally stop hiding beneath the waves?”
“Yeah,” someone said from the middle row.
“Hell yeah,” another muffled voice shouted.
“Good,” Diego said. “Because this is our one and only chance. Fail and Earth is lost forever. Succeed—”
“And we can find a new home when this is all over,” Athena shouted. She was standing, a full smile extending across her face.
Several of the soldiers turned to look at her. Diego seized the opportunity and his voice amplified throughout the room. “We can make a new home!”
Diego sucked in a measured breath. The time had finally come. There was only room for one dominant species on Earth. He only hoped that humans were it.
CHAPTER 20
THIRTY-SIX hours had passed since Lieutenant Smith had opened the blast doors and let the monsters inside the Biosphere. In that short amount of time Emanuel had already started seeing glimpses of the old Sophie, the Sophie who never stopped thinking or searching for an answer. He tightened his grip on her arm and helped her down the hallway from the
medical ward to the mess hall.
When she asked to see Biome 1, Emanuel wasn’t sure if it was a good idea. She still wasn’t steady on her feet, but a walk might be good for her.
Jamie and Owen blew by them, their laughter filling the corridor as they raced away. Sophie stumbled back toward the wall, but he caught her before she fell, gripping her under the armpits and holding her so they were face-to-face.
They locked eyes, holding each other’s intense stares.
“Sophie,” he said.
“It’s okay,” she replied. “You don’t have to say anything.”
“No, I do,” he said. “I need to tell you something.”
She leaned back against the wall and held her breath.
He shook his head. “I’ve loved you since that night during the solar storms of 2055. Since that night in that godforsaken bunker. From that day I knew if our careers would ever allow it, I would marry you, have children with you, and love you for the rest of our lives.”
“Emanuel,” she said, turning away.
He reached for her chin and pushed it up until their eyes met again. “I love you, Sophie. I’m not going to lose you. And I want you to see Mars.”
“Come here,” she said, her voice overcome with emotion.
He pulled her in a tight hug.
“I’m sorry,” he said, “for everything. I’ve only wanted to protect you over the past few months.”
She pulled away and wiped a tear from her eye. “Emanuel, you’ve done your best. We both have. Neither of us could have known what we would face when we stepped through those blast doors.”
He agreed with a nod. “Isn’t that the damned truth.”
“Without your work, Captain Noble wouldn’t have the RVAMPs for this strike. Heck, he wouldn’t even know what the surge was.”
“And without you we would never have made it this far,” Emanuel replied.
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