Post-Human Trilogy Part 31

James mulled Thel's words for a moment before deciding she had to be right. As hard as it was to imagine, humanity's guardian had turned against them. He pulled away slightly and looked up through the opening of the crevice at the empty night sky. It had been long enough. He and Thel began to hover above the ledge as he signaled to the others that it was time to go. Once they were all in position, they blasted up into the sky and toward the pale blue dot in the distance.

It was all they had.

PART 2.

1.

The smoke could be seen from s.p.a.ce. As the team streaked toward the southeast of South America, a dark smudge on the map quickly became a colossal zone of carnage.

"It's the worst we've seen yet," Thel uttered to James.

James guided the team down toward the coast and then above the billowing black smoke, where he had surmised Buenos Aires should be. There was no point in even trying to enter smoke that thick. He disengaged his magnetic field once they had reached a low enough alt.i.tude and come to a full stop.

"Buenos Aires?" Djanet asked.

"Yes," James replied, "or what's left."

Thel quietly began to float under her own power, her implant having come back online long before.

"Buenos Aires? Why are we here?" Rich asked, desperate for some kind of information to ground him.

"The Purists live here," Djanet answered.

"The Purists? Who the h.e.l.l are the Purists?"

"Of course! The Purists! Don't you remember learning about them in school?" Old-timer asked Rich. "School? Old-timer, I don't know how you do it! School was way too long ago for me to remember anything about it."

"The Purists are thousands of people who live offline. They inhabit the area around here and live off the land," Djanet explained.

"Whoa...what do you mean, they 'live offline'?"

"We never hear about them, but they've existed for a long time. We're taught that they are an abomination in school," Djanet continued.

Rich was flabbergasted. He turned to Old-timer, then back to Djanet with a look of utter astonishment. "What do you mean, they 'live off the land'? Like animals?"

"And they die like animals," Thel interjected.

"What?"

"They let themselves die," Thel informed him.

"That's sick! I must've blocked this out! I don't remember learning a thing about this in school."

"They eat flesh too," Old-timer pointed out, smiling. He couldn't resist. He thought fondly of the last real New York steak he'd eaten, more than half a century earlier.

Rich was silent for a moment, but it was evident he was trying to speak as his lips formed multiple shapes, each in preparation for a word that didn't seem to do the moment justice and was summarily abandoned. "Oh my G.o.d! And why are we here?"

"I'd guess we're here to see if any of them survived and get us some help, is that right, Commander?" Djanet asked James.

"That's the plan," James replied, his voice getting weaker by the moment.

"Help from them?" Rich exclaimed. "They sound worse than those bat things! If we find any of them, they'll probably eat us!"

"They don't eat human flesh. Just animal," Thel responded.

"Why? What's the difference between human and animal flesh?" Rich asked desperately.

"I don't know," Thel shrugged.

"Just be glad you're not a cow," Old-timer said, patting Rich on the shoulder as he floated past him and over to James's side.

"What's a cow?" Rich asked, his question directed to no one in particular.

"It looks like the A.I. has wiped these people out, James."

"There might be survivors. We'll have to look. The city's inaccessible right now, but we should have a look at the areas to the north. There may be sources of food..." James let his words trail off as his eyes became heavy, the color suddenly emptying from his cheeks.

"James?" Thel reacted, seeing his distress right before he lost consciousness and began to fall toward the ground below. Thel didn't allow him to fall far, however. Just as James had done for her earlier, she dropped down quickly and matched his speed, grabbing hold of him by hooking her arm in his.

Old-timer reached him almost as quickly and helped her stabilize him. "I'll take him. It's okay," she said to Old-timer as she cradled James against her.

James opened his eyes and said in a soft groan, "Thel."

"It's time for me to help you now." She turned to Rich and Old-timer and asked them to help her get him onto her back. Then she took the lead. "Okay, you heard the plan. We're going to head north of the city and see what's there. Keep your eyes peeled for any people or sources of food."

"Somehow I don't think she means a replicator," Rich whispered to Djanet before the five members of the Venusian terraforming project ignited their magnetic fields and headed north.

2.

Although it had begun as a pristine, clear day in Buenos Aires, blue sky could no longer be seen. The late afternoon sun was drowned by the dark gray smoke that hung ominously in the air over the barren terrain north of the city like an autumn fog in a forgotten graveyard.

Thel led the others down for a closer look at the seemingly endless devastation. There was almost nothing left-no trees, no gra.s.s, no kind of vegetation of any sort. The soft, rolling hills were dotted with pools of an ash-gray material that resembled soot in some places and sludge in others. Even the soil was nearly blackened. She set down and disengaged her magnetic field, allowing the putrid, lifeless air to swathe her and fill her lungs. She held her hand to her mouth and nose and tried to stifle a cough as the air caught in her throat.

"I thought we just left Mercury," Rich commented, the words m.u.f.fled as he, too, held his hands over his mouth and nose.

All five members of the team were standing together now on the wasteland, and Thel tended to James as he leaned against her.

"It's the nans," James said weakly. "They've destroyed every living thing in the Purist territory."

"Nothing could have survived this," Old-timer observed. "They used to call this 'the gray goo scenario.' The A.I. has managed to wipe the Purists out too. We really are the last ones," he said as he turned and surveyed the devastation, his head suddenly light, as though he had been hanging upside down for too long. He found himself struggling just to stay on his feet. "Is anyone else feeling sick all the sudden?"

Rich choked and then vomited where he stood. He doubled over, and Djanet rushed to his aid, putting her hands on his back and shoulder. "We can't breathe this air for long, Commander," Djanet a.s.serted. "It's filled with...death. It's toxic. There's no one here anyway."

James could no longer respond. He slumped to his knees, his breath now a soft wheeze, and leaned his glistening, and pale forehead against Thel's shoulder.

She looked at her rapidly weakening companion and answered for him. "We're not leaving. James spoke of underground bunkers built by the Purists, in case they were ever attacked. Someone must have survived. We'll ignite our magnetic fields and breathe our air supply, but we're not leaving Purist territory until we need to replenish our air or until we find someone who can help James. Is that agreed?"

Of course no one could refuse. Every one of the Omegas felt genuine affection for the others; they were like a family, and James was both a son and a father to all of them. To Thel, he was even more.

"Until we find a hospital, we're with you," Old-timer a.s.sented.

But before any of them could ignite their magnetic fields to begin the arduous and seemingly forlorn task of looking for survivors, a white-gold flash as bright as lightning suddenly appeared to their flank, accompanied by a deafening, explosive roar.

3.

The wasteland's air rippled with the percussion of the blast and washed over them in a tidal wave of death.

Djanet had saved them. At the last moment, she had seen the surface-to-air missile approaching them out of the corner of her eye. She had turned and instinctively generated a protective magnetic field that sheltered her and her companions from a direct hit that would have been fatal for all of them. She had gone down on one knee and looked up in the direction of where the missile had come and followed the cotton-smoke trail to where three darkly dressed figures were scrambling down a small hill and toward a jet-black ridge.

"What the h.e.l.l was that?" Old-timer reacted, still holding his hands over his ears as the explosion continued to echo softly in the distance.

"People!" Djanet shouted. "I'm going after them!" she announced, already in the air and about to ignite her magnetic field. She streaked toward their a.s.sailants before the others were even aware of what was happening.

"Follow her!" Thel shouted as Old-timer and Rich lifted off and bolted after her. Thel held James's face close to hers and whispered into his ear, "You were right. There are people here, James. We're going to find you a doctor. Just hold on, my baby."

He struggled to open his eyes into narrow slits and spoke in a labored murmur, "I love you."

"I know you do. I know. But I need you to stand, James. Don't give up. Hold on to me as best you can. We have to follow them."

James slowly got to his feet, leaning heavily against Thel for support as he did so. He'd entered the realm of the dying now. He was becoming aware that he could no longer function without the aid of one of his companions. He could not stand alone, walk alone, go to the bathroom alone, or eat alone. Soon he would be unable to speak, unable to open his eyes, and eventually, he would no longer be able to draw breath. This realization wasn't met with panic, but rather, was accompanied by a pervasive calmness that stretched its black cloak around him as it softly rocked him toward a lasting sleep.

Thel could sense this, and she clenched her teeth in determination to beat back the alluring rest James desired as she ignited her magnetic field and carried James with her in the direction that the others had flown.

Meanwhile, several hundred meters away, Djanet was stalking her prey. She hovered above the three attackers as they scrambled as fast as they could over the uneven terrain. They were trapped and knew it, but they ran anyway, having no other option.

This was exactly the sort of moment that defined Djanet's life. As she glided overhead, she thought of her mother, remembering how she told her to put dreams of a life working for the Governing Council on other planets out of her head. "How would you stand out?" her mother asked. Djanet, her mother insisted, could be no smarter than anyone else and those positions would always go to those centenarians already established. "Why set yourself up for failure when a lifetime of leisure was only as far away as a click in your mind's eye?"

But Djanet was rebellious, stubborn, and determined. Her life had to have a higher purpose. She couldn't spend her life only existing. Why live if not to pursue a dream?

And now Djanet was taking that determination and purpose and focusing it on a new goal. Everything had been taken away from her, but it wasn't over yet. If James needed a doctor, by G.o.d he was going to get one, and these people who were scurrying away from her as quickly as possible were going to help her-like it or not.

Djanet was quickly joined on either side by Rich and Old-timer. Old-timer signaled to her to move in and block the progress of the three fleeing Purists. She nodded and swooped down, landing with enough force to be intimidating and sending small globes of sludge splattering into the air.

She was only meters in front of the ragged, battle-scarred soldiers. Their faces were blackened by the sooty material in the air and on the ground, and their skin was streaked with blood and sweat. Each wore cloth over their faces to help them breathe the putrid air. There were two males and one female, all wearing the same dark gray uniform with a rifle strapped over one shoulder. One of the men pointed his rifle at Djanet in a defensive posture, while the other two combatants took similar positions against Rich and Old-timer behind them. The six people locked into a tableau together, as painful seconds ticked by.

Old-timer felt a responsibility in the situation to be the first one to lower his guard for a moment to communicate with the Purists. It only seemed right. If one of them had to die, it should be the one who had already had the longest life. Yet his hands shook. The nans would have released a mild dose of dopamine in this situation to keep his nerves from getting the best of him. It had been more than sixty years since he had experienced such nervous feelings. He knew he could die. The implacable void of death surrounded him, and ice seemed to form in his chest. He couldn't imagine a worse feeling.

Carefully, he disengaged the protective coc.o.o.n of his magnetic field. He did, however, keep a large magnetic s.h.i.+eld hovering just in front of him so that he would have a chance of blocking one of the projectiles the antiquated weapons of the Purists were ready to fire.

"We aren't here to harm you! We're on your side!" Old-timer found himself stammering. His lips were dry and shaking-his voice nearly failed him. His voice had never before failed him.

The man and the woman who crouched before him, their weapons trained on their adversaries, gave each other careful, quizzical glances.

Old-timer waited for a few moments for a response, but the tableau continued. "Djanet, they must not speak Englis.h.!.+ Perhaps they speak one of the old languages? Spanish?"

"I haven't practiced any Spanish since I was a little girl, Old-timer, but I can try," Djanet replied. "Somos sus amigos. Nosotros no tenemos malas intenciones!"

The Purists shared more quizzical glances. A few moments pa.s.sed before the male facing Djanet replied, "I don't know what the h.e.l.l that freak just said, but we're not as backward as you cyborgs think! We know how to speak Englis.h.!.+"

The tableau continued a moment longer before Old-timer finally managed to utter, "You do?"

"No! I'm lying to you! I don't speak a d.a.m.n word of Englis.h.!.+ I memorized this phonetically just to p.i.s.s you off at the right moment!" the Purist shouted back at him.

"Gernot! Watch your mouth!" the woman called back to her companion.

"Why should I?" Gernot responded. "You think these freaks are telling us the truth? If I'm gonna die right now, I'm sure as h.e.l.l going to tell these pieces of c.r.a.p where to go before I do!"

"You're not going to die!" Old-timer rea.s.sured. "We're here for help! The A.I. has wiped out everyone who was connected to the Internet other than me and my companions! We've come here looking for other survivors!"

"It...can't be," whispered the man to the woman crouched next to him.

"We can't trust them!" Gernot called back to his companions. "It's all bull!"

At that moment, Rich finally disengaged his magnetic field. Like Djanet and Old-timer, he held a s.h.i.+eld in front of him to protect himself, but his voice was still filled with trepidation as he spoke, his anxiety almost paralyzing. "So, uh...how's it going? Are we friends yet?"

Old-timer locked an intense glare on Rich and shook his head.

"Oh," Rich replied before shrinking back and reigniting his full coc.o.o.n.

"Why should we believe you?" asked the man who was crouched and facing Old-timer.

Old-timer took a moment to find a line of reasoning. He nearly shrugged his shoulders as he attempted to capture the right words.

Djanet jumped in before he could speak. "If we wanted to kill you, you'd already be dead."

"Or you might keep us alive so that we could show you if there are any other survivors!" Gernot shot back. "We're not idiots! No matter what you calculator-heads might think!"

Djanet furrowed her brow and looked across to Old-timer, who mouthed the word "calculator-head" to her quizzically.

She shook her head and held out her hands, exasperated.