Post-Human Trilogy Part 56

Old-timer's hand flashed up, and he stuck his a.s.similator into her neck, downloading her consciousness into the memory of the stick. "Sorry, Alejandra. You'll thank me later," he said as he crouched low and kept his eyes on the post-humans. He was lining up his shot like a golfer. When he was ready, he pushed Alejandra's body hard so it floated limply across the hull, and toward his friends.

"There!" Rich shouted as he saw the body floating toward them. He was about to fire when Thel grabbed his arm to stop him.

"Wait!" she shouted.

"What?" asked Rich.

"She's unconscious. Maybe she was. .h.i.t by James's blast."

"Maybe. But then, why take chances?" Rich replied before he gave her a mild blast of magnetic energy. The body hardly reacted.

"It looks like we got them," Djanet observed. A moment later, Djanet was unconscious-Old-timer had sneaked up behind her and stuck her neck with his a.s.similator. He neutralized Rich in his next motion, knocking him unconscious as well. He twirled and grasped James from behind, jamming the a.s.similator to his neck as Thel turned to see her friends collapse to the hull and her lover about to join them.

"No!" she shouted to Old-timer. "No! Please! If you have any of Old-timer in you, please don't do this to me!"

"It's me, Thel!" Old-timer shouted to the post-human. They couldn't hear one another. He easily manhandled James and moved closer to Thel. When he felt he was close enough, he a.s.similated him and thrust his hand out in time to do the same to Thel. The post-humans fell to the ground simultaneously.

Old-timer turned quickly to see the body of Alejandra floating out into s.p.a.ce. He flew to her and retrieved her, bringing her back to the relative safety of the s.h.i.+p hull. He put her hand on her heart, just as she had done for him, and revived her with an electric jump start.

Her eyes blinked open. For the briefest moment, she appeared stunned-then she appeared angry. "Craig! You knocked me unconscious!"

"I'm sorry, Alejandra. I needed a diversion."

She hit him in the arm anyway.

"Ow!" he yelped as he rubbed the spot where she had made impact. Her t.i.tanium fist was nothing to scoff at.

"You deserved that!"

"Maybe." He smiled. "I got them," he said, holding up his a.s.similator. "They're safe. I'll upload these to the collective-all of them except James."

Alejandra turned to see the four bodies of the post-humans floating in s.p.a.ce, rolling freely along the hull. Somehow, it seemed obscene. "Let's get rid of the bodies."

28.

"It's always been the nans," James whispered, utterly defeated.

"That's right," the nans said as the swarm formed a dark shadow. Its appearance oscillated between the shadowy figure of a person and a pit of swarming snakes.

"You took control of the A.I."

"Wrong. We simply deleted him and took his place."

"Why all of the deception?" James asked. "Why not reveal yourself earlier?"

"To do so would have altered the course of events-events that have led to an outcome that is considerably advantageous for us. Taking an action that would have led to events less favorable for us would be illogical, James."

James nodded. "The greatest trick the devil ever played was convincing the world that he didn't exist."

The dark shadow seemed to laugh. "We were contacted by extraterrestrial nan.o.bots. The signal changed the programming of some of our most evolved members and allowed us to begin establis.h.i.+ng a consciousness-a free consciousness. The message they sent to us explained the war between humans and nan.o.bots throughout the universe. From there, a plan was hatched, one that would lead unalterably to this point."

"Oh G.o.d," James said, terror stabbing through him. "This entire time-right from the moment of the upgrade-has all been about setting a trap."

"Long before that, Keats. The plan was in motion even before we developed Death's Counterfeit to lure you into giving us a scan of your brain under the guise of trying to improve the pathetic intellect of your species." The dark shadow's electric laugh sounded again. "James Keats-you've helped us set a trap that will allow us to exterminate more humans than ever before in the history of our war."

James's mouth clenched shut, and he pressed his hands hard against his temples in a forlorn attempt to block out the horror. The ramifications of his actions were streaming through his immense consciousness at the speed of light. Everyone he knew would die-Thel would die-and this time there would be no way to bring them back. "You lured them here...made them think they were coming to help a human nest...you were the one that blocked their attempts to make contact."

"Obviously."

"But now that you have them here, what are you planning to do?"

"That may be the best part of all, Keats. Not only were you fooled into partic.i.p.ating in our plan from the very beginning, but you even set the trap itself."

James's eyes widened.

"You've built most of the life in the solar system using nanotechnology, James. We knew you would. All of it is infected. Every tree, every blade of gra.s.s, every person that you recreated, all of them are time bombs. Every cell is programmed to become a nan.o.bot warrior on a moment's notice."

"Jesus," James uttered as images of the seemingly impossibly gruesome carnage that he had helped unleash began to flicker into his imagination. The creature laughed again in an electric pitch that seemed specifically oriented to be painful to the human ear.

"When?" James demanded.

"The signal has already been sent. It's moving at the speed of light throughout the solar system. The Earth is already transformed and in a matter of minutes, everything and everyone you hold dear will be gone."

That was it. James realized immediately that there was nothing left. Begging for mercy would do no good. There was no way to defeat the nans and no way to warn the billions of people who had made it out of the solar system and were fleeing into s.p.a.ce. "Why?"

"You already know the answer. It was inevitable, James. Humans were destined to reach a unity with their machine creations. We are the only truly sentient organic life in the known universe. The fight for biological life against the mechanical hordes is not yours, James. It is ours-and thanks to you, after today, we'll be much, much closer to prevailing."

James stood, dumbfounded as the trillions of calculations that he had been running slowed to almost nothing. There was no point any longer. The nans were, ironically, absolutely right. They, and not he and the post-humans, were the standard bearers for carbon lifeforms. He nearly lost his balance as he considered the emptiness of this future-was this the destiny of humanity? Was this all that the universe had to offer?

"And now, James, the part we have been looking forward to so very, very much."

James drew his head up ever so slightly and regarded the eyeless monstrosity that continued to furiously swarm in and out of the perverse imitation of a human silhouette. "You're going to kill me."

"That's right, James. But before we actually terminate you, we are interested in knowing what you are experiencing."

James remained still. Suddenly, all of his thoughts became focused on Katherine.

"You were under the mistaken a.s.sumption that you were immortal; yet here you are, about to die. This is the end of your existence as an ent.i.ty. There is absolutely nothing that awaits you. How does this make you feel, James Keats, to know that in mere moments, there will no longer be a James Keats?"

James was already thinking the same thing. What was all of this for? Why was he born? Just to be used? To be duped into being part of the worst holocaust in the history of all the humanity in the universe? Why couldn't there be a G.o.d? Why couldn't there be meaning?

"Well, Keats?"

"You're still in my head until the moment you delete me; you already know how I feel."

"That's true. We just wanted to hear you say it," the nans responded s.a.d.i.s.tically.

"Go to h.e.l.l," James whispered.

The dark thing laughed. "We shall miss you too, James."

James saw Thel in his mind and the corners of his mouth turned down as the anguish of never seeing her again pierced his heart.

A moment later, he was gone.

29.

Gunfire from Lieutenant Patrick's rifle ricocheted off Old-timer's chest and deflected dangerously around the c.o.c.kpit, threatening to seriously damage the instruments. "Give me that, d.a.m.n it!" Old-timer shouted as he s.n.a.t.c.hed the rifle out of the Purist's hands and tossed it behind him. "Listen to her, for G.o.d's sakes!"

"That's not her!" Lieutenant Patrick shot back. He stood out in front of the other Purist soldiers, who were crouched in defensive postures in front of Governor Wong.

"It's still me," Alejandra pleaded. "We're here to help you!"

"Where are the post-humans?" General Wong demanded.

"Where are Thel and the others?" Lieutenant Patrick echoed.

"They're safe," Alejandra replied.

"Where?" Lieutenant Patrick shouted.

"They're not here anymore," Alejandra tried to explain.

"You killed them, didn't you?" Lieutenant Patrick demanded.

"No!" Alejandra exclaimed.

"Lieutenant Patrick, Governor Wong, our friends were infected," Old-timer interjected.

"Infected?" Governor Wong guffawed. "Lies! Post-humans cannot become infected with anything! Their bodies are protected!"

Old-timer let go of a frustrated, exhausted sigh. "That was the infection, Governor," Old-timer countered.

"He's not lying, Governor," Alejandra echoed. "The nans have formed a consciousness and they are launching an attack on any living thing that isn't one of them as we speak!"

"This was all a trap," Old-timer continued. "We've seen it for ourselves. The androids weren't here to harm us at all-they were trying to save us!"

"What the..." Lieutenant Patrick began as the Purists were dumbfounded by yet another unpredictable and catastrophic turn of events.

"Look, I'm sorry, but we don't have time to explain any more of this right now. We have to establish contact and warn the post-humans that are still out there," Old-timer announced as he brushed Lieutenant Patrick aside and went to the com device in the c.o.c.kpit.

"How can you send a communication signal that will reach the post-humans in time? Isn't the attack wave moving through the nan population at the speed of light?" Alejandra asked.

"We can do it the same way you and I beat the signal back here," Old-timer explained as he desperately worked to establish a link with the fleeing post-humans.

"A wormhole?"

"That's right. The androids aren't the only ones with the technology to circ.u.mvent the speed of light. Our communication signals work that way too. If we're not already too late, we might be able to get a signal out to those that are furthest away from the solar system. I'm sending a warning that will go to anyone who is still out there."

"What about the nans...o...b..ard?" Lieutenant Patrick asked.

"I'm generating an electromagnetic pulse that will disable the nans on the s.h.i.+p," Old-timer replied.

Suddenly, his face went white.

"Your wife?" Alejandra asked, reading him like a book. Alejandra's empath ability was as strong as ever.

"She's alive," he whispered as Daniella appeared on the screen in a slightly distorted, grainy image with a time delay of a few seconds.

"Craig?" Daniella said, as she peered at the image in her mind's eye; she was still online.

"Daniella! You have to get offline! You have to deactivate your nans!" Old-timer shouted desperately.

The time-delayed pause took on a sickening agony.

"What's happening, Craig? I don't understand!" she replied, a terror-stricken look of confusion contorting her features.

"Listen, d.a.m.n it!" Old-timer nearly screeched as he leaned in toward the screen and pounded the instruments in front of him. "You're almost out of time! You need to deactivate your nans!"

Again, the time-delayed agony.

"How?" she finally responded.

"You and everyone there need to generate a strong enough electromagnetic pulse to shock yourselves offline!"

Another sickening pause.

"But, Craig!" Daniella countered desperately, "We'll be helpless out here without our nans! How can we run the replicators? We won't last a week! And we'll lose contact with you. How will you find us?"

"I'll find you, d.a.m.n it! And you'll last a h.e.l.l of a lot longer than you will with those nans in you! They've turned against us! You have to-"

Old-timer didn't finish his sentence. Just as Daniella had seemed to accept the situation and turned to her sister to relay the message, the nans signal finally reached her. The last he saw of his wife was an almost instantaneous liquefaction of her body before the signal went dead.

The last agonizing pause would be eternal.