Extinction Machine (61 page)

Authors: Jonathan Maberry

Tags: #Speculative Fiction

BOOK: Extinction Machine

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And … who were those owners? We still don’t know.

They’re out there somewhere, watching us to see if we keep our grubby fingers off their toys. Sure, that’s an assumption, but in this case I don’t think that it makes an ass of you or me.

Oh, yeah … and all the cats down at NASA are delighted to suddenly have their budget tripled. Imagine that.

(6)

On the first day of the New Year, as a soft veil of snow fell across the eastern seaboard, I stood next to Rudy Sanchez as he said all the right words to Circe O’Tree and she said the right words to him. They smiled at each other as if the world had never teetered on the edge of the abyss. They kissed like there would be an uncounted number of tomorrows. It did not matter to them or anyone that he wore a black eye patch or that he walked with a noticeable limp.

As they turned to greet the thunderous applause of soldiers and scientists, humanitarians and stone killers, close friends and foreign dignitaries, I looked for a few familiar faces in the crowd. I saw Mr. Church seated near the back. He was smiling. It may have been the only genuine and uncomplicated smile I’d ever seen on his face. But of course, no one but me was looking. Maybe Circe, but she was too practiced at pretending not to be his daughter to let her eyes linger there. I wonder what that smile did for her heart.

Rudy would see it, too. But maybe of all of us he was the one person who could have predicted that this cold, strange man could smile with such joy.

Then I turned my head away from Church and found another smiling face. Another joyful face. A face framed by masses of wavy blond hair, a face dusted by sun freckles. A face with eyes the color of a summer sky. She stood between the improbable bookends of Top and Bunny. They were all applauding.

Those blue eyes sought me out and there was a subtle transformation in her smile. What had been a smile of sheer happiness for Rudy and Circe now became something else, something private.

A smile meant for me.

A smile filled with love.

And I knew that when she looked at my face, that’s what she saw.

The war might still be there, it might always be there, but at moments like this I could take a deep breath and remember what it was we fought to preserve.

And if our world was larger, and if we were not alone in the glittering vastness of the universe, I found that I was no longer afraid of that.

I found that it gave me hope.

Also by Jonathan Maberry

Novels

Assassin’s Code

King of Plagues

The Dragon Factory

Patient Zero

Dead of Night

The Wolfman

Flesh & Bone

Dust & Decay

Rot & Ruin

Bad Moon Rising

Dead Man’s Song

Ghost Road Blues

V-Wars (editor)

Nonfiction

Wanted Undead or Alive

They Bite

Zombie CSU

The Cryptopedia

Vampire Universe

Vampire Slayer’s Field Guide to the Undead
(as Shane MacDougall)

Ultimate Jujutsu

Ultimate Sparring

The Martial Arts Student Logbook

Judo and You

Graphic Novels

Marvel Universe vs. Wolverine

Marvel Universe vs. The Punisher

Marvel Universe vs. The Avengers

Captain America: Hail Hydra

Klaws of the Panther

Doomwar

Black Panther: Power

Marvel Zombies Return

About the Author

Jonathan Maberry is the
New York Times
bestselling and multiple Bram Stoker Award–winning author of
Patient Zero,
the Pine Deep trilogy,
The Wolfman, Zombie CSU,
and
They Bite.
His work for Marvel Comics includes the Punisher, Wolverine,
Doomwar, Marvel Zombies Return,
and Black Panther. His Joe Ledger series has been optioned for television.

This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.

www.stmartins.com

Cover design by Rob Grom

ISBN 978-0-312-55221-3 (trade paperback)

ISBN 9781250026613 (e-book)

First Edition: March 2013