Ghost of the Gods - 02 (45 page)

“My name is Zuris and this is my home.”

The man had a strong European accent.

“You’ll excuse me if I am not pleased to meet you,” said Mark.

Zuris smiled like a predator staring at its next meal. Mark could tell by the emotions radiating from the man that his arrogant response had been a good choice. Zuris looked young. A medical assist confirmed an approximate biological age of late thirties, except for his head and brain, whose biological age was closer to eighty. The global n-web connection came back. Mark’s entangled interface instinctively pulled in data about Zuris.

The n-web connection wavered, adapted itself, and then failed. Mark was bewildered as he gathered from newly implanted memories that he was face to face with an immensely wealthy and powerful puppet master. Ownership of Zero-G was pocket change to this man. The new memories contained enticing clues that Zuris and his extended family could be worth trillions of dollars. The memories received from the god-machine were an odd mixture of typical timeline data, along with unexpected information that had to have come from the Internet as well as internal classified government and corporate intranets. Mark found himself asking the same question he had been for days. How was the god-machine accessing data that came from networks that had no connection to the n-web?

An expensive leather high-back chair was delivered to Zuris, and the man gracefully seated himself. A small end table with a glass of ice water was set next to the chair. Mark had not been given anything to drink since his capture. Zuris slowly drank some of his ice water. Mark began picking up stray thoughts, fragments about devices called
medial-jammers
and
zone-jammers
. The engineers had concerns whether they would be reliable with this kind of highly developed hybrid. Mark wondered if Zuris knew about the gap in protection caused by the hatch opening. Was he intentionally allowing Mark to evaluate him? Anything was possible at this stage. Someone who looked like a servant delivered a trim phone to Zuris. He listened and then handed it back.

“I think we are going to be good friends,” said Zuris.

“McKafferty promised I was going to die in prison,” said Mark. “I guess our friendship will be brief.”

Zuris smiled and then took another long sip of water.

“Oh no, my friend, we’re going to put you to work for Zero-G and your country. You are far too valuable to be housed in some prison, awaiting execution. General McKafferty is a brilliant soldier but diatomic in his thinking. Everything is either right or wrong. General McKafferty has difficultly seeing the degrees of light and dark that fill our universe.”

“I don’t care about your take on McKafferty!” said Mark. “I warned him and now I am warning you. There are communes of—”

“Stop talking, please,” interrupted Zuris. “I know everything you are going to tell me. I’ve replayed your conversations with General McKafferty many times. It is a fascinating tale of rogue communes of hybrid terrorists, but an improbable tale with no proof. For a very long time we’ve been watching communes. There is no evidence they’re behind the kill-zone hoaxes. Now, unlike General McKafferty, I see no reason for you to lie about such an important and improbable story. This leads me to think you believe what you are saying and that you are yourself the victim of a hoax.”

Zuris stood and walked close to the doorway.

“You look surprised, Mark. You didn’t think we can listen in on what is being discussed privately in this country? Security in times like these is paramount. Technology is the weapon that protects us. The public has to sacrifice its privacy for safety. I understand this compromise all too well. The president and I share leadership responsibilities over our government-corporate alliance. I feel the terrible weight of history resting on my shoulders.”

Mark could tell from radiated emotions and stray thoughts that Zuris was telling the truth and had the unshakable conviction of a religious zealot. He truly owned the levers of power and was well practiced in their use. More so than McKafferty, this was the man Mark needed to convince about the hives, but how?

The assist, which was displaying n-web pathways, was showing a peculiar networking loop near Zuris’s neck. The loop was blocking the movement of COBIC beyond the neck. Mark studied the faint outline of an unusual pathway that ran from the networking loop, down the inside of the man’s shirt, and into a small box on his hip, which looked like a cell phone. Mark realized this was some kind of disruption-field generator that scrambled n-web and seed operations. This had to be the same technology as beekeeper suits. Why was Zuris doing this to himself? Why allow his body to be saturated with seed-bearing COBIC? Mark knew the answer as fast as he’d formulated the question. Zuris was terminally ill with lung cancer and using COBIC to cure himself. It was his personal fountain of youth. Mark’s connection to the god-machine came back. Out of the darkness, he received a response from Sarah. His heart broke as he fought to keep his composure. She’d only received a small part of what he’d sent. Before he could fully send a new reply, the route to the global n-web failed again.

Zuris looked at Mark oddly, then glanced down at the small box on his hip. Mark realized too late he had been staring and not completely concealing his emotions.

“You know too much, don’t you?” said Zuris. “How is this possible? You’re connected, aren’t you?”

Zuris ordered the hatch closed. Mark had lost his opportunity to remain connected to the global n-web. The separation felt like someone he loved had died. He got up and began pacing alone in his prison.

Mark Freedman – Dallas, Texas – March 11, 0002 A.P.

After Zuris and his bodyguards had abruptly left, workers had delivered various items to make living more comfortable: a folding table and chair, a cot, a portable toilet, and a privacy screen. Most of his personal belongings were returned, including the IronKey thumb drive that contained Kathy’s memoirs. Had they somehow learned what was on the encrypted thumb drive or simply not cared? Probably the latter, since there was nothing he could do from this prison without their permission. For safekeeping he slipped the talisman over his head and down around his neck.

While his possessions were being returned, the entry hall outside the chamber was being modified by a crew of workers. The hallway was soon covered in what looked like thick, orange rubber gym pads. Electrical wires snaked away from the far end of the pads and around a corner.

Exactly nineteen hours and thirty minutes after his first visit, Zuris returned for another chat. He stayed outside the chamber as before, but Mark was no longer able to pick up emotions or stray thoughts
.
The weak spot in the disruption field was gone.

Zuris proceeded to question Mark for hours. In return, Mark received answers to some of his questions, including an explanation for how the disruption field worked. With these jammers the nanotech plague was no longer a threat to Zuris and his chosen people. Mark loathed the man but was forced to admit a grudging respect for his cunning ingenuity.

As the hours wore on, the interrogation began to feel more like a conversation between old friends, but the armed guards and the chamber that was his prison were unmistakable reminders of who was the keeper and who was property. As the meeting was wrapping up, there was something Mark was burning to find out.

“How did McKafferty know I was at that mine?” he asked.

“I believe you mean
we,
as in
Sarah and I were at that mine
, and I’m afraid I have no idea how that fortunate accident occurred and only regret that we did not apprehend your partner as well.”

With that brief response, Zuris got up and left. Mark did not believe what Zuris had just inferred. It was unthinkable that a man like Zuris did not know every detail of McKafferty’s operation. To suggest a four-star general was on a random field trip that turned out to be a lucky encounter with a wanted hybrid was farcical. Could McKafferty have been the calvary the hive had called for help? Mark knew in his gut the entire operation had been well planned and required inside information. It was hard to imagine Sarah as a traitor. Noah, on the other hand, had a dangerous track record of concealing things. The man was an unreadable enigma, but it was still difficult to envision him in bed with the likes of McKafferty or Zuris.

Lunch and then dinner arrived through a conveyer slot in the wall. Mark ate everything out of need for energy, then returned to his meditation. Under normal conditions nothing was forgotten inside a nanotech brain. Mark was now learning that was both a great virtue and a great curse. Many trains of thought ran in parallel inside him. With the ideas of distrust having taken root, he could not help but grow a little distrustful of Sarah as that train of thought continued in the background of all his other thoughts and actions. Why was it that both Sarah and Noah were missing when McKafferty raided the mine?

The hatch opened without warning. Once again Zuris was seated in his chair. His bodyguards marched into the chamber and leveled their submachine guns at Mark. Everything was choreographed exactly the same as the time before and the time before that. They might as well have all been machines. A worker pushed a large television into the chamber and turned it on. The Zero-G logo filled the screen.

A woman came into view in the hallway. He could not see her face clearly due to the differences in lighting, but his brain had already made the leap. It was Kathy! He felt like the air had been sucked from his lungs. He could not breathe. He could not say a word. He was stunned as she walked into the chamber and the light moved up her clothes and finally reached her face. She was tearing up. With a few more steps she was in range of the n-web pathways that were alive within the chamber. Her emotions flooded into him like a wall of bathwater. Guilt tinged his joy as he experienced feelings she still harbored for him. He stood, tipping over his chair, and hugged her. He felt so powerfully protective. He’d had no clue she was alive, let alone in this place.

“Are you okay?” he whispered.

“I’m fine,” said Kathy. “They have me working in the labs. That bastard lied to me. He pretended to be a scientist. Mark, he owns everything. Don’t trust him.”

Mark glared at Zuris. “I promise you,” he said. “If anything happens to her or anyone I care about, I will tear down your house with you inside it!”

“Admirable and impossible,” said Zuris.

“Fuck
impossible
,” said Mark. “Have no doubt I will tear down your house.”

Kathy rubbed Mark’s beard and smiled. He got a sense she was not that crazy about it.

“It’s a disguise,” said Mark.

He removed Kathy’s IronKey from his neck and placed it safely in her palm, then curled her fingers around it. She looked perfect as tears of happiness slid down her face. Mark felt so good about what he’d just done for her. He had managed to return a lost piece of her soul.

“Isn’t that Chicago on the big screen?” asked Zuris.

Mark glanced at the television. The Zero-G logo had disappeared, replaced by a nighttime urban surveillance video of a quiet street. Four video windows covered the area from different angles. Kathy turned to see what Mark was staring at. He knew that place well and with it came a sinking feeling. One window contained the hive’s townhouse, which was still intact at the time of the video. The three other windows were different angles of the small park next door. The date and time on the screen matched the night the hive was burglarized. He was certain what had to be coming next. Why was Zuris doing this?

Two people came walking down the street holding hands. Mark was rattled. As they passed through areas of deep shadows, the video switched modes to thermal IR and back. There was no audio. Faces came into focus as Mark and Sarah sat down on a bench and then passionately embraced on three screens. Kathy angrily shoved him.

“You son of a bitch,” she shouted.

“I had no idea you still had feelings,” said Mark. “We broke up. This is innocent.”

“Fuck you!” shouted Kathy. “How do you know how I feel?”

“Let’s skip ahead a little,” said Zuris.

An Enforcer Humvee turned down the block. The headlights washed over the park. Mark unbuttoned Sarah’s coat and moved her into his lap so that she was straddling him. It looked like foreplay. Sarah was silently laughing at something.

“Ah, the wonders of nanotech-sex,” said Zuris. “We have very capable surveillance suites on every structure in the protectorate worth monitoring. Mark, you no doubt saw all the cameras and bracelets when you were in Chicago. Once we knew you had visited the Chicago Protectorate, all we had to do was a little reverse detective work to find this X-rated bit of porn in the archives. I think we should stop here or I’ll begin to blush.”

The images on screen froze in a moment of less than flattering lust. Mark felt like he was in an alternate reality. He was innocent and he was guilty. Kathy’s face was red and she was breathing as if she’d just run up a flight of stairs. Mark saw it coming and did nothing. Kathy punched him in the face. The blow hurt and knocked him back a little. His nose was bleeding. He had no idea what to do. He had no idea what to say. The pain almost felt cleansing.

“If I was a hybrid, would we still be together or would you have been fucking her anyway?” shouted Kathy. “I should have known from the start. How could I have been so stupid for all that time? I should have dumped you!”

She shoved him in the chest. Tears were streaming down her cheeks. She shoved him again.

“You were the first man I loved since my divorce. You said you loved me and then you broke up with me and said you loved me. You cheated on your first wife. You cheated on your coed fuck buddies. God, I was so stupid. I was worried all that nanotech in your brain was changing who you were… Goddamn it... Well, the good news is that nanotech shit has not changed you a bit. You’re still the same lecherous bastard who can’t stop chain-fucking girls half your age.”

Kathy marched out of the chamber. Mark looked at Zuris and understood this was all going perfectly to some mysterious plan. He and Kathy were being manipulated by the puppet master. He had no idea why this had been done, but he now suspected why the IronKey had been returned to him.

“You’re a bastard,” said Mark.

“Why don’t you tear down my house?” said Zuris. He began to laugh.