Heaven's Fall (55 page)

“We should be good now,” Xavier said. “Let’s roll.”

It was a quick trip down two flights of stairs to a loading dock, where several vehicles were parked. There were no guards.

Pav was in his element, running to a green sport-utility vehicle and opening the door. Not finding what he wanted, he moved to the next, then a third. “Keys in this one!”

“No,” Xavier said, pointing to a gray van. “This one.”

They ran toward it, and Rachel could see that there were items in the back end: a printer and three cartons of Substance K.

“Sorry,” Xavier said, “but I stopped here before getting you.”

“Smart move, I hope,” Rachel said.

The vehicle was big enough to hold them. “Everybody in,” she said. She headed for the shotgun seat, then stopped. “All right, a basic question . . . who knows how to drive?”

“Me,” Tea said.

“Good,” Rachel said. “I never learned—”

“Me neither,” Pav said.

“And I’m out of practice,” Xavier said.

They had just closed the doors when Yahvi said, “Zeds isn’t here!”

Rachel knew that. She also knew that if any of them were to get off Earth, they had to leave this place now. She feared that the Ring was about to ignite, frying everything for kilometers around, and that they were already too late.

“We’re going,” she said.

Tea started the engine.

“You can’t!” Yahvi shrieked, throwing herself at Rachel from the backseat.

“We have to go
now
!” She turned to her daughter. The look on her face must have been savage, because Yahvi retreated as if pulled from behind.

Pav put his arm around her.

The van pulled out.

Emerging from the loading dock into the bright desert sunlight, Rachel wished for sunglasses.

And directions. “Which way?” Tea said, steering them out of a parking lot. A train station lay in front of them. An asphalt road led to the right and one of the giant vehicle staging areas.

A dirt road ran to the left, hugging the base of a hill. “Left!” Rachel said. “The vesicle came down north and east of here, right, Yahvi?”

Yahvi blinked again. “Yes.”

“Are you linked?” Xavier said.

“Not really,” she said. “I hear bursts, words.”

“It would be great if Zhao could vector us in.”

The dirt road was bumpy but well traveled, and it took them along the south and east side of the Ring mirrors. Rachel found herself trying to look up at the brilliant squares suspended atop their towers . . . now and then, as the van turned, she saw the huge spire of the central projector.

It appeared to be lit, as if ready to fire.

Then the hill to their right gave way to flatter ground . . . and a clear view of a staging area filled with hundreds, possibly thousands of tanks and other invasion vehicles. Some of them were moving around the edge of the area, kicking up faint geysers of dust.

The others saw it, too. “Oh, shit, what if they start chasing us?” Edgely said.

“I think they’re too busy with their invasion,” Pav said.

“You hope,” Xavier said.

Tea gunned the van, subjecting them to teeth-rattling bounces. “Sorry!” she said.

“Don’t worry,” Rachel shouted. “Keep going.”

She looked out her window, seeing nothing but stark, bare rocky peaks now.

Where was the vesicle?

They drove in silence for another fifteen minutes, passing through rugged canyons and across two different dry washes. Finally Tea said, “I make it a dozen clicks,” she said. “Any ideas?”

“Other than keep going?” Rachel said.

“There!” Pav shouted.

Rachel saw it then, too . . . In a high desert meadow was a giant white sphere thirty meters or so across, maybe twice that high, sunk two thirds deep in a field of yellow stalks.

It was rotating slowly.

“End of the road,” Tea said. The road continued parallel to the vesicle, then turned back to the north and west.

They stopped and got out. As they did, Rachel saw that a truck had pulled over on the other side of the vesicle. A family of what looked like Native Americans huddled there, fascinated and probably terrified, too. “Get away!” she shouted, waving her arms. But they didn’t move.

“I hear them!” Yahvi said. “It’s Sanjay!” She bounced up on her toes. “He says to wait, that the whole vesicle is going to expand or something.”

Rachel remembered that rainy night in Houston, her need to see the recently landed Object because it was a link to her father, then lost somewhere on Keanu. How, as she and Harley and others had watched, the giant blob grew and grew, its skin becoming just porous enough to absorb them all—

“All right,” Rachel said. “We have some decisions to make.” She was torn by conflicting emotions but struggled to be the leader. She couldn’t believe that her visit to Earth was ending, especially since nothing had gone as planned or expected. There was so much left to do! But no more time. “We’re going,” she said, pointing to Pav and Yahvi and Xavier. “Tea?”

The tall, striking, blunt, sometimes goofy ex-astronaut had tears in her eyes. “Take me with you. I have nothing here.”

Pav hugged her.

“Colin, what about you?” Rachel said.

“Love to take you up on the offer,” he said. “But I have a family.”

“I understand.” She hugged him, realizing that it was their first physical contact of any kind . . . which seemed inadequate, given the man’s importance to her and her family. To Tea she said, “We should give him the keys and let him get away.”

“Me, too,” Xavier said.

Rachel turned to him. “What are you talking about?”

“I’m staying.”

“Why?” Yahvi said. She sounded stricken.

Xavier slipped an arm around her and smiled. “Kiddo, there is a shitload of work to do here. Planet’s still full of Reivers.” He pointed to the van. “But we’ve got the proteus and Sub K, and me and Edgely here might be able to do something about that.”

“Zhao is doing it,” Pav said.

“No,” Yahvi said. “They couldn’t deploy all their weapons. They chose to come for us.” She frowned, still listening. “There maybe be new orders.”

“Hey,” Xavier said, his voice growing more serious. “Once I’ve got this Reiver thing dealt with, I’m going to figure out how to build a Beehive right here. I think people might really be interested in not being dead forever.”

Xavier’s ideas always surprised Rachel. She was going to miss him terribly. “You’re sure?”

“You know I really hated cooking on Keanu,” he said. “This will be better.”

Edgely was already in the shotgun seat of the van. Xavier took the keys and ran around to the driver’s side. “Which way are you going?” Tea said.

“Always forward,” Xavier said, slamming the door and gunning the van.

“Good move,” Pav said, pointing back the way they had come.

Dust rose from the road. “How far away are they?” Rachel said.

Pav sighed. “Not far enough.”

A tank rolled over the hill into view. It was dark green, tracked, twice the size of their van . . . and sporting a nasty-looking weapon pointed at a forty-five-degree angle. “Now what?” Tea said, jerking a thumb toward the vesicle. “Do they have missiles on that thing?”

“No,” Rachel said. “And it won’t matter. This could be the first of a hundred of those things.” She was out of energy, out of ideas. The vesicle and a return to Keanu was right there! So close . . . even if the vesicle ballooned out now, it would suck up hostile forces, too.

At least Xavier and Edgely might get away.

Without firing, however, the big brutal-looking vehicle slewed to a stop a few meters away.

“Mommy . . .” Yahvi said. They were all rooted where they stood, Rachel realized. Like plants.

The side hatch opened, and Zeds emerged. “What the hell?” Pav said.

Yahvi was running toward the Sentry, throwing herself into both sets of arms.

“I have others,” the Sentry announced. And out of the car behind him came Counselor Nigel, looking shaken yet excited. “I want to come with you,” he said. “If you’ll have me.”

“Sure,” Yahvi said, surprising Rachel.

One more passenger emerged from the tank . . . a Reiver Aggregate anteater. “Oh, Jesus!” Pav said, and bent to reach for a rock.

Rachel felt like doing the same thing, but Zeds stepped in front of the creature. “This unit has shown independence and initiative. We would not be here without her.”

“We can’t take a Reiver back to Keanu!” Pav said.

“She will be my responsibility,” Zeds said.

He had no right to claim responsibility . . . except that he had risked his life. “Fine,” Rachel said, “she comes.” Sometimes you had to make quick decisions. And live with them.

“Mom!” Yahvi said. “It’s happening!”

Rachel turned, just as the white bulk of the vesicle expanded and enclosed them all.

Keep watching the skies!

LAST LINE OF
THE THING FROM ANOTHER WORLD

(DALE SCOTT’S FAVORITE MOVIE)

After what seemed like weeks (twenty minutes had passed since the integration), there was no longer any way of telling where Dale Scott ended and Keanu began. The entity that was formerly Dale Scott had been absorbed and uploaded. There was no longer an
I
or an individual—some residual memories survived, like a drop of cream in a cup of coffee . . . separate, but for how long?

There was no regret, only mutual acceptance. Especially as electronic eyes opened and ears engaged and data flowed. First there was total awareness of Keanu itself, the habitats buzzing with life and energy, then the tunnels and passageways pulsing with fluid—like blood in veins—and, finally, the sense of size. . . . Keanu rotated slowly, feeling to a former human like shoulders being shrugged, like rising from a chair. Then dived forward, in a slow fall—

Beyond a growing awareness of Keanu’s self, the universe opened. The crackling storm of solar radiation—it had a smell like woodsmoke and a sound like heavy rain.

Tens of thousands of stars and nebulae colored the sky, some of them feeling so close that there was an urge to reach out and grab a handful—

But close by, there was a world that could be grasped. Or certainly could be known. Images. Data. So many signals and sounds.

Then, more closely, more intelligibly . . . like a three-dimensional image clarifying:

Terrified crowds gathered at religious sites in Asia and Europe.

Radio, television, and Net channels shuddered under the weight of warnings, reassurances, commentaries. . . . What was Keanu doing? Was it out of control? Was it on a suicide dive—impacting Earth would destroy both worlds.

Was it attacking? Missiles in the western region of Free Nation U.S. were armed but not launched, almost certainly because the controlling authorities realized the futility of detonating a bomb on Keanu’s surface. Agencies could easily assess the minimal damage caused by the explosion that destroyed
Venture
and
Brahma
in 2019. It would be futile, a pebble bouncing off a containership.

Within the habitats . . . the Skyphoi were indifferent. The Sentries were alarmed. Humans, however, were eager and curious. Voices called out for a view; at least one human was trying to re-create the Keanu protective-suiting system in order to go onto the surface. (He would fail.)