King's County (21 page)

“Earth is not dead to us. Don't assume
that. Though I can say I feel more human here than I ever did back
home.” Tyndall says continuing, “We can still find recruits,
occasionally. We have a program to train them there. Plus, there is
still some useful technology being developed, however nothing like
in years past.”

“OK, something still doesn't add up.
How do I have two bodies? Where did the one on Earth come from?” I
say.

“It was the Moon base, wasn't it?” Ed
says from the doorway.

“Good guess, Major Hart,” Tyndall says,
“Your bodies were duplicated during you stay there. They were put
into hibernation on an identical Artemis craft that was put into a
persistent lunar orbit. After the authorized mission at Jupiter was
completed, your new bodies were activated, your minds and the
mission data loaded from the original craft, and you returned to
Earth entirely unaware of the whole thing. Meanwhile, the long
voyage out here was just beginning.”

“God, I must be an idiot thinking that
stupid mission would have taken so long.” I say.

“I don't remember seeing...how were we
kept unaware?” Ed says.

“You saw what we wanted you to see. You
know the main window on your craft is an electronic display? The
exterior sensors were overridden and a preset sequence was run.”
Tyndall says.

“We never really studied...but I
suspected something weird was going on. I knew it. They hustled me
onto that train damn quickly, too. Never trust the military.” Ed
says looking at me.

“You did this? Were you military?” I
say to Tyndall.

“Some of us here were, not me. You
could say our group re-purposed some of the military's resources.
You know as well as anyone that they didn't exactly need
them.”

“The old governments and armies are
obsolete now, technologically unnecessary. There are a few factions
still holding power in a limited sort of way. They're only held
together by inertia, like an echo of the past. At least they
generally get along with each other.” Leland says.

“Tell that to those poor fuckers in
Seattle. The whole place was wiped out. The ground forces came from
a factory with your symbol on it.”

Leland shakes his head,

“Those ground forces, those
things, Waller, came from
you
.”

**
Ω
**

Leland and I are alone to talk
further:

“It's times like this, John,
when you have to push through the crap to really understand. The
crap inside, I mean, all that garbage that's steering you in
different directions. It can steer you in the wrong directions. All
that
anxiety
, it's
toxic.” Leland says.

“The problem is I don't trust you. I
don't trust anybody here. I want off, like Ed. I'm not interested
in this project or whatever it is you're doing. This is not for
me.”

“But it is. It really is exactly for
you. You're one of us.”

“I don't think so. If I was one of you,
I think I’d know it.”

“Maybe. Well, what if I told you this
is the only future you'll ever be able to have? Perhaps you don't
have all the options that you think you do.”

“Can't you be honest with me? What is
the point in all these secrets?”

“Would you like to go back to the
Estrella train? You can always do that. You can see Ed. Maybe the
two of you together will be able to figure a few things
out.”

“I don't want to go back to the
train.”

“So...well then, I think maybe I do
know what you want. But this way, John, means you'll never get to
come back here. You'll be alone.”

“I've always been alone. I realize
that.”

“You'll always be if you go back. You
may become quite powerful, more than you are now even, but you'll
never be strong enough to escape this situation by yourself.
Because of who you are, you'll always be isolated.

“And we're coming, John. We're coming
to wipe the slate clean, this station with this asteroid bringing
total annihilation to all that remain on Earth.”

“You want to destroy the
Earth?”

“We'll destroy the AI, the cities, all
living things and most structures - 100% certainty with a mass of
this size. Our colony will have detached and we'll be in near orbit
with the knowledge and technology to rebuild in the
aftermath.”

“To rebuild as you see fit.”

“Yes.”

“When – I mean, how long until the
asteroid makes it to Earth?”

“Something like...162 years, I think by
now.”

“Leland?”

“Yes.”

“I don't think I like you very
much.”

* * * * *

Olympia State Park

October 25, 2093

I'm staring at familiar moss covered
trees. I see her. I'm standing but supported by something around
me. It's a shrine, encasing me in packed moss and fresh
flowers.

She's holding my right hand to her face
and waiting for me to speak. My eyes clear and I see she's not
alone.