Luca (35 page)

He’s been keeping an eye on the army since it entered the City, using drones with cameras specially prepared and hardened for the impending catastrophe.

From his vantage point high in the City, Mercer watches the tanks and army trucks roll down the broad boulevards, taking over the City, block by block. He smiles at the battles between the people of the Zone and the people of the Fringe, both of them of no consequence to him.

He imagines the fear in the hearts of the people of the City, locked in their luxury apartments in darkness, with no access to information, staring at dead jaxes, viewing the destruction from windows above the streets. Waiting for their doors to be battered by lawless thugs.

And now it all makes sense.

Qaara and her friends went into the Zone to bring back an army, to wreak their vengeance on Mercer. To keep him from enjoying the full fruits of his victory.

Unfortunately for them, it’s not going to work.

A secret closet hides a special collection of his father’s old weapons. Opening the wood panel door, he stares at the assortment of twentieth century weapons. Machine guns. AK-47s. Sniper rifles.

All of it in pristine condition.

Guards stand outside his door. They are waiting for three people, two men and a woman, to make their way across the street, into the building. The guards have been given strict orders to see that the three make it safely to the top of the building.

At that point, two will quickly be eliminated.

Only Qaara will accompany Mercer to the waiting domes in Japan. Just as in the original plan.

55

NEW BEGINNINGS

The rain stops.

“We wait here. Everyone rest.”

Luca sits on the ground, her back to the wall of the dome. Her eyes close. She’s going to go deep this time, deep into the mind of the woman on the inside.

Alice.

I’ve heard that name before,
Luca thinks.
A book Father used to read to me.

Floating in a sea of muffled voices and shadows, Luca drops into Alice’s thoughts, pushing through currents of color and sound until she can see out of Alice’s eyes. Shadows resolve into faces. She is in a long hallway in the middle of a crowd, moving in the same direction as everyone else.

They’re headed to a meeting.

“Been here two days, and I still don’t have a clue about any of it,” Alice says.

“That’s OK, Alice.” Another voice, a man’s, comes in from the side. "We’re all in the same boat. Or I should say
dome
. I’m completely lost myself."

“Did you see that troop of girls on the feed from the bluescreen, standing outside in the rain?” Alice says. “Looked to me like they've been walking for days. I don’t see why we can’t let them in.”

“You heard what the guards said.” The man’s voice lowers. “It appears we signed away our freedom when we agreed to come. Mercer is the one in charge now. He makes the decisions. We obey. If only we had known.”

“I suppose they’ve called the meeting to provide us with information,” Alice says.

“Mercer himself is scheduled to speak to us,” the man says. “The first
debriefing
.”

Shoulders jostle as they enter a huge room with a high blue ceiling.

Still riding in Alice’s mind, Luca senses thousands of other voices milling about in the same space.

A glistening platinum column rises in the center of the room, covered with high-relief carvings of creatures from a child’s nightmare: saber-toothed tigers, mammoths, great white sharks and velociraptors.
All of them extinct monsters,
Alice thinks. A layer of glowing green glass sits atop the column.

A man appears as if standing on the column.

Holographic presence,
Luca hears Alice repeat in her mind.

The room falls silent.

“Welcome, my friends.” The man stares down, hands clasped in front, smiling, nodding. “I know you have questions. You’re afraid, as you should be. I’ve called you together so I can share with you my plan for a better tomorrow.”

The voices go silent. Everyone listens, concentrating on the words of the man on the column.

“Most of you know me. My name is Mercer. Frank Mercer, President and CEO of Genesis Corporation.”

Mercer,
Alice thinks.
I don’t like the sound of that name. Too cold.

Mercer takes a step forward. “For now, you only need remember two simple facts. First, the world is about to end. And second, only I can save you.”

The silent crowd breaks into chaos. Arms go in the air. People fall to their knees.

“I won’t apologize for the deception that brought you here. My only desire was to save at least a kernel of humankind. You are it.”

Raising his hand, Mercer waits until the crowd settles down.

“Some time ago, I acquired detailed information about a floating Cloud of dust in outer space on track to intersect with Earth. I sent probes to investigate, and I discovered the truth. The Cloud is deadly. As you know, it has already engulfed our planet.”

A large, black screen opens next to Mercer. A massive green blob, semitransparent, engulfs a blue planet.

“You don’t need to know the details. It’s enough to understand the ash from the Cloud now raining down on our planet will transform into a deadly acid that will dissolve all life on Earth. That is the bad news. The good news is that the material composing the domes under which you stand is impervious to this acid. You will be safe. The rest of the human race, and every other species outsides these walls, will perish.”

Mercer pauses, as if to let the full meaning of his words sink in.

Murmurs float through the crowd. With faces upturned to the holo image of Mercer, the talking grows in intensity until the people are shouting, fists raised in protest.

My family. I’ll never see them again,
Alice thinks.

As Mercer stretches out his hands, the crowd grows quiet. Clasping fingers behind his back, he takes on the look of a university professor.

“You now see the privileged position each of you has inherited. Knowing it would only be possible to save a small sample of humanity, I have chosen you. Most of you leave behind family and friends in the outside world. They are now dead to you. Forget them.”

Low wails rise from the crowd.

A tidal wave of pain from thousands of minds crashes down on Luca. She struggles to keep the connection with Alice.

“The immediate danger will pass in a few days. The acid will degrade into a benign material. And then, my friends, we will inherit a new Earth. The old one will pass away. It will be up to us to rebuild.”

By now, Alice’s mind is filled with chaos and confusion.

If only I had known the truth. I would never have left my family.

“Cast away your sorrow. Think of the great opportunity entrusted to us! We will make the world better than it was. Your individual skills and the technology and culture I’ve selected will carry us forward. We need not start from zero. We will take all that is good from the old world to build the new. Like Noah’s Ark, I have preserved a large number of plant and animal specimens to quickly repopulate the earth. And I have stored enough food and clean water to maintain our existence for years to come.”

At what price?

“All I ask of you is your dedication and obedience to my vision, which will become your vision.”

Broad-shouldered men in black uniforms and battle armor march into the room, taking their positions along the wall.

“My security team will enforce order. It is my hope that they will have little to do. But let me be frank. This is not a democracy. I do not ask for your opinions or counsel. Whatever is done will be done in my way at my command. Any resistance on your part will end in quick and effective punishment. Do not forget that your survival depends on my goodwill. I have given you
life
. In return, your
lives
belong to me. It will be in your interest to keep me in good humor.”

Hands go to mouths. Eyes open wider.

“For my own reasons, I have remained in Manhattan to watch the end of our mighty and corrupt civilization. I look forward to new beginnings with each of you.”

The image of Mercer fades. The crowds wander into the halls, heading to their individual rooms. Luca senses the shock in their minds.

Alice is silent.

Little by little, as Luca watches, Alice bends her thoughts to devise a plan.

56

PARTING

Jedd stares up at Genesis corporate headquarters.

“Everyone ready?” he says.

Qaara nods. “I’m good.” A twentieth century machine gun hangs on a leather strap from her shoulder.

“You sure you know how to use that?” Jedd says.

“I learned from Moses.”

“My point exactly.”

“What about you?” Qaara points at the same type of gun strapped to Jedd’s back. “You any better?”

“Maybe. Got a lot of practice at point and shoot games on the Mesh.” Jedd scans the ground. “What I wouldn’t give for a pulse rifle. Something I could really use.”

“Wouldn’t work.” Ricky points up at the pink sky. “As long as we're in the Cloud, there’s too much heavy ionization going on. It kills the electronics.”

“How much longer before we emerge from the Cloud?”

“I’d guess another ten hours,” Qaara says. “By the way, what's the plan?”

“Does there have to be one?” Jedd scratches his head. “Can’t we just wing it?”

“Not against Mercer,” Qaara says. “Not if we want to have a chance at staying alive and taking him alive.”

“Ricky?” Jedd says. “Any ideas, other than just bursting through those doors, commando style, and working our way up the fire escape?"

“Isn’t that exactly what Mercer expects?” Ricky says.

Jedd shakes his head. “You really think he’s watching us?”

“We have to assume he is,” Qaara says. “If he’s even here. And we have to assume the building is crawling with guards. With weapons that function.”

“Then what are we even doing here?” Jedd turns to retreat. He snags Qaara’s hand and pulls her with him. “Let’s get as far away from here as we can. Find some hole deep underground and see if we can ride out this—”

Qaara pulls her hand back. “I refuse to let Mercer follow through with his plan. And I’m not running away.”

“And I’m not going to let you walk into a death trap. Look, Qaara, I appreciate your sense of injustice, but there’s nothing we can do about Mercer, especially if he's waiting for us.” Jedd reaches for Qaara’s machine gun.

She steps back, out of reach, and looks between Jedd and Ricky. “I can’t thank you both enough for all you’ve done for me. I never would have made it this far without you. Our time together has been—” She gazes at Jedd. “I know it was a waste of time for you, but for me, it was the best of my life. I’ve learned——”

“What could you have possibly learned from us? We’re nothing more than scum from the Fringe. But you—” Jedd stretches his arms, at a loss for words. "You’re already perfect.”

“No,” Qaara says, “I went along with the System, with the power of the System, for far too long. You’ve both taught me that I don’t need the System. There’s another way. My way.” She takes a step back and puts her hands on her machine gun. "You’ve been great . . . friends. Both of you.”

“Friends?” Jedd shakes his head. “Is that all?”

“It’s enough. More than I deserve.” Qaara draws the tip of the gun up even with her chest and points it in their direction, smiling, an apologetic look on her face. "You’re right. This isn’t your fight. Don’t follow me. There’s no need for you to die.”

A wave of tightness hits Jedd in the chest. “What do you mean?” He can hardly breathe.

“I’m the only one that can get close to him. He’d kill you both on sight but maybe not me.”

“But Qaara!” Jedd senses he’s on a runaway train with no brakes. “Mercer is expecting you! He’ll kill you before you can tell the world.”

Nodding, Qaara takes another step back. “It’s a long shot, one I have to try.”

“Even if you do stop him, what good will it do?” Jedd’s mind races to find an argument that will persuade Qaara. “The end of the world will still come.”

“It will make me feel much better, knowing I did my little bit to stand up for justice.” Qaara walks away, then turns back. “Tell the world, if you can. And don't follow me, guys. No hero stuff, please.”

Jedd and Ricky watch as Qaara jogs across the street and disappears through the unlocked front door of the first floor of Genesis Corporation.

“How did it work out this way?”

“Maybe she’s right,” Ricky says. “Maybe she's got a better chance at getting to Mercer without us.”

“You’re no help at all.” Jedd says. “No help at all."

57

MONSTER

Funny. I never actually walked into the building from the street when I worked here. Always just crossed one of the sky bridges from my condo.

Qaara steps into the Genesis lobby. By now, Mercer might have guessed she’s coming for him. He’ll be waiting in his lair, waiting for her to spring the trap he has set, giving himself every advantage.

If Jedd were with her, he’d be killed the instant he showed his face. There wouldn’t even be a fight. A wasted sacrifice of the one man she might have come close to loving.

Not something Qaara can stomach.

But if she goes in alone, Mercer might take her alive. There’s a chance, a small one, that she can get close enough to Mercer to access his Mesh network—which he certainly has—to get the word out to the world, ending a small part of the madness.

A buzz in her pocket reminds her that she still has her jax. And then it hits her.

My jax just came on.

Of course. Mercer knew in advance how the Cloud would play out. Everything he needed to know was encoded on that little green jewel. He’s made extensive upgrades to the Genesis building in preparation, and now it’s probably the only one in the City that still has internal power and data access.

Thrusting a hand into her pocket, she pulls out the curved cylinder jax fashioned of titanium and glass and cradles it in her palm. It’s flashing green.