The Gift (23 page)

“Adia, there must be something we can do for Lisa.”

“As I’ve told you, we have no experience with the state she is in.”

“When we first talked, you told me you couldn’t live without me, that you would literally go mad if we were separated, right?”

“Yes, Sam.”

“Then how is Lisa’s gift maintaining her sanity?”

“That is a good question, one I had not thought to ask.”

“Well, let’s ask it. I know you don’t know how you achieved consciousness any more than I know how I did, but I am aware of different states of consciousness. Sometimes when I dream, I become aware that I am dreaming and then I can control that dream. I know I’m not fully conscious, but I am fully aware. Do you have experience with other species who can do anything similar?”

“We have experience with species who do not have different states of consciousness. When they rest their bodies, they remain fully conscious but immobile.”

“I don’t see how that helps. Okay, let’s try this. What do you experience when I dream?”

“Human science isn’t certain about the signs that a person is dreaming, but I have observed that certain portions of your brain are more active in correlation with rapid movements of your eyes. However, I have also observed these same portions of your brain being active when you are not experiencing rapid eye movement, including when you are awake.”

“Has Lisa’s gift observed similar brain patterns?”

“Every person’s brain is different, Sam.”

“Work with me, Adia. I’m not a neurologist, but you have access to pretty much everything ever published on the subject and your presence in my mind gives you far greater access to its workings than any tools available to our medical science, right?”

“That is correct.”

“Then, extrapolate from what you’ve seen in my brain to what Lisa’s gift is seeing in hers. Are there any strong correlations?”

“There have been numerous occasions since Lisa merged with her gift when her brain patterns strongly approximated what I’ve observed in yours during the circumstances we’re discussing.”

“Correct me if I’m wrong, but coma patients don’t generally experience such brain activity, right?”

“There is no conclusive research on the subject, but it does appear uncommon for a coma patient to have frequent higher-level brain activity similar to what her gift is observing.”

“So, she could be in a very deep sleep, including occasionally dreaming?”

“It is possible. Would that make a difference?”

“It might. Part of the reason we sleep is to heal. Lisa’s brain knew she needed to heal, but it would have no way of knowing her gift was going to heal her. Perhaps it’s waiting for some signal it would normally generate as part of the healing process to wake her. Have you noticed any consistent pattern in my brain in the moments before I wake?”

“Yes. It varies, but there are some consistencies.”

“Would it be possible to stimulate Lisa’s brain to achieve her equivalent waking patterns, like the way you do so to communicate with me?”

“It is possible.”

“What are the risks?”

“Primarily, that it will not work. There have been numerous studies of brain stimulation by human scientists using methods far more crude than those we would employ. The brain is a remarkably resilient organ. This activity would be less threatening to it than any number of human activities.”

“Give me a number, Adia. What are the chances we’ll make things worse if we try it?”

“Given what we now know about human physiology, the risk of causing her permanent harm using this technique is too low to calculate.”

“Thank you, Adia.”

Sam walked across the room to where Jim was kneeling next to the small bed Esther had constructed for Lisa. Jim was stroking Lisa’s hair and talking to her gently. Sam put his hand on Jim’s shoulder. When Jim looked up, Sam said, “I have an idea.”

“To help Lisa?” Jim asked.

“Yes.” Sam told Jim what he and Adia had discussed and then gave him a moment to go over the theory with Adam.

“Normally, Lisa’s gift wouldn’t do such a thing unless Lisa had requested it, but, just as it did when modifying her skin to absorb nutrients, she will do so if you request it, Jim. She recognizes your parental relationship with Lisa and what that means to our species. It’s your call, of course, but I’m betting Lisa wants to wake up and join us as much as we want her to.” Sam said.

“They all say there’s essentially no risk, that it’s pretty much the same thing we do when we talk with them.” Jim said.

“All I can tell you is that if it were me, I’d want you to try it.” Sam said.

“Yeah, me too. Okay, let’s do it.” Jim asked Adam to transmit his wishes to Lisa’s gift.

Lisa’s eyes fluttered and then remained still once more.

“Her gift said it might take a few attempts. Humans don’t always wake up right away,” Jim said.

A few seconds later, Lisa’s eyes fluttered again, and then opened. She blinked a couple of times, looked up at Jim and then around the room. “Where am I?”

“Oh, Honey!” Jim said, reaching down to wrap her in his arms, openly crying. “I was so afraid we’d lost you!”

“Lost me? What are you talking about? I’m fine. Oh my god, I’m better than fine. I feel fantastic! Oh my god, Dad!”

Matt and Esther had stopped what they were doing and rushed over when they saw Lisa wake up. Jim noticed Matt’s arrival and let Lisa go. Matt immediately replaced him and hugged his mom for all he was worth. She was crying now, too. Her face looked radiant. Sam couldn’t remember seeing an adult so happy in years.

Lisa hugged Matt for as long as he wanted, but it was clear she wanted to move, to use her newly healed body in ways she hadn’t been able to use the old one for so long. When Matt let go, Lisa got off the bed and walked around the room. It was fortunate that Esther had dressed her before they departed her house, because Sam was sure she would have ignored her nudity in favor of motion. She was practically gliding. Sam couldn’t wipe the stupid smile off his face. He looked at each of the others. They all wore similar expressions.

After dancing around the room a few times, Lisa stopped in front of Sam and opened her arms to him. Surprised, it took him a moment to realize she wanted to hug him. He awkwardly raised his arms and embraced her. The rest was not awkward at all. Lisa moved her mouth next to Sam’s ear and whispered, “Thank you. Thank you so much!” Sam didn’t want to let go, but he did when he felt her grip begin to relax. My god, indeed.

Sam let Lisa enjoy her newfound youth and vitality with Jim and Matt while he helped Esther prepare dinner for them all. He was ravenous and suspected the others were as well. They were eating about twice as much as they had before merging. It appeared a higher metabolic rate was one of the changes attendant with that decision. As for Matt, he’d never known a teenaged boy who couldn’t out-eat a full-grown man. So, they prepared a lot of food. Aside from the desire to satisfy everyone’s hunger, it was also very much a celebration. Once the meal was over, Lisa would have to make a difficult decision and Sam would have to leave.

They hadn’t bothered to make a table. The cabin was too small for that, so they served the meal buffet style. No one complained, partly because of their persistent joy at having Lisa back and whole again, partly because Esther was a remarkable cook. She’d even had the foresight to pack spices along with the food they’d taken from Lisa’s house.

The conversation during dinner was light and pleasant, with no mention of their current circumstances, though everyone was aware of what they were. After the meal, Jim volunteered to clean up while Lisa made coffee. Sam waited until everyone was done and had taken seats in the chairs they had made before he began. “As much as it pains me to intrude on such a pleasant meal, we have some things to discuss. The first is about Matt. He is the only one among us who does not have a gift. Adia located one earlier today and we moved it here, so we have one for him.”

“You all know my intent is for us to build a gift ship so that we can give humanity a fighting chance. I don’t know if Matt will have to merge in order to join us on it, Adia tells me that the gift ship intelligence is the only one who can answer that question, but I do know he’d be at a severe disadvantage to the rest of us if he didn’t merge with a gift. It’s not my decision, it’s yours and Matt’s, Lisa, but it needs to be made now.”

“Why now?” Lisa asked.

“Because we need a better place than this and we don’t have much time. Web’s team was only hours behind us at best when we left the house and we aren’t far from it. Web will be looking for me with a vengeance. I’ve embarrassed him and he’s an egomaniac. Aside from his personal flaws, however, he is extremely good at what he does. Given enough time, he will find this place. We must not be here when he does. We can all do some pretty amazing things with the help of our gifts, but Web has accepted a gift too and if he has, you can bet every member of his team has as well. That means we have a gifted team of the best of the best hunting us with all the resources of the federal government supporting them. We have to stop running and get to a defensible position where we can work unmolested.” Sam answered.

“What do you think, Matt?” Lisa asked.

“You took one, Mom and look what it did for you. I’d be like a superhero or something. Heck yeah, I want one.” Matt answered.

“I know this should be a tougher decision for me, but it really isn’t. Althia healed me and I like her. Adam healed my Dad. Without the gifts, Matt wouldn’t have had a family for much longer. Yes, please Sam, give my son a gift.”

Sam smiled. “Done. Which brings us to my next point. There are currently four of us with gifts in one small place. Because of our control of the Worldnet, we’ve been able to hide that fact enough to go unnoticed. That will become increasingly difficult as Web deploys more and closer gifted resources. Adia tells me we could almost certainly be detected if Matt merged here, and that our odds of avoiding detection would improve if our numbers in one place were reduced. So, I’d like to take Matt with me to begin construction of our more permanent home, the place from which we’ll build the ship.”

“Can I, Mom?” Matt was clearly excited at the prospect of working with Sam.

“How long will you be gone?” Lisa asked.

“I think it will take about a day before I get enough work done to shield our presence and allow us all to be together again.” Sam answered.

“I can handle a day without you, I guess,” Lisa told Matt.

“Awesome! When are we going?” Matt asked.

“Right now.” Sam answered.

C
HAPTER
T
WENTY
-S
EVEN

Within moments of the C-17 coming to a stop, members of Web’s team were unstrapping the four Humvees that were loaded in its cargo bay. In less than five minutes, the first one rolled down the extended ramp and off the back of the plane. Ten minutes later, the vehicles were headed northeast on highway 87 toward Lewistown proper and the site where Lisa’s house had once stood. Having received notification from the operator of the second drone he’d dispatched that the site appeared to be empty, Web eschewed caution in favor of speed and led the team directly to Judith Park, a convenient rally point three-hundred meters away from Lisa’s address.

Web exited his Humvee and called the four team leaders to him. They gathered behind him as he placed a ruggedized tablet computer on the hood of the Humvee. “Here’s where we are.” He indicated their position on the digital map. “Here’s the subject’s last known location.” Each team lead oriented himself to the map and then looked northeast toward the physical location represented on the map.
 
Web gave them a moment to do so before continuing. “This is what we know. The first drone was destroyed at 17:45. Prior to its destruction, video taken from the drone confirmed our subject’s vehicle was present at the target, along with the second vehicle you were provided pictures of during the flight. At that point in time, the target looked like you see it here.” Web switched applications and presented a picture of the house from the first drone’s flight. “This is what the second drone recorded at 18:52,” Web said as he pulled up a picture of the same lot, now seemingly empty. “We do not know if the house has been destroyed or if that is a visual illusion perpetrated using some form of gift-generated camouflage. Until we prove otherwise, we will assume the later.”

“My intent is to approach the house myself, unarmed. If it is in fact, still there, I will attempt to make contact with its occupants and enter the structure to negotiate with them. Should that series of events unfold, I will contact you by comms within five minutes to confirm that we are negotiating. Do not, I repeat, do not use any form of Worldnet communication. The subject may possess capabilities with regards to that system about which we are unaware. If for any reason I do not contact you by comms within five minutes, or if anything should happen to me while approaching the house, Captain Johnson, you will assume command of the team and contact headquarters to advise them of the situation. Under no circumstances are you to approach the house and deadly force is not authorized. Is that understood?”

They all answered, “Yes, Sir.” He continued, “Tonight we measure success by taking the subject alive, no matter what. To increase our chances of doing so, you are going to surround the lot as surreptitiously as possible. Should anyone attempt to leave, you will prevent them from doing so. Broken bones are okay. Broken skulls are not.” Web paused for effect. The soldiers dutifully smiled.

Web returned the map to the screen and resumed the mission brief. “Captain Johnson, you will position your team within the tree line to the north of the lot. Sergeant Bishop, you will position your team in the field to the southwest of the lot. Sergeant Shaw, your team will take the field to the southeast of the lot. Lieutenant Evans, your team will be the quick response force. You will stay here with the vehicles. Be sure your team is ready to move immediately, engines running, driver behind the wheel. Ten minutes from now, I’m going to be walking up to that lot. Be in position by then.” Web finished.