The Gift (25 page)

“I sent a group of nanites to your location earlier this morning.” That had been a difficult decision for Sam. Every diversion of resources delayed construction of the facilities that would get the rest of his team to relative safety. He was hoping having four gifted pairs would make up for the delays incurred to double the size of his team on the mountain. “They are going to modify your vehicle. Withdraw your nanites to the passenger compartment of it immediately. Tell me when you’ve done so.”

After a brief delay, Chang replied. “It’s done.”

“Begin the process, Adia,” Sam directed.

“Yes, Sam,” Adia replied.

Sam returned his attention to Chang. “This is what’s going to happen. We have developed active camouflage good enough to make a stationary object essentially invisible. It’s theoretically capable of doing the same for a moving object, but we haven’t had an opportunity to test it. I hate to make you a guinea pig, but it’s the best I could come up with. That’s one of the main reasons we need to do this before sunrise. There’s less visual information to process. While the exterior of your vehicle is being modified, we are also modifying your engine and your vent system. I’m afraid it’s going to be a bit chilly for you and your wife during the next forty minutes or so. That may be a good thing, though, because your drive is going to be a challenge. No one on the road will be able to see you and you will not be able to use your lights. You’ll have to have your gift modify your eyes for improved night vision. Adia, my gift, has sent your gift our coordinates. In another minute or so, the modifications will be complete. Do you have any questions?”

“Many, many questions, Sam, but not about this. We have much to discuss,” Chang replied.

“Yes, we do. Drive safely, but not too slowly. Make as much time as you can on 191. It’ll be slow going once you get into the mountains.”

“I will. See you soon.”

Sam stood up and looked around for Matt. He spotted him about twenty feet further down the tunnel. Even with his enhanced vision, Sam had trouble making out Matt’s form. “What’s he doing, Adia?”

“He’s creating an air tunnel. It was his idea.”

“Good for him. I’m going to try to finish that nap. Please wake me when Chang gets close.”

“As you wish.”

“They are a few minutes out, Sam.”

“Thanks, Adia” Sam stood and walked to the entrance of the tunnel. During the remainder of his nap, the sun had made its way to the edge of the horizon. Even with the improved lighting, he hoped he wouldn’t be able to see them coming, but he was sure he’d hear them. He wanted to ensure they pulled close enough to the tunnel entrance to be under the overhead cover Adia had completed in preparation for their arrival.

Seconds later, he heard the sound of tires on loose rock. He was pleased to observe that he could not see their car approach. Guided by the precision coordinates provided to his gift, Chang stopped the car exactly where it needed to be. Sam stepped out of the tunnel and moved to a spot that would make him visible to Chang.

Chang and his wife exited their car and approached Sam. Sam put his hand out. Chang took it and they shook hands before Sam turned to Jing-Wei, smiled and accepted a hug.

“Jing-Wei, It’s nice to see you again. I can’t believe Chang convinced you to do this,” Sam said.

“He didn’t convince me, Sam. It was the other way around. We can talk about it some more later. Right now, Chang has some things he needs to discuss with you,” Jing-Wei responded.

“Let’s go inside the tunnel. We have visual overhead cover and thermal diffusion, but if we stay out here too long the whole area will appear abnormally warm.” Sam turned and led the way. Jing-Wei, lacking the enhanced sight of her husband and Sam, took Chang’s hand as they entered the darkness.

“Before we get into what you want to discuss, I’d like your permission to use your car for raw materials. We’d gain in a matter of minutes what it takes us hours to extract and it takes some capacity to disguise it from side view.”

“Yes, of course. Either we will succeed and we will not need it or we will fail and we still will not need it.” Chang replied.

“You heard the man, Adia. Have at it,” Sam thought.

“Already started, Sam,” Adia replied.

Sam called out to Matt. He stopped what he was doing and met them for introductions before asking to be excused to continue his work. Sam happily agreed. It was nice to see the kid so engaged.

They all took a seat on the floor of the tunnel. Chang and Jing-Wei sat opposite Sam. Realizing how uncomfortable Jing-Wei must be in the darkness, Sam took his LED flashlight out of his jacket, turned it on and placed it on the ground to the side of them, its light directed toward the ceiling.

“First of all, thank you joining my team. That took a lot of guts and we desperately need you both,” Sam said.

“It was the only logical thing to do,” Chang answered.

“That’s by no means obvious to me right now, but I’ll let you explain it in your own way. So, what did you want to discuss and why did you wait to do so in person?” Sam asked.

“They’re related, but please allow me to provide some background. We know, of course, that you activated the Worldnet—I’d like to know how you did that someday—and I assume you know about the first. Those were two of the most powerful mechanisms the gifts provided to help humanity, with the gifts themselves being a third. There is a fourth that was created in part by the program you decoded. We call it the EG, for Encyclopedia Galactica. Are you aware of it?” Chang asked.

Sam didn’t answer immediately. He was waging an internal debate. If he didn’t tell them he was the first now, when he finally did tell them, they would know he hadn’t trusted them with the information sooner, and that they had risked everything in trusting him. He realized he had no choice.

“No, I’m not aware of it and I want to know more about it, but before we get into that, I have something to tell you. I was the first to merge with a gift.”

“What? You are the first? You are the first and the controller of the Worldnet?” Chang stopped, apparently at a loss for words.

“I was the first to merge. I had no idea that Adia and I would become the first or that it would make any difference that we were. I didn’t find out that certain responsibilities come with being the first to merge until after the fact, though I suppose I would have done it anyway had I known.”

“Responsibilities? What responsibilities?” Chang asked.

“Three primary ones. First, to build a gift ship and bring it to life. Second, to bring that gift ship to another planet with intelligent life like ours. Third, to lead humanity’s team to one of the places the Makers believe will provide the means for our species to survive.”

“We call it the Academy.” Chang thought for a while before continuing. Sam gave him time to absorb what he’d just heard.

“That’s why you ran, and how you were able to activate the Worldnet prematurely. Well, not prematurely. I didn’t mean that, rather before it would have become active on its own,” Chang finally stated.

“Yes on both counts. I didn’t want the government, any government, controlling this process. The Makers designed it the way they did for a set of reasons, reasons we do not fully understand. I honestly believe this course provides the best chance for humanity, not because of who I am, but because of how their process is designed. Think about it. They fought the group minds for centuries before sending out the gift ships. The amount they know about our enemies and damn near everything else makes what we know look irrelevant in comparison. Second-guessing their approach to helping us seemed incredibly foolish to me, and the stakes are just too high for foolishness. So, yeah, that’s why we’re here,” Sam replied.

“I agree with you. After you left, and they never should have made you leave Sam, Web and the NCA made mistake after mistake following protocol as if this was something standard procedures could handle. Ironically, it turns out the best decision they made, for all the wrong reasons, was to send you home. Otherwise, I’m sure the first would be someone else, somewhere else in the world.

“You’ll have to tell me more about how you came to have a gift and I want to tell you about all that happened at the landing site, but first let me answer your questions. The EG, when it’s complete and it may be by now, contains all of the Maker’s knowledge at the time the gift ships were launched. That’s why I left when I did. When the government gains access to that knowledge they may very well learn how to find you or how to take back control of the Worldnet, or anything really. I believe there will be checks and balances between the systems, but the fact you could activate the Worldnet in a manner outside of those checks and balances leads me to believe there may be information in the EG that could be used to circumvent your efforts. I must admit knowing that you are also the first eases my mind some. You now hold two cards to their one.” Chang stopped and gave Sam a chance to comment.

“Perhaps in theory. In practice, I have no idea how to build a gift ship, much less bring it to life and the rest of what I’m supposed to be able to accomplish,” Sam replied.

“I suspect solving the gift ship challenges will be a similar exercise to the one I was involved with to activate the EG. We were shown a video outlining the basic steps. It required nine pairs of humans and gifts in a specific combination. I can give you the details later. Does that sound familiar?” Chang asked.

“Yes, it does. How does all of this relate to your reluctance to use the Worldnet to discuss this?”

“I had no choice but to use it to contact you and to coordinate to meet you, but I didn’t want to use it more than that until I met with you because I fear they may be able to retroactively monitor communications using knowledge gained from the EG.”

Sam took a moment to ask Adia if that were possible. Their control of the network gave her more knowledge about it than any other gift.

“No, Sam. The Worldnet is secure even against the Maker’s technology. It was designed by them to be so,” she replied.

“No need to worry about the Worldnet, Chang. Adia tells me it’s completely secure.”

“Excellent. It will be a valuable tool, then. What do you need us to do? We’d like to get started.”

“First, I have a gift for Jing-Wei.” Sam pulled his most recently acquired gift out of his pocket and showed it to the couple.

Chang was visibly surprised. “How…where did you get a gift?”

“It’s one of the benefits of being the first, apparently. The only one I know of so far. Building the gift ship requires nine bonded pairs, in a similar fashion to activating the EG, I suppose. To help create such a team, Adia is able to find eight gifts. So far, she’s always been able to find one close enough to retrieve when we needed it. We picked this one up on our way here. I knew you had already merged, of course, but I thought it unlikely that Jing-Wei had.”

“She has not,” Chang replied.

Sam directed his attention to Jing-Wei. “Are you ready to accept a gift, Jing-Wei?”

“More than you know,” she answered.

C
HAPTER
T
WENTY
-N
INE

Web stood in the middle of the small armory. Gathered around him were his handpicked gifted soldiers and Captain Fox. “I hope you ladies have enjoyed your vacation because it’s time to get to work. Captain Fox and I have developed a search plan that will optimize the use of her company’s forty-eight teams of MPs. One of you will accompany each squad. If a team finds something suspicious or is directed to something suspicious within its area of operations, you will take the lead on the investigation. Captain fox will reinforce the rules of engagement with her company before departure. You will ensure they are enforced on the ground. You are not to attempt capture on your own. If you believe you may have located our target, you will contact me immediately, provide a SITREP and keep eyes on the target until I tell you what we’re going to do. Is that clear?”

“Yes, Sir!”

“I can’t tell you exactly what to look for, but you know some of what our subject is capable of. Use your special gifts to look for anything that may reflect the exercise of those capabilities. These MPs are trained to notice things that seem out of place and unusual behavior. Don’t rely on that training, but don’t dismiss it either. You are among the best at what you do. They are among the best at what they do. Take advantage of both strengths.”

Jack had arrived while Web was working with Captain Fox on the deployment plan for her teams. Web called him away from the drone operations station where he was getting up to speed on the reconnaissance operations to introduce him to the soldiers. “This is Major Thompson, my XO. As I said, if you think you’ve found our subject, contact me directly and immediately. For any other support request, inquiry, whatever, contact him. Ensure you have his number before you leave. Report in hourly. Jack will give you your time slot. Any questions?”

Web waited a moment to see if there were any. He was not surprised to find that there were not. “Good. Go find our subject!”

After the last soldier left the building, Jack approached Web and asked, “Why do you think he’s still in the area, Sir?”

“We’re monitoring his accounts and those of Jim and Lisa. There’s been no activity on any of them. All of our research indicates they have no other family. If they had a better place to hide, it seems likely they would have used it instead of going to Jim’s daughter’s house. Sam knew we’d find them there. No, he’s close and we’re going to find him.” Web replied.

“Yes, Sir.”

The cabin felt appreciably larger with only three occupants. Esther decided to take advantage of that fact and built a small circular table that fit neatly between the kitchen and the cabin’s only door. She finished it in time to help Jim prepare a late lunch of SPAM chili over steamed white rice. It wouldn’t win even the smallest of chili cooking contests, but it wasn’t bad and there was a lot of it. Sitting down together at the table, Esther served them all a large portion.

Lisa looked at her dad. She recognized him because she’d seen photos of him taken not long after the war, but she was still amazed at the transformation. He radiated health and vitality and looked no older than thirty. He’d asked Esther to shave his thick white hair. His bald head reinforced her association with his time in the military. His ever-present smile reminded her of her childhood. She couldn’t remember the last time she was so happy. She smiled and asked, “How do you know Sam, Dad?”