The Gift (32 page)

Jordan’s explanation did not reduce Sam’s frustration. “Basically, you’re telling me that in order to succeed, I have to figure out how to do something that’s never been done before.”

“No, Sam, we are telling you that you must do what our makers did in order to create us.”

“Which was? What did your makers do to create you?”

“You must use your gifts and your team to figure that out.”

“Why? Why not just tell me? If I hadn’t taken control of the Worldnet, I wouldn’t need to solve this problem.”

“Your actions changed the nature of the problems requiring solutions. You are the first. You must address the challenges your actions, or failures to act, create. It is not our role to make this easy, Sam, only possible.”

Sam ended the conversation without replying. The sun hadn’t risen appreciably and he was no closer to a solution than when he’d arrived. He headed back toward the others.
 

Chang was the first to notice Sam’s return. When Sam failed to join the group preparing breakfast, Chang joined him. “Did you make any progress?”

Sam turned to look at him as if he’d just noticed where he was. “No, not really. Jordan says we can figure it out with our gifts and the team. I don’t see how, and I don’t understand why they would want to make this so difficult.”

“I can’t be certain, Sam, but I believe that making it difficult is the point, or at least a major component of it.”

“What do you mean? If we fail, they’re stuck here. He made it clear that outcome would result in their deaths. He was equally clear that they are pleased to be alive. It doesn’t make any sense.”

“If that is so now, it was so when they sent their first clue, the program. It was true when only one group managed to decode it. It was true when we broke contact with them at the US landing site and it was true when you took over the Worldnet. All of these things seemingly reduce our chances of succeeding. Presumably, they could have interfered with any of them. Yet, they chose not to. Their actions are consistent. They provide a test and give us the means to solve it. They do not interfere in how we go about doing so. If they say that we possess the means of passing this test as well, it is logical to assume they are telling the truth. It is in our mutual interest for us to do so. Clearly, for some reason it is in each party’s interest that we do so without their overt assistance on any given test, at least beyond that which is provided when the test is presented. I believe that reason is to prove that we can.”

“Well, right now I’m far from sure of that.”

“Put it out of your mind for a time. Join us for breakfast. Let your subconscious work on it for a while.”

“Breakfast sounds good.”

They walked together to the table. Esther and Jim were setting it while Lisa and Matt made plates filled with rehydrated eggs and sausage. Chang noticed Sam’s glance toward the improvised shelving holding their remaining food stores. “Don’t worry. The Rigby’s were able to stock up before they left and they’ll be here shortly.”

Sam was pleased to hear that and happy for some good news.

The group continued their short-lived tradition of keeping the conversation light during the meal. Sam did his best to participate, but noticed that Lisa’s responses to his comments were brief. She wasn’t being curt, but the easy comfort they’d shared for a time was missing. Matt noticed as well and made a point of following his mother’s lead.

I suppose I deserve that, Sam thought.

When the meal was finished and the plates were cleared, Sam asked Lisa if she’d take a walk with him. He wasn’t sure if she’d say yes. She did.

This time, he walked with her all the way to the facility’s entrance. The sun had risen while they ate. It was an amazing day. A light snow had fallen overnight and was just beginning to melt off. Without their gifts, they might have been uncomfortably cold. With them, their bodies did not distract them from the view. It was stunning. Few parts of the world rival the Rocky Mountains as demonstrations of nature’s magnificence. Montana is called Big Sky Country for a reason. Sam thought he could see to the very edge of the world.

Taking his eyes off one natural beauty and placing them on another, Sam said, “Lisa, I’m sorry. I know you were trying to reach out to me and I probably should have let you. I’m just not very good at this.” Sam stopped when he noticed Lisa staring at his face. She wasn’t trying to keep her eyes on his or pretending to look at him as casually as she would an undamaged version of him. No, she was working her eyes over ever part of his visage, slowly, methodically taking it all in. Without a word, she raised her right hand and held it against his cheek before she returned her gaze to his eyes.

“There are many people in this world who are beautiful on the outside and less so on the inside. I know how most people look at you. I know how my husband looked at me as I started to fall apart and I know how you looked at me when we met. You had the same look in your eyes then as you do now. You didn’t pity me. You didn’t offer me assistance to make yourself feel better. You did what you knew I needed you to do. Sam, you are very good at this, just not for yourself. Let me help. Please.” As she finished, she gently pulled his face to hers and kissed him softly on the lips. It was the first time Sam had kissed a woman since he’d said goodbye to Elizabeth on their last morning together.

When the kiss ended, Sam found himself cradling Lisa’s head in his hands. He didn’t recall having moved them there. Lisa didn’t seem to mind, so he left them there while he allowed himself the pleasure of looking at her as thoroughly and as intimately as she had looked at him. “My god, you are beautiful,” he finally managed to say before kissing her again, still gently, though his body was fighting his mind.

When the kiss broke, Lisa gradually pulled away. She took a step back, looked up at him and smiled. “That didn’t go the way I thought it would. I was mad at you.”

Sam laughed before he said, “Remind me to get you angry again soon.”

“Stop it. You know what I mean.”

“No, I really don’t, but I’m willing to learn.”

“You’re an interesting man, Sam Steele. A bit dense like most men, but interesting.”

Before Sam could respond, he received notification from Chang that the Rigby’s had arrived. He started to tell Lisa, but she just nodded and said, “My dad just told me. We should head back.”

“I guess so.”

“Sam, I’m not going to lie to you or play games about this. I want you and I think you want me, but this isn’t going to go anywhere if you won’t talk with me. It’s okay that you’re broken, but I have to know you’re willing to put yourself back together, that you’re willing to let me help you put yourself back together.”

It took a while before Sam could answer. Neither humor nor detachment, his usual armor, were appropriate. He didn’t want to make light of what had happened between them and he couldn’t pretend to be indifferent to it if he tried. He wasn’t that skilled an actor. Finally, he said, “I will try.”

“If you try, we will succeed. Come on, let’s go meet the Rigby’s.” With that, she took his hand in hers and led the way back to their temporary home.

“Sam, I’d like you to meet the Rigby’s,” Chang said as he introduced each of them. “This is George. Until yesterday, he was a mechanical engineer for Salt Lake City.”

Sam was pleased to see none of them showed surprise at his appearance. His pleasure stemmed more from the fact that Chang had obviously prepared them than for any personal reason. Having a strong team of independent thinkers was the greatest weapon any leader could wield. “It’s nice to meet you. Welcome to our humble abode.”

“Not so humble, if you ask me, and that trip you arranged for us was the strangest experience of my life. Where the hell are we?” George asked. George was a slight man with close-cropped light brown hair and green eyes nearly hidden behind large and thick glasses.
 

“You are currently in a cave we created in the middle of a mountain range in central Montana. I’m sorry about the secrecy involved in getting you here. I’m sure Chang’s told you the government is more than a little interested in finding us,” Sam replied.

“Yeah, according to the news the government is more than a little interested in finding anyone who has a gift, but we can talk more about that later if you want. This is my wife, Mary,” George waited for Sam to shake Mary’s hand before continuing, “and this is our son, Jesse.”

Looking at Mary, Sam’s first thought was that George had married up. She was a beautiful Hispanic woman with wavy brown hair that fell past her shoulders. Her smile when they shook hands revealed a perfect, and perfectly white set of teeth. Sam wondered if that was indicative of good genes and hygiene or a product of mild vanity.

Jesse had inherited more of his looks from his mother than his father. He had her light brown skin and matching eyes as well as her hair, though cut as short as it currently was, it was far more curly than wavy. Jesse’s smile was as bright as his mother’s. Though his teeth weren’t nearly as straight, he didn’t seem to care. Sam guessed he was about Matt’s age, which was a good thing. Matt could use someone around from his generation.

“It’s nice to meet you all,” Sam said, “and I would like to discuss what’s being said in the news about the gifts. I haven’t had much time to spare for current events outside of our own. It will be nice to catch up, but first things first. We finished breakfast a little while ago. We saved some for you. It’s important that you eat and drink as much as you can before you meet your gifts. Chang tells me you are all aware of the process?”

George answered for them, “He’s answered all of our questions. I wouldn’t have believed it, even from Chang, if it hadn’t been all over the news. It’s crazy.”

“It gets crazier. I’m really glad you chose to join us. We need you.”

“And we you,” Marry said.

C
HAPTER
T
HIRTY
-S
IX

The squad of gifted soldiers stood in front of Web. They’d all become quite proficient at using the Worldnet for different levels of communication since Web had received confirmation of its integrity, but there were some things better done in person. Briefing an operation was one of them.

“Men, I’m not going to sugar coat this. Our subject has been elusive. He has used his early start and apparent control of greater gift resources to effective advantage. I’m here to tell you that’s about to change. Our support team back at Peterson has not been idle. Their efforts to at least equalize the playing field have born fruit and you are going to be the first people in the world to taste it.

“Until now, aside from personal enhancements, our gifts gave us two advantages we did not have before. One, we can use the nanites under our control to do practically anything we can think of. Two, we use our nanites to build things. However, until now we’ve only been able to build that which our gifts knew how to build from their access to our knowledge. The number of nanites each of us can effectively control limits both of these advantages. In a moment, I’m going to send you information that will allow you to construct something far beyond previous human technology. This will allow you and your gifts to each construct a device called a replicator. These replicators can, like us, create anything for which they have the plans, given the appropriate raw materials. However, unlike us, they are purpose built for that one task. As a result, they perform it with astonishing efficiency.”

Web’s speech was interrupted by a request for connection from Dan. Web thought back, “Wait one.” He was pleased to see that none of the soldiers noticed the interruption as he continued, “I’m sending you all the plans for the replicator now. Take a moment to look them over and discuss the particulars with your gifts. They will be able to answer your questions about the device better than I. Do not, I repeat, do not begin creating one before I return.”

Web left the squad to do as he’d directed and walked to the east edge of the parking lot. The sun had made it all the way over the horizon, but it had yet to break the morning chill. Enjoying how little that mattered to his enhanced form, he was smiling when he reconnected with Dan. “More good news, I hope?”

“Some, yes. The rest, well important might be a better adjective for the rest. Starting with the good, we’ve found a way to temporarily immobilize a bonded pair.”

“That’s excellent. Have you designed a man portable version yet?”

“Yes. I can send you the pattern now, if you’d like.”

Web resisted his inclination toward a sarcastic response. Barely. He needed Dan focussed. “Yes, please do. Does the device have any lasting negative effects on the recipient of its attention?”

“Not if used only once before the pair has time to recover. Each gift’s nanites communicate on a number of constantly varying frequencies. It’s impossible for an outsider to know which frequencies are in use at any one time, but there is a limited spectrum within which the frequencies vary. This device destroys the communication between a percentage of the nanites controlled by a given pair and within range. The effect causes the equivalence of pain and temporary confusion. Used against a given pair in rapid succession, it could conceivably kill the pair’s gift, though that is not a likely outcome as the number of frequencies being used drops with the number of nanites using them. It’s difficult to say what effect that result would have on the human half of the pair. We will continue our research, but I thought you’d want to know as soon as possible.”

“You thought correctly.” Web had allowed Dan his technical elaboration as a reward for his progress, but he’d heard enough. “What’s your other news?”

“We have strong reason to believe that Sam was the first human to merge with a gift.”

“What?”

“I said…”

“No, I heard what you said. I just wasn’t expecting that.” Web took a moment to think about Sam’s actions in the context of him being the first. His behavior certainly made more sense on some levels if it were true. “What reasons do you have?”

“As we surmised earlier, the Makers had a very structured, strongly hierarchical society. Although everyone who wanted one could have a gift, only the leaders of the larger elements of their social groupings, we’re calling them tribes, were able to direct the actions of the next level of created intelligence. We don’t have a name for those entities yet. We haven’t had time to research it sufficiently. Again, I didn’t want to wait to tell you. Anyway, given that Sam is in Montana and that’s where the ship from the U.S. landing site was seen to depart from, it would appear highly probable that he is the first. It might also explain how he was able to take control of the Worldnet.”