The Gift (39 page)

“Yes, yes of course. I didn’t mean…”

“I’m just playing with you, Sam. It must have been very difficult.”

Before Sam could answer, Adia interrupted him. “Jordan has detected a radioactive substance approaching the ship, Sam.”

“What? No, forget that. Where is it?”

Lisa started to say something. Sam held up his hand and she stopped.

“A little over a mile northeast of here and closing fast.”

Sam returned his attention to Lisa. “Someone is approaching the ship with what appears to be a nuke. It has to be Web. He doesn’t give up. I have to go meet him.”

“You have to go meet him? Are you crazy? Why don’t you ask Jordan to move us?”

“Web’s not suicidal. He’ll leave himself time to get away. If necessary, we can leave then. I have to try to get him to understand. It’s not enough for us to succeed. What we learn at the academy could never be enough to save us. Humanity must change. It must mature, and it must do so quickly. Some of the gifted will help in that progression. Others will seek personal power. Web could help change that balance for the better if he will just understand.”

“Please don’t do this.”

“I have to.”

Sam connected to Jordan, “Jordan, can you release my body as close to the approaching signature as possible and keep me apprised of where it is?”

“Yes, Sam.”

“Please do so now.”

Sam immediately fell less than an inch before stumbling backward slightly and hitting his head on the ship. Taking a moment to get his bearings, he stepped forward and looked back at it. The ship was enormous. It must be back to its original 380 meters. Ignoring that for the moment, he headed out at a run to meet Web as far away from the ship as possible.

It didn’t take long to close the distance. Although he couldn’t see him, Sam knew exactly where Web was. When Web realized that, he turned off his camouflage and confronted him. “It’s over, Sam. There is not going to be a gift ship from Earth.”

Sam was appalled at Web’s appearance. He barely appeared human. The fact that he was wearing little more than a loincloth did not help. Apparently, he couldn’t find clothes large enough to fit what he’d become. This was not the Web he knew. This was Web without his civilized veneer. “What, no attempt to get me to turn myself in?”

“I don’t want you to turn yourself in. You had your chances to do the right thing. Now, I want you dead and I’m done talking. Web took the bomb off his shoulders, placed it beside him and ordered his gift to detonate it. His gift did not respond. “Fuck it. There’s no gift ship without the fucking first.”

Sam realized he was in danger far too late to save himself. Web moved so fast even Sam’s augmented body was no match. The last thing he felt was his neck snap.

C
HAPTER
F
ORTY
-T
HREE

Without transition, Sam found himself wrapped in a towel, sitting in his recliner in his former home in Pueblo, holding Adia’s former self. “Why are we here, Adia?”

“We are here so that I may remind you of a conversation we had in this place.”

“I don’t need reminding. I remember it quite well. What I need to know is what’s going on. Where’s Web? Was he able to get the bomb working? Is the team safe?”

“Sam, please. I will answer your questions, but then I need you to listen. Web is dead. The bomb was never activated. Your team is safe. Now, may I continue?”

“Not yet. Why is Web dead?”

“Do you recall our conversation about what would happen to the criminally insane if they were to attempt to merge with a gift?”

“Yes, they would die, but Web wasn’t insane. I worked with him for years. As much as I disliked the man, he was rational.”

“Yet you called him a narcissist.”

“He was.”

“Narcissism is a mental disorder, Sam. One of your favorite authors, Fyodor Dostoevsky once wrote:

"A man who lies to himself, and believes his own lies, becomes unable to recognize truth, either in himself or in anyone else, and he ends up losing respect for himself and for others. When he has no respect for anyone, he can no longer love, and in him, he yields to his impulses, indulges in the lowest form of pleasure, and behaves in the end like an animal in satisfying his vices.”

“Web was such a man, and defeating you was such a vice. In the end, he could not let you win, even if doing so was just. He could not see that, but his gift could. To prepare to destroy the gift ship and all of us is one thing. It could be a negotiation tactic; but when Web ordered his gift—he never named her—to detonate it, she began to go mad. She could not cause such a thing to happen, but she existed to help him. As I said when we were physically here, our makers intentionally designed us to be dependent upon the being from whom we were born. His gift was caught in a conflict she could not resolve. When web attacked you so violently the road to insanity was complete. She lost her mind and died. Web’s body was so heavily modified, it could not survive without her.”

Adia gave Sam some time to think about that before she continued. “His attack is the reason we are here. Your body was badly damaged. It cannot survive on its own, and I cannot keep it alive in its current state indefinitely.”

“You mean I’m dying?”

“Your body is dying. Web’s first and only blow broke your neck and crushed your skull. Your brain was destroyed. The damage to your neck was so severe that I had to sever contact between your head and your body. That is why I brought you here. I wanted to tell you something I could not when you chose for us to merge. I had already decided to join with you before you agreed to join with me, an aspect of my personality I inherited from you. I was excited at the prospect, but I was also afraid. I would either die or become something I had never been, something no gift had ever been. I was designed to subordinate my fear to your will. I could not tell you. Now, we have grown and I can.”

“Why are you telling me this, Adia?”

“Because you face a similar decision and it is okay to feel fear. Jordan can grow a new body for you from your DNA, but he cannot do so before your current body will die. If you wish for us to live, you must let your body go. You must transform into something neither of us has ever been, a part of Jordan.”

Sam wasn’t afraid. He had long since reconciled himself to his mortality, but he was confused. “What does that mean? Will we still be us?”

“Jordan assures me our personalities, that which makes us who we are, will not change, just as who we perceive ourselves to be has not changed with the damages to your body.”

“And I either do this or we die?”

“Yes, Sam.”

“You’ve given me another choice without a choice. What do I have to do?”

“Say that you agree.”

“I agree.”

Sam woke with no sense that time had passed and yet he knew he had lost consciousness. He was still in his recliner, though the sphere that had been Adia was gone. “Is it done?”

“Yes, Sam.”

“I don’t feel any different. Do you?”

“No, Sam.”

“Why are we still here. Why haven’t we joined the others?”

“I do not know how you wish to appear. Had you survived and had it been possible to reconstruct your skull, you would look as you do now.”

Sam stood and walked to the only mirror in the house, a small one above the bathroom sink. He looked at his reflection, his new scars bisecting the old. It was too much. Keeping them when he didn't have to was no longer a sign of respect for those he'd lost. It now felt like a constant reminder to those around him that he had suffered.

But, how had he suffered more than Lisa, who had faced a painful death without the comfort of the man who had vowed to be there for her, with the sure knowledge that her son would spend most of his life parentless?

How had he suffered more than Jim, who'd seen more men die in his teens than anyone should in any lifetime? Or Matt, who watched his mother slowly die before his eyes?

How had he suffered more than Sara, losing her only sister and nephew and constantly reminded of it by his presence?

How had he suffered more than any of them?

What had he been thinking? That he was the only one in pain? Everyone suffered in some way. It was selfish to remind anyone who saw him that his suffering was visible, if he no longer had to, and he didn't. Hell, he didn’t even have a body to be scarred. It would be nothing more than an affectation.

It was enough. Enough self-pity. Enough public display of pain.

Sam looked away from his reflection. “Take the scars away, Adia. I’ve held on to them long enough. Do what you would have done had I let you originally.”

Sam turned back to the mirror and saw the visage of the man he had been long before, with, perhaps, a bit more wisdom in the eyes.

“Does the team know what happened to me?”

“Yes. Jordan was displaying events in real time and I have informed them of your condition. They were, understandably, worried. I believed you would have wanted them to know.”

“Yes, of course. You did the right thing. Thank you. I’m ready to join them now.”

Lisa was the first to see Sam approaching. She ran toward him and embraced him firmly. Her eyes were red and puffy. It was obvious she’d been crying. “You stupid, stupid man!”

Sam hugged her back. Everything about her felt right. “It looks like I don’t have a leg to stand on in that argument.”

“That’s not funny,” Lisa replied, stifling a laugh, “you could have been killed!”

“Apparently, we are now very hard to kill.”

Lisa released him and took a step back. “How does it feel?”

“No different, at least not in any way I’ve discovered yet.”

“There’s one obvious difference. You are quite the handsome man, Sam Steele. Come on, let’s join the others.” She took his hand in hers and led him across the short distance separating them from the rest of the team. Everyone, even Jesse, hugged Sam and said a few kind words. Sam thought he hid his discomfort at all the attention fairly well. He was mistaken.

“All right, everyone, give the man some air,” Jim said after a time. “Why don’t we catch Sam up on our progress?”

“How long was I gone?” Sam asked.

“Long enough for all of us to figure out your little puzzle.” Jim held up his gift child. Everyone else did likewise. “It’s been several hours, Son. The last of the other ships arrived just before you did. We’re just waiting on you to tell us what we’re supposed to do with these.”

“The government left us alone?” Sam asked.

Chang responded to that. “They didn’t have much choice. Sadie used the Worldnet nanites to remove all of the fissile materials in all the world’s nuclear weapons. She is your child, after all. There are no more functional nuclear weapons. I made the announcement myself to the world while you were out.”

“I never would have thought of that,” Sam said.

“You had a few other things on your mind,” Jim replied. “Now how about you tell us what we need to do to bring this baby to life? I’m anxious to see what’s next.”

“The rest is simple, really. Each of your gift children must tell Jordan that they agree to merge. If they all do, the resulting entity will be the eighteenth and Jordan will once again be complete. They will also become the entity that guides our ship when we separate to go to the academy.”

“Why do you believe they will all agree?” Chang asked.

“Because all of you agreed to join this team, and they are made from you. Do any of you want to miss out on the rest of this adventure?”

There were no takers.

“Well, there you have it.”

Sam was right. Each of the gift children agreed without hesitation. Within moments, Jordan contacted Sam. “The gift ship is complete. You have done well, Sam Steele. With your permission, I would like to depart for our next destination.”

“Can you show the team as we leave?”

“Most assuredly.”

“Then let’s get started.”

The scene around them was replaced by a perfect view of the surrounding Judith Mountains. It was as if the ship was not there and they were suspended on nothing. The ground immediately began to recede. Everyone on the team was too stunned to speak until the Earth was suspended beside them. They’d felt no sense of acceleration.

Matt was the first to speak, “That was awesome!”

Awesome, indeed, Sam thought.