Orbs (22 page)

CHAPTER 26

E
MANUEL
leaned over in the cramped bed and brushed his fingers across Sophie's face, catching her gaze. “I really wish you would reconsider this.”

“No,” she said, pulling away.

Her monosyllabic response took Emanuel by surprise. He was used to her drawn-out sentences, often finding himself listening rather than contributing to their “discussions.”

With a sudden burst of confidence he wrapped his arms around her and leaned in to kiss her. Sophie closed her eyes and surrendered to the feelings racing through her body. She needed a break from reality—a break from the truth of what the world had become. A break from thoughts of death and loss.

“I have to go. You know I do,” she said between kisses. “If
Secundo Casu
is operational, then it may be humanity's only hope.”

“That's my girl,” he said. Emanuel pulled her closer, kissing her deeper. “You always have to be everything to everyone,” he whispered, pausing to take a breath. “But what about me? What about us?”

There was that word again. It was more than just a pronoun. To Emanuel, it meant a future together—a future she'd denied him before. Apparently, it had taken the end of the world to make her reconsider.

“There will always be an
us
,” she said, climbing on top of him and unfastening her bra. “There always has been, and there always will be, no matter what happens.”

Emanuel felt a tingle race down his legs. He brushed a strand of
blond hair from Sophie's face and held her gaze for several seconds. “You better fucking come back to me,” he said.

“We don't have long,” she said, pulling her shirt over her head.

Emanuel didn't respond. He knew the reality of the situation. This could very well be the last time he ever felt her touch. He pulled her down on top of him, crushing their bodies together. If this was to be the last time they ever made love, he wanted it to be the best time, too.

Alexia's voice erupted over the intercom. “Sergeant Overton has ordered all hands to Biome 4.”

“No, no, no!” Emanuel cried as Sophie rolled off of him and pulled her shirt back on. He grabbed her hand and said, “I love you.”

Sophie hesitated. She had a responsibility to her team, but a few more seconds wasn't going to matter. She leaned down and kissed him. “I love you too, Emanuel, and I
will
return to you.”

He smiled grimly, letting go of her hand. Deep down he wanted to believe her, but he was a scientist. Even with Sergeant Overton's protection, he knew the chances of their return were limited.

“Well, you heard her. Are you going to see me off or what?”

He couldn't help but smile. No matter what adversity she faced—no matter what the odds of success—she gave 100 percent. It was what made her a leader, and it was, he hoped, the one thing that would help her stay alive on her mission to
Secundo Casu
.

The blast doors hissed open. A wave of adrenaline emptied into Sophie's system as the dark summer night stretched out before her. Wiped clean of clouds, the sky had become an endless blanket of sparkling stars. In a way, it reminded her of what she had seen in Colorado Springs that first, horrible night, with the countless orbs glowing throughout the city.

“Let's move,” Overton's voice said over the com.

Sophie took off in a sprint toward the outline of a single Humvee at the edge of the tarmac. She blinked and her night vision powered on, spreading its eerie green over her display. A few paces behind her, Overton struggled. The metal device clanged loudly on his armored
back.

“This thing better fucking work. It weighs a ton,” he grunted.

“It is functioning at 100 percent,” Alexia's voice said over the com.

They had inserted her fuel cell into a small interface at the bottom of the RVM and uploaded her consciousness so she could connect to the wireless links in their helmet. While she didn't have access to her mainframe, she could still operate at almost full capacity. Sophie had to marvel at NTC's ingenuity.

Overton halted when he got to the Humvee, scanning the tarmac for any heat signatures before opening the door. “Gimme a hand with this, Doc.”

Sophie unclipped the cords holding the second and more powerful RVM, and he heaved it onto the seat of the vehicle.

“I'm driving,” he said, jumping into the front seat.

Sophie took one last look at the blast doors and climbed into the Humvee. “Good-bye,” she said under her breath as Overton punched the gas.

Sophie stared out the window, her eyes fixed on a crater to the east. She could see the outlines of dozens of boats lying sideways in the dirt of what had been a lake bottom weeks before. The sight disappeared as the truck raced on, zipping between the empty vehicles lining I-25.

“Where are all the orbs?” Overton asked.

“I was just wondering the same thing. My guess is the Organics have already processed them.”

Sophie knew that the skin sacks of the deceased were probably littered across the highway, and was grateful she couldn't see them through the darkness. In a way it was a relief, knowing the Organics had already moved on to a different location.

She turned back to the window and watched the dry landscape pass by. The temperature on her HUD read ninety degrees. It was unseasonably high, which could only mean one thing—the Organics were in fact draining the oceans at an alarming rate. There was no way to know how much longer the Earth had left. All she could do was
move forward and try to survive.

A deafening boom echoed through the night. She froze, too petrified to look out the rear window, but the blue glow racing toward them was impossible to ignore.

Sure enough, the outline of a drone appeared behind them. In seconds it had reached the Humvee and slowed effortlessly to match the truck's speed.

“I thought this fucking thing was supposed to keep them away!” Overton shouted.

Sophie clenched her pistol and sank in her seat, as if she could hide from the aliens by making herself smaller.

“Dr. Winston, check the machine!”

Alexia's voice broke over the channel. “The RVM is operating at 100 percent efficiency. The Organics must be drawn to our movement. If we—”

Overton threw on the brakes before Alexia could finish her statement. The smell of burning rubber quickly filtered through their helmets.

“Quiet,” Sophie whispered, bringing a single finger to her helmet where her lips would be.

The drone hovered over the truck. The blue sides pulsated and rippled. Inside, a bright glow throbbed and the belly of the craft opened, spreading a radiant blue light over the truck.

Sophie cringed, holding her breath. It was scanning them. Days before, during their first ill-fated trip outside, the drone had used a beam to not only disable the electronics of the truck but to capture Saafi and Emanuel. This time was different; the drone kept scanning them, over and over again. It seemed almost confused.

Just when she thought she couldn't hold her breath any longer, the light vanished and an explosion from the rear of the ship ripped through the night. Sophie gripped the outside of her helmet, her ears pounding with pain. She twisted just in time to watch the craft disappear over a ridgeline.

“Fuck, that was close. I thought we were toast! Guess that thing works after all,” Overton said with a nervous chuckle. His hands
loosened their grip on the steering wheel, and he scanned the skyline several times before twisting the key in the ignition. The engine roared to life, and he slowly pressed down on the gas.

“Fifteen minutes and we'll be at the edge of I-25, where the Wastelands begin. The remains of Denver aren't far after that,” he said. “Better check our nutrition before we get into the dead zone.”

Sophie unfastened her helmet. She grabbed a water bottle from her duffel bag and forced down several gulps. Feeling around in the bag, she retrieved two energy bars and tore them open. She chewed and listened to the reassuring groan of the diesel engine, and started to relax.

She closed her eyes, sinking into the seat. An image of Jamie and Owen sitting next to Holly at the mess hall table crept into her thoughts. If the children could survive the Organics without weapons, food, or a super-magnet, then surely she stood a chance.

Crumpling the wrapper into a ball, she threw it back into the bag and looked at the RVM one more time. The hunk of metal glistened in the dim light. It was hard to imagine that the box not only housed the smartest artificial intelligence on the planet, but also harnessed an electromagnetic wave that could confuse alien invaders. Science never ceased to amaze her; even when all seemed lost, it had a way of giving her hope.

The silhouette of Denver's destroyed skyline appeared in the distance, the once great skyscrapers nothing more than artifacts from a dead civilization, like the Great Wall of China or the pyramids in Egypt.

Sophie thought of the young pilot who had flown her to the Biosphere just weeks before. He had mentioned his girlfriend's family was from Denver. She hoped he had somehow managed to escape from the Organics, but she didn't really believe it. With a lurch, Sophie realized that she'd never bothered to learn the pilot's name.

She pushed the concern from her mind, squeezing her eyebrows together and blinking. The optics built into her display enhanced, allowing her to scan the interstate for any signs of life. Deep down she knew there wouldn't be any. The city had been evacuated years before,
when the edge of the CME had torched the city and turned it into a radioactive nightlight.

The emptiness was eerie, but oddly soothing at the same time. Strategically, the location worked out in their favor. Without human life to prey upon, the Organics would have no reason to be anywhere near the city. And with the surface water already gone, Sophie figured they wouldn't run into any further resistance until they got to the White Sands Missile Range.

Ruined buildings and the abandoned cars of people who had tried to escape the doomed city filled her display. The scene reminded her of an old post-apocalyptic movie poster she'd had hanging in her college dorm room—a scene she never thought she'd see with her own eyes.

In the distance the triangular rooftops of the airport emerged. There were only a few of the pyramids left fully intact, but as they approached it was clear the architects had designed the roof to look like the Rocky Mountains.

Overton slowed the vehicle and maneuvered around the dozens of metal hangars lining the tarmac. “How are we going to find the entrance to this underground bunker?”

“I'm trying to remember what my contact at NTC told me, but it's . . . hazy.”

Overton eased the vehicle to a stop and tilted his head so he could look directly at her. “You're fucking telling me you don't have the slightest idea where we're going? You think you coulda mentioned this, I dunno,
before
we left the Biosphere?”

“You're starting to sound like Timothy. Don't worry; it'll come back to me. Just drive,” she said.

She watched row after row of hangars pass as they continued down the tarmac at a crawl. All she could recall was the NTC staffer telling her the main entrance to the bunker was under a hangar. Unfortunately, there were a lot of them to choose from.

Look for the wings.

The staffer's words popped into her mind. “Look for the old air force symbol,” she told Overton. “The one from before the government gave control of its air defenses to NTC.”

“Okay . . .” Overton punched the gas and watched the metal buildings zip by. He knew the hangar would not be with the civilian buildings. The military always kept its facilities separate. He turned the steering wheel hard to the right and raced down the tarmac toward a pair of buildings in the distance.

“Where are you going? You're heading away from the airport!”

They raced past a bullet-riddled white sign with the faded image of wings etched into the middle. She watched the sign disappear in the side mirror. “How did you know?”

“Because I'm a soldier, and I know how other soldiers think,” he said with a grin.

The doors to the first hangar were cracked open, revealing the guts of a facility that had been used to house weapons at some point. Overton recognized the outlines of a forklift and several other pieces of machinery used to cart large missiles before they were loaded onto aircraft. He dipped the barrel of his rifle into the warehouse before slipping through the opening. Ancient crates and metal boxes littered the dusty concrete floor. Several dents from the colossal dust storms peppered the walls of the hangar.

This was not the type of place he imagined the military would have housed an underground bunker, but then again, the frail walls could have been built to deceive anyone looking for such a facility.

He finished his recon and marched back to the truck, tapping Sophie on the shoulder and jerking his head toward the hangar. She nodded and followed him. The doors to the second hangar were sealed shut, and the handle to a side entrance was locked. He cursed under his breath and threw the strap of his rifle around his back. Taking one knee, he removed his combat knife and unscrewed the bottom of the handle. Inside were several lock-picking tools. His squad had teased him on more than one occasion for carrying them, but this wasn't the first time they had come in handy.

With a click, the door unlocked. He swung it open cautiously, crouch-walking behind the safety of the thick metal. Inside were more crates and boxes. The hull of a rusted tractor sat in the corner of the room, half-draped in a tarp. At first glance there was no evidence of an
entrance to the bunker. Frustrated, he broke radio silence. “Advance.”

Sophie emerged with her pistol drawn. Her helmet darted back and forth as she scanned the room.

“I don't see shit to indicate a bunker,” he whispered.