Post-Human Trilogy Part 49

"It just needs to hold for a minute or so more," James said as he frantically worked to get the s.h.i.+p's electrical system running. "I'm not going to have time to test our systems. We're just going to have to hope this bucket of bolts works!"

Meanwhile, high above Purist territory, Rich streaked toward the Earth while he watched the swarm of androids entering the atmosphere. Rich had faced dire situations before, but nothing compared to what he was facing now. "Rich, you crazy son of a gun. What the h.e.l.l have you gotten yourself into now?" he asked himself as he pressed on, the androids drawing near.

He patched into communication with James and the others as he approached. "Commander, I'm en route!"

"Rich?" James reacted, stunned. "What the h.e.l.l are you doing here?"

"You know...I just missed you guys so darn much!"

The androids were now all around Rich, and he flew in an extremely erratic pattern to avoid making contact with them. They didn't have magnetic fields, but their appearance was human, and he could see the expressions of determination on their faces as, one by one, they made their way toward him, attempting to apprehend him. He blasted energy at each one, knocking them unconscious and sending them plummeting toward the surface.

"Rich, we're launching in about thirty seconds, but there are androids crawling all over the hangar!" James shouted. "You're going to have to try catch a ride with us as we lift off!"

"Affirmative!" Rich shouted, gasping for air as he desperately fought off the thickening hordes of androids. "Commander! Hurry up! It's raining men out here! Not hallelujah! Not hallelujah!"

26.

"Are the doors holding, Thel?" James asked for confirmation before launching.

"The outer surface is torn to shreds, but the release mechanism appears to be operational!" Thel responded.

"Okay, then we've got to go! Keep your fingers crossed!" James shouted as he activated the launch sequence.

The hangar doors began to slowly open, allowing the thousands of androids that had crowded on top of the door and had been ripping the metal apart in their attempts to penetrate the hangar to leap down on top of the s.h.i.+p. The hydraulic launcher pressed into action and pointed the nose of the zeppelin-shaped s.h.i.+p up toward a sky that had been darkened by a rainstorm of androids.

Old-timer entered the c.o.c.kpit, with Governor Wong, Alejandra, and Lieutenant Patrick in tow. "Old-timer," James said as he engaged the magnetic engines, "keep an eye on the hull. Those things are bound to breach it at some point."

"On it."

"Djanet, keep an eye on Rich," James said.

"I'm already on it," Djanet said while she watched Rich's desperate flight toward the s.h.i.+p as hundreds of attackers quickly became thousands.

"Launching now!" James shouted as he throttled the engines and the s.h.i.+p thrusted out of the hangar, shaking off thousands of android attackers as it did so. However, hundreds more managed to maintain their holds on the hull and they used their enormous strength to pound and claw at any ridges or weak spots in the structure that appeared exploitable.

As the s.h.i.+p picked up speed, hundreds more androids surged toward it, joining the fight and covering the s.h.i.+p like frenzied bees on a honeycomb.

Rich saw the s.h.i.+p too as it made its way toward him. He kept blasting magnetic energy at his attackers as he flew in kamikaze fas.h.i.+on, hoping to elude the androids by being completely erratic and unpredictable. "This was definitely a bad idea!"

27.

As the s.h.i.+p neared, Rich had to negotiate a landing on the hull of the enormous structure as it rocketed upward, without allowing any of the myriad of androids to get a hold of him. He was nearing exhaustion as he flew and blasted in self-defense.

"I cannot believe what I am seeing," Djanet said as she watched Rich's valiant one-man battle. She had witnessed Rich's bravery once before, but this was on a whole new level. She'd never seen anyone try anything like it. "I have to go out there," she announced as she began to leave the c.o.c.kpit.

"Djanet! No!" Old-timer shouted. "It's suicide!"

"He's right, Djanet," James concurred as he gently grabbed her arm to stop her. She roughly pulled it away.

"I'd rather die out there with him than in here, watching." She stormed out of the room and toward an exit.

"James," Thel said with pleading eyes that urged him to do something to stop Djanet.

"Let her go, James," the A.I. a.s.serted in James's head. "You know you need her out there. It's a dirty job, but someone has to do it."

James was rattled as he listened to the A.I.'s words. He instinctively wanted to rush to save Djanet and to resist the A.I., but once again, the electronic Satan appeared to be speaking the ugly truth. "She's right, Thel. I couldn't possibly order any of you outside, but we need help to get out of here alive. We need someone to clear the hull of the s.h.i.+p, and that's exactly what Rich and Djanet will be doing."

"But they'll die!" Thel protested.

"Make the hard decisions, James," the A.I. urged in an unusually sincere tone, suggesting that it had its own survival in mind-if it thought Djanet's exit increased its chance of survival, it probably did.

"I didn't ask either of them to go out there, but they're a special breed," James replied. "Old-timer, I need you to keep monitoring the hull and direct Rich and Djanet to any serious trouble spots. Thel, I need you to see if you can tap into the engine power without compromising our thrust to generate an electromagnetic pulse strong enough to get rid of the rest of our hangers on."

"I'll see what I can do." Thel nodded as she flipped through a plethora of screens in her mind's eye.

Meanwhile, Djanet stood outside of an outer airlock and ignited her magnetic energy coc.o.o.n. She knew Old-timer was right. This was most likely suicide-but there were times when it was better to die than to live the rest of your life knowing that you could have done something but you didn't. She popped the handle of the lock and was swept outside by the change in pressure. Seconds later, she was blasting androids on her way to rendezvous with Rich. She had to save him.

After all, he was the man she loved.

28.

In mere seconds, the androids on the hull exponentially increased. Every moment, hundreds more landed on the hull, until finally, they covered every inch of it.

Meanwhile, Rich was surrounded, and his muscles ached from exhaustion. He was spinning wildly and blasting at his attackers, but even with the nans helping him to recoup his energy, the fatigue was about to overwhelm him.

Djanet's attack made the difference-she cleared a path for Rich toward the s.h.i.+p. She knocked out several of Rich's attackers and left a hole just big enough for Rich to squeak through. When Rich reached her, he nearly pa.s.sed out, and Djanet enveloped him into to her magnetic field. He grabbed her, and gasped for air as he held on.

"I got you!" she shouted to him. His clothes were soaked with sweat, and she could feel the thunderous beat of his heart against her back.

"You just saved my life...again!" he replied as Djanet flew back toward the Purist s.h.i.+p as it streaked upward, toward the sun. The darkness of s.p.a.ce was beginning to become visible as the stratosphere came into sight.

"They're alive, James," Old-timer delivered the news.

Thel sighed a heavy sigh of relief. "Tell them to get inside!"

"No!" James interjected. "If they open a door now, we'll be overwhelmed by those things!"

"James!" Thel shouted, shocked at his line of thinking. "We can't leave them out there! If the androids get in, we'll fight them!"

"We'd be putting the Purists at risk, Thel! Too many of them have already died!"

"Are you willing to sacrifice Rich and Djanet?" Thel asked, appalled.

"It's up to you, James," the A.I. spoke. "The humane thing to do would be to open the doors, but it's virtually guaranteed that the s.h.i.+p would be overwhelmed, and you'd lose everyone onboard."

James sighed and bowed his head. "Thel, I've a.n.a.lyzed the situation and, believe me, if we open that door, we all die."

"What's wrong with you?" Thel reacted after she heard James's words. "You sound like a computer."

James clenched his teeth-it was becoming increasingly difficult to delineate a line between his consciousness and that of the A.I.

"I think we have to trust James," Old-timer said, attempting, as was his custom, to be the voice of reason. As much as he wanted to save Rich and Djanet, as his eyes moved toward Alejandra, he knew he couldn't risk their lives. "At least Djanet and Rich can defend themselves."

"We're willing to fight, Craig," Alejandra retorted.

"Agreed," Lieutenant Patrick chimed in. "You shouldn't sacrifice your people"

"You need more than willingness," Old-timer replied.

"Enough," James a.s.serted. "Old-timer, tell them they're our only chance of getting out of here alive. Keep an eye on that hull and a close watch on the doors and the engine."

"They'll die because of that decision," Thel insisted.

"Not if you follow my lead, Thel. Find a way to electrify the hull."

Outside, Djanet continued blasting as Rich felt he was ready to separate. "I'm okay now. Thanks!" He let go of Djanet and reengaged his own magnetic field as he started firing at any androids in his path.

"Old-timer!" Djanet shouted as she opened communication, "We need you to open the starboard airlock!"

"That's a negative," Old-timer replied.

"What?" Djanet asked, stunned.

"James a.n.a.lyzed the situation and, if we open the doors, the chances of the s.h.i.+p being overwhelmed are too great."

"Old-timer!" Rich shouted as he continued blasting, "Open the d.a.m.n door!"

"We need you to clear the androids off the doors and away from the engines first!" Old-timer shouted back.

James entered the communication at that moment to plead for Rich's and Djanet's understanding. "Guys, we're not going to make it unless you help us from out there. I'm sorry, but we have no choice. You're our only hope!"

Rich continued desperately shooting as he and Djanet reached the starboard side of the vessel, still coated with androids that were clawing at the t.i.tanium frame of the s.h.i.+p like wolves attacking a b.l.o.o.d.y piece of meat. "There are too many of them, Commander!"

"You don't have to destroy them all! Just give us the time we need to set up an electromagnetic charge to get rid of the rest of them!"

"How long do you need?" Djanet asked through gasps as, like Rich before her, she neared exhaustion.

"Three minutes," James shouted back--the number was random. In actuality, he had no idea.

"Better speed it up! We'll be dead in thirty seconds!" Rich shouted back.

29.

"We've got our first hull breach!" Old-timer shouted as he scrolled through the s.h.i.+p map to see where the breach was located. "The engines!"

"Of course," James growled. "Djanet, Rich! One of those things has breached the hull next to the engines! We need you to knock it off there, or this is going to be a short ride!"

"Copy that!" Djanet answered as she and Rich worked their way to the back of the s.h.i.+p. They were immediately caught in the wake of the ma.s.sive magnetic engines, tossed around like cotton b.a.l.l.s on a windy Chicago day.

"Well...isn't this just a walk in the park!" Rich grunted as he struggled to stay on course.

"The good news is that it's tough for the androids too!" Djanet replied. "They can't get to us while we're in here! It might just buy James the time he needs to ready the electromagnetic pulse."

"Not if we can't get those alien freaks off the engines!" Rich shouted back. "Do you see them?"

Djanet peered through the brilliant azure distortions created by the engines until she could make out a large group of androids who'd peeled back a small portion of the t.i.tanium casing surrounding the engines. The small portion was threatening to become a large portion, as nearly a dozen of the androids had grabbed a hold of it and were tugging at it violently, thras.h.i.+ng it. "Yes, I see them!"

"Can you get a shot?"

"It's hard to hold steady, but I think so!" she responded. It was like holding on to the rope after falling while waterskiing, waves throwing you around violently until you didn't know if you were facing up or down. She tried to stay steady and, when she thought she was in as good a position as she was going to get, she fired. Unfortunately, the blast got caught in the distortion of the engines and boomeranged back in an arc, glancing off of Rich's magnetic coc.o.o.n and temporarily driving him out of the engine's wake and back into danger-there were still millions of androids in the vicinity. "Sorry!"

"I'm okay!" Rich shouted back as he zipped up into the protection of the distortion once again. "I don't want to be, you know, that guy, but that was not a very good shot! I'm sorry to be so critical!"

"I can't possibly hit them from here!"

"We're going to have to get out of the wake to get a clear shot!" Rich concluded.

Meanwhile, the s.h.i.+p finally left the stratosphere and entered s.p.a.ce. "Okay, the autopilot's engaged now," James announced. "Thel, how is it coming?"

Thel shook her head in frustration. "It's not. Nothing I try leads anywhere. I've tried rerouting power from the engines to the hull insulation, but it's simply not enough voltage to do any damage."

James examined the data quickly. "You're right, d.a.m.n it. I should've built an EMP into the design of the s.h.i.+p. I was so fixated on the minutia of the design that I couldn't see the big picture."

"Then you need to start looking at the big picture, boss," Old-timer said. "Rich and Djanet aren't going to make it much longer."