Thirst No. 3: The Eternal Dawn

  “We’re ignoring the biggest question of them all,” Seymour says.

  “Paula and John.”

  “Did you try to reach her?”

  “Sure. They’ve left Santorini.”

  “That’s probably good.”

  “Paula didn’t leave a forwarding number.”

  “That just means she’ll contact you when she feels it’s safe. I trust her intuition. You should too.”

  “It means she doesn’t trust me.”

  “Sita. She has to protect John.”

  “Have you studied Cosmic Intuitive Illusion more closely?”

  “I’ve played it a lot. It has a strong underground following. You can download it for free, which is strange. The game’s high quality. It could easily sell for fifty bucks.”

  “What’s the name of the company that puts it out?”

  “Ascension.”

  “Sounds New Age. Tell me why John’s obsessed with it?”

  “I’m not a hundred percent sure. I told you the game starts on earth. You have to battle your way to a departing spacecraft. That’s hard to reach. I haven’t gotten that far. After that, you’re supposed to fight your way through higher and higher worlds until you reach the galactic core.”

  “Why would it appeal to John?”

  “The game’s unusual in lots of ways. First off, it has nothing to do with how good your mind-body coordination is. It’s not a shooting contest. To succeed at the game, you have to walk a moralistic tightrope where you make wise and compassionate decisions. In each situation you encounter, you have to decide whether to follow your head or your heart. For example, your character might get married and have a child. But three years later you meet someone else and you fall in love. Then you’re forced to decide: Do I do the noble thing and stay with my wife and make sure my kid has a father? Or do I run away with my true love?”

  “This is a computer game for teenagers?”

  “I never said it was for teens. I just said John plays it all the time.”

  “I assume you’d advance faster if you sacrificed for your family.”

  “Sometimes that’s true. But in other cases, depending on the previous decisions you’ve made, that can be a bad choice. Being with the wrong partner can ruin your life. You see, on one hand it’s a game about making real-life decisions. But there are aliens and angels and demons in it too. They can help you or hurt you depending on how you relate to them. But here the game really fools with your head. Unless your character grows to a certain level, he’s not even aware that angels and demons are whispering in his mind. The less awareness you have, the greater the chance is that you’ll die before you reach the mothership.”

  “The mothership?”

  “That’s what takes you to the galactic core.”

  “It sounds incredibly complex.”

  “It’s staggering. It must have cost a fortune to develop.”

  “Any sign Ascension is connected to IIC?”

  “Just the coincidence with the game initials.” Seymour shakes his head in admiration. “You have to hand it to John. When I was at his house, I had no idea how skilled he was at weaving his way through such a maze. If he isn’t a divine incarnation, he at least has a high IQ.”

  The explanation leaves me feeling dissatisfied. I dislike searching for profound portents in everyday events. Maybe John is like any other kid who likes to waste time on computer games, and he plays Cosmic Intuitive Illusion because he likes it. End of story.

  “I wonder why Haru is anxious to find him,” I say.

  “That’s the biggest question of them all.”

  “Is it? I don’t know.”

  “He swore he’d let you go if you’d tell him where they were.”

  “He was lying. He was never going to let me go.”

  “It still shows how desperate he is to find the kid.”

  “What are you getting at?” I ask.

  “You can’t understand your enemy without putting yourself in their shoes. What are they thinking? What do they want? We know the answer to the second question. Haru wants John.”

  As is so often the case with Seymour, he stimulates a fresh set of ideas inside me. He forces me to speculate. “Haru was bitter that Krishna gave Yaksha information that could help destroy the Telar. At the same time, he seemed impressed with Krishna’s knowledge.”

  “Haru might be worried John is another Krishna,” Seymour says.

  “As you’re fond of saying, that’s a big leap.”

  “I disagree. The Telar are not atheists. The first one you killed, he died praying to the Goddess Isis. Numbria worshipped Isis too. Some of them believe in the supernatural. Look at their interest in Suzama. I think Haru gave you a big hint to his motivation when he brought her up.”

  “Explain,” I say.

  “Could they be lost? Could they be seeking guidance?”

  “Seymour! They’re preparing to wipe out humanity. They’re as far from humbly seeking the truth as Hitler was when he invaded Poland.”

  Seymour is thoughtful. “It makes me wonder.”

  “What?”

  “How it would feel to live so long.”

  “Ask me. I have lived that long.”

  “You’re different. You’re a vampire. No offense, Sita, but the Telar are more like human beings than vampires. I wonder what it’s done to them to live all these years. And to know that they might live thousands of more years.”

  I think he’s mistaken. I have far more humanity than Haru. Still, his words, his insights, have a powerful effect on me. “What do you mean?”

  He flashes a sad smile. “The price of immortality might be higher than we know.”

  I hear a noise behind us. To my sensitive ears, everyone has their own unique gait, their own special way of breathing. I know it’s Shanti running up the dirt path that leads from the back of our house. Seymour and I stand as she bursts into view. The flesh on her reconstructed face is rich with blood. Her eyes shine with fear, and her voice cracks.

  “Matt says they’re coming!”

  “Who?” Seymour demands.

  “The Telar.”

  “How many?” I ask.

  “Too many!” Shanti cries.

  TWENTY-FIVE

  Matt insists Seymour take Shanti and Teri and hide in the mine, in a place Matt prepared. Seymour has spent the last few days learning to fire an M16 rifle and feels babysitting—his word—is too cowardly a role for him to play.

  “You won’t feel that way if you take a bullet in the gut,” Matt says, helping Teri into a bulletproof vest. I do likewise with Shanti. “Besides, it won’t be long before Sita and I are forced to follow you guys.”

  “Seymour will probably shoot you guys on your way in,” Teri says. She sounds more alive than in a long time. She’s scared, but I think the idea of battle has stirred her naturally competitive spirit.

  Seymour is unhappy. “Let me at least guard that sniper hole you dug into the ridge. The one that looks down on the road.”

  “That’s Sita’s spot,” Matt says. He snaps grenades onto his belt. These are not ordinary shrapnel balls. They have Telar explosives inside that make them especially deadly. Because they’re perfect spheres and are able detonate every milligram of their explosive at the same instant, they can send out a shock wave equal to a case of dynamite. Most humans would not be able to throw one far enough away to avoid getting killed.

  We have a mix of Telar and conventional weapons. Unfortunately, we have only four laser rifles. Matt insists that we hold on to them. That’s just common sense. He knows he and I are going to do the real damage. That’s why Seymour, Teri, and Shanti are all heading to the mine with M16s.

  But I’m not knocking human weapons. I’m looking forward to turning the Gatling gun that Claudious used on me on his associates. I spent a small fortune having it shipped from Truman to Goldsmith.

  “I was just teasing you,” Teri tells Seymour. “I’d feel a lot better with you guarding us,”

&n
bsp; “Me too,” Shanti says.

  Seymour isn’t suckered in by a few kind words from pretty girls, but he knows when to accept his fate. He speaks to Matt. “What’s the source of your info on this attack? Hiking back to the house, I didn’t see a soul.”

  “A dozen vans and trucks just rolled into Goldsmith,” Matt explains. “I’ve got people there—men I’ve bought—who called and confirmed the visitors are asking about us. The caravan will be here in ten minutes.”

  “I’m surprised they didn’t swoop in with helicopters and bomb us back to the Stone Age,” Seymour says.

  “They want to take us alive,” Matt says. “But believe me when I say you don’t want to be taken prisoner.”

  Seymour tells the girls that he agrees with Matt. Of course, he knows about the Pulse. Teri and Shanti don’t. They have no idea how preferable death is to sitting with that device.

  “If heavy shooting starts, won’t the police be alerted?” Seymour asks.

  “The Telar have already taken care of the police,” Matt says.

  “How?” Teri asks.

  “Bribes. Big ones,” Matt says.

  “We should have opted for a heavily populated area,” Seymour says.

  Matt shakes his head. “That wouldn’t have stopped the Telar. More people would just have died.”

  “At least tell us we stand a chance,” Seymour complains.

  Matt pats him on the back. “Actually, I think we’re going to kick butt. A small team dug in deep with plenty of ammo can hold off a platoon. I’ve spent years arming this house. I’ve mined the entire area. But if we have to escape, I’ve got a helicopter hidden on the far side of the mine. So we have options.”

  Seymour seems satisfied with Matt’s answers and prepares to leave. But at the last second Shanti corners me. “I need to stay with you,” she says.

  “The Telar are attacking, not the IIC,” I say.

  “The IIC knew when you were with Numbria.”

  “That might have been a coincidence. Besides, you heard Matt, we’re going to make a brief stand, then fall back. I’ll see you soon enough.”

  Shanti hugs me. “Whatever happens, I’m grateful for everything you’ve done for me.”

  “Jesus, Shanti. I’ve put you in terrible danger.”

  “You’ve kept me alive. You’ve fixed me.”

  I squeeze her tight. “Don’t let them get their hands on you.”

  She hears the edge in my voice. “I understand.”

  Seymour hurries off with Teri and Shanti. Matt and I continue to load our weapons while he explains the pattern to the mines he’s laid out.

  “Delay detonating any mines as long as possible,” he says. “I don’t want them to know that’s part of our defense. I have a feeling they’re going to come in waves. Haru doesn’t mind sacrificing his people. He won’t stop until we crack.”

  “So we’ll end up using the helicopter.”

  “Maybe not. Haru can’t let the fight last forever. No matter how much privacy his bribes have bought, all the shooting is going to attract attention. At some point the police and National Guard will show up.”

  “How do you think the Telar found us?”

  “I told you they would,” Matt says.

  “But so fast. I thought we’d have more time.”

  “They’re here. There’s nothing we can do about it.”

  “I hate leaving you in this house,” I say. “One well-aimed mortar and you’ll be history.”

  “They won’t start with the big guns. They make too much noise. I’ll know when to withdraw. How’s your headpiece working?”

  We have miniature walkie-talkies implanted in our ears so we can stay in contact over the noise of battle, which can get so loud it can block even our subtle hearing. We do a quick check—they are working perfectly. It’s a pity the rock surrounding the mine blocks the signal, or we could stay in touch with the others.

  Yet I have faith in Seymour. He’s never been in battle before, but he’s not scared. He’s not afraid to die, and I wish I could say the same about myself. I feel confident—I’m actually looking forward to the fight—but a part of me senses that Haru has a surprise in store for us.

  Matt must feel the same. His next remark worries me.

  “I stowed gas masks in the mine and at the sniper hole,” he says. “Put one on and keep it on.”

  “I can see them gassing the mine. But how are they going to gas the entire side of a mountain?”

  “You’re talking about a man who started the plague.”

  “Point taken.”

  Matt is all business. He hurries me out of the house. He wants me on the ridge because he needs my eyes as well as my cover fire. Now that the fight has come, I’m glad to let him take command. What I told him when he rescued me was insightful—he is his father’s son. Haru will have his tricks, sure, but I suspect Matt has aces up his sleeve that none of us know about.

  The twilight has deepened by the time I reach the ridge. Venus shines bright in the west, and Vega is visible overhead. A mile in the distance, from the direction of Goldsmith, I see twenty vehicles heading our way. Like Seymour, I’m surprised they’re not using a surprise attack, but it could be a sign of Haru’s arrogance. I can tell from the powerful heartbeats of everyone in the vehicles that we’re facing strictly Telar soldiers.

  Three of the trucks are massive.

  I wonder what goodies they have stored inside.

  I finish arming the Gatling gun. I have a ton of ammunition. I could spray them at this distance. But I obey Matt’s instructions and let them get closer. I have two laser rifles and two sniper rifles. I plan to alternate. The weakness of the lasers is they quickly lose their charge. It’s not an issue as long as I remain in the sniper hole—Matt’s wired the rifles to heavy Telar batteries. But when we retreat to the mine, I’ll have to leave the power supply behind. Then I’ll have to count every shot I take with the lasers.

  Matt speaks on my headpiece. “Do you see them?”

  “Roger. They’re almost to our driveway. They’re showing no sign of slowing.”

  “Chances are they’ll pass us by and hide their vehicles behind the bluff north of us.”

  “Sure you don’t want me to hit them as they drive by?”

  “Let them make the first move. And Sita?”

  “What?”

  “Put your gas mask on.”

  “It’s stuffy.”

  “It could save your life.”

  “I can put it on fast if they gas us.”

  “What if they use something besides gas?”

  He knows them better than I do. I put on the mask.

  Matt’s prediction proves accurate. The Telar convoy passes by and doesn’t park until all their vehicles are hidden from view. I listen as their people climb out and scatter into the hills. Haru isn’t a sexist. Half are males, half females. They chat with each other with their own headphones, but use a code I don’t recognize.

  “I wish I knew what they’re saying,” I say.

  “I doubt it would change our plans.”

  “Matt, you have six Telar approaching from the east. Plus another six coming from the south, to the side of the driveway.”

  “Roger that. I see them.”

  “Cameras?”

  “I’ve got the area wired. You have a dozen Telar on the west side, beneath you. Plus a half dozen climbing the peak at your back. They’re probably hoping to shoot down on you.”

  “Roger that. Can I start shooting?”

  “Hold. Do you have a clear view of the mine entrance?”

  “Roger. No one’s near the mine. But I’ll keep an eye on it.”

  “Interesting,” he mutters.

  “What is it?”

  “They’re trying to cut my power.”

  “You have backup?”

  “Roger that.” His voice takes on a more urgent note. “Sita, change of plans. They’re setting up several odd-looking projectors. They’re probably powered by whatever they ha
ve stowed in their vehicles.”

  “They can project energy over a distance?”

  “Yes.” He’s puzzled. “These might be disruptors.”

  “Dakor and his guards spoke of them. What are they?”

  Matt sounds tense. “Nasty buggers. Let’s switch gears. Kill as many soldiers as you can in the next sixty seconds. Force the rest to take cover. Then throw a dozen Telar grenades over the bluff.”

  “Roger that.”

  “Can your arm reach that far?”

  “Hell, yeah. Bloody Sita is armed and dangerous.”

  The laser rifles come equipped with excellent scopes. They are infrared and motion sensitive. They even send out a sonic pulse that relays back the exact distance of a target. Because I’m worried about the projectors the Telar are setting up near the house, I try to defend Matt’s back first.

  The Telar due east of the house are embedded in the trees, but I catch quick glimpses of a head here, an arm there, a leg sticking out. I fire three blasts in succession, and hear three shrieks. I see one of the projectors Matt mentioned. It looks like a wide-angle lens on a tripod. I blow it away.

  The Telar climbing above me are a threat to my position. I blast three, but the others manage to take cover.

  The impact of the laser on my targets is fascinating, in a sick sort of way. If the beam hits a limb, it severs it. But if I hit a torso, the result’s much more intense. The body is mostly made up of water. Even a brief laser blast will boil several quarts of water. As a result, several of my targets explode as they fall, the steam causing their guts to spew out. Not a pretty way to die. At least it’s quick, I tell myself.

  I kill two Telar who are hiking up the driveway, and an even dozen who are spread across the bluff that hides their vehicles and the bulk of their attack force. My sixty seconds is up, and I’m reaching for the grenades when my opponents start firing back. To my surprise, they’re using conventional sniper rifles. They may not want the police to later find evidence of laser fire. Their choice of weapons is less lethal. Unfortunately, they’re all superb shots, and their bullets echo around my hole. I quickly reposition dozens of sandbags to protect my head.

  The most irritating soldiers are the ones I failed to kill above me. There are only three, but they’re aggressive. To get them off my back, I turn my Gatling gun in their direction and set it on auto control. It starts firing sixty rounds a second while swinging back and forth through a twenty-degree arc.