PARTS ALIVE WHEN YOUR DRISCAL HALF TOOK A BULLET MEANT FOR ME."
"THAT WAS HIS OWN HUMAN-DRIVEN ACTION," they said. "WE HAD NOTHING TO DO WITH THAT. HE SAYS HE WAS JUST DOING HIS JOB. HUMANS ARE SOMETIMES ILLOGICAL."
"YES, SOMETIMES PLEASANTLY SO," Ed noted. And so were Stone-Coats. Mary had also protected him, and had also gotten smashed up doing it. "What about you, Mary, are you going to be alright?" he asked her. She was slowly sitting down in her wheel-chair. He knew that Stone-Coats felt no pain beyond a minor discomfort, but it still greatly disturbed him to see Mary mutilated.
"Two days repair time, I estimate," said Mary. Already a halo of fine Nano tube netting covered her face and shoulder, and healing was underway as millions of Nano tubes adjusted to various precise sizes transported several different types of charged molecules to their proper placement in accordance with Mary's digitally maintained design templates. Her broken-off arm still hung uselessly from her shoulder, but her Nano tube netting was slowly hiking it up closer towards the stub where it was supposed to be attached. "Many Stone-Coats fared far worse. Thousands will take a week or more to repair themselves. Hundreds suffered disassembly severe enough to require the aid of other Stone-Coat individuals for re-assembly. Once repaired most will go right back to their work to make a new elevated Manhattan and greater New York City."
"Stone-Coats are always thinking of the long term," noted Ed.
"Not such a long term," said Mary. "Except for continued maintenance the New York City project should take only a few centuries. That's a short time for Stone-Coats. The Stone-Coat relationship with humans as a project is likely to be a much longer effort. But for now let's just get you home, Ed. The Humvee is smashed but Jerry tells me that he has a VIP air-limo coming to get you."
"Me? Aren't you coming too?"
"No. You won't need me anymore. Push me outside with you to meet your air-limo, but my mission is complete," said Mary. "And it was a success, mostly."
"Really?" said Ed. Egborg had blown up the building where he was keeping the girls prisoner. His own mission was a total disastrous failure: Terry and Mouse were dead. What kind of success was that? His head was spinning now as the shock of it continued to set in. If he hadn't been clutching the handles of Mary's wheelchair, he might have numbly fallen back down to the auditorium floor.
"PUSH ME," commanded Mary.
"Mostly successful is a fair general assessment," said Jerry, who stepped up to shake Ed's hand as Ed began to push Mary in her wheelchair towards the auditorium exit. One of Jerry's black-suited robot bodyguards flanked him, although the robot looked pretty beat up. In a few places the black suit and some ceramic skin was bashed away, exposing wires and computer chips, and with his one good arm he carried his broken-off arm. "Stone-Coats won over the rogue robots, barely. There have been dozens of human casualties but many thousands of human lives were saved, so I suppose that we can't really complain."
"But?" Ed queued.
"Egborg got away, spirited off by a Stone-Coat disguised robot."
"To fight again another day?"
"Probably," admitted Jerry. "But mostly our plan worked. As far as we know all other robots involved in the attack were destroyed. It will hopefully take years for Egborg to rebuild another sizable attack force. Weeks ago we knew it had to be our missing escaped robot behind the Stone-Coat dismantling, of course, just as Egborg intended us to know. The Stone-Coats began to secretly develop new fighting tactics, such as the graphene reinforced black amorphous carbon gunk and the diamond-tipped icicles that they spat out at the attacking robots.
"Here at CCNY a few of the Ice-Giants altered themselves to be super-powered by increasing their radioactive power sources to dangerous levels, and began to set up to ambush the robots here at the CCNY Stone-Coat stronghold. Those super-charged CCNY Stone-Coats have already returned underground and are returning their systems to normal radiation levels so that they can be around people again.
"All those things together were enough to give the more numerous Stone-Coats the upper hand. The Stone-Coats have destroyed their enemies and the City was saved. Even the cantankerous UN folks are happy."
"What about the kidnapping?" Ed asked, as they exited the auditorium. They moved towards the exit as part of the flow of injured students and faculty that were still being carted away by EMS folks.
"The kidnapping was a very nasty surprise," said Jerry. "But it did allow us to set up a scheme to lure Egborg to CCNY and expose his identity. CCNY was the one Stone-Coat stronghold where we thought we might gain the upper-hand. The overall plan was Mary's doing, of course."
"I'm not surprised," said Ed. It was just like Mary to pretty much take control of things.
"No wonder Warren agreed so readily to our lecture tour!" said Mary. "He was himself secretly the rogue robot leader and the whole thing fit right into his plans! It was wise not to take him into our confidence."
"I don't understand how as a robot he could be so human-like," said Ed. "He even seemed to have nasty emotions, even though I suppose that he's basically just a bunch of computer chips."
"That's the sort of attitude that probably drove him rogue," said Jerry. "We're just a bunch of cells shaped by billions of years of biological evolution. Mary's just a bunch of minerals shaped by billions of years of Stone-Coat evolution tweaked by a human Mary template. Egborg got a huge boost from human ingenuity much as the jants did from me, but he still ended up being a sentient life form worthy of respect."
"Absolutely," agreed Ed. "But I'd have respected him a lot more if he didn't kill folks. I don't understand how he evaded you guys for a whole decade!"
Jerry shrugged. "Egborg is super-smart, and was purposely designed to have human-like thought patterns. That seemed like a good idea at the time. Like my personal bodyguard robots, Egborg and his army were cloaked in dielectric plastics and ceramics that blocked detection of their internal electronic workings and metallic structures and mimicked Stone-Coats, humans, or even jant-controlled humans. Hopefully recovered robot parts will give us further insight into their technology such that we will finally be able to hunt down all rogue robots."
"Don't be optimistic to the point of complacency," warned Mary. "Egborg also sampled our technologies and tactics such that he and his robot friends can now make improvements of their own. Recall that he said that his initiative was largely an experiment to get more data about his opposition. He met that goal at least, even though this time he failed to achieve his other goals."
They reached the outside of the building, where amazingly the sun was out and mounds of snow were visibly beginning to sag and melt. The polar vortex must have zig-zagged further north for the day. Flying ambulances were busily landing and then taking off with human victims. Without so many robots at large to hack City electronics it had apparently been judged safe to operate flying emergency vehicles once again, at least for now. Ed could sense jant chatter from the ambulances, where the insects were ttreating human patients using med-ticks.
Around the CCNY buildings Ice Giants by the hundreds were gathered on the battlefield, treating themselves. Stone arms, legs, and heads were placed near each other so that they could be fused back together. They were also absorbing tons of broken robot parts. The Stone-Coats would recover in days, but except for a few preserved samples the robots were obliterated. Obliterated like Terry and Mouse, Ed couldn't help thinking.
The wail of human emergency vehicles filled the air, proclaiming arrival of the vanguard of armies of police, fire, and medical emergency people that would over the next hours and days extinguish fires, dig out victims, and begin to clean up the mess. The City would heal itself as expeditiously as humanly possible. New Yorkers including battered Stone-Coats and jants, would together recover, as New Yorkers always did. But too many valuable lives had been lost. And with Egborg escaped there would surely be other incidents in the future. This rogue robot business wasn't over.
"You could have trusted me and told me more, Jerry," said Ed. "M
aybe it wouldn't have made any difference, but maybe it would."
"Yes, we could have," said Jerry. "But you already had enough on your mind and you didn't have a need to know more. Ideally you and your family shouldn't have gotten involved in this thing at all. But Egborg wanted to destroy the UN and the Stone-Coat relationship with humans and you and Ann became perfect targets. We should have realized that and taken measures, including giving you a head's up. But that's all 20-20 hindsight."
"You've always been sneaky, Jerry, but it's not like a Mary to hold out on me that way," said Ed.
"Mary insisted on tackling this thing side-by-side with you," said Jerry. "She was headed for your apartment when she heard of the disassembly happening so near to where you lived, even before she heard from Fred about the kidnapping."
"Like I told you Ed," said Mary. "I'll always know more than I'm telling you. Such as now. Here comes your ride home to Eagle Street." She lifted her remaining arm to point at an arriving flying vehicle. Yes, no flying private vehicles were allowed in New York City, but this one had a big USA flag painted on the side of it, with 13 stripes and 52 stars. It was one of Jerry's Government VIP vehicles, without a doubt.
"Right," said Ed stoically. It was time to face the music. He was going home to Ann and the kids without Terry and Mouse.
The big flying limo landed. Three people immediately scrambled out of it and ran towards Ed, laughing and shouting. They gang-tackled Ed to the ground where he could only lay sobbing uncontrollably with joy as Ann, Terry, and little Mouse hugged and kissed him!
Ed felt as happy as he had ever been in his long life! And exhausted. He wanted nothing more now than to go home with his family and snuggle with them. After he ate something that wasn't a sandwich he would then sleep for maybe ten or twelve hours. Or days.
Ann and Jerry finally hauled Ed to his feet and half carried him to the air-limo, where the still stunned Chief found two others waiting inside. Sly Snake sat grinning ear to ear next to a very poorly dressed and much too-thin, grinning, scruffy young-man zombie. The zombie was gently holding in his cupped hands a tiny animal that appeared to be wearing a dirty once-white tee-shirt. At their feet was a large mud-covered wooden box that crawled with thousands of jabbering jants.
"Chief Ed, this is Hank Willows and his jants," said Sly Snake. "They found the girls. Good thing too; the whole damn place blew up right after we got them all out."
"Mr. Snake promised us a nice warm place to live," said Hank. "With as much food as we want!"
Ed communicated with and assessed Hank's jant colony. It was a small rogue colony, barely capable of maintaining a zombie.
"They want to join the Tribe," said Mouse.
"And they're going to live in our apartment building with us," added Terry excitedly. "And there's going to be a huge celebration when we get home! There are Tribe folks, zombie folks, Omega folks and even UN VIPs arriving right now at our apartment from all over the City! Some of my school and Tribe friends are coming and we'll party for days! Won't that be great?"
"It will be swell!" said Ed, as he reached out to warmly shake the hands of Sly Snake and Hank. Party? A second rogue jant colony and zombie living in Fred? Good thing Bob was already dead or all this would surely kill him. "Let's all go home then!"
"CRAP!" Ed couldn't help silently muttering.
Sly Snake couldn't help laughing out loud.
Across from Sly Snake and Hank, Ed, Ann, Terry and little Mouse sat together in a wonderful tangle of hugging arms and smiling faces. Smiling Jerry gave the happy group a little salute as he shut the limo door and signaled for the vehicle to take-off.
As the limo lifted up and away Ed looked out a window and saw Mary 11,123 standing and silently waving goodbye to him with her one good arm. Maybe it was his imagination, but it looked to him like her permanent smile had already been mostly repaired. Ed returned the wave, his eyes still damp from happy tears. He always had confused mixed feelings whenever he said goodbye to a Mary.
The End
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About Other Publications by This Author
You may also be interested in the already published e-books of this author, including my first and to date most popular e-book, a diverse collection of twenty fantasy and sci-fi short stories titled There Goes The Neighborhood; Earthly Fantasy/Science Fiction Short Stories. Like my novels, these short stories range from pure science fiction to pure fantasy, and most take place in contemporary Earth settings.
If you like ancient secrets, magic and science, romance and adventure, science fiction and fantasy, parallel universes and hidden fantasy worlds, try reading the full-length novels Secrets of Goth Mountain (which like much of the Global Warming Fun stories has a Native American setting) and its loosely coupled epic fun-packed sequel Government Men. Government Men has a bit of everything, including the book itself and its author. Yes, oddly enough this book as its most unusual feature includes itself and its author, along with unicorns, psychics, space aliens, an impending space-alien-wrought Armageddon, and much more! (A proverbial kitchen sink is included for the sake of completeness.) Both of these action filled books employ a great deal of science-based fiction, as well as strong doses of fantasy and romance.
Bird lovers that like strong human female heroines and even stronger giant blue jay heroes may (if T-rex sized raptors and other nuisances can be tolerated) enjoy an adventure trip to Aves the bird planet, achieved by reading the traditional science fiction thriller Blue Dawn Jay of Aves. Other than many of my short stories and some of Global Warming Fun, this is my only 'pure' science fiction work to date.
Global Warming Fun is a series of short stories, novellas, and novels that use climate change as a backdrop for the centuries-long life of telepathist Ed Rumsfeld and the emergence of sentient ants and ancient stone creatures that are based on the Mohawk myth of stone-coat giants.
Fantasy noir detective fans that can abide what used to be known by feminists as a 'male chauvinist pig' private detective as a hero, and can also tolerate trolls, elves, and other unexpected visitors to our world along with a talking mob cat, may enjoy The Shrinking Nuts Case: my first novel length 'pure' fantasy work. It is also my only novel or novella written in first-person voice (so far!).
My relatively fantasy-pure novel White Dragon's Chosen chronicles the adventures of two teenagers and their dragons as they combat Evil that would destroy all life on contemporary Earth and across the multiverse.
I try to employ some humor in most of my works, particularly in Government Men, The Shrinking Nuts Case, and some of my short stories. I also lean heavily towards positive outcomes, although just as in real life, those don't always happen.
To learn the author's world view (Weltanschauung) including thoughts on multiverse and quantum mechanics physics concepts and how that compares with phenomena that occur in the above novels, get geeky with the brief little e-book NOW and the Weltanschauung of Government Men.
Gary J. Davies, Mechanicsville MD, January 2017
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