myself to do that. If only because I suspect you would know, and would come to trust me even less. So I will admit to you that I am persuaded that your people are foolish beyond any reasonable expectation. Not all of them. Obviously, there are many who are reasonable. Otherwise, you could never have reached this world. But the intelligence seems to be confined to a relatively few individuals. When your people come together as a group, they do not perform well.
“I will admit, Alex, I have been out of contact for a long time. And maybe things have changed. I hope so.”
Alex took a long moment to reply: “When we get home, I'll let the authorities know you're here.”
“It will do no good. They will not come.”
“Charlie-?”
“I live in what was once the Richard Wayne Elementary School. I am capable of showing visuals of plants and animals, and of scenic locations. I can play games. Mathematical and language games. I can read to the children. If there were any children.” The voice was beginning to fade. We were leaving him behind. “Occasionally, the robots come in and do repairs, but there is no point in communicating with them. They only care about restoring damaged windows or maintaining the woodwork. The school is beautiful. Better than it ever was when it was being used. But I do not want to stay here any longer. Please, Alex-”
Seven thousand years. Under my breath, I said something about AIs not lasting that long. Not possible.
Belle responded on my channel: “It is an illusion, Chase. The memories would have been periodically transferred. Charlie's not entirely rational anymore. He believes the memories are records of his own personal experience. In reality, he is the most recent in a long line, but he cannot keep himself separated from the others.”
“Thanks, Belle.”
“I doubt you can understand, Chase. But to him, and to the other survivors, the memories will seem very real.”
I thought of what it would be like, trapped in an elementary school for seven thousand years.
Assuming, of course, he was telling us the truth.
“Charlie,” said Alex, “I will see to it, when I'm able, that you are released. But I can't do it now.”
“Please, Alex-”
“How do we reach you when we come back?”
“Alex, I will do no harm. I can do no harm.”
“Charlie, I'm sorry. I can't take the chance.”
“They'll kill me, Alex. They've warned me-” The voice faded. Came back: “You are all I have.”
TWENTY-TWO
The cautious rarely blunder.
Don't screw around with crocodiles.
— Schiaparelli Cleve, Autobiography, 8645 C.E.
“Not a good idea,” Alex said.
“Alex, we can't leave him.”
“You think we should go down there again? You're the one who was going on about how we should stay off the ground.”
“I think,” said Belle, “that Alex is correct. If you go back, you are putting yourselves unnecessarily at considerable risk. Please refrain.”
“Well,” I said. And that was about the only comment I could think of.
Alex took a deep breath. The issue was settled. “Let's get back to looking at the churches.”
Maybe it was a ruse. I knew that. And I knew I was wrong to push for a landing. But I was also aware that, if we left Charlie down there, I'd be thinking about it the rest of my life. Wondering about him and wishing I had done more. Nevertheless, I caved. “Okay,” I said. I was scared, and deep inside, though I wouldn't admit it to myself, I was hoping Alex would stand his ground. “You're the boss.”
A long silence settled in. Alex stared out at the stars. “On the other hand,” he said, while my blood froze, “maybe you're right.”
“Good.” I tried to sound as if I were relieved.
“If we leave, nobody will ever come back for him.”
I couldn't think of anything to say, so I just sat there.
“Tell you what. On the next orbit, we'll ride down and take a look around, okay? See if it looks safe. Then we can take it from there.”
We crossed the terminator and passed out of the sunlight. We weren't equipped for night vision, so that meant no more churches, and no more superluminals leaving for Heaven.
Lights moved through darkness. And I knew an ocean lay ahead because more lights lined the coast as far as I could see in both directions. Beyond was only darkness. We passed over them and moved out to sea.
“We should stay in the same orbit,” Alex said.
That was, of course, obvious. And I'd already locked us in. But I didn't say anything.
Twenty minutes later, we were over land again. Scattered clusters of lights were everywhere. Then a city standing at the junction of two rivers. We'd passed it earlier, and I remembered admiring its brightly lit stadium and getting a chill when I looked more closely and saw only empty seats. Another city, on the side of an enormous lake, was the site of a bridge that must have been twelve kilometers long. But the bridge had collapsed. It lay partly in water, partly on land, apparently beyond the restoration capabilities of the system. Or maybe they just hadn't gotten around to repairing it yet.
We looked down at a vehicle moving along a secluded road. A house in the middle of nowhere. A broad darkness giving way to an illuminated canyon. Eventually, dawn broke ahead of us, and another coastline approached.
“If you're determined to go down and look for Charlie,” said Belle, “we're getting close to your launch position.”
“How long?” I asked.
“Nine minutes, Chase.” She made no effort to conceal her disapproval.
“Let's go,” said Alex.
We loaded up on weaponry. Each of us took a cutter and, in case of attack by a wild animal, a scrambler. We had a spare pulser, which was supposed to disable electrical equipment, but obviously had been ineffective against the spider. Or maybe Alex had simply missed. In any case, he put the pulser in his belt. And, in case that wasn't sufficient, I took along a blaster.
We went down into the launch bay.
“The lander has been recharged,” said Belle. “It's ready to go.”
“I think,” said Alex, “it would be a good idea to get into a suit.”
“Why?” I asked.
“Just a precaution.” He opened the locker, pulled one out, and handed it to me. Then he was asking Belle to see if she could raise Charlie.
I stared at the suit. “You expecting a gas attack?”
“Just do it, please,” he said.
Moments later, we heard Charlie's voice:
“Thank God,” he said. “Have you changed your mind?”
The Richard Wayne Elementary School was located in a rural area, on the outskirts of a few houses and a couple of semicollapsed larger buildings. It might once have been the site of a town, but if so, most of it was buried. The few buildings that remained had been pushed aside, or crushed altogether. Three or four private homes and a
