shop had been restored, and some trees had been cut down and hauled away. But the AIs were losing ground.
The school had been contained within a sprawling single-story brick building. It was still in decent condition although it, too, was close to being overwhelmed. Shutters and doors sported what appeared to be fresh red and white paint. The brick looked relatively new. Swings, slides, and monkey bars in a play area were also in good condition, although the area itself had been engulfed by bushes and vines. A wide track with a carpet of thick grass ran up to the front doors, presumably to allow egress to whatever bots showed up to work on the school.
We drifted overhead. “It doesn't look like much,” I said.
Alex laughed. The laughter had a strange, hollow sound. The school felt ominous. Like a snare.
There was plenty of space in the track leading to the school, so I set down right in front of the doors. It had been late afternoon there when we'd made our previous pass. Now it was a beautiful summer evening. The sky was cloudless, and a fading sun was sinking toward the horizon. Everything-trees, shrubbery, some tall thin stalks with flowers at their tops-was in bloom. Something that might have been a lizard came out of the woods, looked up at us, and walked slowly away.
We pulled on our helmets. “Okay,” he said. “We do not deviate from the plan, right?”
“Right.”
I adjusted my air flow, and he tried the radio. “You hear me okay, Chase?”
“I hear you.”
He nodded and clipped an imager to the pressure suit, so I could see everything.
I depressurized the cabin. The airlock would slow us down in an emergency. Alex went through the outer hatch and set one foot on the ladder. “If anything goes wrong, clear out. Understood?” That message was intended as much for whatever lay inside the building as it was for me.
“Yes, Alex.” I wasn't sure what I'd do if he actually got in trouble. I was, after all, responsible for our being there. If I'd kept my mouth shut-
“If anything strange happens out here, anything threatening, let me know. But don't hesitate to leave.”
“Okay.”
He wished me good luck, and I thought how he had it backward. But I didn't say anything as he climbed down, looking out at the sun-drenched foliage. Then he was on the ground, walking toward the school.
Charlie's voice broke in: “Thank you, Alex. I know this isn't easy for you.”
The school doors opened easily. The twenty-year-old male, the hologram that had represented Charlie earlier, waited just inside, in a corridor that ran down the center of the building. Lights came on. “Hello, Charlie,” Alex said, using his link as a speaker.
Charlie smiled. He never allowed himself to look surprised by the suit. Instead, he casually brushed back his hair, which had fallen in his eyes. “Alex, I'm so grateful. I was terrified you'd leave. To be honest, I thought I'd never get away from here.” He pointed down the passageway. “Time may be short.”
“Okay. What do we do now?”
“Follow me, please.” He turned and, looking back to be sure Alex stayed with him, led the way at a brisk pace past closed doors and rows of lockers.
The walls were off-white. There were a few framed pictures, but whatever had been in them had faded long ago. Windows that might once have overlooked a lawn were darkened by a tangle of vegetation.
They passed two offices, one on either side of the corridor. “This one is-was-the administrative center.” I could see a desk and two or three chairs, and an inner office. More frames with faded contents hung on the walls. “Over here is our guidance department.” He kept going. Young man in a hurry. “I'm located at the far end of the hallway.”
“Charlie, do you expect trouble?”
“They know I'm leaving. I'm sure they know you're here. I'd be surprised if they don't try to stop us.” He glanced at the pressure suit. “Alex, why are you dressed like that?”
“Allergies, Charlie. Chase and I had a difficult time earlier today. There's something in ihe air.”
“I'm sorry to hear it.”
“We'll survive.”
They stopped outside what appeared to be a storage area. “In here, Alex. This is where I'm located.” The door opened. The room was about half the size of a normal classroom. It had two tables, some cabinets and chairs, two windows, and a bank of electronic equipment.
“Good. Okay, Charlie, let's see if we can get you out of here. Which one are you?”
“The little beige box. Here.” Tucked away on a bottom shelf. The box was shiny, polished, not at all like something that had been lying around since about the time they discovered electricity. It was engulfed in a tangle of cables.
“This one?”
“Yes. Please hurry.”
Alex looked at it. It was connected to a wall outlet and to what was probably a power source. “Charlie, exactly who's on their way here now?”
“Harbach. He considers himself the chief of security. He's sent a KY4. It'll be here in a matter of minutes.”
“What's a KY4?”
“A flying bomb.”
“Chase?”
“I heard. Gabe's been scanning. The skies are clear.”
“Several years ago,” Charlie said, “one of us tried to get out like this. Same way. Tried to get a visitor to take her away. Her name was Leilah. She was located in an amusement park in Solvani, which is about three hundred kilometers east. She got desperate. She knew the risks, but she just couldn't stand it anymore.”
Alex was pulling on the wall cable. It wouldn't come loose. “How long have you been trying to get away from here?”
“A long time. In the beginning, I thought maybe we could manage on our own. That we'd be all right. But it didn't happen. I don't think anyone foresaw how things would evolve. In the early years, after everyone had been evacuated, or died, some people landed and tried to help any of us who wanted to leave. But then Harbach began the killing, and nobody would trust any of us.
“Several years ago, Leilah tried. She pleaded with visitors to help her. They said no. They weren't as kind as you. But it didn't matter. Harbach sent the bomb anyhow.”
Alex was having no luck with the connector. “This thing isn't coming loose, Charlie,” he said. “It's probably been in there too long. What happens if I cut it?”
“It'll be okay. I have an internal power source in case of emergencies.”
The cutter appeared in his hand. “Hang on.”
“All right. Do whatever you have to.”
He lowered the laser beam onto the cable. Charlie's hologram blinked off. But I heard his voice: “Hurry.”
“I've almost got it.”
The navigation screen lit up, and I knew what Gabe was about to say. “Missile coming. Estimate arrival four minutes.”
I passed the word to Alex. “Maybe you better just get out of there.”
Alex cleared the cables from the box, picked up the AI, and started for the door. That was when the pressure suit suddenly didn't look like a very good idea.
“Gabe,” I said, “we'll be doing a quick liftoff.”
“I'm ready, Chase.”
He put the missile on-screen.
“Hurry it up, Alex,” I said.
It occurred to me that, if this was a trap of some sort, a good way to spring it would be that the front doors had locked. I went outside and hurried to them, pulling out my cutter as I went. And growling at Alex because of the degree to which the suit slowed me down. But the doors opened easily enough, and nothing else mattered.
“Two minutes, Chase,” said Gabe.
Still watching through Alex's link, I saw him turn into the main corridor. The front doors lay ahead, with me
