“We should be right above them now,” the A.I. observed, “but I can’t detect them as of yet. We’re going to have to come down hard and fast to maximize our chances of catching them by surprise. Brace yourself.”
Craig smiled. “Trust me. I’ve come down harder and faster before.”
“We’ll see,” the A.I. replied an instant before they began their descent, blasting down toward the World Trade Center site.
Craig gritted his teeth as they picked up speed and the grid of city blocks quickly grew larger. He suddenly wished he hadn’t boasted to the A.I. as he stifled a scream.
“I’ve got them,” the A.I. announced as he simultaneously released electromagnetic energy pulses that sped downward toward the three specks that continued to circle the Twin Towers.
“Good eyes,” Craig commented as he marveled at the A.I.’s ability to detect the three tiny objects below them. “Did you hit them?”
“Of course,” the A.I. replied. “They’re in dire straights now. We’ll have to guide them to safety.”
“I don’t think so,” Craig countered. “Let’s see how they manage on their own.”
“They may die,” the A.I. cautioned.
“That’s a damn shame,” Craig replied as he watched the three Purists, now less than 100 meters below him, struggling to keep their altitude. They flew in formation, desperately trying to reach the rooftop of Building 7 of the World Trade Center complex.
“Can you live with this?” the A.I. asked.
“They just killed 2,000 on the
As soon as the words escaped his lips, one of the three Purists began to quickly lose control. The left wing dipped slightly, and though the super soldier was able to quickly correct it and level out, the lost inertia caused the heavy glider to go into a tailspin. Craig watched the man drop down, tumbling uncontrollably over fifty stories.
Meanwhile, the other two stricken super soldiers were able to guide themselves over the edge of the rooftop, crashing uncontrolled onto the gravel surface.
Craig heard the voice of Colonel Paine as he groaned in agony. Craig sneered.
“Set me down,” Craig told the A.I. As instructed, the A.I. set Craig down on the rooftop only a few paces away from the two remaining crippled super soldiers. He stepped toward Paine, who had rolled onto his side, his prosthetic limbs awkwardly crossed in front of him.
“Is that you, Doc?” Paine said in a voice barely more than a whisper. A trickle of blood-stained saliva dangled from his bottom lip. “I can’t see, Doc. I went blind. I had to guide myself down to where I’d seen this rooftop an instant before everything went black. Did my men make it?”
“One of them,” Craig confirmed as he looked over to Degrechie’s crumpled form. He was glad that it had been Drummey who’d crashed.
“Which one?”
“Degrechie.”
Paine’s face screwed up into an ugly expression; Craig wasn’t sure if it was from a sudden stab of physical pain or genuine remorse about his fallen comrade. “Damn it, Doc. Damn it.”
Craig shook his head and looked across to the billowing smoke that was still pouring out from the Twin Towers. “How’s it look?” he asked the A.I. “Will it survive this time?”
“It appears so,” the A.I. replied. “The Purists must have exhausted their explosives sinking the
Craig sighed with relief. “Finally. Something goes my way.”
“However,” the A.I. continued, “there were doubtless casualties when they began unloading their weapons into the tower in their attempts to destroy it. We can only hope this was somewhat mitigated by the early hour.”
Craig nodded regretfully before crouching down next to Paine. “What were you thinking? Was all of that just to lure me here?”
Paine shook his head as he continued to struggle for breath. It took him a moment before he could speak. “I knew what you’d do. I knew you’d head to the airport. There was no way we could stop you. All we could do was try to bring the buildings down ourselves.”
“Why?” Craig asked, exasperated. “What’s the matter with you?”
“Doc…” Paine began, shaking with the effort to speak, “…you don’t belong here. You’re not of this universe. Those towers were meant to fall. You don’t have the right to interfere.”
Disgusted, Craig stood to his feet. “All right. Now what?” he asked the A.I.
“We have options,” the A.I. informed. “We can either find the Planck the Purists used to enter this universe and continue on our journey as Aldous intended—”
“Whoa! Wait a second there,” Craig interrupted. “I thought you said we couldn’t alter our course, but now you’re saying we can?”
“Not exactly,” the A.I. replied. “What I am saying is that the Planck platform the Purists used on the
“Our universe? Home?”
“Correct.”
Craig slapped his hands together excitedly. “Well hot-diggity! We’re in business then!” He reached down and grabbed Paine by the back of his jacket before dragging him across the roof so he could do likewise to Degrechie. “Let’s get to it,” he said as he lifted off the roof of the building and began flying toward the short-range Planck platform.
“Indeed, but Craig, remember that Aldous wanted us to remain in the bulk, traveling from universe to universe so we could avoid detection and return when it was safer. If we return ahead of schedule, we are sure to encounter—”
“It’s already too late for that,” Craig replied. “The Purists are on to us. Whether we run for one more universe or fourteen more, it won’t matter. In the end, there’s only one way back to Universe 1—through the Planck machine back at the complex.”
They set down several blocks away on the rooftop on which Craig and the A.I. had originally entered Universe 332. He roughly placed both Paine and Degrechie on the platform, folding their limp prosthetic limbs so they fit safely on the silver disk.
“There is more that you need to know, Craig,” said the A.I.
“Okay,” Craig replied as he huffed and puffed from the exertion of moving the heavy bodies. “Hit me with it.”
“The next universe—the next historical event—is one for which you may not be prepared.”
“Why? What could be worse than what we’ve been through already?”
“Craig, we’ll be going to a universe that is fourteen years behind Universe 1—to Shenzhen, China
6
“You’re kidding.”
“I’m not particularly comfortable with humor at the moment, Craig,” the A.I. replied, “so I avoid ‘kidding,’ as you put it. Unfortunately, I am quite serious.”
“I’m going to see my own SOLO jump?”
“We should be appearing on the ground to witness the confrontation between you and the MAD robot known as Robbie. Then we will witness the destruction of the Chinese A.I. by a tactical nuke not long afterward.”
