it has a magnetic field!”
“Uh. What does that have to do with anything, Commander?” Rich called down.
“The bats are tracking the magnetic energy in our implants. There’s no telling how large their range is, so we can’t outrun them on Earth, but if we can get to Mercury before them, the magnetic field should disrupt their sensors!”
“But you just said we can’t outrun them!” Djanet responded.
“Not on Earth, but we should have an advantage over them. They aren’t generating their own magnetic fields. They don’t need to on Earth, but out in space, close to Mercury, we’ll have to gamble that the heat will begin taking a toll on their inner operations and slow them down.”
“That’s a mighty big gamble, James,” Old-timer responded gravely.
“It’s all I have, Old-timer,” answered James. “I’ll keep Thel with me and protect her. Once we get to the planet’s surface, we’ll find a place to hide before we head back to Earth. So what do you say?”
“I say it’s totally insane, but staying here is insane-er,” quipped Rich, desperately blasting energy at the bats as they plunged toward the team in kamikaze fashion.
“Let’s do it,” Djanet concurred.
“Okay, I’m in. On the count of three?” Old-timer suggested.
James looked down at Thel, whose eyes were starting to focus. “You’re okay, baby. I got you,” he said softly.
“One!” Rich exclaimed as he just managed to blast a bat that made it within a few meters of them.
“Two!” Djanet shouted as the bats began to darken the sky with their numbers.
James ignited his magnetic field, enveloping himself and Thel in the protective green light.
“Three!” Old-timer shouted as he and the rest of the team ignited their magnetic fields and blasted upward at incredible speed, the bats following almost instantaneously.
13
Space had never seemed so vast, lifeless, or perilous. Once they left Earth’s cradle, they had to streak through the emptiness at speeds far faster than they had ever traveled before. There was no choice—they had to stay ahead of the bats. Yellow energy continued to flash from the horde behind them, and Old-timer, Djanet, and Rich continued to repel the attack. Any mistake that allowed their magnetic fields to be disrupted in space would mean certain death.
Locating Mercury by the stars alone was a tricky task. The planet was not always visible because of its proximity to the sun, but James had an idea of where it should be at this time of the year and made an educated guess. He took note of Venus as it passed by in the distance, a pale yellow dot that he might never get the chance to visit again, a dream from another life.
Thel was huddled against him, watching with horror as her companions continued to repel the attack behind them. “I feel so helpless,” she said to James. “I should be back there helping them.”
James didn’t reply. There was nothing he could say to comfort her. She was right: She was helpless, and the other members of the team were risking their lives so James could concentrate on guiding them to safety. He felt helpless too, but simultaneously he felt enormous pressure. What if he was wrong? What if his last thoughts before his death were that he’d been responsible for leading the others to their end?
As the sun began to dramatically increase in size and brightness, James spotted Mercury. He shifted his trajectory slightly and tried to increase his speed. He’d never flown at such speeds before and wondered just how fast he and the others were moving. In theory, there was almost no limit—other than the universal speed limit of light—to how fast they could fly; their limitations were mental ones. The only word on James’s mind as they neared the baked planet was:
“Is that it?” Thel asked as the orb in the distance began to increase in size.
“Yes,” James replied, relieved that he’d at least found it.
Thel took her eyes off of the planet to look back at her companions. The bats seemed to be fewer now and were a greater distance behind them. “Oh thank God. I think it’s working!”
“They’re overheating,” James concurred. “Let’s hope enough of them break off the chase for us to lose them on Mercury.”
Moments later, the rest of the team moved closer to James and Thel. Old-timer gave James a thumbs-up sign to signal that the bats were finally out of firing range. Now they only had to hope the magnetic field they were entering would hide them.
James guided the others down to the surface on the dark side of Mercury. The Mercutian night was black and moonless, and it was a relief to escape the brilliant yellowish-white light of the sun. The dark was so great as their eyes adjusted that the only discernible features were those upon which the greenish glow of their magnetic fields shone. A large crevice appeared directly below them, and James guided his teammates down into the charred salvation.
Once they had come to a rest, it was simply a matter of waiting and hoping that none of the bats had survived the heat and were detecting their signals. Only time would tell. A few minutes would hold all of the answers.
James sat on a ledge in the crevice and put a hand to his burning chest.
Thel sat on his lap and placed her cool hand lightly against his torso. “James, I’ve never been so scared. I feel I can’t take it anymore. I might go crazy.”
“There’s no nans to dampen the fear for you. I’m scared too, Thel, but we’ll make it.”
“Even if we do, what next? Do you think the A.I. was telling the truth? Will you really be dead in twenty-four hours?”
“I don’t know. If I’ve punctured a lung, I may not even have that long.”
“I can’t live without you, James! I can’t!” Thel put her hand behind James’s head and brought his face close to hers. She placed her cheek against his and held him firmly. “I won’t.”
“Have you ever heard of the Purists?” James asked Thel.
Her breath caught for a moment as she pulled her head back and locked eyes with him. “Yes, I think so— many years ago when I was in school. They’re a cult, aren’t they?”
“Something like that. Except there are hundreds of thousands of them. Most, but not all of them, belong to ancient religions. They live without nans or spinal implants and live out their natural lifespans, allowing themselves to die.”
“That’s insane, James. They throw away their lives for their twisted beliefs.”
“They may be insane, but there is also a chance that some of them are alive. The A.I. said no registered Net users were offline other than us when the virus was downloaded, but the Purists would remain untouched—at least in theory.”
“What do you mean ‘in theory’?” asked Thel, arching an eyebrow quizzically.
“The A.I. may not have killed them with the download, but he would have launched a massive attack on them to try to wipe them out.”
“If you ask me, those people should’ve been dealt with years ago. It should be illegal to live like that—like animals. It’s inhuman.”
“The Governing Council would’ve wiped them out if they could’ve, Thel, believe me, but they were a problem that simply wasn’t going to go away. Every generation birthed more people with the same beliefs, and it was thought better to give them a district where they could practice their beliefs rather than dealing with the consequences of insurrection within the world community. They were given hundreds of square kilometers in and around the area of Buenos Aires.”
“And you think some of them might have survived the attack?”
“It’s only a possibility. The Governing Council spied on the Purists and believed they had weapons and hidden bunkers throughout their territory so that they could defend against an attack if the Council ever went back on their agreement. If some of the Purists managed to hide underground, we may not be the last humans after all.”
