Post-Human Trilogy

“It’s… I know I should have an impressive adjective here but all I can think is… wow,” Rich added.

James smiled. “There are twelve more just like it on the planet. The mist helps reflect the sun’s rays and to keep the air currents flowing properly to cool the planet. The falls themselves generate enormous amounts of energy, which supercharges the planet’s ionosphere.”

“How is charging the ionosphere productive?” Old-timer asked.

“It’s not just productive. It’s crucial,” James replied. “When I had access to all the information in the A.I.’s mainframe, I searched for information that would be useful for terraforming. I came across an amazing discovery. A scientist who lived in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, Nikola Tesla, had discovered a way to transmit power wirelessly.”

Old-timer knitted his brow.

Rich appeared baffled. “I’m not sure I follow you.”

“No, you do. It’s just like I said,” James replied. “As amazing as it sounds, before the twentieth century had even begun, a scientist had learned how to transmit electricity without wires. The technology had been hidden from the world after his death because certain governments wanted to maintain their power by forcing the use of fossil fuels, limiting those who could access it and keeping most of the world poor for economic reasons. Eventually, the wireless electricity technology was completely forgotten—but a record of it was still in the A.I.’s database.”

“So… are you saying that Venus is… electrified?” Rich asked.

James smiled and nodded. “Yes! Isn’t it incredible? Venus takes in much more solar energy than the Earth, and with the additions of these falls all over the planet’s oceans, the ionosphere is supercharged and has far more energy than its future inhabitants could ever need. You’ll never need a fusion implant on Venus.”

“That truly is incredible, Commander,” Rich replied. “It’s genius.”

James laughed, “I never would have been able to do this without the information I had access to when I was operating the A.I. mainframe.”

The trio stopped for a moment and let the spectacle of the falls sink in. James watched the power of the water as it churned so far below and couldn’t help but think of his former wife. He’d been considering naming one of the falls after her. It was so rare for a person to die these days—the art of commemorating someone’s life seemed to have been lost.

“You miss Katherine, don’t you?” a warm voice spoke.

James turned to Old-timer and smiled, surprised that his friend could read him so easily. “Yes. Of course I do.”

“What?” Old-timer asked, confused.

“I miss Katherine,” James said. Old-timer’s look of confusion didn’t subside. “Didn’t you just ask me if I missed Katherine?” James asked.

Old-timer shook his head. “No, I didn’t say a word.”

“Oh,” James smiled, embarrassed, “I guess it was…” He didn’t finish his sentence, as he turned to see that Rich had floated several meters away and out of earshot. He was staring up at the white mist as it climbed hundreds of meters into the sky. “That’s the damnedest thing,” James said.

“What happened?” Old-timer asked.

“I just… I swear someone asked me if I missed Katherine. It was as clear as a bell.”

Old-timer could see the sudden distress in his friend’s expression. It was only natural that James was having a harder time getting over the death of his former wife than he would admit to himself. It was true that James loved Thel, but he would always be haunted by the death of Katherine at the hands of the A.I. He put his arm on James’s shoulder and said, “It’s probably just the sound of the falls messing with your ears. Come on, kid. Let’s go see that woman of yours. And I could use a replicator right about now. I’m starving!”

James smiled and nodded. “Yes, of course. Let’s go.” He activated his magnetic field and contacted Rich. “Let’s move out, buddy.”

In seconds, the trio was blasting up into the sky and away from the waves, heading toward James’s Venusian hideaway.

The mystery of the voice haunted him all the way home.

3

Thel stood on the balcony of the third-floor entrance of their beautiful lakeside home and waved the three men inside as they shut down their magnetic fields and landed softly on the lush carpeting. She wore a yellow sundress and was holding a glass jug of cold lemonade. “Hello, men!” she greeted with a smile.

“Hello, woman!” Old-timer responded as he embraced her and then pulled back immediately to take in the changes in her appearance. “You’re so golden!” he commented, referring to her tan.

“I’ve had a nice vacation, as you can see,” she replied, continuing to smile. “And your flight suits are all damp from the falls. I can see he took you in for a close look.”

“Oh, sorry about that, milady,” Old-timer smiled as he stepped back from her. “And while I believe you are his pride and joy, my dear, he did take us to the falls. They were spectacular… and spectacularly wet.”

“Thel, hi,” Rich said as he eyed her drink. “It’s nice to see you. Say, that lemonade looks pretty good, and it’s awfully hot.”

“Hello to you too, Rich,” Thel replied. “I promise you can have some of this lemonade once you’ve dried your clothes. You and the boys can use the dryers in the bathroom.” She pointed toward the back of the house.

“Much obliged,” Old-timer replied with a small bow as he and Rich withdrew.

James met Thel’s eyes, and then stepped to her and kissed her. “I missed you.”

“You’ve only been gone for an hour and a half, and I was sleeping through most of it,” Thel replied, kissing him back.

“I stand by my statement of missing.”

She laughed and gently pulled herself away from him. “You’re all damp too, flyboy. I think you better join the boys in the locker room and dry off.”

“Fine,” James replied before kissing her once more. “I’d rather be with you in the locker room though.”

“Tonight,” she replied. Thel made him feel as though he were the luckiest man alive.

Old-timer and Rich were already under the air vents as James entered the white-tiled bathroom. “How do you point the vents down? I need to dry my pants,” Rich asked Old-timer, who responded by doing it for him with his mind’s eye. “Thanks,” Rich replied.

“So…what do you guys think of the place?” James asked.

“It’s paradise,” Old-timer replied. “Are you sure you want to tell everyone about this? I’m sure you could keep it a secret a little longer. Since the Council canceled plans to terraform Venus for the foreseeable future, no one is going to be looking your way.”

James smiled. “Are you thinking you and Daniella would like to put up a little villa somewhere?”

“Maybe.” Old-timer smiled back.

James laughed. “Well, you’re welcome to, but I think the longer I keep it a secret the more upset the Council is going to be with me when they find out about it. Six months is probably bad enough.”

Suddenly, James’s mind’s eye flashed open. It was an emergency call from Aldous Gibson, Chief of the Governing Council.

James sighed. “Speak of the devil.”

“What is it?” Old-timer asked.

“Chief Gibson. This should be interesting.”

“Wow. I’m not here,” Rich said before James answered.

“Keats here.”

“Commander Keats…” Gibson began before pausing; he seemed to struggle to finish his sentence, “we have an…extremely serious situation brewing. We need you here at headquarters immediately.” The most concerning