Revelation

Samuel nodded. “Yes.”

“Then we will join you.”

Makara held out her hand. Marcus took it.

“We leave now,” Makara said. “We’ll stay behind at a hover, and if anything enters our sights, we’ll flash our lights.”

“I suppose our bikes will be too heavy for the ship?”

Makara nodded. “Maybe if it was just you guys, but the bikes cannot go on board. I guess we could ferry people back and forth, but I don’t want the group split up for any reason — not with the threat from crawlers.”

“In that case, Vegas is a two days’ journey from here. The land is rough, but it should be passable.”

Makara nodded. “If you have any wounded, we have a clinic aboard Odin.”

“My thanks,” Marcus said, “but as you can see, our wounded died long ago.”

Behind the Exiles, the bodies of three men were laid out, side by side.

“Do you need time to bury them?”

Marcus shook his head. “No. We burn our dead — it is our way.”

“Do what you need to do.” Makara turned aside. “When you leave, we will follow.”

“I’ll go over everything we’ve learned about the xenovirus when we camp tonight,” Samuel said.

Marcus nodded, then turned back to the Exiles. As he began giving orders on what should be done with the dead, we returned to Odin.

* * *

As the bodies caught flame, sending thick plumes of acrid smoke into the air, the Exiles circled the fire and rode west. It was only when we picked up their trail that I realized how amazingly fast Odin went. Going at the Exiles’ pace made the surrounding terrain pass at a crawl. Where we could have made Vegas in an hour, it would take the Exiles two days to make the same journey.

However, it did afford us the opportunity to study the landscape, making sure nothing else jumped out at our newfound allies.

“I have to admit it, Makara,” I said. “You were right.”

Makara smiled. “Have a little faith, Alex. I’m the Chosen One.”

“I’m starting to believe it.”

“This is only the beginning,” Samuel said. “I don’t think you’ll find the Vegas Gangs as accommodating.”

“No,” Makara said. “Probably not.”

The Great Blight spread northward with ethereal beauty. The sunlight had even somewhat broken through the layer of meteor fallout, casting the unearthly colors in a light golden glow.

“I wonder what they’re planning,” I asked, staring at the Great Blight.

Everyone knew what I was talking about. After the xenovirus had revealed the dragons, all of us just had to wonder what was next.

“That giant one, guarding Raider Bluff — I wonder who he is,” Makara said.

“Or she,” Anna said.

I laughed. “Yeah. I could see that thing being a girl.”

Anna raised an eyebrow, while Makara gave me a dangerous look. I shut my mouth.

“I thought at first the xenovirus had access only to genes of Earth origin,” Samuel said. “I’m beginning to think they have genes from other places, too — perhaps from their home world. There’s nothing on Earth that looks like those dragons, or even the crawlers, for that matter.” He sighed. “We’re always running behind. This thing is always one step ahead of us.”

Makara reached for the transceiver. “I’m going to update Ashton.”

The light on the dash blinked while we waited for the doctor to pick up. In the meantime, we continued staring out the windshield, making sure nothing was creeping up on the Exiles.

Ashton’s voice came through. “What’s the update?”

“We found the Exiles,” Makara said. I could hear an “I told you so” tone in her voice that she didn’t bother to mask.

“And?”

“They’ve joined up with us,” Makara said. “We’re all heading north and will reach Vegas in two days.”

“Good work, Makara,” Ashton said. “That’s one group down. Any news of Char?”

“No. I hope to find out more when we reach the city. There’s nothing else to do until then.”

“They were ambushed on a hill,” I said. “We barely got there in time.”

“Casualties?”

“Three Exiles,” Samuel said. “They still number two dozen or so.”

“It’s a good start,” Ashton said. “I don’t suppose you’ve let Marcus know about the xenovirus yet?”

“He knows we’ve found the Black Files, and that we have a plan to stop the xenovirus,” Samuel said. “Other than that, no. He knows nothing. I’m going to catch him up when we camp tonight.”

“See that you do.”

“I guess you haven’t left for Bunker Six yet?” I asked.

“No, not yet. Something was holding me up here in Skyhome. We discovered a leak in Delta Quadrant. Probably a holdover from the impact we had a couple weeks ago. It’s taken care of, so I’ll be out of touch for the next couple days until I find those parts.”

“Ashton…” Anna said. “You don’t have to do this. Just send us instead.”

“That’s a negative, Anna. I need all of you focused on recruiting for the Angels. The old man can be relegated to the less important tasks.”

“Getting those wavelength monitors set up is hardly unimportant,” I said.

“Right you are, Alex. This Voice won’t find itself. Luckily, Makara and I have already dropped one off, so I only need the parts for two more. And it’s not even the whole thing, just a homing chip that will help with the tracking and…”

“Ashton,” Anna said.

He chuckled. “Right. Well, you kids be safe. If anything changes, don’t hesitate to call me on Gilgamesh, though I may be out of touch most of that time.”

“Copy that,” Makara said. “Anything else?”

“Yeah, I’ve got something.” I looked at Anna, and smiled. “How do you guys make toothpaste up there?”

There was a long, awkward silence as everyone in the cockpit looked at me blankly, except Anna, who smiled.

“Um…you know, Alex, I’m not rightly sure of that. I’ll make it my top priority to find out, though.”

Ashton cut out.

“What the heck was that about?” Makara asked.

“Nothing,” I said. “It’s a question that’s really, really been bugging me for the past two days. Toothpaste: where does it come from?”

“Well, if you want a serious answer…” Samuel said. “Baking soda, mint, some other things, maybe…”

“Seriously,” Makara said. “Let’s just focus on following the Exiles and not letting them die.”

I laughed. “A bit wound up, are we?”

“Humph. Maybe so. This leading thing is a little harder than I’d thought.”

Samuel gave a rare smile. “Trust me, it’s only going to get worse.”

“Thanks, Sam,” Makara said.

The day wore on with no further incident. We passed over gnarled desert hills and into a long, low flatland — at the end of which was a giant, jagged chasm. Its interior and sides were coated with xenofungus, and swarms of birds flew in and out of the great rent in the Earth.

“The Grand Canyon,” Anna said. “Never thought I’d get to see it.”

“It’s completely taken over,” Makara said.

“That can’t be good for Vegas,” I said. “Isn’t the Colorado their water supply?”

No one answered. That was a question that had to wait until we actually got there.

The Great Blight had spread further in two months than I would have ever thought possible. The power of