will.”
“There’s nothing I can do about it.”
“So why all this?” David pointed to the glass vats.
“I’ve been trying to access the lost memories, hoping they could correct my condition.”
David stared at her. “And?”
“They’re gone. Janus must have deleted them. I don’t see how—there are strict regulations around resurrection memory storage. The computer core may have been damaged during the attack. Some memories are corrupted. I had hoped I could find some clue about the enemy that destroyed the Atlantis world, the enemy that could one day come for Earth. It’s the best thing I can do with my time.”
“Not true.”
“What would you have me do?”
“Leave.”
“I can’t—”
“I won’t watch you die here, in a lab, floating in a vat like some experimental rat. Leave with me—”
“I can’t.”
“You can. Look, I grew up on a small farm in North Carolina. I have about half a PhD in Medieval European History, and I’m a really good shot. That about sums me up. I’m in so far over my head here I can’t see the surface, but I will go wherever this road takes us—if we’re together. I’m in love with you. In fact, you’re the only thing I love in this whole world. We can leave here. I can take care of you. You can die like a human. We can enjoy the time you have left, live every day to the fullest.”
“I don’t know…”
“What’s to think about?”
Kate walked away from him. “I’m not going to run away and wither and die. I want to fight. I’m going to press on. I’m going to do whatever I can to help people. That’s why I became a scientist. It’s what I dedicated my life to, and I won’t change in my final hour for a few days of comfort. This is how I want to spend my last hours.”
“What about dying with dignity? About spending the time we have left together?”
“I want that too.”
“I can haul you out of here if it would make you feel better.”
Kate smiled. “I’m not scared of you.”
David couldn’t help but shake his head and grin. “I’d like to remind you that I’m a trained killer.”
“I’m only afraid of untrained killers.”
He laughed, almost against his will. “Unbelievable. Look, all I ask is that you consider it—leaving here. The Immari are defeated. The plague is cured. You’ve given enough. Sleep on it. Let’s talk in the morning, and I hope, leave together.”
He walked to the doors.
“Where are you going?”
“I need some fresh air.”
Paul had been watching the weather system out the plane’s window, wondering if it was a hurricane or just a bad storm. The rain came, first in sheets, then in a constant gale of water, pushing the plane down, bogging the engines and tossing him, Mary, and the three soldiers around.
The plane banked and plunged again, throwing Paul hard against the seatbelt. He felt Mary’s hand cover his and squeeze hard. He wondered if they would make it to Morocco.
CHAPTER 11
Alpha Lander
1,200 Feet Below Sea Level
Off the Northern Coast of Morocco
Where Kate had needed time and space before, David needed it now.
He tried not to think as he trudged down the ship’s narrow corridors and up the lift to the dank, dark shaft that led to the surface. Against his will, his thoughts drifted to the looming decision. Stay or go.
It was Kate’s decision to make, and he knew that whatever she chose, he would stay with her to the end, no matter what.
He hoped that end wouldn’t be here—in this cold, dark, alien place. He imagined them sitting by the fire at his parents’ home, him reading, her falling asleep in his arms, them sleeping until late in the day, not waking for anyone or anything, living without a care in the world. They deserved it. They had paid their dues.
The faint light of stars broke the total darkness of the round shaft, and David walked out into the moonlit night. Several crates of supplies sat on pallets, some cartons opened and picked over where David and Milo had brought MREs back. The Berbers who controlled Northern Morocco had kept them well-supplied, an obligation they felt they owed David, who had helped them take control of the Immari base at Ceuta. In the distance, the massive base glittered. The lights on the guard towers twinkled and probed the perimeter. The lights from the administrative buildings and houses burned beyond.
The moonlight from above and the burning lights from the base almost made David miss Milo sitting just beyond the farthest crate.
The teenager sat cross-legged, his eyes closed. For a moment, David thought he was asleep, but he opened his eyes slowly and drew a deep breath.
“You should get some sleep, Milo.”
“I would like to. My mind refuses to cooperate.” He stood. “Dr. Kate. Will she live?”
“I’m not sure.”
“Please tell me.”
“She says she won’t recover. She says Alpha’s diagnosis is correct.”
Milo looked away. “There’s nothing you can do?”
“Sometimes there’s nothing left to do but enjoy the time you have left. There’s nothing wrong with that.”
Neither said anything after that. They simply lay on their backs, staring at the stars.
An hour passed, maybe longer. David lost track of time. He was barely awake when Milo broke the silence. “Will you stay here?”
“I hope not.”
“Where?”
“America.”
“Where you’re from?”
“Mmm hmm. North Carolina. Where I grew up. If she’ll go.”
“I want to see America.” Milo glanced over. “It’s why I learned English.”
“You should go.”
In the distance, David heard the crack of a branch snapping. He focused, listened. No further sound came.
“Milo, you still have that radio?” David whispered.
“Yes,” he said, patting his side.
“Go below. Don’t come back until I call you.”
Milo narrowed his eyes, then nodded, and snuck out of the clearing at the top of the mountain, back into the darkened shaft.
David receded behind the closest crate and gripped his sidearm. The footsteps had stopped, but someone was still there. He could feel it.
Kate was exhausted by the time she reached her and David’s bedroom. She didn’t know if the surgery had taken it out of her or if it was the days on end of experiments. Or keeping her secret from David and the release of finally telling him. She slumped onto the bed, just beside the trail of blood on the pillow and sheet.
Slowly, she pulled the sheets and pillow cases off, tossed them on the bed of the cabin across the hall and placed new sheets on the bed.
She was asleep the second her head hit the pillow.
Before she opened her eyes, Kate knew the bed was empty. The narrow crew quarter beds weren’t designed for two, and they slept a lot warmer with both David and her present. Still, she reached her hand across and touched the cold space where he would have lain.
At that moment, she made her decision.
She would spend her last days with David, wherever he wanted. She was doing it for him, as much as for herself.
She closed her eyes again, and the sleep that came was the best she had had since… she could remember.
Waiting was a poor strategy. David assumed that the person beyond the tree line knew his general position and might not be alone.
He was about to dart to the next crate of supplies when a strong voice called into the night, a voice David knew. “It’s nice to see that your instincts haven’t faded.”
David rose and found Sonja, the chief of the Berber tribe that now controlled Ceuta, emerging from the forest, an amused expression on her face.
“You could have announced yourself.”
“Like you, I prefer the element of surprise.”
David smiled, appreciating her reference to his surprise attack and takeover of the Immari base—with her and her tribe’s help.
He motioned to the crates. “I think you’ve oversupplied us.”
Sonja’s playful smile faded. “Not for what’s to come.”
David glanced at the base. Yes, the lights were more than the usual night watch. They were preparing for an attack.
“How soon?”
“Days. Possibly even tomorrow. If the spies are right, the Immari counterattack will be global. A war on every continent.”
“How? I thought they were finished.”
“They’ve consolidated their forces. And they’re attracting new devotees. They’ve begun taking power plants and food depots around the world.”
“You can’t be serious.”
“Many don’t want t