Darkness on a Pale Blue Stone (33 page)

"What? What are you talking about?"

"It's not important. What is important is your decision right now. What are you going to do?"

"What do you mean?"

"Like I said, I merely observe. I'm not here to tell you what you should do. But from my observation, if these... 'Exterminators' I suppose we will call them, are allowed to decimate the city of Jacksonville and kill even more people, then you have little reason to be here at all. If you do not act, then what is your purpose?"

Gresson thought for a moment. He brushed the collected rain from his hair and stared at the dark asphalt in front of him. The faces of those he cared for in New Jacksonville flashed in his mind. Then he nodded. He knew what he had to do.

Looking back at the Observer, Gresson asked, "Will we meet again?"

The Observer gave a big smile. "I do not know," he said with sheer pleasure.

Confused, but knowing he had no time to waste, Gresson began to run.

Chapter 50

New Jacksonville - December 19, 2072

Acoustic sirens, shouts, and screams rang through the wet city streets of New Jacksonville minutes after the first sighting of the massive group of Exterminators. They had begun their assault at the fallen overpass, blasting streams of fire in every direction. They slowly progressed south along I-95, obliterating the highway and everything around it as they walked as one massive crowd of black and red. Uncharacteristically, the Exterminators went out of their way to chase down and torch any people who came near. By the time Valdez had gathered what marines and armed civilians he could, the Exterminators had scorched over a mile of earth.

"What do we do, sir?" one of the marines asked their general as they all stared at the distant oncoming wall of flame.

"First, we get as many people as possible south across the river. If the Exterminators get to the bridge, we evacuate New Jacksonville." No one doubted that they would. Valdez turned to the council members who stood nearby, watching their approaching doom in terror. "You all need to go. Now!"

"I'm staying for the fight," Adam said.

"Like hell you are. You're a member of this council and it's your responsibility to keep your people alive. Prepare them for an evacuation of the city."

Adam swallowed his pride and nodded. He and the rest of the council began to head south.

Valdez looked over to Lash, Sean, and Jake who were standing nearby. "Have any of you seen Rebeca?"

"I haven't seen her since we blew up the overpass," Lash said.

"She was around here then?" Valdez said, upset.

"Well, I saw her just before," Lash said. "She was with a few others trading with whoever they could find up north. I told her to get away from the highway and she went west."

"West? Why the hell didn't she go back into town?"

"I'm not sure."

"Damn it," Valdez groaned.
God, keep her safe
, he prayed.

"Sir, what are your orders?" a nervous marine asked as the wall of fire drew closer.

"We wait for them to get close, then we charge," the general replied.

"We can't do that, sir," another marine countered.

"It's the
only
thing we can do," Valdez said.

"They'll disintegrate us before we even get near them."

Valdez gritted his teeth and tried to think of a solution. "Sean, any clever ideas?"

"What if we blow the bridges? Give us some time to escape?" Sean suggested.

Valdez shook his head. "There isn't enough time for that. Even if we could, we'd have to blow up at least two bridges to force them to take any kind of lengthy detour." After a moment of staring at the nearing flames, Valdez ordered, "Everyone fall back."

Everyone in the vicinity quickly marched back to the shoreline at the start of the I-95 bridge across St. Johns River. There they waited, still without a plan.

The wall of fire abruptly changed direction and expanded in size. Everyone prepared to run. Screams were heard coming from up ahead.

"Oh my god," Sean cried.

As they watched, a wave of people fleeing the Exterminators came running toward the shore. Near the front was Michael and Marie, running as fast as they could.

"Over here!" Lash and Jake both shouted. The father and daughter soon joined them, both panting with their hands on their knees.

"What happened?" Sean asked.

Breathlessly, Michael replied, "We were up north when we heard about a small group of Exterminators from Rebeca." He paused to catch his breath. "We all went west to get away from the highway. We were on our way back when we saw the fire. At first we thought it was a wildfire or something, it was so big. When people went closer, the fire started chasing them, at least that's what it looked like. We ran as soon as we realized what it was. Is that really a 'small' group of Exterminators?"

"No, we killed most of that group. This is a new bunch," Lash said.

"You
killed
some?" Michael said in surprise.

"Where is Rebeca now?" Valdez asked.

Michael looked over at Marie, his eyes asking if she knew.

"She wasn't too far behind us, I don't think," Marie said, looking back at the wall of fire that was now only a few hundred yards away. People were still scattering in front of it, trying to flee. The group began to take steps back.

"What about Lucas? And Alice?" Jake asked.

"They were at the school, last I knew," Michael answered. "Is Adam..."

"He's with the rest of the council leading the evacuation."

"Thank God," Michael said.

"Alright, everyone get across the bridge!" Valdez ordered as the Exterminators drew uncomfortably near. "Let's hope most of the people got out of the city."

As they began to cross, Valdez scanned the crowd for Rebeca. There were hundreds of people moving in all directions, making it near impossible to identify anyone. He stayed with Jake, Lash, and Sean at the back of the main crowd, pushing along any stragglers. Michael and Marie ran on ahead to find the rest of their family. The Exterminators had slowed their pace, returning their attention to disintegrating the highway and content they would eventually reach their targets.

The crowd was halfway across the bridge when the Exterminators reached the shore. Valdez stopped and looked back at them. They had paused for a moment, giving Valdez the fleeting hope that they might not cross for some unknown reason. Once the short moment was over, however, the Exterminators continued their march. Valdez turned back to the crowd and continued to run.

"Marco! Marco!"

Valdez turned around again. In horror he watched Rebeca limping along the highway in the distance, only feet away from the flames. He began to sprint toward her. Lash and Jake chased after him.

"Rebeca!" he screamed. The Exterminators were gaining ground on her. Their figures were hidden behind the inferno they projected. The fire was now raised off the ground so as to not burn the bridge they needed to cross. Rebeca tried to pick up the pace, but her leg had been trampled. She could only limp. As she struggled, she continued to call her former husband's name.

"Marco!" she screamed one final time. An instant later, her body disappeared into the chasing flames.

"No!" Valdez cried, falling to his knees.

"Come on! We have to go!" Lash said, trying to pull him up.

Valdez made no effort to move. He stared at the fire with tears in his eyes.

"Get it together!" Jake yelled, slapping the general across the face. Jake was uncertain what part of him that had come from, but he had no desire to stand still on that bridge any longer.

Lash and Jake helped Valdez up to his feet. His widened eyes still stared back at where Rebeca had once existed. He relented from his gaze and joined Lash and Jake south across the bridge. He tripped several times along the way, still in shock.

On the north shore of New Jacksonville, the few hundred people who had managed to cross the I-95 bridge alive looked back at the Exterminators. They had now turned off their flames and everyone could see them march in their black and red suits.

The nearby marines looked over at Valdez for guidance, but it was clear their general was no longer cognizant of his surroundings.

"Everyone keep moving!" a marine Major called, seeing the general in his absent state.

"No," Valdez ordered. The marines looked back at him. "We make our stand here. We'll never outrun them. Right here, right now... I want to kill these bastards."

"Sir, that's suicide. We can't..." the Major protested.

"Anyone who wants to run, run. Anyone who wants to die giving these bastards hell, stand and fight."

"Fight with what, sir? Our weapons won't do anything!"

"Then we charge," Valdez growled, looking intently at the dark figures who approached. Their suits were now illuminated by the moonlight as the storm clouds had begun to recede.

Jake looked over at Lash. "What do we do?" he asked. Silently she pulled out her shotgun. Sean nodded. He too would stay. Jake sighed and picked up a rock from the ground. "I knew I was gonna die on this goddamn highway," he said.

Many turned back and fled, leaving only about one hundred men and women standing at the bridge. All were certain this was their end.

"On my mark, we go," Valdez said. The Exterminators were nearly in range for their flame-throwers. Seeing the coming charge, they prepared to ignite them once again. "Ready... and..."

A loud call blasted in the air. "STAAA!" was all the astonished crowd could understand. It was similar to the calls the Exterminators had been heard to make before, except this time, the voice was Gresson's.

The Exterminators stopped their march and turned around to where the call had come from. Walking onto the bridge was half the population of New Salvador.

Chapter 51

New Jacksonville - December 19, 2072

Gresson put down the small acoustic megaphone device he had used for his call to stop the Exterminators. "Are we ready?" he asked.

Scattered throughout the crowd of New Salvadorians were suitcase-sized silver containers. A cluster of people were gathered around each one.

"Are we truly willing to do this?" Jordan asked.

"We already
have
done this," Gresson responded.

Everyone near the containers nodded in sequence to Gresson, indicating that they were ready.

Several of the Exterminators ran over to the New Salvadorians. After eying the group, one of them put her finger at the back of her neck and pulled, taking off the suit around her head.

"
Alexander? Adron? You look... different. Is that really you?
" she asked in her language.

We look older
, Gresson realized.

"
Hera
," Adron replied in the same tongue as the woman. He took in a deep breathe. Gresson looked over at him, worried.

"
We thought your ship hadn't made it!
" Hera exclaimed. "
None of us could see it after the jump. Alexander, your father would certainly like to hear from you
."

"
My father is alive?
" Gresson asked, unsure how to react to the news.

"
Most fortunately, yes! His ship landed in an area I believe is called
'Oregon.'
I have such a hard time pronouncing their archaic language. Where is your ship?
"

"
Should we continue?
" one of the Exterminators farther out on the bridge called to Hera, anxious to finish what they had started.

"
Wait,
" Adron told Hera.

"
Why? What is wrong?
" she asked.
"
For that matter, why are you here?
"

"We can take her back, Adron," Gresson offered, speaking in English.

"The time to choose sides has long passed," Adron replied. "We made our choice, and so did she."

"
What are you saying? Is that... the language of these people? How did you learn it so quickly?
" Hera wondered.

"Make the call," Adron told Gresson.

"Adron..." Gresson protested.

"Do it," Adron said.

Gresson put the megaphone device to his mouth, turned around, and called out, "
Off!
" in his mother tongue.

"
What are you doing? Alex? Adron? I am very confused
," Hera wondered. No one answered her. The New Salvadorians stood silent for several minutes. All the while, Hera continued pleading for an explanation. She began to pace back and forth, occasionally checking with her remarkably adept eyes to make sure the citizens of New Jacksonville were still standing at the other end of the bridge.

"
Is this some kind of joke? We have work to do!
" she finally exclaimed. Again there was no response.

A few seconds later, the same call Gresson had made echoed back in a different voice from New Salvador.

"Now!" Gresson yelled. Everyone standing near the containers began to open them.

"
Adron?
" Hera asked.

"
I'm sorry, sister
," Adron replied.

Out of the containers the New Salvadorians pulled a variety of weapons. They took aim and fired. Bright lasers of nearly every color zipped across the bridge from the guns, automatically targeting and tearing apart the now defenseless Exterminators. Their suits offered no protection from that type of weapon fire. The bright lights of the lasers could be seen in the night from miles away. Within seconds, the Exterminators had been exterminated.

Chapter 52

International Space Station - December 19, 2072

Andre was sleeping when Vadim shook him awake.

"There's something you should see," he said.

"What?" Andre groggily replied.

"Now!" Vadim exclaimed.

The shout was all the encouragement Andre needed. He unstrapped himself from the bed, pulled off his blanket, and followed Vadim over to the Clarity bay. Everyone on the station was gathered there.