Ghost of the Gods - 02 (37 page)

They drove through the center of the old city. It all seemed just as he remembered it. The Plaza was alive with eccentric activity and people walking everywhere. Local musicians were playing in the park. Mark did not have to roll down the windows to know what was being smoked by people on some of the benches. Santa Fe looked oddly untouched by the plague and its aftermath. It felt as if he had driven into an alternate reality. He knew Santa Fe had been spared by the plague, but no place was spared the aftermath. Maybe the four hundred year old history of the city gave it greater resiliency than other places.

The sun would not set for hours, and yet already the city was showing signs of shutting down for the night. Some things never changed. Santa Fe was always a small town at heart. They decided to shun the more populated areas and selected a 1950s era motel five miles from the Plaza. The motel was operating and had some guests. Their room was on the second floor with an outside walkway instead of a hall. Mark covertly sent up the perimeter sentry system as best he could, including placing a detector aimed across the parking lot and one in each stairwell. With Sarah’s help they piled some furniture in front of the window and used the security bar they carried with them on the front door. The results were less than ideal, but they were in a city that looked quiet and no communes were within hundreds of miles.

They’d seen no stores nearby, so they decided to dig into their reserve of MREs instead of foraging. Mustafa got water and biscuits. Ralph got his favorite, mac and cheese with Vienna sausages. Mark was both hungry and tired. He blamed his depleted condition on all the energy consumed by the transformation he was undergoing. Sarah sat across from him at the table, picking at cereal and dried fruit. She was staring at him with an expression of curiosity on her face.

“So, are you going to tell me what you’re up to with the archives and reincarnation?” she asked.

“Ouch!” said Mark. “I thought I had plenty of time before you caught on.”

“You seriously need lessons in
sneaky
,” said Sarah. “So, what’ve you learned?”

“Nothing yet, but it could take weeks for the searches to complete.”

As they talked, an assist began displaying on its own. It was a new variation on the n-web architecture assist
.
In addition to showing pathways this assist showed network traffic volume as colored glows that increased in intensity as the traffic increased. Mark realized how brightly Sarah shined with emissions on the n-web when she was excited or enjoying something. He was enamored with the idea that she was a source of sunshine. The coincidence that this new assist had started on its own made him think the god-machine was alerting him to something. Mustafa was emitting very little, tightly locked down as ever. Mark examined himself. The assist showed emotional leakage and stray thoughts. He was not shining as brightly as Sarah, but he was no black hole like Mustafa.

“Remember when Noah said we were too noisy and should learn to be quiet?” asked Mark.

“Uh-huh… he was warning us to stay away from hives because we radiated too much.”

“We need to learn to become ghosts,” said Mark. “More like Noah. He radiates nothing unless he wants to.”

Sarah munched on some more of her cereal. Mark noticed she had eaten very little.

“Do you think those kill-zones are real?” asked Sarah.

“I don’t know… I don’t think so.”

“I have a bad feeling they’re real.”

It was late at night. Mark opened his eyes. The room lights were out. The motel bed was surprisingly comfortable. He checked the results of his reincarnation searches by quickly dipping into the timeline interface and then immediately exiting. He found no past-life matches. There was no indication of the percentage searched. He would not know how far the searches had gone until dated results started turning up. With the warmth of Sarah curled into his side he was asleep within seconds.

Mark awoke with a jolt to the sound of the perimeter alarm going off. It could be nothing. It had gone off earlier and only been guests arriving late. It took his nanotech brain a few seconds before he was operational enough to completely realize what was happening. He grabbed the sentry tablet. He could see heavily armed troops crossing the invisible line he’d configured for the parking lot. The floodlights in the lot had been disabled. It was hard to make out any insignia, but they were dressed like USAG Peacekeepers. He realized all this in less than a second. He thought about Pueblo Canyon and wanted to kill everyone in the parking lot. Sarah was already out of bed and shucking on her body armor and then an NV-P60 night vision monocle. In fifteen seconds she went from sleeping to standing at a window with her M4 ready. An ammo box with extra clips and 40mm grenades was next to her. Mark was picking up mental chatter but nothing concrete. He received a memory capsule from Sarah sharing what she saw with night vision. The parking lot was being crisscrossed by Peacekeeper commandos taking up positions. This made no sense. Maybe they weren’t here for them? Other people were staying at the motel. If these Peacekeepers were after them, how could they have been found so quickly in this remote place? Mark immediately knew what had to be the answer.

“They could have tracked us from Pueblo Canyon,” he said. “There might have been scouts or surveillance we missed.”

“There’s too many,” said Sarah. “We need to get out of here!”

There were no windows or doors at the back of the motel room. Mark joined her at the window and slipped on the same type of night-vision monocle as Sarah. They were badly outnumbered. At the back of the parking lot Peacekeeper Strykers and armored Humvees formed a wall, sealing off any chance of escape. An assist showed three officers standing near the vehicles that were fully saturated hybrids on a par with Mustafa or Noah. The orange glow symbolizing nanotech ran down their spines and all through their bodies, reaching fingers and toes. Somehow Mark knew they were not like Noah. They were illuminati like Mustafa. The three illuminati appeared to be in charge. The Peacekeeper troops conducting the assault were all organics. Mark knew from stray thoughts that this Peacekeeper squad had not been infiltrated by illuminati. They were working for the hives for a different reason—greed, pure and simple.

“We need to take out those hive monsters first,” said Sarah. “Cut off the head.”

“Somehow I think this snake is going to keep coming without its head.”

The good news was, using troops that were organics was a flaw in the guide
’s
strategy. The fact that the fighting vehicles were not running and appeared to be empty was a sign of arrogance. These troops obviously had no idea what Sarah was capable of with an automatic weapon. They also had no idea that Mark’s body could generate micro kill-zones once they were within range.

Mark watched on the sentry tablet as Peacekeeper commandos disabled their loaner Humvee, using some kind of wheel boot that was silently installed in seconds. That erased any lingering doubt about the Peacekeepers’ objective. He and Sarah were the targets of this raid.

The mental chatter was increasing, as were emotions. This was a clear indication to Mark the raid was about to start. He captured stray thoughts that strict orders had been given to capture and not kill. This put the Peacekeepers at a strategic disadvantage and explained why their fighting vehicles had been turned off. Mark looked back at one of the illuminati just as the monster looked up and saw him. Their gaze locked. Mark felt his mind and body instantly taking protective action automatically at the command of his instinctive and kinesthetic processors. His immune system was mentally defending him from the probes of these highly evolved monsters, but he couldn’t help feeling naked and exposed. The illuminati now knew they were dealing with someone who was becoming as evolved as them. Sarah must have sensed what had happened because at that moment she opened fire full auto with her M4.

All three illuminati dropped from headshots that almost seemed instantaneous. He heard Mustafa groan painfully from the back of their room. Total confusion erupted in the parking lot, during which time Sarah shot every Peacekeeper that was near their booted Humvee or the motel building itself. She then started in on the rest of the squad with both
5.56mm ammo and 40mm grenades
. He watched with dark satisfaction as Peacekeeper after Peacekeeper was executed by Sarah. The Peacekeepers were hobbled by their orders to take their objectives alive, but how long would that last? Mere seconds had passed. As if in slow motion, Mark fired into the center of crowds with his less accurate 5.56mm Sig Sauer pistol. Slowly, every remaining weapon in the lot was coming to bear on their position. It was a race against time. His adrenaline-fueled thinking was running at a speed that was unimaginable as he aimed and fired. His nanotech brain calculated this was a race he and Sarah were about to lose. He spotted a few rifle-like weapons that looked like nothing he’d seen before. These rifles had a huge bore the size of a tennis ball and what looked like a massive, revolving cylinder behind the barrel. His mind absorbed everything within a heartbeat. An assist analyzed the threat and returned an identification: Milkor MGL 40mm semi-automatic grenade launchers. Mark hit the floor and Sarah dropped right next to him. Returning weapons fire took out the tops of the windows and ripped hundreds of small holes through the upper parts of the motel room in a buzz saw of lead. Explosions followed, which must have destroyed the rooms and outside walkways on either side of them. The returning fire paused. His ears were ringing from the explosions. He looked at Sarah. Her pupils were dilated from surging adrenaline. Her thoughts and feelings came through to him with clarity. They were pinned down.

“What now?” shouted Mark.

“I need a bigger gun.”

A second volley of returning fire ripped hundreds of new holes above them as small pieces of debris rained down. The fire was obviously intended to intimidate and not kill. Sarah’s expression suddenly changed to something odd and undecipherable. Mark thought she had been hit, but an assist showed she was fine. The return fire paused again. Mark heard the screech of feedback from a bullhorn. Several loud clicks echoed outside. Spotlights flooded into the room through windows. Small beams were projected through bullet holes, creating an intricate crosshatch of light with smoke and dust drifting through it all. The experience was dreamlike. He felt detached from himself.

“
Surrender now!
” boomed a voice. “
Do not make us come for you
.”

A torrent of thoughts and emotions from Sarah hit him with the force of a typhoon. Her storm rattled him. Her plan seemed desperate and crazy. Thoughts from his entangled interface confirmed that her idea would likely fail and end with them both dead. She had already reloaded a grenade into the launcher under her M4 and removed the
5.56mm
ammo clip. The weapon looked unloaded. Before Mark could do anything, she had crawled over to the door and was opening it. She carefully stood and walked out into the bright floodlights with her M4 aimed down by her side in a one-handed grip.

“
Drop the weapon now!
”

Mark closed his eyes. He could not watch. She was about to die. He knew an instant before Sarah pulled the trigger that she was going through with her plan. A gut-wrenching explosion in the parking lot slammed the motel. Sarah was thrown backward into the room by the concussion. Mark was lifted up as a wave went through the floor, leaving it buckled. Two-by-fours were snapping like backbones breaking. He was bodily flung toward the rear of the room. He hit the floor and then the rear wall. The impact knocked him senseless.

Sometime later when he could think again, he saw most of the outer wall of the room was in ruin. He could feel COBIC swarming to repair multiple injuries. The impact should have killed him. The floodlights were gone. Smoke was billowing everywhere. A wavering orange glow from outside was the only source of light. There was also amazing silence. There was no return fire. No stray thoughts or radiated emotions came from outside. He sensed a mental groan from Sarah. He could not find her in the midst of all the debris and weak orange firelight. He saw Ralph sniffing and whining at a pile of rubble. A medical assist pinpointed Sarah partially buried under the pile. Mark crawled to her. He removed the construction material that was covering her and rolled her onto her back. She had cuts and soot all over her face. Mark could see metal shrapnel from the explosion embedded in her lightweight body armor. Ralph was trying to lick her. He shooed the big dog back. He could tell from an assist that her injuries were being mended from the inside out and that she would heal.

“I hit our Humvee exactly over the munitions boxes,” croaked Sarah proudly. “I did it.”

She had done it. Her crazy plan to use their Humvee as a huge antipersonnel mine had worked.

“You’re insane,” said Mark.

“How about
thank you
?”

Sarah leveraged herself upright, using Mark’s shoulder and arm. She retrieved her M4 and limped to the front of the room. Mark saw a rip in her left pants leg and a heavy blood stain. He followed her to the edge of what remained of the exterior walkway. The parking lot was a massacre. The sight filled him with a primitive pleasure. A cold breeze was blowing, tugging at his clothing and hair.

They were exposed to return fire standing on the walkway. Mark kept his 5.56mm Sig Sauer ready as he took in the hell laid out before them. Fires were burning in spots. There was an odd, flinty smell that made him think of brimstone. Bodies were strewn everywhere. He and Sarah could have easily been in their place. An assist revealed four Peacekeepers were alive but in no condition to move, let alone fight. He offhandedly looked at his 5.56mm Sig Sauer and realized it would never be enough. He knew they needed to leave now before reinforcements could arrive. With the toe of his sneaker he pushed a piece of cement over the edge and watched it fall. How were they going to get down from this room? The walkways on either side were gone. The drop was 15 feet, 9 inches, according to an assist. The ground beneath them was covered in cracked, jagged building material, pieces of their Humvee, and other debris. Sarah answered his question as if she’d picked up his stray thoughts.

“We drop a mattress to cover that mess,” she said. “You lower me as far as you can with a sheet, then I’ll drop the rest of the way. There’s got to be a rope or a bunch of sheets down there that we can use to lower Ralph and Mustafa.”

The four surviving Peacekeepers who were unconscious were now bound with their own plastic cuffs. A few of the motel’s guests had briefly peered out their windows, but no one had dared venture beyond that. Mark and Sarah had disguised themselves as Peacekeeper officers and were taking one of the Strykers. The new wheels were a significant upgrade. The Stryker was far more heavily armored than their Humvee and carried an additional armor add-on package. It also had a brand-new roof-mounted next-generation CROWS weapons systems upgrade. CROWS was an acronym for
common remotely operated weapon station
, which in this case was a remotely operated MK19 grenade machine gun. Sarah had radiated grim amusement when she saw the replacement for her destroyed MK19 that had been in their Humvee.