John Karr - Detonation Event

The standard air lanes that mimicked the old highways and roadways were blocked by EFF checkpoints of hovering cop cars and chase drones. Stray from the designated air lanes, generally above the ground roads, and alarms would go off, mobile lights and tracking devices would be shot at your vehicle, and the drones and cops came after you like wild dogs after a fleeing gazelle. Most people didn’t want that kind of attention. Devans found the alternative untenable. Going rogue could mean death, but the chances of getting through were slightly better, particularly with the chaos in full swing.

As he and Scarlet flew out of the neighborhood at tree level, Devans tried Karen Wagner on the mind and vocal link.

“Ry! Are you okay? Where are you? Link the visual.”

“You don’t want to see this. Damn EFF fantasy land. Three EFF killers have killed at least fifty people, including children, in this neighborhood alone. They’re killing all the space advocates and nonbelievers.”

“We’ve got fighting here on Lunar One as well, though Shakuri’s squads have backed several of them into corners.”

“Good man, Shakuri. Look, I just… just wanted to say I’m sorry this is all going down.”

“Like you had a hand in it.”

“Inadvertently, maybe.”

“Bull. How long has the EFF been a terrorist organization? Two centuries now!”

“Truth.”

“Can you get to an Earth shuttle?” she asked.

“Maybe. But they’re banning space flights.”

“You’ll have to go hard at it.”

“I’ve got a young girl with me…” He turned. “How old are you, Scarlet?”

“Ten,” she said woodenly.

“Scarlet’s ten. Wants to see the moon and an orbiter,” Devans said.

“How does she look? She likely is dealing with the microbe.”

He glanced at her. “She’s going through enough hell without it, that’s for sure. And isn’t the microbe in the population already up there?”

“Yes, I’ve tested three cases personally since landing. Bring Scarlet and come up, before they send more people to take us out.”

“What’s the status of MOS-1?”

“Holding for the MEPs, but it’s a struggle. Cyclops atomizer got hit but is salvageable. Trent has been fighting against the EFF. There’s not a lot of weapons. It’s a lot of hand-to-hand.”

“Gwen?”

“She’s on MOS-2. Different there. Fighting… but she says too many EFF.”

“She needs to bug out for MOS-1, Karen. And so do you.”

“I will when you get to Lunar One. I’ve still got to study the microbe.”

“Screw Lunar One. It’s too easy for them. Tell Shakuri to round up everyone he can and get to MOS-1. You can use the labs there to fight this thing.”

“See you soon?”

“We’ll get there.”

But Devans was a realist. He knew the chances were a little better than catching a falling star.

Against all humans.

They flew dark. A passing shadow across the night sky, and Devans was thankful the moon had not yet risen.

The rejection and treachery from Cal still galled him. Out of necessity he tried to compartmentalize it but was not wholly successful. He had perhaps lost his son years earlier. But for Cal not only to reject him as father but to view him as a political enemy deemed fit for termination was unnerving.

Cutting all exterior lights conflicted with the hovercraft’s standard operating system, and the law. They want to see you, even if they already have you on radar. He sewed the needle between staying low enough to minimize the chances of detection as a rogue flyer, yet high enough above the Standard Travel Elevation of six feet to minimize ground detection.

He and Scarlet flew over the network of air traffic zones. Below, hovers were backed up in the air for miles, or grounded and abandoned. Gun-toting men and women formed checkpoints. Most riders capitulated. Those who did not comply were pulled from their aircraft and marched to a grim fate. Some attempted to escape the madness and bolt from the air traffic lanes, only to have the machines merge inexorably back in, overridden by the operating system controls.

Thousands ditched and ran. He caught glimpses of them in the vehicle lights before they vanished in the darkness on the sides of the roadways.

Devans and Scarlet went unchallenged by both bot and manned air patrols. Several shots were fired from the ground as they passed overhead but there was no hot pursuit. From the links Devans scanned on the galaxynet, the EFF had not completely locked this up yet. They were busy herding victims at the lower elevations and dealing with internal struggles for leadership.

Devans and Scarlet were able to fly within a mile of the outer fencing of Dulles International Interplanetary Airport without serious incident. They flew low and without lights, with the glow from burning houses illuminating their journey. Devans passed over a gap in the forest buffer, then circled back and hovered, checking for life forms.

“Why are we stopping?” Scarlet said, breaking her all but complete silence.

“The chaos helped get us this far, but the EFF will be waiting if they detect two people in a hover,” Devans said, landing quickly. With the motor still running, he got out and walked around the front while tapping at his forearm computer. He opened the passenger door.

“Come out now.”

She did.

The night was cold and clear. As Devans considered options for their next move and kept arriving at the same conclusion, he could hear Scarlet’s teeth chatter. He pulled a thick athletic jacket out of the back seat and wrapped her in it.

“These were my dad’s,” Scarlet said. Her voice was not angry or sad, just monotone. The voice of the traumatized. “He always kept extra clothes in the hover. ‘Never know when you might need them,’ he would say.” Her voice quivered now, but she had no more tears to give.

“Your dad was looking out for you.”

Scarlet appeared grateful, nodded once as she pulled the jacket tighter around her shoulders. She closed her eyes. “It smells like his shaving cream.”

“Think he’d be okay with it if I wore this other one?” Devans held up a faux leather jacket.

She opened her eyes to Devans. “He’d be glad you’re helping me.”

Devans nodded, knotting up on the inside.

He’d never had that from his own offspring. What would it be like?

He zipped the jacket and issued a command to the hovercraft via his arm computer.

If the EFF noticed, they might think it was a rental waiting to return to the lot on autopilot. Devans had it rise to a level just below the treetops. There it remained, a shadow blocking the stars.

Scarlet uttered a syllable. Devans raised a hand for quiet, tilting his head.

“Voices,” he said. “No shots, no screams, no shouting. Probably fugitives from the EFF hiding out in the woods. Maybe they’d take you in.”

She took a step back. “You said I could come with you.”

“Look, you’ve been through the roughest time of your short life and you’re still in shock.”

“No! You said I could come with you! Said we might get away.”

“I also said there’s a better chance we’d get killed.”

“So? I’m not afraid to die. Are you?”

“Not so much when it’s just me. But now you’re here and maybe there’s more safety in numbers.”

“Unless they fight, the EFF is gonna kill them like they did my family.”

Devans pulled out one of the plasma pistols. “Let’s go, then.”

“Wait.”

Devans paused. Perhaps the girl had reconsidered.

“Give me one,” she said.

“You’re what, ten?”

“Told you that, mister.”