Shades (20 page)

Authors: Mel Odom

Tags: #sf

BOOK: Shades

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"That door is broken," the Builder said. "We have not yet gotten it repaired. There has been no need."

Isabel waved her hand in front of the plate. The door irised open, all six steel plates retreating effortlessly into the bulkhead.

"No!" the Builder shouted, starting forward.

Michael shoved an energy bolt forward. The blue-white energy blast cut the Builder off at the knees in a series of electrical explosions.

Moving quickly, the Builder separated into halves, throwing their upper body away from their lower half, managing to save some of themselves. The upper half fell heavily to the dust- and debris-covered floor. Even as Max watched, more drones sped to the upper half of the Builders body, adding their masses to the hive organism. The Builder altered their body, growing legs again.

Isabel took Max by the elbow, pulling him into the next room. "Here," she said. "It's time that all of them know the truth again."

Max followed her into the room, listening to the Builder's voice shouting behind them. Liz and the others followed, but Valenti and Michael remained between them and the Builder.

A series of capsules in a wheel shape occupied the center of the room. The capsules looked like long test tubes. The incandescent light gleamed dully through the dust-covered surfaces.

"The crew," Isabel said, leading Max to one of the capsules, "didn't survive planetfall. The ship and the hibernation systems were heavily damaged." She wiped off one of the tubes, revealing the skeleton inside the tube. Though basically humanoid in appearance, the horns and four-fingered hands revealed the extraterrestrial origins of the dead.

"Then why didn't the Builder know this?" Max asked.

"There was an accident," an ancient voice stated.

Looking up, Max watched as another figure formed in the center of the room. More drones swirled together, creating another figure that stood up in the room. This one looked less human than the Builder, as if these drones could no longer quite fit together properly.

"The enemy ships were unmerciful in their attack," the drone-creature said, gazing down at the capsules that contained the dead aliens. "We tried to save them, but the damage to the systems was too severe. Our… loss… was too hurtful. We only wanted to die as our crew did. We went mad, but we could not allow ourselves to die, because that goes against our programming. We were going mad. So to save ourselves, we built another. One of us who did not know."

"Lies!" the Builder snarled. The first creature slithered into the room, staying back from Michael and making no threatening gestures.

"No," the second drone-creature said. "We tried to save them. We couldn't. The ship separated. We separated. When we landed, we decided to keep the truth of our loss to ourselves. So we told ourselves that the crew had survived and that we must protect them until help arrived. Separating from ourselves was a horrible experience, but we succeeded."

"No!" the Builder yelled, rippling over and over, changing shapes and features slightly as if losing control. "You killed them. You weren't good enough to save them. You were supposed to save them."

The second drone-creature faced their accuser. "We were not good enough. But we didn't want to accept our blame. We wanted only to be reunited with the One back on our planet. We give up so much when we are placed aboard these ships and help the crews."

"We should have died with them," the Builder said.

"No," the second drone-creature replied. "It is always our way to live."

"We can't live here," the Builder said. "This is not our home. We can't reunite with the One here. We are incomplete outside of the One."

The second drone-figure turned to Max. "We protected the ship from the Mesaliko people until the desert sands drank us down. During that time we remained separate from our others."

"A mind divided," Isabel said.

"We used the legends of the Mesaliko people to enforce our privacy," the second drone-figure said. "And we shut down the ship, freely entered stasis. We had thought the power would gradually dwindle and we no longer would exist, but that was allowable because we had no power over that. The thought of existence while trapped here was painful to us. Instead the ship's engines powering up not far away woke us."

"The Granilith," Max said, so they would all know.

"We sensed the ship," the second drone-figure said, "and we went on alert. We could not stop ourselves." The figure turned to face the Builder. "We would stop ourselves now. We would end our pain."

"No," the Builder said.

"Yes. We serve no purpose here."

"The distress beacon," the Builder said.

"Failed. If it still circles this planet, it is inoperative. There is no reason to chase the surrounding people from their homes. We're hurting others needlessly."

Soundlessly the Builder exploded into thousands of drones that immediately went on the offensive. "We can't live on our own. We choose not to live on our own."

Michael unleashed an energy bolt. The blue-white blast arced into the midst of the spreading drones that had been the Builder. Drones burst into electrical fireworks, chasing strings like failing Christmas lights.

Suddenly a powerful voice spoke in an alien tongue. The tone was downbeat, like a death knell. Words came in perfect cadence, one falling relentlessly after another.

"Go!" the second drone-figure shouted. "We have initiated the self-destruct sequence."

"I thought you couldn't do that," Isabel said.

"Only if we are invaded by hostile enemy troops. We see you as the enemy. You have served our purpose. Go. There is very little time remaining to make your escape."

Which "we"? Max wondered. The "we" that suddenly realized they weren't going home again, or the "we" that didn't want to be responsible for hurting anyone else? He had no way of knowing, so he ran.

Michael took the lead, throwing energy bolts at swarms of drones that tried to intercept them. Every time the energy hit the drones, the strings of explosions ripped across the rooms, leaving the way clear.

A warning Klaxon screamed through the hallways as room after room suddenly filled with pale amber light. Max's head screamed in pain and he felt dizzy, but he didn't let up.

At the doorway leading to the tunnel from the spaceship, Liz stumbled and fell. Without hesitation Max stopped and helped her to her feet. Together, hand in hand, they ran, scrambling up the tunnel to the cave mouth.

Valenti and Michael caught them at the top, pulling them from the cave mouth and toward the outside. The interior of the cavern whipped by, then they were outside in the night air, stumbling, falling down the hillside.

Gasping for air, Max pushed himself up and watched as a swarm of drones rocketed down the hillside after them. "If we are to perish," the drones said, "then you will perish with us."

Max put up his energy shield, watching as the lead drones blew up on contact with the force field. Then an enormous explosion rocked the landscape and the top of the hill collapsed, crunching down into the earth.

The remaining drones fell to the ground. As Max watched, the drones dissolved, leaving nothing.

"Biodegradable," Michael commented wryly.

"Degradable, at any rate," Isabel agreed.

Dust clouds gathered over the fallen hill, but the wind quickly wiped them from the sky.

EPILOGUE

"Although the military doesn't accept responsibility for the explosion that ripped through Mesaliko reservation territory, speculation remains constant that the blast came from a munitions dump kept in the area during World War II."

Max watched with idle interest the television news. Three days had passed since the spaceship had been destroyed. There had been no more ghost sightings in Roswell or in the Mesaliko tribal lands. He sat in his room and tried to remain calm with the idea of not beating his brains out trying to find a way to get to his son and fix things with Liz.

During the last three days he hadn't talked with Liz, hadn't felt like he could be around her without putting pressure on her. He wanted her back in his life, wanted everything to be back like it was before Tess came along to twist things so badly.

The phone rang unexpectedly.

Max scooped the receiver up and said hello.

"It's me," Liz said.

The world suddenly seemed to stop around Max. He had to force himself to breathe. "Hi," he said.

"Are you okay?"

"Sure. I was just dozing," Max said. "Still catching up on sleep."

"I just wanted to check. 1 haven't seen much of you these past few days."

"I knew you were busy with the repairs being done to the Crashdown."

"Well, they're all done now," Liz said. "In fact, the grand reopening is tonight. Going on right now. That's why there's so much noise in the background;"

"That's good."

"1 thought maybe you could come by after the rush was over. I'll treat you to a cheeseburger. Kind of a combo Glad-My-Mom-Isn't-Talking-to-Ghosts-Anymore and We-Survived-the-Haunting-of-Roswell occasion."

Max didn't hesitate. "Sounds good."

"Maria and Michael will be there too."

That took some of the edge off the meeting. And in a way, it was a relief. If they were together, he didn't know what he'd say without forcing her hand.

"Sure," he said.

"Okay. I guess I'll see you then."

Max said good-bye and hung up the phone. Some of the fatigue and worry left him, and he felt a little more relaxed. He stretched out on the bed.

"Hey."

Glancing over at the doorway, Max spotted Isabel standing there looking positively elegant. "I haven't seen much of you the last couple of days," he said.

"Work," Isabel said, maybe a little too quickly. "Dad's been keeping me buried in lots and lots of work. There are still people wanting to sue somebody over the appearance of ghosts in Roswell."

There was still no explanation for the ghosts, although some local psychologists were of the opinion that the ghosts had been a mass hysteria. Other people were certain that the military's mistakes hadn't been limited to munitions but to nerve gas agents that had been kept in underground bunkers that had been destroyed… but not before infecting the local populace. There wasn't any proof of that, and the Mesaliko weren't letting anyone on the tribal lands to go prowling around.

"So who was on the phone?" Isabel asked.

"Liz. We're having a small get-together tonight at the Crashdown. Has she called you?"

"No."

"She probably will."

"I'll have to take a rain check."

Max looked at her, making a show of noticing her outfit.

"Oh. This." Isabel smoothed the lines of her miniskirt. "Just wanted to be comfortable."

"Where are you going that you need to be so… comfortable?"

"Work."

"Office hours are over," Max said.

"I've got to go to the library."

"Oh."

"I just wanted to check on you," Isabel said. "Make sure you were doing okay."

"I am," Max said.

Isabel nodded, but didn't look convinced.

"Part of me," Max said, "wants to say that's not true, that I'm in denial about how I really feel." He paused. "I just don't want to be alone, Isabel, and I don't want to think about my son being out there somewhere, possibly in danger."

"I don't think Tess would hurt him, Max," Isabel said. She entered his room and sat on the bed next to him. "And as far as being alone, you're not. I'm here. And on some days you've got Michael. And our parents. And a lot of other people."

"I know. I just feel alone."

Isabel put her hand on his arm.

Max sat quietly, feeling better.

"You'll be seeing Liz tonight," Isabel said. "That's a start."

"A cheeseburger with friends. Not very promising."

"Not having a cheeseburger with friends is even less promising."

"True." Max exercised restraint within himself. He'd go; he'd have fun. And he would not expect too much. That was the secret. He looked at Isabel. "I thought you had to go to the library."

"I do. I will. It'll be okay. We have a… " Isabel stopped. "We have a very understanding library. That's one of the things that I've always liked best about the library."

About the author

Mel Odom lives in Moore, Oklahoma, with his wife and five children. He has written several Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Sabrina, the Teenage Witch books, and the nov-elizations of Tomb Raider and Snow Day. He coaches basketball, baseball, and football and loves watching his kids play sports. When not at a game or writing, he's known to hang out on the Internet until way after the cows come home. He can be reached at [email protected].

ROSWELL

From the television series developed by Jason Katims

SIMON PULSE New York London Toronto Sydney Singapore

Read all the books in the new series.

SHADES

SKELETONS IN THE CLOSET

DREAMWALK

QUARANTINE

Also available

LOOSE ENDS

NO GOOD DEED

LITTLE GREEN MEN