The Last World (21 page)

Winfield nodded as he stepped past
, feeling proud at the accomplishment he was about to show his boy. Franklin nodded at the guard and followed close behind his father. The second the door closed and locked behind them, a fitting touch Franklin thought, the woman he knew as Judith Reed stood and turned to face them with her face twisted in a furious rage.

“Who the hell are you people? Get out of my laboratory!” The fact she had met Winfield Bowen before didn’t dawn on her as she looked at the face of the older man. All she saw were a couple of trespassers that didn’t belong there.

Chapter 28

Franklin smiled as his father stepped forward. “Take it easy
, ma’am, I’m General Winfield Bowen.”

Judith shook her head
. “You expect me to believe you looking like that?” She snorted. “Arrest him, Corporal.”

Corporal Isaiah Jacobs was born to a Protestant family who chose to name him because of the way his name sounded.
“Sounds biblical to me.” His father used to tell him before Isaiah decided to join the National Guard. It was a safe enlistment and would, under most circumstances, keep him out of any conflicts going on across the world. He wasn’t stupid, but when he heard Judith’s instructions he looked at her as if she spoke to him in a foreign language.

“What?”

Judith looked at the corporeal and jammed her finger toward the pair of intruders, shrieking, “ARREST THEM!”

Franklin reached out to both of them, feeling the contours of their minds and the deepness of their thoughts. Just as was the case the previous night, he felt anger and frustration nearly overwhelming the woman. He eased his persuasion over her mind
to avoid harming her. Her efforts to remain her own were formidable, forcing Franklin to concentrate on her all the more. His efforts weren’t in vain, as Judith’s face relaxed and she lowered her arm, but her eyes remained alive as she fought against his control.

Behind him, the fading image of Tanok stepped forward.
“She is strong, but we are stronger. We must not fail.”

Franklin nodded
and glanced at the young corporal. The young man never stood a chance, he was under Franklin’s influence in under a second. With his attention diverted to so many people, Franklin’s head began to swim and he was certain he’d pass out and fall to the floor. As it happened, he was only half right. With the world spinning and his vision beginning to blur, he felt his legs turn to rubber and buckle beneath him. He felt his body begin to fall, but he was caught by his father. Franklin was helped, but mostly carried, over to the chair by the computer Judith had been sitting at until a moment earlier.

“Get me some water! Franklin! Franklin, can you hear me?”

Franklin wanted to respond but it was as though he were lost in a thick haze, a fog of some sort that wouldn’t allow him to reach his father. Something had happened, something neither he nor Tanok had planned for.

Tanok was little more than a ghost by then, but Franklin could see him standing next to him in the white expanse where they first met.
“My time in the light grows short, my friend.”
Tanok looked sad, more so than at any point in the time the pair had been together.

Franklin tried to speak, thinking his voice would come out as no more than a croak
. He was surprised his voice sounded as strong as normal. “What do you mean?” He knew what his friend meant, it was something he didn’t think he would’ve been sorry to see happen, but the pangs of regret and remorse were growing stronger.

Tanok ignored him and continued looking into space.
No, he’s looking into the future.
Franklin watched him for a moment before he spoke. “How long?”

Tanok smiled, it was the first time Franklin saw any joyous emotion from the man.
“Long enough, my friend. Then we can all rest.”
Tanok closed his eyes and focused his remaining strength, causing his fading body to swell.
“Go. Before it is too late.”
The soft whiteness surrounding them melted away and was replaced by the off-white interior of the computer lab.

“Franklin, can you hear me?”

When Franklin opened his eyes, he saw his father leaning over him. The concern on his face eased when he saw Franklin‘s eyes open.

“Damn it
, boy, you scared the hell out of me.”

Franklin tried to smile and succeeded better than he thought possible. “No worries
Dad, everything’ll be alright soon.”

“You’re damn right everything will be alright. Corporal, arrest them!” Judith’s voice cut through any remaining fog in Franklin’s head.
Shit! I lost them!

Before he could
consolidate his strength to recapture them, his father stood straight as an arrow. “Move from that spot and I promise you’ll never see another rank above Private.”

“You can’t come in here and
—”

The argument began anew and this time Franklin was too tired to do anything about it. He could feel his strength leaving him
, but not from exerting himself. He was growing weaker because a part of him was becoming lost. He couldn’t understand what was happening to him. He should’ve been growing stronger with the further addition of Tanok to his consciousness. It was something he’d been expecting, hell he was looking forward to having the mental abilities he experienced during the last several hours. He was being betrayed… unless Tanok was wrong about their merging. Could that be possible? Franklin shook his head as the image of Tanok faded away until it was nothing more than a memory. In his mind, he heard his friend’s voice, low and weak, pleading with him.

“Now’s our chance. Please, don’t let everything be in vain…”
Tanok’s voice trailed off as he began to fade from existence.

Franklin bit his lip then focused on the metallic rod in his pocket. Focusing all of his strength and energy into shaping the rod into its final form
, he pulled it from his pocket and was surprised at the tingling warmth emanating from it. Without looking, he opened his hand and felt it disappear. In seconds, the essence of the program virus uploaded to the servers and into the Orion IV satellite. The final thought crossing Franklin‘s mind was Tanok’s voice.
“It is done. Humanity shall live on.”

*****

The program virus took little more than ten seconds to upload to the Orion IV and overwrite the programming on the satellite’s main computer. In nanoseconds, the program virus reformatted the emitters and changed the trajectory of the download signal. The information beam was then sent to the surrounding satellites, creating a complex web of signals and uploads. Once the Earth’s satellites were under the control of Orion IV, a dampening field was activated and encompassed the Earth in a matter of seconds. While not truly needing the other satellites, Orion IV’s ability to eavesdrop on any form of electronic communication and its solar powered batteries gave it the added ability to strengthen its original purpose, guaranteeing there were no electrical signals emanating from the planet Earth for the next millennia.

*****

Back in the computer laboratory, Winfield’s gaze changed to one of complete horror after the elapsed ten seconds since Franklin began the initial transmission. With his son sitting in the chair unconscious, no one noticed the small stream of metallic particles flowing from his hand to the USB port at the base of the terminal’s processor. Nothing would’ve stopped the argument between Winfield and Judith until the lights shut off, leaving them in utter darkness. Not even the emergency lights or Winfield’s cell phone worked.

“What have you done?” Judith turned to face Winfield, or where she assumed he was standing.

Winfield could offer no reply and stared directly ahead at the wall of darkness before them.
What happened?

*****

Steve was so near the hospital that he could see the top of the two story building over the growing pine trees that were planted the previous year as a property line between the hospital and neighbors. Doing sixty wasn’t anything new to him, but having a vehicle shut off without any warning was. With the steering wheel locked, there wasn’t any chance he’d make the slight right hand turn to avoid the trees. With a strangled cry of confusion and desperation, he opened the door and dove for the safety of the hard asphalt.

As soon as he struck the hard surface and stopped rolling, he heard the crash of the mustang into the trees. Unlike Hollywood movies, there wasn’t a huge explosion
, but rather the creaking and breaking of the young tree as it snapped and fell toward him. The base of its trunk struck the mustang’s roof, knocking it askew enough so that Steve was only grazed by the passing branches instead of being hammered with the thicker limbs.

Sitting there, he stared dumbfounded at the tree and the wreck of the mustang.
Zach’ll kill me
, was his first thought but remembering his father, he pushed himself to his feet and started running toward the hospital. There was always time to fix the car, but he wouldn’t have another chance to see his father if something went wrong.

*****

After dropping Steve off at the National Guard Headquarters, Horace stopped by Janice’s for a quick snack since it was closer than his own house. When he arrived, Horace was surprised the lights were out and Janice was sitting outside with Buster. As usual, both were happy to see him.

Getting out of his car
, he couldn’t help smiling in a sarcastic manner. “What’re you doing out here? Taking Buster for a walk involves more than taking him outside.”

Janice returned his smile as the air conditioners in the other apartments shut off. She glanced around
. “That’s strange.”

Horace shrugged. “You know how the power company is. They probably had a wire they’ve been patching for years finally break or a transformer blew.” He knew it would
inconvenience people, but it was just another day in their lives.

Janice shrugged. Instead of worrying
, she smiled at him. “At least you have good timing. We were about to go inside after our morning walk, weren’t we, boy?” Buster answered by wagging his tail and looking at her over his shoulder with his tongue hanging from the side of his mouth. “Come on in. I guess you’re here for a sex stop. Not like I’m good for anything else.”

“Oh
, stop.” He fought back the laughter.

She paused, looking over her shoulder at him with a sly
smile. “Then why are you here?”

Horace thought about trying to lie, but in the end all he did was shrug. “I’m hungry.” He spoke in such a pathetic tone that Janice nearly bu
rst into laughter at hearing it.

“Just as I thought, using me for my goodies.”

Shaking his head, Horace pulled his cell phone from his pocket to call Steve and see how he was doing. He worried about the man. He was his best friend after all. The screen on his cell phone screen was black and couldn’t be turned on. “This is weird.”

“What is?” Janice and Buster paused at the doorway leading to the inside stairs and her apartment.

“My phone. It’s dead.”

Shrugging, Janice offered what little help she could. “Maybe you didn’t charge it.”

He shook his head. “I thought I did overnight.”

Laughing she motioned to her apartment
. “C’mon, dumbass, you’ll need something to eat before you forget how to drive.”

Without saying another word, but with his mind busy at the moment, Horace followed her upstairs to what he
assumed would be sandwiches.

*****

Doctor Doug stood next to Fulton Drake
’s bed, staring down at the man he tried to save, they
all
tried to save. His morning wasn’t supposed to start this bad. Across from him, Emerson Forbes stood as stoic as ever. Aside from his phone call to Fulton’s son, the man appeared as detached as ever.

“Time of death…
Seven Forty-Five.”

Doug raised his eyes to glare at Emerson. How could someone be so callous? Instead of beginning an argument that would get them nowhere, Doug let out a breath. “I’ll mark the time.”

Emerson’s eyes flashed the first sign of emotion since he was forced to call Doug in early. In doing so, he was forced to admit he needed help. Long before Fulton took his final breath, he decided private practice was in his best interest. “I’ll take care of it. You have his wife to talk to.”

“Me? I just got in here
. You’re the doctor on duty.” The last thing Doug wanted after the last few days was to talk to a new widow.

“I was,
and you’re the senior physician. As such, it’s your place to inform his wife. You were his preferred practitioner.”

He was yours!
Despite his anger toward his fellow doctor, Doug refused to argue over a man’s corpse about who would tell Fulton’s wife. Doug turned and strode for the curtain, but paused with the fabric in his hand. The two nurses in the room with them would hear, but right then he didn’t care.

“I’ll tell her, and will see your cowardly ass stapled to the wall for misconduct.” Doug shoved the curtain aside and stepped out before Emerson could say a word. He knew the board would throw out his complaint, but stating it made him feel better
, even if it was childish.

Doug wiped his face with his free hand as he stepped out from the twin doors
of the emergency room. The sight of his face told the dead man’s wife all she needed to know. Before he could reach her, she let out a cry that changed to a strangled moan and slumped to the floor.