The Lead Cloak (The Lattice Trilogy Book 1) (31 page)

“Can you hold on?” He offered her his arm, and rested her right hand on it. He felt the faintest of grips. It would have to be enough. He was on top of the engine again, right where he’d leapt from. “I need some instructions, Taveena!”

“Erling’s right here,” she said.

The drone was there, its small tentacles adding fibers of invisibility again over the damaged area.

“I’ll walk you through it,” Erling said. “It should just be a matter of removing the damaged AI and putting the new one in its place.”

“I can’t see the hull or anything else, you know.”

“Don’t worry about it. Inside the engine you’ll be able to see everything perfectly fine.”

Shaw listened carefully and once he saw where the damaged AI was, he was able to reach in and pull it out with the tips of his fingers.

“Just slide the new AI in,” Erling said, but Shaw was already pushing it into place.

“Watch her, Shaw,” Wulf said over the comm. Annalise had drifted a couple of inches off of his arm.

“Am I done, Erling?” Shaw asked, wrapping his arm around Annalise’s waist.

“You’re done. The drone can finish the rest.”

Shaw realized they were already moving, his own tether bringing them both back in.

Shaw started to pull again at the coils around Annalise’s hand.

“Wait.” Wulf said. “Wait till she’s in the airlock. Just a few seconds more.”

Together Shaw and Annalise were carried around the invisible ship, Earth hanging over them like a full moon.

“We’ll have full control of the ship in another sixty seconds,” Wulf said in his ear. “You did good work, Shaw.”

After Shaw turned Annalise over to Wulf and Helix for care—they weren’t doctors, but with drones and an AI to help them, they could manage—he struggled with what to do next. He found himself wanting the applause of the crewmembers for what he’d done, but he knew the smart thing was to disappear and let them worry about their friend.

Unlike the rest of the crew members, who were holding back and sticking to themselves, Erling found Shaw in the hallways and put his hand significantly on Shaw’s shoulder. Shaw returned the gesture, grateful that someone—no, not just any someone—grateful that
Erling
appreciated what he’d done.

Erling separated and Shaw winced to see up close the swollen black eye and bandages on Erling’s face.

“Listen, Erling. I—”

“I think we should give everyone some space,” Erling interrupted, and Shaw nodded in agreement. They went back to his small room.

Shaw perched himself on the lip of his bunk.

“Erling, I want you to know that you have every right in the world to be livid right now. I know I betrayed your trust, I betrayed everyone’s trust. And then … what happened with the Orbitel.” In the rush to save the
Walden
, the full weight of the innocents who died aboard the hotel had not found its way to Shaw’s shoulders. But he could feel it coming. All those deaths. Because he’d acted rashly. Because he was … an addict.

Wasn’t that the only possible explanation?

“It wasn’t your fault,” Erling said. “You didn’t tell anyone to blow up the hotel.”

“I should have seen the risk when I sent those messages.”

“No one could have.”

“But—”

“I lost my whole family in Las Vegas, Byron. I know the difference between terrorism and an accident. You made a mistake. I know you’ll have to live with it, but I’m here to tell you: I don’t blame you for those deaths.” Erling moved onto the bunk next to Byron and sat with him. “The only reason I’m here—the only reason I agreed to sign up, is because Wulf and Taveena assured me that we are not terrorists. A terrorist, by definition, tries to create terror—to scare people into change. We are trying to create peace. We value human life. No innocents will die if we can absolutely help it. One life lost is too many.”

“And Ono? The hovercraft pilot?”

“We had good reason to think they would live. A twist of fate and they might have. But believe me, I think about those deaths every day. Just as you will think about those people on the hotel every day of your life.”

Shaw nodded slowly. The weight was still there on his shoulders. But it had shifted ever so slightly.

“Why did you sign up, Erling? Why did they recruit you? It wasn’t just Las Vegas. Annalise said something about a boyfriend … but she said I should ask you.”

“And that’s it? That’s all she said?”

Shaw nodded.

“Well … I appreciate her discretion. It was … heinous.” Erling looked like he was deciding whether to continue, when there was a buzz at the door. “After this is all over, I’ll tell you the whole story.”

“I’d like that.”

Erling pushed forward and aimed toward the door. “And don’t despair. The vote’s not over yet. I swear to you, I’ll do everything I can to see that you have the chance to see Ellie again.”

“Thank you, Erling.”

Erling opened the door, and Wulf stepped gracefully into the room. He took a moment to inspect Erling’s black eye, and then with a wave, Erling was gone.

“She’s definitely going to lose her hand,” Wulf announced.

Shaw nodded. It wasn’t a surprise. He’d seen her mangled hand as Kuhn and Taveena pulled Annalise out of her suit after the airlock had closed. She was still passed out from the pain, but she was alive and she was breathing.

“Can you clone her another one?” Shaw asked.

“We think so. The tether squeezed her pretty tight. It broke her wrist, and ruptured blood vessels all up her forearm. We’ll have to replace a lot—more than the last time. I’m going to wait until she’s awake and let her decide.”

“She told me that she’s willing to give everything to destroy the Lattice.”

“She is.”

Shaw nodded again. “I let her down.”

“You let everyone down,” Wulf said.

“But at least I tried to save her! Taveena was just going to let her die out there. She killed the tether as it was coming back together, she cost Annalise her hand …”

“Annalise is willing to sacrifice herself to destroy the Lattice. Taveena would sacrifice herself, and you, and me, and everyone on this ship, if she could do it.”

“She’s really the leader here, isn’t she? I mean, you said you were in charge, but it’s her. She’s pulling the strings.”

Wulf smirked. “It’s not exactly a secret. I’m running the day-to-day because I know when people need breaks, when they’ve hit their limit. I know how to manage a team—no one can build the Lattice on their own, not even the great Wulfgang Huxley. But Taveena … has no limits. And she can’t understand that other people might. If she were still our leader, we would have gone out in a blaze of glory, or we would all be dead from exhaustion trying to keep up with her. She’s got more drive than anyone—there was a reason she was a triathlon champion.”

“Not all triathlon champs start terrorist groups.”
Not terrorists
, Erling had said. But it was hard to avoid the word.
How many terrorists would have said they were trying to create peace, too?

“Not all triathlon champs are whip-smart nano-technicians, either. She’s one of a kind. She killed me, just so she could have a conversation. Does that sound like something a reasonable person would do? She doesn’t get that anyone would find that extreme. The vote that you’ll face in two days … the only reason we have it is because it was the only way I could persuade Taveena that she didn’t get total say over the fate of everyone. Before that, she wanted to be Solomon, deciding everyone’s fate on her own.”

Shaw was quiet. “What
did
Taveena tell you when she’d unburied you that made you want to destroy the Lattice? You’ve never told me why you’re here.”

“She didn’t tell me anything. She just gave me the opportunity I needed to do what I’d dreamt of, that’s all.”

“But you
created
it. You’re as famous as Einstein or Galileo. And now you want to destroy it?”

“I do,” Wulf said. “With a passion.”

“I know the Lattice has done both good and bad. But it seems like you can only see the bad.”

“I see both sides. But it’s not a list of pros and cons. That’s the wrong way to approach new technology. Do you know anything about the Amish?”

Shaw shrugged. “They don’t like technology. They’re stuck in the past. They have buggies and horses like it was three hundred years ago.”

“That’s what everyone thinks. But they are actually very smart about how they approach new technology. A young Amish person will want to try something new. A tractor, electricity, a car, a cell phone, the Lattice … and the elders will let him. Did you know that? They let him try it, and they watch. They watch what it does to the community’s quality of life. Most of the time, after a few months, it’s clear to everyone that for all the supposed efficiencies and benefits, it does more harm than good. So the technology’s abandoned. Sometimes it’s kept, though. The Amish might not have electricity, but some of them have pneumatic power tools. Because it wasn’t the tool that was the problem, it was the electricity and what it powered that drew people away from their families. Some sects even use Lattice tablets for soil monitoring. Others are expert weather bidders. The Amish choose what parts of technology they want to keep. The rest they do without.”

“So you want everyone to give up technology and live like the Amish?”

“No. That’s not practical or even desirable. But I want us to look at a new technology and decide that just because we can do something, doesn’t mean we have to.”

“You think the whole world is going to just give up the Lattice?”

“Obviously not. If I did, I wouldn’t be trying to destroy it. But you keep making the same mistake you did with Taveena—not everyone is actually going to lose the Lattice when it’s gone.

“Think about it this way. What would have happened if in 1960 the internal combustion engine were suddenly uninvented? All engines just suddenly disappeared. Developed countries would be set back, no question. Countries at war would be set back. But for most of humanity, who could never hope to own a car and didn’t rely on them, life wouldn’t change at all. It would go on like normal.”

“Are you hoping to bring the developed countries down to size or something?”

“No, no, no. I’m just saying that the vast majority of humanity won’t be overly inconvenienced if the Lattice vanishes, but since developed countries rely on it more, they have more to lose. They also have the most to gain, I hope. I do want to inconvenience them
a bit
. Because I think it’s a good time to pause things and let people catch their breath. Did you ever lose power as a kid? The lights went out in a storm or something?”

“A couple times.”

“And your family lit candles or used wraps for light. If you were lucky they pulled out an old-fashioned deck of cards and suddenly it’s a magical night. You think, ‘why don’t we do this more often?’”

Shaw nodded. “But then the power comes back on and everyone forgets.”

“Exactly.”

“So won’t the power just come back on? If you’re successful, won’t they just rebuild the Lattice?”

“I’m the only one who can. Of course, a lot of people study the Lattice and know it intimately. But they
use
the Lattice to study it. That’s their notes, their reference. I don’t think they can just replicate it. Or if they can, it’ll take them
years
. Ten years maybe to get a prototype working again—”

“Ada Dillon thinks she can get her new version live in five.”

Wulf gave out a short laugh and sighed. “The woman’s a genius, no question. But she’s arrogant and overconfident. My hope is that by the time she’s got her new and improved Lattice operational … maybe the world won’t want it anymore. I want to give the world a chance to say, ‘you know what? Maybe this Lattice thing wasn’t so great after all.’ But the only way they’re going to say that is if they experience life without it.”

“I do hear where you’re coming from,” Shaw said. “I hope you know that. I just don’t know if I’ll be where you need me to be in two days for the vote.”

“Frankly, I’m not sure it matters anymore.”

Shaw had expected that as well, despite Erling’s pledge to do whatever he could to help him. “So there’s truly no chance?”

“You needed five. Annalise was one of those. You helped to save her in the end, sure, but she wouldn’t have been out there in the first place if … well. I don’t know where Kuhn is, either. I just don’t see where you’re going to get the five votes.”

“I can keep working them.”

“Maybe you can. It’s up to you. But if you want, I’ve brought you this.” Wulf pulled a ring out of his pocket. He held it out in front of him and released it, letting the ring hang in midair. “It’s not a guided ring. You can jump where you’d like.”

“I don’t understand. You think I have an open mind now? That I’m not an addict?”

“No … I just thought … well, if it were me, and I knew what was coming …” Wulf seemed rather embarrassed, and gave two scratches across his body. “I just thought that you might like to see your wife one last time.”

It was finally his. Just hanging there waiting for him.

And for the first time, he didn’t want it.

Everything he’d heard, every reason these people had for hating it, came back to him. He wanted to be strong enough to ignore it. Strong enough that it didn’t have an effect on him.

But the ring meant seeing Ellie. And no matter how much he hemmed and hawed about it, he knew that he couldn’t resist the chance to see her.

Shaw sat forward in his bunk and plucked the ring from the air. That was all it took for the entire world—the entire solar system—to be his to see. How could he possibly turn that gift down? How could anyone?

He slipped it on slowly. It felt so right on his finger.

Shaw put it to his temple. And jumped.

There was so much he wanted to see! He wanted be awash in the jump, bathe in the feeling of otherness, of absolute freedom, absolute knowledge about anything he wished to see. Ellie, Gettysburg, Saturn, Caesar, St. Louis, Elvin and Peter. Anywhere! Anyone!

He would jump to see Ellie first, right?

No.

Then he would spend all his time there with her. Laughing, traveling, making love, watching her mourn after he died.