Ana disappeared later that afternoon. Her twin’s body had not been among those released onto the river. She’d insisted on burying him, and when the business with the colonists was done, she took Pablo and Vanessa with her to find some quiet place to dig a grave.
At camp, a dozen tents needed to be replaced. Skyler offered to tackle that scavenging job on the morrow, when he could hopefully enlist the help of the other immunes, except Elias, who nursed a broken wrist. For the rest of that day, the entire camp pitched in to load two climbers with compressed air canisters and as much water as they could boil and purify with the crude means available. A cheer went up when the second climber began to amble its way up the cord. Despite the insects that swarmed camp every night, most of the colonists ate dinner together outside that evening, around a big campfire, watching the two climbers until they disappeared into the starry sky above.
Another morning came, and Skyler found himself pestering Karl and Tania with a halfhearted plea to venture into the forest. There was too much to do in camp, and the prospect of a battle with subhumans tempered even the scientist’s desire to explore the crashed alien vessel. He’d yet to tell them about the strange subhuman he’d seen; he was unsure now if he’d really seen it or if it had just been some kind of hallucination. So Skyler spent the better part of the day with the other immunes.
He’d intended to chat with them about the future, now that Gabriel’s hold on the camp had been broken. Skyler planned to ask them to stay with the camp. With so few towers left, the colony’s ability to gather supplies would be greatly limited, and a group of immunes helping out would be extremely valuable.
But he didn’t need to ask. Ana broached the topic almost by accident. She’d had a bright idea, a surprise she said, and led them deep into the city. Only one subhuman accosted them during the walk, and Vanessa put it down with a single shot from a pistol she’d acquired. The woman performed the action with total efficiency, and no emotion. Skyler knew then he could trust her at his side in a fight. Pablo, on the other hand, said so little, Skyler had yet to form an opinion about him.
Ana was another matter entirely. She would run off with no notice. In dark, cramped alleys where Skyler urged total caution, Ana would sometimes laugh aloud, or point at something strange and blurt her excitement. For his part, Skyler couldn’t decide whether to chalk her behavior up to immaturity, or to her experiences since the disease came. The loss of her brother seemed to unground her already reckless personality. Someone needs to take her under their wing, Skyler thought. He had no illusions as to who that “someone” was.
She redeemed herself when they reached her “surprise.” Ana bowed and swept her arm when the fenced yard came into view, as he had done when he’d shown her the adventure supply store.
She’d led them to a parking lot. The back lot, Skyler realized, of a recreational vehicle dealership. Row after row of the long vehicles were crammed together in the huge square area. The fence that surrounded it was five meters high and had rings of razor wire across the top. Vines crept halfway up the barricade, and the thick ones had wrenched holes in the chain link big enough to walk through.
Skyler’s excitement abated somewhat when they entered. The vehicles were all in wretched condition. Five years was a long time for such machines to sit out in the rain, wind, and dust. Vines and weeds choked the wheel wells and routed up through the electronics bays. If any of them ran, Skyler would be amazed.
But Ana didn’t stop. She led the rest of them straight across the expanse to a giant garage with ten massive metal doors. All were closed save one, and that last had been rolled up only recently, Skyler judged. Ana had been here before, he realized.
Inside the enclosed bays were nine motor homes. Skyler expected a service garage, but once inside he realized they were in a showroom. These were the high-end models, and other than a coat of dust, they were immaculate. He laughed aloud, and Ana brightened.
It took some time to find the nearest building with power, and even longer to cobble together a cable long enough to reach the garage. By nightfall they started charging the first of the RVs: a sleek, silver box of a vehicle, fifteen meters long and opulent inside. Kitchen, bathroom. A goddamn shower, Skyler thought. No, nine goddamn showers.
The next morning they each drove one of the vehicles back to Camp Exodus. The smiles Skyler saw as they caravanned into camp were enough to make him forget about the task still to be performed in the rainforest. For a time, at least.
By the end of that day, all nine of the recreational vehicles were safely in camp, their water tanks filled and ultracaps charged. Before midnight, every colonist had taken a hot shower, and moods were decidedly improved.
Skyler had no doubt that arguments would ensue over who would live in the vehicles. He’d take no part in that. If the colonists were good at one thing, it was debating the optimal use of communal resources.
A full week passed before the topic of the Builder ship finally came up. Skyler was in front of his tent, strapping on his gear for the day, when Karl approached.
“I think it’s time we finished our talk,” the man said, his meaning plain. “Tania does, too.”
Skyler looked him up and down. His bruises had faded. A few scabs remained. “Finally,” Skyler replied. He grabbed a few more items from his tent: pocket utility knife, a watch with a built-in compass, and two pairs of compact binoculars. All went into pockets on his vest or pants, except one of the binoculars, which he handed to Karl. “Let’s go talk to Tania.”
The man nodded and led the way.
Tania leaned against the wall of the steel room, next to the tourist map of Belém. She had her head down against her chest, her arms folded across her stomach, and one leg tucked up behind her.
For a second Skyler thought she slept there, on her feet, but when the door closed behind Karl, Tania said. “They’re here, Zane.”
Skyler looked to the sat-comm unit on the table. On the screen were the faces of Zane and Tim, and Skyler felt as if he’d not seen them in months. It had been weeks, in truth. Both the older man and the younger looked tired.
“Good morning, gentlemen,” Zane said. “Tania has filled us in.”
Tim leaned in toward the camera. “Thanks for the supply delivery, by the way. It’ll buy a bit of time, at least.”
“More will be on the way soon,” Tania said. She hadn’t budged from her place against the wall, and hadn’t looked up at Skyler, either.
Christ, I should have kept my damned mouth shut. Skyler had an urge to cross the room and take her hands in his, tell her not to blame herself. But deep down he wasn’t sure he’d mean it. What good was a lie to comfort a liar?
With the thought came a deep and twisted stab of guilt, as if he’d wronged her instead of the other way around.
“Tania says you found something in the rainforest?” Zane prompted.
“I did,” Skyler replied, grateful for the shift in focus. He crossed to the map, aware of Tania as she moved a few steps away, presumably to give him space. At least, the others would think that. “Here,” he said, drawing a circle on the laminated chart with a dry-erase pen. “If I had to guess, I’d say it’s one of the pieces Tania saw approaching with the shell ship above us.”
“There were five, right?” Tim asked.
“Five that I could see,” Tania said.
Skyler tapped the circle he’d drawn. “It carved a long, shallow tunnel when it landed, and sits half-submerged at the far end. There were, well, a number of subhumans surrounding the area. Humming some kind of chant.”
“Singing,” Karl muttered. “A chorus.”
“Half-submerged?” Tania asked. Her gaze fell on the map now, her sulking mood forgotten with the news of a discovery. “So you entered the tunnel?”
Skyler nodded. “What I saw in there has given me nightmares since,” he told them all. The silence that followed was absolute. “The side of the vehicle has a hole in it, or some kind of door. Point being, it’s open. The whole place is shrouded in some kind of haze, but I managed to get close enough to see inside.”
“What was in there?” Karl asked, his voice a gruff whisper.
“A subhuman. Kneeling in front of some kind of … altar, I guess. Hexagonal in shape, and lit from within in red.”
“Red?” Tim asked. “The tower groups that left last night were lit as well, we’re told. Was the color the same?”
“The same as one group,” Skyler said. “Each group had a different coloration, but the red group went to this place, from what we can see.”
“Four groups,” Tania said, almost to herself. “I saw five ships, but only four groups of towers departed. Maybe they’re not connected?”
“Or maybe one ship didn’t make it to the surface,” Tim said, his excitement palpable.
Zane put a hand on the youngster’s shoulder to quiet him. “What do you mean, the subhuman was kneeling?”
“On its knees,” Skyler answered. He held up a hand before anyone balked at his sarcasm. “On its knees, with its hands outstretched. Grasping that hexagon thing with both hands.”
“Weird,” Karl said.
“There’s more. The subhuman was being coated with some kind of …” He inwardly recalled the scene, as he searched for the right words. “Some kind of armor, or second skin. I can’t explain. All I can tell you is, the subhuman was already half-covered when I found it, and when it turned to me …” He shivered.
Tania asked the question. “What did you see?”
Skyler looked at each of them in turn. “That red laser light, coming from within. Where eyes should have been.” Even describing it made him shudder. The creature had only looked at him, and yet it filled him with more dread than any subhuman encounter he’d had before.
“Do you think it was—”
Skyler held up a hand. “I’m not going to speculate; it’d be a waste of our time. My advice? We go out there, in force, and make a judgment based on what we find. Maybe get those towers back so the camp can keep progressing.”
No one spoke.
“It’s been almost a week since I saw the damn thing,” Skyler added. “The only rampant speculation I’ll make is that there may be more of them, these transformed subs, and now aura towers have moved into the area as well. What that means is anyone’s guess. My gut tells me the longer we wait the harder it will be to do anything about it.”
“No,” Tim said. “Not necessarily. If we wait a month maybe the towers will run out of power, or these beings will die off, or leave. There’s no way you can know—”
“Right,” Skyler said. “That’s the reaction I expected. Let me know when you’ve all finished debating.” He turned for the door.
“Wait,” Tania said.
When he stopped, she moved to the map and studied the spot he’d marked, as if it allowed her to see the place. “Skyler’s right. Karl, open the gun locker, and put out a call for volunteers. As many as want to go and that we have environment suits for. We’ll bring one tower. I don’t want to risk more than that.”
Karl’s eyes darted between her, Skyler, and the screen. “You sure?”
Tania nodded once, her mouth a hard, thin line. Skyler guessed she was anything but close to sure, but he wasn’t going to argue. He couldn’t help but wonder, though, if her unilateral action was really a peace offering to him. Either way, it signaled a change in her, a flash of decisive leadership, and he’d take it.
“Okay then,” Karl said.
Elias approached Skyler as he cleaned his sidearm. Skyler greeted the man with a friendly wave, and in answer the immune only managed a slight smile.
“You’re leaving, aren’t you?” Skyler asked, setting the weapon aside.
“It’s that obvious?”
The man offered his left hand to shake, the right being in a spray-on cast, and Skyler clasped it. “Thanks for your help,” he said. “I’m sorry about Davi and Wilson.”
Elias kicked the dirt around his feet. “You rescued us; it’s you who deserves thanks.” He spoke so softly Skyler had to lean in to hear the words. “All this fighting, it’s not in me.…”
“I understand,” Skyler said. He gripped the man’s shoulder. “Where will you go?”
Elias ran a hand across his scalp, smoothing strands of hair across the bald space. “Home,” he replied. “It may seem stupid, but I wish to bury my family, to live somewhere I had happy memories.”
“Not stupid,” Skyler said. “I wish you well. You’re welcome back here any time.”
He lingered. “I wondered if I might take one of Gabriel’s trucks. It’s a long way.”
Skyler winced, internally. Only four of the vehicles remained in functional shape. And though the colony now had nine motor homes, and an entire city to pick through for more, Gabriel’s leftovers were armored, fast, and known to be reliable.
Elias sensed the hesitation. “A motorcycle would be better on these roads, but beggars can’t be choosers.”
At that Skyler grinned. “Actually, a bike I can help you with. Fully charged, even.” Skyler provided him with a description of where he’d left it.
The quiet man thanked him again and wandered off. Skyler finished strapping on his gear and walked across camp toward the tower yard.
He took a route that brought him near the black vehicles Gabriel’s people had left behind. Without a word, the other immunes fell in with him, as if they had some silent agreement. Ana, Vanessa, and Pablo were all decked out in scavenged combat gear, and Skyler couldn’t help but feel a rush of pride.
