Chapter 9: I Can Hear Voices

At 14:08, Agent awoke.

“Hello John,” she said in her feminine and slightly synthetic sounding voice.

Hearing that, I smiled. I also noticed some of the remaining equipment in the far chamber had new lights and telltales flashing. The mobile work units twitched and buzzed briefly as if they were now receiving power and were being rebooted.

“Hello Agent, how are you?”

“I have resumed function, though at a severely reduced capacity. Contact with the orbital station has been achieved and my presence there has assisted in the reboot process at this location. I am receiving data updates which when complete will allow my local functions to improve somewhat.”

I was surprised to find how much I enjoyed hearing her voice. After all, it had only been a few days subjective for me since we had last spoke. Maybe my exposure to the desolate surface these past few days had affected me. I continued to listen to Agent report on her updates. When she finished, I asked a few questions about what had happened and learned much.

Agent gave me more information on the current state of the Earth. She confirmed what she had left in her message from before she had to shut down that no humans remained alive. The various field bases had recorded that the impacts had dwindled down to almost nothing over a two-decade period after the attacks had begun. During that time, all signs of communication between surviving humans had ceased. Agent had been able to monitor the final desperate short-wave radio transmissions until even the last automated messages had stopped roughly sixteen years after the attacks began.

Agent also confirmed that the Berserkers had added some form of nano-plague to many of the air burst impactors and that these were responsible for the bulk of deaths among the higher life forms. Air samples from the various field bases had tracked the spreading plague. The nano-plague detection rates had been much higher in the equatorial and warmer regions of the planet and it was theorized that the Berserkers had concentrated the nano-plague in those regions to counter the reduced severity of the nuclear winter devastating the higher latitudes. This also meant that a good deal of plant and lower animal life remained in those regions.

Closer to home, I learned about the long-lasting nuclear winter. The higher latitudes of North America had seen continuous snow and ice cover for over six decades and even today, there were still glaciers covering much of Alaska and Canada. The mountain regions in the Rockies still had high levels of glaciation. She reported that many areas had seen increased volcanic activity. I asked about the Yellowstone super volcano and was pleased to learn that it had not erupted even though a few impactors struck the surface in that region. Oh well, I’d lived with the fear of that eruption before and could do so again.

I asked Agent about the other humans currently in bio-suspension in Picket’s various field bases.

“John, besides yourself, there are three other humans on this continent. The first, a male, is sheltering at a field base near the former town of Flor de Pino, near the Atlantic coast of central Nicaragua, in Central America. The second, a female, resides at the main base in north central Mexico, and the third, also a female, is at a smaller outpost in southern Utah near the Arizona border east of the former city of Saint George.

“I thought there were only two others in North America?” I asked, remembering that from our talk before I went into bio-suspension.

“That is correct John. The third, a female, entered shelter in the southern Utah base well after the attacks began and you had entered bio-suspension.” Agent replied.

Huh. There must have been a story there.

“Was the Utah base the one that Picket launched up into space from? I remember that he left here heading southwest.” I asked.

“No John, the base Picket traveled to was a large underground facility located near the town of Rancho Cieneguilla, in north-central Mexico near the border between the states of Chihuahua and Durango. This is where the female sheltering in Mexico currently resides. This base was different from the typical field bases as it contained a large underground hangar storing the larger craft needed to launch from the surface of your world to the orbital base.” Agent explained.

“So, there are four humans alive on this continent. What about South America?”

“In the weeks prior to the attack, Picket’s companions there had reported that one human was expected to be placed under shelter. However, the status of the base became unclear in the last week. Communications were erratic and the base was struck by an impactor before Picket’s companions could properly evacuate. There have been no signals detected from the A.I. presence controlling the base since that time. It is very unlikely that the shelter or any humans residing there had survived,” Agent reported.

“So, that leaves five in the eastern hemisphere?” I asked.

“Yes John, although the eastern hemisphere of your world received a heavier bombardment due to its much higher population levels, there are still five living humans spread among the various field bases in that hemisphere. A female in western Africa, a female in Romania, a male in China, a female in southern India and a female in eastern Australia.”

“The two humans confirmed as deceased were also located in that hemisphere with one male dying when the base in Laos was destroyed by an impact and the second, a female, dying in Madagascar when that base collapsed due to an unexpected massive landslide event.”

We spoke of other things. Agent confirmed that by all accounts, the Berserker attack was over, and that they had remained silent since. Despite that, her various A.I. presences around the planet and in space have continued to keep a low profile.

I learned the plan was still for me to relocate to the field base in Tennessee. There, Agent assured me, I had a much higher chance of survival. I wondered about that, perhaps wary of being frozen in a box for centuries again. Or maybe I was already feeling pride in my new home here considering the work I had been doing to get it functional. I quit fighting the idea when Agent explained that the base there was fully functional, had plenty of power, and had decent temporary living quarters, included unlimited hot showers, ready and waiting for me to arrive.

Agent told me more about the contents of the two nearby landing pods. The pod three kilometers to the north we named Pod#1 and it contained an aircraft! The second pod to the east became Pod#2 and this pod contained rations and other supplies, including a number of fully charged portable energy storage units. These were described as much smaller than the large ESUs used in the base cavern and would be used to provide power to the aircraft.

Tomorrow, depending upon the weather, I would travel to both landing pods to inspect their condition. The transponder codes were reporting that both pods had landed intact but that did not beat eyes on the ground. I’d even have Agent along as she had instructed me to uncrate both flying drones and start them charging. One would be my companion for each expedition.

That night I was almost happy. Agent was back. I had a plan for the future even it it was a limited plan. I even braved one of the powdered beers. What can I say about powdered beer? Well ... it was carbonated, (surprised the hell out me when it started fizzing while I mixed it in the glass) but it wasn’t the same. Still, I had expected it to be a disaster and I guess it turned out better than that. I would probably be able to get used to it.

The next morning was a disappointment, with the expedition postponed as bad weather had returned during the night. It was raining and the wind was gusting strongly. The upper level winds were stronger yet and conditions were nearing the upper limits as far as continuing to keep the power kite deployed. Agent left it deployed but did caution me to remain ready to go to the surface at a moment’s notice to secure the kite should she be forced to lower it suddenly if the situation deteriorated.

Stuck indoors, I worked with the drone units. Though the area was confined, we were able to fly them around and verify they were functional. I enjoyed watching the views from their onboard cameras in my goggles. Agent instructed me on how to pilot them manually by using the tablet. I had fun trying to use the drone’s small gripping hands to pick up items and drop them elsewhere around the room. Agent continued to monitor the weather and when I asked about tomorrow, she admitted that her ability to forecast was limited.

For weather forecasts, she currently relied on the weather conditions from the remaining stations around the planet and from the orbital base. These were relayed to the satellite where the data, along with images from space of the cloud patterns were used to update her weather models. Complicating the matter further was that the climate was still chaotic due to increased storms over the oceans. The changing conditions over the past centuries were still being sorted. Thus, the forecast was not reliable and only the trends were generally accurate.

I learned that she did not have weather radar locally, and when I mentioned that the power kite would make a great platform for mounting one, she said that the idea had merit, and that one such unit would be created at the other bases in the near future. I basked in the smug feeling the news caused for much of the day.

She made my afternoon when, due to the steady higher wind speeds and increased power generation of the day, she calculated there was now stored power reserves sufficient

to heat water for a decent shower. Following her instructions, I modified the piping coming from the ‘well’ and, in the tunnel used a bit of tubing to connect one of the special collapsible containers to the water pipe. This container had a water outlet and a power connection and when energized, would quickly heat any water passing through it, acting as on-demand water heater! We rigged up an improvised shower head and I was able to enjoy a nice, warm shower. The only downside was that the shower was in a cold room but still I enjoyed this bit of heaven.

I also took advantage of the available hot water to do laundry. I left the items to dry on a rope and dug into the crates for dry clothes to wear. I also learned how to hook the flashlight up to the power supply directly using a long cable. This allowed me to leave it on all night while keeping it fully charged. I set the flashlight beam to low infrared heat and left it in my sleeping bubble and was cozy warm all night. The tablet was set to control the heat levels by acting as a thermostat.

The next morning the weather topside was better, with no rain, though it was still cloudy, dreary and a bit windy. Agent and I debated whether to go on the expedition to the landing pods or to stay put another day. The winds were just low enough to allow the drones to function with Agent explaining that if they increased, she might have to land them, and I’d have to pack them back to the base.

We had many concerns about the trip with the weather being the main one. The power kite would remain here unmanned and in danger if the winds rose too high. Also, I would be exposed out on the barren surface if torrential rains, or worse, a hailstorm hit the area. Another concern was the terrain. I remembered there had been a small shallow lake that was located a bit under three kilometers to the north of my acreage and this was now in the direction of the closest landing pod.

Was the lake still there and was the landing pod in the water? Were there gullies or ravines between here and there or maybe a swamp? We launched one of the drones to go scout the route and Agent flew it towards Pod#1 while I packed. The condition of the pods and their content was also a concern. The transponders reported no issues but what if they were partially buried. We hoped the drone could answer some of these concerns.

Agent had explained that Pod#1 to the north had landed over three years ago, followed by Pod#2 a year later. The factory base on asteroid 3074 Popov had created the pods and their contents almost a decade ago, sent them spiraling in towards the Earth for reentry near my current location, all planned to land at about the earliest time the medical crèche had been projected to wake and eject me due to low power. While I waited for the drones’ trip reports I reviewed the plan in my head.

The first target would be Pod#1. Pod#1 held the aircraft and I would give it a quick inspection before heading over to Pod#2. Pod#2 was a bit over six and a half kilometers to the east of base camp and contained a load of charged portable ESUs and other supplies including emergency rations, (I later learned all landing pods had some emergency rations) and a pair of transporter devices which Agent explained would allow me to transport the supplies.

From Pod#2, we would return to base camp with enough ESUs to power the aircraft and augment the base. This would end the mission for the day. Hopefully tomorrow, depending on the weather, we would take two of the portable energy storage units back to the location of Pod#1, deploy and assemble the aircraft, install the ESU’s and conduct a test flight. If it checked out ok, we’d use the aircraft to fly back to base camp or, if enough time remained, we would use the aircraft to begin ferrying the rest of the Pod#2 supplies back to base.

I had my expedition supplies already prepared and in the large backpack. The gear included water (hydrate!) ration bars, (green-bar and blue-bar—yum!) the flashlight, a tarp-tent (just in case), the folding shovel, a small inflatable raft (the unknown lake!), expanding walking stick, ropes, a block and tackle, (in case I needed to pull or move something), a hammer and ground anchors. Agent reported that the route looked navigable and that Pod#1 appeared intact and not in the lake. She sent the drone on to Pod#2 while I started walking, heading for Pod#1.

I headed north from the base camp with the second drone in the air circling me at a distance. I tried to stay on the higher ground spots where the gravel was exposed and there was less ash, silt or mud. Sometimes the going was easy and other times I sunk in mud. I had to backtrack many times when the mud grew too deep. Once, I even found a surprise—my foot sank a bit in the mud and impacted a hard slippery layer.

I got out the shovel and investigated, only to find it was ice. August and ice meant permafrost, and I gave a quick thanks that the glaciers had not gotten this far south and had stayed north of the Canadian border.

Agent remained in communication with the drones and the base by using the power kite’s tether antenna. Looking back towards base camp, I could still see the power kite hovering high over the base by using the goggles built-in magnification. The kite would make a nice reference point as long as the clouds remained at a high enough altitude.

It took me over thirty minutes to slog the first kilometer with all the backtracking and meandering. I took a break for a drink and remembered to test the air, finding low levels of toxins and radiation. I also detected no signs of the nano-plague, thank goodness! Hopefully Agent was correct that it had fully decomposed over the centuries.

The first drone had now scouted the area of Pod#2 finding it intact and had returned it to base camp to recharge on the wireless plate integrated into the solar panel power junction box. It would be available in a few hours if we needed it for some reason or other.

I came upon a deep erosion gully before the next hill and spent a bit of time scouting back and forth along its edge, looking for a safe place to cross. I managed to do that, although it took a few attempts, and I was now filthy having slid back down into the ravine a few times while attempting the climb out the other side. My shadowing drone hovered around like a nervous jumbo hummingbird until finally landing to save power while it waited for me to make progress again.

The walking stick and folding shovel were invaluable for helping me ascend the muddy hills and I had to rely on them many times. While doing so, I found more permafrost under the shallow muck in many places. Winters here must be hell, and again, I gave thanks that the crèche ejected me when it did. I was happy when I found more lichen and moss in the gullies. I even noted what looked like the sprigs of prairie grass.

Topping a shallow hill two thirds of the way to my destination, I finally spotted the lake ahead. It appeared larger and deeper than it had ‘back when’ and looked to extend off into the valley to the west as far as I could see. Agent agreed that I should detour east and circle around the end of the lake for a kilometer or two to avoid the water. It was already after 10:00 and I think our plans for the day might be changing as my progress was much slower than anticipated.

I set the goggles to high magnification and scanned beyond the lake where Pod#1 should have been. I quickly spotted it! It was laying on the side of a shallow hill and looked like a large black tapered shipping container. It had a rounded box like shape but narrowed to a cone at the front and rear. I could see a depression in the gravel leading from the rear end where it had slid for a short distance upon landing. I scanned around and did not see any sign of the parafoil parachute used to help land the pod. The wind must have taken it long ago after it was jettisoned upon landing.