Chapter 12: Here Comes the Sun

We lived.

Eleven thirty approached and everyone was sitting in their over-inflated impact chairs watching a video projection showing the countdown until the interstellar interloper flew past the Earth. An orbital telescope even managed to capture great views of the object as it approached at eight percent of the speed of light. What the enhanced images revealed of our visitor resembled a long, blueish-gray cylinder. Wow, exciting uh?

There was also a live view from a surface telescope that was tracking the fly-by. Since the object was moving so fast and was so dark against a dark, star-filled night sky, the AI added an illuminated red overlay to help track its motion and passage.

When it happened, it took only about twenty seconds for the object to appear and depart. The enhanced image showed the red line of a linear trace which resembled something between a slower-than-normal shooting star and a very fast satellite. The orbital telescope tracking the object showed it shift in color from blue-gray to a more reddish hue as it passed by. How the interloper could have managed to get a good look at the Earth while traveling at that speed was beyond me.

The good news was that it did not explode, nor fire death rays at us, nor eject spaceborne smallpox to shower us with death-pimple doom. The bad news (or possibly indifferent news) was that it had not responded to our message transmission in any way. It remained dead silent. No radio or laser pulses; nothing detectable at all. Maybe it had fizzled out during its long journey?

Regardless, at one in the morning, a global ‘maybe we are going to live’ message was broadcast. That was my translation for the AI’s vague message relaying nothing important. The update broadcast still recommended that all humans remain in shelters for at least another six hours. That worked out well for us as it would be seven in the morning when the restriction was lifted and this meant we could go to bed down here and emerge topside when we woke to greet the dawn.

With the threat now lessened, Angelina, Chelsea, and the indent Liang helped me carry the younger children from their cramped impact chairs to the bunk beds which the androids had prepared earlier. I was impressed at how strong Liang’s waif-like shell was as he was able to handle the smaller children with ease. A few of the older kids were still awake and stumbled themselves into their own bunks after visiting the toilet.

The adults had cots waiting. Beatrice and Jess were still in virtuality following any new information which trickled in. I left it up to their own augments to put themselves to bed, or not. Sahún took a cot next to her indent. I noted that she held his hand for a moment before rolling over to go asleep. What a strange situation that was! Soon, we were all in cots and snoring away.

I slept in the next morning. The late night filled with the anxiety of waiting for our deaths from the interloper combined with the hours of me baring my soul and reliving past nightmares to Jess had exhausted me. When I awoke, everyone was gone except Beatrice and Jess who were still sleeping in their cots. I sat up quietly so as to not disturb them.

—I have prepared fresh clothing for you, John. It is waiting in guest room fourteen up in the surface dormitory. There, you may shower and dress as you will. A buffet breakfast has been provided in the annex if you are hungry.—

I sub-vocally thanked Ohmu and noticed that the bunker hatch had been left open. I was surprised that I had managed to sleep through all the kids and the other adults waking up and leaving. I had to take a leak but that could wait until I was on the surface. It was time to get out of here.

Chelsea was about to leave the complex when I made it to the annex for breakfast. I spent a moment saying goodbye to her and wishing her luck on her historical reenactment. She had enquired if I would be visiting the camp again and I had to let her know that I was probably leaving the area soon and not likely be returning while it was active.

We parted with her giving me a long hug and thanking me for the tour of my acreage. She also thanked me (with a bit of embarrassment) for sending Angie to her camp. I looked around the annex and spotted the other humans in the dining area. I grabbed a plate of food and coffee and joined Sahún and her indent who were sitting at a table next to Angelina.

“Good morning, John. Last night was quite something, wasn’t it?” Sahún asked.

I sat next to Angelina who reached over and gave me a quick hug. “Yep. We’re still here though, so that’s good.”

“Angelina and I were just discussing that the incident will probably wake up the denier segment of the population.”

The deniers were this era’s flat-earthers. Humans ... you can’t live with or without them.

“Some of them, sure. The others will probably claim that the warning and flyby yesterday were a fabrication and doubt the whole thing even more,” I said.

I spent a few minutes focusing on eating while the others finished up and sat chatting.

Angelina reached over and rubbed my arm. “We saw that you spent a bunch of time talking with Jess in private last night?”

I took her statement as the question she had really meant and answered, “Yes. He finally got me to talk about the accident that happened in China nine years ago. I think it helped. I feel better today about it at least.”

Sahún looked sympathetic. Being that she had been involved with my grandson when the accident happened, she was probably intimately familiar with the family gossip about how I had reacted.

“Well, I am glad!” Angelina said with a big smile. She looked sincere. “What are you going to do now?”

After my talk with Naomi last night, I’d been thinking about just that. The AI’s suggestion of an updated mind-data scan was a good one. I was also considering the suggestion of a new shell. It was waiting at my winter home in the Seychelles. It had been a long time since I had been on a warm ocean beach and the idea sounded very fine right now.

“I will probably head to my isolation lodge in the Indian Ocean. I need to either replace this shell or have some invasive medical work done to it. Recovering in the warm sunshine on a peaceful beach sounds like a pretty good idea,” I explained.

“Oh, John. Heels in the Sand is such a lovely place! Ben and I spent a few vacations there,” Sahún said.

My extended family had had a standing invitation to use any of my leased properties, so the revelation did not bother me. On the contrary, I was glad to hear that the place was being utilized. Her statement also meant that the island retreat was still being maintained. I guess the AIs would have seen to that in my absence, regardless.

Sahún continued, “John, I planned on leaving my Falls overlook lodge in a day or two. Hearing about your island retreat makes me crave some time on a warm beach. If you are going there, would you mind if I tagged along for a short stay? Of course, Liang would accompany me. I know you have a nice set of guest suites and a separate beach cottage there so we would be out of your way.”

I saw Angelina perk up at that. I wondered how long Ohmu had commissioned the girl to be my therapist and companion. I thought about Sahún’s request while I finished my last bite of eggs. I would not mind the company and as she had said, the place did have ample guest accommodations.

Also, I had Uxe’s invitation to visit her on Vesta still lingering in the back of my mind. It might be a good idea to have a short beach vacation before I left the planet as it might be a long while before I returned.

I nodded to Sahún. “That would be fine. How about we leave tomorrow night. That way we can sleep during the flight and get some of the jet lag out of our system. I’ll also invite Beatrice and Jess to come along since they are only here because of me.”

I turned to my touch therapist and asked, “And how about you. Would you like to spend a little time on the beach?”

She accepted my invitation with an eagerness that went beyond just the chance for a continuing paycheck. It was clear that she was not a fan of the mid-October climate here in Old South Dakota.

I was back at my acreage sitting on the deck sipping coffee when I spotted Beatrice and Ohmu walking over the hill from the field base. It was midafternoon and we had skipped our normal after-lunch poker game. Jess and Beatrice had still been sleeping in the bunker when I had finished my breakfast and made my exit.

Sahún and her indent had flown back to her isolation lodge to prepare it for their departure tomorrow night. I had checked with Ohmu and found that the electro-jet currently stationed at the field base would be available tomorrow evening to shuttle our group half-way around the world.

Jess had contacted me a short while ago and said that he was returning to his normal practice. He had mentioned that he would like a follow up session with me in a few months. I had agreed that I would if I was still on the planet. Ten minutes ago, I had heard the whine of the jet taking off, no doubt to shuttle him back to where he had come from.

Ohmu and Beatrice had made it to my drive. I went into the kitchen to fetch a cold bottle of water to offer my human guest when she arrived. When I returned to the porch they were within conversation distance.

“Good afternoon,” I called out.

“Good afternoon, John,” Beatrice said. “I missed you when I finally woke up this morning. What a night that was.”

“Yes, it was interesting,” I replied.

She thanked me for the water and took a seat on the porch step. It was a sunny fall day and warm enough that I had my jacket off. Ohmu took a seat also. It could have stood all day if it wanted so I suspected her action was for the benefit of us humans.

“I spoke with Jess before he left. He explained some of what you discussed with him last night.”

“Oh?” was my nonchalant answer.

“Yes, he relayed enough of what had happened between you and Ohmu here ... and Naomi I guess. He said that you three had reached a compromise of sorts, or maybe a balance at least?”

I thought for a moment, “Yes, I think that you could say we have. After the historical learning expedition, I was angry and half-insane with what had happened, and I needed some time to come to terms with it. I may have gone too far over the edge but now I am getting better.”

She just nodded. We sat there enjoying the sun for a while in silence.

“I will be going back to Luna soon so if you don’t mind, I’ll accept your offer to ride along with you when you go to the Indian Ocean. After a few days on the beach, I’ll hop over to the launch base in Somalia and head back to the moon.”

I said that I would love to host her for a few days at my island.

She had finished her water and now stood. “Well, I’m going to head back to the annex for a while and begin to get my body clock set to the ten-hour time offset. The implant helps but last night has messed me up already. I’m going to bed until we leave then stay up for the flight. I heard you are doing it the other way?”

I nodded. I planned to sleep during the flight and use the implant to wake me up early once we arrived.

“OK, I’ll see you later. Oh, I just remembered, Angie said she will be here in a few hours,” she said as she walked away.

Ohmu remained on my porch. Angelina was coming to spend the night. We had planned to spend the evening in the lake cabin. If the night were calm, maybe there would even be an outdoor bonfire. If not, there was always the wood stove in the cottage to keep us warm.

Tomorrow morning Chelsea would be stopping by to say goodbye to both of us. I intended to let her have access to the lake cabin over the winter. It would be a good backup to her camp, and I knew she would enjoy the occasional un-broadcast warm shower if the cold weather got to be too much for her.

I spent a bit of time chatting with Ohmu. We talked about the pending mind-data recording session. I frowned when I heard that I would need to have my long gray hair shaved off. With the cranial injuries I had suffered in the cave in I would need to use the external data pickups just to be safe.

The android also teased me by describing the fit, young clone shell that was waiting in the deep-freezer at Heels in the Sand. I tried to convince myself that I would miss my current grizzled-old shell, but the truth was I was ready for a change.

I had replaced my shell enough to know how amazing it felt to shed decades of wear and tear in an instant. I could have had the machines rejuvenate this one to a youthful condition, but I did not want to spend a decade in bio-suspension as my body was regrown to be like new.

“John, what would you like me to do with your old survival gear and homemade clothing from your nomadic existence?” the android asked, interrupting my thought.

What did I want with that gear? At the moment, I had no intentions of running off and resuming that lifestyle. Although, doing so in the slightly more-familiar surroundings of North America would be interesting when compared to the wilds of Central Asia. There were fewer neo-bears here after all. No, I did not want to keep the gear.

“I don’t want it anymore. You can dispose of it.”

“Would you mind if it were retained here? Eudaimonia’s historical sub-presence has expressed an interest in constructing an exhibit in the museum barn which covers the years of your Asian self-imposed exile.”

The android had asked that last very quietly. It possibly feared my reaction. Did I mind? Not really. I’d suppressed much of the preceding short decade, but it would probably be an interesting exhibit. I was not sure of exactly how far I had wandered or my overall route, but I do know that I had covered an impressive distance of terrain.

I’d kept moving constantly in great circling patterns focused around the eastern Gobi desert. Southeast in the winter to the wetter areas of China and northward up into Siberia in the spring. It would be nice to see it on a map someday. I would also be interested in how they explained the reasons behind my departure.

“That would be fine, Ohmu,” I answered.

“Would you like me to prepare a meal for yourself and Angelina tonight? Or do you wish to do your own cooking?” she asked next.

I smiled. I had just spent nearly nine years eating campfire food. “Please prepare a meal. We will eat it at the cabin. Check with Angie on what she would like. I would like seafood. And maybe have the makings for s’mores on hand in case we do have an outdoor fire.”

I thanked the android and she departed to leave me in peace.

Angie and I were waiting in the pool of light at the foot of the entry stairs to the electro-jet. She had a small travel case while I had just the clothes on my back. Just as I was about to send a message, a freshly awakened and still tired-looking Beatrice appeared at the brightly lit annex exit. She looked around and yawned before spotting us and beginning to walk our way.

Behind us, Sahún’s hopper was approaching to land on the paving beyond the jet. I could hear it but could only see its flashing landing lights because I had not brought my night-vision goggles. The sun had set over an hour ago and it was now cold and windy. An early winter storm was due to arrive later tonight, so we were getting out of here just in time.

Soon we were all aboard the electro-jet. There were six passengers including the android this time. Our seats were spread out as four of us planned to sleep during the flight. Beatrice planned to stay awake so her and Ohmu’s seats were up front by the refreshment station. We assumed our takeoff positions and were airborne moments later. The high thrust kept us pressed into our seats and grunting out our breaths for the three minutes it took to get the jet up to its cruising altitude and speed.

Our course was northeast and at over Mach three, we would likely be well over Canada and approaching Greenland before we were fully asleep. The trip would take only a bit over three hours so we would be using the implants to quickly reach full REM slumber. Ohmu did one last check on us and configured our seats into horizontal beds. Soon I was dreaming about the stars, as we flew on just below them.

Ohmu woke us by gradually brightening the cabin a few minutes before we started descending. I had just gotten my seat back in the upright position and taken a few sips of the coffee I had been handed when the electro-jet banked around to the left. Out the port windows, I saw the blue of the Indian Ocean come into view. I leaned forward and saw my island just ahead.

Heels in the Sand was the name I had assigned to the place when I had first completed the lease agreement over a century ago. It was to have been mine for ninety-nine years but a petition on Conscientia had been passed which granted me an unlimited lease. The only stipulation was that if I died or left the planet forever, the island would revert to the historical sub-presence to be converted to another historical tourism site.

From the air, the island looked much like I’d remembered it. It had been known as North Island, or Ile du Nord to use the more common French name, back before the reset. It was a two-square-kilometer island in the inner island group of the Seychelles archipelago. The islands’ location was eight kilometers north of the larger, Silhouette Island and thirty kilometers north-west of the largest island in the Seychelles, Mahé.

To the northwest, it was twelve hundred kilometers to Old Somalia, Africa, and the same distance to the south-southwest was Madagascar. Despite it being only four degrees south of the equator, the small island had a very temperate climate with the oceans keeping the highs and lows not more than ten degrees each side of eighty degrees Fahrenheit year-round.

Angelina was awake and processing by now. She turned to me and said, “Wow, nice island! Looks warm.”

“It averages around eighty degrees year-round,” I replied.

She looked at me funny for a moment. “Oh, twenty-seven degrees. Why do you still use those old-style archaic measurements?”

I felt a bit embarrassed. I didn’t’ want to reveal that I had switched to the old-style units after the China accident simply because I was having a childish temper tantrum when I had fled the AI and humanity.

The mental struggles I had had converting and switching units had eventually eased until that was again how I had thought of those measurements. For the same reason, I had reverted to using the old AM and PM twelve-hour time segments. I suppose I would have to switch back to the normal twenty-four-hour method now that I was again around other humans.

But, to answer Angie’s question, I half-lied, “Oh, it was just something to keep my mind occupied when I was gone.”

She just nodded and turned to continue watching our landing. I watched her observing the island and smiled when she grew excited as the two large, white sandy beaches and blue lagoons came into view. The island was two kilometers long by a kilometer wide with the major axis running from the northwest to the southeast.

Towards the south-eastern end was a large solid rock outcropping which projected into the ocean about three hundred yards. Immediately to the northwest of the rock was the largest beach on the island and was also the one most often sheltered from the ocean waves.

When I had first leased the island, I found it a bit too exposed to the open ocean so I’d worked a deal with the mining sub-presences who were extracting undersea metallic nodules in the deeper parts of the Indian Ocean to offload their smelter slag onto a barge controlled by Naomi. Then, the AI sintered the slag into tetrapod riprap and deposited it a half kilometer offshore from each of the island’s two beaches.