Chapter 2: Legacies

I came awake to bright sunshine and silence. Hoss had landed and her engines were fully shut down and quiet. Outside her canopy was a wide paved area and I spotted almost a dozen idle hoppers and other utility aircraft. Behind Hoss were three large structures which must have been hangars from the size of their closed main doors.

I looked around in all directions but there were no other humans present. “Naomi? Where am I and why is it morning?”

There was a slight delay before the AI answered. High Castle must not currently be overhead in line-of-site of my location.

—It is just after nine in the morning John. You are at the Nicaraguan field base aircraft storage area. It was decided that you be allowed to sleep the full night after the emotionally draining day yesterday.—

I felt my temper begin to heat. How dare the— The monitor in front of me activated, interrupted my pending rant. My wife’s face was showing on the screen. Her pose was the same as last night. She must have recorded it and left it for me to find this morning.

“Don’t be mad at Naomi, Honey. After our conversation last night, I instructed it to sedate you and let you get a full night’s rest. You would have landed in the dark last night anyway and had to wait until this morning. Besides, you will forget all about being angry when we are together tonight.”

The image winked out. I took a deep breath. She was probably right. I had not planned on conducting the burial in the dark so I would have had to wait after I landed. Being sedated spared me from having the landing disturb me. I was about to ask about Abby when Naomi spoke, anticipating my questions.

—The remains of your daughter have already been removed from the aircraft and transported to the burial site. The site is just over a kilometer away from the field base and a path has been prepared for your use when you are ready. The nearby structure contains a restroom with a bathing chamber if you wish to freshen up. There is also a kitchen unit available if you wish to break your fast.—

I stretched and signaled Hoss’s port side canopy to open. The air that rushed in was only a bit warmer than the conditioned cabin air but much more humid. I breathed in the smells of a different jungle. Being that it was early, I guessed the temperature was only in the low twenties. It would probably rise to the high twenties as the day progressed. I hoped to be back in the air by them.

Once out of the aircraft I stretched more fully. The landing area was still silent and inactive except for a pair of mobile units working on one of the hopper’s engines. I thought about heading straight to the burial area but the thought of a toilet and a shower sounded pretty good.

As I headed for the indicated structure I asked, “Where is everyone?”

—All local humans have been instructed to avoid the area for the next three hours, John. Uxe directed this to happen having assumed you would wish for privacy to accomplish the morning’s task.—

Uxe was right about that. Even though I had defeated the Master AI over two decades ago, I was still treated as something of a celebrity by the template colony humans. Surprisingly, this extended to their children as their history education covered the events of humanity’s emancipation from the control of the Assemblage quite heavily.

Uxe was right in that I would not respond kindly to a request for group imaging, especially today. I proceeded inside the hanger and headed for the toilet and my shower.

The AI was tricky. After I emerged, clean and dressed in the newly created clothing I found waiting, the aroma from my favorite breakfast meal hit my senses. My legs, led by my growling stomach, carried me around the corner and to the small kitchen area where I found hot steaming food waiting.

I was suddenly ravenous at the site of coffee, orange juice, eggs, bacon, hash browns, and toast. I remembered that I had not eaten since breakfast yesterday and the machine had been right to play dirty with the food preparations.

Naomi interrupted my breakfast just as I was chasing the last of my eggs with my toast.

—A ground cart is available if you wish to be conveyed to the burial site. Or, if you wish to walk, I have placed markers which will guide you. The trail begins at the western edge of the paved landing area. —

“Thank you, Naomi. I think I will walk.”

I needed the exercise and the activity would do me good. I’d been mostly idle the entire time I’d been in Peru with Abby. Also, if the day grew too warm, I could always take a quick shower before I left on Hoss later.

As Naomi had advised, the trail was both easy to find and follow. The AI’s mobile units had cleared a six-meter-wide path through the trees and vegetation. The walking surface itself was smooth chemically hardened earth two meters wide and centered on the clearing. It had also been gently graded, provided with bridges where needed and adequate drainage along each side.

I was impressed at the effort which had gone into the trail and realized that Abby’s burial site would not be a passing thing. Clearly, great effort had gone into making it accessible to others and it was likely that, like my homestead in South Dakota and the battle sites in the Galapagos Islands, this site would become popular with people interested in our recent history. I was not sure how I felt about that thought just now though.

The trail began climbing a gradual hill a half kilometer away from the landing area. Looking behind and to the east, I caught sight of the horizon. The location here was high enough that I could just make out the Atlantic Ocean twenty kilometers off to the east. I was also able to see a few signs of human habitation.

The main template colony for this area was fifteen kilometers away, towards the south-southeast, closer to the Atlantic coast and near to the old harbor town of Bluefields. Humanity had begun to spread out over the past two decades, and I was able to see machine-cultivated areas as well as an occasional larger structure.

With the early Master AI imposed growth on the template colonies, the large second generation had followed and began rapidly having children of their own. We needed the human population to grow fast and thus, I grudgingly accepted the need for (what I thought of as) kids having their own kids. Someday I was sure I’d push for a slowdown in the fast-growth policy, but not before much thought on what the optimal human populations should be.

The walk was good for me. The tranquil rain forest was less jungle and more palm forest which was a nice break from what I’d left behind in South America. The area on each side of the paved trail had been tilled and was currently bare soil.

I imagined that new work had already been seeded with short grasses or other ground cover. The plant growth would need to be maintained by mobile units though, as the clearing would quickly be overgrown without.

No animals disturbed my walk, not even insects. I caught sight of mobile units ahead and behind me off in the distance, and I realized that Naomi was seeing to my safety. Aside from keeping watch for large predators, the mobile units also kept the insects at bay, at least in the area near my presence.

I recalled that the last time I’d been here, hell! Over three centuries ago, there had been the threat of Jaguars even then. I had no idea what was prowling the forest now, but with humans living nearby, I suspected all threats were well-monitored.

At the one-kilometer mark, the trail turned and began ascending a final low rise. Ahead I could see the clearing widen out at what must be the burial site. My breath caught as I spotted the silverish, metallic statue standing on a newly formed hill of earth. At the base of the hill were a pair of waiting mobile units. On a cart next to them was the cylinder with contained my daughter’s remains.

When I arrived at the mule, I just stood and gaped at the work that had been done to prepare this site. An area of the jungle about a hectare in size had been cleared. In the middle, a circular mound of earth had been raised to a height of about four meters. At the top of the mound had been placed a metallic statue that bore Abby’s likeness.

The mound was perfectly hemispherical and had been mostly covered with small blue-white stones or shells. There was a winding narrow path of chemically-hardened earth which circled up and around the mound like a spiraling ramp and which ended at the base of the statue. A second path circled the entire mound near the edge of the jungle clearing.

I decided to follow the second path so I could take in the statue from all angles from a distance before approaching. It was clearly larger-than-life, maybe twice life-sized, and was easily recognizable as my daughter. The age portrayed was that of a mature woman in her fourth decade.

I realized that I had never seen Abby alive at this age. She had been in a newly-restored young body when I’d awakened her after defeating the Master AI. Then, she’d had her body rapidly aged during the following year and I’d only known her as an elderly woman ever since. I found I liked her as portrayed. She looked so strong; wise and confident.

I continued circling the base of the mound and inspecting the statue. Abby was portrayed standing, facing East and the rising sun, with one leg forward as if she was bracing herself against a gale. She leaned forward slightly with her right arm up and extended, palm outward as if holding some onslaught at bay.

Her left arm was behind her, as if attempting to keep something behind her protected from whatever she was facing. Her face was turned slightly to the side and angled downward; her eyes shifted as if keeping watch on what was behind her with her peripheral vision. Her expression was one of grim determination, resolute, and somewhat sad.