Still Falling: Book 1: Solstice 31 Saga (4 page)

CHAPTER SIX

Peck’s Halfway

“This AI, in hostile environment mode, could sense the best way to distract Barcus. It was a brilliant survival sub-routine.”

--Solstice 31 Incident Investigation Testimony Transcript: Emergency Module Digital Forensics Report. Independent Tech Analysis Team.

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“Barcus...” Em said.

He still had his face in his hands, awash in despair.

“Barcus?” Em actually sounded worried again. This made him think of Chen even more, dropping him to his knees.

“Barcus, please. We need to talk. We found something.”

Barcus realized that there was a faint image of a small woman sitting cross-legged before him with deep concern on her face. She was like a ghost in the darkness of his eyelids. He opened his eyes, and she was still there apparently sitting on the floor in front of him. She actually sighed before speaking.

“I am so sorry. About everything.” Her eyes lowered as if she was reluctant to continue. “I know you don't like avatars, but Chen programmed me to convey additional analog emphasis while communicating - more than just tone. And this is important.”

The image stood up, with the clear expectation that Barcus should get up as well.

“I have discovered signs people have been here. Recently.” She clearly wanted him to follow her out. By the time he reached the top of the stairs, she was at the bottom, waving for him to follow. She even had a cloak like his on.

This is un-fucking-real, Chen.

She was running ahead of him, guiding the way. He had seen avatars like this for his internal HUD. He even had a training program back on the ship that would run with him, and there was that dumb personal assistant guy that reminded you of your calendar. But nothing like this.

She turned near the end of the cobbles and entered into a small building. It looked like a blacksmith shop, which was quickly confirmed by the stone sign carved beautifully into the door. It was a hammer and anvil.

The shop and associated stable was clean and dust free. Hundreds of well-oiled tools hung from the walls. Obviously used recently. Em stood by the forge holding her virtual hand over it like she was sensing heat.

“No one has been here for weeks, but there is a food cache in the loft above where the blacksmith and his family would have lived. The well out back has been maintained.” She could have just shown him the BUG video via window. This was better though.

“There is also a clear path that leads out from the back. BUGs are following it now and searching more closely for other paths.” She was standing near him now, still see-through, like a ghost video.

“Why do you look like that?” Barcus asked.

She seemed taken aback by the question. She looked down at herself. “You know what? I have no idea. Why do you look like that?” She pointed right at his face.

He suddenly laughed out loud, snorting, “Fucking Chen.” He laughed until he was doubled over, holding his belly, with tears running down his face.

Every time he would look up at Em, she had a puzzled look like she was about to laugh and say, “What?” with a little shake of her head, holding her hands up while Barcus was racked with another wave of laughter.

Looking up this last time, he saw she was standing with her arms crossed over her chest, a stern look on her face.

More laughs, but not as deep.

Finally, Barcus said, “Okay, okay, okay, I'm done.” Looking up at the avatar, he continued, “I know you're not really there. I know if anyone saw me right now, they would think I was completely insane talking to someone who they could not see. Look, maybe I am kind of going insane here, for real. I actually know that I am alone and that your function is to keep me safe and sane. But I have to say, I'm impressed.”

“Do me a favor though. If we meet any of these people. Don't make me look insane. Okay? Because it's not far from the truth right now.”

Her face actually looked relieved. “Okay, I promise.”

Barcus believed her.

It was almost dark now. The sun set quickly. Barcus pulled out a small multi-tool and activated the powerful utility flashlight.

He made his way back to the inn. Em followed. The room had warmed with the fire, and he piled on some more logs to keep the heat going. He sat in one of the overstuffed chairs after he covered it with a clean quilt from one of the chests. It was almost unnerving to see Em “sit” in the other chair.

“I know you have continuously been with me since the crash, Em. Are you going to always haunt me now?”

She gave a wry smile before answering, “I was going to try a little at first. Just let me know anytime if it's too much.”

A thought occurred to him. “Did you do this with Chen?”

Her eyes darkened. She swallowed and didn't answer right away, but finally she said, “Yes. We talked every day, for hours.” She sounded like she was about to cry. “Chen hid it well, but she was very lonely. I think she was also afraid of something. All the time. Something awful happened to her long ago. It made her strong but sad.” She was staring down at her virtual hands.

“She loved you very much you know. Chen, I mean.”

Em might have just as well punched him in the gut.

“She moved to the outer rings to be away from the rest of them. But mostly because you were there. She talked about you a lot.”

She paused, noticing his distress. “She said you treated her the way everyone should treat everyone. Respect, kindness, friendship with no expectations. I always wondered...”

She looked up as if she just realized that she said that out loud.

“What?” Barcus said.

“Well...if she would ever have the courage to jump you.”

It was her turn to wonder at his reaction. “What?” Em said.

Can Em read my mind?

“Look. We talked a lot. All the time. There was an awful time in her life when she swore she'd never let another man touch her again, ever. But that was before she met you. The fire needs another log.” She pointed and wrapped her cloak around her closer like it was cooler. Then he realized it was cooler.

He got up and added more wood. It gave him time to think. And time to marvel at this AI. This was the first conversation he’d had like this in years. He wanted to tell her why he was in the outer rings as well.

Barcus continued as he poked at the fire, “What happened to Chen? She never said. She was very shy when we met. We only really became friends because we were both heavies living in the 2G outer ring.”

“Do you remember the night at Peck's Halfway, when that maintenance crew was trying to figure out why all you guys would choose to live on the outermost 2G ring?”

Barcus smiled and said, “Oh yes. Chen stood on a chair, unzipped her pants and pulled her shirt up so high you could almost see her nipples saying 'for this!’ Her abs looked like they were cut from stone. She looked at me and raised her eyebrow like she used to, and I stood up and showed mine too. Rand was next, but she had been there at the bar longer, several drinks ahead, and was wearing a one piece jumpsuit that she unzipped all the way down, spreading it wide open to show her eight pack as well as the fine black lace bra she was wearing.”

Barcus was laughing lost in the joy of the memory.

“You never heard a bar get so quiet so fast. And Chen broke the silence by saying, 'Nice tits Nancy!'

“I had never laughed so hard in my life,” Barcus said.

Em continued, “Chen said that two more people moved to the outer ring the next day. She also said that she was really showing her abs to you. She didn't care about the rest. And even though Rand gave her shit about it from then on, they became friends.”

The thought of the death of Rand was sobering. In a more serious tone he said, “We never knew her first name was Nancy before that night. Chen was...I miss her. She saved me.” He swallowed hard a few times in silence.

They sat quietly, listening to the fire for a few minutes.

“Do you think there is anything safe to drink in this tavern?”

Both of Em’s eyebrows went up, and her eye went side to side like she was thinking. “I think we may be in luck.” She got up and began moving to the door, where she waited for him to open it. He followed down to the main level naturally.

They went past the bar, which he noticed was suspiciously devoid of any bottles, casks or jars. They continued into the kitchen where she pointed at a trap door, which suddenly seemed so obviously visible. With considerable effort, Barcus opened it. Through a great cloud of dust appeared stairs that went into the darkness of the basement.

There were many dusty shelves and wine racks with bottles.

“Em. Can you scan these?”

“Sure, just grab two and bring them outside. We can actually put them in the bio scanner I have on board.”

He made his selection based on what looked like the finest glass bottles. The corks came free easily with his ever-handy multi-tool. He poured them both into his two liter Thermos and set it on the table inside the EM. The scan returned a safe score, and by the time he got back up to his fire, he knew the wine would be cold. Anything he put in his thermos was the perfect temp in about two minutes. Hot or cold. He just told it what he wanted.

Sitting in front of the roaring fire, he drank right from the container.

“How is it?” Em asked, looking as if she wished she could have a taste.

“Oh my god... This is so good. This is by far the best wine I have ever tasted. And I have to drink alone, dammit.”

“No, you don't.” He looked up, and Em was raising a glass in a toast. “To lost friends.”

It wasn't long before the wine was gone. Em had left quietly at some point. Barcus put some more wood on the fire and crawled into bed fully dressed and slept hard.

During the night, Em found other paths. More BUGs were deployed. Map definition improved.

Barcus slept twelve hours and was awakened by a full bladder.

He was already dressed, so he made his way down the hall and found the midden. He peed for a long time, thinking about food. He had been running on survival rations, 2,000 calorie bars, and he was already tired of all but the peanut butter flavor.

“Em, what's our status?”

“Good morning, Barcus. Or rather, good afternoon. I'm glad you slept.” The avatar fell into step beside him as he was moving down the hall to the stairs. “All the wooden buildings in the town were burned to the ground more than a decade ago. The forest has reclaimed those places like they were never there. Only the foundations remain.”

Windows opened in his HUD, showing images of what Em was describing.

They entered the common room of the Tavern as she continued. “I found other indications of paths, but none has been used recently. Following them, I discovered six other burned villages. The last one burned only about a year ago.”

They exited the tavern and moved toward the spider. It rose up as they approached, granting access to the belly hatch. He climbed in.

The wind was blowing leaves in a mini tornado. The leaves seemed to be falling faster.

“There are no other villages to the north from here, so far. But I did find a possible candidate location.”

Em showed the live image of the place in the HUD window. The BUG was flying around an outer wall that was about ten meters high. One section was collapsed, and a hill of rubble ramped up the wall there. Rounding the wall, there was a tower in evidence and gates at twelve o'clock and six o'clock. One large and one small. The road that once led to these gates was now overgrown, moss covered and unused. Returning around the wall to the rubble, it looked like the structure was about 100 meters across and perfectly round. The mapping software filled in the details as it went.

“What's inside the walls?” Barcus indicated on the display. It looked like the EM could walk right over the collapsed section.

The BUG ascended to begin an aerial survey of the fortress. There were multiple sections divided by inner walls. It looked like there had once been a cathedral central to the fortress, but it had fallen to ruin decades ago. The tower remained, but the roof of the main sanctuary had collapsed through the floor into the basements and probably to the crypts farther below that were now flooded with water.

“Barcus, it looks like an Abbey. It has stables and a gatehouse there. Some kind of barracks over there. A great hall of sorts there. Still mostly intact, but fallen into disrepair. These were once inner gardens, I'd wager. All the inner doors have been torn from their hinges.”

Barcus studied the images as they moved. “How long will it take to get there?” A map popped up with a route plotted.

“If we continue at this pace, we will be there in about fourteen hours. None of the footpaths we discovered led there. This site is very secluded, and there is very good hunting game available.”

One of the BUGs was ascending to a greater altitude to get a bird’s eye view of the area around what they started calling The Abbey. It was dense forest near foothills at the base of a small mountain range. A large area looked too organized to be regular forest and must have been orchards. Another higher section held acres of overgrown vineyards and scattered outbuildings.