Chapter 28
Throughout the night, Abe told his story to the incredulous doctor.
He tried to answer the many technical questions he asked about the functioning of the Tree that Abe could only give rudimentary answers to, as he had learned only a fraction of what was known about it.
One detail he left out. This was the whole thing about the seed. His own conflicted feelings, and his total confusion about what he would do, or not do with the it kept him from mentioning it just yet.
“And then I landed in our own backyard and was greeted by your, in my opinion, overly equipped security force.” Abe finished with a tired grin.
“What an amazing story. The place sounds like an incredibly strange mix of backwardness and advancement. But the thing that is the most mysterious is where this tree came from in the first place. And between you and me, I would not want to be around when it was taking over the planet. Sounds scary as hell.”
“Yeah, no kidding.” Abe answered. The gravity of his own situation making him shift in his chair.
“I’m ready for some sleep. Where can I go?”
“We have a nice quiet room down at the end of the hall. Come, I’ll show you.”
They passed by the nurse’s station and Gerry went into the linen room and gathered sheets and blankets and they headed down the hall. Looking out toward the front of the building, the sky was just starting to lighten. Abe stopped. “What are those people doing down there by the entrance?”
Howerton came up behind him and looked out too. “Those are Marshall’s protesters. They take turns camping out there 24 hours a day. Do you remember Marshall?”
“Oh sure I do.” Said Abe wearily. “He’s still around? He must have the constitution of an ox. He was no spring chicken when I left. What is it now?”
His friend looked profoundly sad as he said, “Well, just between you and me Abraham, he does have some legitimate gripes. But don’t let anyone know I said that will you? We’ll talk about it after you have had some rest.”
Together, they made up the bed. Gerry shut the blinds and pulled a curtain across the window. “If you need anything, just press this pad here and a nurse will help you.”
“Thanks, Abe said yawning. See you after a while.”
“Welcome home Abe, I hope you won’t regret your decision to leave that quirky paradise.”
* * * *
Several hours later Abe woke up to the muffled sound of chanting.
“Stop the mutant madness! Stop the killing fields!”
Abe got up and pulled back the curtains and peeked out through the blinds. There at the gates was a knot of about a dozen people waving signs and doing the shouting. A small army of security men stood stoically facing them, not moving a muscle. The gate was closed, but people were holding onto the bars and shaking their fists through them. Mutants? Killing fields? What were they talking about?
Abe took a shower and found some hospital scrubs waiting for him.
As he put them on, he could not help but compare them to his clothes from Dhriana. These things felt awkward and scratchy. Utilitarian. He folded his linen ones carefully and put them in a drawer that was built into the wall. The embroidery reminded him of Kirah.
He left the room and headed back to Howerton’s office. The door stood open and Abe poked his head in.
There were about eight people in there with Gerry. Everyone stood up when he entered. He noticed that all of them had companels similar to his old one, but these were more elaborate. And a few of them had the small headset that he noticed was attached to a metal plate just behind their ears. Gerry came forward. “Abraham, I’d like you to meet Lewis Durant our new director.” Abe shook hands with the tall man with pale blonde hair. His first impression was that the man was smiling with his mouth only. His eyes narrowed as he looked at Abe’s imposing appearance. Abe was not fully aware of how different he looked to these people. He was however beginning to notice that they all looked a bit sickly to him.
“Welcome back Mr. Talbot. We are all being regaled by Doctor Howerton about your incredible adventures. Frankly, we are all a bit stunned.
And we are happy to see that this tree thing allowed you to leave. It seems that it has a mind of its own, and doesn’t hesitate to impose its will on the people of the planet. It could have just as easily decided to keep you there forever. Why do you suppose it returned you to Earth?”
Abe’s stomach tightened. This man had put his finger on the very question that Abe was not willing to answer right now. And the look on the man’s face did not conceal his suspicion. Abe felt his skin grow clammy. This guy was giving him the creeps.
“Maybe I just wasn’t ever going to really fit in, and the Tree sensed that.”
He said. It was a half-truth, but close enough to reality. Abe HAD felt out of place, even though he had tried to resign himself to his situation. And since it was close enough to the truth, Abe could say it lightheartedly. He saw the director sizing him up and deciding he would keep his suspicions to himself a while longer.
“We have quarantined the ship in one of our labs for the time being. We have a team studying it now. Perhaps you could go down there later and answer some of their questions.”
“Sure. Be glad to do what I can. But I have to tell you, I don’t know much!”
“In the meantime, the team here will try and catch you up on how things have changed in the twenty-two years you have been away. I think you will be pleased to know that some of the projects that were in their infancy when you left, have had some impressive results that we are very encouraged by aren’t we ladies and gentlemen?”
There was a murmur of assent from the gathering, although Abe thought he sensed a certain hesitation to their voices. But that could just have been his imagination.
The director excused himself and closed the door behind him.
“Well Abe, are you hungry?” Howerton asked.
“As a matter of fact I am starving now that you mention it!”
“Well, rather than tell you a long story about some of our projects, let us show you. We’ll start in Robert’s lab.
They left the office and the four of them headed down the hall to the elevators. They went up three more stories and entered a lab. There was the same laser scanner device that he had seen the security guard use last night. Each man stood while the scanner cleared them for entrance. When it was Abe’s turn, Gerry punched in a security code.
“We will have to get you a full security clearance soon” he said.
They entered a room where several people were working. There was a large piece of equipment in the center of the room with little alcoves cut into it. The thing was a marvel of tubes and wires and circuit boards and computer keypads. There was a huge snaking bundle of wire that crawled across the room to a large computer bank on the far wall.
Robert Klein stepped forward and waved his arm toward the monstrous machine. “Remember when we were kids and used to watch star trek re-runs? Abe nodded. “Well, the one thing about that show that always amazed me the most was the replicator. I have worked my whole life since graduating from college to try and create that science fiction appliance that they took so for granted.
He walked over to one of the alcoves and punched in a series of numbers. From a shelf nearby, he got a cup and positioned it carefully in the center of the device. The machine started to vibrate and a huge racket began that eventually forced Abe to cover his ears. Then suddenly the whole thing stopped with the sound of a turbine winding down. Dr. Klein walked over and picked up the cup. It was steaming. “I don’t like Earl Grey tea, I like hot chocolate.” He grinned. He handed the cup to Abe who blew on its surface tentatively and took a sip. Now he didn’t want to embarrass this guy, but this stuff was not that great. It reminded him of the weak hot chocolate you made with water that he had as a kid. BUT he had to admit, that for something that was pulled from ‘thin air’ so to speak it was rather impressive. “Amazing!” Was all he was willing to say at the moment.
“Here’s how it works.” Klein said. And he began to explain a process that Abe tried hard follow, something about molecular manipulation, fuzzy logic computer programs, nanotechnology and some minimal raw materials. Some of this stuff was either theory or in its very early planning stages when he left. He was amazed at how far they had come.
“Of course, now the trick is to get this process down to a manageable size. This thing will NOT fit into the average kitchen!”
Everyone laughed.
“Well, I’m impressed.” Abe said politely. However unbidden, the image came to his mind of the simple and elegant solution the Tree had come up with to the food issue. The dichotomy was very pronounced as he looked at the complex piece of machinery in front of him. He could barely imagine the enormous cost of the thing.
But this is what you used to dream of. You were waiting for this day.
This is the very thing you wanted, and that you defended for years to the naysayers.
He brushed the thought aside. He was just having culture shock, that’s all. This wasn’t Dhriana - - it was Earth. HIS planet. And this was the hope for the future here.
“Now we need to take Abe to the cafeteria, he will need more than hot chocolate to make a meal.”
They all filed out and headed downstairs to eat.
Chapter 29
Throughout the day, Abraham was given a tour of a few more labs where technological marvels were being created. There was an android project under way that had made incredible strides since his departure.
The creature could carry on a fairly intelligent conversation. Although if you strayed too far from its programming it would answer your question with the phrase: “I’m sorry, this query is beyond my scope of knowledge.” It was amusing to ask it nonsense questions like, “Do you prefer strawberry or chocolate ice cream?”
But within its parameters, it was remarkably lifelike. The one they were demonstrating was programmed to be a receptionist, and was immanently suited for it. He would never lose his temper with an irate caller.
Near the end of the day, Abe had confirmed to himself that indeed the advances that had been made were in the right direction, and that things were going along in a positive way for the improvement of life. The technological utopia he had envisioned as a child seemed to be unfolding before his eyes. And it was especially impressive since he had been gone long enough for the changes to be dramatic ones.
He had been given a small suite of rooms for the time being and when he was dropped off in the late afternoon by the phalanx of institute personnel, he was looking forward to catching up on the news in the rest of the world.
Dr. Howerton said to him, as the rest of the group walked on ahead, “Abe, I will be staying overnight here. Later on, if you like, come on down to my office and we can do some more catching up.”
“Great, I’ll see you in a few hours then.” Abe answered.
“Oh, and Mr. Durant told me to let you know, that he has you scheduled for surgery to implant the latest version of companel, along with one of our heads up displays. It’s incredibly useful. You can access information at any time and it also has a built in camera to show others what you are working on at the moment. It has really helped us all keep up with each other’s work. And it’s all tied into the security system too. They will explain it all to you when they do the procedure. I think he has you’re scheduled for three days from now.”
“Great. Abe said….. It will be interesting to see what improvements have been made since my last companel.”
They parted and Abe entered his rooms. They were fully equipped with computer interface and television. The screen was huge and flush with the wall. There was a small remote on the table in front of a comfortable chair. He sat down and put his feet up and turned the TV on. It took him a little while to figure out how the thing was set up using the start up screen help file he found out it was voice activated. The system was television and internet integrated, so you had the option of seeing internet articles or news reports related to your interest.
He decided to start with domestic news and gave the command from a window in the lower left hand corner that contained voice command options. “Domestic Network News” he said and a menu appeared with about a dozen choices. He said “USA Today news”, as that was an unfamiliar one to him. That used to just be a newspaper when he left.
For the next hour he sat transfixed at the parade of disastrous reports.
He could not believe what he was seeing, compared to what he had been privileged to see at the institute all day long.
Evidently there was a major food shortage going on. There were riots in the major cities over distribution of emergency services. There was a sundown curfew in effect all across the country. The national guard was in charge of the food allotments which were given out according to Social Security numbers which he gathered were embedded in the forearm now at birth. The shortages had been caused by a genetically engineered corn that evidently had run amok and contaminated corn all over the country. A fungal infection had wiped out crops right and left and even had reached across to related weed populations, which led to other major grains to be effected. So many food stuffs were dependent on corn that there had been a cascade effect in beef and poultry production and processed foods that used vast quantities of corn syrup, and the list went on.
And even though here at the institute technological marvels abounded, in the general population, things were not so rosy. With the food crisis effecting so many, the economy was in dire straits and only a very few of the very wealthy could afford the truly amazing array of appliances and integrated computer systems that were all around him in this room. The gap between the technological haves and have-nots was wider than ever before.
This idea stunned him, because when he left, technology had become more and more affordable. If one was content not to have the latest thing, one could set up a complete house computer system for under four thousand dollars. Why his own apartment before he came to the institute had voice command heating, cooling, light and security control and he had a complete internet and personal database that kept him right up to the minute with the world and his circle of friends and family. He had done his banking and shopped at home. Besides going to work, there were many weeks he didn’t go anywhere, he didn’t need to.
The tone of the news was tense and grim. The newscasters looked haggard. The humorous banter that used to be so prevalent was missing and a sense of foreboding and emergency hovered over everything. He shook his head. How could all of this be happening out there and no one at the institute had mentioned it? They were all filled with excitement over their projects, but not a word about this.
As he continued to watch, he was stunned to hear that there was some sort of mysterious infection afflicting large numbers of people and straining the health care system to the breaking point. Known antibiotics did nothing to help. You either survived it or not. It depended on your constitution and genetic make up and it was no respecter of persons. A large number of elected officials had evidently succumbed and there were emergency appointments being made to replace them because an election was out of the question since there were so many other pressing concerns.
Finally, he turned the thing off, unable to watch any more. How could everyone here be so calm and frankly completely out of touch with reality? The look that the director had given him came back to him and the obvious relief of the group when the guy had left the room. Abe had put it down to an unpopular boss, a common enough occurrence. But now he wondered if there wasn’t more to it than that.
Abe went down to the cafeteria and had dinner. There were about 75 people there. He looked at the food and wondered how in the world they could be eating like this. It must have cost a king’s ransom to feed this many people. There was roast beef, chicken, fish and any number of vegetables available. How could this be? What was going on here?
He really wanted to talk to Dr. Howerton now. He finished his meal and unbidden, the Dhrianan after supper melody came to his mind. He paused and looked around him. People were eating alone or in small groups. He found himself wondering what was happening right now on Dhriana. Was is suppertime there? Were they singing? Had Misha made that custard he liked so much? He suddenly felt disconnected, dizzy even. It was easy to forget that he had just traveled who knew how many million miles through space. From a foreign environment into an unsettlingly familiar one. It was no wonder he was feeling a bit off.
He made his way back up to his floor and hurried down the hall to Gerry’s office. The door was ajar. He knocked quickly and walked in. There was Gerry sitting at his desk. The director was sitting facing him with his hands forming a steeple. His lips were pursed into a thin line. The tension between them was palpable. The director quickly changed his posture and welcomed Abe into the room.
“Ah, here he is now. We were just talking about you Abraham. I was telling Dr. Howerton that we have decided to get you plugged in as soon as possible. Don’t want you missing out on what’s going on at the institute do we? I’m sure you will be more comfortable with your companel in place again. Help your adjustment go more smoothly. So we have moved up your surgery for tomorrow morning. Will that work for you?”
Abe felt his stomach tighten and he regretted eating all that roast beef.
He looked briefly at Gerry who had an inscrutable look on his face.
He decided to act eager…. “That would be great. I have felt sort of naked without my companel. It will be nice to be connected again. What time do we do it?”
“Let’s say 8:00 AM. I will inform Dr. Lawson and her team. Don’t eat anything the rest of the evening alright?”
“I don’t think I’ll suffer much after what I just put away downstairs” He said slapping his belly for emphasis.
“Good.” The director said with a frozen smile. “They will be expecting you in operating room four. I will say goodnight to you both. It’s been a long and exciting day. And welcome home again Abraham.”
“Thank you sir, it’s good to be back.” Abe said politely.
The director left the room.
Abe looked at Gerry and leaned over his desk and whispered, “We need to talk somewhere private.”
He nodded quietly. “How about a walk around the grounds after your big dinner?” he said in a loud cheerful voice. “Just the thing I need.” Abe answered with a forced little laugh. He forced himself not to look around for the security cameras.
“We will go down and inform the guards that we will be going for a stroll.”
At the back entrance by the patio, there stood one of the robocop guys in a statue like stillness. Gerry approached him and told him what they were going to do. The guard consulted his companel and waited for clearance. They stood looking around awkwardly until he finally spoke.
“Your presence outside is noted. Captain Neumeyer requests that you please stay on the designated walking areas as the automated system has been activated.”
“No problem, we will just be a little while.” Gerry said lightly.
“Thank you.”
The guard opened the door and disabled the alarm as it went off.
They walked out into the evening. The sky was just barely light on the western horizon. A band of pale pink and cream that faded into indigo blue with a handful of stars shining already. “It’s a beautiful night.” Gerry said.
“Yes. I wish you could see a sunset on Dhriana… I never got used to it.”
Gerry reached into his pocket as if to take out a handkerchief. Instead he held a small round disk that he held over the microphone area of his companel.
“White noise generator.” He said simply.
Abe took this gesture in. And all its implications.
“Let me get right to the point. I hope like hell I can trust you Gerry.
I watched the news this afternoon. The whole damn world is falling apart, but in here, it’s business as usual. Where did all that food come from? Who the hell is that director, and why are we working on androids when people are rioting and going hungry and perishing from some apparently incurable disease?”
Gerry looked at the ground ahead of them. “I don’t know where to begin.” He said with the voice of a man who had battled with his conscience and lost a long time ago.
“We don’t have much time, so I will skip my own personal failings, of which there are many, and tell you that you are right. The world IS falling apart. And it’s our fault. We did it. One of our subsidiaries developed the genetically engineered corn that contaminated the environment. We tried to blame it on the farmers who refused to plant our corn at first, but that was only a short term victory. It took about six years, but it became apparent that we were at the bottom of it.”
“At that time, the new director came on board, for damage control.
He and the powers that be decided to push forward on all fronts to try and outstrip the protests from every quarter. People concerned with ethics issues and environmental issues, religious concerns and just plain common sense bombarded us with protests, boycotts, symposiums and public debates, but we ignored all of them and continued on with our work.” He paused and sighed. “In our defense Abe, we truly believed that the breakthrough was just around the corner. That the leap was just one step ahead. The leap, that singularity that would open the door to all the solutions to our problems. It seemed so close, that we justified some very risky experiments to get there before society completely rejected our efforts and shut us down. And believe me a few times they came closer than they knew. Marshall almost won on the cloning issue. But our PR team was relentless in making him look like a fool. Marginalizing him at every opportunity. We made promises we knew we could not keep, and then broke them behind closed doors. --Then there was the accident with the clones.”
“What accident?’ Abe asked feeling sick.
“There was a virus that crossed over. We were using DNA from chimps to try to increase the strength of our genetically enhanced guards. The virus got out into the general population when one of the guards in the program went psycho and escaped. No one here was really affected by it. He became contagious after he left. The others were still under quarantine in the lab. When we heard about the outbreak of an unknown virus that started about twenty miles from here, we knew. The three other subjects were - -eliminated. And when the escaped guard came wandering up to the gates one night because he was deathly ill, he was killed on the spot and disposed of. We have not said a word about our involvement. It would mean the end of us if this got out. Now I’m hoping like hell I can trust YOU.” He looked up wiping his hand over his mouth, and gazed straight into Abe’s clear eyes.
“And you should know. Once you get your companel, everything you do will be monitored. And there’s something else. The newest panel is fitted with a capsule of drugs that are released into your system. Very minute amounts, but they make you more receptive to. . . suggestion. They are replenished every three months when they do the battery change and diagnostic of the companel. Remember the drugs they used to put in there for enhanced mental function?”
Abe nodded, remembering how he had missed them…..
“Well, they SAY that is what they are still, but I began to have my suspicions. I felt that over time, I was agreeing to things I never would have two years ago. I found a way to deactivate mine. They haven’t figured it out yet. The technicians just take out the old capsule and put a new one in, disposing of the old one. I have been drug free for about 9 months now. It has been a struggle to seem what passes for normal around here. But I am alarmed by what I see and hear. The drugs are responsible for the lack of concern at what is happening outside our gated community.”
“If you want, I can configure your companel too, so that it will not dispense the drug. I won’t be able to do it for about a week because they check them often in the beginning for signs of rejection and adjusting things so they work optimally for each person. I wouldn’t risk doing the change when they are under that kind of scrutiny. To tell you the truth, sometimes I think about re-activating my own, as it would not be so hard to be aware of the truth and terror of our situation.” He said this last with a look of hopelessness that shocked Abe.
His mind was racing. There was no way he was going to let them drug him.
But how could he get out of it? Besides that personal problem, it sounded to him like their days were numbered here. There was chaos outside the gates that would eventually find its way in. And then there was the little problem of what was hidden in the ship. He had been so distracted by his homecoming that he had put the Seed out of his mind. The enormity of their problem and the fact that there might be a solution to it resting quietly in the ship gave him shivers of fear.
God, he didn’t think he was going to have to make a decision this soon.
“We need to get into the ship.”
Gerry looked up. “Why?”
Abe thought about it and realized it was way too bizarre to throw at this guy right now. Besides, he had no idea what would happen. How long would it take to germinate? How fast would it grow? Did it need special conditions? There were just too many unknowns.
“Trust me Gerry. I need to get into that ship.” Was all he said.
“Yes, I think we could, since the director asked you to help out if you could. I imagine they are finished for the day though. We could give it a try.”
They went back to the patio and saw the guard waiting by the door.
He let them in and locked it behind them.
Gerry led Abe to the right on the ground floor to the elevators at the end of the hall. “It’s in one of the underground labs.” He said in a low tone. They headed down.
“Is there any way back up besides this elevator?” Abe whispered in his ear.
He nodded. He took a small tablet and pen out of his lab coat pocket and wrote: ‘I can leave the stairwell door ajar- alarm will sound- guards in about three minutes- What are you afraid of?’
Abe took the tablet from Gerry and wrote: ‘That I won’t have the courage to do what I need to do.’
Chapter 30
As the elevator doors opened Abraham looked across and saw two guards, one sitting at a desk and the other standing nearby. Gerry approached them confidently and asked permission to take Abraham in to see the ship.
"We need verbal permission from the director.” said the guard sitting at the desk.
Gerry looked at Abraham with one eyebrow raised.
The guard punched a symbol on the companel and a heard the voice of the director saying, “Yes, what is it?”
"Dr. Howerton and Mr. Talbot are here. They would like to go in and see the ship."
"By all means let them in, I forgot that I had asked Mr. Talbot to stop by."
"Very well sir."
Gerry placed his hand on the scanner by the door frame, and the guard punched in the security code simultaneously. The doors opened, they walked in and heard the click and hiss of the door closing behind them.
The ship stood in a large white room with scaffoldings pushed up against it. Abraham could see areas that they had obviously tried to drill or shave off pieces of the surface to examine. It didn't look like they had had much luck. One place looked rather abraded, another place bleached, but there were no obvious pieces missing. To Abe’s surprise, the door was open and a portable stairway had been placed there. They walked up the stairs and stepped into the ship. Gerry walked around looking at the interior in amazement. "This is so plain, so simple. There are no gauges. No navigation system. How does this thing work?"
"Your guess is as good as mine. Said Abe, Even on Dhriana this thing was something completely new. Nobody knew how it was going to work."
“Check this out. This light is just like all the lighting in the Tree.” Abe said rather loudly.
As they leaned closer examining it, Abraham whispered, "Can you think of an excuse to get out of here and then leave the stair well door opened?”
"Yes I think so, but remember you will only have the few minutes after I leave that door. What are you going to do?"
"I'm afraid I can't tell you. You’re just going to have to trust me." Abe reached out and took his arm. “But know this Gerry, if I succeed, everything is going to be alright. At least I think it will. You are a good man. Whatever happens, remember that.”
He looked at Abe and saw something in his eyes that filled him with hope.
Then he spoke cheerfully, “Yes I think I have just the thing we need in my office, I'll run up and get it. I’ll just be a few minutes."
He walked back out of the ship and headed for the door. The guards let him out and he said, "I need a piece of equipment from my office, I'll be right back."
"Yes sir" said the guard.
"I think I'll take the stairs this time I could use the exercise." he joked patting his middle with both hands.
Abraham studied the area just to the left of the light where he knew the Seed was hidden. How would he get it out? He knew he needed to wait for a few moments to let the Gerry get up the three flights of stairs. His heart was beginning to pound. Was this the right thing to do? Was it premature? Maybe things would get better. Although he felt in his gut this was only wishful thinking. He realized absolutely everything was going to be turned upside down. All the things that modern man had built would be consumed and turned into rubble. The monuments to human ingenuity, the buildings and bridges that had taken decades to build in some cases . . . good God they would disappear in hours. The Eiffel tower, the Taj Mahal. Who was he to decide the fate of a whole world? But on the other hand, who was the director to drug people into submission? What about the Institute he had defended so vociferously going forward with questionable technologies that had already had disastrous results. Feeling the final death throws of his belief that Science held the ultimate answers for mankind was bitter in his mouth. For all he knew, he might just be trading one form of madness for another. The director’s for the chaos that the Seed would bring. But when he thought of the life that he had left just days ago, the tranquility of it, the atmosphere of learning and growth, the closeness and connections people had with each other. Which kind of life was actually more autonomous? His stomach churned, his head pounded, he needed more time to think.
But there was no time.
He placed his hands on the wall near the light and felt around looking for a lip or something. Sweat broke out on his upper lip. Then he pressed the whole of his hand on the area and without a sound the edges appeared in the panel and it moved upward on its own. And there in that violet glow, the Seed waited. He reached out his hands and hesitated, would it be heavy, cold, hot? But he had no leisure to speculate. He took it in both hands and felt its warmth. It was heavy for its size. He would have a time carrying it. He slipped it under his shirt and held it in the crook of one arm, and hoped that the loose jacket he was wearing would disguise the lump. He left the ship and hurried back to the door and knocked. As it opened, he said to the guard, "I'm going to go see what's keeping Dr. Howerton." He walked briskly over to the stairs and as soon as the door closed behind him, began to sprint upwards.
Little did he know that the director sat in his office watching everything.
He reached the top of the stairs and noticed it was just barely ajar, Gerry’s little tablet was holding the door open. He walked through grabbing the tablet as he went and let the door slam behind him. There was no one in the hall. Suddenly an alarm sounded. Abe sprinted for the patio door vaulting over a divider filled with artificial plants. The guard stood barring the door. "Halt!" He said and raised his arm with the weapon attached to it. Abe knew there was no use trying to fake his way through this, as this creep had probably been apprised of the situation. So he opted for something he didn’t know he was capable of. He grabbed the nearest chair and swung it across the guard’s head on the side with the heads up device. Deprived of his usual input, he became momentarily disoriented. Abe took the chair and heaved it through the glass window to one side of the door shattering it into tiny pieces. He stumbled outside and ran toward the grassy area where the ship had originally landed. He could see guards running toward him on both sides. He ran up the slope and then down into the little depression and kicked hard in the sod making a divot.
He pulled back the grass roots and shoved the seed into the earth and pushed the grass flap down over it just as the guards came over the rise. He immediately stood up and put his hands over his head.
"I surrender." He shouted.
But it didn't matter. They shot him anyway.
* * * *
He woke up retching. Someone held a basin for him. Whoever it was placed a wet washcloth in his right hand. He ran it over his mouth and forehead. He couldn't move his left arm and realized he was lying in bed and that arm was immobilized. He took a quick look down at the blinking lights of the companel firmly implanted on his forearm. This head throbbed and he felt behind his ear in for the implant that was there. And only then did he become aware of the pain in his leg as he had a muscle spasm. There was a wound in his thigh. Bandaged but still seeping as there was a red stain. He had never felt more miserable in his life.
Had they found the Seed? He certainly couldn't ask anyone. And even if they hadn't he was still terrified. In some ways either scenario filled him with dread. One for its chaotic nature and the other because he felt the weight of responsibility for the traumas that were to come.
The door opened and the director strode in. "Well well, Mr. Talbot, you had a busy night. And just what was it that you were in such a hurry to take away from the ship?"
A surge of joy coursed through Abraham's body. They hadn't found it! They had no idea what it was. And true to its nature, as soon as it had touched the soil it had dug itself deeper. The very quality that he had railed against on that terrible first day on Dhriana. He rested his head back on the pillow and sighed, at least it was safe. What happened now was up to the Seed itself. What was done was done.
"I don't know what you're talking about.” Abraham said wearily.
"Very well there are other ways to make you talk. But we will have to wait a little while for you to recover somewhat from your procedures. But make no mistake Mr. Talbot I will know all about what you took take away from that ship."
“Yes, I am most certain you will.” Abe replied with a wry smile. "I want to see Dr. Howerton." He demanded.
"Oh I'm afraid that won't be possible.” Said the director. “In all the excitement last night he was accidentally shot by one of the guards. It's a terrible loss for the Institute don't you think?" He asked with such a sickening look of false sorrow that Abraham felt he would surely wretch again.
"We’ll be talking again soon Mr. Talbot, I'm sure you're looking forward to our next interview." He sneered, turned on his heel, and walked out the door.
Abraham lay in the bed and wept like a child. This was not what Abe had hoped for his life’s work. Almost the whole time he had been on Dhriana, all he ever thought about was Earth. And now he was here, look at the mess it was in. and for all he knew he may have even in made things worse. Much worse.
Gerry.
My God, Gerry.
Chapter 31
Abe drifted into a drugged and restless sleep. He dreamed of faceless people chasing him out of their town. He couldn’t run fast enough with his broken body. He awoke with a start as he felt an imaginary rod come down on his back.
He gave a gasp of pain. His heart was pounding. One by one, the depressing facts of his condition came to him. The dream seemed preferable.
He looked down and noticed that the dressings had been changed on the wound in his thigh. At least the red stain was gone now. He supposed that was one good thing.
As he looked around his bed looking for the call pad, he felt a jolt. A plastic cup filled with water fell onto the floor and rolled under his bed.
He heard voices in the hallway shouting, “That’s it. It’s the third one. We have to evacuate NOW!”
At that moment, the window in his room shattered when the room jerked again sharply. Two nurses came into his room with a wheelchair.
“Mr. Talbot, we are going to have to move you. Do you think you can sit up?”
“I tell you what, take this IV out. I think I could wheel myself without it.”
With no argument, one of them deftly removed the IV and just as quickly slapped a large bandage on where it had been secured.
“Okay, into the wheelchair with you quickly.”
He clambered into it, noticing a wave of nausea that he didn’t have time to think about. They threw a blanket over his legs and he grabbed the cotton robe on the chair as they swept him out into the hall.
There were several patients in various states of mobility. It was chaos. Another tremor shuddered through the building. A woman screamed. All the personnel were escorting patients to the elevators. The nurse wheeled him to the end of the line of evacuees and ran off down the hall.
Abe looked over his shoulder at the pharmacy near the nurse’s station. He headed for it. The lights were out and in the confusion, the door was ajar. He bumped his way through the doorway and into the small room. He scanned the shelves for antibiotics. He found the pills and several tubes of antibiotic ointment. He grabbed some dressing packs and a few painkillers while he was at it. Tucking the whole pile under the blanket on his lap, he quickly wheeled himself back in line.
In a few minutes, he found himself outdoors with the other patients who were milling about, at a distance from the building. It was mid morning, and the sun was shining brightly. It belied the destruction going on all around him. The façade on the south side of the high rise had collapsed. There were huge cracks in the pavement all around the building.
Then he saw a familiar sight.
The gray tendrils of the roots this time of a much more substantial size than he had ever seen were making their way up the sides of the structure, like leafless ivy. Someone yelled, and one of the guards began shooting at the root mass. This of course had no effect at all. It continued inexorably on its way.
People were leaving the premises. Cars sped out the gates. Several ambulances appeared from the other side of the building and they were loading up the twenty or so patients.
He decided he wanted nothing to do with that so headed off down one of the pathways away from the hubbub. He hid himself in a copse of trees and watched as everyone continued the evacuation.
The security guards were most definitely disoriented. They were not getting any orders and had reverted to keeping people from going back in the building. He saw the director exit the place and grabbed the first guard he found and started to tap in directions on his companel. All the guards formed squads and began a sweep of the grounds.
Abe sat in quiet despair. Soon they would find him.
But it was not to be. The first real shoots of the Tree began to emerge in a large open area of the grounds. Abe recognized the dimensions of a Great Hall forming before his eyes. The guards began to shoot at the walls that were already over their heads, and just as quickly stopped because the building behind them began to collapse, along with the computers that controlled them. They started to wander about aimlessly and finally they all ended up huddled near the main gates jostling each other in confusion.
The director got into his car and raced through the gates mowing three or four of them down. Then he saw the first one of the guards being caught and held by the roots. He heard the screams as the roots began to remove the implants. He didn’t think these creatures would survive the process. They were more machine than human now.
Abe fell to the ground trembling. He knew what was coming and he wanted it over with. He rolled on his side and laid his left arm on the ground. He stared at the companel lights flickering on and off. The roots made a quick job of it, but not without the mind numbing pain. And then moved on to the implant behind his ear. Tears ran down is face and he did his best to make no noise. This time however, Abe was glad to be free of the things. ‘And good riddance’, he thought.
Shivering in shock, he emptied a tube of antibiotic on his wound and bandaged his arm. He swallowed some antibiotics and painkillers. Then pressed another bandage to his head wound which was not as serious, but was bleeding more. And when the medication began to kick in he finished the job by awkwardly winding a strip of cloth around his head to hold the dressing in place.
He sat rocking back and forth on the grass, stunned at the enormity of what he had done. He had no idea how long this process would take. But knowing the efficiency of the Tree, he wouldn’t be surprised by anything. He wished he had read more history with Kirah. He could have learned so much more if he had just known.
Soon the painkillers took over and he curled into a fetal position on his blanket and fell asleep.
* * * *
He awoke to the sound of trickling water. Near his head was a small fountain. He looked at his broken body and whimpered. He lifted himself up and with his good hand brought the water to his lips. Just as he was about to drink, the thought came to him- - “We know who to thank.”—He paused, and from an embarrassed silence he prayed his first prayer.
“I don’t know You. And I am ignorant of Your ways. But I’m telling you right now, I am thankful for this water.” Then he drank deeply of the cold and pure waters of Tree G’var Ahvor of Earth.
The water revived him. His arm was swollen and the wound behind his ear throbbed. He made himself a sling with some of his stolen bandages. The wheelchair was gone, along with his stash of drugs. But somehow this loss bothered him little. He limped out of the growing great hall through the already forming main archway. And there, not fifty feet away was a journey shelter. Beyond it were the remains of the still crumbling heap that was the TransHuman institute, slowly being pulled into the soil. It looked like it would take a few more days to complete that job. There was not a soul in sight.
He leaned on the shelter and glanced over to see a small clump of journey bread plants. He painfully knelt down and gathered a handful. He tasted again of their sweetness, and when he had finished, though he felt hesitant, he sang a song, using one of the melodies he had heard on Dhriana.
‘What the Tree has been given, it has received.
And what it has received, it gives.
What I have been given, I have received.
And what I have received, I give.’
It felt strange to be singing alone.
Afterward
Two years later, Abe sat in his tree house starting at the blank canvas before him. He had no idea if he could do this. But he raised his brush filled with green paint to begin painting a Tree that grows in the air. G’var Daath of Dhriana. Its topmost branches now touch the stars. And its inhabitants converse with the Holy One in the cool of the evening at the entrance to its Great Hall.
As his brush first made contact, he thought he could hear their voices from far away, singing joyously—From the depths of the surging pathways, an impulse awakens. A line forms a separation. A bud begins to form. Into this vessel flows all the genius, all the beauty, all the joy of a thousand years of growth. Layer upon layer, gift upon gift the nascent kernel receives its knowledge. In the warmth and darkness, mysteries are concealed, and the longing to be revealed is born. The desire to give overcomes the desire for safety. And the Seed grows.
THE END