With the SEC investigation Bhavin was losing his shine as the do no wrong, self-made entrepreneur. Axel worried it would only bring more unwanted attention to Nadar Corporation, and, by association, to the work Axel was doing.
They switched cars in an empty garage and set the jeep on self-destruct. Then they continued west to the extraction point. They passed well-manicured green lawns and precisely trimmed Scottish hedgerows on the road to Harburn. There he saw his kids playing soccer on a neatly cut lawn. Sasha scored a goal on Zach, but it looked like he was only half trying, extending his arms a second too late so that the ball could pass into the mesh behind him. Zach lost the point but won a proud smile on Sasha’s face.
When Axel blinked, they were gone.
A call was coming through on his earbud. “Axel, this is Bhavin.”
“Yes, sir. Have you seen my report?”
“Yes. What’s this about not terminating the relevant human capital?”
“Sir, I thought it would draw too much attention. Three deaths cause more of a media blitz than one. Also, we can monitor the survivors easily. Frankly, I didn’t think it was necessary.”
“God damn it…” Bhavin said. There was a brief pause. “Axel, what happens if they try again, despite your threats? What happens if next time they outwit our surveillance?”
“Sir, that is highly improbable.”
“Highly improbable? We are talking about the extermination of the human race. There are no points for second place. There is no room for non-zero probabilities. Do you understand?”
Axel knew better than to argue, especially given the manic state Bhavin had been in recently. “Yes, sir. Next time we will terminate any remaining human capital.”
There was silence for a moment. Wasn’t it enough? Did Bhavin want him to go back? That would endanger the whole operation.
“Fine,” Bhavin said to Axel’s relief. “Report to me upon your return tomorrow. We need to talk about ramping up our efforts.”
“Yes, sir,”Axel said. He tapped off his earbud.
Ramping up our efforts? If felt like it had been a non-stop ramp since he’d committed, and there was no sign of it letting up.
CARACTACUS
“Why do we need a horse and carriage again?” Owen asked. He was watching people gawk at them in the Seeville streets through the cloaked aperture of his hood.
Madison appeared to be in particularly good spirits this morning. She smiled at the people in the streets as their carriage rolled by them, implacable in the face of their looks of disdain. “Caractacus,” she said.
“Excuse me?”
“Caractacus was the name of Thomas Jefferson’s horse. He would ride it every day, even when he was president. He said once that of all the cankers of human happiness none corrodes with so silent yet so baneful an influence, as indolence.”
Owen appreciated Madison for her wisdom and wit, but sometimes she used so many words from this bygone era that it made her unintelligible.
Noting his confusion, Madison said, “He believed everyone should exercise. That’s why he enjoyed riding a horse. It’s the only form of exercise that I can also enjoy.” She tapped her bad knee with her cane. Owen reflexively massaged his wounded leg in kind. It was still getting better. He should be able to ride a bike, not that there was anywhere he could go.
“But my need for exercise is just an added bonus. We will need the horse and carriage at Monticello to get around. I’ve heard the roads have not been well kept, and sometimes the weather on the mountain isn’t as favorable as in the city.”
“That is, of course, assuming we are accepted as guests,” Madison added.
“And why Monticello? Why not some place downtown?” Owen asked.
“We need a base of operations away from the prying eyes of Bartz’s men, and have you also considered that you would be free to roam, rather than cower in a basement?”
“Yes, I’m certainly looking forward to that.” Owen had been in hiding for over a week now. What was worse, there was no bunker or Faraday cage near the run-down house they were staying in. He had worked with the other Yorktown folks to patch up the house and dispatch the vermin. Then he had occupied himself by reading the many books he’d found in Yorktown.
“Gaining entry is far from assured, however,” Madison said, looking thoughtful. “The presiding New Founder, James Euclid, he’s an… untidy man, to say the least. He has bastardized many of the New Founder principles, recasting them to suit his own predilections. It’s no wonder the people of Seeville have so little faith in the New Founders.”
“What happens if they don’t let us stay?” Owen asked.
“Well, we shall have to find another place. Eventually we will have to convince Euclid, though. If he’s not with us, he will be a thorn in our side.”
“Should I still use the scope if we get turned away.”
“Yes, good idea. I want you to have a look at the observatory and stadium, and the top of the mountain here is as good a vantage as any, especially for celebrities such as yourself.”
She said it in jest, to be sure, and he smiled politely. But it irked him that he couldn’t even bike through the city. He couldn’t even tell his mom and sisters he was alive. He understood why, though. Too much was at stake if the railroad folks knew he was in Seeville.
“You still think the phone is that dangerous, that it could be influencing the railroad?” Owen asked. “It sounds like a Credo proverb.” Over the past week he was beginning to think more and more like an Adherent. It troubled him, because for most of his life he had equated Adherent gospel to lunacy.
“Many superstitions have no basis, Owen. They are founded to manipulate people, or to comfort people. But the Adherents’ Credo actually stemmed from the warnings of first settlers. It’s full of false narratives and fantastical notions, it’s true, but the messages are worth heeding.”
She didn’t look at him when she spoke. They were passing by the old Michie Tavern, and she seemed to be engrossed in every detail of the old structure.
That this highly intelligent woman might believe in the Credo seemed completely out of place. “How did these people, your relatives, know about these concerns in the first place?” Owen asked.
“Well, it was passed down from generation to generation all the way back to the Detonation. More than that, there was a place, a place they called the sanctuary, where some of them originated before Seeville. It was there they learned that Old World tech was to be feared. They learned it contributed to the Detonation. Not everything, mind you, but a smartphone from outer space fits squarely into that category. You’d be surprised at the power it could have.”
“Are you saying a phone is what caused the Detonation?”
She shrugged. “Not exactly. What’s in the phone caused it. Think about it. Why would there be a phone in an unmanned satellite? Two phones in fact. It was a trap set by Gail. Humans would know what it was and how useful it could be—we would send it far and wide to allow Gail to plant roots. If it was something more alien to us we might be more cautious about it.”
Owen had a hard time believing it, but he had no reason to disagree with Madison. Certainly Preston had changed once he had the phone in his possession, and the railroad had ramped up their ambitions considerably. He suspected the phone might be contributing to their current troubles, but the main driver was the egos of people like Bartz, Thorpe, and Rourke. Their greed was getting the better of them, and corrupting his friend in the process.
Whatever the cause, Owen agreed with Madison that Bartz and the railroad folks needed to be stopped. They were taking too many risks, putting their vain ambitions ahead of everything, including people’s lives.