“You would deny others the ability to explore the wonders of the lake for your own special needs? You’d create a class of people — pilots — with access to knowledge and expect the unfortunate others to blindly follow you? Is this the same Amy Marksman I met so long ago?”
I pull out my plasma rifle. “Sorry Gorian. Those are your needs not mine. I have the people of earth to protect. I hope I never have to use the stuff.” I open a locker and remove a handful of ampules, placing them gingerly into a canvas sack. “You wouldn’t dare shoot me now Gorian. The stuff might splatter and spread.”
She looks anguished.
“I want you to stay here. I will send Etch to get you once I’ve safely brought these home.”
“Amy, please don’t do this. I thought we were friends.”
“Gorian, it’s because we are friends and that I love Ferris, you, and Grey very much that I’m doing this.”
I back away, pointing a lethal weapon at my friend and leaving her in the dark.
I shudder during the three-hour flight back to Yellow Stone. The Raven is concerned. “Amy, where is Gorian? Is she alright?”
“She wanted to stay there and study the site further. I will send Etch and the Fuerst to get her when we return home.”
The Raven’s silent, assessing the tone of my voice. “Amy, you aren’t telling me the entire story. We have spent many months together. You have visited my core processor. Please be honest with me.”
I can’t believe that I’ve developed a relationship with a machine — a human fabricated thing. Troll was horrific, but it’s true colors were easy to see. The Raven, the Fuerst, and Sam have taught me that machines are helpful and perhaps intuitive. If I release the agent from these glass capsules, would I be complicit in their murder?
I decide to take the risk. Knowing what happened to Melat, I am well aware that even this kind machine is capable of wiping out its master. “Raven, I’m conflicted. If you knew the future and could change it to save the people and place you loved, would you do it?”
“I love you, Amy. I would do what it takes to keep you safe.”
I feel dizzy. “What if it involved hurting a few of the ones you love to help the many?”
“You would need to tell the ones in danger what you plan to do. It is only fair. If they are truly loving, they will make the necessary sacrifice.”
A machine just described love and altruism to me. I’m silent for the remainder of the trip, experiencing horrid, contradictory, confusing impulses. The canvas bag sits on a passenger chair. Is the substance I’m bringing home another form of the brown fog from the lake come to haunt me?
I approach Yellow Stone when the Fuerst and Phobos appear at the sides of the Raven. Etch’s voice fills the cabin. “Amy, Gorian contacted us. You cannot land at Yellow Stone. Land now at the specified coordinates or we will have to force you down.”
Gorian must have fashioned a transmitter at the lab in Frankfurt. “Etch, you can’t stop me. I’ll drop this stuff on top of the Institute building long before you shoot me down. Stand back.”
The Raven’s curious. “Amy, what are you doing?”
“I have a substance that will allow my people to take back control of our lives from the Institute.”
“What does it do?”
“I have to be honest with you. It will destroy you and other ships like you. Pretty much all of the Institute technology. But I would only use it if we were in danger.”
The ship stops. “Very well. I will help you.”
We shoot straight into the sky and begin diving at the Institute building.
Etch chimes in. “Amy. Please land at the Yellow Stone clearing. We will talk there.”
“Etch. I want the Fuerst and Phobos to be absent. I want Theo and no one else waiting for me. If not, I have agreed with the Raven for her to drop vials of the substance on the building and then fly into space. There, she will spread the substance to mars, home of your precious Institute.”
“Understood. I hope you know what you are doing Amy Marksman.” The two ships fly up and away.
Chapter 64 – Release
The Raven cools in the grass as I hug Theo. The ship knows that any tampering or attack will give her my permission to carry out my plan. I have a few ampules containing the bug or whatever it is in my pocket for extra protection.
Theo whispers in my ear. “They have Eliza.”
My hand moves to my pocket and I grasp the glass containers. “Who are these people? They’re no better than Thresh.” I swear I feel the baby kicking angrily in my belly.
“Be careful Amy. They’re watching from the walls.”
I shout, “Give me back my daughter now or I’ll release the substance.”
A voice travels through the air. It’s Amanda, the governess of the Institute laboratory. “I’d rethink that if I were you, Amy. Eliza’s been quite the helper to us.”
“Theo, I thought I left Eliza with Magarat.”
“When Gorian called Etch, Amanda took them away.”
“Why didn’t you fight?”
“It’s kind of hard to fight when you’re outgunned.”
“Didn’t the villagers stand up for her?”
He looks down. “No. They watched as she and Magarat were led away.”
A small group of Institute soldiers and Amanda appear at the wall of the city. “Amy, it is so nice to see you, although I wish the circumstances were better. Come with us so we can join Eliza. She’s been asking for you.”
I consider ending it here. I have but to give the Raven my command and throw these vials on the ground to start the end for Amanda and her kind. But I’d certainly forfeit my life and that of Eliza and Theo. No one in the village would lift a finger for us in this grassy place as the soldiers overcame us. Worse, for earth, I would risk the potential of another Thresh reopening the gateway and destroying humanity. I need more time.
“Do not touch me,” I say holding a vial in my hand. “I want to see Eliza.”
Theo and I follow Amanda and her guards into a large room with a table and many chairs. Vanne and Grey are seated. Grey looks queasy, while his companions gaze at me with a mix of fear and anger.
“Well, Amy, you’ve put us in a bind.” Vanne sits forward. “Would you like a refreshment?”
“I want Eliza now. Where is she?”
Amanda growls, “Give us the vials and you can have her.”
Vanne smiles slightly. “We apologize Amy. We’re your guests here. It’s ironic that our shared ancestors unleashed this agent and that we’re now reunited, facing the same threat. What are your needs?”
“You need to leave earth. You can only visit with permission of an elected council of Yellow Stone and someday other people of earth.”
“Well, that was the plan all along,” Vanne says. “We are only here to work with you and to help you better your condition here on earth.”
I sigh. “You might say that and even believe that right now. But I’ve seen the future and know that we are moving down a wrong path. You’re poisoning the minds of our people, blurring their ability to see clearly. We need to slow down and consider our next steps carefully. Now, I’ve said my piece. My daughter. Now.”
Vanne looks at Grey, expecting him to speak. Grey stares at his hands, remaining silent.
Amanda pulls out a pretty mirrored brush and strokes her hair. “You know Eliza can see the future too?”
I hold the ampule before me with my finger on the tip. “I only need to break this and it’ll spread.”
“Very well. Follow me.” Amanda tucks her hairbrush into a small red bag on the table.
We enter a small dark room with a screened wall. Through the mesh, I see Eliza sitting on the floor of an adjacent room with a slight woman I don’t recognize, Magarat looking terrified, and a small, tawny motionless animal.