The five humans entered the downtown core as one, simultaneously holding off the fire of the bats by meeting their energy blasts with blasts of their own, the two forces neutralizing one another. James hoped that by leading the bats into the downtown core, they might be able to evade them in a game of cat-and-mouse, but as the A.I. had predicted, it was simply a matter of delaying the inevitable. He knew it was his responsibility to lead, but the pain of his crushed chest was making it difficult to think as he gasped for air. How can I save them? Think James…
Think!
It was only moments before the first member of the team was struck. A yellow flash negotiated through the defensive shield of magnetic blasts that the five were emitting and enveloped Thel. As soon as her magnetic field was disrupted, she was caught by the wind and began to tumble like a ragdoll toward the pavement a hundred stories below.
James raced down to save her, matching her rate of descent and catching her carefully, using his protective field as a magnetic cushion for her before slowing down and setting upon the pavement. Thel was conscious, but her fall had left her badly disoriented. Their remaining companions floated above the pair and formed a shield, disengaging their own magnetic fields so they could communicate with one another while still repelling the dozens of bats that were beginning to swarm around them.
“Is she okay?” Djanet called out to James.
James couldn’t find the voice to yell up to her, so he nodded instead. His chest burned, and blood continued to surface in the back of his mouth.
“Where the hell did you come from?” Rich shouted to Djanet.
“James left a note burned into the front door saying where you’d be and that you would need an extraction!”
“You knew?” Rich asked James.
“No. It was insurance.”
“We need a plan, boss!” Old-timer called down.
James was frozen. How to save them? Thel was helpless, the bats would soon surround them, and the nans were seconds away. His ingenuity had never let him down in the past. Always an answer. Always…
“Mercury!” James called up, a flash of hope dancing across his blue eyes.
Old-timer looked over his shoulder quizzically as he continued to battle. “The planet?”
“Yes! I can get us there! Mercury is over eighty percent iron. Its core is roughly the same size as Earth’s, so it has a magnetic field!”
“Uh. What does that have to do with anything, Commander?” Rich called down.
“The bats are tracking the magnetic energy in our implants. There’s no telling how large their range is, so we can’t outrun them on Earth, but if we can get to Mercury before them, the magnetic field should disrupt their sensors!”
“But you just said we can’t outrun them!” Djanet responded.
“Not on Earth, but we should have an advantage over them. They aren’t generating their own magnetic fields. They don’t need to on Earth, but out in space, close to Mercury, we’ll have to gamble that the heat will begin taking a toll on their inner operations and slow them down.”
“That’s a mighty big gamble, James,” Old-timer responded gravely.
“It’s all I have, Old-timer,” answered James. “I’ll keep Thel with me and protect her. Once we get to the planet’s surface, we’ll find a place to hide before we head back to Earth. So what do you say?”
“I say it’s totally insane, but staying here is insane-er,” quipped Rich, desperately blasting energy at the bats as they plunged toward the team in kamikaze fashion.
“Let’s do it,” Djanet concurred.
“Okay, I’m in. On the count of three?” Old-timer suggested.
James looked down at Thel, whose eyes were starting to focus. “You’re okay, baby. I got you,” he said softly.
“One!” Rich exclaimed as he just managed to blast a bat that made it within a few meters of them.
“Two!” Djanet shouted as the bats began to darken the sky with their numbers.
James ignited his magnetic field, enveloping himself and Thel in the protective green light.
“Three!” Old-timer shouted as he and the rest of the team ignited their magnetic fields and blasted upward at incredible speed, the bats following almost instantaneously.
13
Space had never seemed so vast, lifeless, or perilous. Once they left Earth’s cradle, they had to streak through the emptiness at speeds far faster than they had ever traveled before. There was no choice—they had to stay ahead of the bats. Yellow energy continued to flash from the horde behind them, and Old-timer, Djanet, and Rich continued to repel the attack. Any mistake that allowed their magnetic fields to be disrupted in space would mean certain death.
Locating Mercury by the stars alone was a tricky task. The planet was not always visible because of its proximity to the sun, but James had an idea of where it should be at this time of the year and made an educated guess. He took note of Venus as it passed by in the distance, a pale yellow dot that he might never get the chance to visit again, a dream from another life.
Thel was huddled against him, watching with horror as her companions continued to repel the attack behind them. “I feel so helpless,” she said to James. “I should be back there helping them.”
James didn’t reply. There was nothing he could say to comfort her. She was right: She was helpless, and the other members of the team were risking their lives so James could concentrate on guiding them to safety. He felt helpless too, but simultaneously he felt enormous pressure. What if he was wrong? What if his last thoughts before his death were that he’d been responsible for leading the others to their end?
As the sun began to dramatically increase in size and brightness, James spotted Mercury. He shifted his trajectory slightly and tried to increase his speed. He’d never flown at such speeds before and wondered just how fast he and the others were moving. In theory, there was almost no limit—other than the universal speed limit of light—to how fast they could fly; their limitations were mental ones. The only word on James’s mind as they neared the baked planet was: Faster.
“Is that it?” Thel asked as the orb in the distance began to increase in size.
“Yes,” James replied, relieved that he’d at least found it.
Thel took her eyes off of the planet to look back at her companions. The bats seemed to be fewer now and were a greater distance behind them. “Oh thank God. I think it’s working!”
“They’re overheating,” James concurred. “Let’s hope enough of them break off the chase for us to lose them on Mercury.”
Moments later, the rest of the team moved closer to James and Thel. Old-timer gave James a thumbs-up sign to signal that the bats were finally out of firing range. Now they only had to hope the magnetic field they were entering would hide them.
James guided the others down to the surface on the dark side of Mercury. The Mercutian night was black and moonless, and it was a relief to escape the brilliant yellowish-white light of the sun. The dark was so great as their eyes adjusted that the only discernible features were those upon which the greenish glow of their magnetic fields shone. A large crevice appeared directly below them, and James guided his teammates down into the charred salvation.
Once they had come to a rest, it was simply a matter of waiting and hoping that none of the bats had survived the heat and were detecting their signals. Only time would tell. A few minutes would hold all of the answers.
James sat on a ledge in the crevice and put a hand to his burning chest.
Thel sat on his lap and placed her cool hand lightly against his torso. “James, I’ve never been so scared. I feel I can’t take it anymore. I might go crazy.”