Star Trek: The Rings of Time (34 page)

“Months?” she echoed. “But it’s been a week at most since that probe zapped you.”

“For you, maybe, but for me . . . I’ve had a lot of time to think about us.”

She took his word for it. Right now, it was enough that they were together again.

“What about me?” Zoe asked. “Don’t I get a scoop?”

“Hang on,” Shaun said, smirking. “You’re in for a surprise.”

The eerie hum returned. A shower of sparks enveloped Zoe, then whisked her away, leaving the two astronauts alone on the flight deck.

Fontana gaped in shock. “What the—? Where did she go?”

“Remember those new friends I mentioned?” Shaun seemed not at all taken aback by Zoe’s abrupt disappearance. “Well, they need her help with some-thing important.”

2020

The walled compound, tucked away on a remote island in Puget Sound, had once belonged to an obscure doomsday cult that had gradually drifted apart after the world stubbornly refused to end when the Mayan calendar expired in 2012. Abandoned for years, the grounds and buildings had since been claimed by the Human Extinction League, whose members were not inclined to wait expectantly for mankind’s demise. They aspired to hurry it along.

Tera O’Herlihy had been HEL’s unwilling guest for months now. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d seen the sun, the stars, or anyone who didn’t want the human race to go the way of the dinosaurs. Since spring break, she’d been confined to an underground bunker beneath the compound’s faux–Mayan temple. Concrete walls defined her world. Posters of past environmental disasters—Chernobyl, Bhopal, the Gulf spill, global warming—adorned the walls to remind her constantly of humanity’s crimes against the Earth. A half-finished mural depicted a deserted Manhattan devoid of people and being reclaimed by wilderness.
Tera figured the artist had stolen the idea from that old Will Smith movie, not that it really mattered to her. A furnace chugged noisily in the boiler room down the hall. An armed guard was posted at the door. Tera knew better than to try to make a break for it.

Where could she go?

The compound was surrounded on all sides by barbed wire, sentries, motion detectors, and mine fields. Jase and the others had made it very clear to her that there was no way out. She was stuck here, held hostage by people she had once thought were her friends.

They’re never going to let me go,
she knew deep down inside.
No matter what they make Dad do.

She perched on the edge of the rickety cot that had been her bed for months, picking at yet another plate of homegrown veggies from the compound’s gardens. Worn yellow sweats hung loosely on her; she figured she’d lost at least ten pounds in captivity. She watched nervously as HEL’s self-described visionary leader paced back and forth across the bunker, working himself up into another rant. She flinched in anticipation.

This was never good.

“Daddy dearest better come through soon,” Jase snarled at her. “Or I’m reducing the human population by one stupid college girl.” He helped himself to another beer from a small portable fridge and slammed the door shut. “Not a bad place to start, actually.”

Although he called himself Jase Zero, she knew that his real name was Calvin Nickels. A rumpled army-surplus jacket was draped over his tall, lanky frame. He had a shaved skull, too much nervous energy, and an intense gaze that, tragically, she had failed to spot the madness in until it was too late. A faded T-shirt bore a graphic of Leonardo’s “Vitruvian Man” with a blood-red slash across it. His jeans needed washing. A nine-inch combat knife was tucked into his belt.

Tera kept her mouth shut. It wasn’t safe to talk to him when he got like this.

“Take it easy, baby.” Simone, his girlfriend and bodyguard, stood by the door. A tall blond woman who looked like a biker chick, she was rumored to have done time in prison. Her black leather jacket had Shepard Fairey’s iconic portrait of Khan painted on the back, and a Glock was holstered at her hip. She preferred guns to knives. “Give it time. That ivory-tower space nut’s not going to let anything happen to his darling little girl. He’ll play ball.”

“You sure about that?” Jase said sourly. “What if—hang on! Maybe this is it!”

A plasma-screen television, tuned to a cable news network, was mounted on the wall opposite the mural. Jase froze in place as a computer animation of Saturn appeared on the screen. He snatched the remote and upped the volume.

“. . . NASA reports that the
Lewis & Clark’
s historic visit to Saturn, now in its sixth day, continues to be an
unqualified success. Scientists and space buffs around the world are marveling at the astounding new data and discoveries that the heroic crew is sending back to Earth on a daily basis. A spokesperson for the joint international effort, Dr. Emilia Sakamoto, has issued a statement declaring that ‘the Saturn mission marks the next generation in space exploration, opening up a new frontier for all of humanity . . .’”

“Screw that! The universe is better off without us!” Jase hurled the remote at the screen, then whirled around to shout at Tera. “What the hell is keeping that idiot father of yours? He’d better not think he can dick us around much longer.” He drew his knife and waved it in her face. “Doesn’t he care what we can do to you?”

Cringing, she backed up against the wall behind her cot. The only good thing about Jase’s manic episodes was that they regularly reminded her just how crazy he was, making Stockholm syndrome highly unlikely. But she knew that one of these days, he was going to go too far.

Maybe today?

“You think they’re lying?” Simone speculated. “Maybe he already did it, and they’re just covering it up. You know you can’t trust the media. They’re just mouthpieces for the pro-human agenda.” Her face curdled in disgust. “They’ve got a vested interest in keeping their loyal audiences breeding like vermin.”

Because of its reproductive associations, HEL
members abstained from sex. It didn’t improve their moods.

“Give me a break!” Jase barked at her, turning away from Tera for a moment. “How do you cover up the destruction of an entire freakin’ spaceship? We didn’t ask him to scratch the paint job. We demanded a
disaster,
bigger than both shuttle explosions put together, something that will finally drive a stake through their obscene ‘space program’ once and for all and stop us from spreading the blight of humanity to unsuspecting worlds!”

“I know that,” Simone said. “But does Dr. Daddy?”

“He had better!” he railed at Tera, spittle spraying from his lips. “What’s wrong with him? Doesn’t he love you at all?”

“Leave me alone!” she pleaded, even though she knew it wouldn’t do any good. But she had to speak up, just to keep from getting sucked into their insanity. “You’re fanatics, all of you. You’re what’s wrong with humanity, not my father!”

Tera couldn’t believe how stupid she’d been to get mixed up with these lunatics in the first place. She had never really bought into their whole “voluntary extinction” agenda, which had always struck her as extreme, but she’d been impressed by their passion and commitment and had found their ideas exotically different from the pro-space, pro-science rhetoric she’d been hearing from her parents and their colleagues all her life. College was supposed to be all about exploring
different philosophies and viewpoints, right? And the folks at HEL had been so friendly and enthusiastic at first, eager to share their beliefs with her. It had been easy to start hanging out with them, staying up all night to debate the pros and cons of human progress and expansion, sharing pizzas and beers.

Plus, to be honest, some of the guys had been kind of cute.

And look where that got me,
she thought bitterly.
Now Dad’s being forced to do something terrible, and it’s all my fault.

“Shut your mouth, college girl!” Simone fondled the handgun on her hip. “Okay, then,” she asked Jase, “how long do we wait before we start taking Little Miss Hostage apart?”

“I don’t know,” he admitted, pacing once more. He gulped down the last of his beer and hurled the can into a corner. “Maybe—wait a second. Do you hear that?”

He ran over and switched off the TV. A peculiar high-pitched hum was coming from the corridor outside, maybe from down by the boiler room. A sparkling golden glow cast its light through the doorway.

“Crap! What’s that?” He nodded urgently at Simone. “Check that out!”

“I’m on it.” She drew her Glock and cocked it. “Stay here. I’ll be right back.”

Gun in hand, she slipped out into the hall.

“Damn, damn, damn.” Jase went into full paranoid mode. Snatching a walkie-talkie off the top of a filing cabinet, he barked into the receiver. “Zero to Security! We may have company! Any bogies on the perimeter?”

The compound occupied a hilltop overlooking the shore. The surrounding terrain had been cleared for miles around. It would be almost impossible to approach the base undetected, never mind all the mines and motion detectors and guards.

“
Negative, Zero,
” a sentry reported. “
All clear.
”

“Well, keep looking!” Jase watched the door, holding his knife out in front of him. His face was flushed and sweaty. Wild eyes scanned for intruders. “Simone? Talk to me, Simone!”

A weird zapping noise came from the hall. A body thudded heavily to the floor.

“Simone?”

The guard did not respond.

“I knew it!” Jase growled. “Your father sold us out!” He yanked Tera roughly to her feet and placed his knife against her throat. His other arm circled her waist from behind as he turned her into a human shield. Months of deprivation and abuse had left her too weak to resist. “I’ve got the girl!” he shouted. “Show yourself, or I’ll cut her throat!”

Tera felt the blade against her jugular. It nicked her skin, drawing blood. She whimpered, not certain what was happening. Was someone really trying to rescue her?

“Last chance!” Jase hollered. “I’m not bluffing here. Human life means less than dirt to me. It’s what we’re out to eradicate!”

“All right,” a male voice responded from just outside the door. “Don’t do anything hasty. I’m coming in.”

Holding his hands up where Jase could see them, a stranger entered the bunker. He was a fit, good-looking white guy, in nondescript civilian attire, with sandy brown hair and the cool, confident manner of a professional soldier or cop. He reminded Tera of some of the astronauts and pilots her father had trained with, but as far as she knew, she had never seen him before. He held up two small electronic devices, about the size of compact phones. She didn’t recognize the brand.

“Where’s your weapon?” Jase demanded. “Get rid of it!”

The stranger dropped a small metallic gadget onto the floor. “The other one is just my communicator,” he explained, his eyes meeting hers. “Good to see you, Ms. O’Herlihy. I was hoping to find you here.”

“Who are you?” Jase interrogated him. “FBI? CIA? Special Forces?”

“My name is Kirk,” he said, speaking to Tera instead. “I’m a friend of your father.”

“Of course you are!” Jase tightened his grip around her waist, keeping her between him and the intruder. “You hear that, Tera? Your loving dad called in the troops, even after we warned him what would become of you if he did. Guess he cares more about
his precious Saturn mission than his own daughter’s life. How sick is that? What more proof can there be that the human species doesn’t deserve to survive?” He spit at the floor. “The sooner we’re gone, the sooner the Earth can start recovering from the damage we’ve inflicted on her.”

“You’ve got the wrong idea,” Kirk said. “Humanity is growing up and learning from its mistakes. It won’t be easy, but we can discover effective ways to live in harmony with the Earth and, eventually, a multitude of other worlds, too. You just need to have faith in our potential as a species and give the future a chance.”

“Bullshit!” Jase snarled. “We’ve had enough chances. We’re a mistake, an evolutionary accident that should have died out ages ago, before we screwed up the entire planet. We’re mutants. We’re not entitled to a future!” He pricked Tera’s neck with the knife. “Now, shut up and call off your people!”

“All right. You’re in charge.” Kirk held out his communicator. “Just let me tell my forces to stand down. No tricks, I promise.”

“I have a better idea,” Jase said, apparently in no hurry to become a martyr. Loosening his grip on Tera’s waist but keeping the knife pressed to her throat, he turned his palm upward. “Toss that thing over to me.”

“Okay. Here goes.” Kirk lobbed it to Jase. “Just flip it open. They’re expecting my signal.”

Jase fumbled with the device, which chirped as he opened it. “No tricks,” he reminded Kirk. He held the
communicator up to his lips. “Hello? Is anybody there? Can you hear me?”

“Aye,”
a voice answered with a pronounced Scottish brogue.
“And who might ye be?”

“This is Jase Zero, commander of the Human Extinction League. We have hostages, who will be sacrificed if our demands are not met.”

“Is that so? And do I understand that ye are the gentleman who is holding that poor lassie against her will?”

“That’s right. And you’d better pay attention if you don’t want to listen to her scream. Do you get me?”

“Aye, I’m reading you, mister. That’s all I need to know.”

A sudden green glow lit up the bunker, stunning Tera from head to toe. She heard Jase’s knife clatter to the floor. Her brain went blank.

And that was all she remembered.

2020

Kirk awoke in sickbay with a headache.

“Ugh,” he groaned. “Remind me not to do that again.”

McCoy applied a hypospray to his throat. “Here. This should help.”

A hiss released the analgesic into his bloodstream. The pounding in his head dulled to a mild throb.

“Any better?” McCoy asked.

“Yes, thanks.” Kirk sat up and looked around. Spock stood at the foot of the bed, waiting patiently for the captain to recover. Kirk was eager to receive his report. “Tera?”