Jonny’s right hand unerringly found the jeep’s ignition. Frantic fingers set the auto-drive destination to the rental return. Glancing at his Kenyan trip-planner, eight hours of driving to get back to civilization, he pressed “Go.” The jeep’s headlights reflected the glinting eyes of surrounding carnivores. Jonny swallowed hard and stayed still in his seat as he shot forward. It was going to be a long night.
Elizabeth
“Spicy calamari.” She smiled to hear his voice. Those British tones were comforting, but she frowned to hear the words.
Elizabeth sat in a bar with her friend, confidante, and lover. His eyes roved over her new form, today she’d taken on the appearance of a beautiful Japanese woman. “Are you sure this is the best way?”
As usual he replied with an oblique answer and mischievous smile. “Archimedes is alleged to have said, ‘Give me a place to stand on, and I will move the earth.’” His clipped English inflections matched her own.
Elizabeth drummed her hand on the table, her fingertips sounding like miniature horses marching off to war. “And you mean what by that?”
“I’ve been looking for the right places to stand.”
Elizabeth shifted in her seat, looking for a more comfortable position while phrasing her next question. “Have you ever considered that you don’t have that right?”
He stopped fiddling with his food as he answered her, somehow making their conversation seem that much more serious, if that were possible. “Yes, many times, but inaction leaves us in a position that cannot be tolerated. The Sweep, for all of its flaws, for all of its faults, and for all of the misery it will cause, will save lives.”
Elizabeth didn’t see how that could be true. “And the animals that have become Keystones? The animals that will kill people?”
Cheshire looked at the table and avoided her eyes as he spoke. “They will make Earth close to uninhabitable. They will kill; they will maim; and people will panic. Ultimately, though, it’s the human Keystones who will be the problem. Murderers, killers, and psychopaths will be empowered by The Sweep, drawing others into their ranks. They’ll take longer to become a problem, but they’ll last longer too.”
“There will be criminals who are more dangerous than any the world has ever seen, and you think that’s a good thing?”
His words were slow and deliberate. “No, but it’s an acceptable cost.”
What could be so bad that this was preferable? What hadn’t he told her? “Cheshire, you are condemning people to die. Make me believe that this is right.”
He looked away before returning her gaze. “I don’t have any proof, but I am condemning people to live. I need you to believe me.”
Elizabeth wanted to believe him, and she knew he didn’t have to tell her at all about his involvement. That more than anything else that he’d described made her believe. “You don’t have any ulterior motives in this?” she asked.
His tone lightened, and his smile came back. It wasn’t as bright as before, but it was a smile. “Of course I do. Several, in fact, but none of them impact the morality of what I’ve done.”
“Tell me one of your motives.” She needed it to be something that she could understand.
His voice was low and his heart in his eyes when he replied, “To keep you alive.”
Elizabeth’s cheeks colored. He could on rare occasions be tender, and she believed him. So far as she knew, she was the only person who knew he was a Keystone, the only person in whom he confided.
She sighed. “I believe you. It’s just that it will be so violent.”
“It’s going to get worse,” he admitted. “The Elevators will be choke points. It’s a pity that they could be built only in equatorial cities. I’ve made provisions, but they’re a little late.”
“You, late?” Elizabeth had known him to be many things, but late was not among them.
His mouth formed a dissatisfied line that underscored the irritation in his voice. “It frustrates me as well.”
“So many people are going to die,” she added in a small voice.
He nodded, acknowledging her point, but still looked confident. “I know. I’ll be doing my best to help, and I hope you’ll protect as many as you can.”
Elizabeth frowned. Such a simple comment for such a big job, such an ambitious job. “I’m going spread my influence as far as I can, but there are limits. I can only make things easier around one of the Elevators.” She thought about her food supply. “And I’m going to have to spend time growing between now and then. Skitterling will like that.”
Cheshire reached over and pulled her hands into his. “That will have to be enough then, won’t it?”
Elizabeth looked down, her gaze fixed on her lap. “Do you really think so?”
He smiled at her again, but this time without mischief. “I do, and there’s an Elevator that I want you to protect.”
She wasn’t surprised that he had a plan. He always had a plan. “Where?” she asked.
“Boa Vista. I’ve booked you a first-class ticket.”
She pouted a little just to tease him and said in her best little-girl voice, “You’re not going to go with me?”
He looked amused again. “Sit still for that long? On a plane?” His voice was incredulous. “No, I don’t think so. I’ll meet you there.”
She’d known that he was going to say something like that. One day he’d shock her and accompany her on a plane. Maybe. “What are you going to do while I’m traveling?”
“I’ll keep looking for the best path.”
“What if it isn’t this one?”
He shrugged, showing less a lack of concern than a lack of certainty. “Well, then, spicy calamari.”
“How many times now?”
“I’ve lost count.”
6 Months Earlier
Calm
Calm was kite-boarding. He enjoyed the feel of the wind pulling him forward. He enjoyed the light rain that tap-danced across his face and wetsuit. He enjoyed the bubble of security that he created inside the hurricane that was attempting to savage southern Florida.
Outside his bubble winds howled at well over a hundred kilometers an hour. Rain lashed the sea. Waves crashed against each other. Inside his bubble the wind was a perfect nineteen kilometers an hour, and the aforementioned rain was a mere drizzle.
An ambitious news crew filmed his progress over the water. He ignored them. Keystones were rare. There were fewer than one hundred documented cases on Earth, and Calm was far and away the most famous. His power wasn’t flashy, but it did allow him to do things that captivated the public.
At home again Calm peeled his wetsuit off and was thankful for the rain that had rinsed the salt off his gear. A red flash indicated that he had messages. This was not unusual. In fact, the red light had been flashing when he woke up that morning, and the morning before that. As one of the most famous people on the planet, he was forever receiving offers of employment, endorsement, and marriage.
Calm ignored the messages and proceeded to shower, enjoying the sensation of warm water on his skin. The next item on his agenda was dinner. Chopping onions was something that he found soothing.
He was less than pleased when he was interrupted by the chime of his doorbell. A lack of privacy was the cost of celebrity, and one of the reasons he had chosen his apartment building was the discretion of its door staff. Several other people who valued their privacy lived there, and they all paid a premium for a sanctuary at home.
When Calm glanced at the video display that flashed up on his fridge, he was both curious and, to a lesser extent, annoyed. This visitor wasn’t the usual groupie. Instead, she was a serious-looking woman with two henchmen standing behind her. Their demeanor suggested that they were representatives of some branch of the government.
Still chopping his vegetables, he spoke to them over the intercom. “What are you doing here? As far as I know, I’m up to date on all of my taxes. Should I be calling my accountant?”
The lady spoke with a very professional air. “We have a business proposition for you that is better spoken of in private.”
Calm decided to brush them off as he would almost any unwanted guests. “I’m not taking visitors right now,” he replied. “Perhaps you could come back tomorrow or next month?”
“Not really. This will only take a moment of your time.”
“What is it about?”
“I’m not at liberty to say over an open system.”
Persistent visitors were the most annoying kind. “Ah, yes. Well, I’m not at liberty to change my visitor policy on such short notice.”
Just as Calm was about to give the voice command to terminate the conversation, the woman spoke again: “We represent Federated Asteroid Mining and Extraction.”
Calm paused mid-chop. “You’re from FAME?” he asked.
“Yes.”
His mind whirled. “Are you trying to involve me in a publicity stunt?”
“No.”
Calm decided to put his dinner on hold. Walking to the front door, he looked at his three visitors. “Before I let you in,” he said, “I’d like to see some proof that you are who you say you are.”
“I’ve been given temporary access to your Secure Identity for the purpose of this meeting,” replied the woman. “Would sending a message to it suffice?”
Calm became very still. Issued at birth, Secure Identities were supposed to be impossible to decrypt or track. Used for biometric verification of identity, they made it possible to receive messages from the government, but all that Calm ever received was tax returns. “You have access to my Secure Identity?” he asked.
“Temporarily,” the woman answered.
“Send a message then.”
Calm grabbed his Uplink and let it scan his eye before he accessed his Secure Identity. Waiting for him was a new message from Helena Baldstone, a senior member of FAME with reportedly impeccable credentials. Calm’s curiosity was piqued. “Come in,” he said to the visitors. “You have my attention for the moment.”
Playing the gracious host, Calm led them to his large living room, which was filled with exotic art, statues, paintings, and wall hangings. The furniture was less exciting—three comfortable couches and two chairs upholstered in brilliant white. They were impractical, and he didn’t use them often. Seating himself on one of the chairs, he looked at his visitors and made a steeple with his fingers. “So what do you want from me?”
“We want help on a classified project,” replied Baldstone, “but first I’d like to know more about your unique abilities as a Keystone. The present assessment of your usefulness is based on unsubstantiated rumors and pure conjecture.”
Calm sighed inwardly. Another price of fame was that people always wanted demonstrations.
“The public perception is that you are nigh invulnerable. FAME’s research into your past reveals that you entered the limelight six years ago on February 3, 2153, when you walked into a burning building and quenched the flames, room by room, as you walked through it.”
Leaning forward in her seat, Helena Baldstone looked at Calm with her brows beetled, trying to gauge his reaction to the reference. Calm sensed that the rest of the discussion was going to hinge on what he said next. “Yes, what of it?” he said. “A simple Net search from any Uplink could have told you that.”
Still leaning forward, Helena rubbed her chin. “Was it difficult?”
“I’m sorry?”
“Was it difficult for you to put out the fires?”
Baldstone’s face betrayed an odd intensity. Calm knew that there was much more at play than how he had handled the fires. “No, it wasn’t, but what does that have to do with anything?”
“A lot. Is it also true that in cold climates the air around you is warm and gentle like spring? Or that in the summer you can create an oasis of comfort?”
Calm had once enjoyed answering questions like these back when the range of his abilities was all new to him, but that was years ago. “Yes, all of that is true,” he answered, “but hundreds of sources could have told you as much.”
“Have any such challenges ever presented you with the slightest of difficulties?”
“No, but now you are beginning to bore me. Would you please cut to the chase?”
“What I’m about to tell you is classified. Should you choose not to accept our offer and disseminate this information to the public, there will be severe consequences.”
The words imparted a thrill to Calm because his constant battle in life was against boredom. Anything different was good. “Go on,” he said.
“Do you understand the ramifications of what I’m telling you?”
Beating down his desire to demand that Baldstone get on with it, Calm forced himself to speak in measured tones. “Yes, and once again you have my curiosity. Now please, go on.”
“FAME has discovered what we believe to be an alien artifact far out in the Oort Cloud.”
Calm considered this. “And how do I fit in?”
Helena looked off to the side before meeting his gaze. “All craft and probes that approach the artifact are obliterated.”
“Ah.” Calm already knew what his answer would be.
“We want you to be part of a team that approaches the object.”
“I’m sorry, but my answer has to be no.”
Baldstone leaned further in, her hands gesticulating as she spoke. “But this could be one of the greatest discoveries of our lives!”
“There is an unsubtle difference,” Calm replied, “between walking through fires and hurricanes unscathed and exposing oneself to cosmically destructive energy.”
“We’re willing to pay you five hundred million dollars to submit to a series of tests to see whether you might be capable of providing protection from these forces, and another five hundred million if you provide the protection.”
This offer forced Calm to pause as he considered his options. His celebrity led to the easy accumulation of wealth that he’d banked and invested throughout the world, but even for him a billion dollars was an attractive piece of bait. He tilted his head to the side. “What sort of tests are we talking about here?”
Two days later Calm found himself at a remote facility in Alaska. The tests started out small but grew in scale. In the initial test Calm was placed at the edge of an explosion to see whether he dampened the released energy in his immediate area.
Escalation led to his standing next to a rather large stack of explosives. Awesome destructive force was unleashed but did not affect him. So far every test showed that all violent surges of energy within seven meters of Calm were subdued.