Rachel had decided in less than five hours that there was no way to restore the Database without the password. She spent the next few hours questioning people as to who could have done it. Even with all the evidence pointing to deliberate sabotage, it was easier for Rachel to think it must have been done by accident in some way.
Most of the people she tried to question were busy tearing the guts out of Carmen's airship for the flight to Sanctuary, and Rachel was forced to concede defeat. She wasn't going to get it running again.
It made her sick to leave the Foundation while it was crippled. She had always cared more about her work here than almost anything else she spent her time on; and now she had to leave it behind. The world was facing its only real time of danger; and she felt like she was abandoning her favorite place in it. It hasn't been mine for a long time. She told herself, over and over. And we can make it right again.
Even so, she suddenly noticed that Nick hadn't shifted from his attempts to turn everything back on.
~~/*\~~
"Our Nanotech has a two day buffer in case of signal breach." Nick said to her when she returned to the System Core. "Now 41 hours. If I can get the Database back online in that time, then the Chariot, the Auto; everything that burned up… The Preserver will wake up and fix it all. In 42 hours, it won't be able to. It'll take us ages to get back..."
"I know that." She said gently. "The Foundation is to me what the Chariot is to you, so don't think I don't agree with you. But no matter how much we've tossed around words like 'end' and 'final' and 'conclusion'... All of this will still be here waiting for us until we come back."
Nick looked up sharply. "You want to give up?"
"Nick, I've been here before." Rachel told him. "I had to walk to my last Sanctuary, back on A-Day. This time I've got an airship loaded up with people we know, ready to take us right to the door. We both said the Final Test was deceptively simple: Just be inside Sanctuary in time. Benedict was right: That doesn't depend on us."
Nick said nothing for a while; but it was clear he still wanted to argue the point. "It's not just the Chariot. The backup drives, the storage drives… all of that has been protected from failures by the Preserver-Tech. It kept everything as good as new for two centuries. If it all fails, I don't know what we'll be left with. It's more than just fixing the damage; it's all that beta-testing, all that experimentation…"
"I know. But nothing we can't put back. Our memories are no less perfect on the day after. Don't pretend you haven't committed everything on the Chariot to memory. You could redraw all that with your eyes closed." Rachel agreed. "Nick, listen to me: I've done this before. My work meant nothing on A-Day. The Chariot Project means nothing now."
"Nothing?" Nick scorned. "She still means something to us. It was meant to be our home for some time."
"And we'll have eternity. The Foundation will still be here, even if we have to work a little longer to turn all the lights on. The stars will still be there, even if we can't get to them until a week after instead of a day." Rachel pressed. "You know that."
"You made sure of it." The thought came to her from nowhere.
"I know you know that. I made sure of it." Rachel repeated automatically. Then she frowned. Where did that come from?
Nick looked up at her oddly. "You made sure of it." He repeated. "When?"
Rachel froze, nearly biting down on her tongue. Ohh, I shouldn't have said that.
Nick stared at her, his wonderfully quick mind putting things together, remembering little moments from across their whole lives. "You and I have been together for centuries. But we broke up once because… because we let it drag out too long, you not wanting to commit. You told me that you'd been in love before, and it ended badly both times because of what came later."
"Nick…" Rachel held up both hands.
Nick finally stepped away from the Terminal, approaching her. "You told me about your first love. Who couldn't handle you becoming a Believer, and then died on A-Day." Nick actually barked out a laugh. "Of course! How did I ever think it was anything else?"
"Don't do this to yourself." Rachel begged. "It was a mistake."
"For three centuries? You're incapable of being 'mistaken' that long, Rach. That's not an error, that's a plan." Nick shook his head. "All this time, I thought we stayed so long in a holding pattern because we were busy; and took each other for granted. But that's not it, is it? It's because I wasn't a Trib Survivor like you, and you knew there was still one day coming where you might lose me."
Rachel squeezed her eyes shut for half a heartbeat. "And then I realized it was a stupid reason, and I married you. It was a mistake."
"You just wanted to be sure both of us would make it." Nick scorned.
"Were you wrong?" The thought drilled into her.
"I still do." Rachel shot back. "You're the one who's refusing to get aboard that Airship."
Nick grew notably taller. "Gosh, if you'd known that was going to happen, maybe you wouldn't have wasted so much time."
Rachel scowled. "Y'know what? I'm going to leave you to it for a minute."
"Yeah, better run. Can't expect me to get anything working in time. If you hurry, you can get to Sanctuary without me." Nick groused.
Rachel twitched, honestly ready to slap him for that, before she turned on her heel and stormed out of the room.
~~/*\~~
"Benedict?!" Rachel shouted, searching through the rooms in the Dorms. "Are you here?"
She searched all the rooms, one by one. The Airship hadn't left yet; she could see people through some windows, but she'd already spoken to Diaz, and she knew Benedict wasn't aboard. So where is he?
Rachel wanted Benedict to talk to Nick. He wasn't an Elder anymore; in fact there were no Elders. But Nick wasn't immune to the inherent respect that came to Trib Survivors, and now that Rachel had lost her credibility with her husband; she needed a respected leader to talk Nick around on this…
And that was when she saw the single Auto lifting off and turning away, towards the coast. Her eyesight was better than it had ever been. Back in OS, it would have been off the charts; and just for a second, it looked like Benedict was in it.
"Ohno." Rachel hissed, and she turned to run.
~~/*\~~
It had taken a little creative work, but eventually, they got the entire population of the Arcology assembled. The Tower usually had the population of a small city; but many had left in the weeks before, preparing for the Test. Others had gone to their families, planning to travel together. The people that were left were still enough to fill a fair-sized town; but small enough that they could meet. Here and there in the crowd were a few people who would relay what was said to the people in the back.
"The Database appears to be completely offline." Eben briefed them. "It's not us, it's the connection itself. As you're no doubt aware, that knocks out Comms and the Auto. And it also knocks out the Preserver, which is why the Tower suddenly started to malfunction. The Preserver has kept the pressure seals like-new; as well as the moving parts, the wiring… All of it is suddenly being 'un-preserved'."
Hugh gave Kasumi a worried look. "How much of the world runs on Preserved parts?"
"Wrong question." Kasumi whispered back. "How much of the world doesn't?"
Hugh bit his lip and looked back to his plane. He'd never used the Preserver on any of its parts. His 'hobby' plane had been restored and maintained by hand.
"At this point, we cannot guarantee the safety of the Tower under any circumstances." Eben told them. "I'm afraid it's just not safe. I can't allow anyone to go back inside. Leave everything; until the Database comes back online."
The meeting was already breaking up. If they couldn't summon a ride, or contact anyone else, or even go back inside to get anything, there was nothing to do but get to Sanctuary.
Eben saw that. "There's not a lot I can say; except that it seems the Organization was right to reject the Tower as a Sanctuary. We all wondered about the older, slower methods of construction, but Sanctuary is guaranteed to be unaffected by the shutdown. I wish you all safety on your journey, and hope to see you all back here with stories to tell and praises to sing."
~~/*\~~
"Are we ready to go?" Kasumi asked, nervous. "I don't know how long we have."
"Nobody does." Hugh nodded. "But the Database is still offline, so I imagine we've got a little more time than we thought."
Kasumi blinked rapidly. "How do you arrive at that? I would have thought it was a sign of enormous urgency."
Hugh nodded. "It is. But the Database is how everyone gets around the world now. If it doesn't come back, even the most faithful ones are going to need a few days; at least. And if we were told to start stockpiling, God knew it wouldn't be an overnight... matter… Do you hear that?"
Kasumi listened. It was a static squall from the plane.
They didn't get to it in time to answer; the signal was at the very edge of their range; but just for a moment, it sounded like Beckah's voice. "...lost all…" But it was too late, the message drowned out by static.
Hugh shook his head. "I didn't hear it."
~~/*\~~
From his small hiding place at the edge of Jerusalem, Grant was hearing this over his own radio. Hugh's plane only had so much transmission range. Alec's boat was the same. Grant had spent decades creating a radio that could receive a transmission from almost anywhere on this side of the planet. Picking it up from right next door was easy.
"Repeat: This is Beckah Ducard, calling from Sanctuary; trying to reach Hugh and Kasumi Alman." She repeated. "I've lost all contact with Alec. With the Database down, not even the transponder is coming through. This radio is my only chance of… Can you hear me?" Her voice dropped. "Hugh, your plane is my last hope. I know you can't land on water in a WW2 Bomber, but… There's nobody else. Is anyone out there?"
Grant's transmitter was equally powerful, and he pulled out his small notebook, looking at specific frequencies. Almost all the world was silent without the Database. A fairly large proportion of Tribulation Survivors had kept backups of food and water; and communications were clearly on that list. Only a few had kept such survival skills from the Old Days. And those were the sort of people Grant knew; by type if not by name. "Mayday, mayday." He called into his radio, setting the frequency carefully. "I need a rescue."
~~/*\~~
"We're going to have to leave most of it behind." Biggs said seriously.
Megan nodded darkly. "I know." She said tightly. "Rika!" She shouted. "Let's move! Time is everything!"
Rika came hurrying in, still tapping at her useless Device. "Mom, he can't be serious about this, can he?" Rika asked in disbelief. "I mean, we took more than this when we went camping."
"I know it, but we had more transport to work with back then." Megan told her. "Your father was there the last time anything remotely like this happened. One thing I've learned from being alive this long: Always bet on experience. Besides, half your stuff doesn't even work. The whole Database is offline."
"Right now, sure. But they'll fix it." Rika said as though it was obvious. "It hasn't been offline for more than a minute in centuries. Bet on experience, right?"
Biggs came back into the house with his own bags, just in time to hear that. "Rika, at every time God's people have faced a test of personal faith, they've never done it with their possessions. Some of them weren't even allowed clothes." He gave Rika a hard look. "When A-Day came close, having anything at all in your pockets would get you mugged long before you made it to where you were meant to be."
"I know the story, dad." Rika said pointedly. "But that was a thousand years ago. Nothing's going to happen to us now."
"Then what are we being tested for?" Biggs shot back. "Come on. Time to go."
"But the Database isn't up yet!" Rika called after him. "How can we get to Sanctuary without an Auto?" She realized as soon as she said it. "Oh."
Biggs nodded. "We have a vehicle, but navigation isn't working; so we'll have to do it the old fashioned way. Leave your bags. Sanctuary will have food and shelter. More than that we don't need."
Rika looked to Megan. Megan smirked. "You heard him."
"What about Grandpa?" Rika wavered.
"Hugh could get there faster than we can. His plane doesn't use the Database either. He's probably there waiting for us."
Rika looked at her. "I meant my other grandpa."
Megan froze. "Oh. Look, if he's…" She swallowed the first thought and tried again. "Everyone who wants to will make it. We have multiple scriptures that say so."
~~/*\~~
Rachel came back into the System Core to find her husband still working as fervently as he dared. She was praying with her eyes wide open as she made her way over to him. "It was Benedict." She said simply.
Nick looked up sharply. "No. Can't be."
"I just saw him leave in an Auto. So, the Question: With the Database shut down, how does he have a working ride? Answer?"
"Because he's the one that shut it down." Nick breathed; awed by the thought. "Why on earth would he do that?"
"I don't know, but I do know it wasn't a mistake. If he locked out the Database, he also hit the Stargazer." Rachel said seriously. "Apparently, there are no guarantees anymore."
"Clearly not a fact that took you by surprise." Nick said cuttingly, still smarting over their earlier fight.
Rachel took a deep breath. "Back in GT, the last time we had to put our money where our mouth was, I was only just baptized." Rachel told him seriously. "When the FRA came into effect, everyone I knew, everyone I worked with; they all had to declare. My work was controversial, and then my boss gave me the wonderful news: Seizing all the 'Illegals' money meant we could finally fix the world; and academics like me weren't pariah's anymore. I'd be back to work in a week, then a Professor in six months, a Nobel Laureate in ten years. But only if I signed."
Nick just looked at her.
Rachel gestured at the useless Terminal. "The Expo is my life's work. My life dream, in fact. A new Camelot, with me at its Foundation? I would have given both arms for that at any point in my life. A-Day tempted me with a lifelong goal. Apparently this Test is threatening to take away a thousand years of success."
Nick said nothing.
Rachel took a deep breath. "You're right. I was hedging, deep down, all those centuries, because I was scared I'd lose you. On the one and only day when I still could." She spread her hands wide. "I married you anyway because I knew nothing could make losing you feel any less painful, married or not." She reached out and cupped his face with both hands. "You want to know how much?"
Nick was smart, and suddenly got it. "Rach-"
She pulled back and sat down in a spare terminal chair, like she was planting herself. "I don't leave until you do." She said simply.
He gave her a sharp look. "Now that's just crazy talk. If I can get this working, I'll even beat you there, but why take that chance? Go, before the Airship leaves."
"Me, but not you?" She countered.
"I know it sounds prideful, but we've both beaten deadlines before." Nick reminded her. "I get this fixed, and that's millions of people who suddenly have plenty of time to do the right thing."
"I've made my choice." Rachel said simply. "Camelot can be built again. I've done it before. But not without you. The only thing I can't live without is refusing to leave this room." She almost smiled. "Besides, what are you worried about? If you can fix it in an hour, we can take the Stargazer on her maiden flight, straight to Sanctuary. We're probably the only two people left."
Nick stared at her. "No." He said finally. "You'd hate to choose between your husband and your relationship with Jehovah; but if you ever had to, you'd make the right choice. You've done it before, with A-Day."
"Yes, I have. And yes, I would." Rachel nodded. "If I had to. But only if you forced me to choose."
"Rachel, the trick to bluffing, is not telling the other guy you're doing it." Nick told her with a scoff.
"I'm not bluffing." Rachel said simply. "I am your wife, and that means you're responsible for me, spiritually. Today that means both our lives. I'm staying right here, because I know you'd roll the dice on yourself, but not on me."
~~/*\~~
Captain Diaz stood at the door to her airship, half watching for more passengers, half mourning the pile of debris left on the ground below her. To fit all the passengers aboard, they had completely gutted the luxurious ship she called her home. A thousand years of memories and refinement, carefully choosing everything she carried and everything she needed… and it was all a pile of garbage now.
Father… She prayed. I'd do it again. Obviously, I won't risk even one of these people being late. Needs must, when the Devil attacks. I just wish my home could have survived. She looked back to the Foundation, smoke still hovering over the suddenly still city. Though, there's a lot of that going around.
"Wait for us!" A voice called.
Diaz looked and saw Rachel and Nick hurrying towards her. Diaz smiled, and waved them on. "You couldn't get it fixed?"
"No." Rachel admitted. "But take it from the only Trib survivor still on board. All the people who should get to Sanctuary will get there, no matter what happens." She looked to Nick. "I'm taking everything I need for when the dust has settled."
Nick joined his wife at the gangplank and put an arm around her waist. "So am I."
Diaz didn't want to spoil the moment but had to ask. "Anyone else coming?"
"Who else is left?" Nick asked in alarm.
"The people who don't want to come." Rachel told him, unsurprised. "There's always a few. The Foundation has been a landmark. Some people will come here before Sanctuary."
Nick felt sick. "It was pride." He admitted to himself. "I thought I could fix it. I thought if I could fix it, then I could save everyone. My issue was pride."
Rachel smiled the smallest, saddest smile she had ever worn. "Back in OS, you died as a soldier, trying to find camps full of people who needed rescuing. When you came back, you fought becoming a Believer because you wanted to make sure you didn't know better. The first time we met, you wanted to join the Expo without having so much as taking a class first. This was pushing a button I forgot you had."
"I forgot too." Nick admitted. "For a while, I wondered if I could somehow take the Chariot and the whole Foundation through the Final Test with us." He looked to Rachel. "Thanks for snapping me out of it."
~~/*\~~
The Ryker family had set out in the later afternoon; and now it was full night. Biggs finally couldn't risk it any further and pulled in to park in a Dormitory Area. Travel was still an important part of life in Paradise, and they were rarely without guests; but automated transport meant no parking lots.
"Where is everyone?" Rika asked. "I've almost never seen these Dormitories empty."
"Neither have I, but I'm not surprised." Biggs told them. "Sanctuary was built away from town. With the Database offline, most people are on foot. We all started moving on the same day. We've got a working car, so we're in that sweet spot between people on foot getting this far, and people who were in this area already being long gone, at Sanctuary already."
Megan shivered. "I still say we shouldn't stop here."
"Meg, there's danger in the Earth again for the first time in a thousand years. The Auto is off for the first time since it switched on. Automated transport means Falling asleep at the wheel is an issue again. We're four hours from Sanctuary; and we've both been awake too long. Get some sleep."
Megan's eyes went wide suddenly. "The Tea Set!" She blurted. "My mom's ceramic tea set! We left it behind!"
Biggs winced. "I'm so sorry, love. But we can't go back for it." He broke it to her gently. "And even if we could, with the Preserver suddenly going crazy, what are the odds it could survive a trip like this? On land only, on Manual Control? The Preserver has been holding it together for a long while now, Meg. I admit, I don't think it'd make it. The ceramics were so delicate, thanks to more than a thousand years of use…"
"I know." Megan whispered. "One day after, we get everything working again… Maybe we can save it. But it'll be the first time in a thousand years…" Megan sat down on the bed so carefully, as if she was afraid to break it, or herself. "One of my earliest memories of Paradise was watching mom pour the tea over the set. I've done it every day for years, like her before me; and her grandmother before her."
"We'll be back." Biggs promised her. "That house is our home now; and we won't be leaving it forever."
And then the bed collapsed under Megan instantly. She fell through it to the floor with a squawk. Biggs hurried to help her up, and they suddenly noticed the room was seeming to decay. "Of course. The Dorm Rooms print themselves anew whenever someone comes in. With the Nano-Offline…"
Megan rubbed her hip. "Good thing we packed sleeping bags."
They had the Dormitory to themselves. Rika took one room, her parents took another.
"Feels wrong to sleep." Megan said, even as she yawned hugely. "With the clock running."
"It's been running before." Biggs promised her. "We're well ahead of schedule, love. Best not to risk it in pitch dark."
"You rigged the car for manual control, you didn't think to add headlights?" Megan was nearly asleep when she forced her eyes to open. "Pray for me tonight? I don't think I can stay awake."
Biggs put an arm around her tightly and started speaking softly. Megan snuggled tightly into her husband, and was out cold before he got halfway through.
~~/*\~~
James had been trying his device every other minute for several hours. "No good. It's not coming back."
Atxi, his wife, nodded. "I've been checking what few boats we still have docked here. They're all taking on water! You were right: Something went wrong with the Preserver-Tech. And if the Database is staying offline, we can't repair them." She shivered hard. "Which means the Auto is out of the question too." Atxi looked concerned. "Can we still make it?"
"We'll have to take a boat that we can navigate ourselves, or go on foot." James thought it out. "All our ships use the Database to Navigate. Well, except for the Nicholas."
Atxi nodded. "The Nicholas is the only boat we've got that isn't sinking. I don't know why. She's the oldest one we've got."
"Probably because we never used the Preserver on her." James grinned. "She was a gift on my arrival in Paradise. I've only ever done her repairs myself, with our own materials. There probably isn't an original part left on her, but…"
Atxi smiled at her husband, despite herself. "What is loved endures." She teased. "Alright, so we take the Nicholas. But can we make it?"
"We'll make it." He promised. "It's been a while since I've had to navigate by stars and charts; but you don't forget skills your life depended on. Especially with a perfect memory." He tapped his forehead.
There was the sound of rapid footsteps outside, and the door flew open. It was Patli. "Atxi!" The woman barked urgently. "You have to come!"
Startled, Atxi gave chase to her sister. After centuries in Paradise, the two of them were in peak physical shape, able to sprint for ages without slowing down. The two of them were at home on a jungle island, and knew it better than they knew almost anything else in the world. In OS, their Island in the western Caribbean Sea had been a Pirate Haven for those hiding from the laws of various nations. Today, it was the home base for a cargo company that shipped loads across the north and south; run by James and Atxi.
Atxi's family had all been Returned at the island, one by one. Atxi lived there, and it was a good place to bring them into the New World gently. None of them lived there on a permanent basis anymore, but they had used the open Jungle areas away from the docks and storehouses; as a site to educate others about some of the ancient ways, including old cultures, and their false, forgotten gods.
Atxi had received special dispensation to recreate the altar; specifically so that historians could get some straight answers from eyewitness testimony about life for the ancient Aztecs. Irrelevant it may be, but there had been millions of such people Returned; and Atxi had found the total ignorance of the rest of the world was one of her roadblocks to becoming a Believer. Even the historians had forgotten much of her culture; so education had been vital.
But today, her sister led her through the jungle, and she found a far more unsettling sight than an educational reenactment.
Their mother was sitting in front of the Altar. She wasn't bowing, but there was a disturbing intensity in her look. "What's wrong with her?" Atxi asked.
Patli looked scared. "She said… She said she saw an Angel. On the Altar."
Atxi froze. "That's impossible." She said. "We're 'hands off' until the Test is over."
Patli nodded, speaking quietly. "I know, but that's what she said. So, what are going to do?"
Atxi was stunned. "You're not seriously suggesting…"
"That we stay with the altar, of course not. But we either burn it down or blow it up. Which would you prefer?" Patli asked gamely.
Atxi barked out something that could have been a laugh. "We were told we couldn't force anyone…"
"She's not anyone. She's our mother." Patli retorted. "If I have to hit her over the head with a frypan to get her to Sanctuary, I will. The frypan would make it there, right? At least it would now?"
Atxi was looking hard at her. "What is it? What aren't you saying?"
Patli licked her lips. "She said she saw an angel, and that it identified itself as 'Huitzilopochtli'."
Atxi felt a thrill of horror go through her. The long forgotten name of a long forgotten false god… that Atxi had been sacrificed to, on an Altar exactly like the one her mother was now peering at, just… waiting.
"It's… an interesting idea to play out, isn't it?" Patli asked. "That maybe someone saw an Angel once, and built a religion around it? One that went terribly wrong?"
"An interesting idea, but given the time of the century, it's hardly a likely one." Atxi retorted. "Snap her out of it, or I will."
"Good answer." Patli agreed. "Smitty is taking a quick count of everyone who was left on the Island when the Database went down. He says he has transport coming. If you're going with James, I can work on mom. As you say, we can't force anyone to come along."
"We should stick together." Atxi objected.
"I know, but…" Patli winced hard. "Smitty and his friends only have room for a few more. None of us were supposed to be on this island for long. With the Database gone, we're all just improvising now."
Atxi bit her lip. "I'll talk to James." She turned, then remembered herself. "I heard from the kids before it went offline. They're okay. They're with Irsu. But I think we're going to have to meet up on the other side of this."
Patli sighed. "I figured. I'll get mom there, one way or another."
~~/*\~~
The nearest Sanctuary to their Tower was Jerusalem.
"I've never been so happy to arrive anywhere." Kasumi said lightly, peering out the window. "You see a place to land?"
"The other Sanctuaries are all built away from the cities." Hugh told her. "There's plenty of open space around them; and it looks like they cleared out the area around the new walls… Any preferences?"
"Look at that." Kasumi pointed down at the ground, as Hugh put them into a slow circle around the Sanctuary. She wasn't pointing at a landing zone, but at the nearest road. There was a large crowd of people on the way. Most of them on foot. "You were right. With the Database down, all the Transportation is offline too. Auto-Drive let cars travel really fast, really close together. Without it…"
"We made it. That's what matters." Hugh let out a breath. "I still can't reach Megan, even over the radio."
"It was always a long shot that she'd beat us here. Does she even have a radio of her own?"
"I doubt it, but Biggs is a Trib Survivor. I thought maybe he'd prepare for this more than most."
Kasumi was still watching the crowd. "They aren't waving." She observed. "I didn't even notice it until now, but every time I've flown with you, there's been people waving up at us as we flew low."
Hugh picked his landing site and brought the plane in, spilling as much speed as he could. "We'll park it about half a kilometer from Sanctuary. I guess now we know why none of the Sanctuary plans include road access or parking lots."
"Because there were no cars coming in." Kasumi nodded. "How did it happen so fast, Hugh?" She wondered. "The world has been a Utopia for a thousand years. How did all the lights go out so quickly?"
"It was never our light shining." Hugh said quietly as the plane came down to land.
~~/*\~~
Kit knocked at the entrance to the small shack Grant had set up outside Sanctuary. "I saw the Alman's plane circling to land. I figure the place is currently only at twelve percent of capacity."
"That'll rise dramatically." Grant assured her. "I've done the math. People on foot? They'll get here."
Kit was silent for a moment. "I'm worried." She admitted. "I've heard stories of people arranging their places in Sanctuaries around the world to be with loved ones, or closer to their homes. But with all the transport offline, it's going to be a dash to the nearest 'lifeboat'."
"It is. But for all our fear about how none of this is going according to plan?" Grant reasoned. "Remember, it was never our plan we had to worry about."
"The Organization built the Sanctuaries, and-"
"And we built them, despite the fact that we couldn't figure out why we needed them in specific places, or using construction methods that were so ancient that we had to look some of them up; or why they never had road or air access." Grant told her. "And now that the Database is offline, they're perfectly placed for people on foot, and made to last; instead of falling apart like everything you'll find in the Dormitories."
Kit sighed. "I know. I've spent a thousand years knowing this. Why is it hard to hear now?"
"What's been let back into the world isn't just hate; it's uncertainty." Grant counseled. "I used to manipulate people for a living, believe me; I know how to make someone be afraid. Fear is powerful because it's something you do to yourself."
Kit was silent for a moment. "I was one of those people." She said quietly. "During Tribulation, the Witnesses in my country were all told to go and turn themselves in immediately. It was crazy. It was suicide. And it kept us safe." She bit her lip. "How can I go through that and wonder about things now?"
"Humans were created with the ability to use judgment. A lot of things pass out of conscious memory after a thousand years." Grant grinned. "I was amazed when I got here and found that 'fear' was one of them."
Kit shivered. "I think the only man my brother ever feared back in the old days was you, Grant."
Grant looked back at Kit. "You and Kasuf came quickly. You were pretty much camped here before the doors of Sanctuary opened."
Kit winced. "I didn't want to be late." She said quietly. "I was there, during the last Great Test. I was… alone. They isolated me in one cell while all the rest, including my brother, were out of reach. There was a man who had made it his personal mission to break me. It came closer than I've ever admitted to anyone."
"Didn't want to take any chances this time?"
"Right." Kit nodded. "That being the case, I'm going in. I don't know why you're hedging; but I'm not comfortable with the fact that the door has been open for this long and I haven't gone in yet."
"Go." Grant nodded, though she didn't need his permission. "And for the record, I'm not hedging. I'm just standing my post."
"A post you assigned yourself to." Kit pointed out. "What's the goal, here?"
"To be where I'm needed, when I'm needed." Grant told her, and it was a goodbye. "Make sure my mom doesn't leave. Tell her I'll see you all soon." Grant promised.
Once she was gone, Grant turned back to his console, and tapped at the radio antenna. Above his head, the radio scanner rotated slowly, until it suddenly halted, facing southeast. Grant checked the angle on the receiver, and drew a line that followed it along his map. Then he turned to his radio again. "Calling the Nicholas, repeat, calling the Nicholas. Come back?"
After several moments, the line crackled. "This is the Nicholas. Who is this?"
"Captain, this is your Charter. I have bearing on the cargo I chartered you to collect. If you'll tune your radio to the following frequency, you can give me distance."
"Now?" The radio crackled. "In case you haven't noticed, we're kind of on the clock?"
"I assure you captain, I won't even take you out of your way. Why do you think I contacted you? I'm familiar with every boat currently still sailing. I don't even need delivery, just a pickup."
"If I'm not delivering, why are we in a rush?"
Grant set his jaw. "I'll be coming to you, Captain. Just be sure you have my cargo when I get there."
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