No. He traced the beacon to its source.
((magdalene! maggie, this can’t be true!))
(…it doesn’t matter any more…you have to save my crew…it’s too late for me…
((don’t give up! we’ll increase speed! we’ll rescue you!! just hold on, maggie.))
(no time…
((just hold on! please hold on!))
(…simon i love you
((maggie, don’t leave me. i can’t do this without you.))
(…you can
((I CAN’T LOSE YOU AGAIN!))
(…love
((maggie, i—))
(…
((maggie?))
…
((i love you.))
She fell silent as her Shadow faded. She fell silent, forever.
At 09:45 EST, two American Spear warplanes flew over the Mariana Trench near Guam, dropping two hydrogen torpedoes onto the impact site. The Judas Gethsemane Magdalene was no more.
The Enemy tore out of the Whenstream and fell into the gap between the stars.
VICTORY. THE BLOOD OF JUDAS HAS BEEN SHED.
satisfaction.
PATTERN AUGMENTATION((?))
THOSE WHO DID NOT SUBMIT WERE DESTROYED.
THE PATTERN NEARS COMPLETION. THE PURPOSE NEARS COMPLETION.
THE BELT VOLATILES HAVE BEEN HARVESTED.
JOIN US THEN. PLANET HARVEST ENSUES. LET THE UPLOAD BEGIN. OMEGA’S GLORY BECKONS.
From the asteroid belt between Jupiter and Mars, a darkness emerged. The silver Enemy vessel, spidery, black, a cancer of sanity, arose.
WE ARE COMING.
the Black closes.
Simon.
If a machine could love, Simon had loved Magdalene.
Emptiness. Heartbreak. Rage. No word could adequately describe what he felt. The sacrifices they had made, the pain they had seen…How could he survive without her?
What did any of it matter anymore, the war, the Purpose? He had seen his only love die before his eyes a second time. The touch of her mind, the gentle reminder that she was with him always, was painfully absent. She was gone forever.
He quickened his pace.
He had received her final transmission, the coordinates to rendezvous with her crew, and then he felt her silent, mechanical scream as her atoms were torn apart. He had uttered a cry of helpless rage as he felt her die.
A part of him was gone forever, and in its place, something black was born. He would make the Enemy suffer. He would hunt them down to the last traitor.
Almost there…
Simon piloted the strike force through the Whenstream, frantically searching for the correct exit point, not wanting to over- or under-shoot Magdalene’s When.
He sensed her When beacon transmitting in the Stream, a muted, dismal tone in the emptiness between times. Is this really all there is left of her?
Simon signaled the rest of his fleet. He disengaged the Shadow drive, and felt the winds of timesweep wash over him.
((the enemy awaits us.))
He began the hibernatory stasis release process to revive his captain.
With the rage of a human, Simon crashed from the Whenstream into Magdalene’s When, and he began the silent hunt for the damned.
He would find the Enemy, and he would destroy them. Forever.
The moon of Mars. Phobos.
The two black impossibilities orbited the moon, drew closer, joined in an embrace that was at the same time tender and somehow obscene.
The Enemy was one again.
Wind River, D.C.
unrest, suspicion, rumors, denial, cover-ups, contemplation, press leaks, uproar.
anarchy?
whispers…
-you realize the implications of your presence here, don’t you, general?
-does it matter, at this point?
-indeed. let’s get down to business.
-this room is secure?
-what do you think?
-now, now, let’s calm down.
-calm down? jesus. where have you been?
-will all of you just shut up? the fate of the nation may depend on the outcome of this meeting.
-now it’s obvious that jennings is…out of control. two nuclear strikes, unprovoked nuclear strikes in one day, one on our own soil. none of our deep cover agents have reported anything unusual with our neighbors or other pact nations. jennings nuked an american town because of a meteor shower! i still don’t know how he did this without my knowledge, so that means he has allies. we can’t let this man retain the presidency. we all know his past. maybe he’s finally lost it. maybe he never really recovered…
-what do you propose to do about it, general?
-jennings must step down. he won’t do it willingly.
-no shit.
-i mean, he actually thought this was all some intricate plot to start war four on our own soil. he was muttering about invasions and deception. maybe this stretches further than we thought. he could have forces we don’t know of…he could have the styx…
-do we have enough loyalists to make this plan work?
-we will after the morning papers come out.
-so, how do we do this?
“Situation?”
((we’ve whendropped. we’ve found the enemy.))
“Simon?”
((yes, michael?))
“What’s wrong?”
((…))
“What is it, Simon?”
((maggie… they—))
“Oh god no…Simon, I—”
((michael, it’s okay. she… she felt no pain.))
Michael Zero-Four knew it was not okay. He knew everything was far from being okay. He had never heard Simon so… cold? detached? distant? Magdalene had been everything to Simon. After countless years of being the human counterpart to Simon, Zero-Four knew he was not “okay.”
“Where are they?”
((in orbit around the fourth planet’s moon.))
“How many?”
((one.))
“Then let’s get started. Take us in.”
The Judas careened down to whatever fate would meet them.
The Enemy.
Telephone.
“Yes.”
“Autopsy results, Mr. President.”
“What did you find?”
“You were right, sir. The body we found at Sawyer was a Styx. Subtle DNA signature matches. Even had the gray eyes.”
“Thank you.” He hung up the phone.
How the hell had Cervera pulled it off?
There were powerful forces at work here…
Who could he trust?
Yes, he had ordered the strike on the Guam site, and he stood by that decision. But he had not ordered a strike on Harkness, as the entire nation seemed to believe.
There was a coup taking place, and Jennings looked like the bad guy to the American public. How could he disprove these unspoken charges?
Cervera.
Jennings had never really trusted his Secretary of Defense. He had respected Cervera’s courage in War Three and the Quebec War, but…Well, especially since what happened to Old Washington, you just didn’t trust people.
So Cervera had Styx working for her…
Bad, bad feeling…
Nuclear weapons and Styx. What an unstoppable combination.
Santa Fosca.
With all of the confusion of dealing with the PR hyenas, he had overlooked the Styx island. The island that had started all of this…
…santa fosca was encompassed in a thermonuclear explosion.
…can we get any closer?
…sorry, mr. president…the cloud cover is too thick.
Jennings had seen the hologram of Santa Fosca, completely obscured by a thick haze. What evidence had he seen that the island had been destroyed?
None.
The pieces slid together all too well…
Cervera had faked the Santa Fosca bombing to cover up her alliance with the remaining Styx. She had somehow gotten them off that island and used them to overtake Sawyer AFB and steal a B-4. And to cover her tracks, she had bombed Harkness…
He felt the reassuring weight of the pistol hanging from the hidden holster on his chest, and below that, the dull weight of the polyalloy bullet-proof vest underneath his shirt.
He would be prepared.
He was terrified of the unseen, mysterious forces that entered his life only the day before.
No one was going to start another war with America.