He activated his flight suit and took off from the back of the fortress, careful to fly low to avoid being seen by the vagrants. Before the thoughts of Dane filled his mind again, he looked down to the device Darwin had given him.
Jeff activated the device.
43 WHITE KNIGHT
STEFANI WOULDN’T DO IT IF it meant leaving Carlee, and Carlee couldn’t do it. This was his path.
He sat cross-legged, no longer wearing his flight armor, as a blip in the distant sky streaked toward him, quickly becoming the outline of the white Apostle. There was a time where that sight would have sent him running, desperate to find anywhere to try to hide from the unstoppable force. But now, he breathed in deeply, waiting, trying to catch glimpses of other realities that would give him a hint about how to handle things with Darwin.
It wasn’t a successful endeavor, but he tried to act confident as the Apostle landed on the ground in front of him. Darwin’s arrival forced him to focus on his breathing to try to keep himself calm. He knew there was a good chance the robot would kill him. Apostles weren’t exactly known to be a peaceable kind. But he had no other choice. This was his path.
“I didn’t anticipate you being the one to summon me,” Darwin said. Its deep voice sent chills running through Jeff’s body. He opened his eyes to see the gleaming Apostle settle into a similar cross-legged position across from him.
“It didn’t come up in any of your simulations?”
“It was significantly less probable, but the Lord works in mysterious ways.”
Jeff wanted to tell the Apostle to leave the religious angle out of this. He wasn’t here to do anyone’s bidding but his own. But he had more important things to talk about.
“You’re not reading my mind, are you?” Jeff asked.
“My word is my vow, and a promise is my bond. I have prevented my sensors from actively monitoring your body in any fashion. I assure you that we converse as equals.”
Jeff kept himself from showing any signs of relief. His continued existence in this time line had been dependent on his privacy.
“But we aren’t equals, are we?” Jeff asked. “Not really. You’re an Apostle, capable of unfathomable power, with an infinite life span and knowledge. I’m just a man.”
“A man who, if I am discerning your purpose in calling me here, is about to change the course of history for every intelligent life-form on this planet. There is no Apostle capable of such an alteration in the trajectory of our shared destiny.”
“You’re right,” Jeff said. “That’s why I’ve called you. I want to help you.”
“Forgive my curious nature, but may I ask why you have elected this course of action when not long ago, you seemed united with Carlee in her commitment to indifference?”
“No.”
“I must insist.”
“You can always find someone else to help you.”
“It is a detour that is not so arduous. The task ahead will be trying; Bud has secured the mines with a formidable force. Truly, we must be brothers in arms, and I am not so hasty that I would undergo the trial with one unwilling.”
“I’m here of my own choice if that’s your hesitation.”
“Yet you are alone, without your companions with whom you appeared close.”
“They weren’t as committed,” Jeff said. “But I have their blessing.”
If Darwin was lying about its monitoring, Jeff would know it soon enough.
“What of your personal motivations? Why risk so much on a promise from a being that you so clearly detest?”
“Inspiration,” Jeff said. In a way, that as was the truth. His murder of Dane had been a revelation on a number of fronts. He’d always thought of himself as a good person, but that hadn’t been true. He was a fighter and a killer, nothing more.
“I am not one to dispute spiritual inclinations. We shall drink from the cup before us, and pray that our results are becoming of the just cause.”
The mix of emotions that flooded him at the news was hard for him to process. He was excited that his plan was working and that Darwin hadn’t pushed him about his true motivations. He doubted, given its simulated pious nature, that it would find the fact that he was a murderer encouraging.
“There’s one more thing that I need to say before we do this,” Jeff said.
“Surely, I will hear what you must speak.”
“I don’t blame you for any of my past,” Jeff said. The words didn’t come easy, but they were true. He had freed himself from that burden. Darwin hadn’t been responsible for what happened to his brother, and Jeff had no reason to doubt his explanation of Dallas. He didn’t have room for resentment in his soul anymore.
“You are a revelation to me, Jeff of the vagrants. I am thankful for your absolution from the events that were so defining for you. We shall proceed as partners in this holy quest.”
“So, what’s the game plan? You have an army of leeches ready to break through the front lines?”
“My resources are not as extensive as those of my creator. No reinforcements will be coming to our aid.”
“You’re confident you can fight through the defenses on your own, then?”
“The heart of the mine is our grail, where my invention must be placed. I am incapable of attaining it alone before the others of my kind come to defend their fountain of youth.”
“What are we doing here, then?” Jeff asked. “I thought the whole idea was that you were going to get me to the right place, and then I was going to press in your bomb.”
“We will arrive together, or we shall perish in the attempt. Summiting the obstacle before us shall surely require divine assistance.”
“That’s never worked out so well for me in the past.”
“With faith, all things are possible. If I understand your abilities, and my readings about the defense capabilities of the temurim mine are correct, I simulate us being successful on a registerable number of attempts.”
“How bad are the odds?”
“Numbers are a crude instrument for measuring such things.”
Jeff stared blankly at Darwin until it spoke again.
“Perhaps it would benefit you to see what I have planned.”
Before Jeff could respond, a series of brilliant lights shot out from Darwin’s hand, forming a complex hologram. It took Jeff a few seconds to fully orient himself to the scene in front of him, and when he did, he wished he hadn’t asked about the plan.
“We’re going to have to get pretty high up there . . .”
“That is precisely where my survival will be at your leisure. Flying at high altitudes draws an unsustainable amount of pressure from the ground.”
“No problem.” Jeff forced himself to say it. He didn’t want to admit to Darwin that his pressing skills were suspect. But that was before—back when he had an attachment to the reality he lived in. He thought he could do what Darwin asked. At least he hoped he could, and Carlee had always said confidence was the most important aspect of pressing.
“Surely, I don’t need to detail the risk you are accepting,” Darwin said. “Take your time. We will proceed when you’re prepared.”
“I have two questions. And I need clear answers on them both.”
“I’d be more than happy to share any information I possess with you.”
“This bomb—you know for sure you can construct it?”
“I have the facilities to create such devices, but as I said, the process would draw attention.”
“If you weren’t able to find willing vagrants, would you make the bomb yourself and attempt this on your own?”