Chapter 5: Stranger In A Strange Land
Enemy of mine, I'll fuck you like the devil.
Violent inside, beautiful and evil.
I'm a ghost. You're an angel.
We're one and the same, just remains of an age.
The city rose like a specter, wavering in the desert heat. Before the war, Albuquerque had been a verdant, vibrant oasis in the middle of a wasteland of desert and rock. In the late twentieth century, when the men approaching it had last seen it, the city pumped millions of gallons of water in to irrigate green lawns, to fill shimmering blue swimming pools. It expended millions of kilowatts of electricity to fill every enclosed space with cool air to keep the residents comfortable.
In later centuries, the solar energy that relentlessly beat down was harnessed to power air conditions and irrigation systems. New species of plants that stayed green with less water reduced the demand for that resource, even as supply became virtually unlimited as a byproduct of nuclear energy production. In the twenty-fifth century, Albuquerque was idyllic, a Paradise surrounded by sand and stone.
But Albuquerque was also surrounded by government installations; places where weapons were developed and stored, where research on bending the laws of physics was conducted, and where the code that governed life was manipulated and enhanced. And because of all these things, when the war began, Albuquerque presented an irresistible target.
The bomb that was dropped on the city—more accurately, just east of the city limits—was not large. Albuquerque may have been a target, but it was far down on the list of priorities. The bombs remaining at that point in the war were small and dirty, releasing far more deadly radiation than initial destruction from a blast. While many of the buildings remained, every living thing sickened and died. Well, almost every living thing.
Whether the creatures presently dwelling in the crumbling city were descendants of residents who somehow survived the downfall of mankind, or where survivors from the surrounding areas who wandered into the city and found easy pickings among the detritus of the metropolis, no one would ever know. There was no history, oral or written, among the tribal groups who lived in the city. Five hundred years ago, radiation, deprivation, and isolation had ravaged the physical form and mental capacity of what passed for human beings who inhabited the city. And the black pit that they had tumbled into was too deep and steep-sided for them to claw their way back up into the light. Not in five hundred years, not in a thousand years, not in tens of thousands of years. They were a doomed species—no longer quite Homo sapien—who didn't know enough to go quietly into the night.
And without the presence of thinking residents capable of industry, the remains of the city succumbed to the elements.
Burke and Virdon leaned over either side of the pilot's seat of the transport, peering out the large windows to study what remained of the city. Eliana, gripping the steering controls with both hands as she navigated over the shifting sands, was not oblivious to the somber mood of the two men.
When Zeke had taken him to the transparent dome that capped the underground city Alba, Burke had first seen the ruins of Albuquerque in the distance. Tall fingers of rusted steel, twisted and bent in arthritic agony, raked at the sky, the only remains of skyscrapers stripped bare by sand and wind. Now as the profile slowly grew larger in the window, they could see the piles of rubble scattered among a few squat shapes that still retained the outlines of buildings. And everywhere, the sand slowly encroached, reclaiming man's folly back into the desert that it had tried to tame.
Both men were quiet, each lost in his own memories of the city as it was in their time, with green lawns and sparkling swimming pools, people and cars vying for space in the streets, when the hum of air conditioners and the hiss of sprinklers were ever-present background noises. And of course, it wasn't just Albuquerque they were seeing in their minds' eyes, but every large city that they had ever called home—San Antonio, Miami, Jersey City, Houston.
They'd been in the ruins of old cities before. Oakland. San Francisco. But this city was different somehow. Maybe because they'd both visited it as it once existed, maybe because they now knew the specifics that had led up to its destruction. Or it could be that they had entered those cities on foot and not riding in a piece of thirty-first century technology, stocked with weapons and armor.
Eliana steered the vehicle a little to the right, shifting the view of the city in the other direction. Misha's gorillas had provided detailed maps of which routes were open enough to allow the transport to pass through the southern section of the city, where the metropolitan areas were the thinnest. To the north, the city was built up into the rocky hills, preventing passage around the city. The other obstacle to reaching Kirtland was crossing the Rio Grande. Although according to Misha, the river was now barely more than a stream, especially in late summer when it might not be flowing at all.
"Well," Burke murmured, his eyes still locked on the view, "if this is the height of the tourist season, I don't think we need to worry about traffic jams."
"Once we enter the city limits, we're going to have to go slow," Eliana told them. "I'd feel better if we could put some people out on point to let us know if we're about to turn down any dead ends—"
"No," Zeke cut her off. He leaned a hand on Burke's shoulder and looked out the window. "It's too dangerous. Misha says the natives are very violent. Anyone we put out there might as well have a big target painted on their chests."
"So instead, we have a big target painted on the transport," Eliana groused. "Outstanding."
Burke smirked at her sarcastic tone. She sounded just like the jarheads he'd known back in his time.
"All right, flyboy," Eliana addressed him, "how about you take the wheel? Josh says you're the best at driving, and some of these spots might get tight." She pushed a button on the main panel and slid out of the chair, making room for Burke to replace her.
He settled into he seat and took the steering wheel in a practiced grip. The hovercraft handled like something between a jet and a Mack truck. The slightest turn of the wheel caused the craft to respond quickly, even though it needed a fair amount of room for maneuverability. He touched the same button to take off the automatic pilot and felt the thrum of movement vibrate through his fingers as they folded over the controls.
"All right, ladies and gentlemen," he announced, "please fasten your seatbelts, observe the no smoking signs, and return your seats and tray tables to their upright and locked positions. Arrival in Albuquerque in approximately five minutes."
Virdon shook his head at the confused looks of their friends as he took a seat and pulled the harness over his chest. Eliana folded herself into a seat next to the command controls and buckled herself in. She initiated the heads-up display that overlaid the front window with a filmy, semi-transparent map. A blue path wove through the grid outline; their best guess at a viable route based on Alba's databanks combined with Misha's information. A small blinking dot showed their current position.
Actually entering the city was a gradual thing; no clear boundary demarked the city limits. Instead, the sand gradually gave way to small piles of concrete and steel rubble, and the piles slowly grew until they were passing between partially intact buildings lining discernable streets. Burke slowed the vehicle to a crawl as long morning shadows fell across their path. When the lane closed in around them, Burke's entire body tensed with sudden, sharp focus. He worried his bottom lip between his teeth as he adjusted the wheel with tiny, precise movements, but his hands were sure and steady.
"I told you some of these passages got tight," Eliana said as she sat forward with concern.
"There's tight," he squeaked as he swerved slightly to avoid a girder sticking out from a building, only to bring the craft perilously close to a brick wall on the other side, "and then there's threading a needle."
"It opens up a bit after a few hundred meters," she reassured him, even as she reached out to brace herself when he negotiated a turn barely big enough to accommodate the vehicle's length.
"Good thing, because I don't think we packed any Crisco."
After a few more harrowing near-misses with debris, the path opened up as promised. Patches of asphalt and concrete peeked up through the sand and rubble, and the twisted remains of metal light poles or sign scaffolding occasionally stood like silent, lone sentries on either side of the road. Virdon slipped off his seatbelt and, holding onto the others' chairs, stumbled his way to the front of the cockpit.
"What do you think, Pete? Could this be the I-40? Or Rio Bravo Boulevard?" Virdon stuck a finger toward the map display, as if he were trying to find any familiar landmarks in the simple lines.
Burke shook his head. "Those roads may not have even existed by the time the city was bombed, Alan. For all we know, they drove flying cars and didn't need roads, like in the Jetsons."
"Well, whatever it is, if this holds out, we should be able to get through the city in no time."
Burke hated to dampen Virdon's returned good spirits and excitement. But he knew that overly-optimistic tone all too well. "Yeah, just don't count on it. The center of the city was pretty heavily built up. All it's going to take is one tall building collapsed over the road, and we are going to be looking for another way to go. And my triple A membership expired a couple centuries ago."
"Then let's not stop to change any tires," Virdon shot back, mildly annoyed with Burke's pessimism.
As they crept along at a cautious pace, the mood inside the craft remained subdued. None of the Albans had ever been outside the city or its immediate environs. Both human and angels sat quietly, craning their heads to see out the large window that wrapped around the front. The two apes, Galen and Misha, were the only ones who seemed nonplussed by the city ruins, although Misha's head swiveled back and forth as he scanned the vista, alert to any possible danger. When he noticed the shapes moving in the deep shadows thrown by the piles of rubble, his eyes narrowed, but he kept quiet, not wanting to raise unnecessary alarm.
Burke eased the hovercraft to a stop when the thin dirty ribbon of the Rio Grande River came into view. The brown surface moved sluggishly, spreading out to cover over a quarter mile of flat ground, surrounded on either side by steep banks where the flow had eroded into the rock over the centuries. But the water sat low in its bed, tamed by the summer heat.
At one time, the road they had been following turned into a bridge over the river. Although the supporting pillars in the middle where long gone, they could see broken pieces of the concrete span scattered like children's blocks along the banks.
"Well," Burke turned toward where Virdon and Eliana conferred with Misha and Josh, "anyone got any bright ideas on how to get down there?"
The drop to the edge of the water was about fifty feet down a sheer slope covered with scree beneath the larger chunks of debris. A conventional wheeled vehicle would have no chance of navigating it safely, but only Josh knew the full capabilities of the hovercraft and the terrain that it could handle.
"Misha, is there anyplace where this bank isn't as steep?" Virdon asked.
The gorilla's brows furrowed together. "We have not been much further south than this, but there are places to bring the craft across to the north," he answered slowly. "But I do not think the hov-er-craft," he stumbled over the word, "would be able to get there. Most of the paths are much narrower than the ones we have been travelling."
Eliana addressed Burke, "Pete, is there any way at all that we can pilot the hovercraft down that slope?" Like the other Albans, she had spent her entire life underground and had no experience driving any sort of vehicle.
"I don't see how. We try to go that close to vertical, and I think we'd be in danger of flipping over. But this is Josh's baby."
Josh shook his head. "No, Pete's right. All the repulsors are on the bottom of the craft. They automatically adjust power when we go up and down slopes, but this is more than...," he let the sentence die as he got a strange look on his face. He walked over to the main computer panel next to the navigational controls and started punching buttons.
"Josh?" Eliana asked, one brow raised.
His hands continued to dance over the keyboard. "Hang on. I have an idea." The computer beeped a few times as he entered variables. He rubbed a hand over his chin as he considered the answer he'd been given. Turning back to the others, he blew out a gusty sigh.
"Josh?" Eliana asked again, clearly impatient.
"Okay, according to the computer, this will work. Assuming of course that I've remembered all the variables correctly, like the loaded weight of the hovercraft, and the top speed that can be achieved at full power—"
"Josh!" Eliana exclaimed, "what's the idea?"
"Well, right now the magnetic repulsors are set at a pretty low level, but they can be adjusted in strength. Normally, the computer adjusts each one automatically as we move over uneven terrain to smooth out the ride. But I think if I can switch them all over to maximum strength at the right moment, and we can get enough forward momentum—"
Burke interrupted, his eyes growing wide. "You want to try to jump this thing right across that chasm!"
The protests erupted immediately from the entire group.
"Wait a minute! Hold on! I'm not talking about some crazy stunt. The computer says it'll work—and by a comfortable margin. We won't so much jump across as we will float across. As long as Pete can get us up to sixty-five kilometers per hour before we reach the edge of the lip, we will have enough momentum to get us safely to the other side. Then we cut the repulsors—gradually—and come in for a nice, soft landing." He cleared his throat and looked sheepishly at the ground. "In theory."
Virdon shook his head. "In theory."
"Like Evel Knievel over Snake River Canyon," Burke quipped.
"Oh, and we'll need to lighten the load a bit by having everyone with wings fly across instead."
Jed perked up at that. "Fly?" he protested. "Out there?" The four angels—Jed, Zeke, Gabe, and Nethaniah—all shifted uncomfortably.
"C'mon, Jed, it's not like the air is toxic or anything. And if the four of you fly and each carry a passenger, that will reduce the weight by close to a tonne." He waved a hand to encompass the whole vehicle. "Any extra will help."
Eliana nodded, having made a decision. "All right. Galen and Misha should probably stay inside, since they have no experience being passengers with an angel. I assume you'll have to stay to operate the repulsors," she looked at Josh, who nodded, "and I'll stay behind to drive. Everyone else, buddy up."
"Whoa there," Burke interrupted. "Josh said 'Pete', not 'Eliana'. I'm driving."
"Not this time, flyboy. My command, my risk to take."
Burke pointed an accusing finger at her. "And exactly how many jets have you brought in for landings? This thing may not be a lawn dart or a Porsche, but I've got the most experience with planes and fast cars. You said so yourself that I'm the best driver on this rig!"
Eliana crossed her arms over her chest and cast a narrow-eyed glare at him. As the moment of silence stretched out, Burke crossed his arms as well.
Virdon tried to break the stalemate. "We all share the danger here, Eliana. And he really is the best person for the job."
She pursed her lips, then finally spoke. "I'm still staying." She turned to Zeke. "I think it'd be better if you didn't try to carry a passenger. Your wing is strong enough to carry you that distance, but I don't want to put extra stress on it with a passenger."
Zeke looked like he was about to protest, but Jed interjected. "I think that's a good idea."
"All right, people. We've got a plan; let's move like we have a purpose," Eliana called out, setting everyone in motion.
Once the group of angels and humans left the hovercraft, the vehicle felt strangely empty and quiet. They were going to wait on this side of the river until the vehicle had landed on the other side, to prevent any mishaps should the landing go badly.
"Everybody buckle up," Josh said unnecessarily. "This could get bumpy." He glanced at Burke, who was busy checking over the control panel, a habit ingrained by years as a pilot and an astronaut. "Not that I don't have complete confidence in you, Pete. Just I never had anything like this in mind when I designed her."
"I'll handle the take-off and landing, but everything in between is up to you, buddy," Burke replied.
With a curt nod, Josh took the seat near the computer panel and pulled the harness around him. Eliana and the two apes hurried to take seats and strap themselves down.
Burke flipped on a reverse view camera and began backing up the vehicle to get enough room to achieve the necessary speed. When the computer beeped to let him know he had reached the calculated starting point, he continued for a few more seconds just to be safe. He stopped the vehicle and did another final check of all the readings. Then he shook out his hands and cracked his neck. With a final gusty exhalation, he turned to Josh. "Ready?"
"As we'll ever be." Despite his nervousness, Josh couldn't suppress a grin, which Burke returned. "Hit it."
Burke nodded, then turned his full attention back to the controls. He'd cleared away heads-up display except for a small window that showed the vehicle's speed, the distance to the edge of the river bank, and the distance to the far side. He pressed the accelerator pedal steadily; the hovercraft slid forward in a slow but smooth crawl.
As the number representing their speed increased at a faster and faster pace, the other two numbers on the display decreased just as rapidly. The chasm grew in the front window as they sped toward it, and Burke could sense Josh tensing in the periphery of his vision. When the speedometer hit sixty-five kilometers per hour, it flashed from red to green, but Burke kept up the pressure to go faster still. Then the first distance readout hit zero. Josh flew into a flurry of activity, his hands dancing over the controls as he powered the repulsors to full strength.
The hovercraft dropped suddenly, eliciting small gasps from the occupants as they jerked against the harnesses that held them in their seats. Then it began to climb and gravity reasserted itself. Burke eased off the accelerator; with the magnetic field aligned completely against the downward pull, there was nothing left to power the vehicle forward. Their forward momentum would have to be enough to get them to the other side.
Burke watched the second distance display blur by as it sank toward zero and, when his heartbeat started pounding in his ears, realized he was holding his breath, his hands locked on the steering controls. When the hovercraft began listing gently to the right, he instinctively leaned left. He felt the subtle shift as the craft reached the apes of its trajectory and began to descend. The wall of the far bank fill the window, and Burke wondered if they had the altitude to land safely.
"Josh—," he warned.
The second distance countdown flashed red as it reached zero. Josh pressed a control just as the back end of the hovercraft bounced over the edge and the right side of the bottom slid over the ground, throwing up dirt. A hollow metallic whine echoed through the vehicle as they bottomed out on the buried remnants of asphalt. The passengers were thrown forward against their harnesses, then flung left as the other side impacted on the ground. Burke grunted in pain when his wrist wrenched as he wrestled with the steering controls. He heard an abbreviated shriek from behind him and a thunk as something hit the floor. The hovercraft skidded to a stop.
Burke threw off the harness, wincing at the movement of his left hand, before Josh even finished asking, "Is everyone all right?" He stepped around the fallen suppy container and reached Eliana in two long strides. She pressed a hand to the right side of her forehead, trying to stem the blood that flowed freely down her face.
"I'm okay," she responded as Burke bent over her. "Just a cut, but it's bleeding like a son of a bitch." He nodded acknowledgement to Galen and Misha, who looked shaken but unhurt. He heard Josh signal the others, telling Jed that there were injuries, as he reached for the first aid kit stashed under the main console. He fumbled with the closure with his off-hand, cradling the injured left one against him. When it opened, he grabbed a package of gauze and ripped it open with his teeth. Eliana moved her hand to replace it with the gauze, and he could see that the laceration was deep, but not wide. She pressed the pad over the wound as Burke took out more gauze to wipe away the blood from her face.
"She managed a wry smile. "Nice driving, flyboy."