After The Fall (Book 2): The City Read online

  8.

  IT TOOK some convincing to get Donny and Jamie to leave their father’s bedside. Leaving him in the private hospital room to recover was a tough sell. It was made easier after Dr. Beck showed them the automatic pager he had clipped to his waist that would bleep if something—anything—happened to his one and only patient.

  They had followed him to this large room, eyes bulbous and full of wonder. Dozens of rows of seats faced a rectangular screen at the front. Soft lighting in sconces along either wall.

  “Is this a. . . cinema?” Jamie said.

  “Yes, it is,” Dr. Beck said. “I’m quite an avid follower of the movies. Until recently, we had regular movie nights where the entire City could take part.”

  “What happened here?” Jamie said.

  “We’ll get to that,” Dr. Beck said, a sad look in his eye. “There’s a great deal that happened before we get to what transpired here at the City. Please take a seat.”

  They lined up in a single center row. Fatty was the only one who’d opted for a box of popcorn. In fact, he’d opted for two: one sweet, one salty. And a ludicrously large container of drink called “pop.” He chomped and slurped through the entire thing.

  Dr. Beck stood up, leaning against the chairs in front.

  “Are we all set?” he said. “Good.”

  He held a small plastic rod with buttons on it. He pressed one and the lights dimmed. He pressed another button and a projected light lit up the screen. Images appeared and began to move. Jamie gasped and leaned back in his seat, hands gripping the armrests. His eyes darted from one side to the other, taking everything in.

  “This is the world as it was before the Fall,” Dr. Beck said.

  Hordes of people marched down long streets in huge, vibrant cities. Thousands of them. Millions. So many people it was impossible to make out their faces. All moving, flowing, like a river. Motorcycles. Similar, and yet different to the ones the Reavers rode. Smaller ones, faster ones, ones where the rider sat with their legs together, legs apart. Then there were other vehicles.

  One was big enough to carry a whole family. Others several families. Countrysides of opulent greens and unbelievable riches. The images kept coming. Another country, another culture a world away. Strange writing, something aliens might use. Unintelligible. Unknown.

  Ancient temples at the top of infinite mountains. Men and women, happy and sad. Soldiers marching to war. Dead men and women, children crying, homeless. Parentless.

  “This is the world as it was long ago,” Dr. Beck said.

  Maps of the history of the human race. A man with a bad haircut, holding his hand up to the camera, shouting something in a forgotten language. Armies of men making the same gesture.

  Now, the ancient world. Men with swords, battling lions in a great circular theatre while others cheered, a man dressed in white, standing to applause as he raised his thumb. Then awesome ships on the high seas, in stormy weather, scything through nature, dominating and in control.

  A man peered through a telescope at the great unknown, while another man, at his shoulder, peered through his own device, looking down, at the very small. Ancient people living in tents, roving and tracing the movement of great powerful herds of buffalo. White men in armour descending upon them. To share. To take.

  A boy in long flowing robes, a child in charge of an immense nation. Asia. Men bending down and placing rocks, forming a wall that ran over the mountains and hills for thousands of miles.

  A man wipes the sweat from his forehead and picks up the rope that had cut blisters into his hands. He pulled with all his strength, along with a dozen other men, tugging giant rocks carved into blocks, miles yet to reach their destination: a great half-built pyramid in the distance.

  Early man moving from one continent to another, spreading out and taking command of their environment, the world shifting and changing around them, the people adapting to it. Or failing and dying out. Some humans looked slightly different from modern ones: sloped foreheads and squat muscles.

  The image pulled back, revealing all of this taking place on a single small spherical blue and green ball. Zooming out farther, until the world was revealed in its majesty. A hidden world of forgotten treasures. Then another large rock appeared.

  At first, Jamie was unsure what it was. He leaned back in his seat as they came around it. He realized it must have been the moon. A single flag perched upon it, unmoving in the vacuum of space.

  Thousands of questions bubbled and vied for answers in Jamie’s mind. But the image hadn’t yet stopped. They kept flying, passing a red planet, then an amalgamation of rocks, and another planet, a huge one with a distinctive red spot, then yet another, a beautiful one with a large ring. On and on, until they passed through the shrouded misty veil of the Oort cloud.

  At this distance, their home—the Earth—was invisible. The sun—the focal point of their entire world and existence—was a single unremarkable point of light. No longer even the brightest star in the night sky.

  Jamie was spellbound. His heart swelled with understanding, of realizing how small they really were.

  “Incredible, isn’t it?” Dr. Beck said.

  His figure was partially covered by the moving images.

  “This is merely the tip of the iceberg,” he said. “We are so small, so insignificant.”

  The image zoomed out further and further, revealing their entire solar system. One of billions, within a galaxy still only one of further billions. It was beyond the mind of man to fully grasp the sheer scale of what they were looking at.

  Jamie’s vision blurred. He didn’t know if it was because of the bright light in the darkroom or the pure majesty of the universe.

  “So unimportant, and yet we were the only known example of intelligent life in the cosmos,” Dr. Beck said. “Self-awareness and intelligence is a very rare gift indeed, and for that reason, we are also of huge significance. For the longest time, we were the only known intelligent species. A shame it couldn’t have stayed that way. Despite our attempts to discover other forms of life elsewhere, we never found it. It found us.”

  The screen cut to black. New images. Something the group had only ever heard about, never seen with their own eyes before. The Fall.

  Half a dozen rocks fell through the Earth’s atmosphere, burning up. These ones exploded above a city. Other meteorites sailed across a great desert—far bigger and larger than the one they were used to living on the fringes of. A man in the foreground wore black clothes, posing with his camel as his friend snapped a photo. A flash of light made him turn. Meteorites fell, striking the great sand dunes.

  Another meteorite. This one struck the heart of a giant city of light.

  “The Fall,” Dr. Beck said. “It was unusual for so many of the Perseid Shower rocks to make landfall, but it was an otherwise typical event. Astronomers were expecting it. In August, as predicted. It fell where it was supposed to. But what followed was not expected.”

  The meteorites, having embedded themselves in the earth, glowed bright green, throbbing. Jamie knew what happened next. Still, he was mesmerized by the images on the screen. It looked so real.

  “We were unprepared for such an attack,” Dr. Beck said. “Science had long since been preparing for asteroids of dangerous city-destroying size to crash into us. We were developing protective measures to ensure their damage would be limited, to push them away from us.”

  On the screen, men, women and children’s eyes bled, glowing green. Handheld footage of people screaming, in a rage, fingers clawing at their own skin. Others screamed, writhing on the floor, smacking their heads against the pavement.

  “Infected by the meteorites,” Dr. Beck said. “By some kind of infection. A disease. Life from another world. I myself was in charge of research and development to answer questions of where these things came from. Why they affected us. And to develop a cure. All the while, it was infecting more and more people, sweeping across the planet. From one country to another, one conti
nent to the next.”

  A helpful image showed the swell of the disease as it made its way out from multiple points across the planet, spreading in all directions. Soon, it overtook the whole world.

  “How could the Fall destroy so much?” Donny said, breathless.

  “It was so unexpected,” Dr. Beck said. “It came from nowhere. We were completely unprepared for an attack of this magnitude.”

  “Attack,” Lucy said. “You keep using that word. But this wasn’t an attack. It was bad luck. These rocks hit us. We were unlucky it infected us.”

  “That’s what we thought,” Dr. Beck said. “At first. The Rage virus was indeed brought to us as a payload aboard space rocks. But it did not originate from there.”

  “What do you mean?” Jamie said. “It came when the meteorites fell. Everyone knows this.”

  “Yes,” Dr. Beck said. “All true. Except there’s one thing almost no one else knows. The Rage virus was designed.”

  He clicked a button. Another image. Fuzzy and indistinct. A moving object, what might have been a piece of lint, across the night sky.

  “Any idea what this is?” Dr. Beck said.

  “It looks like. . . a ship of some kind,” Fatty said, popcorn and drink forgotten.

  “Correct,” Dr. Beck said, pressing another button.

  The image flickered, showing much clearer images of the spaceship.

  “This is an interstellar spaceship,” Dr. Beck said. “It belongs to an alien race. Like the one you killed. The one who attacked your father. The Bugs.”

  Jamie leaned forward in his seat. Enthralled. He wasn’t the only one.

  “We don’t know how long they’ve known about us,” Dr. Beck said. “We only know it’s at least the past hundred years. We thought everyone who believed in aliens visiting us were crazy. A romantic idea, but a fallacy. They turned out to be onto something. We have reason to believe these things have been trying to overthrow our domination on this planet for decades.”

  “Why don’t they just blow us to pieces?” Donny said. “Dad told us about bombs that can destroy entire cities. If they have advanced weapons, they could destroy the whole planet.”

  “Quite,” Dr. Beck said. “Even we once had the technology to destroy the planet. And we had nowhere near the level of technology they possess.”

  “Why did they have to exterminate us at all?” Jamie said. “Why not make peaceful contact with us?”

  “For the same reason one colony of ants will declare war on another,” Dr. Beck said. “For valuable natural resources. We suspect it’s the same reason they don’t simply destroy us. They don’t want to destroy the treasure they wish to harvest. The Earth has a lot of minerals. They have focused their attention on wiping us out. Silently, slowly.”

  “Why?” Donny said. “If they can cross the universe in advanced ships, they must have weapons that can destroy us without harming the planet. Why go through the hassle of creating a virus to wipe us out?”

  “You’re right to ask such a question,” Dr. Beck said. “We never uncovered the reason. The real question is, how did any of us manage to survive the virus at all? You are survivors. The exception to the rule. But even you would not last much longer. You are only alive because the Bugs haven’t yet discovered your commune.”

  Dr. Beck pressed a button, revealing something they all recognized. The satellite that passed overhead every few weeks. The flashing green light.

  “I assume you’re familiar with the satellites that cross the sky at regular intervals?” Dr. Beck said.

  “The satellites from the old world,” Jamie said with a nod.

  “Yes,” Dr. Beck said. “But no longer operated by us. The Bugs hijacked them, using them for their own purposes. They use them to keep an eye on us, the survivors, and our depleting numbers. They’re looking for survivors like you and me. If they see a large number of survivors gathered, say a commune that has prospered, they release efforts to wipe it out. They unleash their favourite weapon, the one they fashioned themselves from our own flesh. The Rages. They are neither living nor intelligent.”

  “How do you know all this?” Donny said.

  “Because I’ve seen it,” Dr. Beck said.

  The image shifted to a commune. Not theirs. Somewhere else.

  “A commune grows to a certain size,” Dr. Beck said. “Then the signal is given, something that attracts the Rages. They swarm like a kicked beehive, sweeping over the commune and wiping out or turning the population into more Rages.

  “Unfortunately, it’s impossible for me to alter the trajectory of the satellites without the Bugs knowing I’m here. But I can access the same information feed they see. Speaking of which. . .”

  He checked his watch.

  “I have a special surprise for you,” he said.

  Dr. Beck pressed another button. The image was nothing special. It showed a live feed from one of the satellites.

  “Let me see if I can zoom in,” Dr. Beck said.

  The image got closer to something on the ground. Jamie’s stomach lurched again. The image became blurrier as it got closer. Then it snapped into focus in Jamie’s mind. He recognized the four corners of the lookout posts, the huge hole that had been blasted into one of the sides.

  Fatty gasped, hissing through his teeth, hands coming over his mouth. One tub of popcorn slipped from his lap and spilled across the floor. He didn’t even flinch at the waste.

  “It’s. . . It’s. . .” he mumbled.

  “Home,” Jamie said.

  9.

  JAMIE SHIVERED. It felt strange to think that while they were wishing upon those blinking green dots, someone else was looking down on them. A Bug species, using it as a weapon to destroy them.

  If Jamie hadn’t seen the lead up to this with his own eyes he would have thought it was magic. That the great wizard Beck had compelled a crow to his whim, and he was witnessing the world through its eyes.

  “Can you zoom in closer?” Donny said.

  “Let me try,” Dr. Beck said.

  He pressed a few buttons. The image moved closer. They could see the individual people moving around inside. They couldn’t make out their faces, but it was good to see home again. It felt like they’d left it so long ago. Hard to believe it had only been a few days. Jamie felt a real sense of loss when the satellite passed the commune and continued on its merry journey.

  They saw the desert flats and the mountain where they’d constructed the Crow’s Nest. Then the forest they passed through during their escape from the Reavers and the Bug. Then the mountains and the valleys that wound between them. It was such a small part of the world. A pinprick on its surface. And yet it had been everything they had ever known.

  Now, after their little adventure, they had been educated about a great many things—most they would never fully understand or grasp—but their eyes had been opened nonetheless. It was always better to know than to live in ignorance. Or was it?

  Jamie could have lived out his entire life without knowing the truth behind the Rage virus and the Bugs who’d planted it inside them. Except whether he knew about it or not, the Bugs were intent on wiping him and everyone he ever knew off the face of the planet. Better to know your enemies. At least then you had a chance to defend yourself.

  The lights in the sconces on the walls faded up again. Jamie blinked against it.

  “I think that’s enough for today,” Dr. Beck said. “You’ve taken in a great deal of information. Best to let you process it.”

  “What else is there to know?” Donny said.

  “Far more than it’s possible for me to show you,” Dr. Beck said. “But I can sketch out the important details. This information needs to survive me.”

  “Is that it?” Fatty said. “Are we going to die?”

  Dr. Beck was silent a moment. He looked up.

  “Probably,” he said. “Come on. Let’s go eat. More tomorrow.”

  Jamie felt stiff after having sat for so many hours. An average day in the co
mmune, he’d never sat for more than ten minutes. He walked like an old man.

  Everything everyone knew about the Fall had only been half true. There was so much more underneath it all. Worst, Jamie wasn’t sure he was happier knowing about it. He might have been happier living in ignorance. Even if living like that had a definite end date.

  10.

  “WHAT IS that?” Fatty said, pointing with a podgy finger.

  He was gesturing to an exquisitely beautiful piece of machinery, like a flying aircraft that wasn’t yet complete.

  “Oh that,” Dr. Beck said, wiping his lips after their meal. “It’s called a flight simulator. The pilots used it to practice flying.”

  “Flying?” Fatty said.

  “Airplanes, rockets,” Dr. Beck said. “Anything not attached to the ground. I swear those guys’ heads were always up in the air.”

  Fatty looked at the insides of the machine like a kid in a candy store. There were so many buttons and dials and switches. It looked so complicated, out of this world.

  “Would you like to try it?” Dr. Beck said to the group.

  “I need to go check on Dad,” Jamie said.

  “Me too,” Donny said, though he looked bummed to be missing out on a piece of real modern technology.

  “I’ll go with you,” Lucy said.

  They left.

  “How about you?” Dr. Beck said to the one remaining member.

  Fatty shook his head.

  “I shouldn’t,” he said. “I’ll only end up breaking it. I always break things.”

  “Pretty hard to break,” Dr. Beck said. “It’s firmly attached to the ground. And, if you think about it, it was really made to be crashed. So the pilots wouldn’t make the same mistakes in real life as they would in here.”

  Fatty liked the sound of that. He wished he could have had a simulator before every embarrassing moment of his life.

  The chairs were mesmerizing, shiny and welcoming. It wouldn’t hurt to try it out one time, would it? Dr. Beck was right. For once, there wasn’t anything he could break.