Electronics of the Dead

Chapter 1: Nexus

  Rutger stared blankly at the computer screen, the cursor flashing at him. He took off his glasses and massaged the bridge of his nose, hoping his headache would go away soon. After sliding his glasses back on, he wheeled himself toward the left concrete wall to a TV and turned it on. He craned his neck and peeked through the glass to see half of Lennox's body disappearing into the giant centrifuge's payload.

  Rutger was looking at his emails when the call screen popped up and announced an incoming call from unknown number.

  Rutger started talking as soon as he answered: "you gotta call me lat—"

  "We're leaving tonight or early tomorrow morning."

  "Tonight, are you fucking crazy, what happened to a month from now? I can't go tonight." Rutger said under clenched teeth, looking back at Lennox, listening to his opportunity slipping by.

  "I'm not the one who decided this Rut. I'm sorry it had' to be this way but with MZ-22 just making landfall means we have to leave tonight"—a long pause—"Listen, I'm sorry to do this to you, and I understand what you and Dr. Capaldi are doing but it's time to leave...for us anyway."

  Rutger looked through the thick glass at Nexus, a giant dormant beast waiting for someone to give it life, and Al, a stubborn genius whose mind was slipping daily. "OK, listen send me the coordinates and a time and I'll give you an answer by five o'clock tonight. OK? It's the best I can give you please–"

"  I need your answer now. This can't wait. I'm looking at them right now. They're going over the crew and passengers. I need to put your name on the list now."

  Rutger bit his lip. He knew exactly who they were and he knew he had to give an answer. "OK, put me on the list. I'll be there." He hung up and his heart was trumpeting across his chest. There was a big chance he couldn't keep his promise and felt a pang of guilt.

  Rutger picked up a small glass cube and peered into it—an e+ was crystallized inside the cube, as if sparkled with diamonds. Engraved on the surface of the cube was 'Thanum—the future'.

   Rutger's attention suddenly shifted toward the intercom speaker. Lennox was bellowing, "...turn on the power supply to the JET board!"

  "Yeah..." Rutger returned to his terminal computer station and punched in the following lines on the keyboard: jet 1 ps on.

  Rutger used his right hand and foot to launch himself back to the TV and listen to the news anchor: "...many are speculating that these meteors contain the same type of dangers that shook the entire world no less than two years ago, effectively destroying the South American continent..."

  The Nexus Command Center, which Rutger was in, was a forty-foot rectangular hall that hugged the larger hyper-gravity room, which Lennox was in. Fifteen computer screens had their backs lined up in front of the glass, overlooking Nexus. Both were separated by a large radiation-resistant Nanoglass. This was sub-level three. Rutger was in charge of inputting commands through the computer terminal.

  His torso shuddered at the thought that they might be under lockdown. Very soon. In the past week all the staff left, leaving only Rutger and Lennox working on Nexus.

  Rutger turned his head to the left monitor and looked at the Thanum generator telemetry data screen. He noticed the isotope values were decreasing, meaning the Thanum Generator wasn't performing as it should. Rutger also looked at the output power and voltage, and he saw they were below nominal values. The words repeated in his head, "tonight or early tomorrow." There's no way we're gonna finish in time.