CONDEMNED TO THE FUTURE

Chapter 25.

This time the whirling darkness seems to last far longer, as if the Projector is recovering his control, summoning more power before continuing. Then bright daylight blips into existence.

                                              ****

Although this scene has never failed to awe me, now I don't even notice the afternoon rainstorm creeping across the forest canopy up from the west towards our home. Only when the thunder cracks loudly enough and frequently enough do I look up from the squirming ground at the clearing's edge. It is as intense a front as I've ever seen at this latitude, thick gray covering half the horizon, laced with constant flashes both horizontal and vertical.

 To the north and south the rain curtains are already breaking to curve around the base of Mt. Olympus, which rises behind me to mask nearly a quarter of the eastern sky. Lightning strikes can obliterate any nanobots; so this skirmish must soon end one way or the other. As usual, my Tinkers are defending the boundary perfectly.

  When I squat low enough and click on my micro vision, the narrow zone of the battlefield is obvious. Only a meter inside the clearing's definite edge of forest, kept definite by my Tinker's, the sandy soil fairly roils as the two nanoarmies destroy each other. I can watch the crenelated black line wriggle and surge as each side gains dominance momentarily by ripping apart its opposite's members and reconstructing the bits into themselves like virus cells on steroids.

This thin black line comprises the bundles of nanotubes they hide inside, like termites in sand tunnels to protect themselves from the effects of air, heat, or light. But once the tubes are breached and joined, the battle within is quickly decided by sheer numbers and speeds alone.

For several hours now the war has proceeded to this usual stalemate. I am too slow to direct my side; the Tinkers are on automatic and self-activate every time the Synergy's tiny troops invade new ground. But exact strategies change. Suddenly an arch of black throws itself over the battle line and anchors itself a pace behind. Trying to form a rear beachead. A spot spreads out in seconds to resemble a bacterial plaque on an agar plate. Then it is hemmed in by a rush of Tinkers that fall back from the front to outline this circle and return the stalemate. Dissipated heat rises and makes the image of the sand waver in my vision.

 It is silent warfare, but an odd odor of burnt cinnamon swirls about me as organic soil residues cook. My maxlar boots protect me from both the heat and the power that is coursing through the wet ground from the fusion generators in the main house. Of course, the invaders have power resources far greater than mine, but funneled down through this type of offense it still comes out evenly matched.

 And so, my worry. Will I be prepared for the next change in tactics? Can we finish and evacuate to the Wind in time? Turning around carefully-—the Tinkers are tuned to my DNA, and Joan's, and my creatures' to be sure; but no use in risking attack needlessly. I see her staring out the upper story window of the main house again. She refuses to leave it, not sharing my total, if petty, triumph over the Synergy. And she doesn't trust its promise, anymore than I do, not to destroy us despite our attempt to do that to it. Her own guilt.

 I wave and smile. For just over two years, we've managed to keep our plans a secret. Covering the genetic reprogramming of the natives as a mere research project, we produced and grew embryos of the most promising group to physical maturity. But on this eve of their release, the spies of this planetary mausoleum have realized the truth and the war has begun, as I'd expected. A bit more rushed than planned, we've had Wind launch missile first strikes a day ago and take out all the aerial and orbitting defenses of the planet.

 Nanobots don't work well in a vacuum. Nigh impossible shielding them from radiation and thermal rigors while pumping in the power and raw materials needed. But they're good diggers. Soil both protects them and supplies ready atoms, and a soil voltage keeps them humming along just fine. Anything else the Synergy could use against us, like a missile, would certainly kill us.