Invasion (36 page)

“As long as we kept smiling, nobody seemed to care what the hell we did,” Jonathan said.

“Stay here!” Pitt said suddenly. “I got to check on that supermarket. If I’m not back here in fifteen minutes, drive back to the cabin.”

“But how will you get back?” Jonathan whined.

“There’s plenty of deserted vehicles around,” Pitt said. “That won’t be the problem.”

“But…”

“Just do it,” Pitt snapped. He climbed out of the van and quickly descended the bluff. He emerged from the trees on a deserted street and set out toward the supermarket. He estimated he had about six blocks before he’d have to turn for the final block.

Ahead an individual came out of a building and turned in Pitt’s direction. Pitt could see his eyes glowing. Suppressing an urge to flee Pitt coaxed his face into a broad smile just as he and Jonathan had done in the medical center. Having already smiled so much his facial muscles were sore.

Pitt found it was nerve-racking to walk directly at the changed person. He had to concentrate not only on the smile but also in keeping his eyes directly ahead. He and Jonathan had learned the hard way that any eye contact was viewed suspiciously.

The man passed without incident, and Pitt breathed a sigh of relief. What a way to live, he mused sadly. How long could they survive this cat and mouse game?

Pitt rounded the corner and approached the supermarket. The first thing he saw was a group of cars parked directly in front of the store. What worried him was the fact that their lights were on. As he got closer he could hear their engines were running as well.

Reaching the edge of the parking lot, Pitt saw a tight group of people emerge from the store and begin to climb into the cars. Soon the sound of slamming car doors reached him.

Pitt dashed ahead and ducked into the shadowy doorway of a building at the edge of the entrance to the supermarket’s parking lot. Almost immediately the cars began moving and turned in his direction. As they gathered speed they formed into a single line. Pitt pressed himself back into his hiding place as the lights of the leading car swept across the front of him.

Moments later the first of the six cars passed within twenty feet of Pitt. It hesitated momentarily before turning out into the street, giving Pitt a fleeting look at the smiling faces of infected occupants.

Each car in turn passed. As the last car hesitated, Pitt caught his breath. A shiver of abject horror passed down his spine. Seated in the backseat was Cassy!

Unable to restrain himself and without considering the consequences, Pitt took a step forward as if he’d planned on racing to the car and yanking open the door. The low-level ambient light washed over him, and at that moment Cassy glanced in his direction.

For the briefest fraction of a second their eyes met. Pitt urged himself forward, but Cassy shook her head
and the moment passed. The car lurched forward and quickly accelerated off into the night.

Pitt staggered back against the darkened door. He was furious with himself for not having done anything. Yet deep down he knew it would have been hopeless. All he could see when he closed his eyes was the image of Cassy’s face framed in the car window.

5:15
A.M.

THE DAZZLING DESERT NIGHT SKY THAT HAD BEEN AWASH
with stars was fast fading to shades of pinkish blue as the promise of another day brightened the eastern sky. Dawn was coming.

Beau had been on the terrace off the master bedroom enjoying the night air since he’d heard the good news. Now he was impatiently waiting for the last few minutes to pass. He knew the meeting was imminent since he’d seen the car come along the driveway and disappear from view in front of the mansion.

Beau heard footfalls through the bedroom and the sound of the latch on the French doors opening. But he didn’t turn around. He kept his eyes rooted at the place on the horizon where the sun was about to appear for a new day, a new beginning.

“You have company,” Alexander said. Then he withdrew and closed the doors behind him.

Beau watched the first golden rays of sun sparkle forth. He felt a curious stirring in his body that in one sense he understood but in another sense he found mysterious and threatening.

“Hello, Cassy,” Beau said, breaking the silence. Slowly he turned around. He was dressed in a dark velvet robe.

Cassy lifted her hands to shield the rays of the sun which silhouetted Beau’s face. She couldn’t see his features.

“Is that you, Beau?” she asked.

“Of course it is I,” Beau said. He moved forward.

Suddenly Cassy could see him clearly and she caught her breath. He’d mutated further. The small patch of skin behind his ear she’d inadvertently seen on her previous visit had spread to the front of his neck up to the line of his jaw. Some fingers of it had even spread up onto his cheeks in a serpiginous margin. His scalp was a patchwork quilt of thinning hair and alien skin. His mouth, although still smiling, was now pinched and thin-lipped, and his teeth had receded and yellowed. His eyes were black holes with no irises, and they blinked continuously, with the lower lid rising up rather than vice versa.

Cassy shrank back in utter horror.

“Don’t be afraid,” Beau said. He moved up to her and placed his arms around her.

Cassy stiffened. Beau’s fingers felt like snakes as they wrapped around portions of her body. And there was an indescribable feral odor.

“Please, Cassy, don’t be afraid,” Beau said. “It’s only me, Beau.”

Cassy didn’t respond. She had to struggle against an almost irresistible urge to scream.

Beau leaned back, forcing her to again look into his transmogrified face.

“I’ve missed you so much,” Beau said.

With a sudden, unexpected burst of energy, Cassy screamed and pushed herself free. The move caught Beau completely by surprise. “How could you say you missed me?” Cassy cried. “You’re not Beau any longer.”

“But I am,” Beau said soothingly. “I will always be Beau. But I’m also something more. I am a mixture of my former human self and a species almost as ancient as the galaxy itself.”

Cassy warily eyed Beau. One part of her told her to flee, another part was paralyzed by the horror of it all.

“You will be part of the new life as well,” Beau said.

“Everyone will be a part, at least those who are not harboring some terrible genetic flaw. I just had the honor of being the first, but it was a random event. It could have been you or anyone else.”

“So, am I talking with Beau now?” Cassy asked. “Or am I talking with the virus’s consciousness through the medium of Beau?”

“The answer, as I’ve already said, is both,” Beau said patiently. “But the alien consciousness increases with every person changed. The alien consciousness is a composite of all the infected humans just like a human brain is a composite of its individual cells.”

Beau reached out tentatively to avoid frightening Cassy any more than she already was. Compressing his snakelike fingers into a fist of sorts he stroked her cheek.

Cassy had to steel herself against the revulsion she felt to allow this creature to caress her.

“I must make a confession,” Beau said. “At first I tried not to think about you. Initially it was easy because of the work that had to be done. But you kept creeping back into my thoughts and made me comprehend the beguiling power of human emotion. It is a weakness unique in the galaxy.

“The human in me loves you, Cassy, and I’m excited about the prospect of being able to give you many worlds. I long for you to want to be one of us.”

“THEY ARE NOT COMING,” SHEILA SAID. “AS PAINFUL AS
that reality is, I’m afraid we’re going to have to accept it.” She stood up and stretched. It had been a sleepless night.

Through the cabin’s windows the early morning sun could be seen bathing the tops of the trees on the western shore of the lake. The surface of the lake was covered with a mist that the rising sun would quickly dissipate.

“And if that’s reality,” Sheila added, “then we have to get our asses out of here before we have uninvited visitors.”

Neither Pitt nor Jonathan responded. They were sitting on opposing couches, slouched forward with their chins cradled in their hands and elbows resting on their knees.

Their expressions were a mixture of exhaustion, disbelief, and grief.

“Well, we don’t have time to take everything,” Sheila was saying. “But I think we should take all the data and the tissue cultures that we hope are producing some virions.”

“What about my mom?” Jonathan said. “And Cassy and Jesse? What if they come back here looking for us?”

“We’ve been over this,” Sheila said. “Let’s not make it more difficult than it already is.”

“I don’t think we should leave either,” Pitt said. Although he’d given up hope about Cassy, he still thought Nancy and Jesse might appear.

“Listen, you two,” Sheila said. “Two hours ago you agreed we’d wait until dawn. Now it’s dawn. The longer we wait the more chance there is that we will be caught.”

“But where will we go?” Pitt asked.

“I’m afraid we’ll have to play it by ear,” Sheila said. “Come on, let’s start getting things ready.”

Pitt pushed himself off the couch and stood up. He looked at Sheila, and his expression mirrored his great pain. She softened, stepped over to the couch, and gave him a hug.

Jonathan got up with sudden resolve and went over to his laptop. Flipping it open he began rapidly typing. After sending his message, he stared blankly at the screen. Within minutes an answer came back.

“Hey,” he called out to Sheila and Pitt. “I just contacted Dr. M. He’s changed his mind. He’s willing to meet us. What do you say?”

“I’m naturally skeptical,” Sheila admitted. “The idea of putting our lives into the hands of somebody we only know as Doc M sounds absurd. But then again, he’s been sending us intriguing data.”

“It’s not as if we have a lot of choices,” Jonathan said.

“Let me see his latest message,” Pitt said. He moved
over to Jonathan and read over his shoulder. Finishing, he glanced up at Sheila. “I think we should take the chance. I can’t imagine he’s not legitimate. Hell, Dr. M has been as scared about us as we’ve been about him.”

“It’s better than just going out on the road and wandering around,” Jonathan said. “Besides, he’s obviously connected to the Internet. That means we can leave a message here, so if my mom or the others come back they’ll at least be able to contact us.”

“All right, you two,” Sheila said, relenting. “I suppose it is a compromise. We’ll meet this Dr. M, but it means getting the hell out of here, so let’s get cracking.”

“CASSY, I KNOW IT IS HARD FOR YOU,” BEAU SAID. “I DON’T
look at myself in the mirror any more. But you have to get beyond that.”

Cassy was leaning on the balustrade, looking out over the halcyon view of the institute’s grounds. The sun had come up and the morning dew was just about gone. Out in the driveway there was a steady single-file stream of infected people who were arriving from around the globe.

“We are building an amazing environment here,” Beau said. “And it is about to spread around the world. It’s truly a new beginning.”

“I was partial to our old world,” Cassy said.

“You can’t mean that,” Beau said. “Not with all the problems there were. Humans had steered the Earth into a collison course with self-destruction, especially over the last half century. And that shouldn’t be, because the Earth is an amazing place. There are innumerable planets in the galaxy but few as warm and wet and as inviting as this one.”

Cassy closed her eyes. She was exhausted and needed sleep, yet some of the things Beau was saying did make a modicum of sense. She forced herself to try to think. “When did the virus first come to Earth?” she asked.

“The very first invasion?” Beau asked. “About three billion Earth years ago. It was back when conditions on Earth had reached a point where life was evolving at a fairly rapid clip. An explorer ship released the virions into the primordial seas, and they incorporated into the evolving DNA.”

“And this is the first time that a probe ship has returned?” Cassy asked.