In the City of Tomorrow: Chapter 31

The Sparrow left Sol and returned to the home system of the Artilect. Jones placed the ship into a stable orbit around the system’s fourth planet, and once everyone was ready the Artilect transported them off the ship. The group materialized in what appeared to be an enormous prairie. A grassy field stretched for miles into the distance, and above them was a brilliant blue sky. To the north a wide stream meandered through the field, flanked by weeping willows. A gentle breeze rustled the trees and a few clouds floated gently overhead. It was a place of quiet tranquility.

Alex began darting around, glad to finally be off the Sparrow. The rest of the crew walked toward the stream.

“This is really nice,” Laura said. She sat down beside a willow and looked out over the water. The stream was crystal clear, allowing her to see fish as they swam by.

“It truly is beautiful,” Reverend Knight replied. “It reminds me of home.”

“Thank you,” the Artilect replied. “I created this place as a sanctuary for you. I thought you would be more at ease here than in the endless hallways and machinery of my cities.”

“I wondered about that,” Jones remarked. “I didn’t see a lot of open land when I scanned this worlds from orbit.”

“That is because there is no open land. All of the worlds that orbit this star have been entirely consumed by my machinery. This place is an oasis that I have created deep within my home world.”

“But I can see the sun!” Laura exclaimed. “Why, it’s right over there.”

The Artilect smiled. “I am glad that it appears real to you. In reality you are miles beneath the surface, and both the sunlight and the endlessness of the room are just illusions.”

“Are we going to live here now?” Laura asked.

“You can, if you wish. Or I can create another home for you in one of the many worlds that I control. You will no longer have to worry about invaders from the endless war.”

“That would be nice,” Captain Max agreed. “Not that this is bad, mind you. But this system is yours. It would be good to have a place of our own.”

The Artilect nodded. “I understand. If you would like to pick out a star system I will get to work on it immediately.”

“But what about my daughters?” Laura asked. “What are we going to do about them?”

Richard turned to the Artilect. “What do you think we should do?”

The Artilect shook his head. “I do not know. While there are multiple ways to journey into the future, it seemed most probable me that they would use a time stasis field.”

“There are other ways?” Richard asked, surprised. “Like what?”

“For example, they could have simply lived for the past five thousand years, as I have. It is possible but it does not seem likely.”

“Of course,” Richard replied. “I should have thought of that. I guess they also could have dropped into the future early. They might be out there somewhere looking for us.”

“That is also possible, but unlikely. The nanites that are inside your daughters are easy to detect. If they were in this time period they would be connected to my network and I would instantly know where they were, no matter where they might be.”

“Could you have just overlooked them?” Laura asked. “Is it possible that you might have missed a stasis field or something?”

“I do not know,” the Artilect replied. “I have searched much of the galaxy and have found nothing. As far as I am able to discern there are no time stasis fields currently active.”

The Sentinel spoke up. “You mean there are none that you didn’t create.”

“What do you mean?” the Artilect asked.

“Well, there is a time stasis field right here on this world about five miles below us.”

“I do not detect it,” the Artilect replied. “Are you certain?”

“I am quite certain! It is not hidden. Do you mean that you are not responsible for it?”

“I no longer use time stasis fields,” the Artilect said. “At one time I experimented with them but that was millennia ago.”

“Maybe this is a leftover from one of those experiments,” Richard said. “You might have just lost track of it.”

“I still do not see it,” the Artilect said. “Where is it located?”

“Room 6210-B,” the Sentinel replied. “It appears to be a storage closet of some kind.”

The Artilect paused. “There is no such room on this planet.”

“I don’t understand,” Laura said. “What’s going on?”

The Sentinel spoke up. “This is not difficult to resolve. If you will just follow me I will show it to you.”

In a moment he had transported the entire group into an enormously long hallway. The passage had white walls and was brightly lit. All along the walls were rows upon rows of identical doors.

“The room is right there,” the Sentinel said, pointing. “That is room 6210-B.”

The Artilect looked at it, frowning. “This is very strange. I have no record of this room. It appears to have been blocked from my memory. I cannot see this place.”

“Who blocked it?” Richard asked.

“I do not know. That information has also been blocked.”

Richard walked up to the door and opened it. Inside he saw utter blackness. “What is that?” he asked, startled.

“It is a time stasis field,” the Sentinel replied.

“Looks kind of like a black hole,” Captain Max remarked.

“That is an apt description,” the Sentinel said. “Black holes also alter the flow of time, although they do so in a destructive fashion.”

“Can you alter the field just a bit so we can see what’s inside it?” Sergeant Howell asked.

“I can do nothing to it at all,” the Artilect replied. “It has been blocked from me.”

“But I can access it,” the Sentinel replied. He stepped toward it and made a simple motion with his hand. Immediately the blackness went away. Inside they saw Amy and Amanda Stryker, frozen in time. Amanda had her eyes closed and appeared to be concentrating. Amy was staring at her sister with a look of intense excitement on her face. The two girls were holding hands.

“It’s my daughters!” Laura exclaimed.

“What are they doing in there?” Richard asked.

“Can you let them go?” Jones said.

The Sentinel nodded. An instant later the stasis field disappeared. Amanda opened her eyes and gasped when she saw her family looking at her. “Mom! Dad! What are you doing here?”

* * * * *

It took a long time for everyone to get caught up on what was going on. Laura was immensely relieved to have her daughters back – as was her husband and everyone else. There was a great deal of rejoicing and excitement. For their part the girls were quite happy to be back with their family.

“So that’s what happened,” Amanda said. “I knew we should have stayed on Amy’s construction planet.”

“But we had no way to know this was going to happen,” Amy replied. “Besides, what if the endless war had found us or something? At least here we were safe. It turned out all right in the end.”

Amanda turned to Reverend Knight. “I’m sorry for bringing you into the future. I know that wasn’t exactly what you had planned.”

“But at least I am alive,” he replied. “That is something to be grateful for. Besides, the reason I took passage on the Starfire was to search for lost souls, and if what the Artilect has said is true then I have found a great number of them. It would appear that the entire human race has lost its way.”

“But that is about to change,” the Artilect replied. “With the support of Amy and Amanda I can put an end to the darkness. The endless war will be finished and mankind will be given their inheritance. Things are about to change.”

“First we need a home,” Amy replied. “And a plan. Then we can go to war.”

The Artilect nodded. “Then let us begin!”

(To be continued in the next volume, The War of the Artilect)