Stryker #5, At the End of Eternity – Chapter 17

“There really hasn’t been much crime in Tikal. We’ve appointed an efficient police force and they do their job well. One thing that has surprised me, though, is how little monitoring equipment the city has. The old underground city had cameras and listening devices everywhere. Every single move the public made was watched – well, when the cameras worked, that is. But here there’s nothing like that. As far as I can see there’s no surveillance equipment anywhere! Apparently the ancient government of Mars didn’t feel the need to watch every move its citizens made. I find that attitude very refreshing and I intend to see it preserved in the future. We do not need to return to the mistakes of the past.”
–Noel Lawson
July 12, 7243
 

That afternoon Monroe Araiza was sitting in the living room of his apartment. Beside him was a stack of books on the history of the Spanish Empire. He had one of the volumes in his hands and was lost in its pages when he was interrupted by a a knock on the door.

Monroe put the book down. “Come on in,” he called out.

The door opened and Doyle walked in. “You know, you really need to start locking that door,” his friend commented as he entered. He closed the door behind him and took a seat across from the scribe.

“Haven’t we had this conversation before? Anyway, how are you doing today?”

“I’m a bit puzzled, to be honest. I don’t quite understand what the Rangers are doing. Did you notice Amy in that video footage?”

“She was rather hard to miss,” Monroe said dryly. “Despite what the council ruled I am sure that she caused the malfunction. Now, that being said, she was not the one who turned that problem into a nuclear nightmare. The general made that happen all by himself. It was his unbelievable reaction to the problem, and not the problem itself, that destroyed the laboratory.”

“I suppose you’re right. I still don’t understand what the Rangers are trying to achieve, though. They’ve certainly delayed things for a while but the project will continue. Are they hoping that if they delay it long enough the council will eventually give up?”

“Not exactly,” a voice said behind them. The two men turned around and saw Amy standing there.

“How did you get in here?” Doyle asked.

“Magic!” Amy exclaimed. She smiled. “Look, guys, I know I’ve been making life hard on you, and I’m sorry about that. I’ve just been trying to stall the project to buy some time. I’d hoped that collapsing the road and stalling the surveys would get me all the time I needed, but then I found out that Maldonado was going to start dropping bombs immediately. That’s when I was forced to step in and do something – but I didn’t realize he was going to go bonkers and try to kill everyone. That part of it was not my fault.”

“Why were you trying to buy time?” Monroe asked.

“In order to make this happen,” Amy said. She made a motion with her hand, and a six-year-old boy materialized in front of her. The boy looked around the room in wonder and then looked at Monroe. “Hello,” he said. “You’re old.”

Monroe looked at the boy in astonishment. “Red hair! And look at his skin tone and cheekbones. He’s from the clans! There hasn’t been a red-headed person in Adrasta for thousand of years. That genetic variation was lost. Does that mean you’ve found a cure?”

Amy nodded. “Yes, it does. Now, keep in mind that it’s only a partial win. We can cure children but so far we can’t cure adults. We’re working on it and we think we can do it, but we just haven’t gotten there yet. Anyway, this bright young man is named Nate, and he is quite inquisitive.”

“You have a lot of books,” the child said. “Can you teach me how to read?”

Doyle smiled at him. “I think we can work something out. How long are you going to be staying with us?”

“I don’t know. Amy hasn’t cured my mommie and daddy yet. She said she’s working on it.”

“I understand,” Doyle said. He looked up at Amy. “How does the cure work?”

“It’s kind of complicated. Basically, Steve created a series of nanites that we’ve released into Nate’s bloodstream. Over the course of several days they have reversed the damage the mutation caused and corrected his genetic code. The process works well on children but it doesn’t work on adults. We’re going to have to come up with a different approach for them.”

“Who is Steve?” Monroe asked.

Amy hesitated. “That’s kind of hard to explain. Let’s just say that he’s a friend of mine. He’s, um, the scientist who came up with the cure. I tried to find a cure on my own but I didn’t get very far. Steve succeeded where I failed.”

“This is really quite remarkable,” Monroe said, as he stared at the child. “It’s astonishing! Please thank the Rangers for me. This changes everything.”

“The Rangers,” Amy said slowly. “Right. Let’s not go into that right now. Anyway, I’m certainly hoping that the cure will change everything. The reason–”

Nate walked over to a table and picked up a book. He held it up and pointed to the cover. “Those are letters, aren’t they?”

“Yes, they are,” Doyle said. “It says The History of Martian Dog Breeders.”

“Amy is from Mars,” Nate said proudly. “She told me that herself. Mars is nice. I like it.”

“That’s exactly what I thought!” Monroe said triumphantly. He turned to Amy. “The Rangers found you after they took the Wall down, didn’t they?”

“Um, no. I’m actually the one who shut down the Wall, but we don’t need to get into that right now.”

“Really? But that doesn’t make sense! How were you able to collapse the Wall from the inside? I thought that was impossible.”

Amy sighed. “I didn’t – I shut it down from the outside. It’s kind of complicated.”

Monroe looked puzzled. “I don’t understand. You’re from Mars but you shut the Wall down from the outside? How is that possible? How did you get outside the Wall?”

“It’s a really, really long story. You see, I was on the Sparrow that the Spanish Emperor shot out of the sky. Then – well, it’s a long story. What makes it so hard to explain is that you’ve forgotten how the war started. You have everything mixed up and backwards. It’s history that is so ancient that you don’t even remember it.” She sighed. “It just makes you feel old, you know?”

Nate spoke up. “Amy is very old. Miles is older, though. He’s super old.”

“Miles? Who is Miles? I’m afraid I don’t understand.”

“That’s fine. That is totally fine. None of that matters right now anyway. The point is that we now have a cure for the madness that plagues the tribes. Right now it only works on children but we’re making progress on the one for adults too. What I need you to do is take Nate to the council and demand that Maldonado stop his bombing campaign, on the grounds that there is a now cure and you ought be helping these people.”

Nate spoke up. “Amy said you’re going to be taking care of me for a while. She said you were nice people.”

“We can certainly arrange that,” Doyle agreed. “I don’t think this particular apartment is a suitable place for young people, but you can certainly stay with me. My wife would love to meet you. We’ve wanted children all our lives but have never been able to have any.”

Monroe nodded. “I’m sure your wife would be delighted. Children are so rare these days; each child is a precious gift. And Amy, I can certainly arrange a meeting with the council. I’m sure they will be very interested in the cure you’ve found. But I’m still confused. Do you have a last name?”

“It’s Stryker. I’m Amy LeAnn Stryker, if you must know. But it doesn’t matter. The important thing is to stop the bombing.”

“I understand. Anyway, Amy, the council is going to have many questions about your cure. They’ll want to know how it works, how we developed it, how to administer it, and how much of it we currently have on hand. They’re also going to find it difficult to believe that the cure exists. After all, no one has been trying to find a cure for centuries.”

Amy reached into her pocket and pulled out a small glass bottle. The bottle was made of semi-transparent blue glass, and inside was an opaque silver liquid. On the front of the bottle was a label with a series of instructions. Amy handed the bottle to Monroe. “Here you go. This bottle contains enough nanomaterial to cure a hundred children. The dosage instructions are printed on the bottle, along with the time it takes, how to care for the patient, and age restrictions. That will get you started. You can tell them that the cure was developed by a friend of yours and you can present Nate as proof that the cure works. I can provide you with all the cure you will need and I can do so at a moment’s notice. That bottle will be enough for your presentation to the council. I’ll get in touch with you after you’ve talked to them.”

Monroe nodded. “I appreciate your help – I really can’t thank you enough. You have gone beyond my greatest expectations. I thought that just stopping Maldonado was a lost cause, but you have gone far beyond that and found the cure that has eluded us for five thousand years. You have our deepest thanks.”

Amy nodded. “You’re welcome. It’s why I came here, you know.”

Monroe hesitated. “I hate to mention this – and I am sure Doyle will think that I am being unduly pessimistic – but what are you going to do if the council rejects the cure and opts to continue the bombing?”

Amy sighed. “I’m really, really hoping it doesn’t come to that. If it does then I’ll just cure the tribes myself. If Adrasta insists on trying to kill them then I’ll be forced to stop the city from doing that. Permanently. This will be their last shot. After your presentation there aren’t going to be any more secret obstructions. They’ll have to face the consequences of what they’ve done.”

“And what are those consequences?” Doyle asked.

“There are two groups of people on this planet – the tribes and the Adrastans. If the Adrastans cannot live in peace with the tribes then they will be forcibly relocated to Xanthe. There they will be allowed to live out the rest of their days. If they can’t find a cure for their infertility problems then they will simply die out. They will have what they want – a world of their own – and they will be unable to do anyone any harm.”

“And if the bombing does stop?”

“If Adrasta has a change of heart and shows that it can get along with everyone else, then I would be willing to cure them as well. But I’m not going to do that if they are determined to be genocidal monsters.”

“It sounds like the stakes are quite high.”

“For Adrasta, yes. Now, the tribes will be saved regardless. Their future is secure. But I do not know what will become of this city. Their fate is in their hands.” Amy sighed. “Speak to the council as soon as you can. I will be back in a few days.”

The child spoke up. “Are you leaving now?”

Amy gave him a hug. “I have to go away for a bit, but I’ll be back soon, ok? And I’ll be watching over you to make sure that no one hurts you. You be good for Monroe and Doyle, ok?”

“Ok,” Nate said. “Goodbye.”

Amy said goodbye and disappeared.