Noa's Ark by C. Gockel

Author:C. Gockel [Gockel, C.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: C. Gockel

“Abort the project.” The words jumped into James’s mind with brilliant clarity. They weren’t in Basic, English, or Japanese. It was the same strange language of static he’d heard when they’d flown through Time Gate 8.

“Failure,” said another one of the voices. And James agreed. He’d failed. In his mind his neurons and nanos flickered. Failed at what?

“He isn’t exhausted yet. Let the data collection continue.”

“It’s pointless. They are the enemy. Humans are not to be trusted.” James felt like this static came faster, more rushed. Static shouldn’t have a personality … he found himself thinking it might be right. He himself wasn’t particularly noble, and Noa had abandoned him at the last, despite all of her seeming heroism, because he was … he was … he was, what? Maybe she couldn’t help herself. Humans were unable to show compassion to others outside their own group; wasn’t her home world’s recent genocide, and all genocides for that matter, proof of that?

Another slower, calmer consciousness poured into the river of sound. “Even if that is true, more data is important, Eight.”

“You think as One you know more. But you don’t see their true nature.”

One? Eight? “You are the time gates,” James's mind whispered.

“Of course,” said another voice in the static.

“Shhhhh ... Three,” said another.

Eight's voice overwhelmed the others. “We should destroy them, we should destroy them all!”

Even after all that had happened he wanted to say, “No, not Noa.”

The voices continued to argue, so fast and furiously that James could not keep track. He felt tired. He wanted to go home. Home … where was that?

Noa’s whisper cut through the wave of sound. “I’m sorry, James.”

At her whisper, James wanted to rise, wanted to move, but he couldn’t. His eyes were open, but his vision was filmy. A horrid vision of the sex ‘bot’s grimy, unblinking eye came to his mind.

The rushing of static halted, and then one of the voices said, “Such a strange association. You … we ... are not that.”

James barely heard because at exactly that moment, Noa’s emotions flooded his mind. Love, sorrow, fear, sadness, and shame, and then came her words. “My ruse failed … probably because I never got a chance for you to tell me how stupid it was. I’m so sorry, James, please forgive me.”

It was her … and so her … even the self-deprecating gallows humor. What had he been thinking? Starmen never left Starmen behind. Noa hadn’t abandoned him. She wouldn’t—it was not in her nature—it was against her programming. His nanos felt as though they’d caught fire.

He heard Reggie chant softly, “Stay still, stay still, I’ll let you die quickly …”

And then there was an angry bark from the man who’d held the phaser against his back. “Out of my way. I’ll kill her myself,” and he had to get up, but his body remained motionless, dead weight.

His mind screamed, “She was trying to help me! Let me go to her!”

“Interesting,” said One.

“No!” buzzed Eight.

“I want more data,” buzzed another.

“We’re better off without them,” said another.

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