World War 97 Part 4 (World War 97 Serial) Page 3

  I shone the light on Arianne, and I lifted her shoulders, checking for cuts. Her arms flopped back, and her face looked terribly pale under the light of the headlamp. I fumbled for her wrist and felt a surge of relief when I felt it beating strongly. For an instant, I’d been certain she was dead. There was no sign of blood, so I could hope that my dropping her hadn’t done any real damage.

  I knelt and hoisted her onto my left shoulder then quickly switched to my right shoulder when the muscles of my left spasmed in protest. With a grunt, I staggered to my feet and almost slipped on the damp rocks before I had taken a step. I steadied myself and started forward. The pool of light from the headlamp illuminated the rocky path in front of me, and I concentrated on keeping upright. I didn’t want to have Arianne wake up to even more bruises.

  My muscles strained with every step. Carrying her through the corridors of Under Nyork had been difficult, especially when ascending stairs, but that had been nothing compared to now. The climb up the ladder had sapped all my strength, yet I had no choice but to keep going. I counted out ten steps, then forced myself to take five more before I stopped and rested for twenty breaths. I ached to rest more, but I knew if I stopped for too long, I wouldn’t be able to continue. So I took ten steps then another five. I took a break for twenty breaths, then repeated the process. When I reached the old train, my feet strayed in that direction. My body wanted to collapse on the seats inside, but I forced myself to keep going. The train was the first place the mibs would check.

  Arianne weighed me down but also kept me going. If I’d been alone, I could have given up. I doubted anyone would really miss me if I disappeared off the face of the earth. My mother would probably regret losing out on her legacy or whatever the hell she cared about. I had thought Will would be on my side, but that hadn’t proved to be the case. At the moment, I didn’t have the energy to care about myself. I had to keep going for Arianne. Maybe she didn’t deserve it—she probably didn’t—but I still loved her. Mari Larsen had told me that I had a strong protective instinct, and I guessed she was right. I kept going.

  “Did you hear that, Arianne?” I didn’t turn around to look at her. I would have liked to, but I couldn’t risk falling. “No, I guess you can’t read my thoughts even when conscious. Or at least, I hope not.” I kept my voice low, making sure my speaking wasn’t making much more noise than my footprints. If it gave me strength to keep going, it was worth the risk. “I love you even if you don’t deserve it.” I took another ten steps, forced five more out, then took a break. “Or I think I do. But I don’t know shit about love. I thought I loved Christina. I don’t know shit about anything. You knew all along, didn’t you? When we were together, did you secretly laugh when I talked about my pride at being in the ACM and defending the Conference? You and Darius and Zirconia all had a laugh about dumb Jordi, who believed in the American Conference and what we were fighting for, did you?”

  A hollow boom sounded up above, and the walls and ground began to shake. I stumbled a few steps but regained my balance. Pebbles scuttled down the walls, and falling dust shimmered in the glow of my headlamp. I didn’t have the energy to panic, and as it turned out, the shaking wasn’t as severe as it had seemed at first; it only lasted a few seconds. The bombardment from the Territories was continuing, despite the upcoming truce.

  I plodded onward, taking my fifteen steps. The pauses extended to thirty breaths, then forty. More explosions rattled the walls, but none were as severe as the first. I didn’t worry. I would have almost welcomed a cave-in; at least that would provide the rest I craved.

  When the tunnel diverged into two, I stumbled to a stop. I wasn’t sure which way to go, and my quivering leg muscles threatened to give way. I stopped by a big boulder, eased Arianne off my shoulder, and laid her down on the rock. I was careful to keep my hand under her head as I released her. “Just rest here a moment,” I told her, disentangling my fingers from her hair.

  The main section of the tunnel continued straight on; a smaller one branched off. I switched off the headlamp. A faint glow of light was coming from the roof of the straight-on tunnel. I remembered it from when I’d been there as a kid. It was why Darius and I had never explored any farther. Although the darkness of the tunnels had been both exhilarating and frightening, the glow had been truly terrifying—because that meant the surface was near. As kids, all we’d known of the surface had been horrifying stories of bands of sub-humans who roamed the land and devastators that killed everyone they passed over.

  I peered down the smaller tunnel off to my right and saw no sign of light in the distance, so it was less likely to offer an access point to the surface. Nevertheless, I turned on my headlamp, picked up Arianne, and shuffled forward in that direction. Either way was a gamble, but I thought that the mibs would concentrate their search efforts on the bigger tunnel and the one that seemed to lead more directly to the surface. The bones in my shoulders ached in protest at Arianne’s weight, and my knees buckled at the first step. I leaned against the boulder with my free hand, straightened, then took ten steps, then five more.

  “Do that ten times, and that’s a hundred and fifty steps,” I told Arianne as I stopped for a small break. “Do it fifty times—well, I’m too tired to do the math, but it’s progress. Slow and steady.” I wasn’t sure whether the talking was helping or not, but at least it was something other than walking in darkness and thinking about how tired I was. My steps took me lurching from one side of the tunnel to the other. Deep down, I knew it was impossible to keep going; I was just too tired. But stopping and giving up wasn’t an option, either. So I slid one foot forward then dragged the other after it. And again.

  The ground gave away beneath my left foot, and I fell. I reached behind myself, trying to protect Arianne from the worst of it. My elbows thudded against the ground, and my temple hit a rock. The light went out, and in the darkness, white spots swirled before my eyes.

  It took me a few moments to figure out where I was. I fumbled with the headlamp. If that stopped working, I was royally screwed. But I was able to click it back on. Arianne lay against me; I eased her onto her back and ran the light up and down her body. She seemed okay.

  I checked what had caused the fall and found a hole in the ground. I examined it closer, aiming the light deep into it. It opened up into a much bigger cavity. After a few sweeps of the light and a glimpse of a ladder rung, I figured out exactly what it was. It was a maintenance shaft similar to the one I had used to come into the tunnel system, and most of the opening had been covered up by a rockfall. I moved a few of the smaller rocks and managed to make the opening big enough for a person to fit in. Hiding and just hoping that the mibs didn’t find us hadn’t been part of my plan, but this opportunity was too good to miss out on. I had found the shaft only because I’d lurched close to the wall and nearly fallen in. I took the backpack off and searched the contents for a rope, which I threaded under Arianne’s armpits and tied securely around Arianne’s shoulders. Then I guided her feet into the opening. The discovery had given me a new lease of energy, but even so, I knew my shoulders couldn’t take much strain, so I lowered her as quickly as I dared. The rope burned through my hands. Her clothes scraped the walls of the shaft as she descended. A small thud told me that her feet hit the bottom, and I slowed the descent so she landed as gently as possible. When the rope went slack, I threw it into the hole and put on the backpack.

  I moved several stones from other parts of the tunnel close to the side of the shaft before I climbed in. When only my head remained above the shaft, I stopped and arranged the stones so they covered the opening. When I had finished, only slices of light escaped the shaft. As long as the mibs didn’t actually walk above our heads, see a light, or hear us talking, we had a decent chance of escaping notice.

  Chapter 4

  I descended and moved Arianne to the other side of the shaft just in case my makeshift blockage fell in on us. I removed the rope from around her torso and made her as comfortable as I could.
I opened her eyelid, and the pupil constricted to a pinprick under the glare of the headlamp. The irises were green with flecks of gold. Like the canopy of a rainforest bathed in streaming dawn sunlight, I thought. I realized how much she would laugh at me if I ever said that aloud—she wasn’t the romantic type—and I let the eyelid fall back into place.

  Leaning back against the wall of the shaft, I turned off the headlamp. Fatigue permeated the marrow of my bones, but sleep didn’t seem to want to come—I was almost too tired to fall asleep. I fumbled around in my pocket until I found the projector Burnett had given me.

  I clicked it on, and Burnett glimmered into life on the other side of the shaft. “Congratulations. You are one of the chosen ones. You have been selected to help guide the human race forward.” He smiled. “But I’m getting ahead of myself.”

  He paused and took a breath. “We discourage the teaching of history, but to understand what you have a chance to join, you must understand where we came from. Between the second and third world wars, mankind’s domination of the planet broadened. Technology improved, making the world a smaller, more connected place. With improved relations between the major nations and a determination not to repeat the mistakes of the past, it seemed that the era of wars and conflict was coming to an end. But all was not as bright as it seemed.

  “With unchecked population growth and exponential technological advancements, we were beginning to destroy our planet and kill off all who lived upon it. Animal species were going extinct at an ever faster rate, and areas of natural vegetation receded under mankind’s advances. Poisons, oil spills, and radiation leaks polluted the seas. But it wasn’t just the other species that were in danger.

  “There was a distinct possibility that mankind would wipe itself out with a dangerous cocktail of intelligence and stupidity. Enough nuclear bombs were created to destroy the world many times over. Some of these found their way to rogue nations and organizations. Nanotechnology, AI development, virus experimentation, chemical weapons, research into creation of black holes: scientists pushed boundaries wherever they could, heedless of the dangers. There wasn’t a genocidal impulse, just a childlike desire to explore, even if it meant putting a hand inside the fire. Each perilous scientific path by itself was unlikely to ever unleash mayhem on the world, but since each one had a miniscule chance of total devastation, given enough time, even small percentages begin to add up. We were sailing toward our doom.

  “The people themselves were blissfully unaware of the possible annihilation that was being scribbled into the scientists’ log books. Many were living in a period of unprecedented luxury and ease. But this almost-utopian existence where huge numbers wanted for nothing in terms of food, shelter, clothing, healthcare, and security didn’t have the satisfying effect that we would expect. It created a world where people had nothing to fight for, nothing to strive toward. They played games, watched entertainment, and became self-obsessed like never before. Suicides, mental problems, and drug abuse showed a society that couldn’t come to terms with how well they had it.

  “The world became interconnected, small, and this, too, had unexpected consequences. In the social networks and celebrity-focused news, the loudest and most controversial rose to the top, no matter how idiotic their messages. Democracy, which had worked tolerably well up to that point, no longer rewarded smart, hardworking politicians—instead anyone with a celebrity ranking ascended straight into the most important positions in the world on the backs of promises with no connection to any sort of rationality or logic.

  “From this chaos of plenty, INSH was born. Anyone with eyes and a functioning brain could see that something needed to be done; society was headed down a self-destructive path. Although each individual person is capable of brilliant achievements–that is what has driven us forward so successfully as a species–as a whole, mankind is incredibly stupid. Guidance is required. Throughout history, there have always been organizations who have worked in the shadows, trying to direct mankind from outside the public eye. Contact was made between organizations in several countries, and from this collaboration came the Intelligent Shepherds.”

  I pressed a button on the projector, and Burnett froze mid-smile. I needed a moment to process what I had just heard. The idea of shadowy shepherds secretly guiding the course of human history was repulsive. But if things were as bad as Burnett said… I switched back on the recording.

  “INSH began to grow. They had two main criteria for recruitment. They wanted members who were really smart and not power hungry. Throughout history, bloodthirsty dictators have clawed for power, and INSH didn’t want the organization to be used to allow someone like that to rule. INSH needed good people who saw the bigger picture and put themselves second, those who wanted the best for humanity. Personality and intelligence tests allowed INSH to control their own membership. The founders knew that the greatest danger to their goals would come from within their own ranks.

  “It took time for INSH to gain a foothold, and meanwhile, things got worse for mankind. The modern world had become economically unstable as fewer people actually created value. Economists thought they could replace building things with buying things, and when that started to fail, they messed with the money supply and interest rates. Everything they did just fed more hot air into a huge bubble. It all came crashing down. Poverty, hunger, class warfare—things got a hell of a lot worse for all except the super-rich. Global summit followed global summit, but the leaders’ actions never changed anything.

  “Then a Muslim fanatic took over large parts of the Middle East, and many nations were forced into war to stop him, resulting in several decades of inconstant warfare known as the Islam Wars. Despite all the destruction and loss of life, the wars achieved something that had foiled all the previous efforts of the governments—they allowed the world economies to recover. In addition, people throughout the world were imbued with a renewed sense of nationalism and belonging. There was less civil unrest, and overall, people were more content—they had a purpose once more.

  “In INSH, we were still growing and learning. We could see that, contrary to all common sense, war was good for mankind, both for keeping a modern economy ticking and for keeping people satisfied. People think they want a life of luxury and ease, but at the end of the day, they feel more satisfied in a world of challenges where there are enemies to fight and they have to strive to provide for their families.

  “During the Islam Wars, the first devastators were created. These changed warfare in the same way that gunpowder, machine guns, tanks, and aircraft had in previous eras. But they changed not only warfare, but the landscape of the planet, as well. Realizing how vulnerable anything aboveground was to these floating fortresses, the developed nations began to build underground cities. The collaboration between nations reached its peak in the early twentieth century, and when one nation obliterated most of the Middle East in a firestorm of nuclear bombs, a period of fractious global relations began. Many nearby countries suffered from radiation poisoning—in fact, it took the planet centuries to recover from that one crazy action.

  “This led to World War 3. With devastators patrolling the skies, nowhere was safe. Everyone moved underground as fast as they could as major cities throughout the world were destroyed. Nearby countries banded together, forming up during the course of the war into eight superpowers. Some parts of the world, most notably all of Africa and the Middle East, didn’t build the underground cities and devastators necessary to make themselves part of the new world order. All that’s left in those places are rogue communities that lack technology. Its inhabitants live off the land, forever watching the skies in fear.

  “With everything getting worse, more and more people in different nations joined INSH, and we were instrumental in preventing any further use of nuclear weapons and in negotiating a peace. But we had learned our lessons from history—we didn’t want to stop wars between nations; we just wanted to make sure they were controlled. We gradually phased out all chemic
al, biological, and nuclear weapons. We scaled back on drone technology and automation, bringing actual humans back to the forefront of the battlefield. Safe, beneficial technology was encouraged, especially in the area of health, but any advances that could have dangerous side effects were carefully controlled.

  “The democracies were left in place, but the true power remained in the hands of the worldwide Grand Council of Shepherds. Each superpower had a limited amount of autonomy, especially in domestic matters. INSH determined that each superpower would have its ups and downs during the course of a war, but the only way it could actually lose was by breaking away from the global stability. That is what happened to the Japanese Islands in World War 4 and again to the Australian Colonies in World War 94. It may seem harsh, but for the good of humanity, every developed country must remain part of the INSH collective.

  “And now you meet us, dear recruit. There has been stability for centuries, a thing that has never before happened in human history. People are born and die in a life full of drama and strife, challenge and fulfillment. Animal and fish populations throughout the world have recovered. Many species that were nearly extinct have returned and flourished. The radiation from previous nuclear activity has faded into the background. The ozone layer has repaired itself. Forestation has reclaimed large areas of the world.

  “INSH has succeeded better than its founders could have dreamed, and it continues to guide mankind forward in a stable and sustainable manner. Those who are smart and have the right personality are invited to become a part of what we are. So, young explorer, congratulations, and welcome aboard.”

  Burnett’s image flickered, then the darkness swallowed him. I returned the projector to my pocket, trying to take in everything I had just learned. Coherent thoughts came sluggishly, and my eyelids were too heavy.