Read Online Convergence by Alex Albrinck - Free Book Online Page A

much noise with footfalls to remain unnoticed.
    They arrived at the outskirts of the human village twenty minutes later and formed two lines. The lines stretched as they moved, the lead for each group traveling north and south respectively, moving around the habitable section of the village and just beyond the monorail station, until they’d formed a perimeter fence of the Alliance. Will could “see” everyone, and they all adjusted to ensure roughly equal spacing between each person.
    Once settled, each of the invaders expanded his or her nanoskeleton to form a working, sheltered perimeter before removing the backpacks. Will and Hope had packed the bags several weeks earlier, and Will had borne the responsibility to ensure they made it to the Island. Hope wouldn’t have the space in her sphere for the material, and she’d argued that her early presence here to set other defensive equipment exposed her to risk. If she was lost…
    Will hadn’t listened after that. But he took the backpacks with him for the return trip to the Cavern.
    The disks inside resembled the compact disks Will remembered from his youth, though significantly thicker. He pulled out the small shovel in the bag and pushed into the soil at his feet. A few seconds later, he dropped one of the disks into the hole and replaced the dislodged soil. The cover-up didn’t require perfection. It would matter only if the disks were discovered and removed, or destroyed in their entirety over the next few hours. If they remained in place that long, discovery wouldn’t matter. Will moved two feet to his right and repeated the process, glancing up as the flecks of light projected on the visor moved. Each member of the team performed the same steps, gliding to the side to plant the next disk into the ground.
    He patted the dirt down atop the last of his disks and glanced to his right. He spotted the slight disturbance in the ground where the nearest warrior had begun the planting exercise. Perfect. “Will Stark. Complete.” He spoke the words at a subvocal level, then listened. One by one, each member of the team reported in, doing so in a prescribed order, each waiting until his or her turn to speak. Will waited until the last person spoke and took a deep breath.
    “Phase 1 complete. Move out.”
    The flecks of light in his visor moved straight up and converged above the monorail station. The dots of light swayed with the light breeze that blew across the Island, and Will closed his eyes, hoping the breeze would carry from him the stress of the moment. He moved in silence with the others as they boarded the top of the monorail train for the thirty minute trip to Headquarters. It would be the last time the Alliance would travel in such a manner.
    It was the last phase of the operation they’d conduct from the shadows.
    The wave of unease hit him as the breeze buffeted him, unleashed by the rising speed of the train he rode. This was in so many ways his plan, the details given life by the greatest tactical mind the world had known. But though they’d executed the first few phases smoothly, pending eventual check-in from Ashley, he knew it couldn’t last. Portions would go wrong. The Aliomenti would react in ways they’d never anticipated.
    Friends of his—including some aboard the train now—would die.
    The sound of the wind hurtling past hid the sound of his guilty retching, dry heaves accompanied by tears. If he’d taken action years ago, if he’d eliminated the threats himself from the shadows with the technology he’d possessed decades and centuries earlier, none of this would be necessary. His failure to act would literally kill people.
    He felt an invisible hand of reassurance, drawn to him by the deep emotion he’d emitted. He reached to his shoulder and grasped Hope’s hand, felt the comfort it brought. She alone knew of the guilt; he’d expressed it on many occasions in the final months and weeks leading to this day. She’d offered him