Chapter One

New Eden. June 3, 2085

03:30 hours

Jack Walker opened his eyes and knew today his life would change. He’d been thinking about it for two years, planning it for one. Now the time had come. For better or worse, there was no going back.

He glanced at Maria, sleeping next to him on the bed. Beautiful Maria. If only he could have convinced her to go with him. Then he looked through the sleek glass walls at the end of the luxurious bedroom, seeing the darkness of the night, dawn not yet broken. Noting the time on his wrist comp, he slipped quietly out of bed.

"Don’t go," she whispered. The room was dimly lit, but he could still see the outline of her delicate face as she sat up.

"I’m sorry, Maria. I can’t stay here anymore."

"But we’re safe here."

Jack nodded. "That’s the point."

"It’ll get better. You’ll see. Just give it time... Zurk says --"

"Zurk’s a liar."

"Please, Jack, don’t go... "

"Come with me."

Her eyes showed fear, and she shook her head slowly.

He walked around to her side of the bed and caressed her face with his hand. "I’m sorry it has to end like this."

Jack turned and walked into the dressing room, where he picked out his clothes. He dressed in black clothing and filled a backpack with the supplies he needed. Then he took out a small knife and looked closely at his right thumb. Gritting his teeth, he jabbed the knife into the thumb, cutting deep into the skin. With the knife he pried out the locator chip imbedded there and placed the chip in a closet drawer. Then he bandaged his thumb, slipped the backpack on and headed toward the front door.

"Open," he said.

"I’m sorry, Mr. Walker," it said, "your sleep segment is not complete."

"Override."

The door slid open and he walked out into the night, rounding toward the gardens in the back. Slowly, his eyes adjusted to the darkness. It was a cloudy night, the moon casting a faint light on the elaborate gardens, pools and fountains that sprawled on the grounds of his assigned estate.

He hugged the back wall of the mansion and slowly approached the cluster of security cameras mounted on the wall, ten feet up from the flagstone deck. Reaching into his backpack, he took out a cable cutter and cut the thick cable that snaked down from the cameras. The red light of the backup camera came on, and he cut that cable also.

Glancing at his comp, he knew he didn’t have much time. Jack sprinted south through the gardens, to the back gate a mile away. Halfway there, a security android drove up in a carbox. The carbox stopped in front of him, and the droid got out. It was wearing the usual blue security uniform.

"Mr. Walker," it said, "your sleep segment is not complete."

"I know," Jack said. "Couldn’t sleep. Thought I’d take a stroll -- clear my head."

"Mr. Walker, the security cameras have malfunctioned. You need to go back inside, sir, where you’ll be safe."

Jack smiled. "I thought I’d go for a walk, outside the gates."

"You know that’s not permitted, sir. Not without an escort."

"Override."

"Sorry, sir."

"Maybe just this once?"

"I’m sorry, sir."

Jack shrugged. "Okay, have it your way." He turned around and started to walk toward the house. Then he stopped, took off his backpack and took out a laser weapon. Turning back toward the android, he leveled the gun at it.

"Sir, you’re not allowed to have weapons."

Jack pressed the trigger, and a bolt of red light struck the droid, burning a deep hole in its torso. The android crumpled to the ground, and the acrid smell of burnt plastic and metal hung in the air.

"There’s a lot of things I’m not supposed to have," Jack said. Then he walked to the carbox, got in and drove toward the gate.

***

Southeast Security Control Center. June 3, 2085

04:02 hours

The alert light came on over the image of estate 319. Tesa looked at the wall of images at the end of the room and tapped her control board keypad. The hundreds of small images dissolved, replaced with a large one of 319.

She spoke into the open com. "Director, we’ve got a problem in New Eden, estate 319."

"What’s the problem?" Zurk replied into her headset.

"The house cameras are down, and the security guard is not responding to my signal."

"Who lives at 319?"

"Jack Walker and Maria Walker, contract partners." "I’ll be right down," Zurk said.

"Yes, sir."

Using satellite cameras, she zoomed tighter on the house, checking the front lawn, then moving to the back.

Zurk walked in the room and sat down next to her at the control board. "What do you have?"

"Nothing yet," she said, still glued to the image in front of her. "I dispatched a security team -- they’ll be there in a minute. I’m checking the grounds for anything --"

"Look, Tesa, in the back gardens. You see that?"

Tesa zoomed in for tighter look. "It’s the security guard... "

The android was on down on the ground, not moving. It was an older model, a Series 16. Its badge number and series number were clearly visible on the lapel of its uniform.

"What the hell’s going on, Tesa?"

"Don’t know, sir."

"Check the locator chips -- I want to know where they are."

Tesa tapped on her keypad, and a series of numbers superimposed over the image of the grounds. "Maria is still in the house," she said. "In the bedroom... but Walker... his chip’s malfunctioning. It appears it’s not embedded anymore."

Zurk slammed his hand on the control board. "That’s impossible. Re-scan."

"Yes, sir."

Tesa tapped again, but the results were the same. Just then they saw the security team arrive at the estate. Half of the team went into the house, the other half fanning out over the property. A few minutes later, they heard the security team leader over the open com. "We’ve got a serious breach," he said. "The locks on the back gate have been blown off, the house security guard is inoperative and there’s a missing carbox. We can’t find Jack Walker."

"What about Maria?" Tesa asked.

"She’s here, but she refuses to talk."

"Damn it," Zurk said, "this can’t be happening. Tesa, I’m putting you in charge of this. I’ll assign someone else to manage the control center. Go to 319 immediately. And you report only to me. No one else."

"Yes, Director."

***

Downtown Miami, Florida. June 3, 2085

13:00 hours

It was a brutally hot day, the sun baking the deserted downtown area. Heat rose from the cracked asphalt streets and from the abandoned carboxes that littered them. Jack hid on a fifth-story balcony and peered down at the street below. After escaping New Eden, he had driven the carbox until its charge was used up, then walked the rest of the way.

A large rat scurried in the pile of trash by his feet, and he kicked it away. He wiped the sweat from his forehead and scanned the street again. Other than the rats, some wild dogs and a few coyotes, he hadn’t seen any sign of life in the city. No people and no androids. So far, his plan had worked. But he had to stay out of sight, away from the open areas that the sat cameras could pick up. He was hiding in a residential condo building, one of many in this part of Miami, deserted a decade ago after the virus hit.

The virus.

He shook his head in disgust, thinking about the billions who died across the world. The virus started with a high fever, followed by open sores, coughing up blood and internal bleeding. Death came in a matter of days. His wife, his son, his parents, all gone, long ago. Now only a handful of people were left. One percent, the news reports had said. For some unknown reason, one percent were immune from the virus.

His stomach growled, and he realized he hadn’t eaten since yesterday. Crouching, he made his way back into the condo, closing the glass slider behind him and drawing the blinds. The abandoned condo was a mess, trash and cobwebs everywhere, roof leaks dripping on moldy furniture. It was stifling hot and smelled of mildew and dead things. In the dim light he walked to the kitchen and started to riffle through the cabinets. He found a couple of cans of vegetables and one of Spam. He looked at the shelf date on the Spam -- May, 2075 it said. Close enough. Opening the can, he heated it with his laser and began to spoon it out. He washed it down with the bottle of water he had brought with him.

Then he found the bedroom, stripped the bed of the moldy sheets and lay down, putting the gun on a bedside table. Closing his eyes, he was asleep in minutes.

***

He felt the cold steel at his throat and heard the voice at the same time.

"Don’t move," the voice said, a man’s voice, low and gravelly.

Jack opened his eyes and stayed still, seeing the long knife gleaming in the dim light. A big man was holding it. Jack glanced to the bedside table and noticed the weapon was gone.

"Don’t move," the man said again. "I got your gun, so don’t even think about fighting back." He pulled the blade back a bit, then said, "Who are you? What are you doing here?"

"The name’s Walker. Jack Walker."

"Okay, Walker, what are you doing here?"

Jack’s mind raced. Tell the truth or make something up? He glanced at the knife again and decided on the truth. "I left New Eden."

The man laughed harshly. "New Eden. That damn place. You left? Nobody leaves the Parks. Unless you escaped... "

"Yeah. Last night."

The man laughed again. "Well, Walker, I can see from your eyes you’re no android." Then his grip tightened on the knife and he pressed it against Jack’s neck, cutting the skin and drawing blood. "But maybe you’re one of those android lovers... I’ve run into a few of those."

Jack stayed very still, but his voice was cold. "Listen, you... whoever you are... I hate the androids... what they’ve done to us. That’s why I escaped."

The man shrugged, then pulled the knife away and slid it in a sheath by his side. "Okay, Walker. I believe you, for now. But if I find out you’re lying, or you’re a spy, I’ll kill you. Understood?"

Jack nodded, then sat up in the bed.

"I’m Alexander Harrison," the man said, holding out a huge hand. "Originally fromAtlanta, then EastCoast Park. And now beautiful Miami."

Jack shook the man’s beefy hand. "Good to meet you, Harrison." Then touching his neck, said, "At least, I think so."

Alex grinned. "Sorry about that. I’ve been roaming the city so long by myself, I don’t know who to trust." He sat down on one of the armchairs in the bedroom, the old springs creaking. The man was huge, over six and half feet tall, and wide, and mostly all muscle. He had long brown hair and a shaggy beard and was wearing a worn green shirt and ragged black pants.

"You were in EastCoast?" Jack said.

"Yeah. Escaped five years ago. Been dodging the andys ever since."

Jack took a swig from the bottle of water next to the bed, then offered it to Alex.

"Thanks, Walker." The man gulped it down, finishing the bottle. "So it looks like we’re in the same boat."

Jack smiled. "Let’s just hope our boat doesn’t sink."

Alex laughed again. "Funny man. Good. I haven’t had much to laugh about for a long time." He dug into his pocket, took out the gun and handed it to Jack. "Here. This is yours. I like knives better myself."

"You’ve been on the run five years?"

"Give or take. I lose track of time. But, yeah, a long time."

Jack nodded. "Are there other people around? Others who escaped?"

"Some. Yeah. But some were captured by the androids, others were killed by coyotes. Why do you want to know?"

"We need to find as many escapees as we can. To fight the androids."

Alex roared with laughter. "Fight them? You’re loco, my friend. They outnumber us ten to one. And they have technology on their side."

"We’ve got to try, damn it."

Alex shook his head. "The people who survived the virus live in the Parks. And a lot of them like it. It’s safe there. No stress, no job to hate... a carefree life... plush homes... good food... "

"Yeah, and droids telling you what you can and can’t do."

A smile spread on Alex’s face. "There is that."

Jack stood up and stared at the large man. "So, what do you say?"

"I think you’re crazy, Walker. But then, I’m kind of crazy myself."

***