POSTHUMAN

Chapter Thirty-Two

Marcus wondered what it would be like to die, whether he could accept his fate as readily as Judah; his friend had been at peace when he shared with him the certainty of death.

        The news of Clement's demise had reached him the moment they entered Providence-aligned territory. Stories were everywhere of a brave Providence man assassinated by spineless subversives. Had Clement been content in those moments before his passing?

I'm not one for speeches...Behind him a convoy of Wights flew under an obfuscating blanket...but this needs to be said. We are all miraculous...In those Wights were his only friends in the world, both of whom he had told of his impending doom...because we survived. The human race died and we were reborn, phoenixes from the ashes of a tragedy...He had handed the box of journals for Ruth and letter for Jamie to Philip, he had asked a student to take the picture...The world needs us now, and we need to show them just how miraculous humanity has become...A photograph, an honest to god tangible photograph, not some digital impression. Marcus, Tristan, Philip, all the students and incongruous criminal sorts bound for London together – smiles on their faces, arms around one another, with the two Americans and the Englishman at the middle of the rabble.

Right about now, Colonel Jessop's strike force should be arriving on Henderson Island. What Marcus wouldn't give to see the look on Kieran Jessop's when that smug bastard realised he was on a worthless rock. He would undoubtedly rage and curse and moan about his misfortune for a solid five minutes before the handful of psionics on the island would attack. Send the colonel home with a black eye to go along with his wounded pride. That was the only comfort Marcus could keep in his mind when London loomed before him.

It was a gorgeous summer's day; a cloudless sky brimmed with flying cars and hovering traffic lights. The approach of the Raptor-Five cleared a path more effectively than any siren. Marcus piloted it himself which Ioelu had campaigned against for a week; Ioelu wanted no one else to touch his baby but had eventually been overruled.

        Angelene was in the cabin and played the role of hostage; bound hands, bag over the head, roped up and swaddled in a big grey blanket. His other passengers and his co-pilot were post-feral students dressed as ExoCorps soldiers. The invisible force behind this Wight were not nearly as uniformed in their attire, mostly Thu-Lan's irregular force, but that didn't matter; Yori, the EM radiation bender, occupied a Wight at the back of the group so he could see the entire formation.

        Marcus began to lose altitude and left his allies as he made a beeline for Prism Prime.

Epch went still, his 1-wood but a hair's breadth from the golf ball. Something was wrong, or right, that was hard to tell. What he knew without a doubt was that he needed to get back to London. Sewell was back and with him, Pandora Alpha.

Legacy's eyes snapped open even before Barnes' hand closed around the door handle. He was sat bolt upright when the doctor entered, Ronald's brow furrowed, "What is it?"

        "Angelene is in London," he seemed entranced.

        "You can sense her?" quizzed Barnes.

        "And something else too," Legacy slowly returned to reality.

        "Can you tell what it might be?" the doctor remained mystified.

        "No, not really...Father, you need to get ready to go out," Legacy had never ordered him before.

        "Will you be accompanying me?"

        "Yes, I will."

The Raptor-Five slowed as it neared the south prism. Marcus let his co-pilot land the aircraft as he located the hidden laptop from his SuperCom. In the time it took for the landing party to be lowered into the prism he had had found it sequestered in the ceiling of a men's toilets in Bond Tower; Marcus appreciated Clement's ingenuity more every day he was gone. He could not forward the information to Philip until Yori dropped the field so he pushed his anxiety into his feet for the monorail ride to Prism Prime.