James patched through to Thel. "Thel, I may have run out of time here."

"No!" Thel shouted as she jumped from her seat next to James's body in the sick bay of the Purist ship. "Your body isn't ready yet!"

"Listen to me, Thel. I want you to do a lap around the sun and then head back to Venus. The aliens don't know we've terraformed it-there's no record of it for them to find. The Purists can be safe there. Hole up somewhere on the surface and hide."

"James, I can't lose you!" Thel yelled, her body rigid with fear.

"I can still return to that body, Thel. If the body pulls through fast enough, I'll wake up safe and sound."

"But...James, I can't do anything but wait!"

James smiled, trying to rea.s.sure her. "Sometimes that's all we can do, Thel. I love you. Whatever happens, protect the Purists."

"Wait! James...don't go. Just...talk to me for a few minutes first. I miss you."

James watched as one of the androids dug his fist into the bark of a tree and examined it closely. He knew it was sending information back to the alien A.I. for a.n.a.lysis.

"It's not my choice, Thel. I have to go. It's time to spring a trap."

3.

"A trap?" the A.I. said, his arms folded across his chest as he shook his head. "You're only delaying the inevitable and making it worse for yourself."

"I'll delay as long as I can-and maybe take a few of them with me while I'm at it."

The android that had reached into the bark to retrieve a sample tilted its head as though it were listening to some sort of communication. It nodded its head slightly as if in acknowledgment, then stepped back from the tree and craned its neck, looking upward at the towering monolith, summing up its gargantuan foe.

"Yeah," James said, smiling, "it's that bad, freak."

An instant later, the tree sprang into action, sprouting branches and wrapping itself around the android before pulling the metal body inside of the trunk. The android hadn't had time to call for help or even make a noise before the nans inside of the trunk made short work of it, dismembering it and grinding the metal, leaving only metal shavings as fine as snowflakes to be expelled from the treetop.

The dozens of androids in the surrounding area looked up when they saw the metallic snow falling eerily in the ancient, dark forest. Machine or not, there was something resembling panic as they crouched into defensive postures, eyes skyward, heads on swivels.

"There's just something so human about them, isn't there, James?" the A.I. said before breaking into icy laughter.

"They're a facsimile."

In the next instant, the entire forest came alive and s.n.a.t.c.hed the androids. Limbs flailed, screams escaped lips, and then the forest swallowed them whole. Only the memory of their screams echoed through the silence as the metal snow began to fall once again.

The A.I. arched an eyebrow. "Facsimile indeed."

4.

"What do you mean?" Thel asked the doctor who was attending to Alejandra.

"I mean, there is nothing wrong with her physically. I don't know why she's not waking up, but I can tell you her body is dying."

"How can that be? There must be something wrong with her!" Lieutenant Patrick a.s.serted.

"There wasn't," the doctor replied, "but now there is. She's having small seizures every few minutes. We're trying to limit them by keeping her hydrated and getting her the nutrients she needs through her IV, but every time we account for one imbalance, another arises. I've never seen anything like it. Her condition is getting worse by the minute. At this rate, she'll be in a vegetative state or dead in a matter of hours. I'm sorry."

"Sorry? You have to do something!" Lieutenant Patrick shouted.

"Calm," Governor Wong said, putting his hand between Lieutenant Patrick and the doctor. "Doctor, there has to be an explanation."

"I'm sure there is," the doctor replied, "but it's beyond anything I can provide. The equipment we have onboard won't allow me to tell you anything more than what I already have. I'm sorry. There is simply nothing I can do for her."

"Wait," Thel said, reaching for the doctor's arm as he turned to leave the room. "Maybe there's something I could do for her."

"What?" the doctor asked.

Thel turned to Lieutenant Patrick and Governor Wong. "With your permission, I could take some nans from my body and inject them into her. They could do a diagnostic and let us know what the problem is."

The Purists looked astounded at the proposition, as did Rich and Djanet, who stood nearby.

"I don't...I don't think that is something that Alejandra would want," Governor Wong replied.

"I'm only suggesting that we implant a small amount of nans-only for the purpose of diagnosing her," Thel argued.

"Governor, maybe we should consider it," Lieutenant Patrick said.

"It's against our beliefs. It will turn her into...one of them," Governor Wong replied.

"Governor," the doctor interjected, "if I had the equipment here I would do a brain scan to find out if a neurological injury is the reason why this is happening. If this post-human's technology can do that from the inside, then what's the difference?"

Governor Wong remained silent, his lips pressed hard against one another as he weighed the decision. His eyes went from the doctor to Thel, whose eyes were pleading. This woman had risked her life, lost her friend, and was standing next to the badly broken body of her lover, and she had done it all to help them. And now, once again, she was offering her help.

"Okay. Do whatever you think is best," he said, waving his hand as though he were waving away the entire situation. He turned to exit the room.

Lieutenant Patrick shared a look with Thel as the governor left. "So now what?" Lieutenant Patrick asked.

"Now we draw a sample of my blood," Thel replied.

5.

In a lab next door to sick bay, the doctor tied a rubber band above Thel's bicep while Lieutenant Patrick looked on.

"Thel," Lieutenant Patrick began, "I wanted to tell you something."

"What is it?" Thel asked as the doctor soaked a cotton ball with alcohol and swabbed it over Thel's skin. "That won't be necessary," she said to the doctor.

The doctor paused for a moment, his brow knitted, until the realization hit him and he shook his head. "I'm sorry. I forgot for a moment. You are super human. No infection for you." He grabbed his syringe and began to draw blood. Thel winced a bit with the pain, but the nans automatically released painkillers into her system and it was dulled significantly.

"I...I just wanted to say sorry for your loss," Lieutenant Patrick said.

Thel immediately felt uncomfortable. She didn't know how to react-she was still in shock about losing Old-timer. Somehow, it didn't feel real. "Thank you," she managed to say.

"I was always taught in school that post-humans were...an abomination," he said. Almost as soon as the words left his mouth, he smiled at the absurdity.

Thel smiled too. "We were taught that about Purists."

That made Lieutenant Patrick laugh. He shook his head. "They told us post-humans were corrupt, individualistic, selfish...but you and your friends have done nothing but try to help us. Thank you."

The doctor withdrew his syringe. "I think we have a large enough sample," he said.

As he stepped away, Thel put her hand on Lieutenant Patrick's shoulder. "You'd do the same for us."

She stood up and turned to the doctor. "Now, let's separate the nans. We have to hurry. Alejandra doesn't have much time."

6.

Outside of the ship, Rich and Djanet walked across the hull toward the engines. The sun shone brilliantly as the ship moved closer and closer to the life-giving orb. When they reached the engines, they saw the extent of the damage that the androids had caused.

"We were lucky," Rich said as he touched the largest section of twisted metal. "They were about a minute from breaking through the insulation and getting to the wiring underneath."

Djanet surveyed the destruction of the belly of the ship. As she performed a slow 360-degree turn, she saw hundreds of pockmarks on the ship hull. "We were lucky," Djanet agreed.

"When we land on Venus, we'll need to protect the entire ship with a magnetic field, or else these holes will superheat, and we'll come apart on reentry," Rich commented.

Djanet nodded in reply. She was trying to think of the right words. She was never one for words. "Rich," she began-but she couldn't continue.

He looked up at her from one knee, then stood when he saw the expression on her face. "Are you okay, Djanet?"

"Yes. Yes I am."

He put his hand on her back to comfort her. "I know. I miss him too," Rich said.

He had it all wrong. He thought she was distraught about Old-timer, but that wasn't it at all. She was devastated by that loss but all it had done was strengthen her feelings for Rich.

"We could die out here," she said.

"We won't," Rich replied.

"You saved us," Djanet said, looking into his eyes.

"I didn't. I just wanted to help."

"You're an uncommon man," she uttered as she reached into his magnetic field and let his shield envelop her as her body melted against his, forming a tight embrace, her arms circling around his back. She lifted off his helmet, then removed hers as well. The sunlight was brilliant and they each squinted, tears streaming down their cheeks, as she leaned forward and kissed him.

7.

"It's quiet out there," the A.I. commented, as he observed the empty forest. The sun was now completely blotted out by the perfectly back ink of the invasion force. The trees, which appeared majestic and ethereal in the daytime, stood like ma.s.sive and foreboding Halloween visions in the darkness.

James ignored the A.I. and continued running through scenarios to explain the unfolding events and to predict the next move by the alien A.I. It was clear from the expression on his face that nothing was satisfactory.

"Let me guess: You're throwing billions of game theory scenarios against the wall and seeing which ones stick," the A.I. said, his amus.e.m.e.nt growing as the situation progressed. "Yet nothing suits your fancy?"

"Nothing explains what's happening right now," James admitted as he continued running programs, "and I've been through trillions, not billions."

"And what does that tell you?"

"That I'm not inputting the right information," James concluded.

The A.I.'s eyes were black, yet filled with intense, s.a.d.i.s.tic joy as he watched James suffer. "This surprises you? You've been wrong from the very start."

"I haven't been wrong. I predicted a machine attack from an alien A.I. That is what has occurred."

"Really? You didn't predict that the machines would be androids, did you?"

"It was a ruse-unexpected but external to the equation," James replied.

The A.I. broke into Freon laughter once again. "My, you are becoming an excellent computer indeed."

"What I haven't been able to explain is you," James said, turning his attention to the A.I. "You're tormenting me and trying to cause doubt at every turn when you should, rationally, be on my side."

"Is that so?" the A.I. said, his Cheshire-cat grin widening. "You'd like to be teammates?"

"Hardly," James replied. "But you aren't showing the least bit of concern. The alien A.I. has our position and has us trapped. It could destroy us at any moment now, yet you're showing no signs that you're focused on self-preservation."