“They’re gonna open up the side door for us.”

“Won’t the cops trace your call?” Rangan asked.

“If they want you bad enough,” Earl said, nodding. “They’ll pull all the calls from all the houses.”

“What then?”

Miller shrugged. “My grandson, Jamie,” he said. “That stuff you made. The Nexus. It changed him. He and his daddy took it. He got so much better… Lookin’ you in the eye, listenin’, talkin’, huggin’.”

Rangan looked over at the farmer.

“Sons of bitches took him away. Got him locked up somewhere.”

Miller turned his head, returned Rangan’s gaze.

“Levi told me that you had a chance to get outa lockup. But you wouldn’t leave without the kids. That true?”

Rangan choked. He nodded. “Mr Miller… You’re grandson, Jamie…”

“I know he’s not one of the boys you got out, son,” Miller said. “But he coulda been.”

Miller’s phone buzzed. He looked down. Tapped it. Then took control of the car.

“Seems to me,” the farmer went on. “You took a bigger risk than I am.”

Rangan leaned back, not at all sure what to say. Earl drove them out of the alley, back into the wind, made the corner, and there was the back of the church. Then they were pulling up to a side door, and it was opening.

“Stay safe, son. Stay free. There’s more the Lord wants you to do.”

Rangan leaned over, despite the pain, and hugged Earl Miller. “You stay free too, Mr Miller. There’s more left for you to do too.”

And then the truck door opened, and Levi was there, and another man he didn’t recognize. The belt came off, and they helped him down from the truck. The first motion hurt. The second hurt worst. Then agony shoved itself through him as his body contorted in new ways. He collapsed onto the two men as they dragged him in through the door of the church.

Rangan was suddenly so deeply cold. His vision was growing so very dim.

Then the world receded into nothing at all.

9
Transit and Debriefing

Saturday 2040.11.03

Kade verified his last upload, then streamed the last of the files down from Shiva’s satellite constellation, through the plane’s directional link, and into the NexusOS in his mind. That was it. There was no more time. Either this was going to work or it wasn’t.

It has to work, he told himself. It will work.

Sam’s voice came through the plane’s cabin, amplified over the plane’s speakers, in Thai, for the kids. He could only parse some of what she said, but he understood enough. They were landing.

The plan they’d agreed on was going to be put to the test.