The mayan prophecy (Timeriders # 8) Read Free Page B

flickered open and closed, looking to all intents and purposes like someone descending into a meditative state.
    ‘Be ready to jump on there, Bob,’ said Liam. ‘She’s lookin’ pretty twitchy already.’
    ‘I am ready.’
    ‘Becks … can you hear me? It’s Maddy.’
    Her eyes rolled back, cool grey pupils visible once more, locked on Maddy. ‘Yes, Maddy … I can hear you. And I see you.’
    ‘Good.’ She looked at the others, waiting anxiously, wondering how to continue. ‘So how are you?’
    ‘I am fine, Maddy.’
    ‘It’s been a while, since you and I have spoken.’
    ‘Yes. My internal CPU clock indicates that seven months have passed since we last spoke. There have been difficulties?’
    Maddy cocked a brow. ‘Oh, I guess you could say that. Quite a lot of things have been going on since we last spoke.’
    ‘Yes.’ Her eyes settled quickly on Rashim. ‘There is an unauthorized presence here, Maddy. Who is this man?’
    ‘Oh, he’s fine. He’s no trouble. Nothing to worry about. Introductions can wait till later.’
    ‘The name is Dr Rashim Anwar, in case you’re interested,’ he said, taking a step forward so she could see him more clearly.
    ‘Right, apparently introductions
can’t
wait,’ Maddy muttered impatiently. ‘Yes, this is Rashim. He’s one of our team now. And that yellow cube shuffling around over there in the corner is his robot, SpongeBubba.’
    Becks studied Rashim and the lab unit silently for a moment before finally nodding. ‘It is good to meet you.’
    ‘Important matters now, Becks. I need you to tell me what’s the last thing you remember.’
    ‘The last moment from which I have data is directly after you asked me to decode the manuscript.’
    ‘And tell me about that data. Elaborate.’
    Becks cocked her head. ‘You do not recall?’
    ‘I’m asking you to tell me.’
    ‘We have just discussed the decoded section of the document.’
    Maddy nodded slowly.
Just
discussed. Of course, for Becks the conversation would have been mere seconds ago – the very last time she’d conferred with her before locking up the partitionfor safekeeping. Since then it seemed like a lifetime’s worth of stuff had happened.
    ‘Yes … yes, I recall. I asked you about that. Can you remind me, Becks? Can you remind me what the message was in that document?’
    ‘I am sorry, as I have already just mentioned, although the message is meant for your eyes, Maddy, it is not meant for your eyes
yet
.’
    ‘Yet? You mean, “the end” … that was what you said, wasn’t it? You can’t tell me until it’s “the end”.’
    ‘Affirmative.’
    ‘The end of
what
, though? My life? The frikkin’ world?
The end of what?
’
    ‘You wish to know what “the end” is? What the specific condition is?’
    ‘Yes!’
    ‘The end condition identified in this message is the successful activation and infection cycle of a virus and the near-total extinction of human life. Specifically, an organic Von Neumann pathogen dubbed Kosong-ni after the city in which it first appeared. Ground zero. It will be released in the year 2070 and be responsible for killing 99.9999 per cent of the human population.’
    ‘You’re saying that only after that’s
actually happened
you can tell me?’
    ‘Correct.’
    ‘But that’s not going to happen for another one hundred and eighty-one years!’
    ‘Affirmative.’
    ‘But it already
has
happened,’ said Rashim. ‘From my point of view.’
    Becks’s eyes rested on him. ‘Please elaborate.’
    ‘I am from that time. Or I should say,
nearly
that time.’
    ‘I should clarify that,’ Maddy chipped in. ‘Rashim was part of a top-secret government programme called Exodus. It was a programme to reboot the past. A bunch of them wanted to go back to Ancient Rome. Rashim was their lead techy guy. They were at the point of leaving when Kosong-ni suddenly broke out. So, they had to accelerate their programme and rush their departure which –’ she