Part 38 (1/2)
”Yes.”
”What for?” she asked. ”I could fly it myself and lock you out of the controls.”
Thomas feared to hope. ”Then I don't understand.”
”You have infiltrated my mesh systems.” She pushed her hand through her hair, mussing it around her
shoulders. ”The more my code evolves, the more it reproduces, propagates, and evolves sections pertaining to you. I can't get rid of them; I would have to delete far too much of myself in the process.”
He didn't know what to say. ”What are you trying to tell me?”
”With all this new code, I can't put you out of my life. I believe humans refer to this type of disturbance as 'devotion.' ”
A smile was beginning inside of Thomas. ”Is that an EI way of saying you're falling in love with me?”
”I don't know. However, that would be the logical conclusion.”
”Very logical.” He didn't see why such a blunt and unromantic declaration felt so incredibly good, but it
did. He finally did what he had wanted to since their first good-bye on the beach, which was pull her into his arms and kiss her, good and hard.
After several moments, when they paused, she smiled slightly. ”I've a lot of coding about that, too.”
”About kissing me?”
”And other things.” She put her palms on his shoulders and pushed him away. ”I'm changing the options.”
He stiffened, suddenly wary. ”How?”
”We go in the Banshee. You pilot. Lock me out if you don't trust me. I'll input the flight plan for Brazil.
It's your choice: go there or go home. You won't have to decide right away. The Banshee can hide from
your military's best detectors. You can make your choice practically up to the last moment: home or
Brazil. Either way, I come with you.”
h.e.l.l and d.a.m.nation. Just when he thought he had resisted the temptation and could walk away, she changed the game. He had feared if he went back to say good-bye, he might never leave. Now she wanted him to spend hours in the Banshee with her, contemplating how easy it would be to change his plans and accept what she offered. He couldn't refuse to take her with him, not if he had the chance to bring her back to the Air Force. Regardless of their conflicted, confusing relations.h.i.+p, he should jump at the chance. But if he spent the next few hours with her, he didn't know if he would be strong enough, in the end, to resist the Faustian choice she offered.
He spoke softly. ”You're killing me.”
Her voice was strained. ”If you aren't sure what you want, then let me off at the private airfield where we
got the Banshee. You don't have to come with me today or tomorrow or next year. If you don't turn me in to your authorities, the android will still be there for you no matter when you decide to come to me.”
He wanted to groan. ”I can't let you go, not if it's within my power to bring you in. You're too important.”
”I would rather be free.” She set her palm against his chest. ”As would you.”
Thomas held her hand against his chest. ”I can't choose.”
”When the time comes to decide,” she said, ”you will.”
Yes. He would. But it was no longer a clean choice. Letting her go and bringing her in were both wrong.
Asylum had seemed like a good idea when he first thought of it, but the more he and Alpha had debated, the more he doubted it. If they decided to take her apart despite his protests, he couldn't stop them. If he let her go, he was freeing a potentially devastating threat. He wanted to believe she wouldn't seek harm with Charon's empire, but he didn't have the right to gamble on that. Either he had to sacrifice Alpha or he had to sacrifice the principles that defined his life.
No matter what he did, he would hate himself for it.
* * * Rain pounded the Banshee as it arrowed through the darkness in the hours before dawn. Lightning cracked far too close to the jet, spectacular in its jagged brilliance. Thunder roared. Thomas had flown in bad weather before, but never like this. It demanded his attention; even an AI as advanced as the Banshee's couldn't make the decisions necessary to fly on instruments in weather this brutal.
The jet's stealth capability was every bit as good as Alpha had claimed. He was approaching the Eastern
Seaboard of North America, and no one had picked them up yet, neither a civilian nor military air command. He still didn't know what he would do: let Alpha off so she could disappear, bring her back with him, or return to Charon's secret airfield to refuel for a trip to Brazil.
They were precariously low on fuel; no matter what he decided, they had to land soon. It wouldn't be long before he entered the air defense interdiction area that protected Was.h.i.+ngton, D.C. If he kept this course, he had to contact the authorities soon; otherwise, he risked having his own people shoot him down.
He had to decide: divert or go home.
Alpha was in the backseat, a silent, unforgettable presence. She had hardly spoken throughout the flight.