Zombies Vs. Aliens

Zombie Spring’s

Zombies Vs. Aliens

Sequel to Roland Thomas T4

Book 4

Version 1.0

Chris Okusako

Copyright Pending 2016

All rights reserved.

This novel is a work of fiction. Names, places, characters, and incidents are products of my imagination or are used fictitiously. Resemblance to actual persons living or dead is purely coincidental. Resemblance to actual events and places is wholly coincidental.

ISBN-10: 1536836435

ISBN-13: 978-1536836431

Other Books In The Series

DEDICATION

To my wonderful family. My wife and I are blessed.

To my grandchildren Wyatt and Aria and the one who is on the way: either Carson or Clementine

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Thanks to Shauna Okusako for proofreading my manuscript

and

Dan Aguilar for supplying the cover art.

Special thanks to my wife for watching our grandkids, Wyatt and Aria,

while I spent my time typing.

Forward

For Your Enjoyment, Please Read

Zombie Spring, Trooper Tyree, and Roland Thomas Type IV are the novels from which the book Zombies Vs. Aliens originates. For your best reading enjoyment, you should read Roland Thomas Type IV because my latest book is rooted strongly in the third book of the series. If you want to know more history about the characters and why my Zombies turned out the way they did, then read book one.

Zombies Vs. Aliens is the final sequel to the Zombie Spring series. Zombies Vs. Aliens follows the adventures of many of the characters from my earlier books. Mostly, though, this story is centered around Major Richard Collins and his fiancée, Claire. He died and arose as a Zombie in the first chapter of my first book, Zombie Spring. Before he died, he put a bullet in Claire’s head so that she would never have to suffer the torment of the Undead.

His personal story and hers come to light in this, the last book of the series. In addition to Major Collins and Claire, there are several alien characters that I believe will breathe new life into the series, and finally, there is the evolution of the Archon computer system from Book Three into a sentient entity with a sweet and loving nature.

Short Synopsis: Several hundred years into the future, the Zombie Apocalypse is over. The Living and the Undead coexist in near perfect harmony. For the most part, the Living are happy and content, but amongst the Undead or Edenite populace, there is a growing dissatisfaction. Many become victims of their own strange powers.

When space travel becomes a reality, Major Collins jumps at the chance to go off planet with the remnants of the Eden Brigade, the soldiers of I-Corps who died in the 21st Century and Arose to fight alongside humanity. The major, like Roland Thomas, and Ben Arnold, is a Type IV. His particular gift is that he is a powerful Empath. So powerful, in fact, that his fellow Zombies harbor fears about his mental stability and their own safety.

The Eden Brigade blasts off into space on their shakedown cruise and runs straight into a galactic war that threatens the destruction of the planet Earth. Fortunately for the Terrans, the USS Eden was built by soldiers and for soldiers over the course of a century and is as much a battleship as it ever was a vessel for exploration.

What will happen when the aliens meet the Undead on the field of battle? Will a sentient childlike computer make a difference? Who is the alien Watcher, Larissa? Why does Major Collins dress up like a chicken? Helen of Troy, Jack the Ripper, and Leonardo Da Vinci are linked to the original Zombie Apocalypse? Impossible—or is it?

Read on to find out.

Those who enjoy big battles have not been left out. Have the battery in your reader charged. Humor is a major component of this book along with Alien weddings and customs, weird science, dream sequences, mythology, ancient prophecy, the alien take on Earth’s past and the evolution of man, split personalities, and a tug-of-war with Death himself. You’ll find it all here in this most unusual Zombie/Sci-fi/Weird Science/Fantasy book.

Glossary of Terms

Ado- Merian for pilot.

Archon- Originally a complex computer system developed by Roland Thomas in Book III. Later, a female sentient being raised within a computer world, and when of age, loaded into the Archon computer system aboard the Dreadnaught USS Eden. Effectually, Archon and the ship are a single, powerful entity.

Awakened- See Riser and Risen. Can be used interchangeably. Zombies whose skills have been elevated.

Barney- Soldier slang for Zombie Types I, II, and III.

Cycle- A Satekian day.

Dea- Merian for God.

Dindin- Veq Satekian crude word for excrement.

Dolek- Merian equivalent for day.

Dukas- Merian for cards

Eden Brigade- The Arisen who fight on the side of the Living. Most of them are soldiers from I-Corps, killed in action, turned into a Zombie, and then Awakened.

Esch- Race of beings dedicated to the eradication of life. In death there is perfection.

Edenite- One that has Risen from an Undead or Zombie and is in an elevated physical and mental state. On the side of the Living.

Etan- A Merian week.

Fen- Incubator

Eugeans- Two classes of people on Mer: farmers and those bred for war. The Eugeans are elite test tube modified warriors.

Hastten- Junior officer in the Veq navy. The blier hastten is an XO. Jolo Hastten about the equivalent of a lieutenant commander.

Hopathi- Veq martial arts involving the eyestalks, tail, and hands.

Jasta- Merian bridge or operations center

Janya- Merian word synonymous for token.

Lulien- Merian tradition where in case of imminent death, the wife can choose her husband’s next mate from among her unmarried friends.

Mer- A planet of farmers at war with the Satekian Empire.

Merians- Inhabitants of Planet Mer. Look like Earthlings but are related to birds.

Nomsuman- Merian word for flag.

Ostendi- Merian social deviants, adept in science and industry.

The Risen- Zombies awakened into an elevated state or a higher level of consciousness. The Risen rise or Awake from the Undead, whereas Zombies and the Undead rise from the living who have perished.

Saka- Satekian for imbeciles

Satek- Home planet of the heavily industrialized, reptilian Veq.

Sichi- A kind of Satekian worm noted for its lack of speed.

Skava- A Satekian Imperial Agent working for the Emperor.

Skriven- Veq for Hell.

Squag- Satekian listening bug.

Take the Bite- When one of the Living voluntarily infects him or herself with the Zombie viral strain in the hopes of being reborn as an Edenite. Normally done after the children are raised and before the body ages and deteriorates.

Talin- Satekian ritual combat to determine the next Emperor.

Toopiel- An insect found on Mer.

TD- Soldier slang. The TD’d are Zombies permanently killed. Means Twice Dead. They died once when they lived and died again as a Zombie. They won’t be around for a third try.

T1, T2, T3- The earliest and deadliest of the Zombies. True Zombies, each with special characteristics.

Tooyat- year in Merian

Type IV- One of the Awakened that has powers beyond those of Zombies or Risers. Mentally and physically superior to both. The only kind of Zombie that can elevate or heal an Undead.

Veq- The inhabitants of the Satekian Empire. Small in stature, kind of a cross between a reptile, a kangaroo, and a slug.

Vivat Crescat Floreat- May it live, grow, and flourish. The motto of the Edenites.

Watchers- Beings of pure energy. They watch and try to protect all life. They try not to interfere, but there are rogues amongst them. Ancient beings that have been around since before the solar system was created.

Zeva- A long double edged blade that attaches to a Veq’s tail. Often used in ritual combat.

Zombie= Undead= Shambler= Walking Dead= IED= Recyc (1 step above)= Fred= Barney= Type I-III= Them= the Dead and more.

Zombie Brigade- The original name of the Eden Brigade.

Table of Contents

Prequel- Four Centuries Later

Chapter 1- Friend or Foe

Chapter 2- Aboard the USS Eden

Chapter 3- And a Do-Si-Do to you

Chapter 4- The Merian Gambit

Chapter 5- It Was the Monster Mash

Chapter 6- The Fairy Godmother

Chapter 7- Admiral Kull of Satek

Chapter 8- The Derelict

Chapter 9- Dream Me a Dream Come True

Chapter 10- New Arrivals

Chapter 11- Revelations

Chapter 12- Aboard the Lostris

Chapter 13- The Visitors

Chapter 14- The Trojan Horse

Chapter 15- War in Space

Chapter 16- Aftermath

Chapter 17- Epilog

Chapter 18- Interview With the Author

Four Centuries Later

Special Note to my readers: This section is reproduced from the 2015 version of the book ZS Roland Thomas Type IV. It was a late addition to the story so that I could transition from that book into the current book: ZS Zombies Vs. Aliens. Earlier versions do not have this last chapter so it is included here as a courtesy.

***

"Archon, activate AI for motion and facial expression. Close ups on hand held items. Compensate for volume and lighting.

I am Lieutenant General Roland Thomas, Commanding General of the Eden Brigade since its inception. Today’s date is March 16th, Year of Our Lord 2435.

A crystal clear voice that an angel would have envied interrupted the general’s impersonal reflections. The air shimmered and a stunningly attractive young woman appeared.

I am well aware of who you are, father. Must you be so impersonal? There was hurt in the sweet voice. We have been together for over a century. You raised me. You created my AI to be more human than machine. Can’t you at least ask me how I’ve been? Haven’t you missed me?

General Thomas held up his hand, ending the impassioned rebuke. He of all people should have been aware of Archon’s feelings because he designed her with all the attributes he admired most in others. To treat her as no more than an electronic recording device was cruel. She was so much more than that, endowed with a wonderful personality and the sum total of mankind’s knowledge. In her, Roland had almost bridged the gap between man and machine. In her was the daughter denied to himself and his wife because of the biological limitations of their Zombie heritage.

Thomas humbled himself.

I beg your pardon, Archon, but I have been under enormous pressure lately. The project that I have devoted the last forty-seven years of my life to is complete. This latest entry, slated for the Smithsonian, will be my last: a brief history of the events that happened near the end of the Zombie Wars to our present. It’s important. It’s…

Your last entry? You are leaving me? she accused.

Archon was distraught. Tears brimmed her eyes. The aura surrounding the matrix of her holographic image was a blackened veil and served to augment the depth of her feelings.

Roland hastened to explain.

Archon, I am leaving Earth, perhaps never to return, but I am taking you with me. Not only do I adore each and every one of your circuits, you are an absolute necessity for the success of my next mission. Now daughter,… at the risk of being abrupt, can we get back to business? I really am pressed for time.

The holo-image of Archon glowed and sparkled with a fairytale-like quality.

Thank you, father, and then she was gone.

"As I was about to say, let this brief archive show how the world evolved through the eyes of one who was there and was intimately involved in every aspect of the Zombie War and the peace that followed.

Cartwright Jones and I were wrong about how long the war between the Living and the Barney variety of the Undead would last…

By exactly 1.5 centuries, seven months, and three days, corrected Archon. I can be a little more precise if you desire it, daddy.

She was poking fun at him. Roland’s fingers massaged his eyes while his lips hinted at a smile. Archon was such an incorrigible imp.

What I desire is that you refrain from grandstanding and making any more comments until I finish. First me, then you, okay? Where was I? Oh yes…

The war never really ended. The big battles did, but the war still goes on in some isolated places. You remember the Japanese surrender at the end of World War II? How years later, Japanese soldiers kept turning up in the jungles of remote islands? Well, that’s how it is now. There aren’t many bad Zombies or Barneys left, but they pop up now and again but never in large numbers like they used to. Thankfully, those days are long past, but to get from there to where we are now was a long, hard struggle.

After the Second Battle of New Orleans, the Eden Brigade, sometimes referred to by the Living as the Brigade of the Dead, was strengthened by the addition of a million new recruits. These recruits, former Barneys held in thrall by Ben Arnold, were elevated to the Risen state, trained to fight, and sent into battle alongside I-Corps.

Our combined army of the Living and the Undead swept over North America like a tidal wave. It wasn’t until we got to South America that our troubles began. There were half a billion Zombies confronting us, south of the border. The terrain and the climate were daunting: the Andes Mountains, the rain forests, the freezing cold near the Straits of Magellan, and even the Amazon River made for a tough, grueling campaign.

The fighting lasted years, and then when we almost had everything under control, there was massive climate change. The detonation of the Czar Bomba over San Diego, the nukes China and Russia dropped on their own people, and heavy volcanic activity along the Pacific Ring of Fire should have caused global warming. Instead, we were hit with a winter the likes of which mankind has not seen since the Pleistocene Ice Age. Glaciers rose up and the polar icecaps extended their reach by hundreds of miles. That phenomena caused the level of the ocean to drop, uncovering the prehistoric land bridge between Alaska and Asia in the area known as the Bering Strait.

When that happened, two billion Walking Dead started to cross from East Asia into North America. Our forces split into two separate armies: one group to finish off South America and the other to nail the backdoor shut over the Bering Strait. I hate to say this, but the Zombies fought us to a standstill up north. As powerful as Edenite soldiers are, they could not overcome the enemy’s 4000 to 1 advantage in numbers.

We were forced to withdraw our troops. B-52 bombers nuked the land bridge across the Bering Strait into oblivion and ended the Zombie threat from the north.

That was a tough lesson for us because we found out the hard way that we would never have enough troops to overcome the combined Zombie populations of Europe, Africa, Asia, and Australia. Chris, the highest-ranking officer at the time, devised a long-range plan to win the war, and I stress the word long.

I’m sure you have heard or read about the 1000 ship armada that breached Fortress Europe during the allied invasion of Normandy during World War II. Well, Chris managed to dredge up two thousand ships for his four continent invasion.

After the Americas were secured, the Eden Brigade boarded ships, sailed to ports throughout Europe, Africa, Asia, and Australia in a lengthy series of hit and run raids that chewed up the Zombies a million at a time. When things got too hot and heavy for us in one theater of operations, we’d board our ships and sail for the next port and repeat the process. I do not exaggerate when I say we made over 4,000 opposed landings.

The fighting lasted many decades, but we finally thinned out Europe and then Asia, Africa and Australia to such an extent that the Barneys would never again be able to gather in numbers great enough to challenge even a company-sized unit of Edenites. As Archon stated earlier, the last big battle fought outside the Americas took place in the year 2185, almost 150 years after the Second Battle of New Orleans.

Once the fighting was over, the peace began.

Wait. Wait. How can you leave out the Eden Brigade’s life and death struggle in China: the battle against Chanming Songsham, a verifiable Type V. What about the reclamation of Major Richard Collins, the man who helped Lieutenant Cynthia Christopherson escape China with the Z-Vaccine? What about the military campaigns in Moscow, London, Paris, and Buenos Aires? The Never Never Land in the Australian Desert?

Archon was in high dudgeon. Those battles were her favorite bedtime stories, as seen through the eyes of Trooper Tyree, Cartwright Jones, Chris and many others. If this archive was headed to the Smithsonian, then her father and mother should get the credit they deserved. They all should.

Rollie tapped his watch and broke eye contact. He shrugged his shoulders as if to say that his contributions were of no matter. That was wrong and Archon knew it. Like many combat veterans she knew, her father spoke fondly about what others did in the war, but he rarely spoke of his own actions.

It’s a matter of time, young lady. The stories will eventually unfold. I can assure you of that. Perhaps I shall write a book about it some day. The Chanming Songsham episode would be compelling reading, but really, Archon, that stuff can wait. I’m only interested in giving a brief overview of what happened. Tempus fugit. Zero hour approaches. Archon, we will resume where I left off…

It was a peace like no other. Try to imagine 21st Century America with thirty-five thousand cities and built for a population of 300 million. After a war of near extinction, who was left to live in those cities?

Edenites don’t need cities or homes. Built as we are, wherever we happen to be is home. Except for very hot or very cold weather, we are climate independent. If it rains, for example, we can go dormant and retreat into our inner mind palaces or commune with others.

The point is, only the living are dependent on cities, and by the time the Zombie Wars were over, there were only about a million uninfected survivors remaining in the Americas. A million survivors for the whole country is 20,000 per state, a number so small that a single city the size of LA could have swallowed up the whole bunch in one gulp. Put in even simpler terms, there were only 28.5 people available to populate each American city or town.

Cartwright Jones concluded that most of the cities would have to be torn down and the land returned to nature. A majority of the buildings and houses would never be used, would deteriorate over time, and be a danger to the curious children who would visit the ruins on family outings and school field trips. Better to flatten anything that would not see use throughout the next century.

So a plan was devised. Superstructures, buildings like the One World Trade Center, that could easily weather the ravages of time, would be spared. Factories and necessary infrastructure were likewise to be spared, but all else had to go. Wasteful? Maybe, but by the time the country’s population was large enough to occupy all of the unused housing, something better would have come along anyway.

Except for the producers of food and other necessities, almost the entire population went to work removing useful items from abandoned stores and homes: tools, canned goods with a decent shelf life, and other implements of survivalist value. Then the city blocks were leveled, one after another, and cleared of debris.

Try to imagine. Almost 100% of the eligible working population was fully employed, and I speak for the Living and the Risen. Such purposeful employment made for a happy society, but the work was monstrously hard.

City destruction, clearance of debris, and then reseeding of the land was what made our country go for the next half-century. Sadly, those fifty years yielded thirty major cities returned to their wilderness state.

That changed in the year 2255 when a task force of scientists, including myself, developed the first plasma weapons. I want to be clear on this point. We didn’t create this weapon for war, but as a means of leveling large cities and incinerating millions of tons of debris in weeks instead of years.

Our first efforts, using plasma beams to vaporize old construction, was a mixed bag of tricks because we had almost no control over the power settings. Buildings that were fired upon not only vaporized, but so too did the ground fifty feet below and behind the target. All of this happening before the fastest of the Edenites could flip the off switch.

Over time, our controls got better. With Archon’s aid, our instrumentation was improved to such good effect that we were soon able to remove an obstacle of considerable proportions and not disturb the underlying strata by more than an inch.

In 2308, fifty-three years later, we made another big breakthrough in plasma technology. We were able to add a kinetic energy component to the weapon so that the beam’s ionized material was projected with sufficient momentum to cause impact damage to the target in addition to thermal damage. This new technology made it possible for us to instantly shatter brittle, dense materials such as concrete and then vaporize the rubble. Much of the credit for this invention goes to Archon…

Much of the credit? Only much? came the icy response. The sound of an angry foot beating out a tattoo on the floor punctuated the still air of the room.

Of course, said Roland. Your conversion of theory into mathematics coincides with the year I reinvented you as the world’s first self-aware, artificial intelligence system. Without me, there would have been no you, he teased.

Roland grinned fondly at Archon. He loved her no less than he would have loved her had she been his real flesh and blood daughter.

Besides, given the time, I could just as easily have figured out the necessary mathematics.

Not in your lifetime, she said with dripping sarcasm.

A holographic image of smirking lips bobbed up in front of the general’s face. The lips parted and an impertinent tongue protruded its full length.

A sly, contemplative smile emerged on Roland’s face.

Hmmm, maybe you should remain behind after all, Archon. You can help the sanitation department figure out new ways of using raw sewage. Waste not want not right, honey?

The holographic image vanished, and Roland continued his saga.

The only other noteworthy event that happened in the era of plasma beam development is that Chris and Buck got it in their heads to build a weapons grade plasma cannon and target a distant asteroid for destruction. Their stated goal surprised a lot of people. They wanted to build a planetary defense system, and by targeting distant objects moving at high speeds, they could test the cannon’s effectiveness and its accuracy.

Trooper Tyree backed them up saying, If we ever do have to go into combat, we have to remember that the enemy will not only shoot back, they will be in motion as well. A plasma weapon that can’t hit a moving target is about as useful as a trapdoor on a canoe.

Fine and well, except an attack by space invaders seemed a bit far-fetched to me. Personally I think Chris and Buck just wanted to do a little target practice and blow a few chunks of rock out of space, but Chris made a good point. He said what he always says about stuff that looks stupid now but might be invaluable later. He said, Rollie… you just never know. Buck backed him up like the good friend he is.

The net outcome was that the power and range of the original city-busting weapon was exponentially increased, and when hooked up with the Archon computer system, had pinpoint accuracy on distant stationary targets as well as objects moving at a constant speed and trajectory. Archon, Ben Arnold, and I took the next logical step and developed a predictability model for firing on objects using evasive tactics.

To exemplify the power and accuracy of this weapon, you need look no further than the moon. Our moon has a mega-crater named Tycho. It’s a big one as the prefix implies: 85 kilometers in diameter and 4.8 kilometers deep.

Roland expelled a long breath of air, a combination of vexation and fascination before he continued.

Inside Tycho are ten brand new craters that are three kilometers in diameter: the Bellew, Tyree, Okusako, and seven other names of friends and family. Three craters form the eyes and nose. The other seven form a broad curve that say to one and all, Have a happy day. I had to shut the weapon down before the three of them inflicted enough damage on the moon to affect the Earth’s lunar tides.

The gist of what I am saying in this long, circuitous, entertaining manner is that with the invention of plasma weapons, it wasn’t long before the rubble of a once mighty civilization was gone and the land returned to a state of nature not seen since 1775.

One would think that with the end of the war and the beautification of the country and the major advances in science, we would have entered a Renaissance period. That, in fact, did not happen until later. First we had to go through a kind of social malaise that affected both Edenites and the Living because suddenly, there was nothing to do except sit around and enjoy oneself.

People had too much time, too much wealth, and a kind of absolute freedom not found in the annals of time. I hate to say the word, but people became bitchy and began to devote themselves to all kinds of useless endeavors. There are endless examples, but one that touched a nerve in me was the Zombification fad.

The youthful part of the Living thought it was cool to be one of the Risen. The nation’s youths bleached their skin white and bought white contact lenses. In the hallways of high school campuses, the Zombie walk became the most popular means of transportation from one class to another. Worse, the young began to commit suicide for the glamor of becoming one of the Undead, opting to forgo a natural life of growing to adulthood, getting married, and having a family.

Numbers don’t lie. The Living were on the road to extinction, and if the Living became extinct, then so too would the Edenite population eventually follow suit. More on this sore topic later.

This happened during the Cartwright Jones administration. Jones had long since become an Edenite, and the old soldier wasn’t going to allow a silly fad to doom the human race. He handed down emergency legislation that said, and I paraphrase here, that under no circumstances, accident or otherwise, will a person under the age of eighteen be Awakened. The law seemed harsh, but it was not.

Aside from the danger to humanity’s existence, there was a second moral issue. If a child dies and joins the ranks of the Edenites as a baby or a young teen, is it right that they remain that way forever: to be a baby for all eternity? To be fifteen until the end of time? To never fully mature?

Kids tested the new edict, died, and were not brought back. Families grieved and were bitter, but the old general would not give an inch. Soon the nation’s youth gave up on the idea and went off in a new, less harmful direction.

That was just one of the social plagues to infect the United States. A second involved the Edenites who shared a similar problem with the Living: too much time on their hands and not enough to do. The minds of the Risen are both a blessing and a curse. The blessings are obvious but the curse is more subtle.

Too much of a good thing kills. Edenites began spending more and more time dwelling in their minds, communing with their spouses and sweethearts, living fictional lives with the children they dreamt up but could never have in the physical realm. From their viewpoint, why be bored? Why be childless when you can live the life you want to simply by retreating into the recesses of the mind?

Thousands of Edenites wandered into nature, especially the high mountains. They lay down, went to sleep, and lived out their fantasies. Those Undead never awakened because the insects and other scavengers consumed their bodies. I had the sad misfortune of finding a married couple in such a condition shortly before they passed over.

China and I were on a wilderness walk on the old John Muir Trail when we found them: a man and a woman. I could sense they were still sentient even in their state of advanced decay. I entered the mind of one and saw what transpired during his last moments of life.

A family sat on a beach in what must have been Hawaii, although the place might very well have been a figment of this man’s imagination. When I approached him, he greeted me cordially and introduced me to his wife and kids. I in turn introduced myself and asked him if my wife and I could stay and visit for a while. Amongst the Risen, it is the polite thing to do. The host can either agree or close the door to his mind. In our case, he was happy to see me, and a moment later when China appeared by my side, he was really happy to see her. Have I mentioned that China is striking in appearance?

I noticed right away that he and his wife shared a peculiar transparency to their self-image that I knew was a precursor to real death.

It won’t be long now, I thought with sadness.

Nice day, I began. You have to begin a conversation somewhere.

Oh beautiful, he returned. A gentle breeze ruffled his hair.

His name was William. I noticed an I-Corps tattoo on his arm and it saddened me to know I was going to lose a comrade.

His wife smiled at us. She was charming. Her name was Clementine.

I have never been so happy as I am now, she said. She hugged her children tight, and gave her eyes to the man she loved.

Even though she was fading fast, I could feel the intensity of her feelings. And then. . . she winked out. I felt the mental thread snap, and I knew she was gone. Only the kids were left. They looked so alive, held together by a father’s love. China was beside me trembling but smiling bravely for William’s sake. She knew as I did, what was about to happen next.

I wonder where Clem’s got to? William looked to where she had been sitting. He was slightly perplexed, more curious than anything else.

I remember you, he said. I served with Captain Hotop’s company in the Battle for LA. What a time we had. What a time YOU had. And he grinned at me with an infectious smile.

I felt terrible at what I was witnessing, but from a scientific standpoint, I was curious. I asked him, Do you feel okay, William? Has anything unusual happened to you lately?

William replied, Aside from your visit, nothing at all… Well now, that ain’t exactly true, I suppose. The kids are taking a lot more out of me than usual. Never been so tired in my life keeping up with the scamps, but they are worth it. So worth it!

He turned to walk away. Do me a favor, Colonel. Watch the kids for a sec. I gotta find the missus so she can help me keep an eye on them.

William did remember me. I was a bird colonel when I died in LA.

China put her arms around both kids’ waists and held them tight. The kids looked far better than their father did. They were solid and energetic, and then I realized why. China was aiding in the deception. She was using her mental energy to keep William’s children from slipping away before their father did. If I didn’t love her already, I would have loved her then.

William waved, took two steps, and vanished. The kids vanished. The dream world twisted into something unrecognizable, and I found myself returned to the physical world staring at the remains of two bodies. China was in my arms weeping. I cried too, and even in that, I was dissatisfied because the Risen cannot produce tears without artificial help.

Eaten alive by ants and they didn’t feel a thing. At least their last thoughts were happy ones. There are worse ways to go, I suppose.

China looked up at me her voice full of emotion. That was beautiful and horrible all at the same time. I don’t want that to ever be us, Rollie. Promise me you won’t let that happen. She buried her head in my chest and sobbed.

I promise, I said. My voice was choked with emotion.

Deep down though, I was torn by conflicting thoughts. The scope of making such a promise to China was paralyzing. Could I keep such a promise for all eternity? I mean, can a person live forever and be happy? Would there come a day when we would mutually agree to fade away? Although sad to watch, I had to admit that William and his wife had a wonderful death.

Suicide by happiness was only one tragedy plaguing the Edenite community. Another was the loss of group identity. We are the Risen, but at some point in our unlives we all wish we could be alive again as one of the Living. This desire to live again and have families manifested itself in strange ways, made stranger by recent technological developments.

I was approached by fellow Edenites who wondered if it was scientifically possible to create something that would make them look and feel more human: perhaps to one day make it possible for us to procreate? That was a tall order, but I decided to help because I like to keep busy, and I too was very interested in having children someday.

This, I like to call it dalliance into superficial cosmetics, inadvertently led to another invention that would change everyone’s lives forever and brought about a true Medical Renaissance.

Initially, the job was too much for me and the other scientists I contacted. We didn’t know where to begin? Some of us didn’t know if cosmetically improving the appearance of the Risen was worth the time and effort.

When the question was put to you, Archon, you not only found us a starting point, you offered us an end solution that would never have crossed my mind. Prior to the Zombie Apocalypse, important work was under way in nano technology. You, my gorgeous daughter, took what had already been done and crafted plans for the first nanobots: microscopic robots that could course through the bloodstream of the Living, constantly repairing damage at incredible speeds, removing malignancies, extending life, and helping the brain to work at its highest productive levels.

I am a genius. This is not a brag. It is fact. But once the cluster of super cells in my brain was injected with nanites, that was the moment in time I fully understood the science behind the medical nanobot. Thank you so much, Archon, for what you did for me and for all humankind.

Archon appeared. She touched her lips and moved her fingers toward Roland. Roland smiled and brought his fingers to the edge of her fingers where they briefly melded in a dazzling display of colors.

You’re welcome, she said.

Roland continued. The Living benefitted immensely from the nanobot revolution. People were smarter, lived longer, and all manner of diseases were marginalized. Viruses and bacteria had no defense against a nanite assault. The common cold and the flu were gone forever.

The Edenites are immune to all diseases. Therefore the nanites were injected directly into the cluster of cells that spreads its millions of hair-like tentacles throughout our brains, accessing lifeless tissue as though it was a series of bundled, interconnected flash memory chips.

Within days, the Risen who had undergone the treatment noticed a verifiable boost in mental function. A Twentieth Century analogy would be a man or woman perceiving the world in a VHS haze one day and waking up the next day to crystal clear Blu-ray.

Archon took the next logical step and designed nanobots that did their work on the outside of the skin. These exonanites were a blend. Some were programmed to impart skin and eye coloration. Others removed blemishes and growths. Edenites were one step closer to their dream of looking like living human beings.

The Living also benefitted from the presence of exonanites, in that shaving and hair trimming were no longer necessary to maintain one’s appearance. Nanites could be programmed for hair removal during the host’s sleeping hours.

We became a world where the physical appearance between the Dead and the Living was no longer an issue. People could look however they wanted: straight hair, kinky, or curly; white, black, blue, green, or any color skin imaginable was possible with nanites. Trooper Tyree, that soldier’s soldier, applied camouflaged exonanites to his body that would activate whenever he was under stress, and Archon is one step away from creating an invisonanite, where nanites from behind the body coordinate with those in front to present what appears to be a see through image. The hang-up so far is the refresh rate. A moving person searching for a man covered with invisonanites will detect slight ripples in the ether as the nanites attempt to stay in sync with the eyes of the hunter. Archon has more work to do.

"NAG. NAG. NAG."

Who would have thought it possible?

Certainly not you, you…

Behave yourself, said Roland.

I was happy for my people, for all the people, but uncomfortable just the same. Once the euphoria was over, what would be the next social crisis? By itself, two contrasting populations each clamoring for changes to their appearance was harmless, but all of the problems taken as a whole underlined a deeper-seated problem. People were restless, and restless, bored people have a tendency to find fault within themselves and with other people. So what would be the next snake to worm its way into Eden?

I met with President Cartwright Jones, Chris, Buck, Trooper Tyree, and Hettie. I told them of my concerns about the Living and the Dead, and I gave them my proposal: a project so vast and far reaching in its consequences that it would give the people of Earth a destiny: an outlet for their need to achieve, a reason not to stagnate. I gave them the stars.

The door opened and China walked in: gorgeous and buff as ever, a super soldier honed to battle by none other than Trooper Tyree. She walked up to Roland and linked an arm with his. She leaned against him enjoying his touch.

The big moment is almost here, she purred. In an hour, the hopes of an entire planet will culminate in the single push of a button.

Her face was aglow with excitement. The pride she had for her husband was evident in her eyes and the closeness she held him.

Hello Archon, said China. Are you and your daddy playing nice?

The Archon holograph reappeared. You are so lucky, Mom. I wish there were two of him, she confessed. Can’t you find someone just like him for me?

China felt a catch in her throat. What Archon was asking for could never be. Her daughter would never have a special someone. China hid her sadness behind an exquisite smile, seamlessly playing along with her daughter’s flight of fantasy, even though the truth was hurtful.

Of course, my dear. When the time comes, your Prince Charming will appear from nowhere and sweep you off your feet. But let me tell you a secret. You can do far better than someone like your dad.

Roland’s head made a slow turn. His jaw was thrust slightly forward.

If you ladies are through, I’d like to finish? Roland sounded flustered. He was flustered. The nanites instantly detected the emotional turbulence within their host, and a most beautiful blush adorned his chiseled face. Floozies, he mumbled.

Ahem… so my plan was approved: a plan to build an interstellar spaceship, the first of many to explore the depths of space, to find new worlds, to colonize, to seek new life-forms, to make pioneers of the entire populace, to…

China rapped Roland on the shoulder. I think we’ve heard all this before, over and over and over again.

A loud snore permeated the room.

Roland’s eyes blazed their indignation in an explosion of color. Even the flesh on his arms was turning cherry red, and there was absolutely nothing he could do about it.

ARCHON and the blankety-blank exonanites. Sometimes I wish…

Okay. Okay, remonstrated Roland. Message received. Moving on.

Forty-seven years later, that dream is a reality. Why so long? Two reasons.

This ship was the first of its kind. There were no blueprints to follow. Secondly, the size of the crew and the engines meant that this ship needed to be of gargantuan proportions.

Let me explain about the engines first. The antimatter interstellar drives were built and assembled on Earth, but its fuel will be produced on a distant asteroid or moon. In theory, we can manufacture and contain antimatter. The problem is the terrible risk involved.

A single gram of antimatter is three times more powerful than the atomic bomb detonated over Hiroshima. To power our ship to do what we want to do and go where we want to go, we need to manufacture 10,000 grams of the material, which is roughly twenty pounds. What if we had an accident? An accidental twenty-pound antimatter explosion on Earth might very well be an extinction event: the final nail in the coffin for mankind.

So you see the problem. We could build an engine that would theoretically work, but we couldn’t manufacture the fuel to run the engines until we were safely in space.

That meant a second, more conventional impulse engine needed to be built in order for us to lift off and break free of the Earth’s gravity. We went with nuclear power.

The size of the two engines, just by themselves, meant that the ship was destined to be enormous. Think how large an engine would have to be in order to propel a 1.5-mile long vehicle out of Earth’s gravitational field and into space.

The other reason for building such a large vessel was the size of the crew. Most of the crewmembers who signed up for the journey to the stars were former members of I-Corp. That army was 50,000 strong, and I do not exaggerate when I say that almost every one of the soldiers that survived the Zombie War volunteered to crew the ship.

No use trying to cram that many people onto an undersized ship. The vessel isn’t just 1.5 miles long. It also has enough depth and volume to swallow up a small city. That’s what we wanted for our people. We made a starship that is also a city.

That brings us to the command structure and armament. Every commander aboard the USS Eden, that’s the name of our ship, was a former general, excepting Buck Bellew, of course. Six commanders also served their country as Presidents of the United States. With a command structure like that, does anyone imagine that we would blast off into space unarmed?

The Eden will sport four plasma cannons affixed to four heavily armored turrets mounted on the ship’s body. Dual plasma cannons are mounted front and rear. There are also six nuclear missile silos and ten railguns.

During the construction Chris said, If the Zombie Wars taught us anything, it’s that where weapons are concerned, more and bigger is better.

With that many people aboard the Eden, two mammoth engines, and enough armament to turn a moon into dust, the ship’s length came in at 1.5 miles. The height is .5 miles, and this ship, at its widest point, is just short of one mile. It is a gargantuan marvel of technology: a self-sustaining city and military base.

Roland Thomas was wound up. He was just about to get into the nuts and bolts of the ship when a sharp knock at the door saved China and Archon from death by boredom.

Enter, called out Thomas.

Chris, Buck, Trooper, Hettie, and Cartwright Jones filed in. All of them had risen from the dead long ago, but with the nano treatment, it was impossible to tell. They were as energetic and youthful as they had always been, except for Jones who was elderly at the time of his passing and China, who favored the contrast between her raven black hair and her milky white Zombie eyes and deathly pale complexion.

Rollie, I hate to break this tea party up, but it’s time to fork our horses and giddap outta here. We are zero minus sixty minutes, drawled Buck.

An he’s a rarin’ to go, joked Hettie in her best Tyree speak.

It was then that Archon decided to play a joke on the assembled leadership. Uncle Buck had schooled her on the fine points of the art during her formative years.

The phrasing needed to be perfect. Her appearance must be enthusiastic and sincere.

The image of Archon appeared. Not for the first time did everyone note the resemblance between China and Archon. She seemed so sweet. A smile graced her lips, and her shocking violet eyes passed from one person to another until she had encompassed them all.

"Aunties and uncles, I too am a rarin’ to go, but. . . who is going to be in overall command of the Eden?"

Seven replies were instantly forthcoming.

I am, said each of the seven.

Surprise and chagrin flashed across the faces of the people in the room, and then began one of the loudest and longest and most memorable arguments of all time. Everybody was up to his or her neck in it except for Buck.

Somehow the situation seemed familiar to him. Yes, he wanted to be the one in charge, and he also wanted to spout off his long list of qualifications to anyone who would listen, but it felt like… it felt like he was being sucked in: suckered.

Doggone it.

Buck’s eyes popped wide open. He slowly swung around to stare at the image of Archon. Buck got it. He knew.

Archon looked back at him with the sweet look of innocence stamped on