In the Land of Giants - Book 2 of the Acropolis series

Chapter 2

  The convoy that returned to Orson's Island consisted of just under a dozen people. Spalding's people brought two buggies with three people in each, and two more people drove a large cargo truck with a wide flatbed. Everett and Nikki drove their jeep, and Spalding kept alongside the cargo truck on a grease-streaked dirt bike. They traveled at a surprisingly fast pace, considering the chugging engine of the big truck. What would have been a four-hour trip with a single vehicle was going to take them less than six with the entire convoy.

"He makes me nervous." Everett said, glancing over his shoulder at the dim headlights of the truck as they trundled down the highway. "He seems a little..."

"Crazy?" Nikki asked, her eyes scanning the fields to either side of them. "I noticed that." She shrugged. "Bear did warn us, though."

Everett shook his head. "Bear said he was 'eccentric'." Everett glanced backward again. "That guy seems legitimately dangerous."

Nikki frowned slightly. "I know what you mean. But didn't Bear say his people were some of the best fighters around?"

"He did." Everett admitted. "They are well-equipped, and seem disciplined."

"Crazy might be good, you know." Nikki said, smirking slightly. "What we're doing here is crazy. We're crossing the Rubicon here, Ev. I think it's lucky we've even got Bear and the others on our side."

Everett nodded. "I trust Bear."

The glow of lights from Orson's Island became visible on the horizon long before the night ended. This glow was more intense than usual these days, with all of the recent arrivals. As the convoy came down into Richland they could make out the island itself, a landmass only about a kilometer and a half long. Connected to the mainland by a small land bridge, it was heavily fortified at that end with high concrete walls and a large military base. Behind all of that was the rest of the island; homes, factories, farms, and the hydroelectric plant.

A recent addition were the improvised structures on the mainland, near the land bridge. Those people from other communities for whom there was no room on the island were gathered here, living in homes that were mostly little more than tents. There were fires glowing here and there, but few of the people could actually be seen. Those who weren't sleeping were likely on the base, a place of constant activity these days.

The convoy slowed as it came through the improvised housing. Nikki raised a hand to a group of people sitting around a burning barrel outside their reinforced tents as they passed. A few of them sat with small laptop computers in their laps, with cords connected to their wrists and the back of their heads. These were other biohackers; people like Nikki who had installed various pieces of cybernetics into their bodies. They had little in the way of material things – evidenced by their simple mobile canvas homes – with the sole exception of computers. They lived a minimalist life in order to afford the complex technology that went into their bodies. None went to the extent Nikki did; only one in the group had any LEDs, and his were only on his fingertips. The lights that Nikki had in her eyes, her hair, and her skin were purely decorative, and most people tended to hide their use of cybernetics. The practice had a shady reputation.

Nikki gave Everett a look of odd satisfaction as they passed the biohackers, and he rolled his eyes. Up until recently, Everett had refused to believe Nikki's claims that the practice was far more popular elsewhere than on Orson's Island, and she had been gleeful when this group from Pendleton had arrived to prove her right. She had been hopeful that these people would be able to speak to the Chitters the way that she could, but no one could. It wasn't for lack of trying; a few had made attempts, and one had fallen over with a splitting pain in his head. Nobody heard or saw anything with the clarity that Nikki did. She remained an enigma.