Barriers

by Patrick Skelton

  “And the team is trying to build another one?”

  “Yes. Desperately. With the information my mom was able to send us before her spacecraft blew.”

  “What exactly does it do?”

  “It’s complicated.”

  “Anything I can do in exchange for the team’s assistance with Ian?”

  “You’ve helped enough, Nathan, don’t you think?”

  Nathan took a deep breath. “I want to help save this mission, Ashlyn. My father said if the mission succeeds, then Ian and everyone trapped in the Sanctuaries would be saved. What did he mean by that?”

  “Here’s some information I just found out,” Ashlyn said. “Aidan knew Alkott’s men would follow you to the Mt. Rushmore ruins and he planned his death accordingly. The wedding ring he left behind had an amplified microphone and transmitter inside. Chairman Alkott stuffed it into his desk drawer and the team hoped they’d overhear a conversation about the location of the missile. They didn’t, but they did overhear a top secret passcode for Global Communications. They were able to hack in and open a channel long enough to retrieve detailed schematics from my mother, as well as instructions on how to build a makeshift Barrier wave analyzer that may or may not work.”

  Nathan wished this news made him feel better about his father’s sacrificial death, but given the current circumstances, he felt sick. “Work with me, Ashlyn,” he said. “What did dad mean when he said the Sanctuaries would be saved if the mission succeeded?”

  “Aidan was referring to Elliot’s plan to hijack the whole Barrier system.”

  “But how?”

  “Elliot Gareth wants to shake up the Rankcon Intergovernmental Partnership and make his Barrier technology available to everyone. Without the Barrier wave analyzer, the team has no way to detect the ripple signature of the Barrier over their outpost in Antarctica. Decrypting the ripple signature is essential in seizing the Barrier mainframe in Antarctica and granting Elliot control of the whole Barrier system from Ellis Three. Don’t ask me how this all works or how he’ll be able to do that, he just will. That’s all I know.”

  “So the mission is stalled?” he probed. He had to find some leverage, some way he could help her so they would help him.

  “Not just stalled—dead in the water,” Ashlyn said. “The makeshift analyzer is nowhere near completion and the only other way to detect Barrier waves is with the naked eye, although that’s not a very reliable method. Nobody left on the team has that rare ability, and the one man who did got cold feet and split yesterday. Binoculars and telescopes won’t work because of light displacement between amplified lenses. It can only be done with the naked eye. And to make matters worse, we’re confident Leland’s on to us. We have three days tops to pull this off.”

  Nathan mulled this over. “So, the team needs someone who can see Barrier ripples, correct?”

  “Yes, and they need someone fast.”

  “What if I told you I have that ability? Would the team agree to help Ian?”

  29

  The Blue Eel was one of many private lounges owned by Rankcon Corporation. It resided under a glass dome on top of Manhattan's tallest skyscraper and its patrons were high profile politicians who came by invitation only. Here they enjoyed the world's rarest collection of liquor and cigars. Leland’s most profitable deals had been struck here. Tonight, thirteen faces sucked on three-hundred-dollar stogies and talked with hushed voices around the room. Smoke rose around the tables and dissipated into muted blue lighting. The Great Gatsby was Leland’s favorite novel, and the décor of this venue was a salute to The Roaring Twenties. Holograms of jazz legends and flapper girls shared a small stage each evening.

  Louis Armstrong went to town on a trumpet solo as Leland sat alone with his back turned, enjoying an eighty-year-old bottle of Scotch and the view of Manhattan’s city lights. He despised every last person in the room, and would prefer to drink his alcohol in peace. At least he didn't have to make small talk with a single one of them tonight; they’d only been invited to be eyewitnesses.

  A waiter tapped on his shoulder. “Sir, Chairman Alkott has arrived.”

  “Bring him over,” Leland said, not turning around.

  “Of course, sir.”

  As Chairman Alkott entered, heads turned, followed by nods and waves. He took a seat beside Leland in front of a half-filled shot glass.

  Leland patted him on the back. “A drink for you, Chairman.”

  Chairman Alkott scrutinized the bottle. “And what do we have here?”

  “From my own personal stash of pre-flare Scotch. One of twenty-two left in the world.” Leland grabbed the bottle and topped off the chairman's shot glass, then added more to his own. They sat and admired the panorama of Manhattan. White lights from skyscrapers and streaking hover-rail trams illuminated the horizon like a circuit board.

  “Beautiful city, isn’t it?” Chairman Alkott said.

  “Indeed, Chairman. It reminds me of how far we’ve come since the first Barrier was erected over Manhattan forty years ago, and how men like you and I made it possible.”

  Leland lifted his shot glass. “A toast, Chairman.”

  Chairman Alkott raised his. “To what?”

  “To prosperity, of course.”

  “Of course.”

  They drank. Chairman Alkott finished his, then closed his eyes and exhaled deeply. “Finest Scotch that's ever touched my lips.”

  Leland poured another for each of them. “I invited you here today, Chairman, because I wanted to congratulate you…your marvelous handling of Black Ghost and your likelihood of becoming World Advisor in the upcoming elections.”

  Chairman Alkott formed a smug grin. “You’re too kind, Leland. None of this would have been possible without your help.”

  Leland rubbed the rim of his shot glass. “There's still a problem, Chairman. One that two men of similar tastes in drink can surely work out amicably.”

  “What problem?”

  “You didn't do exactly as I requested.”

  “I have no idea what you're talking about,” Chairman Alkott said. He remained still and poker-faced.

  “Oh, but I think you do, Chairman.”

  “What else can I possibly do, Leland? I eliminated Black Ghost and Aidan Gallagher. Crisis averted. We discussed this matter several days ago, remember? You told me Aidan’s death was an acceptable compromise.”

  Leland leaned closer. “We have not entirely averted a crisis, Chairman, not from my perspective. I asked you to locate Aidan Gallagher and bring him to me alive, in which case, you did not.”

  “You saw the drone footage, Leland. Zathcore’s top guy annihilated himself. Threat eliminated. It's time to get on with our lives.”

  “It’s time to get on with your life, you mean—now that Black Ghost is out of the picture and you’re the world’s savior.”

  “That was the plan, wasn’t it? Am I missing something?”

  Leland slammed his glass on the table. “I run the world, Chairman. Understand? You and the Intergovernmental Congress think you wear the pants, but you're sadly mistaken.”

  A few faces in the room turned and looked, then resumed their conversations.

  Chairman Alkott stood. “I should have known you’d drag me here from Chicago to berate me.” Sweat beads gathered on his forehead. He pulled at his collar.

  Leland dabbed at the corners of his mouth with a cloth napkin. “Feeling alright, Chairman?”

  “I don’t know. My throat is feeling a little tight all of a sudden.”

  “It's probably best if you sat back down.”

  Chairman Alkott did.

  Leland snapped his fingers and shouted across the room, “Bartender, lower the temperature by three degrees. The chairman is uncomfortable.”

  “Right away, sir.”

  “There's one more matter we should discuss, Chairman—for your benefit,” Leland said. “If you haven’t prepared your soul for the afterlife, you should do so now.”

  Chairman Alk
ott started to speak, but no words came out.

  “Speech goes first. No surprise there.” Leland poured more Scotch into his own glass and studied the chairman. “I slipped a tasteless poison into your glass before you entered. A little blend my chemists whipped up. It’s untraceable during the autopsy, and the declared cause of death will be cardiac arrest. My only regret is handing you two shots of my best Scotch.”

  Chairman Alkott started gasping for air. Sweat poured from his forehead.

  “Tomorrow the media will interview me and I'll state it was such a shame and rather ironic: The upstanding, handsome young politician who rose from obscurity and saved the world could not save himself. It appears the stress of the whole ordeal was too much for his heart.”

  Chairman Alkott's lips turned blue, eyes bulging.

  Leland leaned over and whispered, “I’m a man of integrity, Chairman, and I expect those whom I enter into arrangements with to have the same high standards. So, consider this meeting the official severing of our contract.”

  Chairman Alkott catapulted from his chair and flung his arms wildly, knocking the bottle of Scotch off the table. It shattered on the floor and all heads turned. He staggered and fell backward onto an empty table.

  Leland shouted for the bartender to call an ambulance. “I believe the chairman has had a heart attack,” he added.

  30

  Nathan and Sarah sat on the edge of their couch in silence, hands locked, waiting for the phone call that would confirm if their son was still alive. For the past four hours as the sun rose, they took turns praying for Ian, and for the person on Ashlyn’s team hacking Sanctuary Admin’s central database.

  Nathan shook his head at the clock on the wall, heart slamming against his chest like a jackhammer. “It’s 10:45. Ashlyn should have called by now.”

  Sarah squeezed his hand. “Don’t lose hope, Nathan. We don’t know the exact time Ian’s Beside Compassion was scheduled.”

  “Right.” He squeezed her hand back, her palm as clammy as his.

  They bowed their heads for another round of prayer.

  Forty minutes later, the phone chimed.

  Nathan dove for the receiver.

  “Congratulations,” Ashlyn said. “Ian is still alive.”

  His eyes watered and he struggled to say “thank you” without his voice cracking. He glanced at Sarah and she burst into tears, hand over her mouth.

  “But we’re not out of the woods yet, Nathan,” Ashlyn said.

  “What do you mean?”

  “Our hacker says it was a chore getting past Sanctuary Admin’s security parameters. It took him all night, and he was only able to buy Ian ten more days. The system is loaded with safeguards, and any more tampering would have raised red flags.”

  Nathan exhaled. “Tell your man I owe him my life.”

  “You can thank him yourself when you get to Antarctica,” Ashlyn said. “You need to leave immediately and you need to follow my instructions exactly.”

  “What about Sarah and my mother?”

  “They’ll be safer staying behind. Things might get dangerous down here, Nathan.”

  “Things might get dangerous here too. If Leland catches wind of what I’m doing, he might decide to hold my wife and mother hostage…or something worse.” He gave Sarah a worried look.

  “The team has a plan to protect your wife and mother while you’re gone.”

  Nathan listened with concern as Ashlyn gave him the rundown. Sarah, Nathan and his mother were to visit a dental office on the other side of Kansas City. There, a man named Jin-Soo would deactivate their LifeTracker chips and implant new ones. After that, his mother and wife would board the hover-rail with their new identities and exit at a solar field eighty miles out in the badlands. At the terminal, they would look for a burly man named Oscar who would lead them on a short trek to an abandoned fallout shelter.

  Ashlyn took a breath. “Still with me, Nathan?”

  “Yeah...I think.”

  “Your new LifeTracker chip will have your passport information uploaded.”

  “Under what name?”

  “You’ll find out.”

  “Can’t wait.”

  “After you leave the dental office, say goodbye to your wife and mother and head straight to the airport. No need to pack, the team will provide all you’ll need to survive in Antarctica. I’m sending over your flight information now. Check your SyncSheet.”

  Nathan rubbed his left temple. “How trustworthy is this Oscar fellow?”

  “I assure you, Nathan, your wife and mother will be in good hands while you’re away. Oscar might look like a thug, but he’s a good man.”

  “Good to know…I think.”

  “One more thing,” Ashlyn added. “We will only have a short window to pull this off by the time you get here, so you’d better be able to follow through on your end of the deal. The success of this entire mission hangs on your ability to spot Barrier ripples over McMurdo Station. Do you understand?”

  “Got it.”

  “If you fail, Ian and millions of innocent people will perish when the next flare hits the targeted Sanctuaries. This is our one shot at overthrowing the system before that happens, and we’ll never get this chance again. Ever.”

  The line went dead.

  “What did she say?” Sarah asked, eyes wide.

  “Start packing a suitcase. I need to call mom.”

  _____

  They were led to an examination room in the back of the dental office. Jin-Soo promised the procedure would be quick and relatively painless.

  “Will only experience a slight prick,” Jin-Soo said, placing their thumbs under a device resembling a staple gun, then squeezing a trigger. Their old LifeTracker chips would continue to feed the system false locations, he explained. This would fool the system in regards to when and where their identities had changed. When Nathan asked Jin-Soo why he was involved in this type of “side-work,” his response was: “Have two brothers trapped in Sanctuary 87. Mission must succeed.”

  They left the office twenty minutes later, three small suitcases in tow. They scanned the vicinity and made sure they weren’t being followed, then headed toward the hover-rail terminal a block away.

  His mother swiped her thumb at the L-Line kiosk and frowned. “Georgina Schnigles is my new name, are you serious?”

  “It’s only temporary, mom,” Nathan said.

  “Right,” she said. “Anything for my grandson.”

  “Me too,” Sarah added, swiping her thumb. “Francine Carlson. I kind of like the sound of it.”

  “Don’t get used to it,” Nathan added. “In a few days you’ll both be Gallaghers again, God willing, and we’ll have Ian back.”

  He glanced at his watch. “My flight leaves in an hour. I guess this is where I send my wife and mother on a tram to meet a strange man in the middle of nowhere.”

  Sarah put her arms around Nathan and pulled him close. “We’ll be fine, Nathan. I promise.”

  “I wish we were allowed to communicate,” Nathan said. “I swear, if anything happens to you two—”

  “It’s for everyone’s safety, Nathan, you know that. The whole point of doing this is so we won’t be tracked, remember?”

  He hugged Sarah and his mother at the same time, then watched them board and take a seat.

  “I love you,” he mouthed. Sarah flashed him a brave smile as the tram took off.

  31

  Nathan’s ears popped as the cargo jet descended. He opened his eyes and glanced out the only window in the bay. He had made it a point to take the seat near it. The ground below looked like a big white bed sheet that stretched on forever. He followed the plane’s shadow as it raced across the frozen tundra.

  They were finally here…Antarctica.

  He zipped his coat up to his chin and reached for a military-issue blanket strapped to the empty seat beside him, wrapping it around his legs. Twenty-three other passengers were scattered about the cargo bay around piles of crates, buck
led into perimeter-seats like parachute troopers. A few were maintenance workers who kept the bottom of the world functioning in the severest of conditions. Most were researchers and scientists.

  The pilot announced they were fifteen minutes from the Ice Runway—the main landing strip for the United States Antarctic Program since the 1950s. Nathan didn’t have a phobia of flying, but the thought of a jet landing on a sheet of ice at two hundred miles per hour turned his stomach.

  “First time’s a little nerve-wracking,” his new friend, Dustin, shouted over the engines, leaning across two empty seats and slapping Nathan’s shoulder. Dustin was a climatologist from British Columbia. At first glance, Dustin and his crew of six looked like they’d fit in with the roughnecks who assaulted Nathan in Sanctuary 87 the week before. But a few hours of conversation and card games proved Nathan wrong, especially about Dustin. He was a family man. A talker. A straight-shooter.

  Dustin’s team was heading to a Canadian outpost not far from Nathan’s. They were here to study the effects of the upcoming flare on what was left of the polar ice. The next coronal mass ejection from the sun was predicted to be the most extreme yet, Dustin reiterated, and the Barrier over McMurdo Station had never been put to the test with the anticipated levels of solar radiation. They were eager to analyze the outcome, but anxious about their own safety.

  So was Nathan, but for other reasons. And that’s why he needed all the allies he could get during his brief time here. There was no police force in Antarctica. No ambulances or hospitals or hover-rails. All you had were neighbors in nearby outposts from countries all over the world.

  A card game was a good way to make friends fast, so Nathan suggested a game of Texas Hold Em’ after a few hours in the air. He played Dustin and his team for three hours around a crate, and winnings were recorded on a spreadsheet. Nathan lost badly, as he usually did in games of chance, but he made it a point to be sportsmanlike. He owed Dustin two hundred dollars and told him to add it to his tab—they’d play a few more rounds on the ground at some point. Dustin liked that, smacked him on the back and said he’d hold him to it.