by Ivan Svogor
When Hank and Jess arrived there, Jess immediately realized why this is a good choice for a private call. ”Hum”, she said. “Interesting, you come here often?”
Hank blushed a bit and said, “no, this is the place of business”.
“Business indeed, the oldest profession in the world”, confirmed Jess. “Alright, I can guess that it's a good place to remain anonymous”.
Jess and Hank sat down at one of the tables and ordered a drink, while Jess was busy trying to find out how to reach Dr. Quill. She was exploring the software offered by the communication equipment, however none of the systems that she was familiar with.
“I'm not sure if I will be able to find Dr. Quill on any of these networks”, said Jess.
“Well, you're not“, said Hank. He scrolled way down and opened one. This one is military-grade and it is used for communication drills. When you're at the Academy, they usually leave you somewhere, and you need to find your way to the city and set your extraction point through this network. It is anonymous and distributed, and very hard to trace, so all you need is one of the contact information of Dr. Quill.
“Hum, let's try then, the good old electronic mail”, said Jess. “Though nobody is hardly using it today, Dr. Quill pointed out on one occasion that for him this is still the most efficient way to communicate, because of its asynchronous nature, small and concise and infrequent messages”.
“OK, send him a message to join on this number”, said Hank and produced an image of 3D code that was necessary to access their private communication group. Jess did it as instructed, and wrote a message saying:
Dear Dr. Quill, please join us for a virtual call on this number, Jess!
Jess was about to send a message, but before that happened Hank saw it and stopped her hand as she was about to press the send button.
“No names Jess, we have been through this before”, said Hank. “Councilor Krueger may be tracking Dr. Quill’s emails for sure, he must not find out you are alive. You need to write the message in a way that only he will know it's you, otherwise he will ignore it”.
Alright said Jess, do you have any suggestions?
Hank said in delight, “How about, dear Silver Fox, let's talk on this number about our next passionate hug”. - as he was saying this, both of them burst into laughter.
Jess smacked Hank on the shoulder calling him a jerk.
“OK”, said Hank, “Just replace your name with, hug-buddy, how's that?” Hank started laughing again and Jess smacked him again. “There, it's done”, she said. “Let's just go home now that he will see this message soon”.
As time went by, Dr. Quill was not answering. There have been almost two hours now and Jess was becoming inpatient.
“I wonder why he isn't replying to our message. Do you think he has seen it?” - asked Hank.
“I don't really know”, said Jess, ”I know that he usually checks his messages once per day because he is really busy, but sending it this early should do the trick”.
Several hours have passed when finally Hank said, “alright, I think this is a dead-end”.
“At this point we need to rethink our strategy, maybe we can discuss it in the har?” - asked Jess. “It should be safer there than here”.
“Exactly my thoughts”, said Hank. “I’m getting hungry, so if you’re in for some street food, we can pick it up along the way and have it in one of the parks. Switching a har should also be a good move, just in case if someone managed to track us, that would make it harder for them”
“Alright Hank, I'm also pretty hungry”, said Jess, ”so we can get anything, I don't care too much”.
As they were walking towards the park, they grabbed some street food and found an empty bench near a har parking log. There weren’t many people in the park, as the day was turning from partly sunny to almost rainy.
“Where do we go from here?” - asked Jess.
“You said that Quill might know what's happening, so why don't we just visit him? But hum, I can do that myself, and since you’re already dead, you don’t need to come along.” - said Hank smilingly.
“I'm not sitting this one out, and this is a good idea actually”, said Jess. “As far as anyone is concerned they don't know about you. So you could go over to Dr. Quill, and ask him personally, or even bring him to Mrs. Potts's house”.
“I was there with you, so he should remember me”, said Hank. “And also, I can tell him that I'm aware of the data that he slipped in your pocket. OK, decided Hank. We are doing this, but you will need to stay in the har and wait. I suppose he can think of some excuse why he needs to leave the facility”.
At this time, it was already late afternoon, and just as they were finishing eating and planning for several different scenarios, they arrived at a har parking lot. The rain was pouring.
“I love it when it rains and I need to fly somewhere”, said Jess.
“Yes, I know”, said Hank, “it’s because you don’t like when it’s raining, but flying somewhere you start with the rain, then you go over the clouds and sooner than you know you are bathing in sunlight”.
“Exactly, I’m loving that feeling”, replied Jess enthusiastically. “Ha-ha, I also think that is pretty cool”, said Hank.
“You've really found the right job for yourself then”, said Jess smilingly.
Just when she finished the sentence, an overwhelming feeling of melancholy suddenly struck her. She doesn't know what to do with her life now. I don't know whether I want to continue with the chemistry work, she thought to herself. I don't know how this will end, and as far as everyone is concerned, I'm a dead chemist that doesn't exist anymore.
Chapter 18
The ride from the Cornat city to the Antarctic research facility was not that long. The trip was mostly silent, as Jess was mainly lost in her thoughts, figuring out the future moves and analyzing the past. Judging by her deep empty look to the distance, Hank realized that Jess needed some time with her thoughts, so he didn't want to be intrusive. As he started descending from the upper stratosphere, a surprising notification lit the navigation system.
“Wait what?” - he said, “what's this?”
Jess was confused at first, as if she just woke up, and then saw Hank's navigation map which showed a mostly empty ocean with a huge wave coming in. “Is this for real?” - asked Jess.
Hank pushed some buttons to verify whether this is not a sensory input problem, however, the on-board computer confirmed; all input systems running and healthy. Hank then turned on some news channels when both of them realized that the Antarctica research facility is almost completely gone, and there is a tsunami heading towards the southern shores of Africa.
“What the hell is happening?” - Jess snapped. “Did they destroy the entire Antarctica research facility now? Someone is going to notice this!” - shouted Jess.
Hank slowed down and focused on the news. He calmly said, “Jess, I believe there is no fear that someone is now sabotaging the entire facility. That would be a bit of a bigger bite to take. Look at the images”.
Jess then noticed that the research facility, what's left of it is intertwined with many crystalline daggers. Her chemistry immediately started speaking.
“They were performing the experiment but disregarded my latest numbers on how fast it can react. They probably tried to destroy it with some synthetic agents but it seems that they have agitated it to defend itself. However, this happened in the past, Dr. Quill should have known. I've given him my latest simulations”.
“Maybe he did know but didn't have influence over it”, said Hank. “What do you mean?” - asked Jess.
“You said that Dr. Quill is a very smart guy. So he probably did know and did understand, but then you told me that there was a visit from the councilor and that he was trying hard to discredit you. Maybe they have given this task to someone else and tied up Dr. Quill's hands. Do you think that idea flies?” - asked Hank.
“What an imagination”, said Jess. “But you mi
ght actually be right, and I know just a worm who would be glad to continue my work”.
“Considering how this looks, I think that, , is in the past tense now”, replied Hank.
* * *
In his office, councilor Krueger was watching several holo-screens that covered the accident at the Antarctica research facility. The content was very graphical, mostly consisting of aerial 3D video with an impressive level of detail. There were several dozens of deaths and the world was watching. This made Krueger very nervous.
As a member of the Council, councilor Krueger had augmentations connected to the brain-computer interface which allowed him to control some actuators around the stations and basic messaging. He received a message to open the door for the guest he has been expecting. Without a blink of an eye, the doors became transparent and then opened, as he continued watching the news. It was Ryad Cox along with Kent Garcia.
“Councilor Krueger, good evening”, greeted Garcia, while Cox just followed him and sat on the sofa behind him.
Krueger didn't budge, while he was listening to the newscaster:
“It seems that the tsunami is a consequence of the experiment that was performed at the Antarctic research facility. We still don't know the details on what exactly happened, but we know that there was some activity of the Rock and the volcano that it was resting on. This activity propagated beneath the seabed and caused the breaking of underground rocks along the fault. This sudden release of energy produced seismic waves which ultimately resulted in a tsunami. The most impacted were several islands in the Southern and Indian ocean, parts of South Africa, Madagascar and minor parts of Australia. The tsunami defense that is in place mostly prevented the catastrophe, however, we do have 27 reported deaths and mostly damages in human-made structures. Luckily, the lands impacted were protected well, but still, we will remember today as one of the biggest natural disasters in the past 50 years, resulting in dozens of people losing their lives. We moan together with their families and we hope that this crisis is resolved as soon as possible, as it is starting to show public concern in the affected area.”
Again, without movement, Krueger shut down all the screens, stood up to face Kent. He smacked his hand on the desk, screaming, “this is a fucking disaster! You are an amateur. You are all a bunch of amateurs! Did you hear that? Dozens of deaths, public concerns, and panic?! The Council had to schedule an emergency meeting to resolve those concerns”.
"Councilor Krueger I can explain", started Kent, but was suddenly stopped by the strong slap from behind. He fell to the side and looked back at Cox, who was smirking.
“There will be no interruptions when I’m speaking”, screamed councilor Krueger! Kent was now seriously concerned, he slowly stood up and faced councilor Krueger.
I thought we have made it clear how serious this situation was. What do you have to say for yourself? - asked councilor Krueger.
Kent was hesitant to say it, but somehow he managed to find the courage. “Councilor Krueger, we were rushing the experiments as per your request. I had the most qualified scientist working on this and we all have worked around the clock to make it work. I don't know what happened but I have all the experiment data. All the sensor readings, video footage, experiment parameters, even the data from the new sensor array Dr. Quill’s team invented, and everything is here, on this memory device”.
Councilor Krueger raised his eyebrows in surprise and asked, “so you have managed to run the experiment and record it with Dr. Quill’s sensor array?”
“Yes councilor”, confirmed Kent. “In fact, we have managed to destroy parts of the rock, like cutting with a hot knife through butter. The experiment was a huge success, but the impact of its consequence wasn't imaginable. At least not at this scale”.
“And all the data is here? No copies?” - asked councilor Krueger.
“Yes, councilor”, said Kent.
Councilor Krueger calmed down a bit, though he was still angry. “What else?” - he asked. “Who was aware of this test and who can point out that this entire emergency that we are dealing with is a result of the Rock experiment?”
“People will be able to assume this, as we heard, the media is already guessing it”, said Kent. “However, nobody has the exact parameters of the experiments and everything is within this data unit. Many of the people in the control room lost their lives, while Dr. Quill and a couple of his associates weren't even at the facility”.
“Mr. Cox”, said the councilor, “please escort Mr. Garcia back to Earth. It seems that we have nothing to discuss anymore”. Councilor turned towards Kent and said, “thank you Mr. Garcia, that would be all”. He sat down and turned on the displays to work on some charts and messages.
“But councilor, what do we do now?” - asked Kent worryingly. “What is the next step? Without the Antarctica research facility, I don't know what to do”.
Krueger ignored Kent’s questions, and after a moment Kent realized this and proceeded to exit.
His walk to the har port with Ryad was quiet, awkward, and borderline scary. They both entered the har, at which point Kent was a bit confused. “What's happening”, he asked in confusion.
Ryad Cox responded, “I'm flying you home, it's a quick ride from where we are currently, and councilor Krueger pointed out to me to escort you back. I intend to do that”.
Kent was very nervous at this point, but as they started to descend through the stratosphere and below, he was beginning to relax. He realized that Ryad was a man of few words, however a random radio station that was playing the 22nd century was on, and made the ride less scary.
Without warning, Ryad made a maneuver that made Kent hit his head against the windshield. He put the har on auto-hover and violently punched Kent in the head several times. Kent was now bleeding heavily and was unconscious. Ryad then took off Kent’s safety belt and opened the door. He tilted the har in such a way that he was able to kick Kent outside with his foot. He did so with a smirk on his face, and as Kent fell outside, he closed the door and headed back to the Councilor Station.
After a long free fall, several seconds before hitting the ocean, Kent gained consciousness. He didn't know where he was, he started moving erratically in panic. He realized what was happening he started desperately screaming as he hit the ocean.
* * *
The Council of Earth resided in a giant space station. All the councilors had their families and offices there, and essentially it was the place where all the big decisions and the will of the people were being executed. The people of Earth were discussing and debating the problems that were common for all people and decided on the directions to take for the public services.
The Council of Earth was an executive body that compiled all the decisions and navigated the public services towards a common goal. Services like research institutes, military, laws, and rules that were in place for everyone to obey, and respect others. This was the way that society was able to function. The Council had meetings at least twice per month to discuss the progress and decide whether some actions are necessary. Space was chosen as the perfect location. It was not located on Earth, not affiliated with any region, or continent, it was a joint effort of humanity and a neutral place. It could oversee Earth and it was the constant reminder to everyone how fragile this place was.
Because of the accident that happened at the Antarctica research facility, and because of the tsunami that resulted in a small number of deaths, on Earth, people became very concerned about how this could happen, and how was this not prevented. There are a lot of environment monitoring systems in place, and even with the inevitable tsunami that could have been even a result of the natural event, this should not happen.
In the large conference room, with a great round table, and a window overseeing Earth, a lot of people were being nervous and were preparing for the special session of the Council. The Council had a dozen members and each one was in charge of a certain subject of interest for Earth, like energy, environment, science, mili
tary, and so on. Councilor Krueger was in charge of the military, while councilor Frost was in charge of the environment.
The world was watching as the Council members assembled in the room. The councilors consisted of people of various ages but no one particularly young. They were wearing special dress-suits which were a trademark of the councilors, and on their shoulder, each one had a line that signified their particular role. Councilor Krueger had a red one, while councilor Frost had a green one, the energy councilor had the yellow one, the science councilor had the blue one, and so on. However, one councilor had a silver one, and this was the head councilor. He had no particular area, but he was in charge of the Council, his name was Sol Larsson.
“Dear people of Earth, dear councilors. We have gathered here due to the unfortunate event that resulted in the yet unknown number of deaths. In the name of the Council of Earth, I would like to offer my sincere apologies and to express condolences to the families that lost their loved ones in this event. I would like to assure everyone that we will put things back on track, investigate all details of this accident in the shortest time possible, and offer help to all the families that were affected.