Athan never saw her again after that night and he had not let himself get close another woman since.
Athan raised his brow and looked thoughtful. “Shit.”
“Yes. That was my thought too.” Brad leaned forward and clasped his fingers. “I don’t know where she is, Athan. It could be anywhere in the world, but I do know that it was corporate funds that have been put towards whatever they are doing with the Indonesian girl.”
“Corporate? Why isn’t that a surprise? Everyone knows that the big companies run every government system on the planet, and it is government we are worried about here isn’t it?” Athan said as he paced in small circles.
“Well, this just seems a little more fresh than our usual evil corporate business. It goes deep, but it looks new as well. That’s where the names on your list come in, Athan. I’ve been looking at these people very closely and I don’t think their accidents were accidents.” Brad turned to pick up his electronic tablet from his desk, which happened to be on his left, next to a nearly empty scotch glass.
“Hang on.” Athan stopped his pacing and rubbed at his temples.
He became aware of the familiar throb of pain echoing across his brain again. His headache had dissipated a little for a while, but it was rushing back to greet him. The worst thing was that until very recently he hadn’t been getting headaches at all. It couldn’t have been from jumping from mind to mind, or staying in the subconscious space for extended periods of time, because he had spent a huge amount of time doing it since he discovered he had the ability.
Stupid brain.
He wandered into the kitchen to find the cupboard where he’d seen Belinda get the painkillers.
When he came back from the kitchen, Brad had the rest of the bottle of single malt in one hand and he held out a small filled glass in the other. “Here, you can wash them down with this.”
Athan swallowed the pills and looked over Brad’s shoulder to the tablet he was holding. “What about these names?”
“See for yourself.” Brad passed him the tablet with the four names of coma patients.
“I’ve done a little research, and these don’t look like random names to me.” Brad pointed to the first on the list. “David Li, he’s an expert in Social Psychology, Kendra Thompson is a big name working in the Department of Advertising Standards and Regulations.”
Athan muttered to himself as he tried to see any reason why they happened to be unconscious in a Ballarat hospital.
There had to be a reason.
“John Sage,” Brad continued. “Now he is a loud voice in the Fair Trade push, and very well respected. And lastly James Kallett; this guy took care of international corporate representation in Melbourne.”
“Why are some of these people in the Ballarat hospital? Ballarat is a country city, these people are big city Melbournites. Some of them aren’t even Australian… There is no reason for them to be here.” Athan shook his head and walked up to one of the newsfeeds.
“That, I do not know, but I totally agree with you. Information about their accidents isn’t on any major press articles online. I had to dig.” Brad shrugged. “It’s as if they don’t even exist.”
“But these are people that would be missed!” Athan said, spinning around.
“Yes. Which poses the question, Who would benefit from these people disappearing? My guess is that its not one person. This reminds me of a syndicate or a secret society, even a corporation.”
“You’re the genius…” Athan said shrugging.
“Have you woken them all?” Brad said crossing his arms.
“One left. James Kallett.”
“Look.” Brad looked up at Athan. “Don’t just rescue Mr Kallett. Get some answers from him. He is a small piece in a big puzzle and we can’t afford to leave any stones unturned.”
Athan agreed. “We’ve got a lot of ground to cover. I hope the rabbit hole isn’t too deep.”
Chapter 9
“AND THIS IS the dead puppy that your Dad and the neighbour had thought the dog ate right?” Athan asked. He wondered if the Kallet kid could hear his impatience. “And you just wanted to know how it worked, so you took that little Stanley knife and sliced it to bits. Am I getting close here?”
“What? Who are you?” little James stuttered through tears.
“I’m a…guardian angel. You are free to leave this place now, son. You have been forgiven for your sin.” Athan faked a caring smile.
“What?”
“I understand…and it’s not your fault. You are free,” Athan said, running out of speeches.
The boy stared out into space for a moment.
“I don’t need to be here now do I?” the boy muttered.
“That-a-boy, I knew you would understand.”
Things began to fade away.
He used the moment to slip out of the boy’s mind back into the hospital where the adult, James Kallett, lay in his bed in a private room.
Athan went to the window, and gazed out at the city of Ballarat. Its old red brick buildings gave the vista a coral look and the bustle of the traffic made the city look like a termite mound that had been kicked open.
Another dupe. Same as David Li.
A groan pulled Athan back to the room.
The comatose James Kallett, stirred as he came tumbling back to consciousness. Now that he was awake there would be precious little time till the nurses would be alerted, so Athan had to ask his questions quickly.
Come on, come on…
Kallett muttered as he tried to open his eyes in the fluorescent light.
“Hello, Mr Kallett. I know you probably don’t feel up to an interrogation right now, but there are some questions I need to ask you.”
James Kallett’s eyes fluttered and tried to focus. He looked around the room trying to get his bearings.
Athan didn’t have time for this; the nurses station would have been alerted by computer as soon as Mr Kallett’s condition changed.
“You may remember me…?” Athan asked, leaning over the bed.
“Where… Where am I?”
“You don’t remember how you got to the hospital?” Athan asked.
He shook his head, eyes blinking wildly.
“You were allegedly in a car accident,” Athan informed him.
“My dream,” he whispered in a raspy voice.
“Well…”
“…a man…in a suit. Dream…”
“I was the guy in your dream. I…used modern medical science to project a digital image of myself into your dream to wake you up Mr Kallett,” Athan lied with a slight smile.
“So I’m not crazy? It was an odd kind of dream,” James said as he examined his hands and various medical paraphernalia around the bed.
“Was it a memory, James?”
“It was a dream…” Kallett said, half listening.
“Was it based on a memory?”
“What?” Kallett looked a little shaken by the interrogation.
“Was any of that dream based on a memory? Had any of that happened to you in real life?” Athan felt time ticking away.
“Umm… No.” Kallett was still confused, but Athan didn’t have time to spell everything out.
“Are you sure that none of it was based on a memory from your childhood?”
Mr Kallett shook his head a sour expression. “Sorry doctor, it wasn’t a memory”
Athan nodded.
It was confirmed then; the dreamscapes were synthesized.
“And what about the car accident? Do you remember it? Or do you remember seeing anyone suspicious?” Athan urged.
James Kallett was checking his fingers and feet for feeling.
He couldn’t see any injuries.
“I… I don’t remember.” Kallett squinted in the light, giving his eyes a break. “I don’t remember a car or anyone.”
There was a pause that set Athan’s pulse thumping.
Foot steps in the hall.
Kallett’s eyes glazed as he searc
hed his memory. “I was at work…”
That was the best answer Athan was going to get.
“I’m sorry, but that’s all we have time for today.”
Athan stepped into James Kallett’s subconscious and vanished from the private room in the hospital leaving the man staring dumbly at the window where the he had been standing.
Athan emerged through a rippling doorway into a bright glowing haze in the organic landscape.
It was what resembled daylight in that place.
The mist was thin wisps, giving him better visibility across the plain, which was pockmarked with circular craters that looked to be breathing. This was always a strange place, no matter how far he went or how much he saw. There would always be something different, or things would change shape or shift out of, or into, the leathery ground.
***
Belinda’s mind wasn’t that far, maybe half a day’s walk, which would possibly be a single second in the physical world.
He had to navigate some ribcage-like ridges filled with soft porous organ-like lumps and he wasn’t very far into the rugged area, when the feeling of not being alone came over him.
It was the unpleasant smell or feeling of being watched or hunted. It was the same feeling he got in the presence of the black clad figure.
He climbed over some of the spongy porous outcroppings so he could reach the top of an emaciated ridge.
He could see over some of the bony masses, but couldn’t see the figure.
The feeling was so strong.
In a ravine a few hundred metres away there was movement, something dark, which had to be the pursuer.
He climbed down the ridge, and jumped onto the spongy ridge and slid off onto the ground.
He began running to where the figure was.
He needed to confront it and see who or what it is.
There it was.
As he approached the figure began to come closer as well. Its white face tilted to the side, curiously.
The fleshy gully was a little soft under his feet and slowed his movement to a jog, but he got close enough that he could feel the presence all around him.
As Athan pushed past a final skeletal outcrop he found he was approaching the dark spectre and there was only flat ground dividing them.
It was moving toward him at a casual pace.
Very quickly they were face to face on an open plane of leathery skin. The figure was the same height as Athan, in a long black hooded cloak like a monk. It wore a white mask with tiny eye slots, concealing any features.
It stood still in front of Athan, examining him.
They were both silent as they stood facing each other, one a dark reflection of the other.
The air around them felt charged.
Athan had a prickling feeling in his fingertips.
What’s happening?
Rubbing his thumb and fingers together he almost could feel the static.
There was a tension like two magnets repelling and attracting at the same time. Athan almost felt a little dizzy.
“We can’t stare at each other forever.” Athan crossed his arms. “Tell me who you are.”
The creature pointed a black-gloved hand at Athan. “I know who you are, Sleepwalker.” The voice belonged to a man.
“You know me? You speak English?” Athan stepped back cautiously.
The being crossed its arms in a very human fashion.
The white mask remained still and expressionless. Like a hockey mask half concealed by the hood.
Athan had been coming to this place for years, it was like his home and now a masked man was standing in front of him. He felt the heat rise in his cheeks with anger. Athan stepped forward extending an accusing finger.
“This is my space. Tell me who you are! Why are you here?”
The being’s head tilted slightly, amused.
“You need to speak.” Athan hissed through his teeth.
“Why?”
“Who are you? And how did you get to this place? I thought I was the only one who could get here.”
It shook its head. “I don’t answer to you, Sleepwalker, or to anyone else. How about I ask you, how you are here? What are you doing in this place?”
“Me?” Athan shook his head. “This is my…”
“Your what? You think this place belongs to you? That’s really interesting, because I thought this place was mine.” The cloaked man stared expressionless.
“You are a Post-Human, like me, aren’t you? Why haven’t I seen you before? And your ability must be the same as mine.” Athan stepped closer. “I thought all Post-Human abilities were different…”
The man threw a punch at Athan’s face and knocked him to the ground.
Athan collapsed with a dull thump, shocked to find himself so vulnerable.
He touched his stinging face and found that his lip was bleeding.
“You just don’t shut up.” The cloaked figure shook his head and flexed the fingers in his black glove.
It hit him again in the face.
The man was fast. Really fast.
Athan sat on the ground stunned.
“I have had a very long day and I don’t have time for your pointless questions. But I am glad that I have bumped into you.” The cloaked figure stepped closer and Athan shuffled back. “You see, Sleepwalker, I’ve just solved a little dilemma I’ve been having. It’s you isn’t it?”
Athan looked around for something to defend himself with.
“You are the one, aren’t you? Undoing all of our hard work! You meddling little bastard.”
It threw another punch, but Athan knocked it aside.
“That’s about right. Cat got your tongue, eh? We’ve been hunting you, you know? You’re the one who has been waking up all those stiffs. It’s been an annoyance to say the least, but I’ve had people take care of it.”
“What? The coma patients?” Athan was still tongue-tied.
The cloaked man nodded. “It makes sense though, that you are the one responsible. I’d always wondered what you were capable of. And I guess it was only a matter of time before you showed your face again. But meddling with our affairs? You’re out of your depth, my friend. You are throwing yourself in front the semi-trailer of progress.” He chuckled. “What I’m telling you is that you are going to get crushed. And soon you Post-Humans will be nothing but genetic defects that we will identify and abort before you even get a chance to become an arse itch.” The man laughed behind the mask.
Athan shuffled back on his hands and the cloaked man stepped closer. “I’m going to enjoy killing you. I wonder what happens when you die here?”
The being flexed his fingers in the black gloves.
“Who the hell are you?” Athan muttered through a bruised mouth as he shuffled back further.
There was a door forming, he could feel it, just a metre or so out of reach.
It was as if the landscape could feel his need for an escape and was making the trap door in the ground behind him to save his life.
He was almost there.
The being stiffened, its head tilting to the side as if had become aware of something.
It could feel the door forming as well.
“Oh, you think you are leaving? Not till we are done. You will rot here. We can’t have you doing any more damage,” he snarled.
“What do you…” Athan slipped back into the void, before he could finish his question and was dropped out into a busy street behind a mother of three pushing a pram.
He looked about frantically; he couldn’t run here, he had to jump back into another mind.
The being was following, he could feel it.
He leaped clumsily into a tattooed man in a black jacket, probably a biker, but a mind is a door, he couldn’t afford to be fussy.
Stepping out of a lattice of greenish bone in the dark, he looked about and saw no one.
He felt for the nearest exit.
Several metres away, on the ground at the foot of an edifi
ce that looked like a bent arm he sensed another door.
He jogged over and looked back to where he had stepped through.
The black clad figure had just come through and was looking about.
“Sleepwalker!”
Athan dropped into the new doorway, hoping that the creature couldn’t tell which door he’d entered.
Fluorescent light.
He found himself tripping out in front of a teenage boy staring at the front covers of women’s health magazines in the supermarket, hoping his mother didn’t see. Athan, tumbling out of nowhere startled them both.
The mother gabbed her son by the collar and pulled him away from the man, who was dusting himself off and getting his bearings.
“Drugs,” the woman hissed to boy.
Athan bolted down the aisle to the check-outs and jumped into a young woman unloading her trolley.
He stepped out of a ravine wall that looked like it was made from a series of vertebral columns.
Need another door.
The land around him was ridged and sharp. Spiny hedges that looked like deer’s antlers confronted him. He looked about in a panic for another doorway amongst coral-like forest.
There!
A door only a few metres away.
He got to it and dived through.
He hoped the figure in black couldn’t follow him; he couldn’t risk using Belinda’s mind and leading the being straight to them. Not until they knew more about him, or it.
Though, Brad at least had a gun.
He was beginning to tire.
He couldn’t keep it up for too much longer.
Athan found himself on the asphalt footpath that surrounded Lake Wendouree in the centre of Ballarat. He was lying on the ground behind a young man who was running the lake’s perimeter, already disappearing around the bend.
Athan got up, dusted himself off and began to run in the opposite direction, towards two young women who were doing their morning exercise.
Either one would do.
He was back in the organic world.
He sat with relief on a skeletal precipice overlooking an ocean of soft skin that was slowly pulling itself taut, before loosening.
The Post-Humans (Book 1): The League Page 10