by RM Brewer
"Will have dire consequences, I think you mean. By the time the operation is complete, portions of California will lie under about fifty feet of seawater, as will much of the coasts of the United States and Europe. You've heard of saltation, right?"
"Yes, I do recall mention of that from an introductory geology class. Sand vibrates so intensely that the particles are in constant motion. It takes on the properties of a fluid and anything sitting on top of it sinks. But, refresh my memory, if you would. How does that apply here?"
"The geologists working for my wife say the sand under coastal areas where the explosions are set to occur will do just that, pulling portions of land into an undersea vortex."
Isaiah pictured himself sinking in the sand as Evan's voice faded away. He realized the discussion was pushing him toward exhaustion.
"Catastrophic enough for marine life, but the ocean will get a second trouncing upon as infrastructure is destroyed. You know, all those nuclear power plants, oilrigs, sewerage plants, and underground cables humans ignorantly placed along coastlines and underneath the ocean? Those will be lost, too. Imagine the consequences. Oil and nuclear waste leaving everything barren for a millennium. Yes, we're a selfish brood, aren't we? Sacrifice everything as the cost for a new residence, and then colonize our new home like some sort of prolific virus. Maybe it would be better if we humans didn't make it out of here, this time."
They sped along the highway, Isaiah’s foot now weighing heavily on the gas. While he wasn’t sure what parts of the story could be believed, he did fear the people Evan spoke of could create environmental catastrophes on a massive scale. Isaiah didn't feel like he needed to buy Evan's entire story to feel threatened by what Gypsum could do. "So, how many people are in this? I mean, it seems very unlikely that more than a handful could be involved without their operation being discovered."
"My estimation is about seventy-five thousand."
Isaiah couldn’t speak for a few seconds. He tried to wrap his brain around that number, but failed. "What? Seventy-five thousand people? All involved in one conspiracy? You must be joking. How could that be possible?"
"Delusion is part of our culture, you know. It's been practiced by the human race on a mass scale for all of eternity. Religions couldn’t exist without it. Wars couldn’t be started in its absence. Virtually every major event or conflict in human history contains a component of mass delusion. What I'm trying to say is, these people think they're part of the answer, not part of the problem."
"How could you possibly keep seventy-five thousand people on the same page? That many people spread – all over the world, as you said – it would be impossible." Isaiah felt torn in half. Either Evan was telling him a very tall tale or the entire planet was a ticking time bomb.
"Well, they haven't all been on the same page at the same time. Many of them don't even know what they're participants in. Some know only small parts of the plan and their role. Others know more, but think they've been selected for perpetuation of our species. And, to avoid dissent, they've taken precautions," Evan said.
"What do you mean, precautions? And, where exactly are these people?"
"They’re under us right now … and they can’t leave. I’ll tell you more when we get down there. We're almost at our first destination."
Chapter 24
Isaiah pulled the car to a stop in front of an unmarked office building in a lonely-looking industrial park. He’d been driving for over four hours and was mentally exhausted from trying to take in what Jodie’s father was telling him. Believing Evan’s story was difficult. Not believing him could prove to be the last bad decision he ever made. In the end, he reluctantly agreed on a plan to infiltrate the underground facilities.
According to Evan, the lives of tens of thousands of people were in jeopardy, below the earth. If he and Evan weren’t successful, the lives of everything above the ground, human or not, would be lost. Isaiah didn’t like their odds and felt the gravity of their situation burdening his thoughts.
"What is this place, Evan?"
"It’s where some of the staging was done. Parts and supplies were shipped to buildings like this all along the tunnel routes. To most people, this looks like just another office building or warehouse. But if you examined the financial records closely, you would see that they’re all registered to the Gypsum Corporation, or one of its affiliates or subsidiaries. Let’s go inside, shall we?"
Isaiah thought of his records search, finding company after company all hidden under the Gypsum Corporation. All receiving payments from the federal government. All part of the plan.
Isaiah and Evan got out of the car and walked to the door. Evan took a key card from his wallet and swiped it over the keypad. The pad emitted an almost inaudible clicking noise and Evan pulled the door open. "This will only take a moment. There’s some security here we need to get through before we move on."
Isaiah stepped inside the foyer and watched as Evan entered a series of codes on a keypad inside the door. A camera panned back and forth over them and he looked down, trying to obscure his face.
"Too late for that," Evan said. "The cameras already had a good look at us as soon as we drove in the parking lot. No need to worry, though. I don’t think anybody’s manning them, anymore."
"You think they all moved further underground by now? If that’s what you’re saying, they’re getting ready to start their plan and we’re running out of time, aren’t we?"
"Yes, that’s what I’m saying, but some things have to happen before the signal can form. You remember me telling you about the sequence needing to start at the Bermuda Triangle?"
Isaiah nodded, unable to do anything other than try to comprehend the story he was being told.
"We'll all be aware of the commencement of that sequence because of the massive tsunami it will generate. Just wait until every religious faction on the planet starts coming out of the woodwork, screaming about the apocalypse and the end of days. Then, you’ll know we’re really running out of time. We’ll have about eight hours from the time it starts before anything is initiated in California."
Isaiah followed Evan to a bank of elevators and watched as he used a key to open one of the doors. After entering the elevator car, Evan reached inside his pocket and pulled out a zip lock bag. He took out a piece of thin, folded plastic film and carefully spread it on an illuminated panel on the wall. "This is where things might start to get a bit sketchy."
"You mean, sketchier than they already are, don’t you?" Isaiah couldn’t think of being in a stranger situation.
"I’m applying my ex-wife’s palm print to the reader. If she’s done that at another remote location recently, this one won’t work. But, if I remember correctly, she was so arrogant that she ignored her own safety rules, always expecting someone else to open even the mechanical doors for her." The door to the elevator car made a swooshing sound as it closed. A metal panel in the wall slid upwards, revealing a hidden panel with a keypad and blackened screen. "Ah. Some things never change."
Evan punched in a code. The screen responded by emitting a green light and Isaiah could feel his body lift slightly as the car started dropping.
"Here we go. When we get to the bottom, the door will open automatically. I’m hoping we’ll enter unnoticed, but if anyone comes up to us or questions us, let me do the talking. If things don’t go well, we’ll probably end up right where we need to be anyway, in the clutches of my wonderful ex-wife. I don’t have to tell you that chances of us getting out of there alive are pretty slim, do I?"
"No, I guess that’s part of the territory, but it would be my preference not to die today. You said she’s running the show, right?"
"Yes, her show and everyone else’s, too."
"And they can’t proceed without her, right?"
"Not unless they bring in a substitute who knows how to activate the sequence. And they will. They want to move their plan forward."
"Well, then, we’ll need to take her into custody so that s
he can tell us how to disable this project. I know we risk bringing down their forces on us, but it’s the only way we’ll stay alive. It might be the only way we can find Jodie, too."
"I have no doubt Helen’s already found her. She was probably aware of Jodie’s appearance the moment she went into the tunnel. It’s likely she knows about everyone with her, too. As soon as Jodie got into the vent shaft, it’s my bet that Helen started the inward retreat toward the evacuation station. If there’s anyone who wouldn’t underestimate Jodie, it would be her mother. The only thing I’m worried about is whether or not Helen wants to remember she’s Jodie’s mother."
"What do you mean? Do you think she’ll harm Jodie?"
"I think they’ll both do whatever needs to be done to stop each other. Whatever it takes. To answer your question, yes. I don’t think Helen would bat an eye at the loss of her daughter. She gave her up … as a daughter and as a human being … so she could pursue this project. But, I know she regretted her decision at some points over the past two decades. At first, right after we were divorced, she'd call and ask me about Jodie. After a few years, the calls came less frequently and, recently, stopped altogether. I think, in Helen's mind, Jodie’s already dead. I had to retreat from Jodie, too. That's something I'll always regret, but I didn't want her to get in her mother's way. Helen's done terrible things. I was afraid she would eliminate any threat, even if the threat was her daughter. I want Jodie to know why I cut myself off from her, Isaiah. Will you tell her if, I can’t?"
"Yes, I’ll tell her, but we’re all getting out of here, including the people with Jodie. They’re just civilians. They don’t know anything about what they’ve gotten themselves into."
"Unfortunately, Isaiah, the majority of the human race is now in the same sinking boat."
Isaiah felt the pressure in the soles of his feet as the elevator slowed to a stop and the doors opened, revealing an empty hallway. No one stood directly in front of them, but he could hear voices that sounded like they were coming from the left of the elevator. He reached for his gun, but Evan put his hand over it and shook his head.
"Follow me and do as I do," Evan said.
Isaiah trailed Evan out of the elevator, turning to the right, away from the voices. They approached a door and Evan pulled out a key card, swiped it in front of the reader, and turned the knob when a green light appeared. Isaiah followed him into what appeared to be a medical clinic. The room they entered was dark, but illuminated by lights in adjoining rooms. It contained large banks of cabinets with small drawers, each with a radioactive material symbol on the outside.
"What is this place?" Isaiah instinctively looked for another exit, seeing a door on the opposite side of the room.
"It’s an operating room for the inhabitants. They use this room for insertion of tracking devices. The devices are small disc-shaped pieces of metal with coding for cataloguing people. They’re inserted at the base of the skull. They’re quite effective at security, too. Without being properly deactivated first, they can’t be removed or they start to go into a decay state. Everyone down here is essentially a captive to his or her own body. They get more than a half mile from the activation signal emitted from this installation and the disc dissolves in the back of their neck, emitting enough radiation to kill them, well, first disable them … kind of difficult to think when your brain is being fried. Once the discs start to decay, the radiation they emit burns anyone who comes into contact with them."
"You’re telling me the thousands of people involved in this plan are all captives? They can’t leave without dying? I would think some of them might have taken a chance and left anyway." As the words came out of his mouth, the pieces started tumbling together like building blocks, stacking on top of each other, forming a nightmare scenario in Isaiah’s mind. The woman Jodie came into contact with, the corpse in the river --they were burned by radiation from one of these decaying devices. Their bodies were stolen because they had evidence in them. The discs.
Evan nodded. He pulled open a drawer and gently picked up a small glass case containing a piece of metal slightly smaller than a dime. "The first thing you need to remember is that the vast majority of these people have been conditioned to think they're chosen. In their minds, this is their destiny. They're brainwashed and they're fanatics." He held the glass container up where Isaiah could see it. "Technology given to us by our neighbors, so to speak."
"Neighbors? Oh, you mean otherworldly neighbors, right?" Isaiah watched Evan nod, but didn’t know if he would ever be able to accept this elaborate story as the truth. Yet, with each step they took, he realized everything Evan was describing was right in front of him. It was impossible to deny at this point.
"Let’s keep it down while we move into the next room. If I’m not mistaken, we’re about two hallways from our destination."
Isaiah followed Evan into the darkness. They entered another room, much like the first they'd seen. From their vantage point, Isaiah could see into a well-lit area with four beds, one of which was occupied by what looked like a child. An attractive woman in her late thirties sat in a chair next to the occupied bed. She glanced over into the dark room where Isaiah crouched and he held his breath, remaining motionless. He watched as she looked down and went back to reading her book. "Who are those people?" he whispered.
"I don’t know. This is the intake area. You know, for people just arriving. It was my understanding that they stopped collecting some time ago."
Isaiah and Evan held still as a man walked into the adjacent room and approached the woman. They appeared to be arguing, but stopped when the figure in the bed stirred and tried to sit up. Isaiah could see the person in the bed was a boy, probably in his early teens. His arms and hands were wrapped in gauze, his face placid as he laid his head down and drifted back to sleep. The woman stroked his forehead. As she leaned back in her chair, she glanced up at the man and glared with a look Isaiah could only describe as pure hatred.
"We’ll have to go around that room," Evan said. "Doesn’t seem like they’re going anywhere. I know a way. Follow me."
Isaiah stayed low, with Evan leading him back through the operating room and through another door. They exited into a hallway outside of the room they were just looking into. Evan crouched underneath the windows and moved swiftly to the end of the hall. Isaiah mimicked his movements, passing the room with the boy, and stopped in his tracks as he heard a door open behind him. A man’s voice echoed into the hallway.
"You’re not being reasonable. This is for your own good. You know what the alternative is."
"We never asked for this. Who would want this? You’re nothing but a liar," the woman said.
"You’ll come around. You’ll see. It was the only way," the man said.
Isaiah kept his body curled up in a crouch, hoping the darkness of the hallway would obscure him. He let a breath out as he heard footsteps retreating down the hall. He motioned toward Evan to come back from the end of the hallway. "We have to find out what’s going on here and those people are likely to be the only friendlies we’ll see."
"I think I already know what’s going on, but we should probably see if we can do anything for them. Don’t assume they’re friendlies, though."
Isaiah pulled out his revolver and approached the room. He stood up, opening the door, watching an expression of shock spread over the woman's face. He gestured to the woman to remain silent. She edged toward the bed and stood in a protective stance in front of the boy lying there. Isaiah held up a hand to her. "We’re not here to hurt you. I’m Agent Isaiah Thomas from the FBI." Pointing to Evan, Isaiah said, "This is Dr. Watts. Who are you?"
The woman remained silent for a moment, her eyes wide, shifting back and forth between Isaiah and the phone on the wall. Isaiah watched her, and motioned her to sit down.
As she sat, she said, "I’m Bonnie Martin. This is my son, Tim," pointing to the boy in the bed.
* * *
Jodie’s head pounded. She could feel her heartbea
t striking her temples repeatedly, like a hammer on an anvil. The light in the room was brilliant, seeping into the tiny crevice between her eyelids, barely dimmed as she laid her arm across her face. She wondered how she ended up on the floor. She shifted, her shoulder numb from laying on the hard surface. Beneath her, she could feel a gentle hum, a vibration that kept threatening to lull her back into unconsciousness.
She lay in the same place for what felt like an hour, fits of alternating consciousness and sleep overtaking her. She woke again, trying to slowly open her eyes, remembering a little more with each passing moment. The pain in her head throbbed each time she allowed a little more light in, followed by a dizzy spinning sensation.
Jodie opened her eyes ever so slightly, squinting to take in the sights in front of her. She could clearly make out feet lying on the floor close to her face. From behind her, she could hear the gentle breath of someone in deep sleep. Jodie willed herself to sit up. As she did, waves of nausea gripped her and pushed her back down, flat on her back. She breathed hard, sweat forming on her forehead. She lay motionless for several minutes, opening her eyes wider, searching for any movement.
The pain in her head almost bearable now, she dragged herself over to the nearest wall and pushed up into a sitting position, waiting as the nausea passed. Remembering the altercation in the forest earlier, she felt for the bandage on her forehead. It remained in place. Her mouth felt like it was filled with cardboard. She could finally focus on the other figures in the room. Mei sprawled on the floor in front of her, her nose bleeding. Leah lay on the opposite side of the room, pain evident in her facial expression even as she slept.
Jodie crawled to Mei and gently shook her shoulder. "Hey, are you okay? Mei? Wake up."
Mei made a grumbling noise, then started to cough, clots of blood coming from her mouth. "God, my head hurts," she said, blinking way tears and spitting blood on the floor.