Stones: Theory (Stones #4)

by Jacob Whaler

  “Just one more question.” Jessica looks up at Yarah and pats her gently on the cheek. “Do you have an autopilot algorithm to fly the ship?”

  “That won’t be a problem.”

  All three of them turn in the direction of the voice and see Miyazawa standing a few meters away in a loose Japanese yukata robe. The color is back in his face, and the dilation in his eyes is gone. I-V packs still ride on the side of both biceps.

  Matt jumps to his feet. “Don’t tell me you’re a pilot.”

  “I’m not.” Miyazawa walks into the cockpit. “And neither is anyone else on my staff. The ship has a built-in auto pilot. You can adjust the parameters, but the ship flies itself.”

  “What about cloaking technology?”

  Miyazawa’s hands drop to his hips. “At the start of the Shinto campaign, I demanded a special stealth retro-fit to avoid detection by other vessels. Just too much snooping going on. MX Global lifted some technology still in development from the Swedish military. They tell me it emits a low-energy particle field that’s not even on the electromagnetic spectrum. Makes us almost invisible to scanning technology.”

  “So they can’t even see us?” Yarah runs to the window and stares down at the ocean. “Not even when they’re close?”

  The priest joins her at the window and looks out. “I don’t think it’s that good, but you just came up with a great idea.” He drops down so he is eye-level with Yarah. “You know how to use a Stone?”

  “Yes,” Yarah says.

  “Why don’t you work on something for us. A way to make the ship totally invisible to the outside. I’m sure this will help.” He reaches into a pocket of his robe and takes out a Stone, handing it to her. “Yours is the green one, right?”

  A hush of silence follows. Matt stares at the Stone in Miyazawa’s hand, and then sprints across the room to the cloaking box lying on a table. Grabbing it, he peers in and sees it’s empty.

  “Don’t worry,” Miyazawa says. “I have yours right here.” He produces another Stone out of the pocket of his robe and holds it out to Matt.

  “Why did you take out the Stones?” Matt says.

  The priest sees all eyes on him and steps back. “After you first came, I recognized the stone box as one that belonged to Naganuma-san. It brought back a flood of memories, so naturally I looked to see what was inside.”

  With a look of terror on his face, Matt grabs the front of Miyazawa’s robe. “When did you take them out?” One of his hands slowly hardens into a fist.

  “You mean the first time?”

  Jessica moves between the two men and pushes Matt away. She turns to the Miyazawa. “It’s a cloaking box. It keeps the Stones hidden from Ryzaard. Without it, Ryzaard can track our location.”

  Moving backward, Miyazawa’s gaze drops to the floor. “I had no idea.” He goes to his knees, breathing hard. “I noticed the Stones on the second night, after you returned from destroying the fabrication plants along the coast. I couldn’t help having a look after you went to sleep.”

  “Two days ago.” Jessica stares into Matt’s eyes. “Why didn’t Ryzaard come after us as soon as they were out of the box?”

  “Maybe he doesn’t care anymore.” Yarah passes her Stone back and forth between her hands. “Maybe he’s seen the future and already knows he’s going to win.”

  Matt exhales and finds a chair to sit in. “No. He cares. He wants our Stones and he wants us all dead. No doubt about that.” He clasps his hands together and rests his chin on the knuckles. “He’d be tracking and harassing us if he could. There must be some reason he can’t right now.” Matt puts his Stone in the cloaking box and walks past Miyazawa to Yarah. As Matt opens his hand to receive her Stone, he stares into her eyes and kneels down beside her. Then, reaching out to the familiar flow of time, he finds it and holds it still.

  The priest and Jessica turn into wax figures.

  Yarah hands her Stone to Matt. He carefully places it in the box.

  “I know what you’re thinking,” she says.

  “Of course you do. It’s your special talent.”

  “Mr. Miyazawa is telling the truth. I’ve been watching.” Yarah’s finger runs along the smooth side of the box. “I can’t help it.”

  Matt stays as still as possible. “I want you to check again, carefully. Search his mind. Take your time. We need to know for sure whose side he’s on, whether he’s leading us into a trap.”

  She nods and closes her eyes. “OK. I’ll have another look.”

  While Yarah does the scan, Matt relaxes into the void of time and lets his mind wander. The giant white rotors of the wings are frozen in place as if resting from unceasing labor. Below them, the ocean is a grainy surface spotted with white. It reminds him of a polished marble slab his mother used as a cutting board when he was a just a kid.

  Her nimble fingers could chop a green onion in a blur that ended with a tiny mountain of fine shavings.

  With his eyes closed, silent images begin to play in his mind.

  A woman walks to him on a narrow street with towering skyscrapers on either side. He spies the implant behind her ear. A crowd moves by. Each person has the blue jewel imbedded in their skin. They’re happy, even bubbly, walking with purpose into buildings and jobs and lives. The streets are clean, the structures spotless and functional.

  It switches to night. Young people throng in the streets, enjoying the outdoors. There are no more giant holo ads jumping off the sides of buildings, shouting their neon messages to the masses below. People stop on corners, engage strangers in conversation, move in families with small children.

  And the smiles. There are smiles everywhere.

  “Nothing.” Yarah nudges Matt with her shoulder. “I didn’t find any secrets. He hates Ryzaard as much as we do.”

  Jerked out of his reverie, Matt remains kneeling. “Good. Let’s get back to work.” He relaxes his hold on time and stands.

  “What’s going on?” Miyazawa jerks as if he’s seen a ghost.

  “You’ll get used to it,” Jessica says. “Matt can stop time whenever he wants. You never know when he’s going to jump out of the frame.”

  “Sorry,” Matt says. “I should have warned you. It’s become a bad habit of mine.” With both Stones in the box, he makes sure a thick rubber band is in place to keep its lid from shutting. Then he drops the box in his pocket and walks back to Miyazawa, stopping to put a hand on the priest’s shoulder.

  “Gomen nasai.” Miyazawa bows deeply. “I’m sorry for touching the Stones.”

  Matt shakes his head. “It seems you’ve made a useful discovery. Ryzaard must not be tracking us. At least not at the moment. He may be so occupied with his project that he doesn’t have time or resources to focus on anything else. It could be a good time to reach out.”

  “To Ryzaard?” Miyazawa has a confused look on his face.

  “Yes, in a roundabout way.” Matt touches the implant behind the priest’s ear. “We need to find out more about how this blue jewel works. Maybe there’s a way to use it to our advantage.”

  Miyazawa pushes on the implant with his own finger. “But isn’t that dangerous? He may be monitoring the entire Mesh right now.”

  Deep furrows appear in Jessica’s brow. “Just like with Michiko.”

  “Michiko was different,” Matt says. “She was known to be a freedom camp sympathizer and it was her first time on the Mesh. That fact may have brought her to Ryzaard’s attention. Once he had a look in her mind, he saw us.”

  Miyazawa’s eyes grow wide. “But won’t he do the same with me?”

  “He might, but I don’t think so,” Matt says. “You’re a well-known presence on the Mesh. He won’t be surprised to see you there. He knows you’re on this ship, and he can track its location. He thinks you’re alone and assumes the drugs are keeping you under control. Besides, he’ll probably be too busy to pay attention.”

  “So what do you want me to do?” Miyazawa drops into a chair, looking exhausted.

&n
bsp; “For starters, get some rest.” Matt helps Miyazawa to his feet. With Jessica’s help, they walk him through the glass doors to his room. “Lie down and close your eyes. Let us know when you’re ready to hop into the Mesh. If you don’t mind, Yarah and I will hitch a ride and have a look around.”

  CHAPTER 107

  “He’s coming out of his third cycle of REM sleep.” Jessica looks down at the slate she found in Miyazawa’s room, and then turns to Matt next to her in the cockpit. “He should be waking up soon.”

  “Good. We need to get started.” He rises from chair and stretches as he walks into the open room behind them. “Ready, Yarah?”

  Yarah has her nose pressed against the window. Matt gets up from the cockpit chair and walks behind her to gaze down. With the cloud cover completely gone, the ocean is the color of the sky. Looking off into the horizon, they can see the curvature of the earth. The atmosphere is a faint white barrier between two infinite expanses of blue.

  “He’s awake,” Jessica says.

  Through the transparent panel, they watch as Miyazawa rises from bed and stretches his arms. He swings his feet around on the floor, stands and walks to the glass door. As it parts, he moves through and joins Matt and Yarah at the window.

  “It’s so beautiful.” Yarah stretches out her arms. “If I could only float in it like a bird.”

  Miyazawa puts his hand on her shoulder. “I requested a special upgrade to the ship for exactly that purpose. I think you’ll like it.” He turns to Matt and smiles. “You might want to hold onto something. It takes a minute to get used to it.” The priest pulls a jax from his pocket and swipes his thumb along its surface.

  The floor and outer walls of the ship seem to fall away.

  From the cockpit, they hear Jessica scream and grab the back of her chair.

  “What do you think?” Miyazawa bends down to the level of Yarah.

  She stares at the ocean between her feet and then looks up at the sun through the ceiling. In every direction, the ship is as transparent as fine crystal. Running to the center of the room, she twirls and dives like a hawk, laughing with delight.

  “An incredible material.” Matt runs his fingers along the inner surface of the wall. As he moves his eyes closer and studies it, he notices hair-like lines of white running like a fine grid through the transparent steel.

  The priest turns to the center of the room. “You get used to it after a while. Then it’s hard to go back to seeing the walls. I prefer to keep it this way, if you don’t mind.”

  “Fine with me.” Matt looks over at Jessica as she slowly stands while keeping a death grip on the back of the chair. “Everyone OK?”

  Making her way across the floor, she grabs Matt’s shoulder. “Next time, give me some warning.”

  As they stand together in the center of main room, Miyazawa stares into his jax. “I’ve received some distressing news. Ryzaard is reacting to the destruction of the fabrication plants.” He looks up with trembling hands, his eyes glistening with moisture. “People are disappearing. Anyone connected to the fabrication plants. Workers. Engineers. Government representatives. I don’t understand.”

  “I do.” Matt turns to Jessica, and then the priest. “When I fight against him, people always die.” He drops into a chair with his face in his hands. “I don’t think it’s over yet, unless we are willing to give up and concede that he’s won. Human life has little value for him, and if he thinks he can stop us by shedding the blood of others, he will.”

  Miyazawa sits next to Matt. “It’s a fair question. How many lives is it worth to stop him?”

  “I don’t know the answer,” Jessica says. “But I’ve seen what Ryzaard is capable of doing. I can’t imagine living in a world under his absolute control. I refuse to do it.” Her voice drops to a whisper as she slumps down on the other side of Matt. “As long as we have the power to resist him, we must. Whatever the cost.”

  Yarah looks into the faces of each of the sitting adults. “I agree.” She works her hands into Jessica’s.

  Matt rises from his seat. “There’s a question we need to answer. Right here, right now.” He walks to the opposite wall and leans against it on his elbow. “We’ve seen countless deaths. Michiko is the most recent, killed, no doubt, because she knew us. But she won’t be the last. There will be more.”

  “What are you saying?” Jessica stands and walks to the middle of the room.

  “It’s simple.” Matt takes Jessica by the shoulders. “I know you’re willing to die to defeat Ryzaard. But are you willing to see me die, if that’s what it takes?” He stares out the window and speaks in a whisper. “Am I willing to see you die?”

  No one talks for a long time as they float inside the crystal transport over the Pacific Ocean in a sea of blue.

  Suddenly, Yarah lunges, burying her head between Jessica and Matt. “No!”

  Jessica looks at Matt, her eyes bloodshot and wet. Streaks glisten on her cheeks. Without speaking, she nods her head up and down.

  The priest still sits in a chair staring at the floor. “I will follow your lead.”

  “Let’s get started.” Without waiting to answer his own question, Matt wipes his eyes and walks into Miyazawa’s room. “We’ve already tried direct assaults on Ryzaard. It’s time we made a less predictable attack, and I think we ought to start with the blue jewel.” He turns and points behind Miyazawa’s ear.

  “What would you have me do?” the priest says.

  Motioning in the direction of the bed, Matt pulls a couple of chairs close to it. “Please lie down and go to your Mesh-point as you normally would.” He takes the cloaking box out of his pocket. “Yarah and I will be joining you.”

  “I don’t understand,” Miyazawa says. “If Ryzaard sees you with me, he will instantly try to kill us all.”

  Matt pats the priest on the shoulder. “He won’t see us. We’ll be inside your mind.”

  “Very well.” Miyazawa walks to a drawer, opens it and takes out a green cube of derms. “I’ve never gone into the Mesh without one of these.” He strips off a thin square and moves to apply it to his wrist.

  But Matt gently grabs Miyazawa’s wrist. “You’ll need a clear head for this. I think it’s better if you don’t.”

  Yarah looks at the green square with its wet, gelatinous surface. She has an immediate reaction, her face turning pale. Matt thinks about the favela in Rio de Janeiro where he first rescued her from a father that beat her. He must have been a heavy user.

  With the green square in his hand, the priest licks thin lips. “I need it. When you’re in the Mesh with the implant, you can speak to people, mind to mind. Thought becomes an open book.” A tiny drop of sweat beads up on his forehead, and he begins to breathe hard. “Without these molecules floating around in my body, I’ll be naked, no mask. Ryzaard will see through me. He’ll see all of you.”

  Yarah jerks on Matt’s sleeve. “I have an idea.” Reaching up with both hands, she pulls Matt down to eye level. “If Ryzaard comes, I’ll jump out and tell Jessica. Then she can put it on him.”

  “The little one is wise.” Miyazawa’s head drops down, a slight trembling in his body. “I defer to your judgment. But when I face the people at the shrine, what do I say to them? Without the drugs in my brain, my words will sound hollow.”

  “Nothing has changed. They gather at your shrine because you speak truth to them. Let the truth flow through you, and the words will come.” Matt pulls Yarah over to a chair and sits. “Are you sure you can do this?”

  Yarah jumps up and down. “It’ll be easy. Just like with Michiko.”

  “What do you think?” Matt’s gaze goes up to Jessica.

  “What am I supposed to do while all of you are in the Mesh?” she says.

  Reaching behind him, Matt grabs the pulse rifle and hands it to her. “Keep us safe.”

  “Don’t be long,” Jessica walks to the wall as Matt and Yarah drop into chairs near the bed. Miyazawa lies down and closes his eyes. “And don’t bring Ryz
aard back with you.”

  CHAPTER 108

  “Congratulations.” Jing-wei’s head floats just beyond Ryzaard’s eyes. “No new attacks on manufacturing facilities in the last twenty-four hours. Primary fabrication of the implants is complete. We’ve reached our target. All inventory is shipped for delivery. A little mopping up is all that remains.”

  Ryzaard says nothing.

  Jing-wei stares forward. “Something wrong?”

  Ryzaard’s face is devoid of emotion. “It was nothing more than a message. He’s still out there.”

  “I don’t understand.” Jing-wei says. “What—”

  “The boy!” Ryzaard steps off the meditation platform. “The destruction of the factories was nothing more than a message. To tell me he’s still out there. To let me know he’s coming.”

  The smile drains from Jing-wei’s face. “In two days, over 98% of the planet’s population will have an implant. We’ve come a long way to get to this point. Isn’t that reason for celebration?”

  Ryzaard shakes his head. “After all this time, he still has his Stone! And the little girl.” His eyes brush pass the shimmering Stones floating above his chest. “How can I rest while they’re both alive?”

  “You know what I think?” Jing-wei sinks back into her chair in a slouchy position uncharacteristic of her. “I think you’re working too hard. We all are. You need to go somewhere for a couple of days and get away. Clear your mind. Have a rest. When you come back, all the implants will be distributed and we’ll be ready for the final step.”

  He forces a smile. “You’re young and naïve. Now is exactly the time when I can’t leave.”

  “Then what are you going to do for the next two days?”

  “Search for him.” Ryzaard moves his hand to kill the holo, and then stops. “Get me Diego.”

  Jing-wei nods. As her face fades, the Brooklyn Bridge is a black bar penetrating the middle of her forehead in the background. Diego’s eyes come into view.