The Hallucigenia Project

by Darren Kasenkow

  “Once the military becomes a player,” Klementina continued, “and they will, it’s a whole different ball game. The more we can achieve before things get real nasty, the more hope there is. Just like Rebecca said, we need to go in with the sharpest sword in town. You can work with me, with us, and help liaison with Aaron and his team to read the plays before they happen, set up strategic plans to keep our movements fluid, and, something I know you’re capable of thanks to firsthand experience, keep a cool head under fire.” A sly smirk revealed the white of her teeth. “Did I mention how much fun it will be?”

  John simply sat there and tempted himself to consider that the overload of information that had been rained down upon him since arrival was a tactic to break him down to the point he was ready to agree to anything but, then again, he was hardly caught in the middle of an interrogation, even counting the fact he’d been drugged. On any other given night he could’ve also worked on the assumption they were plying him in preparation to clean out his bank accounts or dig for information, yet judging from the processing power he’d glimpsed they could have plucked his funds anytime they wanted, even if the majority of it wasn’t even his. What kept him sitting in the chair though, was the genuine excitement and heartfelt belief that was emanating from the two women watching him expectantly. Still, he couldn’t help but feel the amount of confidence they seemed to have in him was somewhat unwarranted.

  “I’m flattered you think I can help in some way,” he said, “but I wouldn’t even know how to find my way back to the hotel let alone offer any strategy advice against law enforcement or military actions. Hell, I don’t even know if I can handle driving on the wrong side of the road yet!”

  “But that’s where you’re wrong,” Klementina suggested, “because not knowing the city means you won’t have any bias. Logistically speaking you can look at things with fresh eyes, not through a lens clouded with emotional connections.

  “Klementina’s right,” Rebecca agreed. “Having no attachment to anything here makes a clinical approach a whole lot easier.”

  “And your name will go down in history.” Klementina leaned forward on the desk and stared deep into John’s eyes. “Some of the largest galaxies out there hold a million times a million stars, and if we were to take every star in our galaxy, the Milky Way, and turn them into grains of salt you would be able to fill an Olympic swimming pool. As things stand, we estimate there are around a hundred million galaxies and most of them are moving away from us at ninety percent of the speed of light. To say we’re born into a strange, wonderful dream is the biggest understatement that can be made.” She took a deep breath and leaned back into the chair. “So here we are, cosmic travellers brought together against all possible odds in a universe that’s both intimate and shockingly distant, and there’s one shot at bridging the gap. That just leaves the question, are you in or are you out?”

  John looked at Klementina, then at Rebecca, and closed his eyes. He could feel the edge of the unknown at the tip of his toes, an eerie wind swirling from deep below to whistle and moan through his brain. He wondered if Bobbie had any cookies left in his bowl, quietly imagined what a long kiss from Candice might feel like if he had the chance to meet her again, and tried to picture what the end of the world would look like. One of these things is not like the other, he found himself thinking.

  “I’m in.”

  He couldn’t believe the words fell from his lips, but they had. Now the rollercoaster would really pick up speed.

  Klementina jumped from her chair and ran around the desk. “You know when someone says I could kiss you right now? Well I’ll take it one step further.”

  She leaned down, placed both hands on his cheeks, and kissed him. It wasn’t a polite peck either. It was a long, sensual kiss that caught him completely off guard. When her lips finally broke free she stepped aside as Rebecca jumped down and hugged him with a deep warmth and sincerity. Her skin was soft against his and her breath tickled the edge of his ear.

  Flushed with obvious relief Klementina adjusted her bandage then checked her watch. “It’s time we join the others. We’ll have time to start putting things in place over the next couple of days and to make arrangements to get you out of the hotel. Oh, and it’s important you keep your phone on you at all times.”

  “And if Sebastian calls,” Rebecca said, “tell him whatever you think will stall him for long enough to put together his surprise. We’re a couple of million short for some equipment we ordered and we can’t afford to lose it.”

  “Big toys need big money,” Klementina laughed. “Now come on, the buses will be leaving soon.”

  Together they exited the green lit office, shuffled down the corridor and pushed through the wooden beads into the room he’d received the coffee to help shake off the effects of the drugs. The now somewhat familiar faces were all there, sitting around chatting and laughing with the type of glow that usually came with a night of wonderful entertainment, only the glaring difference in this instance was the odd appearance of a guy with a tattoo gun hunched over one of the guest’s upper thigh. Just to the right of the tattooist Joey looked up from the woman he was talking to and offered John a shit eating grin while pointing at the spare seat beside him.

  “Mind fucking blown or what?” he asked with the loudest voice in the room.

  “I’ll take both options,” John replied with a nervous chuckle.

  “I gotta be honest with ya, up until tonight I still had a few nagging doubts any of this was real, but now my eyes are wide fucking open. All this? It’s really happening man!”

  “You seem pretty happy for a guy facing the end of the world.”

  “Aw hell, I should have been dead years ago, and I woulda’ been nothing but a rotting corpse in a fancy coffin that nobody would worry about visiting. At least now when I die it will be for something worthwhile. Hell, maybe I’ll be remembered for something worthwhile.”

  “So they’ve told you what the mission is?”

  “Nah,” Joey replied. “They’ll let us know soon enough. Looks like I’m gonna be a part of the Metal Rebellion though, so whatever the mission is we’ll have a good crack at it.”

  John glanced past Joey and saw the woman gritting her teeth as the needle continued to etch the letter “H” into the skin of her thigh. By the looks of some of the others beginning to crowd round, it wouldn’t be the tattooist’s only artwork for the night.

  “You know you’re a pretty damn good shot,” he said while bringing his attention back to Joey. “If I didn’t know any better I’d say you’ve had some professional training.”

  “A little bit here and there, but at the end of the day I just love guns. Big ones, small ones, it don’t matter. Put one in my hand and there’s not much I can’t hit. And believe me, running security companies back in New York? A lot of fucking people wanting to put your aim to the test.”

  “So that’s what you do, run security companies?”

  “Na, not anymore. Woke up one morning with a bolt of clarity after another night wondering if I was gonna make it home alive and decided to sell them off to the highest bidders. The kinda people I was dealing with day in and day out? They didn’t give a flying fuck about life and I didn’t wanna be one of them, you know what I mean? I was looking for something more than fancy cars, silk sheets and a woman who knew my credit card number better than she did me. Now she can keep worrying about whether the shoes go with her skirt and I can try to save the world.”

  John leaned forward and lowered his voice. “I’m curious mate, how did you manage to walk away from what happened the other night? There were cops all over the place.”

  “Impressive huh?” Joey smiled before switching to a slightly more serious tone. “This is Miami buddy, and the law don’t worry too much if a shooting looks justified. There were more cameras in that room than I got teeth and they all showed that nutcase looking for a body count. The heat I was carryin’ was registered and above board so there wasn’t much for them to d
o but let me go. Things mighta got interesting if the guy lived but he didn’t, and that’s just how things roll.”

  Suddenly the tattooist wiped the last of the blood and ink from the woman’s leg and looked around the room. “Who’s next?” he asked.

  “Make way for the Cuban canvass!” Joey called out while jumping into the now vacant seat. “Stamp that badge on the back of my neck, nice and big. I want a little more than a coffee mug to remember tonight, even if the mug is badass.”

  John sat back and watched as the back of Joey’s neck was shaved and an outline of the letter “H” was stencilled onto his skin, and couldn’t help but chuckle when the needle began to carve the flesh and Joey winced with obvious pain.

  “You branding me or inking me?” he asked through gritted teeth.

  For a while John just sat there and soaked up the room as the sound of the tattoo gun ebbed and flowed. He didn’t really have the energy to spark up new conversations so kept his gaze down onto the floor. It seemed to work, because nobody bothered to vie for his attention, and when Klementina appeared in the doorway and beckoned him with a wave it took a few moments for him to realize she was there.

  The tattooist was already putting the finishing touches on Joey’s neck as John got up and walked across the room. She pulled him through the wooden beads for a sliver of privacy.

  “I was hoping to be able to take you back myself,” she said, “but unfortunately a few things have come up that I need to take care of, so tonight you get to enjoy another bus ride.”

  “At least I’ll get some sleep,” John attempted to joke.

  “If you mean getting knocked out, sorry to say but it’ll happen again. It’s better for all involved, and you can’t tell if you don’t know.”

  “Makes sense I suppose.” He pointed his head towards the beads and lifted one of his eyebrows. “What’s with the tattoos?”

  “Believe it or not it’s something that Aaron kicked off even though, because I obviously have a thing for ink, most people assume I had something to do with it. Truth be told though, I guess you could say it’s been inspired by the old school Christians.”

  “I didn’t know tattoos were popular in the church.”

  “They’re not!” Klementina laughed. “There was a time when being a Christian could get you killed, and it was usually far from a quick death, so one of the tricks they employed was a symbol to communicate with other Christians. They would casually mark a curved line into the ground with their foot, and if the other person was on the same page they’d add another curved line to form a simple fish.” She pulled the edge of her shirt down to reveal the letter “H” tattooed between her breasts. “I guess you could say this is our fish. Pretty soon it’s going to be hard to know who to trust, and this mark will make things a little easier.”

  “I’m glad I asked,” John grinned.

  “And I’m glad you’re with us John. It’s funny where life can take you, isn’t it?” She reached out and gently placed a hand over his heart. “Keep yourself safe, and say hello to that cat of yours for me.”

  Before he had the chance to respond she winked, turned on her heels, and headed back down the corridor. Left with no other option he pushed his way back through the beads where he found most of the guests on their feet ready to move.

  “Check this out,” Joey said while spinning around and presenting the thick black “H” that was now a permanent fixture on the back of his neck. Beneath the letter was an image that John couldn’t quite make out, so he stepped forward for a closer look. Lo and behold, it was a pistol.

  “No washing that off in a hurry.”

  “You don’t think the gun’s too much? I mean, it’s kinda fitting and all.”

  “On anyone else maybe,” John assured him, “but you make it look like it’s always been there.”

  “My momma always said I was born with style.” Joey’s eyes were suddenly drawn over John’s shoulder. “Hey Veronica, what happened to my tour of your office?”

  “There’s always a chance next time Joey,” she called out. “Good things come to those who wait.”

  “It’s a date then.”

  Somewhat amused, Veronica shook her head and wiggled a finger in his direction before addressing the room.

  “I hope you all had some of your questions answered tonight, and if not they’ll be answered soon enough. We’re family now, so there are no secrets. Unfortunately tonight’s maiden visit has come to an end and the buses are ready to take you back, but tomorrow you’ll receive a communication explaining what happens from here.” She paused for a moment to ensure she had everyone’s attention. “I’m sure you don’t need me to tell you how sensitive the information you’re holding is, but I will anyway. If what you now know should fall upon the wrong ears the repercussions could be catastrophic. That may sound strange considering what’s coming, and there might come a time when you think it’s unfair to not at least warn people, especially the people that you love. And in all honesty it probably is unfair, but the cold hard reality is that there’s nothing we can do to stop the molten iron on its way. What we can do, however, is accomplish the mission, and what we don’t need is all hell to break loose before it needs to. All we can do is trust you. The rest, well that’s up to you.”

  Confident nods of agreement rippled across the room as all the monitors on the wall powered down. The large, pulsing red lava lamp, however, continued to throw a blood like glow as they began to exit the room and step up onto the buses. Everybody chose the same seat as before, and John was glad to settle back into the firm padding.

  Once Joey had made himself comfortable, not exactly easy considering the back of his neck was red raw and slightly bruised, John turned to him and spoke low enough that none of the other passengers would hear him.

  “Look, as much as I’m still trying to wrap my head around it we all know now that some nasty fucking asteroids are freight training their way here. What I don’t know is what this mission is that they’re talking about.”

  “None of us know what the mission is yet,” Joey whispered as best he could, “but my gut tells me it has something to do with what’s gonna go down after the impact. Anyway, we’ll find out soon enough. Doesn’t matter which way you cut it, the slate gets wiped clean once those things hit and that means a chance to rebuild with a new vision. All I know is, I’m in.”

  “To be honest,” John admitted, “what’s worrying me is, if all of this is really real, there might not be anything left to rebuild.”

  Veronica appeared at the top of the stairs and made a quick head count. Satisfied everyone was there, she pointed beneath the seats.

  “A trip through the solar system is always better the second time around,” she announced while strolling down the aisle to make sure everyone had fitted the headsets comfortably. “From the ashes of imaginations we can build such beautiful things.”

  John adjusted the strap along the back of his head and exhaled a long breath as the engine rumbled to life, welcoming the sudden darkness. It didn’t take long for the bus to start moving, and soon he was once again looking through the window of the cockpit as it climbed up towards the bright blue sky, higher and higher, faster and faster, with the strange glow of space looming in the heavens. Maybe it was on the way to the moon, or maybe while he was flying by Mars, but somewhere along the journey the worlds slipped away.

  Chapter 21

  Vanessa cursed and pressed down on the accelerator, ignoring the red light and rushing across the intersection that was still littered with broken glass from a previous accident. They’d only been on the road a few minutes, and the neon lights of the city stood strong against the night straight ahead.

  “No way on God’s green earth am I stopping anywhere round here,” she said as though stating the obvious. “You stop moving at this time of the night, in this neighbourhood, and you’re just asking for the devil to hitch a ride.”

  “Thanks again for coming out so late,” John mumbled as remnants of t
he fog behind his eyes drifted away.

  “Where the hell did those damn buses take you anyway?”

  “Even if I knew, which I don’t, I wouldn’t be able to tell you. It’s kind of a secret.”

  “A secret? Are you serious or joking right now?”

  “I’m not even sure myself to be honest,” John laughed as the street lights flickered across the windscreen. He wanted to tell her of course, wanted to pour it all out so she could call him a crazy son of a bitch and shed some sanity on the whole mess, but now probably wasn’t the right time. “One of the many benefits of the kind of work I do is coming across as a pretentious asshole, but what I can tell you is it looks like maybe tomorrow we can do real tourist stuff.”

  “I guess I’ll pick your brain tomorrow then,” she replied. “You got anything in mind?”

  “Only thing on my mind right now is a long shower and a stiff drink, and the first option is only a maybe.”

  “Well you don’t have to worry about Bobbie ‘cause I checked in on him a couple of hours ago and made sure his cookie bowl was full, so you can just sit back and relax mister policeman. You’ll be falling onto your bed in no time.”

  “You’re an absolute superstar,” John said while letting his head rest against the window to watch the city lights grow brighter and brighter. Vanessa turned the stereo up just a touch so that soft saxophone blues replaced the silence as they drove through the night.

  Several times John’s eyes fell closed, only to jolt back open to the sound of a blasting horn or sharp curse from his trusted driver. By the time they reached the hotel all he could think of was swallowing the last of his pills and switching off reality. Sure, the demons would be waiting for him in the corners of the abyss like they always were, but he figured he still had enough strength to throw down a lion’s share of the bar fridge to weaken their claws.