******
The smell of searing flesh filled the pool as a crackle of electricity engulfed all three men and a whoosh of rapidly moving air made several nearby birds take off in panic. Horrified bathers in the other pools looked over to see three bodies slump into the water.
One savvy guest picked up a phone and called for emergency help. Several others hopped out of their own pools to drag the bodies out. Staff came running from every direction as the most medically trained of the bystanders started resuscitation efforts on all three men, even though in one case there seemed to be little hope that the man could ever be revived. Still, it was only right to try.
******
Ariel stood in the doorway of the plane for a second, thinking her inexperienced brother should jump first and wishing he hadn’t refused to do so. As she took in the bright blue of the water and the even bluer heavens above she searched for something to say to help him follow her.
“Jump and touch the sky,” she screamed, struggling to be heard over the sound of the engine and the wind. He pointed to his watch, and she flung herself out into the azure nothingness, enjoying a second of incredible quiet before she pulled the ripcord on her chute and began to float down to the sea.
One of the best sights she had seen in a long time popped into view above her a few seconds later, as Zane’s chute opened and he gave her a wave. The other best sight was below, a large speedboat still a few miles away but moving through the water as fast as it could travel. She knew that it was coming just so that those on board could pull her and Zane out of the ice-cold sea and take them home.
28. Autumn in Seyðisfjörður
Thursday, November 29, news sources in Reykjavik reported that one man was killed and two others were severely injured Wednesday when a freak lightning strike hit one of the small hot bathing pools in Laugardalur Park. The deceased was identified as Eoin Finn, an Irish manager from a software company who was visiting a local client. The injured included his client, Baldur, the well known head of a local investment company, and an Irishman identified as Cillian McGrane who was also a client of the late Mr. Finn. Both injured men were reported to be in a coma, each in an intensive care unit at Landspitali.
Nell paced outside of the room where Cillian was being cared for. She was herself, not Sigrun, as the charade seemed pointless now. No one at the hospital had questioned how Cillian’s one friend had managed to arrive almost immediately while his other closest associate, a man named Brendan, was scurrying to get there.
The bereaved Mrs. Finn was known to be traveling to Iceland with this Brendan, having announced over the phone that she intended to speak in person with the Ríkislögreglan, Iceland‘s police force, to learn more about her husband’s bizarre death before she made any arrangements to bring the body home. The hospital staff assumed that the woman suspected foul play.
Baldur’s father arrived mid-afternoon from the countryside, and he and Baldur’s chief counsel Ulfur remained in heated discussion in Icelandic in an adjoining waiting room. Nell did her best to hear as much of the conversation as possible, the little earpiece still transmitting to Hulda, who translated for Nell as best she could. It wasn’t surprising that most of the conversation seemed to center around the fate of Baldur’s considerable wealth if he remained unconscious indefinitely.
******
Ariel thought that the beautiful small Icelandic town of Seyðisfjörður would now always be one of her favorite places on Earth. As Toby’s rented speedboat made its way to the barren, snow covered docks in the deepening afternoon twilight, the many wooden buildings stood out in the remaining light, beaconing with the offer of comfort.
It had been difficult to hear each other as Toby used the expertise he had gained from years at sea to speed them safely back to Iceland, so talk on the trip back to shore had been minimal. Rather, Mikkel had gently placed earbuds in her cold ears, and then put his own dry, warm hat over her head while he played a song for her. It was Florence and the Machine singing their anthem of happiness “Dog Days are Over.” The message that her ordeal had finally ended sunk in as she enjoyed the music. Fatigue and emotion took over, and she let herself cry in relief.
Rooms were available at the small hotel in town. Better yet, there was a liquor store, and—bless these fine people—it was open too. The thoroughly chilled, damp foursome received food and care, and warm, dry clothes all around. Thankfully, they were asked remarkably few questions about why they had needed to rent a boat this time of year in the first place, or why two people had left the harbor in the morning and four people had returned before nightfall.
Now as they sat comfortable and dry in the common room of the hotel, they enjoyed a small snack of jam mixed with the local yogurt, called skyr, while those in the kitchen worked to prepare them something more substantial. A waitress brought them all a wonderful Icelandic porter, and the conversation flowed. Tomorrow would be soon enough to resume their journey.
Zane and Toby were deep into analyzing the specifics of Toby’s intended takedown of d4 when Mikkel reached for Ariel’s hand under the table and held on to it tightly.
Ariel gave him a smile. “Don’t get too many ideas. I’m not going to Mars.”
“I know,” he said. “I’m just happy that you’re safe.” He hesitated, wondering if the time was right to say more. It probably wasn’t, but he had been giving Ariel’s thoughts on the subject a lot of consideration and he had a few observations of his own that he was anxious to share. His enthusiasm won out over his better judgment.
“I hope that you realize that I wouldn’t dream of coercing anyone into making a sacrifice like that. But I also need to remind you that this expedition isn’t just something you sign up for, like a field trip. We expect to turn away at least a thousand candidates for every one we accept. There are a lot of people on this planet who want to do this, and some of them want to do it very badly. Some of those people bring incredible qualifications.”
“I see. You don’t even think I’d make the cut, do you?”
Damn. This wasn’t coming out quite the way that he had intended. “You might, Ariel. I don’t know. I was trying to take any feeling of pressure off of you, by pointing out that this wasn’t something you could simply agree to do. How about we save this for another time, and tonight we just enjoy the fact that you and your brother are safe?”
“Have you gotten any kind of word from Eoin and the people back at Ullow?” Toby interrupted, and Mikkel suspected that he and Ariel’s voices may have been getting louder than they realized.
“No, but I was going to call them right after we warmed up and send word that everyone was okay.” Mikkel pulled out his phone and looked. “Six missed calls. How did that happen?”
Toby wondered as well. He had been more than happy to include the locally savvy engineer on his frantic trip across Iceland and then in his maritime scurry. He had assumed that Mikkel was handling communications with Ariel’s company all the while, but watching Mikkel and Ariel together, it was dawning even on Toby that Mikkel’s priorities were only with the young woman sitting next to him. It was clear that she was the reason that Mikkel had made such an effort to be on the rescue boat.
“Let me check my messages now. I’m going to step outside,” Mikkel said, a little flustered that he had dropped the ball. He came back a few minutes later, and it was apparent that something was very wrong.
“We had it handled. I do not understand why Cillian couldn’t have waited.” Mikkel sounded almost angry at the man.
“What did he do?” Ariel asked.
“He insisted on coming to Iceland this morning to confront Baldur. Thought he could change his mind about killing you, I guess, I don’t know. According to Brendan, Eoin insisted on going with him and somehow they both ended up with Baldur shortly after he put you on that plane to die.”
“The meeting went poorly?” Zane asked.
“Much worse. Eoin is dead, Baldur and Cillian are both unconscious,” Mikkel replied. “We
’ve got to get to Reykjavik.”
“We can fly out before dawn,” Toby said, reaching for his phone. When Ariel looked puzzled, he added, “How do you think Mikkel and I got over to this town this morning? I rent boats. I rent planes. It’s a good thing that I like rescuing people and an even better one that I owe your brother a debt that can’t be repaid.”
“I’m ready to call it even after today,” Zane said.
They were at the National University Hospital of Iceland by noon. Nell looked like she hadn’t slept in days, and Ariel realized that thanks to the woman’s clever impersonation of an Icelandic receptionist, she hadn’t.
“Any change?” Ariel asked. Nell shook her head. Brendan had been allowed to go in the room and they could see him through the window talking to an unconscious Cillian.
“The doctors say that he has plenty of brain function, so they think maybe he just needs time,” Nell told Ariel. “Do you think the electrical pulse between Baldur and Cillian was an intense variation of what happened when you and he touched?”
“Probably.” Ariel considered the idea. “This was so much more extreme. I even saw a description in the news on the internet. Everyone thought it was an electrical storm.”
“Maybe the hot water or all the minerals in it magnified the effect? Cillian always thought that being closer to the North Pole somehow made his powers stronger. Maybe it was being in Iceland?” Nell was trying to understand.
“Maybe it was Cillian’s anger and Baldur’s fear that elevated the response,” Ariel postulated.
“They’ll let you go in to see him if you want, as long as it’s one person at a time,” Nell told her. “Why don’t you see if you can reach him?”
Ariel considered. The shock that had once passed between her and Cillian was mildly painful, but certainly not dangerous. What would happen if she touched him now?
She found herself next to his bedside, talking in a soothing tone that she almost never used.
“You were trying to protect me, weren’t you? You didn’t want me to have to live in fear of Baldur for the rest of my life. I know you didn’t. I’m going to try to help you Cillian, and I hope I’m not way off base here, because if I screw things up worse for you or for me too I know it’s a big mistake. Please… respond and be better.”
She reached out her hand and very gently stroked the freckled skin on his lower arm. There was barely a hum of electricity this time as her fingers made contact, just a little tingle between them. She let her hand rest on his arm for a few seconds and saw Cillian give the faintest smile.
“Thanks. I needed a jumpstart,” he whispered in his brogue. His eyes fluttered open. “Ariel?” he asked. Then with a little more panic in his voice. “It is you Ariel, isn’t it?”
Ariel was puzzled. “I’m right here. Can’t you see me?”
“I can’t see anything,” he said. “Just darkness, and the dozens of images that are usually in my head—more of them when you touched me.” He shifted uncomfortably in the bed. “I think you better go get the doctor.”
Tests would be run and experts would be consulted, but the initial conclusion was that Cillian’s optic nerve had been irreparably damaged. His hearing was fine and he was regaining muscle control quickly. He remembered events up through getting into the pool with Baldur. He told doctors that he had wanted to persuade the man not to harm his friend, but he had no memory of the lightning strike. The physician in charge explained that this wasn’t unusual in the case of trauma and that the memory might never be regained.
Privately, Cillian affirmed what Brendan, Nell and Ariel had all guessed. He had hoped to make Baldur see the far future and understand on a visceral level the kind of pain his actions could cause for countless humans who had yet to be born. Eoin had accepted that such a method of persuasion was Ariel’s only hope for a safe life, and perhaps one more vital piece in the plan to save humanity as well.
“Eoin did some stupid things, made some bad decisions aligning himself with Baldur,” Cillian said, “but damn it, the man died trying to find a way to do right. I’m going to miss him.”
“I’m going to miss him too,” Ariel said. “He didn’t have to put himself in danger like that. There were other ways for me to be safe.”
“Not really,” Brendan disagreed. “I know that Eoin felt pretty guilty for his role in putting you in jeopardy in the first place. I bet he saw this as a way to redeem himself. He wasn’t a bad guy deep down.” Brendan turned away just as the water began to well up in his eyes.
“Cillian, I think that you had a great idea for Baldur,” Nell added. “Just think how much help he could have been to our cause if you had made him see. Think how much humanity’s chances of survival might have gone up if you’d been able to accomplish want you intended.” She put her hand on his arm and squeezed lightly with fondness.
“Yeah. Instead he’s in a coma and I can see nothing,” Cillian said, letting a little bitterness creep into his voice.
“How do know that you didn’t succeed? Maybe you did. We’ve got no idea what Baldur is thinking,” Nell said.
“That’s a good thing. The man comes out of his coma and he spends the rest of his life finding a way to make Ariel dead so no one ever gets as wealthy as he is. I say leave him be. As long as he is in a coma, the world is a safer place.” Brendan was adamant.
Ariel disagreed. “Maybe a tremendous potential resource for helping you guys do everything you can is locked away, instead.” Ariel supposed it was the sight of Nell’s hand on Cillian’s arm that made her ask the next question. “If I could somehow jumpstart Cillian, why wouldn’t my touching Baldur have the same effect? Then we could find out if Cillian succeeded and if Eoin didn’t die in vain. I should try.”
Nell stepped in as the voice of reason. “Cillian, we need to know if you and Baldur exchanged any premories or visions or whatever you want to call them. Did he see the far future? Did you see his stuff about to happen? Before Ariel takes a risk like this, think!”
Cillian shook his head. “I wish I knew. I don’t want Ariel taking risks either, believe me. But I have no idea what happened after we got into that water.”
“Okay then,” Ariel said. She marched out of the room before she could change her mind.
Ulfur, Baldur’s father and Baldur’s younger brother were now all in the waiting room next door, and they were going over piles of paperwork when Ariel walked in.
“We worked together closely. I’d like to go in to see him, please?” she said. She knew that at least Ulfur spoke English well, and after he heard her request he turned to the other two men and spoke in rapid Icelandic. Both men shrugged.
“They don’t care,” Ulfur said. “I’m puzzled, but go ahead. I’ll be watching you through the window.”
“I mean him no harm,” Ariel assured Ulfur. She opened the door, stepped in and closed it behind her, just as Brendan and a nurse came into the waiting room, presumably to stop her.
She knew that she didn’t have much time. She walked right up to the unconscious man she had come to hate so much, took a deep breath, and lay the inside of her forearm against the inside of his.
“Come on. Wake up,” she said. “Wake up and do some damn good for once in your life.”
The machinery hooked up to Baldur began to beep and whir in agitation, but the body of the pale man did not move a bit. Ariel pressed her other wrist hard against his cheek. The electronic responses became even more demanding but there was still no physical response from Baldur.
The nurse made her way in, and barked something at Ariel in Icelandic. Ariel was willing to bet it translated roughly into, “What the hell are you doing?”
“Paying my respects,” she said in English, hoping the tone would convey no intent to cause damage. “And just leaving,” she added, her hands up in a universal gesture of “no harm meant” as she walked back out the door.
“Were you trying to kill him?” Ulfur almost hissed it at her as she re-entered the waiting room.
Three doctors had now joined the nurse in the ICU, and they were gesturing at the readouts and shaking their heads. “At least let me know what they find,” she said to Ulfur.
Next door, Cillian was trying to persuade the doctors to release him. When Ariel came back into the waiting area he was negotiating a move to a regular room for the night and then a morning discharge with the promise that he would get checked out thoroughly once he got back on Irish soil. He just wanted to go home.
Nell and Brendan left to get a bite to eat as Zane came by to say farewell.
“Where’s Toby?” Ariel asked.
“He still thinks it is better if he isn’t seen here with us. He’s headed back to Frankfurt now. He has some satellite office there, and he’s already at work trying to make sure that neither Baldur, nor his estate, ever see the money from the investing you two did together. He’s going to try to keep any claims of psychic hocus pocus out of the press, but there are regulatory bodies that he will have to convince privately, which is going to be quite a challenge.”
“Is he really going to be able to keep Cillian and Mikkel out of it?” Ariel asked.
“He thought he could, but that was before Cillian put himself into a hot tub with Baldur and got struck by lightning. It sort of draws attention to their relationship.”
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