by A. A. Bell
‘Confusing indeed,’ Zhou agreed. ‘Enough to drive anyone crazy. But how would any of us suspect that residual light waves may still be bouncing around us in different forms or layers if our eyes and minds have evolved to filter and process only that which we need to survive? It’s only by accident,’ he said, as he paced across the room, ‘that sunglasses were found to filter the harmful effects of ultraviolet light as well as reduce glare, so is it really that difficult to imagine that other forms of light may also be filtered by various shades? Perhaps from an undiscovered part of the spectrum? The test results we’re getting from Mira suggest it’s possible.’
‘It’s also worth mentioning,’ Van Danik added, ‘that medical science has long pondered the reason why our brains use only ten per cent of our neurone capacity at any time. Mira’s EEG patterns suggest that she’s quite capable of sensing and processing far more than we’re currently able to measure. Such a beautiful brain, it lights up like a Christmas tree. It’s just a little painful for her.’
A little?
She heard Van Danik’s hand touch the platter for another jelly snake and the idea briefly occurred to her that smashing the platter over his head might help enlighten him to her level of pain, even if the tablet had already begun to help. But that thought swiftly flittered away like a butterfly on a breeze, and she realised that was the old Mira’s way of thinking. The new Mira could now differentiate between friend and foe, and had no desire to strike out at either anymore.
A great invisible weight seemed to lift from her shoulders and evaporate, replaced in the same instant by a swelling euphoria that filled her inside like a balloon.
Is this what it feels like to be normal?
‘You’ve crossed the line, Doctors!’ Kitching snapped. ‘Let’s get back to the business and boundaries that have already been set for your scientific investigation.’
‘Which boundaries are they?’ Zhou persisted. ‘With respect, Colonel, any scientific investigation is, by nature and definition, an attempt to push back the boundaries of fact and speculation, fractal by fractal. Where we should stop is a difficult question to answer; who decides where the fence should be at the edge of our universe?’
‘You may excel in your own fields,’ Kitching replied, ‘but you’re hardly quantum physicists. Keep your feet on the ground, your minds on the job, and let others worry about the boundaries and complexities of the universe.’
‘Ordinarily, I’d be the first to agree,’ Zhou said, ‘But —’
‘Doctor Zhou! I thought you were the one who knew when to keep your mouth shut?’
Mira smiled a little, knowing he was referring to Van Danik.
Zhou swallowed noisily. ‘Colonel, you were on the panel that funded us to break through the barrier that was preventing our military forces from interrogating prisoners with one hundred per cent accuracy. In the process, we’ve stumbled into this new territory — blindly, I’ll admit — and that’s an unfortunate pun. It’s also unfortunate that we’ve been forced to brief you on our findings before we’re ready. Despite that, you must agree it’s worthy of further investigation, even if we do need to consult with specialists from other fields.’
‘Miss Chambers is insane,’ Kitching said. ‘And I’m beginning to think it’s contagious. Her test results are of no use to us if her mutations can’t be replicated for military or commercial purposes.’
‘What if they can?’ Zhou persisted. ‘A lens is a physical structure. Nature has provided us with an advanced prototype that we should be able to reverse-engineer and replicate artificially, given sufficient funds to investigate —’
Kitching laughed. ‘So that’s what this is really about? More money. Well, you won’t get another cent until you deliver the goods that you’ve already been paid for — and paid very well, I might add!’
Zhou and Van Danik responded hotly in defence.
‘Excuse me, Colonel,’ interrupted Duet. ‘It was Corporal Sei who called their session to a halt. As laughable as their theory seems to be, if somehow Miss Chambers can see what happened to Hawthorn, what harm could there be in allowing her to try?’
‘The details of that case are classified,’ Kitching argued. ‘Now tell me, Doctors, has this project arrived at a satisfactory conclusion or not?’
‘That depends,’ Zhou replied. ‘If you want to save time and trouble by using Miss Chambers as the test case instead of Ben Chiron, you’ll have difficulty contending that she was medically misdiagnosed until we can properly explore the true nature of her condition. Otherwise, we might as well shake bones, read tea leaves or guess, like some of her previous specialists.’
Van Danik sucked down another jelly snake. ‘We don’t need more expertise or money at the moment, Colonel. We just need a little more time; time that we’re wasting right now by sitting around arguing the semantics of theory, process and hocus-pocus.’
‘Hardly,’ Kitching barked. ‘If speculation about time travel is the best you can come up with, then Miss Chambers is useless to this project. She’ll be publicly ostracised as a lunatic, and not without reason. The reputations of everyone involved would be dragged down with her.’
‘Anyone who can see the past is valuable, no matter how crazy they may be,’ Zhou argued. ‘But as it happens, I think Miss Chambers is as sane as the rest of us — which is remarkable considering all that she’s been through the last ten years. And nobody mentioned time travel, by the way. We’re talking about the detection of light waves.’
‘Let’s not start with that again,’ Kitching replied. ‘Stay focused, Doctor. She’s an anomaly. Delete her tests from your results and we’ll pretend she never crossed your path — or your timeline.’
‘But, Colonel —’
Kitching slapped the desk to end the argument, causing Mira to jump. ‘Submit a new proposal for funding to study Miss Chambers next year and I’ll consider it. In the meantime, we’ve got at least two other test cases we can use to see this project through to its funded conclusion. Am I clear?’
‘Not from my perspective,’ Ben cut in. ‘If you want my cooperation as a test case now instead of Mira, it will come with a condition: that she still gets continued support. I’m not asking for much: just the donation of one of these contraptions to the Serenity Centre so other patients may also benefit.’
‘I don’t deal with blackmailers,’ said the colonel. ‘You’re out of the game now too. Corporal Sei, please escort these civilians out of here. And don’t forget to remind them of the penalties for blabbing about their involvement in government research.’
‘That’s not necessary,’ Ben complained.
‘He’s not a blackmailer,’ Zhou said. ‘His suggestion is not only fair, it’s mutually beneficial. You’ll be running these things off a production line soon enough anyway to sell to other allied governments, not to mention law enforcement agencies etcetera. Such is life in this new age of self-subsidised national defence. So why not donate one unit to a medical facility such as Serenity and write it off as publicity?’
‘Post-production marketing is not your concern, Doctor.’ The colonel’s footsteps carried his voice towards the door. ‘You’re done here too. Pack up and catch the next flight back to base. You’ve got paperwork to do and a lab to clean out. Oh, and for security purposes, your equipment and data travels separately from now on — with me. I’ll send a driver over to collect it in five minutes. And I gave you an order, Corporal Sei. Get them out of here!’
He marched out and the piston-hinged door hissed shut behind him.
‘Thanks a lot,’ Van Danik muttered. ‘Some assistant you turned out to be, Karin.’
‘Get your things together,’ Duet ordered Ben and Mira.
‘Sorry, Mitch,’ Sei said. ‘That wasn’t the reaction I expected.’
Duet tapped his foot impatiently at the door. ‘Don’t tell me you’re sold on this hokey idea, Karin?’
‘No, but I don’t see a problem with keeping an open mind. The doctors were obviously
onto something and Miss Chambers —’
‘Is crazy! Am I the only one, aside from Colonel Kitching, who remembers where she lives?’
‘You weren’t here, John. You didn’t hear what she could see.’
‘She’s blind! She can’t see anything!’
‘You’re so sure of that, are you?’ asked Ben. ‘Come on, Mira. Let’s get away from this nutcase.’
Mira could hear Zhou closing his laptop and dismantling his equipment. ‘Sorry, Mira,’ he said, dejectedly. ‘We’ve gone as far as we’re allowed.’
‘Please don’t apologise.’ A smile curled onto her face. ‘You’ve made sense of everything, and now I know I’m not lying to myself. I really can see things!’
‘Even better,’ Ben said as he scooped their collection of sunglasses off the desk, ‘we don’t need their polygraph. You never lie to me, Mira, so we can test this theory ourselves. There has to be a lens out there somewhere that can counteract your problem without putting you through risky surgery. You might even gain a skill that could kick-start a new career.’
‘Like Freddie’s writing?’
‘I was thinking more along the lines of crime investigation. You could be your own Scarlet Pimpernel or Sherlock Holmes.’
‘I could afford to live wherever I want then too, right?’
‘That’s top of the list, sweetheart.’
Sweetheart? Mira blushed as Ben led her to the door ahead of Corporal Sei. She shouldered against him, enjoying the closeness of his warmth.
‘That’s far enough,’ Van Danik called as they reached the hall. ‘The colonel only said to get them out of here, Karin. He didn’t say anything about the rest of the hotel.’
‘They’re off the project,’ Duet argued.
‘So they are,’ Van Danik agreed. ‘Mira, can you still see Sergeant Hawthorn out there?’
‘Sure. He’s standing beside me with his back against the wall.’
Something attracted Hawthorn’s attention and Mira glanced past him to see Ben’s ghost approaching swiftly from the foyer — and he had company: the ghosts of Van Danik and the young assistant she’d seen earlier through her first set of sunglasses at Serenity.
‘Ben’s arriving now too,’ she added, ‘with Dr Van Danik and Adam Lockman.’
‘I’ve only been here once before,’ Ben cut in excitedly. ‘That was yesterday morning.’
‘Hold it,’ Duet insisted. ‘They’re off the project!’
‘Look, there’s a use for meatheads like you,’ Van Danik replied snakily. ‘But the alley cat looked fat enough already. So why don’t you go off somewhere quietly and square root yourself.’
‘The project is in this room,’ Zhou said more diplomatically, ‘in these bags and briefcases. And in another few minutes, it won’t be here either.’
‘And you heard the colonel,’ Van Danik went on. ‘He invited us to make a submission for next year regarding Miss Chambers. I, for one, don’t barge into any new project without preliminary research. How about you, Dr Zhou?’
‘Never,’ Zhou replied, and slammed the lid on his briefcase. ‘Even if I have to do it on my own time and budget. So, Miss Chambers, would you mind waiting outside until we’re done here, please?’
THIRTY-FOUR
Mira stood in the foyer, her back against the wall, her keen eyes still on the ghosts in the hallway near the conference room.
‘What’s taking so long?’ she asked Ben, who she could hear pacing the timber floor a short distance away.
‘They had a lot of sensitive equipment to pack,’ he said. ‘I can’t imagine Dr Van Danik entrusting it to the colonel’s driver without a lengthy sermon on how to take the best care of everything. It can’t be too much longer. A concierge wheeled a trolley into the room a few minutes ago.’
‘I know, I heard it.’ Her fingers twisted the hem of her skirt nervously. ‘I forgot to say thank you in there, by the way.’
‘Thank you for what?’
‘For standing up for me. You won’t get to clear your name now because of me.’
Ben chuckled. ‘Mira, the more I get to know you, the less it matters. Can you still see yesterday’s Hawthorn?’
She nodded, distracted by the uneven nature of Ben’s footsteps. Was he nervous too? If he wasn’t worried about losing his day in court, then what was botheringhim? Perhaps that she’d seen his ghost with Hawthorn and the doctors? Or maybe he was feeling guilty now that she knew he’d been signalling secret messages to Matron Sanchez and probably other staff too.
‘So,’ she said, unable to think of a subtle way to ask him, ‘how long have you been sending secret messages around me?’
He sighed heavily. ‘All along, sorry. I hope you trust me enough now, though, to know that I only ever did it in your best interests.’
‘And you’ll never do it again?’
‘That’s a promise.’
‘I forgive you then. I do still have one little question, though. I hope it won’t upset you.’
‘Oh?’
‘Why did you come here for a private session with the doctors?’
He paused, as if he’d expected a different question, and she listened carefully for any hint of deception.
‘You mean yesterday?’
‘I mean yesterday’s ghost of you that’s in there now. I saw you … him … joking with Dr Van Danik about the difference between guards and bodyguards as you went in, then you mentioned my name. I only had time to see Dr Zhou reply something about my eyes still being stitched shut — then the invisible version of him sent us down here to wait.’
‘Oh, is that all? I came to ask if they’d come to see you at Serenity now that your eyes were open.’
‘But they had all their equipment set up as if they were ready for you.’
‘So they did. That’s because they called me in for another session, but their financiers must have preferred you as a test case over me. So quit worrying. I’ve lost nothing that wasn’t gone for years before I met you.’
‘But did you know that getting them to test me would make them stop with you?’
‘But-but-but … you sound like my father’s old fishing boat.’
‘Did you?’ she persisted.
‘I knew there was a risk.’ He started pacing the floor again.
‘Now they’re not doing either of us.’ Mira hugged herself. ‘No wonder you’re not happy with me.’
His shoes stopped instantly. ‘What gave you that idea? I’m not upset with you; exactly the opposite!’
‘Then why are you pacing?’
He chuckled and came closer. ‘I’m bursting with excitement! What if you really can see history, Mira? Think about all the crimes you could solve, all the mysteries!’
‘And if I can’t, I’m stuck at Serenity with all the crazies again.’ She hugged herself tighter, clawing her fingernails deeper into her arms and shuffling her feet.
‘I think you need to sit.’
‘I will if you will. Your pacing’s starting to get to me.’
He laughed, and that broke the tension for her too.
She glanced towards the windows, where three double-seater sofas appeared to be empty. They were deep purple in colour; she guessed they might be red without the distortion of the purple-brown haze. Positioned as they were, she would still be able to keep an eye on the hall from there.
‘Do those sofas look empty to you?’ she asked.
‘Not the nearest two, but the one in the corner is fine. Do you need me to lead you?’
‘Let’s see.’ She strode across the timber floor and woollen mats, trusting Ben to warn her if anything else might be in her way. ‘I really like using that word now … “see", I mean. I can “see” and “look” and “stay focused", and all those other silly vision words that people use far more frequently than they should with a blind person.’
Soft leather welcomed her. When Ben sat down beside her, the sag of the cushions pushed them closer, their hips and shoulders touching. He shifted his arm up
and rested it along the top of the sofa behind her to provide more room for both of them, which made Mira acutely more aware of him. His warmth was now wrapped around her, along with the crisp, clean smell of his clothes. Against her ankle she felt the stiff cuff of his denim jeans, and against her bare shoulder the soft sleeve of what felt like his T-shirt. Her hands ached to explore a little more of him, to feel the muscle of his thigh, currently resting so still against hers, or his chest, heaving gently in time with his breathing. Instead, she clasped her hands tightly in the lap of her sundress and distracted herself by listening to the footsteps and voices of passers-by and watching the silent commotion of yesterday’s spectres.
Scents from both days came to her too: various perfumes and the lingering smell of floor polish the two ghostly cleaners were using. She also caught the scent of the ocean — salt-water spray on familiar skin. Her nostrils flared a little and, turning her head ever so slightly towards him, she realised that it was coming from him.
‘What’s up?’ he asked.
‘Oh … nothing, sorry.’ She patted her cool hands against the sudden warmth in her cheeks, but a small smile gave her away.
‘What?’
‘I just noticed you aren’t wearing deodorant.’
His arm recoiled instantly from the back of the sofa and he shifted his weight away from her as much as he could manage. ‘Sorry, I didn’t have time this morning. My pits are a bit sweaty, are they?’
‘Oh, no,’ she said, wishing he hadn’t moved. ‘It’s not that. Anyway, I like the smell of your skin. At the moment it reminds me of the ocean.’
‘Whoa, you’re good.’ His arm moved again, this time as if raking his fingers through his hair. ‘I went surfing in this shirt yesterday and it dried on me. I haven’t washed it yet, sorry.’
He paused for a moment and she could almost hear him thinking.