by Mark Lingane
18
ALBERT RETURNED AN hour later. Sebastian was still staring at the board. He hadn’t moved. Albert started to rub off the drawing of the atom.
“How can—”
“No discussion now.”
“But what if—”
“Ve talk later. Now ve experiment.”
“But—”
“Nein!” shouted Albert.
“Nine what?”
“You think some more. Then ve talk.” He grabbed the stool next to Sebastian and placed it on the opposite side of the bench. He sat on it and leaned forward. “Vare is it?” he whispered.
“Where’s what?”
“You know.”
Sebastian closed his eyes and let his mind unwind. “Your back pocket.”
“Gut,” Albert replied. “Tell me vat you can see.”
“It’s like everything has been drawn, but in reverse. Like a white pencil on black paper. No, like light chalk marks on a blackboard. There’s shape, but nothing’s clear. Some things are brighter than others, but everything’s blurry. He turned his head toward the south. “And I can see a strongly defined line over there that seems to curve away for miles.”
“Ja, ja, forget that. Keep your eyes closed and look at the bench.”
Sebastian was amazed to see two bright objects with lines flowing between them, like an army of ants. He opened his eyes in surprise.
“Ve believe teslas can read the flow of electrons. Ve think most people have this ability, but it has somehow become tremendously strong in teslas. Tell me vat you see.”
Sebastian described what he saw, and Albert looked pleased. He picked up the aligned magnets and placed them in his pocket.
“Why couldn’t I do this at home?”
“Vere did you live?”
“It was a small farming community.”
Albert shrugged. “It’s hard to know, but maybe your senses have been heightened by being here. Maybe the pressures of the last veeks have changed something in you. I don’t think ve vill ever know. But I’m thankful that you’re now avake.”
“I’m not sure being awake is that great if I’m going to have to think like this. It’s hard.”
“Those who valk around vit the mind asleep are the ones who must face the nightmares of life. An open mind like yours lives vit challenge. The sleeping mind lives vit fear.” Albert examined the young boy’s face to gauge the reaction to his words, but Sebastian still seemed to be absorbing it all.
“There are two things I vant you to think about.” He raised a finger. “Iron is a ferromagnetic element, atoms join and create a stable structure. Often vit these structures there can be a number of electrons left over. These leftovers vill give the structure an overall charge, what we call a magnetic moment. Ven the spins of these leftover electrons are aligned vit each other, a measurable magnetic field is produced, something that is detectable, by you. You close your eyes and you can see it like you just did vit the magnets, ja3?”
Sebastian nodded. Albert raised a second finger. Sebastian gave him a strange look. Albert turned his hand the other way so he wasn’t giving the boy a rude sign.
“Paramagnetic materials have atoms vit magnetic moments that are scattered all over the place ven no magnetic field is present, but align and become magnetic in the presence of an electromagnetic field. That means you may be able to bind atoms together to make elements. The more powerful you become, the more you vill be able to bind. This is the core understanding you must have. Learn it so it is deep in your brain. Then apply it to everything you do.”
“Are you saying I can create things out of thin air?”
“Nein. You should only be able to combine existing things, but on this I’m uncertain. Let us learn together.” Albert clapped his hands and a big smile spread across his face. “Now ve do the practical.”
He looked excited as he grabbed two cylinders from behind his bench. “Here is a cylinder of hydrogen. Here is one of oxygen.”
He connected them with a clear pipe.
“There is twice as much hydrogen as oxygen. See vat you can do. Focus on the feel of the gases.”
Sebastian concentrated. Darkness descended on him. He could sense the gases, but they were faint against the background level of magnetism.
He concentrated harder, and the darkness increased in intensity. The cylinders imploded with a loud crack. Glass scattered over the bench top and onto the floor. Dust flew into the air covering both of them. Albert blinked then coughed a ball of dust out of his mouth. He searched through the debris on the bench. In the center of the shards of glass was one solitary drop of water.
“I vill admit it vill not change the earth, but it is a start.”
He went behind his bench, brought out a dustpan and brush, and handed them to Sebastian.
“How are you feeling?”
“It hurt. The gases were really faint, so I had to concentrate really hard. Then the explosion was really intense.”
“Maybe ven you are in a state of heightened sensitivity you … maybe you draw the energy to you.” Concern suddenly radiated from Albert’s face.
“Is that all right?”
“I think you need to be careful. If you become too sensitive, if there is a sudden surge you could be … ripped apart.”
“What!”
“Don’t panic. The case vould need to be—”
“What do you mean don’t panic! I don’t want to be ripped apart.”
“You need to meditate. Learn to let your mind rest and be open. I believe the more you develop your senses, the more you develop your mind, the better you vill get. The less chance of total annihilation.”
Melanie came to, her head spinning. She focused on the doctor. A thin man dressed in black stood next to him. The two were in conversation.
“What happened?” she asked.
“I would say by the flush in your face you’re happy with the news,” Dr. Rodgers said.
“Until today I never had a guaranteed tomorrow. You just changed that.”
“Well, don’t get too excited. There are many tests we still need to conduct.”
Melanie indicated the thin man. “Is he a doctor?”
“No.” Dr. Rodgers cleared his throat. “There’s a one in a million chance that this idea could help, unless I start believing in miracles, but I’m going to believe that some daily physical activity could delay the decline. Your recent activities appear to be the only thing that’s changed in your life, so let’s go with that.”
The doctor indicated the man sitting next to him. “This is Thrown. He is head of training for the army. He’s an old school friend of mine.”
Dr. Rodgers and Thrown were a similar age. They were both old, but where the doctor had a body that sagged, Thrown had a steely sinuousness that made him look threatening. Age had given him hardness from a lifetime of hurting people. And he didn’t look happy about it.
Thrown gave her a sneer. It could have been a smile. She narrowed her eyes at him. He narrowed his eyes at her. Time slowed between the two as they measured each other up.
The doctor coughed, bringing Melanie’s attention back to him.
“We’ll be testing you on a weekly basis,” he said. “I’m sorry, but it’ll be inconvenient for some time. Again, I must stress that this isn’t a cure. It’s only a delay.”
“What if it’s delayed until you can cure me?” Her voice and face were full of hope.
“This isn’t something that can be cured. You have to get that into your head. You should still try to enjoy your moments. Quality of life is important.” He handed her a rough map of the area. “Make your way to the training yard. Thrown will be along shortly.”
Melanie got up off the bed and wandered out the door.
Thrown turned to the doctor. “What if something is curing her?”
“Then it will be time for us to find religion, because I certainly can’t explain it. Anyway, her training regime is here.”
The doctor handed a p
iece of paper to Thrown, who delicately folded it and placed it in his pocket.
“I think, Thrown, that a gentle start would be in order.”
“Right you are,” replied Thrown, with a wink that Dr. Rodgers found disturbing. Once out of the room, he screwed up the paper and threw it into a bin.
“Glad you could bother to join us,” said Thrown, as Melanie cautiously entered into the army exercise yard.
“I was just with you five minutes ago. How did you get here so fast?”
“I’m dedicated.”
She gave him a look of disbelief.
“See that sack of gravel over there?” he said. “Lift it up one hundred times.”
“One hundred … No.” She crossed her arms defiantly, closed her eyes, and raised her nose in the air.
“You’re not the first person to say no. We have procedures. Say no again and we’ll be forced to follow them.”
“No,” she dared him.
Thrown indicated behind her. “This is Bernhardt.”
She turned and was confronted by a huge bear of a man. In one effortless movement, he had picked her up and flung her over his shoulder. She struggled, kicked and shouted, but to no avail.
Thrown pointed to a large wooden barrel. “He’ll push you under the water for several minutes until you have a change of heart.”
Bernhardt plunged her into the cold water. She struggled and flailed and water splashed everywhere.
“All right,” she gasped. “All right, I’ll do it. But know that I don’t like you very much.”
“Just doing my job. Following procedures.”
Lightning cracked across the sky, and thunder, so loud it shook the ground, rolled overhead. Melanie picked up the heavy sack and struggled to get it above her knees. She repositioned her arms and tried to roll it up her body. With one final push, Melanie victoriously lifted the sack above her head; then dropped it, her arms shaking. She bent over, gasping for air.
“One. You’ll find it easier if you keep your back straight. Bend your knees, keep your head and chest up, and keep your core tight.”
“Is this a samba class?” Melanie said. The humidity rolled in, and perspiration poured off her as she toiled. “Ohmygod. How many of these have I done?”
“Eleven.”
“Eleven? Is that all?”
“No, sorry. I got distracted. Nine.”
“Nine! My legs already ache.”
“It could be worse.”
Another crack of lightning seared across the sky, lighting up the darkened exercise yard. Rain fell out of the sky, drenching her and turning the ground to mud.
She lifted the sack up above her head. She wobbled under the weight and lost her footing, tumbling into the mud. The sack fell on top of her.
“Ten.”
“I don’t consider this quality of life,” she shouted.
“If the doctor says you should do it, then you will.”
The lasers erupted from the sandstorm. Enemy fire blew up the track and the reconnaissance party dived for cover. The blinding onslaught had the soldiers shielding their eyes. Parker barked at his men to fall into defensive positions. A soldier clutched at his head as a beam sliced across his face. His scream rattled the men and they moved into close formation.
“Man down,” Parker shouted. “Grab his ammunition. We’re going to need all available firepower.”
Nikola pointed toward an outcrop of rocks and they charged behind the shelter. A laser speared through another soldier and he fell, clutching his bleeding chest. The remaining men positioned themselves along the top of the boulders and fired quick bursts into the cloud.
“Colonel, give me a visual,” Nikola shouted.
Parker glanced through his binoculars. The dust of the desert swirled, obscuring the distance except for the light beams shooting out. A wind dispersed the sands, revealing the horizon full of cyborgs, slowly marching forward.
“There’s no good news, sir. There are probably hundreds. I can’t estimate it, considering the conditions.”
“How long have we got?”
“Range is …,” he checked the reading within the lenses, “two-fifty to three hundred and closing, but slowly.”
The high-energy light pounded into the rocks, leaving small black craters. Nikola placed his hand against the surface of the rock. It was getting warm.
“Can we outrun them?”
“Outrun light? Not really.”
Nikola contemplated the possible exit strategies. It looked grim. Machine-gun fire rattled around, and the shells tumbled.
“They can’t keep this up indefinitely. The power has to run out. How far back was that last town?”
“About three hours,” Parker replied.
“And they said people had come through here yesterday and not been attacked?”
“I hate to say this, Commander, but they were waiting for us.”
“A large cyborg skynet in the middle of nowhere, seems like it.” Nikola sighed and glanced over to Gavin. “Lucky you could sense them. It probably saved us.”
Gavin smiled nervously.
“From now on: standard procedure to include a tesla with all military patrols.” Nikola checked his own rounds, then found a protected spot to fire from. “Let’s make them work for it.”
Heat from the rocks steadily increased, until they became too uncomfortable to rest against. Then it went quiet. Nikola quickly glanced over the top of the boulders. He couldn’t see any movement in the mist.
“Wait,” Gavin hissed, “there’s something coming in from the track.”
A nervous soldier fired into the haze and something screamed. A laser lanced up into the air before it flickered and died, followed by several thumps. He investigated and found a small skynet lying dead on the road.
Nikola looked at Parker, who didn’t conceal his impressed expression.
The sandstorm had come to a standstill, and the air was heavy with dust and grit. Visibility remained poor. The soldiers collected surviving ammunition, quickly reloading and restocking in the brief respite.
The clip-clop of a horse trotting along the path caught Nikola’s attention. Emerging out of the sandstorm, a man on a large horse appeared. As it approached, Nikola realized it was a regular sized horse with a diminutive man on it. He wore an Akubra and a dusty old Drizabone.
“Good God, man, get down,” Parker shouted.
The man dismounted and dragged his horse behind the boulders. Nikola assessed the man’s attire. He wore mismatched black clothing under a coat that had been heavily battered by the elements. The boots were also in poor condition, but a gold tooth glittered out of his mouth. That seemed out of place.
“I was passing on the Bancroft track and saw the confrontation. The sky was alight with cinematic manifestations, but I had seen similar demonstrations on my winding way, and unfortunately knew that bystanders were under duress.”
Nikola mentally reeled back.
“Can I interject as to the current circumstances of your predicament?”
Nikola blinked at him, cutting through the verbiage to some kind of meaning.
“You want to kill yourself, then be my guest.” The soldiers were reloading their weapons. Gavin gasped as he clutched his head.
“Gavin, can you sense anything?”
He stammered for words as light and noise exploded around him.
The attack hit full force, picking up where it left off.
“That’s certainly a mighty special ability you have there, youngster,” the man said. He ducked behind the rocks, reaching into his pocket.
“Have you got something that’ll stop them in there?”
The man smiled, stood, and frantically waved a red handkerchief. The firing stopped and a laser shot directly upward.
He stood and moved toward the track. Nikola grabbed him. “You can’t go out there. They’ll kill you.”
“You need to trust me.” He walked to the track holding the red handkerchief aloft.
To Nikola and Parker’s amazement, a cyborg stepped forward from the skynet line and beckoned him forward. The man raised his hat and cautiously approached the cyborg.
Parker raised his binoculars and watched the interaction. The man was surrounded by a dozen cyborgs, aiming their weapons. The minutes ticked by without a shot being fired.
Parker disbelievingly watched on. “He’s coming back. In one piece.”
The man tucked his red handkerchief away as he made his way behind the rocks.
“You spoke to them?” Nikola said.
The man shrugged. “I’m not in any ongoing confrontation with them.”
“What did they say?”
“They are claiming land rights over the mine and processing facilities.”
“They can’t do that, just turn up and steal it.”
“They say this is a warning. Do not come back. I am not one who would relay such words in a simple way, but I think it’s best to understand the gravity of their threat.”
“What are they doing now?”
“Recharging. I would take this opportunity to make for safety.”
An eerie clicking echoed out of the mist. A set of red, menacing eyes towering above the boulders peered out, then disappeared. The mist crawled in.
“Something is nearby,” Gavin whispered.
“More cyborgs? Those double-crossing—” Parker started.
“No, this is different.”
The men fanned out, squinting into the sandstorm. Nothing moved except for the occasional small eddy that tossed the dust into small tornadoes.
Gavin backed away from the open expanse toward the boulders. Another eddy billowed out beside him. He glanced at the tiny whirlpool, but didn’t see the massive, leathery arm quietly reach out of the haze. It snapped against Gavin, who was dragged, screaming, up into the air.
The soldier managed to fire several rounds into the gloom before Parker forced him to lower the barrel.
“Careful, you don’t want to shoot Gavin.” Silence instantly descended on them.
“What was that?” the soldier hissed.
“It looked like … a bear.” Parker’s voice carried off on the wind. The voices were sucked away as soon as they spoke.