There was firing from all directions now and Jason knew the battle was heating up. In the distance more choppers were landing, offloading troops and quickly lifting back into the smoldering sky. And up above the choppers squadrons of jets roared, bringing more menace to the once serene wilderness. Jason moved swiftly in the direction he’d seen Charlee moments before. He knew he didn’t have much time left. Through drifts of acrid smelling smoke he finally caught sight of the girl being escorted by two soldiers toward the open door of an idling Blackhawk helicopter. He stopped and stood perfectly still. Now another figure had joined them and Jason saw that it was the woman. Spencer was nowhere to be seen. It was very open here and Jason knew that if he kept going in a straight line he would be spotted and vulnerable. There were two large boulders off to his right, both the size of SUVs. He sprinted toward them and found shelter in the four foot wide space between them. He crouched for a moment breathing in and breathing out, getting his wits about him, forcing his heart rate and his respiration down. Relaxing was difficult under such circumstances, but he knew he must try. Cool heads win battles. On the other hand, high stress and panic are recipes for disaster. He waited and watched. Charlee would soon be loaded onto the chopper, and she, plus the artifact would be gone forever. Jason could not let that happen. It was time to move.
He rose to a standing position and was just about to step out from between the two boulders and move diagonally toward the aft section of the chopper when a voice behind him said, “Drop your rifle and move toward that chopper. If you try to turn around I’ll kill you.”
Jason knew the voice. He dropped his weapon and started walking, slowly. He heard the weapon being kicked out of the way. “I wondered if we’d ever meet up again, Spencer.”
“That was a neat trick you pulled back at that farmhouse,” Spencer said.
Doug stopped.
“I told you to keep moving toward the chopper. I will kill you.”
Jason stood fast. “You could have killed me a dozen times yet I’m still alive. Why do you suppose that is?”
“How’d you do it?” Spencer could not hide the eagerness in his voice.
“What? You mean just disappear before your very eyes.
“Yeah, that.”
“I can’t explain it. I’m a soldier not a scientist.”
“You’re stalling.”
“I mean it. I have no idea how that happened. One minute we were in that tunnel and the next we were somewhere else.”
“Where?”
“The most amazing place I’ve ever seen. Too bad you’ll never get to see it.”
A hard object slammed into the side of Jason’s skull and he went to his knees. Although he was stunned, the calculating soldier part of his brain kicked in and took over. He saw the chopper with the two soldiers and the woman preparing to escort Charlee aboard. He felt the muzzle of Spencer’s gun pressing into the back of his head. His brain began working like the tumblers inside a combination lock, clicking through the numbers searching for the code. Suddenly the lock opened and Jason’s right hand moved like lightning, reaching over his left shoulder and grabbing the barrel of Spencer’s gun. The move was so quick and so sure that Spencer never saw it coming. Spencer instinctively pulled the trigger, and to Jason, the muzzle blast from the round leaving the barrel felt like a nail being driven into his brain through his ear. Ignoring the pain Jason yanked the gun from Spencer’s hand. Still on his knees he twisted around and shot Spencer in the kneecap with his own gun. Spencer screamed and went down. A couple of nearby soldiers hearing the commotion, sprinted in their direction. They were entering the space between the two boulders when Jason got up and stood over Spencer who lay moaning and twisting on the ground. The soldiers lifted their weapons, but saw that Jason held a pistol to Spencer’s head. Jason reached his other hand out to Spencer. “Here, take my hand,” he said.
Puzzled, Spencer obliged. When he took Jason’s hand Jason passed a round solid object to him as a small circular pin fell to the ground. By the time Spencer realized what it was Jason had sprinted out of the shelter between the two boulders. He took a hard left turn and dove for the ground landing face down with his arms protecting his head. A split-second later the grenade detonated. The blast tore through the narrow opening killing Spencer and the two soldiers instantly.
“One down,” Jason said, rising to his feet and retrieving his rifle. Once again he began to move toward the idling chopper.
CHAPTER 44
Inside the Blue Light. July 6th.
Annie?
The faraway summons woke Annie. She’d been dreaming of Doug and Ariel at the cabin down by the pond. Just the three of them. So free. So alive. So happy. Who are you? What do you want?
It’s me, Nadia.
Go away. I don’t want you in my dream. I don’t want you in my life.
Do you want to help Doug and Ariel?
Of course. But how can I? I don’t even know where I am.
You’re in the web.
The web? You mean the Blue Light?
Correct.
What am I doing here?
It’s a long story. Listen, we’ve got a serious problem. I’ll make it short and sweet. Greta’s back.
Greta?
You remember Greta.
Yeah, I remember the bitch.
That’s right. Daddy’s little helper.
It can’t be her. I watched her die. And I’m not sorry.
Her name is now Angelica, and no, she’s not dead. But she’s not alive, either. She’s something else. Something in between.
So why do I care?
She has one of the artifacts.
What? Great! How did she get it?
She took it from Charlee Loring after Charlee killed Johnny Cobain. You’ve been gone a while. A lot has happened.
Charlee killed Johnny? Oh, God no.
You’re father needs all of the artifacts for what he has planned. And he needs Ariel. If that woman is allowed to leave with the artifact then Ariel can’t do what she was meant to do.
It doesn’t matter. This way I get to keep her.
No, you’re wrong, Annie. She will die here along with everyone else. Then the whole world will die.
What can I do? I feel like I’m floating on the surface of a dark sea. I can’t see anything. I can’t feel my body. Am I dead?
You should be. You were about to be crushed by the falling ceiling, but the Collector got there just in time and cast you into the web. It’s where I am, with him. We’re not very far from where you are. There are aliens beneath the ice caves but they can only do so much. It’s complicated. That place down there is some sort of waystation between their world and ours, but even more than that it’s a portal where time has no relevance.
What does any of this have to do with me?
Those aliens are from the distant future. They’ve come back to stop some sort of catastrophe. If it’s what I think it is we can’t let it happen.
Tell me.
They said that long ago another civilization evolved and clawed its way to the stars. But unlike their species, this civilization never lost its blood lust. They called them plunderers who made the leap centuries before they should have by stealing technology from another greater civilization. I think the civilization these so-called plunderers stole from are the aliens, and I think the plunderers are us humans. That’s why the aliens are here. They’re attempting to stop this premature evolutionary leap before it’s too late. That’s why Ariel is here. I think she’s the only person on Earth capable of arresting this tragedy.
But she’s no longer here. She went with the aliens. I know she did. She talked to me and Doug from the future.
She hasn’t left yet, Annie. Remember, that was the future. She’s still very much here in the present.
How can she help save Earth by going with them?
I have no idea. But I think the aliens know. It’s why they’re here. It’s why Ariel and the ones who have been chosen need to go wi
th them.
I find it so difficult to let her go.
I know, Annie, but for the sake of the human race—for the sake of Planet Earth—you must. You’ve done your part, now you must allow Ariel to do hers. It’s what she was born to do. The aliens have emissaries out in the world trying to help survivors and restore order. But unless we act, their efforts might be in vain. In the end we have to be strong enough and wise enough to save our own civilization.
Good luck with that. This is the human race you’re talking about.
There’s still hope, Annie. They sent the Collector for a reason. He is part of the web. He is part of the plan.
You know, in a way he’s my father, Annie said.
Yes, I know the story.
He created me, therefore he created Ariel.
Then you and Ariel are intrinsically linked to the web. That would mean the Collector has a vested interest in you both.
Perhaps he does. Although I don’t know how or why.
Isn’t it obvious? The web needs Ariel. It’s not just about Earth. It’s about everything. When the Collector made the bargain with your father— the one that would ultimately result in the birth of both you and Ariel—he had no idea he would be betrayed.
Now he’s come back to make things right.
It would appear that way.
What does the Collector want from me?
You’ll know soon enough. Hold on. He’s bringing us back.
CHAPTER 45
Ice Caves. Northern Maine Wilderness. July 6th.
In the control room Doug and Jennings intently watched the monitors. At first they weren’t sure what they were seeing. There were three camera angles. The first camera was trained on the front entrance, which originally had been shielded by piles of brush and small evergreen saplings. The catastrophic explosions had pretty much stripped away everything so that now all you saw was the rock face of the cave and the charred surface of the wooden plank door. This view brought into sharp focus just how vulnerable they all were.
The second camera angle showed a burnt and desolate landscape so unlike the plush, beautiful forest that Doug and Jennings had once known and loved. They saw soldiers passing back and forth in front of the camera lens, and in the distance, through the smoke and gathering dark they caught an occasional glimpse of helicopters landing and taking off, their red strobes cutting through the gloom like ghostly lasers. But there was something else out there flitting in and around the choppers. Something vague and a little unsettling.
“You see them?” Eli said.
“I see something, but I’m not sure what they are,” Jennings said. They certainly don’t look like helicopters.”
Doug squinted at the screen. “Maybe I can help,” he said reaching up and cupping his palm over the sore spot on the back of his neck. And as he did so he sagged forward as if he was losing consciousness.
“Whoa,” Jennings said grabbing him by the arm. “You okay?” He grabbed a nearby chair and sat Doug down in it. Doug’s head lolled until it was resting on his breastbone.
“What’s wrong with him?” asked Eli.
“Let me check his pulse,” said Danielle. She moved in and quickly checked his vitals. When she tried to remove his hand from the back of his neck, it wouldn’t budge. She gave Jennings a worried look. “I don’t know what’s going on. Everything seems okay. I told him he needed to rest. He should have listened.”
“Papa, I’m here,” Ariel said, as she easily picked his hand up and replaced it with her own. “I need to see what you’re seeing.”
“How do you know he’s seeing anything?” Jennings asked her.
“Oh, Uncle Rick, of course he is. I love you, but there’s just some stuff you’ll never understand.”
Jennings’ face reddened even as he smiled.
Ariel stood for a long moment in concentration, her tiny hand cupped over the sore spot where the Collector’s umbilical had been attached to her father’s neck. In that moment Ariel saw everything her father had seen while he was out. She saw the emissaries helping people get beyond the ravages of the plague. She heard her father’s conversation with her mother who was floating in the web with Nadia and the Collector.
“I think I know what De Roché is up to,” Ariel said, but everyone knew it was Doug speaking through her.
Jennings leaned down to better see Doug’s face. His eyes were closed and he was breathing evenly. “What’s going on?”
“He’s looking outside himself,” Ariel said.
“You mean like a trance?”
“Something like that. Please, Uncle Rick, he needs to speak.”
“It’s starting to makes sense now,” Doug continued. “He’s been telling me for years and I thought he was a mad man. I still think he’s mad. But that doesn’t change what he’s capable of. He’s reduced the human population, and most of those he targeted were the poor and disadvantaged. He’s wiped the planet of what he considers undesirables. He has recruited a massive force that will soon declare worldwide Martial Law. He thinks he can bring everyone in line. I know he’s been working with genetics and DNA because he told me so years ago. He wants a race of super humans. He knows something the rest of the world doesn’t. He and his cabal are holed up right now in secret bunkers all over the world waiting for it to happen. Then they’ll make their move.”
“Waiting for what to happen, Doug?” Jennings impatient voice asked.
“I think he’s preparing to take some sort of evolutionary leap,” Ariel said.
“But how is that possible?” Eli asked. “A leap to where?”
“He plans on using alien technology.” Ariel continued to hold her hand over the shunt wound. “He wants to access the web. With the web at his disposal he believes he can accomplish his vision.”
“How does he plan on doing that?” Jennings asked.
Everyone’s attention was now fixed totally on Ariel. “By using the portal beneath the ice caves. It’s a waystation to other parts of the universe. He plans on gaining access to it.”
“He knows about it?”
“He has always known. The Blue Light is everywhere, of course, but this is the only place on Earth that contains a portal large enough and powerful enough to do what he has planned, which is to use the web to transport his legions to many worlds beyond ours.”
“If what you say is true then why didn’t he make his move years ago?”
“He wasn’t ready. He didn’t have Ariel and he didn’t have the artifacts. Now he has them all in one place. His scientists and engineers have spent decades reverse engineering the crashed Roswell spacecraft. That too was part of the plan. Now that they have the technology they plan on building an armada of them.”
“Wait a minute,” Jennings said. “How did he get access to that craft?”
“He has friends in high places,” Doug continued, his voice still being channeled eerily through Ariel. “He’s the leader of a secret global cabal, an illuminati that goes back centuries. Its members are some of the richest and most powerful men on Earth. In essence De Roché is the government. His cabal has infiltrated nearly every government on the planet, including ours.
Eli was staring closely at the monitor now. “I see Jason,” he said. “Holy crap, he’s right out in the open and walking directly toward that chopper. He’s firing at something. Oh my God, he just disabled that chopper. People are firing at him and the chopper’s on fire.”
“He’ll be killed,” Danielle said, rushing forward in order to get a better look at the monitor.
In a voice that chilled everyone to the bones, Ariel said, “Not if I can help it.” She lifted her hand from the back of her father’s neck and placed both her palms on the sides of her own head, covering her ears, as if she was trying to block out noise. She closed her eyes in concentration.
“What’s she doing?” Danielle asked.
“Eli said, “Shush, she’s trying to save Jason.”
CHAPTER 46
Northern Maine Wilderness
. July 6th.
Jason knew he could not approach the chopper without being seen. But it didn’t matter. Time was running out.
As he moved, slowly at first, he kept his attention focused exclusively on the woman. With his peripheral vision he spotted silent things flitting above the destruction like white ghosts, their aerodynamic patterns like nothing Jason had ever seen. He did not allow himself the luxury of focusing directly on the objects, afraid that this woman was somehow causing them and trying to distract him. He was a good soldier. He needed to focus on what was important . . . like the soldier that just spotted him and brought his rifle up. Jason killed him before he could finish the arc. The gunshot drew the attention of the woman. She pushed Charlee toward the open doorway where two soldiers leaned out and grabbed her. Simultaneously the woman spun around to face her adversary. Jason now marched forward with purpose, his weapon aimed at the woman. But she was unarmed and Jason could not kill an unarmed person.
“Let her go!” Jason ordered. “You have no need for her. You’ve got what you came for.”
The soldiers inside the chopper were lifting Charlee through the open doorway.
“Not even close,” the woman said to Jason, her voice filled with venom. “What I want is inside that cave.”
“You’ll never get her.”
“Don’t be naïve. You and your ragtag group don’t have a prayer.”
With his peripheral vision Jason spotted another soldier lift his weapon. Jason’s reflexes were lightning fast, however, and the soldier was dead before he hit the ground. Jason did not understand what was happening. It was as if his senses were suddenly heightened beyond anything he’d ever experienced.
Song of Ariel: A Blue Light Thriller (Book 2) (Blue Light Series) Page 38