by Richard Bard
“No.”
“Well, it hurts to look at it.”
Lacey pulled out of the embrace and elbowed Marshall in the ribs. “Shut up. He’s here. That’s all that matters.” She ushered Jake toward the door, and the others followed him inside.
He was only two steps into the lodge when Sarafina raced across the room and leaped into his arms. She buried her face in his neck and her tears moistened his skin. “Daddy. Thank God you’re alive!”
He hugged her close and felt her chest hitch with sobs. It had been a while since she called him Daddy. It reminded him of a simpler time. “I missed you so much, sweetie.”
“Please don’t leave us again. We need you.”
The words cut deep. He needed them every bit as much as they needed him. He knew that now. He’d thought he’d done the right thing by going to ground, pretending to be dead. For their sake. But he’d been wrong. He was still as willing as ever to sacrifice himself for each and every one of them, but whatever happened, whatever threat they faced going forward, he’d be right at their side.
No matter what.
“I promise,” he said. “I’ll never leave you again.”
“Yes. You. Will,” Francesca said as she stepped from the shadowed recess of the hallway.
Her eyes were red and swollen, her hair disheveled, and her shoulders slumped like a prisoner awaiting the gallows. But there was something else as well. It was as if she’d buried any sense of relief she may have felt at his homecoming—or anger at him for letting her believe he was dead—beneath a far heavier burden.
Dread overcame him.
Sarafina slipped from his embrace, and he walked to his wife and took her hands. “I’m sorry,” he said.
Francesca’s eyes locked onto his, never once twitching due to his disfigurement, as she reached her empathic senses out to him. The depth of her anguish scared Jake.
“It’s Alex,” she said. “He’s missing.”
***
They gathered in the sitting area, taking turns filling Jake in on what had happened since they split up in China, and his mind reeled at the enormity of it all. Especially the news about Alex’s health.
He sat next to Francesca on the couch. “He’s really dying?” he asked, taking her hand. Her gaze moved downward at the rough scars covering his palm and fingers. She didn’t release her grip.
Her eyes moistened. “That’s what the doctor said.”
“And you believe the advanced aging was triggered by the grid?”
“What else could it be?” Marshall asked. He sat backward in the chair at his computer table, his hands draped over the back. “The doctor said it had to have been triggered by some external force.”
Jake knew his friend was right. The connection to the pyramids had done things to him as well. Why not Alex? “But why would Alex run away because he overheard all this?”
Francesca pulled her hand from his. “Because of you,” she said pointedly.
“What are you talking about?”
Tony, plopped in a lounge chair, jumped in. “We think he overheard a lot more than our conversation about his health. Doc had just gotten word that the government was interested in him.”
“More than just interested,” Marshall said. “They want Alex badly because of the secrets he harbors in his head regarding Passcode.”
“But Passcode was obliterated in China,” Jake said. “I destroyed the last existing file when I crashed into that helicopter.” He rubbed the regenerated skin on his face. “Trust me, it was burned to a crisp.”
“Sure,” Marshall said, “but it isn’t specifically Passcode that the government’s after. It’s Alex’s unique brain they want. Obviously, the kid’s connection with the grid did more than give him a horrible disease. It changed his brain’s architecture in a way that allows him to do what no one else on the planet can do. I spoke with Alex about it. The way he explained it, he didn’t intentionally hack the Passcode firewall. He had no idea it was a front for a subliminal password retrieval system. He was just immersed in the video game. And, like any gamer, he wanted to test ways to get an edge over the other players. But the Spider game was thought controlled. It responded to brain impulses through the headset, and Alex’s supercharged brain went wild in that environment. It simply reached out and explored on its own, busting through firewalls without even knowing it.”
“It wasn’t his fault,” Sarafina said. She and Lacey shared a loveseat.
Lacey placed her hand on Sarafina’s arm. “Of course it wasn’t. It was Marshall’s fault for letting him borrow his headset.”
Marshall slumped.
And that’s what put the targets on our backs in the first place, Jake thought. The accidental breach had triggered alarms for the bastards behind it all.
Tony said, “So even though Passcode itself was destroyed, the passwords the damn game retrieved are probably still in Alex’s head.”
“Not to mention the fact the entire fiasco revealed the unique capabilities of Alex’s brain,” Marshall said. “Because with nothing more than a Spider headset and access to the internet, he can probably hack into any system out there.”
“And the US government will stop at nothing to harness that process,” Tony said. “Regardless of the cost to Alex. Because with that tech in their hands, they could change the face of the world.”
Francesca’s nostrils flared. “And when Alex realized that danger surrounded him because he was a target…” She stared at Jake with an intensity that caused the others to avert their gazes. “He did what any proud son would do. He followed the example set by his father, running away from his family so they wouldn’t be placed in harm’s way.”
Jake pushed to his feet and paced the room, his mood darkening with each stride.
***
“Imagine the possibilities,” Jamal said.
Farhad was way ahead of his friend. He could hardly believe what he’d just heard. The power possessed by this child, the spawn of the American devil himself, could change everything. He exchanged a glance with Hadi, and saw from his stunned expression that the seasoned warrior had grasped the enormity of the opportunity.
“We must have that boy,” Farhad whispered to his mentor.
Hadi’s eyes narrowed. Farhad sensed him considering the ramifications of this new twist against their overall mission. Finally Hadi said, “Two watermelons cannot be held in one hand.”
It was an old Afghan proverb. In other words, if one has too many preoccupations, he will succeed at none of them. Farhad had heard that before. Too many times. It was a reflection of the generational gap between him and Hadi. Farhad and his teammates had perfected the art of multitasking, like millions of others in their age group. And while he had a great deal of respect for his mentor, he didn’t always agree with him. In this case, Hadi’s opinion didn’t matter, because like it or not, Farhad will have that boy. In fact, he’d make it Hadi’s priority to get him, which would get the man out of Farhad’s hair for a while.
He returned his focus to the video screen. “Fortunately, we are a team of many hands.”
***
Ahmed studied his father’s reaction to the news of Alex’s disappearance. Ahmed didn’t need his brother’s beautiful brain to know what Jake was thinking. Dad blamed himself for everything that went wrong, as usual. But Ahmed saw past that. Alex strove to emulate their father, so it’s natural to assume that’s why Alex had left when he believed his presence might do harm to the rest of them. That’s exactly what Dad had done by faking his own death.
Trying to be like their father wasn’t a bad thing, Ahmed thought. Just the opposite. Alex wasn’t the only one who idolized Jake. Regardless of what the world believed, Jake was selfless, loving, courageous, and always willing to step up on behalf of others. Not to mention he saved the world.
As for his tendency toward accepting blame, that simply revealed his humility. Ahmed thought back to his childhood teachings, specifically a quote from the Holy Prophet Muhamm
ad: “Indeed, humility increases the dignity of one endowed with it. Be humble, and Allah will exalt you.”
He watched as his father’s face hardened. Ahmed had seen that look before. His father loved his family, and nothing would stand in the way of his finding and protecting its youngest member.
“I’ll find him,” Jake said.
Ahmed didn’t doubt it. Yes, Alex was right to want to follow in his father’s footsteps.
And I’ll do the same.
***
Jake pushed through the doubt clouding his thoughts. His heart had sunk at the news of Alex’s health, and he’d listened from the precipice of despair as his friends explained the reasons behind his son now being a target. Francesca was right to blame him for Alex’s disappearance. The boy’s reaction was learned behavior, taught by an idiot of a father who hadn’t been able to get it through his skull that running away was never the right choice. Well, he knew better now. His family and friends faced the biggest threat of their lives because of him, and he needed to be front and center if they were to have any chance of digging their way out. Alex was dying and had run away to God knows where, and the unusual lure to the jungles of Brazil came laced with foreboding.
They don’t even know about that yet.
Though Jake intended to be honest with them, he decided to save that last detail until later. That didn’t mean he couldn’t tell them about the rest. He stopped pacing and turned to face them. “I saw Alex.”
“Huh?” Marshall asked.
Tony leaned forward in his chair. “Spill it.”
Francesca’s mouth hung open. Jake settled next to her on the couch.
“Our son is okay,” he said. He told them about the vision in the bear cave, of seeing Alex in the tour bus sharing M&Ms with two young girls.
“I knew it!” Sarafina said. “The buses. We saw them on a YouTube video.”
“Maybe I can figure out where they’re from,” Marshall said. He spun around in his chair and keyed up the video.
Hope transformed Francesca’s expression. She offered a weak smile and threw her arms around him, her embrace soothing him. After a moment, she pulled back.
“You have to do it again,” she said.
“Of course,” Lacey chimed in.
“Do what?”
Sarafina said, “Have another vision.”
Jake sat back. His lips parted, but it was Ahmed who voiced the words Jake had been about to speak. “That’s probably much easier said than done.”
“Whad’ya think, pal?” Tony asked. “Can you make it happen?”
Jake had asked himself that question plenty of times. Was it the adrenaline rush of running from the massive bear, or the energy of the mini that had triggered the vision? Or both? He’d been in plenty of dire situations with the mini in his possession in the past several years, and had used up more than his share of adrenaline in the process, but he’d never had a vision until two days ago. No, it wasn’t adrenaline. As for the mini, it had likely played a role but it hadn’t been the trigger. The vision had been initiated by something in the depths of the jungle in Brazil. The question was, could he reopen the connection? Did he dare? He felt a tingle of energy from the mini at the mere thought of it, and a shiver spread across his back.
“I’ll find a way,” he said.
Ahmed rose to his feet. “Let me help.”
“Me, too,” Sarafina said. “I’ve connected with Alex before. I mean, with my thoughts.”
Ahmed huffed. “Yeah, but—”
Jake rose and waved them both off. The thought of exposing either of them directly to the mini’s power was unthinkable. “No, this is something I’ve got to do on my own.”
Francesca stood and took his right hand. She ran her fingers over the discolored and hardened area of his palm and fingers. Then she studied his face as her hand stroked the shiny surface of his healed skin, her senses reaching out to him.
“You’ve been through a lot,” she said softly. “As have we all. But you’re with us again and that makes us stronger.”
Her voice held forgiveness, and suddenly the task before him didn’t seem so bleak.
“Do what you must, husband. Our boy needs us.” She kissed him tenderly on the mouth. He pulled her close and permitted himself a moment of escape into her essence. His tension vanished and the world disappeared. Her touch had always done that to him, ever since that first time on the balcony overlooking the canals of Venice, when he’d thought she was part of a plot to kidnap him. Wonderful memories played across his mind—of laughing, and loving, and caring for each other and their children. And then the mini stirred in his pocket, and reality broke through the veil.
When he pulled back, her eyes were wide. She took a deep breath and slid her hand down to the pocket holding the mini. “I felt it,” she whispered.
That was a first, Jake thought. Besides him and Alex, no one had ever been able to sense the mini’s energy. That Francesca had felt it scared him. He turned to one side and her hand slipped away. She didn’t object.
“It’s okay,” she said. “Tap into it. Like it or not, it’s become a part of you.” She frowned. “A part of us. Embrace it. Use the mini’s power to find our son.”
He nodded, turned on his heels, and walked down the hall.
***
“What is he going to do?” Jamal asked over the comm net.
Good question, Farhad thought. Audio reception from the bug drone was outstanding, and he’d listened to the American’s description of the vision he’d had in the cave.
“And what is this mini the woman mentioned?” Jamal added.
“Quiet,” Farhad ordered, though he wanted to know the answer every bit as much as the others. Jake Bronson was an enigma, and this mini of his was another piece of the puzzle. Farhad glanced at the crisp overhead view of the lodge streaming from Pelican-1’s camera. “Ghazi, we need to track where he’s going in the house.”
“A few of the windows in the back aren’t fully curtained,” Ghazi said. “I can try the bug, but we’ll lose audio from the front room.”
“Do it.” Farhad switched the view on his wrist screen to that of the dragonfly drone. The fuzzy, close-up view of a curtain resolved itself as the drone lifted away from the window to circumnavigate the building. The bug zipped along the sidewall, slowing at each window to peer inside. The curtain on the third window was pulled back, and the bug lingered on a view of an empty bedroom. A hall light flickered on and Bronson walked past the doorway.
“He’s heading toward the back,” Jamal reported.
The drone zipped to the next window, but it was curtained. So was the next. The view through the final window on that side of the structure was clear, however. It was another bedroom, and the picture zoomed on the hallway beyond, capturing the American entering what appeared to be a bathroom and closing the door behind him.
Farhad watched as Ghazi raced the tiny drone up and over the roof to hover in front of the bathroom window.
Allah be praised, he thought. The curtain was cracked open.
The drone alighted on the window screen.
Chapter 18
JAKE STARED at the bathroom mirror.
Damn, I’m ugly, he thought, rubbing his face. His new skin still itched, and his droopy right eye reminded him of Quasimodo. But unlike the unfortunate fictional character from Victor Hugo’s novel The Hunchback of Notre Dame, he’d found mutual love.
And forgiveness.
He pulled out the miniature pyramid. Its slick surfaces and precise edges had once felt alien to him. Now they were a comfort.
A part of us, Francesca had said. Tap into it.
He couldn’t duplicate the physical circumstances in the cave, but he sure as hell could tap into the emotions they had evoked. After blowing out a long breath, his eyes went flat and he focused his thoughts on the ink-black surface of the alien object.
The mini rose from his palm to hover before him, its energy filling the room and making the hairs on his
skin bristle. He opened his mind, recalling—no, reliving—the vibrations he’d experienced when he first connected to the pyramid in Afghanistan, vibrations with the same tonal quality and frequency that had accompanied the vision in the bear cave. He thought of the vast underground space he’d seen, and the inexorable lure he’d felt to seek it out in the jungles of Brazil, and the shock he’d felt at seeing Alex—
Jake’s eyes snapped closed, his body shook, and his mind was transported to the interior of a vast cavern. The vision shimmied like a mirage over a desert. He strained his mind to clarify the view, and the few details that appeared made him realize it wasn’t a natural space. The walls were curved and symmetrical, supported by esophageal ribs, and the domed ceiling shone with metallic brilliance. He glimpsed a crystalline console of some sort, and a hovering holographic image of…
Me.
The vision vanished behind a fog, and a presence entered his mind.
“You must come.”
The contact jolted him, but he forced himself to remain open. There was an urgency behind the words, and its pull was relentless.
“Bring him.”
Jake tensed as his mind was transported to a view of Alex sitting at a desk in front of a window overlooking a narrow, downtown street. It was as if Jake was looking over his son’s shoulder. The same two girls he’d seen on the bus stood beside Alex, one staring out the window. It was dark outside, but streetlamps illuminated the colorful structures across the street. They had a Spanish colonial look. He didn’t recognize the location, and the foreign feel of the place was disquieting.
Alex’s head suddenly spun around, and he mouthed, “Dad?”
“I’m coming,” Jake said, unsure whether or not Alex could hear him.
“Time is running out…” The strange voice trailed off and the vision began to fade, but before it vanished, Jake blinked like a camera shutter, capturing the scene surrounding his son, storing every detail in his mind.