The Crystal Tower

by Liam Donnelly

He smirked. “OK. I’ve got to get my system ready to pilot these things,” he said, turning and walking back to his computer. “I’ll patch the feed through when I have it so we can go live with it.” He frowned then, and glanced over his shoulder to face her. “That is, if we really want to…?”

  A serious expression stole over Claudia’s features. Her gaze drifted to the side as a crease furrowed her brow. “I hadn’t thought of that,” she said. “We don’t even know what it is we’ll be broadcasting at this point.”

  “Also, the last remaining drones cut out ages ago. This thing’s been growing ever since then. We have no more close-up images. We don’t know what kind of footage we’re going to be getting back…especially with military aircraft out there now.”

  Claudia nodded, though secretly she planned to broadcast the footage, whatever it contained. She turned around and gazed at the tower, which glistened in the new moonlight. She tilted her head. It seemed as though, over the last couple of hours, the small flashes of light coming off its surface had increased in frequency. Now it appeared to be glittering, as though new energy was pulsating through it. The meaning of this perplexed her.

  ***

  Jane felt Max’s telepathic communication stop, and her focus returned completely to the hallway. The blue light still glowed on the walls around her, and she sensed Elliot’s approach with every step. She knew she had to move from where she was, but she also knew she had to draw him away from her friends, or at least try. Glancing over her right shoulder, she saw, just ten feet farther down the hallway, the check-in desk and the corridor that continued past it. Emboldened by Max’s words, Jane decided that this was her best bet. She watched as the young teenager looked left to right, scanning the area, the beams of light from his eyes falling over every feature, illuminating them sharply. When Elliot looked far to the left, Jane took her chance and leaped from where she was hiding. She dashed toward the desk. As she did, the light from Elliot’s eyes fell over her and cast a rapidly moving shadow across the check-in desk on her left.

  I see you, Jane!

  His telepathic voice came in a guttural, mocking tone that disgusted her. Still moving quickly, she ran past the desk. As she did, the wall on her right blocked the light that came from his eyes; she was once again bathed in the dim, flickering white lights from above. The frame in the desk on her left began rattling. As she passed it, the entire structure shattered into pieces, exploding into the hallway and sending large chunks of debris crashing against the wall behind her.

  Despite the shockwave that washed over her, Jane managed to stay on her feet. However, now the lights above her began to explode, and with each stride she took, new darkness chased her. Spotting an elevator at the end of the hallway, she summoned all her will and focused on the buttons. Acting on instinct, not knowing where to go, she pushed the up button, calling the elevator. The final bulb above her exploded just as she stopped in front of the closed doors. Raising her arms to protect herself, she swept aside the glass from the bulb. It crashed against the wall to her right.

  Silence ensued then, save for an electrical cable that buzzed with a live feed from the broken light above her. Turning, Jane peered through the darkness where, seventy feet away, the entire check-in area had been destroyed. The blue light grew brighter. Just as she heard the chime of the elevator, she saw Elliot emerge from behind the mass of debris. He had turned the corner from the entrance hall and he spotted her. The doors opened, and Jane backed inside. Reaching out with her thoughts, she pushed one of the buttons for the upper floors.

  As the doors closed, Elliot raised his palms. Jane squinted as the light from his eyes flared with startling brightness. The doors shut tightly and the elevator ascended. A few seconds later, something below her exploded and the elevator shook violently. Jane grasped the handles and breathed a sigh of relief as the shaking stopped and the elevator continued its ascent. She knew immediately that the doors through which she had just walked had been destroyed. If she had been standing there, she would most certainly have been injured—perhaps killed.

  Taking deep breaths, she tried to focus her mind. Then, in the distance, she heard a telepathic whisper from a conversation not meant for her.

  What are you doing? I told you not to harm her! she heard the voice yell. The sound of it sent chills down her spine.

  She grasped her chest with her right hand. Oh no, she thought, remembering the Marble Hall and the place where she had run from the incredibly powerful entity. She knew with absolute certainty now that it was Zatera who was orchestrating everything happening in the city, pulling Elliot’s strings like a puppet.

  A chime came from the speakers, and the elevator doors opened. An empty, quiet hallway was in front of her. Stepping out tentatively, Jane glanced from side to side. She had only one foot in the corridor, and on her left she saw that it ended just thirty feet away. Soft blue chairs lined the hall on either side, and in between each section of seats were doorways, presumably to patient bedrooms. On her right was an open area, though from where she was standing, Jane couldn’t see much of it. The lights there were dim, and those that remained functioning flickered on and off, casting intermittent shadows.

  Jane slowly left the elevator and walked into the middle of the space. The doors slid shut behind her. Looking around once again to make sure the passageway was clear, Jane thought about her friends. Closing her eyes, she reached out with her telepathic senses. In her mind’s eye, she rushed down the floors she had come through, and then found herself in the room. It was exactly as she had left it; her friends were still lying on the floor, unconscious but safe—at least for now.

  Jane felt something odd then, as the string-like ethereal filament that connected her to her body was tripped. She glanced behind her, and then the voice came again.

  I can see you.

  In the hallway, Jane took a sharp breath, immediately withdrew her telepathic senses, and closed off her mind. Somehow, Elliot had detected her as she reached out telepathically. He had intercepted the connection. She knew nothing of the mechanics of telepathy, how it worked, or indeed, any of the Ethereal abilities; that was the job of parapsychologists—a field reborn in the wake of the arrival of Ethereal Vision. Sometimes even physicists weighed in on the discussions, but they talked about it in such a reductionist, scientific fashion that the conversation had never really drawn much of her attention. However, she did know instinctively what had just happened. She had practically seen it in her mind’s eye.

  I know where you are, the voice continued.

  Jane let out a breath and leaned over as her stomach knotted. Bracing herself, she shook her head, as though this act would rid her of the fear his voice evoked in her. She took a right down the hall, heading toward the open space. On the left was another desk that lined the corner of this section. Just a few feet next to it was a set of double doors that led to another area of the hospital. On the right was an open area with rows of seats. Again, Jane looked at the heavy double door only ten feet in front of her. She closed her eyes and quickly scanned the area. As her psychic sight moved through the door, she saw that the hallway beyond it was a hundred feet long and lined with many other rooms, all empty—probably evacuated.

  Hearing a sound behind her, Jane turned. An emergency escape was at the far end of the corridor, and now it began to rattle as someone climbed the steps from behind and approached it. Turning on her heel, Jane bolted for the double door as she heard the locks at the far end of the hall blast open. She pushed through, then took a step back and, focusing her power, grasped both sides and slammed them shut. Far in the distance, through the two small, circular glass windows near the top at either side of the door, blue light filled the space at the end of the hallway. Then she saw Elliot emerge. She ducked down and turned, looking for a place to hide.

  At the end of this corridor was a wall, and just next to it, another passageway that led to the right. Sealing off her psychic senses as much as she could, Jane t
ook the briefest of glances and saw that this wall marked the perimeter of the hospital. She stared at it for a moment, thinking. She knew the aisle on the right could lead to a possible escape route, but she dared not use her telepathic senses to scan the area beyond it. She now knew that he could quite easily detect her presence.

  Instead, Jane looked between the various doors, trying to decide which one to try. However, time ran out quickly, as above her, the blue light brimming from Elliot’s eyes shone through the windows in the door behind her. Jane ran down the corridor and tried the door on her right. She pulled the handle, then opened and closed the door behind her. She shifted to the left and immediately dropped to the floor, placing her back against the wall so that she was facing the room in front. Slowly, she glanced behind her as she heard the main door swing open gently. Blue light filled the corridor, casting shadows through the slanted blinds onto the left side of the room. There, large cabinets lined the wall.

  Think, she thought desperately, silently, as Elliot stalked the corridor behind her. She couldn’t risk further telepathic contact with anyone, for Elliot could trace that and find her. Max was occupied, and she couldn’t leave the room at this point, for that would entail facing Elliot on the physical plane. Max had warned her quite firmly that she was no match for him at this time. Jane glanced down at her right palm, but nothing glowed from there. Despite the fear that pulsed through her, whatever the Rose had given her, it had gone dormant once again and offered her no solution.

  OK, she thought. I can’t go outside. But… She closed her eyes. Maybe I can go inside. Maybe—maybe I can hide myself better. As the light from Trey’s eyes illuminated the hallway, Jane retreated inside her own mind. She heard his voice once again, but now it was distant.

  Where are you? he asked in that same guttural tone. Again, it was the thin voice of a young teenager, layered with the ancient wrath of Zatera, from whom she had once run in some strange, otherworldly realm.

  As Jane opened her eyes, she found that she was no longer inside the hospital. She had transported herself to the psychic plane. She was in a beautiful meadow filled with grass and surrounded by trees that swayed in a gentle breeze. Now, as she concentrated, a solid brick wall slammed down in front of her. She took a step back and her palms touched a concrete surface. Turning away from it and recoiling, she stared at the giant barrier in awe and saw that the wall encircled her entirely. Another wall slammed down in front of the first, inside it, and this was quickly followed by another.

  Yes, she thought. That’s good. She continued moving backward toward the center. As she did, the walls fell within each other, forming a thick barricade.

  Back in the room, Jane’s physical self opened her eyes. Though much of her awareness had moved to the psychic landscape she had just entered, Jane was still able to retrieve information from her physical senses. She noticed that Elliot had passed the room she was in and was moving farther down the hallway. It was working—he hadn’t detected her. A sliver of a smile curled the edges of her lips as she closed her eyes again and returned to that incredible inner world.

  Jane sat with her back against the curved edge of the innermost surface of the perfectly formed walls of concrete. Above her, the sun shone and a few puffs of cloud drifted across the sky. Seagulls flew through the air, soaring high above her in circles on hot winds. She knew that if she could keep her focus there, shielded by the many walls of thought, she could evade detection.

  In the world outside, Elliot approached the door at the end of the corridor on the left and pushed it open.

  Jane watched from inside the psychic landscape, as though on a screen. She saw him with her mind’s eye, and she felt her pulse race as she waited for him to continue onward and take a right down the other passageway. A few seconds passed, and then, after scanning the interior of the last room, he let go of the door, which closed behind him.

  Move it! she thought.

  But he didn’t turn right. He tilted his head, and she heard him grunt. On the blank wall in front of him, blazing light lit up the white surface and the area all around it.

  Inside the psychic landscape, Jane stood. A dark cloud appeared in the sky, and the seagulls vanished. She looked straight ahead and peered through the walls with her psychic vision. She saw that Elliot had now invaded this inner sanctum. He was standing on the other side of the fortress she had built. He stared at it in consternation. Then he raised his palms. Knowing what was coming, Jane braced herself and poured every ounce of psychic energy she could into the barrier, though it wasn’t nearly enough. The volley of power Elliot sent into the first wall blew that outer section to pieces.

  Jane reeled. She felt as though a bolt of energy had slammed into her, although in the physical world she willed her body to remain as still as possible. She was still hidden there, and unless Elliot managed to break through her psychic defenses, she would remain so. Inside the psychic landscape, Elliot walked over the foot of concrete that still remained at the bottom of the first wall, then stepped into the five-foot space between it and the second one. Once again, he raised his hands.

  Jane felt the ground beneath her tremble as the second wall was torn down and the shockwave of psychic energy slammed into her body. The sky grew darker, but still she wasn’t defeated, and he had several more layers to break through. Not only that, the inner barriers, she knew, were stronger than the outer ones, and before he got to her, he would have to smash through them. She vowed that he would not. Gazing at the walls, she raised her hands and poured all her psychic will into strengthening them. A haze of light spread from her outstretched palms, beaming at the walls. New layers of brick appeared on the inner ones, seeming to materialize from nowhere and rising up their heights. As the new rock climbed upward, the light of her will enshrouded it, even though on the outside she felt another wall break open and the earth beneath her trembled again. She grimaced once, quickly, then opened her eyes wider and spread her hands out, concentrating harder.

  CHAPTER 16

  THE FIGHTERS

  Ben Bowman was in command of the five sixth-generation fighters that had been sent to destroy the unusual tower which had formed in less than twenty-four hours just five miles off the coast of New York City. They had flown at supersonic speed to its location. Now, the five had formed a rough circular formation about halfway up its exterior. Despite his craft’s advanced scanning equipment, Ben detected no discernible strategic information about its structure; it merely registered as a large physical object which brimmed with psionic energy

  “This is Tiger,” he said, using his call sign. “Save the awe for later, everyone. First we have to blow this thing out of the sky. Maneuver into position slowly.” He watched as the two craft on his right and left tilted slightly and moved away from him. On the opposite side of the tower, the fifth fighter disappeared from sight, taking position behind it. On the display in front of him, Ben waited until all five fighters were in alignment. Then a flashing line formed between the green dots, which represented his compatriots’ jets, informing him that they had locked into a perfect formation. “That’s it,” he said. “Ensure psionic shielding is active.”

  “This is Taurus. Confirmed; shielding is active. Whoever’s building that thing, they’re not getting through to us with any psionic interference. In position and ready.”

  “Confirmed. Micra in position. Psionic shielding is active.”

  The remaining two fighters, Red Eye and Omega, reported the same over the communications system. Ben stared at the surface of the tower in front of him. The lights on the sleek fighter jet illuminated it, and a thousand sparkling points shone back at him. For a moment, they reminded him of diamonds.

  Ben pulled his attention away from it and tried to quell the irrational instinct that this endeavor would end badly. “Orders are to fire laser systems first. Bring them online and target the structure at the same diametric axis.”

  To his surprise, Taurus spoke of something that Ben ha
d not heard her mention before. Her voice came through suddenly, as though it was an outburst. “I’m afraid of refraction,” she said.

  Ben’s brow furrowed. If anything, she should have voiced this concern at the briefing before they had departed. Now was not the time to be bringing up such issues. He pursed his lips and nodded. “That has already been acknowledged and discussed at length. It’s a possibility, but at their highest power output, the destructive capability will curb any likelihood of that. These things could cut through a mountain. Got it?”

  For a moment, she didn’t respond. Ben glanced to his right. Doubt stirred within him. Afraid that it would spread throughout the group, he addressed her again, more firmly this time. “Taurus. Respond.”

  “Yes,” she said immediately. “Understood. Bringing laser systems online.”

  Ben glanced out the window to his right, where, despite the distance that separated them, he saw Taurus, whose name was Regina, nodding at him. Still, his brow furrowed, as he was sure he saw fear on her face. The same feeling of doubt stirred once more. This time, he winced slightly, but he had orders. He turned forward and faced the enormous edifice again. He heard the others respond over the comms system in the affirmative, confirming that they were also priming their weapons.

  Ben used the touch screen in front of him to prime his own laser cannon. Beneath the ship, he heard a series of whirring sounds, and he knew that the compartment near the front of the ship was opening. Then he brought the weapon to full power. As he did, a dim humming sound rose from beneath the ship, and he knew that power was flowing into the canon’s matrix. He brought the targeting system online and directed it to the section of the tower where his own mark had been designated in advance. Their targeting systems were linked, and he was glad to see that all five of them were ready to unleash an unholy volley of energy on the tower. Ben could barely resist grinning, for he imagined these weapons cutting right through the glittering object out there and destroying it, along with any threat it represented.