The Crystal Tower

by Liam Donnelly

  Claudia gaped at him in shock. Then Ben turned and walked in the other direction, down the boardwalk. He and Regina discussed how they would arrange for a pickup.

  In the background, Claudia watched them leave, mentally reviewing her conversation with Ben. After a few moments, she turned and decided to air the footage. Working with her crew, she began preparing a new report that would include the video they had recently captured.

  ***

  With Max among them, Jane, Morris, Ciara, and Mike walked through the quiet city streets, which were mostly empty. However, every now and then, the group saw people. Jane spotted a woman leaving one of the few remaining grocery stores that were still open. She was hurrying, and carrying a plastic bag. Noticing them in her peripheral vision, the woman turned fully, looked at them, and almost dropped her packages. She backed away and then hurried up the street in the other direction. Other people with whom they crossed paths—the few that they were—seemed to have the same reaction. They quickly turned up alleyways, or altered their routes to cut a wide berth around them.

  “Max, where are all the people?” Jane asked.

  “Many have evacuated, though no official order was given. The rest are in their homes, afraid to come outside. Although they’re not Ethereals, they can sense on an unconscious level the danger that’s building; they know the tower means trouble.”

  As they neared a construction site, Max stopped walking. Jane looked up and saw that they were on Lexington Avenue. The other sign read East 23rd Street. “What are we doing?” she asked.

  No answer came as Max looked up at the scaffolding. As his gaze settled on it, the structure began to rattle. Jane and her friends stepped back and watched as, from above, large beams of wood flew out through the netting. Within moments, Jane counted fifteen of these planks levitating in the air. Slowly, they drifted down toward them. The group watched as the heavy pieces of wood dropped to the surface, making a clattering sound that echoed around the area.

  “What are these for?” Jane asked.

  “I can fly, but we can’t get to Roosevelt Beach on foot, and I don’t have time to drag the ferry back across the water.”

  Jane jumped as the planks slammed together suddenly, pushed by the weight of Max’s mind. Together, the beams formed a surface roughly twenty feet by twenty-five feet—just big enough for all of them.

  “Step on,” Max said flatly, gesturing with his hand.

  Jane looked at Morris, who shrugged. He reached out for Jane’s hand, and she took it. Together, they stepped onto the wooden platform. Ciara was next to take her place on it, and Mike was last, frowning as he did and glancing at Max with a look that bordered on disdain. Jane couldn’t help but grin, but as Mike threw a glance in her direction, she looked away, trying her best to conceal it.

  “Ha-ha, very funny. Mike’s afraid!” he said sarcastically, having caught her.

  She laughed out loud at this, and then the others joined her, though the energy of their laughter was filled with both joy and apprehension. The sound spoke of the unknown that awaited them only moments away. Was Max really planning to carry them across the city like this?

  As Max stepped onto the makeshift platform, no answer was needed. He walked to the center, turned in the direction of the ocean, raised his palms, and turned his power on the beams beneath. The platform rose into the air and Jane looked behind her as the ground receded. Glancing around, she saw the buildings twirl by as Max turned the platform, changing its orientation. Jane looked up and saw that the tops of the buildings were quickly approaching, and that the windows lining their sides rushed past as the wooden surface moved ever higher. Now she could clearly make out the spire of Empire State Building, which had heretofore been concealed by the other buildings surrounding them. Then they reached the point where most of the rooftops fell in line on the street, and the rest of the city became visible.

  Jane let go of Morris’s hand and took a sharp breath as the enormous skyscrapers came into view all around them. They rose even higher, and the wind grew cold. The speed of the platform increased until the spires and rooftops were rushing past. Jane thought this would be the speed at which they would travel the distance to Staten Island. However, Max increased the speed of the platform yet again until it seemed they were in danger of falling. Indeed, Jane could feel the pull on her body, threatening to drag her over the edge if they moved any faster. Just as she was raising her hand in a reflexive gesture, about to pose a question, Jane felt Max’s power grip her body, holding her firmly in place.

  She let out a sigh of relief and looked up around her once again. Now their speed really did increase, and the buildings dashed by them as they rose higher. On her right, Jane saw the One World Trade Center building. The windows along its length reflected the light of the moon, seeming almost mirror-like. Feeling her teeth chatter, she crossed her arms and rubbed her shoulders. She didn’t have to worry about this either, though.

  “Don’t worry. I’m increasing the speed of the air molecules around us. You’ll be warm again, and the air won’t be too thin.”

  As Max said this, Jane felt a swirl of warm air rush around her, and immediately she felt comforted. She let her hands fall to her sides and looked at Morris, who was glancing around with a look that mirrored her own. His expression was one of pure awe. Jane glanced at Mike and Ciara and saw the same expressions on their faces.

  “Oh my God,” Mike said, his voice filled dread.

  Jane looked back at him and saw that he was gazing out toward the ocean, his face frozen into a look of pure shock. She followed his stare and her eyes fell upon the tower, which took up a large chunk of the horizon in front of them. Her mouth dropped open and her eyes grew wide. Despite the warm air, Jane’s blood ran cold, for the size of the object spoke of the futility of fighting Zatera. As mesmerizing and beautiful as it was, Jane knew it wasn’t meant to be there, and she knew it signaled only one thing: extreme danger. Every cell in her body told her that what she was seeing was wrong.

  For a moment, she shared worried glances with her friends before returning her attention to the structure. At the top of it, where its thinning point pierced the clouds, the thick, cumulus formations had become a vortex which swirled toward the central point, where they glowed with purple light. As she squinted, Jane saw tiny arcs of what looked to be lightning dance between the vortex and the tower. They were emitted from the swirling cloud, but then bounced off the sides of the edifice and disappeared. The effect reminded Jane of a mirror. When you looked in a mirror, all you saw was a reflection of light; it appeared the edifice was having a similar effect on the electrical discharges.

  The platform twirled once again, and Jane saw that far below them the land was flattening out. In front of them now was an open stretch of water. As the edge of the city receded behind them, their speed increased once again, until the clouds were rushing overhead. At this point, Jane guessed they were moving well over two hundred miles per hour, though it was difficult to say; the water below was just a blur. She glanced toward the tower again, and saw that it barely seemed to move, which gave her further evidence of its immense size.

  Eventually, another landmass came into view in front of them. Jane felt a lurch as the platform descended and the surface beneath them became visible as they passed over the front edge of Staten Island. She frowned. Would have been easier to take the ferry, she thought. She knew Max had picked up the thought, and she turned immediately to see him glance over his shoulder in her direction. After a second, his lip curled with the trace of a grin. Jane smiled, too.

  After moving over the island at high velocity for only a few moments, they began slowing down. Jane saw a beach come into view. As they approached it, Max’s grip on her tightened, and she knew he was holding on to her friends just as tightly. Below them, Jane could make out the beach more clearly, and she saw that this was where the bridge had landed. Jane spied the point where it intersected with the sand. Even though she had seen
them on the news report, she was surprised to see hundreds of people on the beach, standing there and looking out across the water.

  Why are they doing that, Max? Don’t they sense the danger?

  A small percentage of people without Ethereal Vision are naturally drawn to psionic energy and events surrounding incidents of psionic activity. They are on the edge between normal consciousness and exhibiting the brainwave patterns capable of reaching the psychic plane.

  But isn’t it dangerous for them?

  Of course. Don’t worry, though, I’ll take care of it.

  The beach was close now, and when they were within a few hundred feet of it, Max slowed them down further. Below, Jane saw that the gathered civilians had begun noticing the approaching beams; they scattered away from the place where it seemed the platform would land. They formed a large circle in front of the area where the bridge had merged with the shore. Jane kept her eyes on them as the makeshift platform was lowered. They slowed even more when they were within fifty feet of the shoreline. Then, after a few more seconds, the wooden surface touched down gently on the sand. Jane felt only a slight pull on her legs as the momentum stopped. She took a breath and glanced at the sand, feeling a moment of brief dizziness. Morris was at her side immediately, holding her hand.

  “Are you OK?”

  “I’m fine,” she said. A frown creased her brow as she glanced down. Morris had taken her right hand and was rubbing it gently with his own. As wonderful as their brief relationship had been, he hadn’t been so quick to notice these kinds of inflections in her before. She wondered if it wasn’t just Ciara who suspected that she may have had something to do with the formation of the crystal back at the hospital. However, Jane couldn’t worry about that now because she didn’t fully understand it herself. Nor, apparently, did Max, though she suspected he knew more than he was letting on.

  Pushing aside the thoughts, Jane stepped off the platform and felt her feet sink slightly into the sand below. She glanced up and out over the ocean at the colossal structure that stretched high into the sky on the horizon. Even in the dark, it glinted in the moonlight. Down its thousands of indentations, flickers of light appeared and disappeared, as though its form was changing before her eyes.

  Jane noticed Max stepping off the platform behind her and turned to watch him. Everyone on the beach was looking at them. Jane glanced to her left to see a large group of people on the boardwalk. They had stepped back to the other side of it, but still kept their eyes on their small group. The civilians in their immediate vicinity had formed a large circle around them, and a ripple of panic had spread through the crowd. Jane suspected it was the kind of panic that could ignite at the slightest hint of trouble and cause a stampede. For a moment, the spectators reminded her of skittish animals. She glanced at Max as he began to speak.

  This area is not safe. You must leave immediately. Return to the city, or return to your homes if they are on this island.

  Immediately, the people in the back turned and walked away from the beach. They moved with amazing coordination, the ones farthest from them turning first, followed by the rows closer inward, until eventually, at the front, the remaining people walked away. After five minutes, the beach had cleared save for a few who had—curiously—remained on the boardwalk. Jane turned back to look at the tower again.

  Taking a few steps closer, she stared at the top of it, where the swirling clouds were. Every now and then, a small flare of light caused beaming crimson arcs to spread out into the sky. However, these disappeared almost instantly.

  Max, she called out.

  After a moment, she heard his gentle footfalls on the sand as he approached from behind. Jane glanced up at him and saw that he was watching the tower too. She pointed toward the top. What are those? she asked. Creases appeared beneath her eyes as a distant new concern colored her emotions.

  Max remained stoic, though Jane sensed worry in his gaze. It’s a type of energy—extremely hard to generate. It exists in tiny quantities at various points—very unique points—throughout the universe. We know it was there at the beginning of time—at the beginning of the cosmos. The resulting formation of this universe spread the substance to the farthest reaches of space.

  Jane thought about what Max had said, and was surprised to find that she understood it quite clearly. It felt as though a puzzle was coming together in her mind.

  In terms of your language, it’s the closest thing to a transcendental energy source that scientists could imagine—though, they actually could not imagine such a thing. Its possibilities are many and nearly infinite. The question one should really ask is, how is Zatera going to harness it, and what is he planning to use it for?

  Jane had looked back out over the water, but now she turned to Max again. Though he didn’t immediately meet her gaze, she continued watching his eyes, waiting for more information. When it seemed nothing was forthcoming, she cast one more glance out to the tower and folded her arms.

  Finally, Max’s eyes veered slowly toward her, though he didn’t move much otherwise. But I think you know what it’s for, Jane.

  Jane’s eyes narrowed as she thought about this. She lifted her right hand to her face so that she could see her palm. She held out her hand in front of the distant structure so that, by perspective, it appeared to be at the center of the object. Nothing glowed inside it then. Whatever the Rose had given her, that tiny fragment inside her palm now seemed inert. Jane took her hand away, letting it fall to her side, then sighed as she continued looking at the enormous edifice.

  Max walked out toward the shore and all four of them followed. When he reached the gently lapping waves, he stopped and folded his arms. Jane stepped up beside him on the right, and Morris took a position next to her. Ciara and Mike joined them on Max’s left, with Ciara on the inside and Mike on the outside.

  Jane’s stomach churned. Something was happening, but she wasn’t sure what it was. She glanced from Max to the tower. He was fixated on it. Then a thunderous sound broke the silence as, at the top of the tower, there was an explosion of light. A shockwave rushed out from the tip, sending the cloud rushing backward. Jane watched breathlessly as a thick ring of vapor, probably fifty feet in length from top to bottom, dashed outward in a glowing circle. It was of a pale white hue tinged with crimson. The circular formation continued moving outward until Jane was craning her neck to see it. She knew something else was still happening at the tip of the tower, but the flowing ring of cloud that the shockwave had formed was too unusual a sight for her to pull away her gaze.

  As it finally passed her, Jane lowered her gaze to see that the space where the cloud had previously swirled near the top of the tower was now clear. They saw its full height. It stretched high into the atmosphere and narrowed at the top so that it had the rough shape of a cone. Jane guessed it was easily a full mile in height. The top pulsed with energy that brimmed with golden light. As she watched, this luminescence reached downward along the length of the tower’s surface. It moved slowly at first. Then, when it had spread to a quarter of the tower’s height, it dashed out more rapidly along the jagged, reflective sides of the structure, lighting up the larger mirror-like surfaces in quick succession.

  When the light reached the halfway point, the energy intensified and grew brighter. There was an explosion of luminescence as the entire bottom half of the tower was starkly lit by this new, strange blaze. Moments later, a cracking sound like distant thunder reached them from across the water. For a moment, the edifice seemed frozen solid, and it beamed with new energy, creating what appeared to be daylight across the ocean. The object lit up the night sky with a haze of golden-white, and a shimmering aura of energy surrounded the structure. Slowly, the light dimmed, and then only glimmers of luminescence lit up along the towering object’s surface.

  “That’s it,” Max said. “Zatera has done it. The tower is complete.”

  “That’s it?” Ciara asked.

  Slowly, Max turned away
from the scene in front of them and walked away without providing an answer. Jane watched him. When he had retreated from the shore about twenty feet, he stopped and stood motionless. Then she saw his head tilt slowly to the right. His shoulders rose and fell as he took a slow, deep breath. Jane walked up and stood next to him.

  “It’s my fault,” he said.

  She was about to respond on reflex, her mouth open, when Max turned abruptly and sat on the beach, facing the horizon. Glancing down at him, Jane saw that the tower’s glow illuminated the features of his face. Casting one more glance out at the ocean, she sat next to him and drew her legs underneath her.

  “It’s not your fault.”

  He shook his head gently and continued looking out at the tower, though his gaze was distant and empty. “I should have known better. I should have known to go for Zatera first.”

  Jane sighed. “Max, I saw something in your mind when you showed up and stopped Lucas. Something big happened in San Francisco. Didn’t it?”

  “Yes,” he replied after a moment.

  “What was it?”

  He took a breath. “Zatera was channeling his power through Daniel. He was going to destroy the Golden Gate Bridge.”

  “And was it occupied?”

  “Yes. It was full of vehicles…people.”

  “So, if you hadn’t gone west, thousands of people could have died. Isn’t that correct?”

  “Yes. But—”

  “No buts. Not this time, Max. There’s no time for that now. You averted a major tragedy.” Jane was surprised at the commanding tone in her voice; she had never expected to address Max with such an air of authority. She turned away from him and looked out at the glistening object on the ocean. “That was the right thing to do.”

  Jane heard him take a breath, and from the corner of her eye she noticed him nodding, almost imperceptibly.

  Encouraged, she continued. “The choices we make from here will forge our destiny, but we won’t make them in hopelessness and despondency.”