Phasewave

by David Gill

  'Now you're talking nonsense,' said Declan. 'There's no way you could have killed Slater

  Jenna held up her hand. 'Declan, think about the stupidity of the statements we both made about what happened inside the Phasewave. So Slater fell and shot himself through the heart with his own weapon? Be serious, a child wouldn't believe a story like that. I knocked Slater over and then put that fucker down for good. And do you know what? Afterwards I felt nothing at all. I was just relieved that those two murdering creeps were out of our lives for ever.'

  'I don't believe you,' said Declan.

  'What's not to believe? I moved faster than Slater anticipated and caught him at the perfect angle from where he could only fall flat on his stomach. Then, as he tried to lever himself up from the floor, I reached under him, pointed the gun into his chest and forced his finger onto the trigger. The shot went through the left wall of his chest, through his heart and out through his ribcage. That sounds perfectly believable to me.'

  'Don't be stupid,' said Declan.

  'I'm getting really pissed with you,' said Jenna. 'Not one person on Vennica believed that story about Slater shooting himself, apart from you, apparently. In the end they had to accept it because nobody could think of an alternative. And you say I had nothing to do with it! Let me now give you some free advice, which I sincerely hope you will heed - when you return to your hotel tonight you will be killed.'

  Declan laughed. 'Now I know you've lost it.'

  'I've lost it? Well listen to this and tell me if you find it amusing. The original contract on us is still valid, and, guess what, it was put out by your friend Goldman.'

  'That is truly insane.'

  'You may not have heard this yet, but Goldman has been dropped from the Security Council and Gil has been offered his position.'

  Declan was dumbfounded. 'How could you possibly have found all this out while you have been in detention?'

  'Do this one thing for me before I become violent,' said Jenna. 'If you contact your hotel you will find that it has no record of you ever having stayed there.'

  'Very well,' said Declan, 'I will do that and then you can apologise and we will stop all this nonsense.'

  Declan re-entered the room in a sombre mood. He looked at Jenna. 'I don't understand. The hotel says I never stayed there.'

  'Think about it, Declan. Only a government source could bully a large hotel into that situation. Take it from me, if you go back to that hotel tonight your body will be fished out of the river Kalm tomorrow morning. I can't believe you. You are stubborn and stupid and still cannot accept that tonight someone is going to put a bullet into the back of your neck and dump your body into the river. So, as far as I am concerned, go right ahead. I'm not going to waste any more of my time on you. Go get killed. Here, let me open the door for you.'

  Declan finally accepted that he was facing a serious situation. He pointed to the door. 'Did you just open that door the same way Brant did?'

  'Yes.'

  For the first time Declan started to get a bad feeling about Jenna.

  'I'm waiting for the right questions, Declan,' said Jenna. 'Is there nothing on your mind you find remotely intriguing?'

  'How did you control the lock?'

  'The alien is in control of the site security - locks, cameras, everything. You and I can walk out anytime we want.'

  'Where would we go?'

  Jenna took Declan by the hand and sat him down at a table. 'Declan, we must be serious now. We must go to the Phasewave base and the three of us will travel together to Scion through the Phasewave.'

  'The three of us?' Declan stared at Jenna, unwilling to believe what she was telling him.

  'You must accept by now that the alien is in Brant. You may also have wondered how I overpowered Slater and killed him with his own gun.'

  'That was just an accident,' interrupted Declan.

  'It was fortunate for both of us that nobody, including you, could possibly believe that I killed a man nearly three times my size, but I can be strong when necessary. Remember, I once promised you that you would meet the alien and I would never have promised that if I knew I could not do it - you are now looking at the alien.'

  Declan was speechless, completely taken by surprise. 'You?' There was a long pause in the conversation while Declan struggled with the new facts. 'I had no idea it was in you. Did it transfer to you when you touched the Phasewave unit?'

  'No, it's been with me a lot longer. Do you remember when I said that the alien could transfer between humans by means of intercourse? Well, Brant and I were lovers and the alien transferred while we were having sex.'

  Once again Declan was lost for words, unable to comprehend what he had just heard. 'This is something else.'

  'In which case,' said Jenna, 'you should prepare yourself for something even stranger. Do you remember the last time we made love, and later that night you had incredible, multi-coloured dreams?'

  Declan sat bolt upright. 'I never told you about that.'

  'You didn't have to.' Jenna pulled out a sheet of paper and scribbled a line drawing on it. She showed it briefly to Declan and then laid it, face down, on the table. 'Now reproduce that drawing.'

  'I can't.'

  'Yes you can.'

  Suddenly the picture reappeared before Declan's eyes, in perfect detail. He jumped up in shock. Jenna turned the drawing back over and the images were exactly the same. She gently took Declan's arm. 'Declan, you're not in any danger. The alien will not stay where it is not wanted, and it is up to you to accept it or not. The alien wants you to come to Scion because of the work you did when you created the living cell.'

  'What is significant about Scion?'

  'You do not know it, but the Colonies are about to wage war on Vennica. The alien has intercepted thousands of coded messages regarding the invasion and it has broken the codes. The Old and New Colonies have signed peace treaties to become a united force, and they now intend to subjugate the Vennican population and impose martial law on the planet. The alien believes that, using your experience on Scion and the Phasewaves' capabilities, it is possible to create a new, peaceful species of human that will outlast the rest of mankind, which is almost certainly doomed to ultimate extinction.'

  Declan slumped back in his chair, still unable to accept what he had just heard.

  'There is no pressure on you,' said Jenna. 'One thing, though, is for certain – you cannot stay here. Whatever happens, you must come away with me. If you choose not to go to Scion, however, we will accept your decision and I will find somewhere safe for you to stay here on Vennica. If that is the case I will, as a token of gratitude for your assistance, give you something in return to sustain you for the rest of your life. Do you remember me telling you how the alien reformed Brant after he died? The alien worked out how to manipulate Brant's DNA in order to restore his body, and that process can be applied to all humans. I will give you the knowledge to do that.'

  'What would I do with that knowledge?' asked Declan.

  'Think about having the ability to rebuild a human body. Think eternal life, no more physical ageing, and new limbs regrown. Every woman on Vennica will want to have your babies. You could become the most famous man alive, and also one of the richest.'

  'How can that process work?'

  'Basically it consists of challenging the DNA with specific combinations of proteins. It sounds like something you could really get into, but it is your choice.'

  'I do not possess the ability or knowledge to carry out that kind of work.'

  'Oh yes you do. Close your eyes.'

  Declan closed his eyes and immediately complex formulas and equations appeared before him, scrolling across his vision in endless succession until they all entered one spiralling column of DNA. He opened his eyes and knew that the alien had given him a gift for which he had been spent most of his life searching.

  'Remember that with this knowledge comes great responsibility, because it may not be in mankind's interest to introduce ete
rnal life. To do so would almost certainly cause endless problems, but that would be for you to decide. Also, before you can reveal yourself, the issue of this contract must be resolved. The alien has also given you something else. Come with me.' She took Declan to the wall and turned him to face a mirror. 'Take a look.'

  Declan looked at the returned image and could hardly believe his eyes. The thread work of scars and tissue across his face and head had almost disappeared, and an even growth of hair covered his scalp. He stood speechless.

  'The alien does not want anyone to pay attention to you when we leave the prison,' said Jenna. 'It is better if you do not carry any distinctive features.'

  Declan fingered his new skin. 'I don't know what to say.'

  'You must believe everything I have told you. My advice is to accept our offer and come with me. Here.'

  Jenna took Declan by the hand and guided him to the door. 'The future has arrived and it is yours to take. Go ahead, open the door.'

  'I cannot.'

  'Open that door, Declan, and you will open up a new life and share the opportunity to travel the heavens and help create a new race of people. Stay here and you face an exciting but uncertain future. It can only be your decision.'

  For a long time Declan remained motionless, deep in thought. Then he slowly reached out, turned the handle and opened the door.

  Chapter Nine

  Glen entered Milo's apartment, stopped and looked around in mock amazement. 'What's happened in here? You're a man; you're not supposed to keep your place this tidy.'

  'Tidy house, tidy mind,' said Milo. 'I've always appreciated a nice place to live in, but it's been so long since you were last here that you've probably forgotten. Anyway, it's always a pleasure to see you, thanks for coming round.'

  'You're just fishing for compliments. What is it this time?'

  'You'll never guess - the alien case is back on the boil.'

  'Don't tell me that thing is still floating around. How long has it been? Two years?'

  'Two years it is and now it's come back to bite us,' said Milo. 'Take a comfortable seat. I've got things to say which are going to make you weep.'

  'This I've got to hear.' Glen sat down in an armchair. 'Go ahead, make me cry.'

  Milo sat opposite Glen. 'Okay, I'll start where we last left the scene, after Jenna and Declan were recovered from the Kalmis Phasewave. Charges against Jenna were then dropped, the case was closed, and it literally faded from the scene. Gil made a pathetic statement to the media saying there had been a misunderstanding and that the deaths on Bouron were caused accidentally and the whole alien thing was a media hoax. All the other events that happened were hushed up and the case history was buried without trace. After that I didn't hear any more about it. Gil was promoted and never mentioned it again and Moran, who took over the Security Service after the Justice Department was merged, knew no more than I did. Now, two years later, he's trying to find out what happened because the case has come up again. Unfortunately, apart from the two of us, everyone who was involved in the case is either dead or no longer around. Moran wants me to make a presentation to the media and press tomorrow, but I've been working on it for days and have got nowhere, so I'm asking for a second opinion.'

  'What's different from the last time?' asked Glen.

  'Moran has updated me on what happened after we were taken off the case, and I can now tell you this much: first of all, Brant escaped from the prison hospital where he was being held. As usual, he simply walked out unobserved.'

  'He must have remembered where he left his memory,' joked Glen.

  'I think he had retained his memory all along, but shortly afterwards Declan visited Jenna in prison and they also walked out of prison unobserved.'

  'Wasn't Jenna aware that she was being released?'

  'Yes, she had already been given that information, which makes their actions even more puzzling. What I also didn't know, and this is the unpleasant bit, was the fact that the next day they discovered the bodies of Declan, Jenna and Brant in the Kalmis Phasewave base.'

  Glen was taken aback. 'I had no idea. What the hell happened to them?'

  'Their bodies were found lying on the floor next to a Phasewave machine, as if they were asleep. The autopsies revealed nothing; there was no indication of the cause of death, and their bodies had no physical abnormalities whatsoever. Three perfectly healthy people simply lay down and died.'

  'Something must have killed them.'

  Milo shrugged. 'Nobody can explain the cause of death. The authorities carried out every test available and found nothing. In fact the autopsy on Brant revealed that he had the internal organs of a teenager. The official records merely state that it looked like they lay down and the life drained out of them.'

  'Do you believe that?'

  'Further revelations make me think so, but, before we go any further, I have something to show you.' Milo produced a large folder and started to pull out numerous drawings. 'These were all produced by Jenna while she was with Declan. I remember her talking about them at the time, but had no idea they looked like this. Hundreds of them were found in her cases after she left the prison.'

  Glen took some of the drawings and started to look through them. She gasped. 'These are incredible; it's like watching a documentary.

  'Everyone is there: Brant, Goldman, Jenna, even Vance.'

  Glen held out a drawing of Jenna and Brant sat intimately together on a sofa for Milo to see. 'So this is the Brant we've heard so much about. Oh, God!' Glen had discovered the tracker scenes and the dismembered bodies.

  'There's far worse, but I don't want to show you those drawings, they're too gruesome for words. I don't think Jenna could have made these up because they all tie in together. Look at this one.' Milo pulled out a drawing of Declan in bed asleep.

  'She's very good,' said Glen. She stared hard at a drawing of Brant's body lying on a bed with flesh falling from his arms. 'It looks like she has traced them from photographs. If these were done after she came back to Vennica, how could she be that accurate, especially when drawing from memory?'

  'She obviously has a photographic memory,' said Milo.

  'Wait!' said Glen. She got up from the chair and started to pace the room. 'We're missing a trick here, a big trick.'

  'What is it?'

  Glen thought for a moment. 'It doesn't matter, not yet. Carry on with what you were saying; I'll tell you afterwards.'

  'I particularly like the self-portraits,' continued Milo. 'Of course all these drawings were withheld for the past two years and have only just been released. A year after the case closed Gil committed suicide, but no motive was ever discovered for his suicide, and there was no official inquest, even though he was a prominent Law Lord.'

  'I heard about that. So what has triggered this revival?'

  'Questions were asked after Gil died, but no attempt was made to investigate what actually caused him to take his own life. As you can imagine, a lot of sceptical people queried the lack of interest until one day a young agent, who had just joined the Department, asked why Gil had committed suicide, and why had he not left behind a note or other explanation, and why hadn't there been an inquest, especially as Gil was a member of the Security Council. You know what young people are like. Anyway, it struck a chord with someone who asked him to fish around and see if he could come up with anything. So the young man visited Gil's partner and sweet-talked her into looking through Gil's things, and, guess what? He discovered a recording which Gil had made just before he died. The recording was largely gibberish, and it was obvious that Gil was already losing his mind, but in the recording he made numerous claims about the alien, and also of meeting Declan again in the flesh. This recording was also quickly suppressed and buried along with everything else. Soon after, Gil's partner, who had not been well, also died and her brother found an earlier recording in her belongings in which Gil appeared to be perfectly sane and of sound mind and gave the full story of the alien, including the fact that the or
iginal plan to create an alternative race on Scion had been abandoned and another method was going to be used to try to prevent an imminent attack on Vennica by an alliance of the Old and New Colonies. The brother knew what had happened to the previous recording and decided that, since he did not trust the law, he would make money by selling it to the media. The story would have started a massive panic on the planet if it had been released, but the Security Service found out about it at the last minute and prevented the information from being made public. However, the media company which had bought the recording rallied the press and, in return for pulling the story, they extracted an admission from the Security Service of the part they had played in the cover-up and a promise to release the earlier files which had been hidden. In return, the media agreed to take no further action until the Security Service had given them a public briefing covering the alien affair and the alleged invasion of Vennica. The evidence was then gradually revealed, including our surveillance recordings, but when the original evidence which Jenna and Brant brought back from Vennica was released someone in the media deliberately leaked details of it to the public, which generated a huge groundswell of opinion against the Phasewave Company and the Security Service, especially when it was revealed that Jenna and Brant had died and their deaths covered up.'

  'I didn't see anything in the press about that,' said Glen.

  'It was kept out of the main headlines, but, as a result, several legal actions have been started against the Phasewave Company, mainly from the families of the first crew who went missing, and the Company has suffered a drop in its share price. The media are now baying for blood, and they expect to get it when I stand up and make the presentation tomorrow covering both subjects. I have now gone through everything in my possession, and cannot think of any way I can make a public statement accurately reflecting what has happened. Hopefully, this is where you might be able to help. In the meantime, the Law Lords have split ranks, particularly in light of the invasion allegation, rumours of which they have persistently ignored.'