Progenitor

by Sherri Fulmer Moorer

  Chapter 17

  “Are you saying our satellites are sentient?” Senator Vickers drawled in his Texas accent.

  Avery leaned forward on the couch in Kieran’s office, where the highest officials in Congress gathered to hear his report. “I don’t know if I’d say they’re sentient. We aren’t sure where these waves came from, or how they’re affecting the satellite systems, except to slightly slow them down. It isn’t noticeable on a day-to-day level, but if we have a solar flare or some other cosmic event, there’s no telling what would happen to the grid.”

  “They also don’t know if this will continue to organize and grow like the radiation it’s associated with,” Kieran said from his seat beside Avery. “Gentlemen, this is proof that we aren’t throwing our money away on Interstellar studies. This could be evidence of sentient life beyond Earth.”

  “Or something else entirely,” Representative Jennings said in his Massachusetts brogue. “Don’t misunderstand me. This is significant, but events in the east are escalating, and these signals aren’t affecting our life and safety down here on the ground. I got word this morning that Iran is threatening to launch missiles on Russia. The pressure for a response from America is mounting. President Hastings has called a special meeting at the White House tomorrow to discuss our response. I don’t think he, or any of the other committees in the House or Senate, are going to give this much more than a glance. They’ll think that if you could get this much from what you’ve got, then you can stretch your dollars to find more.”

  “That’s just it, Representative. We can’t,” Avery said. “We stretched our resources to the maximum. In fact, finding that it was brain waves was purely an accident. I was looking at some scans my sister sent me for my father’s relapse, and one of my colleagues noticed the brain wave readings when they stopped to ask me a question. If I hadn’t opened that message at that particular moment, we still wouldn’t know what we were looking at.”

  “That’s a heck of a coincidence,” Representative Jennings said.

  “And a lucky one,” Kieran stood and paced the large office. “Gentlemen, the Space Exploration Society has evidence of interstellar activity in immediate orbit of Earth, and the only way they’ve been able to find what they have was by dumb luck and web searches. I’ve been saying for years that the deep space satellite system needs enhancements, and this is proof. It’s not just about adding the nanotech to it. There really is something out there, and they need more resources to figure this out.”

  “We can’t do anything else with what we’ve got,” Avery fidgeted. “Plus, we noticed another coincidence. The radiation and brain waves started nearly six weeks ago when these ‘miracle healings’ happened, and have been building since that time.”

  “Do you have anything to indicate that they’re related?” Senator Vickers asked.

  Avery smiled. “That’s why I’m here. We’d like to do further research to find out if it’s possible that this is having an impact on human beings. We need to join forces with the medical and mental health community to do that, which means that we need more funding.”

  “That means that those two communities will want more money too, while we’re on the brink of World War Three,” Representative Jennings said. “We have to decide if this is a big enough threat to pursue, or nothing more than random stellar activity.”

  “We don’t know that we’re on the brink of war,” Kieran said. “This crisis in the Middle East has been brewing for nearly a century since 9-11, which makes this the longest brewing escalation in history. In fact, that area of the world has always been in crisis. If we achieve peace over there, I’d go home and dig a bunker because I’d know the end times are coming.”

  Everybody laughed briefly. “I do think the satellite waves are worth more consideration,” Senator Vickers said. “War or not, there’s something going on out there, and we need to know what.” He paused, tapping his water bottle on the oak table between his chair and the couch. “Draft a proposal and let’s see what we can do, but do it quietly. We don’t want to cause a panic in the general public. Keep the media away from it.”

  “It’s too late,” a voice said from the doorway. They turned to see Yvonne Leighton, Kieran’s secretary, standing in the doorway, wobbling on three-inch heels. Her blonde hair was in a messy bun, and her blue eyes were bloodshot.

  Kieran nodded at her. “Yvonne, good, you’re here.” He waved to Avery. “Can you schedule a time for us to help Mr. Kerner draft a proposal for a funding request for the Space Exploration Society?”

  Her eyes glinted. “You didn’t hear me. It’s too late.”

  Avery tipped his head. “Too late for what?”

  “Too late to stop what’s coming.”

  “What are you talking about, Ms. Leighton?” Senator Vickers asked.

  Yvonne rushed across the office, knocking Avery to the floor and pulling a knife from the back of her skirt. “We aren’t ready. You must stop!” she yelled. Her face contorted and turned red. Blisters rose on her cheeks. Avery knocked Yvonne off him to find a small woman with brown hair squeezing Yvonne’s knee. Yvonne struggled to free herself from the woman’s grip, but the woman flipped her and held Yvonne to the floor, leaning in her face.

  “You are not worthy. Get out!” she hissed. Yvonne screamed, flushing red again and passing out. The woman stood up, giving Yvonne a kick in the side.

  “What happened?” Kieran asked as secret service agents rushed in the room after the small woman, staring at them with confused green eyes. One of the agents held his phone up to her right eye for a retinal scan, and studied the reading.

  “Sir, this is Sidney Sinclair.”

  Kieran walked up to the woman. “You’re the woman that showed up at my wife’s practice last week.”

  She nodded, looking away as tears dripped down her face.

  Kieran cleared his throat. “What’s happening? How did you get in here?”

  She shook her head. “I don’t know.”

  Chapter 18

  “Welcome home,” Kieran said as Annaliese walked in the lobby of George Washington University Hospital.

  “I’m getting confused on where that is now,” Annaliese hugged Kieran.

  “How are things with Pop?” Avery asked, rising from his seat.

  “No better, no worse. Dad’s awake, but he has no memory of what happened last weekend.” She hugged Avery. “We need to find better circumstances for our visits. Why does life have to be a mess to bring us together?”

  “Why did my boss refuse to let me go home to see Dad, and then send me here?” Avery asked. “I don’t know. Life is too complicated. Sometimes, I wish I could chuck it all and move to the Smokey Mountains like Uncle Corbin and Aunt Daphne. They have the life! Do they ever go back to the house on the estate?”

  “Kalea talked to them yesterday. Aunt Daphne’s assignment at the University of Tennessee ends the second week of December, and they’re coming back then. They don’t want to spend the winter in the mountains.” She paused. “They’ve come down the past couple of weekends and Uncle Corbin offered to stay on the estate, but Mom and Kalea told him to stay in Tennessee with Aunt Daphne so they wouldn’t get sucked in all of this mess, especially with the media sniffing around.”

  “I don’t blame them,” Avery said.

  “I’m sorry for what happened to you, but I’m glad you came,” Kieran said. “I believe it’s made a difference on The Hill. We’re gaining support for our cause.”

  “Are you all right?” Annaliese asked, studying Avery. He looked fine, but Avery was good at hiding his hurt.

  He shrugged. “Nothing but bruises. They’ll heal.”

  “I’m glad she didn’t hurt you. What happened to Yvonne?” Annaliese looked around and lowered her voice. “Did she quit taking her medication?”

  “The doctor said it didn’t look like it,” Kieran said. “The levels in her system were stable, as if she had been taking it regularly.”

  “That’s good. So
metimes, they enjoy the energy of the manic phases and stop taking it.”

  “She didn’t seem to. In fact, she was proud of finally being stable and feeling normal again. I can’t imagine why this happened,” Kieran said.

  “What are you talking about?” Avery asked. “Did you know something was wrong with that woman that attacked me?”

  Annaliese blew out a sigh. “Yvonne is one of my patients. I’ve been treating her for bipolar disorder. She’s had similar episodes in the past, but she never tried to hurt anybody. Mostly, it was wild mood swings between elation and depression.”

  “She’s had it under control for several years,” Kieran said. “That’s what I don’t understand. She’d have minor side effects like insomnia every now and then, but nothing like this.” He scratched his head. “I wonder if her cousin’s death put too much strain on her.”

  Annaliese’s eyes widened. “I forgot about that. Yvonne’s cousin died recently, didn’t she?”

  Kieran nodded. “She had leukemia.” He paused. “In fact, Yvonne was out last month because they told her the cousin didn’t have much time left, but she rallied and then three weeks ago .”

  “Three weeks ago?” Annaliese tapped at the calendar app on her watch. “That’s when the die-off happened.”

  “The die-off?” Avery asked.

  “When the cancer patients that made ‘miracle recoveries’ died.”

  Everybody was silent for a moment. Finally, Kieran sank into a chair. “Why didn’t I notice that?”

  Annaliese sat beside Kieran. “Did Yvonne have any injuries when she went to see her cousin last month? Something that went away quickly?”

  Kieran nodded slowly. “As a matter of fact, she did. She fell leaving work one day when it was raining and banged up her knee. She had an appointment to see her doctor, but then she got the call about her cousin. Then the cousin recovered, and her knee felt better. She figured it must not have been injured as badly as she thought.”

  Annaliese pursed her lips. “Another one of those cases right under my nose.” She tapped her watch. “I want to pull her files to look at them later.”

  “What about the other woman?” Avery asked. “Yvonne has radiation burns from where that woman grabbed her.”

  “Sidney Sinclair, another one of these cases,” Annaliese said.

  Kieran whistled. “They’re popping up all over.”

  “Why are these strange things happening with them?” Avery asked. “It’s like what happened with Kalea last week, when she stopped that guy trying to shoot up the school, and then didn’t remember doing it. What’s going on?”

  “Better yet, does it have anything to do with what you came to me with in the first place?” Kieran asked.

  Annaliese looked at them. “What does that mean?”

  Kieran and Avery looked at each other. Finally, Avery cleared up his throat. “It means I may have found the cause of this madness.”

  Chapter 19

  “I want to talk to Sidney,” Annaliese said, throwing her fork in her salad bowl after Avery finished explaining why he was sent to speak with Kieran over lunch at the hospital cafeteria. “There’s no doubt there’s a link, and I think she’s the key.”

  “Why her?” Kieran asked.

  “The radiation, that’s why her. When she came to me, she said she could see into people; that she could see what was happening inside their bodies. Then she shoots somebody full of radiation, but she isn’t affected and doesn’t remember doing it. I want to see her.”

  “Baby, I don’t know. I think you’re getting ahead of yourself.”

  “No, I’m behind,” Annaliese said. “Looking at everything right in front of me, and I haven’t seen it, or made any headway yet. Now Avery finds brain waves circling our satellites, and the timing coincides with all of these things. I don’t need medical files or interviews to know there’s a causal link. I feel it here,” she said, thumping her chest. “I’ve been begging, borrowing, and pleading for files on similar cases all over the country to help Dad and Kalea, but there’s a larger issue. I need to quit spinning my wheels and focus on the common elements. That’s the only way to make headway.” She looked at Avery. “Do you have any files you can give me on those brainwaves you found in orbit? If I can compare them with my medical files, maybe we can narrow this down.”

  “Whoa, wait,” Kieran said. “Aren’t we getting ahead of ourselves? I’m still working on funding for a joint venture, and that could take weeks to get through. If you start working on this now, it could raise conflict of interest issues and red flags that get this killed in Congress before we officially get it started.”

  “Why can’t I help my brother, especially if I have something that can help him?” Annaliese asked. “It was the files I had on Dad that cracked their case.”

  “Which was a complete fluke, and how I plan to sell this,” Kieran said. “They’ll buy one strange coincidence, but start running ahead without going through proper channels, and they won’t see why they should bother with funding if you’ll do it for free.”

  “He has a point,” Avery said. “As much as I’d like to move forward on this, the truth is that you and I can’t do it alone. We need the Space Exploration Society and the medical community behind us on this. We need everybody working together.”

  Kieran put his hand over Annaliese’s. “I know you want to get to work on this as soon as possible, but let me help you. There’s a right way to do things, and it’s extremely important that we follow proper procedures. We already have people discretely reaching out to the leaders in both the space and medical communities to get this started. Let me help you get the people and resources you need to do this properly.” He smiled. “Imagine how much more you can accomplish with a national network working on the problem.”

  Annaliese leaned back in her chair. “That means I can’t do anything right now?”

  “Nobody can stop you from talking to your patients and studying their files,” Kieran said. He jerked his thumb toward the elevators. “And that includes the one that drove up from Raleigh to see you a couple of weeks ago and that we found out has no other therapist.” He leaned forward and lowered his voice. “The social worker isn’t scheduled to come until two o’clock. It would help if you get Sidney to authorize you as her official doctor.”

  Annaliese glanced at her watch, which read one o’clock. She picked up her purse and stood. “Then I better get back to work.”

  Chapter 20

  Sidney lay in the hospital bed, staring at the shifting patterns on the ceiling. She knew they weren’t really there. Not for anybody but her, anyway. She watched as their energy patterns swirled and waved around and through each other, whispering secrets that she could hear but not understand.

  “What are you trying to tell me?” she asked.

  The lights stopped briefly to emit a slight hum, and then resumed their frantic activity.

  She groaned and turned on her side, where the sunlight from the window across the room shot beams of golden fall light across the wall. The lights couldn’t go there, or if they did, she couldn’t see it. The wall looked normal. She liked that. Even if normal was becoming a memory, she hoped it was one that never faded away. She didn’t know if she’d ever experience it again.

  The door opened, breaking the sunlight on the wall. A short woman with curly brown hair and large brown eyes walked in. She pushed up to study the woman, who looked vaguely familiar.

  “Sidney, do you remember me?” the woman asked. “I’m Annaliese Kerner Boyce. I’m the psychiatrist you saw last week.”

  Of course, the psychiatrist. The one she sought. The one that tried to set her on the right path. What was she doing here? Sidney pushed herself up in the bed. “I remember. You sent me home.”

  Annaliese took a seat beside the bed. “I sent you home because you told me you had a doctor in Raleigh that you saw on a regular basis, but you lied. Why?”

  Sidney sighed. “The truth is so odd that I was afraid tha
t you wouldn’t believe me.”

  “If you weren’t going to tell me the truth, then why did you come to me?”

  Sidney stared at Annaliese. Was she ready? Did it matter? The time was drawing closer. If not now, then soon. Obviously, her first visit hadn’t prepared Dr. Boyce enough. Well, she had to do something to build bridges. “Because you’re the only one who can bring all of this together.”

  Annaliese sat up straight in her chair, pulling her computer out of her large purse. “You’re talking in riddles, and I don’t do riddles. Tell me plainly. Why did you drive up here to see me if you thought I wouldn’t believe you? And why did you lie when you did talk to me?”

  Sidney looked away, staring at the azure sky outside the window. “I don’t know what I’ve been doing these past few weeks. Ever since my father-in-law jumped out of that bed and grabbed my throat six weeks ago, nothing’s made sense.” She looked at Annaliese. “He died, you know. That was two weeks ago. They put him in a psychiatric hospital because he started babbling about energy beings trying to take him over and none of the sedatives they gave him worked. Then he passed out for over twenty-four hours, didn’t remember anything, and was barely able to communicate. He babbled incoherent nonsense for three days before he stopped talking.” She looked out the window again. “Then he died.”

  Annaliese stared at Sidney vacantly for a moment, as if she were thinking. She tapped at her computer. “I’m sorry to hear this. You said it was your father-in-law?”

  “Yes.”

  “Why are you up here?”

  “What else was I going to do? He died. I’m on disability because of my situation.”

  “Situation?” Annaliese asked.

  Sidney stared at Annaliese. “I’d have anxiety attacks every time I got near the X-Ray room. It looked like I traded my lifelong asthma for anxiety. My medical doctor examined me and said my radiation levels were up. It’s not lethal. He isn’t sure if it’s worth concern, but you know how it is. He’d rather err on the side of caution, especially when the patient works in the medical field.” She smiled faintly. “There’s nothing more embarrassing than having one of your own sue you for neglecting their health.”