Diamond Sky Trilogy Box Set: Books 1-3

by David Clarkson

  ‘For me, for you, for humankind. Don’t you see; soon I will be able to bridge the chasm between life and death. All that fear, doubt and despair; I can eliminate it overnight.’

  ‘You’re crazy and you’re exploiting everything that I told you. My father is gone.’

  ‘I’m trying to help you.’

  Emmy reached out to put her hand on Lucy’s shoulder, but the other girl recoiled from her touch.

  ‘I don’t need your help. I tried to help somebody today and look where that got me. Now if you don’t mind, I would rather get out of this place.’

  She turned her back on Emmy and began walking towards the door.

  ‘What about that night in the field? I know you felt his presence then and you were not wrong. The kangaroos were circling around you, but you did not feel scared. You knew you were not alone. I know because I was there. Not in body, but in spirit. I saw you and I saw your father.’

  ‘Leave me alone.’

  Lucy did not look back, but carried on and walked out of the door. Emmy turned to Charlie.

  ‘What did you expect,’ her friend said. ‘There is only one way to make people believe in what we have achieved here and that is to show them. Unfortunately, I do not think you will get another chance.’

  ***

  Lucas got to the observatory before dark. He was determined to get the bodies checked out as quickly as possible. Bradley was not waiting for him as he had expected; instead it was Mike. He told the doctor to stay in the truck and went out to talk to the captain.

  ‘You know why I am here,’ he said. ‘Your colleague promised to give us custody of the bodies. I hope you are not going to make a liar out of him.’

  ‘I would not dream of standing in the way of the law,’ replied Mike. ‘Take the bodies; I have no use for them.’

  ‘There are also some files that belonged to Professor Fox that I would like to take back with me. He was helping me out with something. It was nothing of consequence to your government; just a local pest control problem.’

  ‘Until it has been declassified, everything the professor did is my concern. Nothing leaves his office and that is the end of the matter. Now if you don’t mind; please take what you came for and leave.’

  Lucas knew there was more to be lost than gained from arguing with this man. He called for the doctor to join him and they entered the observatory. Mike led them to where the bodies were being stored. They loaded them both onto a trolley and as they were leaving, Lucas saw Lucy huddled at the end of the corridor crying.

  ‘Lucy,’ he called as he jogged over to her. ‘Are you okay – what happened?’

  ‘I need to get out of here,’ she told him. ‘Please, just take me with you.’

  ‘Of course.’

  He helped her to her feet and as he turned around and caught the doctor’s eye, he remembered why it was so important that they had the bodies.

  ‘Has something happened to you?’ he asked. ‘I mean, have you experienced anything strange?’

  ‘This whole place is strange. The scientists are crazy. I just want to get out of here.’

  ‘I can’t let you go home. Something has happened in town. There is some kind of illness going around. Have you experienced anything strange?’

  ‘Like what?’

  ‘I dunno - visions maybe? Have you had any visions?’

  She put her head in her hands.

  ‘Not you too? Am I the only sane person in this place?’

  ‘I take that as a no.’

  ‘Of course it is a no. I have not had any visions. If I cannot go home, just take me back to the station. I want to be anywhere but here.’

  ‘Okay. You can come back with us. I have to warn you though, it may not be safe. People are suffering from some sort of mental disorder. I think this may also be the reason why David Armareth did what he did.’

  The mention of the late mechanic’s name stirred something inside Lucy. She pulled away from Lucas and looked up at him, suspiciously.

  ‘Why did you tell her about me?’ she asked.

  ‘Tell who what?’ he replied.

  ‘Dr Rayne; you told her what I told you about my experience in the field. I confided in you with the strictest confidence and you betrayed me.’

  ‘She’s a scientist and I needed her advice. She’s suffered a lot today, but I have faith that if anybody can explain what is going on in this town; it is her.’

  ‘Do you really trust her that much?’

  ‘Without question. I would never have let you stay here with those army creeps if she were not here too. With her grandfather now gone, there is nobody whose judgement I would trust more than hers.’

  The doctor tapped on Lucas’ shoulder.

  ‘We really should be going,’ he said. ‘There is no time to be waiting around.’

  ‘I understand,’ Lucas replied and then turned back to Lucy. ‘We can talk about this at the station, but we have to go now. I’m worried that if we delay anymore, Mike may change his mind.’

  ‘I’m not coming,’ said Lucy. ‘I’ve changed my mind; I want to stay here.’

  ‘But...’

  ‘Leave her, Lucas,’ interrupted the doctor. ‘It may even be safer for her if she stays here.’

  Lucas took the trolley and transferred the bodies over to the pick-up truck. As he started the engine and pulled out of the driveway, Lucy was standing in the doorway watching him leave. Her earlier sadness had been replaced with another emotion that he could not quite place. She possessed a countenance he had seen in another already that day. It was the exact same look Emmy gave him when he dropped her off.

  Chapter 30

  Emmy flicked switches, hastily trying to prep the device before Mike could find out what she was doing. Charlie assured her that the rogue programming had been cleared and the machinery was perfectly safe. Well, as safe as it could be. Thanks to Mike’s little episode, she would never again feel one hundred percent comfortable on an astral journey.

  ‘Good luck,’ said Charlie as Emmy slid into the matchbox.

  ‘She doesn’t need luck,’ said a familiar, though unexpected voice. ‘What she needs is this.’

  Emmy pushed herself back out to see Lucy standing in the doorway. Her right arm was outstretched and she was holding something small, but very precious in her hand. It was the urn containing her father’s ashes.

  ‘Why did you change your mind?’ asked Emmy.

  ‘I didn’t,’ Lucy replied. ‘Let’s just say that it was changed for me - by a mutual friend.’

  ‘Lucas?’

  ‘He’s been good to me since I came here and if he says that you can be trusted then I believe him.’

  ‘I appreciate your support, but we have to act quickly. If Mike catches us, he will shut us down for sure.’

  ‘What do you need me to do?’

  Emmy showed Lucy to a quieter corner of the laboratory, which offered privacy from Charlie.

  ‘Just do whatever you would normally do. Talk, pray, it doesn’t matter what you want to call it. As long as he can feel your need and desire, he will come.’

  ‘Where will you be?’

  ‘I’ll be right beside you. Of course, you won’t be able to see or hear me, but I promise I will be there.’

  Emmy then left Lucy and climbed back into the matchbox. With every journey it took less effort for her to achieve the separation. Just seconds after she closed her eyes, she was floating back towards Lucy like a butterfly riding the breeze. She saw the spirit hovering just behind Lucy and assumed he had been there the whole time. It was even possible that he constantly remained by her side.

  When the spirit recognised Emmy’s energy signature he morphed into his human shape. Emmy did the same. She was unsure how he would react to her after the recklessness she displayed at their previous meeting caused so much devastation. Her fears were allayed when he took a step towards her and extended his hand. As before, the world around them seemed to turn itself inside out when they touched.
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  ‘I know why you are here,’ he said.

  ‘Can you tell me why you are here?’

  He glanced down at his daughter then looked back to Emmy.

  ‘I understand that, but why?’

  ‘That I cannot tell you. I remember nothing after my death until a few days ago when something pulled me back to Lucinda. I can no more leave her than I can return to my former body and live once more.’

  She glanced around. Unlike the last time, no doorway had opened up and elements of the real world still remained.

  ‘How long do we have?’ she asked.

  ‘Eternity if you require it. We are no longer bound to time as you would perceive it.’

  ‘The last time we touched, a doorway opened and I felt drawn towards it. Why is that not happening now?’

  ‘The mist has grown denser. The stronger it becomes, the more in control I feel. It is not easy, but so long as I concentrate, I can keep the doorway closed.’

  ‘You mentioned a mist – what does that mean?’

  ‘You do not see it?’

  ‘I don’t know what you mean.’

  He looked deep into her being and appeared to become transfixed by what he saw. He then turned his attention to his own ethereal form before looking back at Emmy.

  ‘I see it now,’ he said. ‘Your spirit is clear, untainted; as is your friend over there. The others are not so lucky. I have tried to protect Lucinda as best I can, but I cannot hold it off indefinitely.’

  ‘Hold what off?’

  ‘The mist. It grows stronger by the day. To the living it can bring only pain, but to the dead it can be a source of great power. It is only a matter of time before he learns to use it. You have to stop him.’

  ‘Stop who?’

  He looked down at his arms again and then over to where Lucy sat. Alarm spread across his translucent features.

  ‘It is growing as we speak. I no longer think that it is safe for you to be here. You have to return now.’

  ‘What happened to eternity?’

  ‘I’m sorry, but you have to go. You have to stop him. He has already killed again and more will follow. Like I am bound to Lucy, he is bound to you. Please protect my daughter.’

  He let go of her and before she knew it the fabric of her astral reality had returned to normal. She saw him across the other side of the lab standing next to Charlie. His ghostly hand hovered over the abort switch. Could the strength he claimed the dead were being given be enough for him to operate it?

  ‘No!’ she attempted to scream, but without a physical presence the word was merely an echo in her mind.

  Then she was back in the matchbox. She climbed out and walked over to Lucy.

  ‘What’s wrong,’ said Lucy. ‘Have you changed your mind?’

  ‘No, I have just returned. It worked; I saw him.’

  ‘You are joking, right?’

  ‘What do you mean?’

  ‘You didn’t go anywhere. I watched you climb into that machine and then you climbed straight back out.’

  ‘She’s right,’ added Charlie from somewhere behind. ‘The readout is telling me that the journey aborted the moment you separated. Are you sure your recollection is clear?’

  ‘I’m positive. I saw him. We talked for at least a few minutes. Even in real terms that has to equate to at least twenty to thirty seconds.’

  ‘I’ve got nothing here,’ said Charlie.

  ‘Well, trust me; it worked. He said we were outside of time, maybe that has something to do with it. When we touched there was a shift in our surroundings. He also told me other things. Things that I do not fully understand, but I think they are important.’

  ‘What about your grandfather. Did he tell you how to contact him?’

  ‘No, he terminated our conversation before I could ask. He said there is a strange mist growing in this place and that there has been another murder. He warned me more will follow if we do not put a stop to it.’

  ‘I don’t like this,’ said Lucy. ‘Who would do such a thing?’

  Emmy averted her eyes from the other woman.

  ‘He did not say the name, but he did not need to. I think he was talking about David Armareth.’

  Charlie walked over and stood between the two women.

  ‘That’s impossible. David Armareth is dead.’

  ‘So is her father.’

  The three of them looked at one another uneasily. A brief silence followed before Charlie finally spoke again.

  ‘Perhaps we should warn the soldiers. They may be able to defend us.’

  ‘Okay,’ said Emmy, ‘but we have to stick together. Nobody goes anywhere alone; do you both understand?’

  The scientist and the nursery teacher both nodded.

  ‘Come on,’ said Emmy. ‘We’ll warn Mike first and then go find Brad.’

  She powered everything down and locked the lab shut behind them.

  Mike was in his room. He looked burned out when they found him. Emmy knew he was in bad shape, but this was worse than she had expected.

  ‘Are you okay?’ she asked, whilst the other two stood nervously behind her.

  ‘I’m fine. I just need time to rest, that’s all. Today has...taken a lot out of me.’

  ‘What about Bradley?’

  ‘What about him?’

  ‘Where is he? We have reason to believe that we are all in danger. David Armareth may have found a way back.’

  The captain lay back on his bed and laughed, more to himself than for the benefit of his audience.

  ‘You have to be kidding me,’ he said. ‘I already killed the guy and not half an hour ago I gave his corpse to Lucas. Do you really think I should be worried about a dead man seeking vengeance?’

  ‘This is not a joke. If you do not believe us; fine. Just promise me you will stay vigilant.’

  He reached across and pulled out the bottom drawer of his bedside cabinet. From inside, he withdrew his firearm. It was the same weapon that he had used to kill the mechanic.

  ‘I have all of the vigilance I need, right here,’ he told her.

  ‘That may not help,’ she said.

  ‘It has worked well enough so far. Now if you’ve quite finished with your ghost stories, can you leave me in peace?’

  ‘You’re an arsehole!’

  She slammed the door as she left. Charlie tried to console her, but she brushed him away. It was Mike’s fault in the first place that they were at risk. Whilst she did not allow herself to feel remorse for Armareth, she did wish that Mike had shown more restraint.

  Bradley’s room was just across the hall and she banged impatiently on the door, hoping the lieutenant would be more reasonable than his superior officer had been. There was no answer so she cautiously tried the handle, which turned without resistance.

  ‘Where is he?’ asked Charlie, as they all looked into the empty room.

  ‘I don’t know,’ she replied. ‘Let’s take a look around. He cannot have gone far.’

  They searched the rest of the sleeping quarters followed by the kitchen and secondary lab facilities. The final place they looked was the professor’s study.

  ‘Oh God,’ said Emmy as she approached the doorway.

  ‘What’s wrong?’ asked Lucy. ‘Is he here?’

  ‘No,’ she replied. ‘It’s just that this is where we found him. I thought it would not bother me. I mean, I know he is not gone completely, it’s just that...’

  ‘It’s okay. I understand.’

  Lucy put her arm around Emmy and unlike with Charlie, the affection was reciprocated. They held each other for a moment and both were briefly able to forget all about their respective losses. Then Charlie gently pulled them apart. He had noticed something through the window.

  ‘Look,’ he said. ‘Out there; I can see a light. That must be Bradley.’

  This time Charlie took the lead. He grabbed a torch and led the two women outside. The light was coming from just beyond a ridge past the cemetery at the rear of the observatory. Whe
n they got close they could see that it was not Bradley at all, but Sammy. Charlie shone his flashlight on the Aboriginal man. His clothes were dirty and his hands covered in thick red sand.

  ‘What’s going on, Sammy?’ asked Charlie. ‘Why aren’t you inside? It may not be safe out here.’

  The Aboriginal did not answer and that was when Emmy noticed a disturbance in the sand a few feet from where he stood.

  ‘Shine your flashlight to the left a bit,’ she told Charlie.

  Her colleague did as requested and his light caught the distinctive outline of a boot. He cast the illumination further and revealed a partly buried body. Emmy felt her stomach tighten and then expand rapidly as it emptied its contents through her mouth. Lucy shrieked, and not quite knowing what to do, Charlie raised the flashlight up above his shoulder like a club.

  ‘Sammy, what have you done?’ he shouted, the torch shaking nervously in his clenched palm.

  ‘It’s Bradley,’ said Emmy. ‘He’s killed Bradley.’

  ‘Is this true?’ demanded Charlie, still struggling to exert his authority on the situation.

  The Aboriginal man neither answered nor even looked at him. Instead, he cast his gaze toward Emmy. He fixed her with an intense, yet emotionless stare. It was a stare she had seen before.

  ‘It’s him!’ she cried out. ‘It’s Armareth; I’d recognise that look anywhere. It’s him; you’ve got to do something!’

  Charlie was too confused to react. As he hesitated, the Aboriginal walked towards them. Emmy did not know what he was going to do. She tried to pull Charlie back to keep him from harm’s way, but instead ended up pulling him over so that he came down on top of her. The Aboriginal continued to move towards them and stopped only when a gunshot echoed into the night. At first, Emmy thought it had to be Mike, but the sound had not come from behind her. It came from Lucy, who was standing over Bradley’s body with the deceased soldier’s pistol in her hands.

  ‘Don’t move,’ she said.

  ‘You’re making a mistake,’ the Aboriginal replied.

  ‘The only mistake will be yours, if you do not cooperate,’ she told him.

  Emmy was impressed by Lucy’s confidence and wondered where the strength came from - if it had always been inside her or if she was receiving help from an outside force without knowing it. If the dead could influence the lives of the living, she hoped that Lucy’s father would make his presence known to the killer.