‘What do you have in mind?’
‘We may be able to flush the madness out. Perhaps we can amplify the device somehow, in order to give everyone immunity like we have.’
‘You mean by inducing a mass-scale astral projection involving the entire town?’
‘Have you got any better ideas?’
‘No - how soon can you get back up here?’
‘If I leave now, I can be with you inside half an hour.’
‘Do it – no, wait.’
The title of an incoming e-mail flashed across the bottom of the screen; catching her eye. She clicked to open the document. It was from a bank based overseas. At first she thought that it was simply spam, but something about it seemed genuine. It referred to the completion of a funds transfer. She opened up a new window and logged onto her grandfather’s online banking service using the same password.
It turned out that on the morning of his death her grandfather had transferred five million dollars into an offshore bank account set up in the name of Michael Peters.
‘Charlie, are you still there?’
‘Yes, you went quiet for a moment. What’s wrong?’
‘There is a problem. I’m changing the plan; I will come to you.’
‘What aren’t you telling me; you sound scared. Are you in danger?’
‘There is no time. I think Mike was the one behind my grandfather’s death. Don’t ask me how I know. I will be with you soon; I’ll explain everything then.’
After ending the phone call, she attached whatever files she felt were important to an e-mail and sent it to her own account. She then logged out of the machine.
‘We have to get out of here - fast,’ she told Lucy. ‘Mike planned this whole thing. He was behind Pop’s murder and it was all for money.’
‘Are you sure?’
‘I’m positive, now let’s go.’
The pair made their way back to Emmy’s room as silently as possible, to grab her car keys. They did not see Mike on the way, but as they were leaving he was waiting for them. He stood in the doorway, blocking their exit.
‘We aren’t planning on leaving, are we ladies?’ he asked, in a calm, emotionless tone of voice.
‘No,’ replied Emmy. ‘Not we; just Lucy. I’m giving her a lift back into town. Lucas does not need her in his investigation and it is time that she went home. I’ll be right back after I’ve dropped her off.’
‘Why the hurry?’ asked Mike, still blocking the doorway. ‘It’s been so long since we talked. I really think that we should take the time to talk before you go.’
‘We can talk when I get back.’
No,’ he told her, in a much more commanding voice. ‘We will talk now. You had time to talk to Mr Nguyen just now. So you will now find the time to talk to me.’
With that, he stepped into the room and closed the door behind him.
Chapter 34
Lucas waited in his office whilst Charlie was outside speaking with Emmy on his mobile. He was still feeling disturbed by his earlier interview with Sammy and hoped the scientists had found something he could use. The photographs taken from the scene of Bradley’s death were on his desk and to pass the time he picked them up and thumbed through the pile. Sammy was caught red handed, yet Lucas still felt that the Aboriginal was not responsible. Nor did he believe Emmy’s theory about David Armareth.
The first picture he looked at was a full body shot of the deceased. Bradley was barely recognisable with his face completely covered in orange dirt. The sand filled the dead soldier’s mouth, nostrils and was caked around his eyes. Lucas turned to the second photograph. This was another full body shot, but taken from a wider angle. Something was missing from the picture, but he could not place exactly what, so he turned to the next.
Then it hit him; if Sammy was burying the body, where was the shovel?
He picked up the statement that he had taken from Charlie. The scientist told him that Sammy’s fingers were covered in dirt when they found him. With no shovel to be found, this implied that he attempted to bury the corpse with his bare hands. Then there was the gun. Charlie told him that Lucy had taken it from the corpse. Again, it made no sense to bury the gun along with the body when he could have taken it and used it.
Lucas realised that Sammy was not burying the body at all. He was digging it up.
The phone on his desk rang.
‘Hello,’ he said, instinctively picking it up on the first ring.
‘Lucas, it’s Dr Bailey.’
‘Hi, doc. Is everything okay; you sound a little anxious?’
‘It got worse – a lot worse.’
‘You’ve had visions?’
‘If only it were that simple, Lucas. The problem is worse than we originally feared. It also seems that the longer the symptoms take to show, the quicker they deteriorate when they do come. You cannot have much time left. I have recommended all of my patients to sedate themselves. It may pass, but if not, we will just have to try and wait it out until help arrives. I have put a call through to the hospital in Alice, but there is no telling when they can get to us.’
‘I’ve yet to experience anything. I am with Dr Nguyen, from the observatory, who seems to be immune. His blood is clear.’
‘In that case, Charlie may be able to help people, but you have to try and stay away from any potential harm. The best thing is to take a sedative and try to sleep.’
‘You know I cannot do that.’
‘Lucas, please, you do not realise what you are letting yourself in for.’
‘Sorry, doc, but I gotta go.’
He replaced the receiver, as Charlie came back into the room looking extremely agitated.
‘Charlie, what’s wrong?’
‘I just spoke to Emmy. She thinks she has found the cause of the radiation and we may even be able to reverse it.’
‘Well, that’s good news, right? Why do I sense that you do not seem too optimistic?’
‘It’s Mike. Emmy thinks he was behind the professor’s death. She’s coming here, but as long as the captain is in control of the observatory, we cannot get near the equipment needed to reverse the radiation.’
‘In that case, I will go there now.’
‘Are you going to arrest him?’
‘I don’t know what I am going to do. I just know there is still something about this case that does not add up and if Emmy thinks Mike is involved, that could be the missing link.’
He picked up his gun belt and quickly checked that his weapon was primed and ready for use. In ten years on the force, he had not once fired upon a human being. He had a bad feeling that this run was soon to be broken.
***
Lucy had no intention of becoming a prisoner for a second time. As soon as Mike entered the room she attempted to push past him, but he was ready for her and grasped her by her forearm. It did not appear that the soldier was squeezing her tightly, but she felt an intense pain run up her arm as if it was on fire.
‘You’re hurting me!’ she shrieked, but the soldier refused to loosen his grip.
Emmy could not stand back and do nothing. She stepped forward and slapped Mike hard across his face. This got his attention, but it did not make him angry. He released Lucy and she quickly backed away from him, holding her still burning wrist in her other hand.
‘I’m sorry,’ he said. ‘I do not know what came over me. All I want is to make sure that you girls are going to be okay.’
His appearance had been worsening since Lucy arrived, but she could now see that the soldier was actually wasting away. His skin was pallid and hung loosely over the sharp angles of the skeletal frame beneath. This deteriorating condition was also noticed by Emmy.
‘It’s not your place to worry about us,’ the scientist said. ‘You would do better to take a look at yourself. You’re ill, Mike; you need help. If you let us leave here, we can get it for you.’
‘There is nothing wrong with me. I have not felt this strong in over twenty years. There is nothin
g that I cannot achieve; I need help from nobody.’
‘No, you do need help. I know what you have done – to Bradley, to my grandfather, but right now I do not care. All I want is to reverse the mess I have helped make of this town. You have to let us go.’
‘I’m sorry, but I cannot allow that.’
Lucy felt her muscles contract with fear. She looked to Emmy, hoping her new friend had some sort of a plan to get away. The scientist subtly turned her gaze to something at the foot of the bed.
It was Lucy’s rucksack, which contained the urn. She was unsure what she was supposed to do. She toyed with the idea of using the bag as a weapon. If she swung it with a wide enough arc, it could deliver a reasonable blow. That was not it, though.
She remembered something that Emmy had told her earlier about her father being bound to her. When she thought of him in the field; he was there and when she did the same in the lab; again he came to her. She quickly squatted down and reached her hand into the bag in order to grab the urn.
‘What do you think you’re doing?’ asked Mike, moving forward to restrain her again.
‘Back off,’ growled Emmy. ‘She only wants the urn.’
‘And what do you propose to do with that?’ asked Mike.
Lucy was unsure herself. She looked to Emmy for support.
‘Nothing,’ said the scientist. ‘We’re just taking it with us. Go on Lucy, you can go. He cannot stop you.’
Lucy nervously made a move for the door and Mike let out a cruel, arrogant burst of laughter.
‘I admire your spirit, but enough is enough.’
With speed that completely belied his physical condition the soldier darted forward towards the girl, only to be repelled by an invisible force, which sent him flying through the air where he careened into the far wall of the room with a thump.
‘Now run!’ screamed Emmy.
The scientist grabbed hold of Lucy’s free hand and pulled her along the corridor. When they got outside they jumped into Emmy’s car and drove away from the observatory at speed. Halfway to the town they saw Lucas’ truck coming the opposite way. The two vehicles immediately pulled up next to each other.
‘Where is he?’ Lucas asked.
‘In my room,’ replied Emmy. ‘He just took a blow, so if you are quick you may catch him off guard. Be careful; he murdered Pops.’
‘You’re sure about that?’
‘Certain – I have all of the evidence on file. Be careful though, I think he is infected by this madness my grandfather predicted.’
Lucas did not mention to her that the captain’s blood sample had been clear.
‘I’ll take care of him,’ he said. ‘You two should get back to town as soon as possible. Do not wait for me. Just get in your car and go.’
They both nodded their understanding and then got back into their car.
‘What now?’ asked Lucy.
‘Lucas will take care of that creep, but there is still the problem of the radiation affecting the townsfolk to deal with. Your father seemed to know something about it as he said that he could see a growing mist covering the land. Unfortunately, until we regain access to my lab there is no way to contact him.’
‘So where does that leave us?’
‘It leaves us having to turn to the one man I never imagined I would ever ask for help from. We need to speak to David Armareth. He was there last night and I will get him to reveal himself again. He no longer fully belongs to this world and like your father, he may just be able to see what we cannot.’
Chapter 35
Lucas withdrew his gun as he entered the observatory. He had never seen the place so deserted. There were no sounds to be heard except the sound of his own breath. The place had an air of abandonment. The only door along the main corridor to be open was Emmy’s.
He knew the layout of the room, although not in a familiar way, but he was at least confident of having a clear line of sight once he made his move. His approach was cautious, with his back pressed tightly against the wall to eliminate the possibility of a shadow forming and giving away his position. Then once he was in range, he quickly side stepped into the doorway, turning and crouching low as he did so in order to make as small a target of himself as he could.
The room was empty.
He stepped fully inside and cautiously made his way to the far side whilst keeping his eyes focused in the direction from which he had come. He was all too aware that he now risked being ambushed in the same way he planned to ambush Mike. There were no signs of a disturbance in the room and the only abnormality he could see was a small puddle of blood in one corner. The blood was not the crimson red that pours forth from a fresh wound, but black and rotten. The fact it was mingled with saliva suggested it had been coughed up and the wound that bore it was internal. It was now obvious the captain was in danger of losing more than just his mind.
Lucas left the bedroom and slowly made his way along the corridor, systematically checking each door as he did so. The final door he came to was the one to the main laboratory. This room used to house the old telescope, but he knew the professor had removed it some years earlier to adapt it for another use.
With such a large and unfamiliar space facing him, he decided against using his previous tactic of a surprise attack. Instead, when he was close enough to push the door ajar, he called inside, hoping to persuade the soldier to simply give himself up.
‘Mike, this is Lucas. I know you’re in there. You and I need to talk. There needn’t be any trouble.’
A silence lasting twenty to thirty seconds followed and then Lucas received his answer from within. He heard the sound of metal scraping against the floor and then saw the butt of a handgun as it slid against the crack in the door.
‘How do I know this isn’t a trick?’ he asked. ‘I’m not fool enough to think a soldier would possess only one weapon.’
‘You always were too cautious,’ replied Mike, ‘too afraid to take a chance. That’s why you never left this town. It’s why you never will. I assure you that my hands are empty.’
To prove the point, a continuous rhythm of staccato handclaps echoed out from the laboratory. Retaining a steady grip on his firearm, Lucas cautiously entered the room. Mike was unarmed as he had promised, standing to the side of what looked to the policeman like a cross between some sort of hospital scanner and a transporter array from Star Trek. The soldier seemed alert, but his body looked frail and weak as if he had just emerged from a long internment in a prisoner of war camp. It did not make sense. The man’s blood was clean and as far as Lucas knew, the radiation did not bring about such radical physical changes anyway.
‘You know nothing about me,’ said Lucas, fixing his sights on the soldier’s chest.
‘Do not be so sure,’ replied Mike. ‘I know more about you than you could possibly imagine. I know that you secretly long to leave this town, but lack the guts to actually do it. I know that you have designs on that pretty little bimbo from out of town. I also know you will not pull that trigger.’
‘Do not be so sure. If I have to; I will kill you.’
The soldier laughed.
‘I’m afraid it is much too late for that. I died a long time ago. As for your Captain Peters; I already beat you to that. He was the first that I killed. And you know what; I did not feel one iota of remorse. You see, I’m better than he was. I’m better than you too. That is why I will have no regrets about taking your future as well.’
Lucas no longer felt so sure about what he had to do. His thoughts began to feel heavy as if his synapses were smeared with treacle. He glanced at his hand holding the gun and was unable to focus on the weapon. In fact, he struggled to focus on anything. His entire field of vision became blurred, like two identical images placed on top of one another, but not quite matching up. He was running out of time.
‘Who are you?’
The soldier laughed.
‘I think you already know, Lucas.’
There was a delay of about a se
cond between the movement of the soldier’s mouth and the sound of the words being heard. It was like a badly dubbed movie playing out in real life. Lucas realised that what he saw was a vision of the future, albeit just seconds ahead, but what he heard was played out in real time. His mind and body were no longer in synch with each other.
‘Professor Fox?’ asked Lucas, hardly able to believe that he had posed the question.
More silent moving of the lips.
‘Very good,’ replied the voice after a delay. ‘Your talents really are wasted on a rural town like this.’
‘Why? How? I mean, you are dead – I saw the body with my own eyes.’
The soldier laughed again.
‘Now, now, Lucas, you must know by now not to trust your eyes. Tell me, have the hallucinations started yet?’
‘The radiation – Charlie told me that you guys created it here. Is this why – so that you could steal the body of a younger man?’
‘You think this was planned from the beginning? Unfortunately, not even I could have dreamed up such a scheme. The position I now find myself in is owed entirely to good fortune. It was only when you brought me that remarkable reptile that I realised the full potential of the research we had been conducting. It was then that I discovered the radiation. It embarrasses me that I had not anticipated it. I mean, any piece of electronic equipment emits radiation in some form, be it microwave ovens or cell phones. Of course, the effects of our baby are much more interesting.’
‘Interesting? – People are dying. You will destroy everything; the people, the animals, this town – everything.’
‘Not everything. The animals will be fine. You have witnessed for yourself how they have benefitted. You are correct in thinking that the people will not survive though. Animals are incapable of reason and therefore immune to madness. Humans, on the other hand, will be unable to rationalise and cognate their experience of this altered consciousness. Only a genius could retain control under these circumstances or ironically, a complete simpleton whose brain was free of clutter. Since you are neither, you know as well as I that you are running out of time. Coming to the epicentre of the cause will only speed up your demise.’
Diamond Sky Trilogy Box Set: Books 1-3 Page 29