Diamond Sky Trilogy Box Set: Books 1-3

by David Clarkson

  He looked around for an energy source that could possibly buy him more time. Without it, he would surely die. That was when he noticed he was not alone. The water source was a billabong and there was a kangaroo drinking at its edge. At first, the creature did not notice Fox, but as if suddenly aware that it was being watched, it quickly shifted its position, adopting an aggressive stance. Did it know what he was thinking?

  He was not strong enough to take on such an animal. Kangaroos are lean, muscular and possess talons that can tear a man apart. There was a rock lying next to him. If he timed his throw perfectly, he could deliver a mortal blow to the creature’s head. He picked it up and the kangaroo immediately tensed, aware of what was coming.

  Of course it was aware – the radiation! The animal would know the exact path of the projectile before it left his hand and avoid it easily.

  Stalemate.

  He searched for another solution. He closed his eyes and felt outwards with his new found senses. He could feel the ground, the water, the plants and the animal. Everything was connected by an invisible energy field binding all matter together. He could feel these connections in his mind and even travel along them. He reached out into the ground beneath him and used it to reach the kangaroo. He felt his mind inside it. He could feel its heart beating. He could feel the rise and fall of its breathing lungs. When he could feel its primitive animal mind he applied the pressure; squeezing with all of his will until he felt its brain pop inside its skull.

  The animal fell to the floor, dead. He knew its life force had gone, but there was still a chance the carcass may contain enough energy to replenish his own dwindling reserve.

  However, the psychic attack had weakened him further and he could not even move. There was no way for him to reach the life saving carcass that was only metres from him. Then he saw movement and another kangaroo appeared. He lacked the energy to attack it like he had the other and he sensed that it knew this.

  ‘Come on then!’ he screamed.

  His cry was met with a loud bang and the beast dropped to the floor. It too, was dead, but not by his hand. Something else had ended the life of the animal. That something was a bullet. He heard footsteps approaching from behind.

  ‘Lucas, is that you?’ a voice called out.

  He was not familiar with the man now addressing him. It was one of the in-breeds from the town. The stranger was clearly a simpleton, but there was something else behind the stupidity of his gait. This man was either drunk or crazy. Although, given the radiation, it was likely to be both.

  ‘It is you. Lucas, what are you doing here?’

  ‘I er...’

  ‘It’s okay,’ said the man. ‘You finally believe me about those kangaroos. We can finish those bastards off together.’

  The man reached out to help what he thought was the town policeman to his feet. The moment their hands touched, Fox was inside his head. This time he did not so much squeeze as suck. He sucked the life force out of the man and absorbed it into himself. The change was instant. He felt invigorated. He felt strong. Before he realized, he found himself holding onto the hand of a corpse. Every ounce of living energy had been stolen from his victim. It was a small sacrifice to make; too small to make a difference.

  He knew that Lucas’ body would not last him, just like the one he had stolen before it had not. No body that he stole would. If the consciousness inside the body did not match with the physical, it was merely an animated corpse and would deteriorate quickly. Sure, he could keep stealing more energy, but that was beyond impractical. There had to be another way and he thought he knew just what that way was.

  Chapter 40

  Emmy was put into a military grade, armour plated Hummer. The general was seated next to her with a guard in front. A mobile troop carrier followed closely behind.

  ‘What happened to the helicopter?’ she asked.

  ‘It has returned to base. Given the danger, I thought it best not to call it back. If the driver of an automobile was to lose his mind it is one thing, but if the same were to happen to the pilot of an airborne craft, it is a different matter entirely.’

  She nodded. Did the fool really think the infection could take a hold that quickly? Every decision this man had so far made had been borne of ignorance. His stupidity filled her with both fear and hope in equal measures.

  ‘Where are we going?’ she asked the general.

  ‘It’s not safe here,’ he replied. ‘My men tell me that the radiation levels are increasing by the minute. We have a small mobile command centre a few miles out of town. We will be protected there.’

  ‘Is that where you’re holding Charlie? You cannot just make people disappear, you know. They will be missed.’

  ‘By who? Until we know that this madness can be contained, the entire town has been taken into protective custody. You and your friend, Charlie, are not alone, by any means.’

  ‘You arrested an entire town; on whose authority?’

  ‘Not arrested; sectioned. It is for the benefit of the wider population; believe me. You just better hope that your research is worth the potential collateral damage. If it is; you and I may yet enjoy a productive relationship. If not; you will be spending a long time behind bars.’

  ‘You don’t frighten me. I’ve dealt with more dangerous men than you. You think you have everything under control, but you have no idea what you are dealing with.’

  ‘Is that so? In case you have not noticed, I have a not insignificant amount of manpower at my disposal and could get a further three units in here within the hour. If any of your town crazees attempts anything, we will be more than ready.’

  ‘It does not matter how well armed you are. Even you cannot kill a dead man.’

  ‘What is that supposed to mean?’

  The general’s words were cut short by the sight of a battered ute travelling towards his motorcade from the direction of an old dirt trail leading into the bush. It was on a direct collision course with the vehicle they were travelling in.

  ‘Take evasive action,’ he called to the driver, but it was too late.

  The impact caught the Hummer dead in the middle. The military vehicle had reinforced panelling that did not buckle under the impact, but it was still lifted up by the force of the collision and then sent rolling off the side of the road. Emmy braced her body against the back of her seat as they were sent spiralling out of control. She had been wearing a seatbelt and when the vehicle came to rest, she was shaken, but not hurt. The general had not been so cautious and without a belt to strap him safely in place, he was sent tumbling around like a cat in a washing machine. He was no longer conscious.

  The window beside Emmy shattered and after un-strapping herself, she kicked against the damaged glass, providing an escape route. She crawled through the gap and her first instinct was to see who was driving the ute. The vehicle was still on the road, but its front had crumpled completely and whoever was behind the wheel would have been crushed without resistance. She did not wish to see another dead body so she turned away to check what had happened with the truck behind. That was when the gunshots started to ring out.

  The crash had coughed up a great deal of dust and the smoke from the firearms added to the haze. She was unable to tell who or how big the attack force was. The soldiers seemed to be switching their direction of fire constantly as if unsure of what they were aiming at. This was not the help she had envisaged. If anything, the attackers were more dangerous than the soldiers. Her best option was to make a run for it.

  She ran until her legs went numb. She ran until she could feel the tendons around her muscles stretched almost to breaking point. She ran until she had no air left in her lungs. She ran until the world around her disintegrated into a haze of nothingness. Her body was completely spent of energy and when she could give no more, she felt the dry dirt of the desert against her knees and then on her palms.

  Since that night when she witnessed the dying person in the hospital, she wondered who would come for
her when the time came. She did not see her father, her mother or God forbid, her grandfather. The last thing she saw before the darkness took her was a solitary silhouette approaching. It was Lucas.

  ***

  The devastating assault that began on the small convoy leaving the observatory soon reached the mobile army base and temporary detention camp located just seven kilometres from the town. Nobody knew what hit them. Charlie only became aware of the attack when he heard gunshots in the distance. He was being kept separately from the other prisoners and had a military scientist with him, the pair of them trying to figure out how to deal with the radiation problem. The scientist’s name was Randy, which did not fill Charlie with confidence.

  ‘Friends of yours?’ asked Randy, suspiciously.

  ‘My friends do not carry guns,’ replied Charlie. ‘Whatever is going on out there has no connection with anybody I know.’

  ‘What should we do?’

  ‘Why are you asking me? Maybe you should go get one of your soldier friends.’

  Randy still seemed unsure, but he followed Charlie’s suggestion. He opened the door onto a corridor that was awash with frenetic activity. Soldiers ran back and forth, weapons held in their hands, ready to use at a moment’s notice. The military scientist tried to grab the attention of a soldier, but was completely ignored. Charlie got out of his seat and joined his international colleague in the corridor.

  ‘I don’t think you should be leaving that room,’ said Randy.

  ‘Nobody is really concerned with what I do right now.’ The room originally had a guard at the door, but he was long gone, joining his comrades in the heat of battle. ‘Until we figure out what is going on, it is best to assume we are all in equal danger. We should stick together, as a precaution.’

  Randy nodded. Despite being employed by the military, the young American seemed even less at ease with the situation than Charlie. The pair of them figured out which direction the majority of the gunfire was coming from and then headed the other way.

  ‘Can you get us out of here?’ asked Charlie.’

  ‘There’s a maintenance depot this way,’ Randy pointed up the corridor. ‘There will be a transport parked out there. If we can make it to the highway, we should be okay.’

  Charlie followed the other scientist, but when they got to the maintenance room he began to have doubts.

  ‘What about the others?’ he asked.

  ‘The soldiers can take care of themselves,’ replied Randy.

  ‘I’m not talking about the soldiers. What about the townspeople? We cannot just leave them.’

  ‘Yes we can.’

  Randy continued on to look for the transport, but Charlie did not go with him. He turned around and headed back the way he had come, searching for any clues that might lead him to the residents of Jackson’s Hill. The infirmary was in the west wing of the military base and that is where he found his people.

  It did not take long for him to realise that there was nothing he could do for them. Beds were crammed into every available space and each was filled with a heavily sedated prisoner. The doctor had been correct in guessing that sedation was the only way to deal with the radiation, but it was, of course, only a short term solution.

  He walked between the beds when there was a gap large enough to accommodate him. He considered attempting to rouse some people from their slumber, but he knew this would be futile. They were all under far too deeply. He saw the doctor and he also spotted others he knew. He saw Mindy, and Lucas’ uncle Harry. Even the thugs from the bar who had abused Emmy elicited his sympathy as they lay helplessly before him. There was nothing he could do for any of them.

  ‘It’s not your fault.’

  The voice startled him, but when he looked up, he relaxed. It was Lucas.

  ‘You made it back,’ he said. ‘When the soldiers turned up, I feared the worst. They questioned me and wanted to know everything, but gave me nothing in return. Did you make it in time – did you save the professor? I know what he did was wrong, but if anybody can find a cure for the radiation, it is him.’

  ‘The professor is doing just fine. Captain Peters was not so lucky.’

  Lucas smiled cruelly and Charlie suspected that something was wrong. Then the doors at the far end of the room burst open and three soldiers came running in. They all trained their weapons on Lucas.

  ‘Put your hands where we can see them,’ one of the soldiers shouted.

  The policeman followed their command, but then he did something unexpected. He winked at Charlie before vanishing in front of the scientist’s eyes. Charlie was completely gobsmacked, but he was unable to dwell on what he saw for long. Lucas reappeared directly behind the group of soldiers and that was when he realised that it was not Lucas at all. It was Jackson Fox.

  The soldiers stood no chance. Fox placed his hands over the head of one, twisting his neck to a snap before the poor man even knew that he was being attacked. Fox then grabbed the rifle from the dead man and used it to shoot a second soldier before facing off with the third, gun to gun. It was a stalemate or at least it should have been. Fox lowered his gun and invited the soldier to fire.

  Charlie impulsively recoiled away in horror as the shot burst forth from the soldier’s rifle, but the bullet did not hit its target. The soldier fired again and then held his finger in place sending a rapid stream of bullets towards Jackson Fox. Not one hit its target. Fox was too fast and he seemed to know the exact trajectory of each and every individual bullet. He danced between them in an elaborate ballet of intuitive perfection until all of the soldier’s ammo was spent.

  Unwilling to give up against an infinitely superior opponent, the soldier threw down his depleted weapon and ran towards his foe, brandishing a knife taken from his belt. Fox caught the wrist of the hand in which the soldier held the knife with one of his own and placed his other around the soldier’s neck.

  ‘Let him go!’ screamed Charlie, drawing Fox’s attention.

  ‘You would show this man mercy?’ asked Fox.

  ‘Of course,’ replied Charlie, ‘and you should too. We are scientists, not killers.’

  ‘We are Gods,’ replied Fox, ‘and these nothing but bacteria in comparison.’

  ‘I am no God and neither are you.’

  Fox smiled. The soldier looked like he was about to struggle, but the professor tightened his grip, rendering such an act of recalcitrance impossible.

  ‘You are half right.’

  Charlie swallowed hard.

  ‘If you truly believe yourself to be God, show this man mercy. Please.’

  ‘That I cannot do. You see, to sustain this level of power, I need to recharge regularly. That is why Mike’s body failed.’

  Charlie applied his knowledge of quantum mechanics to the professor’s predicament and came to the same conclusion as his former mentor.

  ‘This is crazy. To operate at this level indefinitely would require you to kill thousands, millions even. It is not possible. Even if you do not burn up so much energy by teleporting, that body is not going to last you. Armareth told us he could only survive inside Sammy because the Aboriginal’s spirit remained with its body. Lucas has gone and his body will die – even you cannot stop that.’

  ‘Very good, Dr Nguyen. You are smarter than my granddaughter gives you credit for. I have already found a solution to the problem you pose, however. You are correct in thinking that this body cannot sustain me, which is why I must return to my own flesh and blood.’

  ‘Your body is a meat carcass.’

  ‘I grow tired of this conversation and I also grow weak. You have delayed me enough.’

  Charlie turned away in disgust as Fox drained the life from the soldier, replenishing his own.

  ‘Why?’ asked Charlie. ‘Surely you have killed enough to sustain you for now. There is nobody left for you to fight.’

  ‘True, my enemies are defeated, but I do have a long journey ahead of me and so do you.’

  He approached Charlie, but the sc
ientist did not run. He had nowhere to run to.

  ‘You are going to kill me?’

  ‘I am going to bring you peace.’

  So that was the professor’s idea of peace – murder. The great man had truly lost his way and Charlie feared the skills that could have been used to benefit mankind may now destroy it.

  ‘Just make it quick and painless,’ he said.

  He closed his eyes and waited for the heat. It came, but not as he expected it to. The sensation was not instantaneous and nor was it painful. All he felt was a gentle warming of his brow that quickly spread down over his body. The air felt moist and humid rather than scorched and smoky.

  He opened his eyes.

  Lucas was gone, as was the compound and everything else that had surrounded him just moments earlier. In its place was grass. It was the greenest grass he had ever seen. Even the parks growing up in a satellite town of Melbourne did not have grass so vibrant, so full of life and vitality. He began to walk and that was when he noticed what was really incongruous about the scene. It was him. He still wore his dirty lab coat, and his arm and hands were still stained with blood and grease.

  He walked further and felt aches and pains like he had never felt before. It was an unmistakable reminder of his own mortality, but if he was not dead, then where was he? He carried on walking until he came to the outskirts of a small settlement, which looked vaguely familiar to him. To his right, about thirty metres in front, he could make out a children’s play area. Again, everything about the place was eerily familiar. It was as if he had once slid down the slide and swung on the swing. He cleared his mind and the memory returned to him.

  The house was exactly how he remembered it from his childhood. It was twenty years since he had last been inside. He always planned on returning, but something would always come up to prevent him. At least he had stayed in touch and continued to write. Every New Year he would send a letter. The garden was overgrown, but this did not surprise him. The inhabitants of the house were old and did not have the money to pay for a gardener.