“They may sound like savants,” Putelli told them. “But let me assure you, up until Salzburg, these were regular, everyday people. The little girl with the cube is a fourth-grade student with trouble in mathematics, the older gentleman with the generous belly a bricklayer who couldn’t even complete his own taxes. Most here were bedbound until the recent flash. If I was a religious man, I would swear we were witnessing a miracle.”
A surge of hope sprang from somewhere deep within Mia. Several of these people were suffering from the same effects as her daughter Zoey. If they had spontaneously woken up, maybe she had too. The thought made the jabbing pain in Mia’s heart over their separation all the more difficult to bear.
“Are all your patients like this?” Jansson asked, mesmerized.
“No,” Putelli said, shaking his head. “I have patients at nearly every stage of the disorder.”
Mia knelt down next to the young girl with the completed Rubik’s Cube. Her arms were solid and well-defined, hardly the arms of a bed-ridden child. Scanning around, she noticed the others looked very much the same. And one other difference distinguished Dr. Putelli’s patients and the ones she’d seen in India. “Do you have any before and after photos?”
“Surely we do,” he said, pulling out his cell phone and swiping. He came to an image and winked. “Best you not see that one.”
Ollie laughed. “I gotta say, this guy’s starting to grow on me.”
Dr. Putelli handed his phone to Mia. She swiped left, showing the others as she went.
“What do you see?” Jansson asked.
“Two days ago, these patients were visibly thinner with ruddy, translucent complexions. Looking at them now, they’re far more solid with clear skin.”
“Maybe they’ve been using Clearasil,” Ollie quipped.
Mia slapped him on the shoulder. “I’m saying the genes in the 48th chromatid are behaving differently from the 47th. And it appears as though there’s a clear progression from one symptom to the next.”
“So with every flash,” Jansson said, running with the thought, “patients with weak bones are suddenly bulking up. Others with sun-sensitive paper-thin skin are finally able to go outside.”
Mia smiled. “And people with vocal and cognitive issues are waking up and doing extraordinary things.”
“To what end?” Ollie asked, eyeing Mia. “How do we know the Ateans aren’t slowly turning us into a bunch of bioengineered slaves to work mines that are too deep and inhospitable for them?”
“They may be,” Mia agreed. “Which is why I’ve been doing everything in my power to slow or stop the progression.” She turned to Dr. Putelli. “That brings me to the other reason we’re here. The hospital’s website says your background was in cellular communication.”
He nodded. “That’s correct.”
“If we all agree the genetic changes we’re seeing are triggered whenever there’s a flash,” she said, “the question remains, how are the cosmic rays able to send those genetic instructions to each cell in our bodies? At first, I thought it was co-opting the immune system, but now I’m not so sure.”
Dr. Putelli’s face scrunched up. “They aren’t. I mean, what you’re saying is not possible. Yes, cells communicate using chemical signals. Hormones and neurotransmitters signal transduction inside cells. You know this, but beyond that you risk bringing us into the weeds with wacky ideas like biophotons and extracellular communication.”
“Biophotons?” Mia said, taking Putelli by the hand. “I need everything you have on the subject.” She caught Ollie’s eye. “But first, I need your MRI machine.”
Chapter 31
Washington, D.C.
Kay pushed her way past the glass doors at the Washington Post, a singularity of purpose guiding her every step. A buzz of reporters, copyeditors, photographers and regular staffers crowded the lobby. During the paper’s many years in print, it had witnessed dozens of crises and thousands of scandals. Each had driven readership and pushed the employees to fight for their seat at the table. But never had so much happened in such a narrow window of time. The Cuban Missile Crisis in the early ’60s perhaps came the closest, and yet even that paled when compared to the flood of dramatic, newsworthy events unfolding on an hourly basis.
The message Kay had received from Lucas in IT had been tantalizingly vague. Nevertheless, it was more than enough to send her rushing back, even enough to risk the disappointment on her father’s face at seeing her leave, and finally enough to weather the six National Guard checkpoints she needed to pass through in order to make it here. Kay hoped, for Lucas’ sake, he hadn’t been exaggerating.
As she reached the bank of elevators and pressed the down arrow, a voice called out from behind her. It was her friend and fellow Lifestyle reporter Sarah.
“Oh, my God, you will not believe where I’m going,” she said, a pink glow creeping up her neckline. It created the impression she was wearing a flesh-colored turtleneck. An overweight photographer with disheveled hair and crooked glasses named Josh was running to catch up with her. Sarah was a firecracker, high on life and always eager for a challenge, no matter how meaningless.
“Looks like Trish finally gave you a decent story.”
“I’m going to Sibley Memorial. You know how I hate hospitals, they totally give me the heebie-jeebies. I’m guessing you felt that flash earlier.”
“How can anyone miss them? Besides, that’s all I heard them talk about on the radio heading in.”
“Apparently, there’s this wing at Sibley dedicated to patients with Salzburg syndrome. A bunch of them can’t move. They’re just lying there.”
Kay nodded, wondering where this was going.
“Then less than an hour after the flash, a few started speaking. Another hour passed and more were talking and the next thing the doctor knows the whole ward’s in a heated debate on like quantum physics or something.”
Kay lowered her chin. “Excuse me?”
“I spoke to the doctor over the phone,” Sarah said, searching for Josh and seeing he was right behind her. “They’re almost positive the light’s got something to do with it, but they haven’t got the foggiest idea how.”
“You finally got a story worthy of your genius,” Kay said, giving her a hug. “Go get ’em, tiger!”
The grin on Sarah’s face looked like it wasn’t going anywhere for a very long time. She and Josh shot off at a brisk pace right as the elevator dinged.
Kay stepped on to the sound of her phone ringing. A handful of others got on after her. She glanced down to see who it was.
Incoming Call: Ramirez
“Oh, crap,” she shouted, jamming a hand between the open doors right as they were about to close. A few impatient sighs escaped those around her as Kay stepped off and took the call.
“Ramirez, are you still in India or have you dropped off the face of the damn earth?” she said, shaking her head as though he could sense her disapproval. “I tried calling you a billion times.”
“I only just saw the messages,” he said in a weakened voice.
“You okay? You don’t sound so good.”
“There was an incident in Kolkata,” he started to explain before stopping himself. “I can’t go into too much detail. Suffice it to say my partner, Agent Chalk, was killed. A mob came charging into the hospital where we were guarding that geneticist I told you about.”
“Dr. Mia Ward?”
“Yeah.”
“Oh, Ramirez, I’m so sorry.”
“I spoke to his wife right before I called you. No two ways about it, that was by far the toughest thing I’ve ever had to do. Did you know his wife just found out she’s pregnant? And with twins no less.”
“I’m just glad you weren’t killed. The world is going steaming mad and if we don’t find a way of turning the heat down, the whole kettle’s gonna boil over.”
“Well, that’s part of why I’m calling. I passed along the info you sent me to that friend of mine I told you about, the one who�
�s pretty high up in the bureau. I explained the situation and he said he’d take a look.” Ramirez paused. “Before I say any more, you can’t print or leak a word of this, got it? I need a solemn promise from you.”
Kay held up three fingers. “Scout’s honor.”
“Wait, you were never a scout.”
“I always wanted to be. But I swear, I won’t breathe a word of it.”
“A federal judge has just issued arrest warrants for the VP, the Speaker, the Secretary of State, President of the Senate and the Secretary of the Treasury.”
Kay leapt in the air with joy. “Ramirez, there’s a reason God kept you alive and now I know why. You’re a miracle worker.” A surge of euphoria was pouring out of her. Over at reception, Gail threw her a stern look. “When are they executing it?”
“Any moment now. Only problem is, that friend of mine has his own media contact and is giving his guy the official heads-up.”
“I’m okay not getting any more of the glory, Ramirez. I’m only glad we were able to prevent a bad man from being rewarded for doing the wrong thing.”
“Something to keep in mind. Charges don’t mean convictions. The country’s in uncharted territory right now, Kay. There’s never been a conspiracy this big in our country’s history. It’s possible the VP could beat the charges and get into office anyway.”
The elevator dinged again. “Listen, I hate to dine and dash, but I gotta meet with someone. You’re the best, Ramirez. Get well soon.”
Kay hung up, stepped onto the elevator and let out a deep sigh of relief. She could feel the weight melting off of her shoulders. As soon as those arrests were executed, the dangers of having a treasonous usurper and his band of conspirators calling the shots would be past them.
Down in IT, Lucas saw her coming and rose to meet her halfway. “I tried calling you before, but your phone was off.”
She glanced down and didn’t see any missed calls. “Maybe I was in a dead spot when you called. Why, what happened?”
“Two men from the FBI came and confiscated the laptop you dropped off.”
“Oh, crap! How did they know you had it?”
“Great question.” He rested a hand on his hip. “I was wondering the same thing myself.”
Kay rubbed her head. “Did you make a copy of the hard drive at least?”
Lucas tweaked a single eyebrow.
“Of course you did. What about the agents who paid you a visit? Did they ask you if you made a copy?”
This time the other eyebrow went up.
“And you lied and told them you didn’t, right?”
“When I say I love you, Kay, I hope now you see I really mean it.”
She cinched him into a firm hug. “I know you do. Now stop giving me a heart attack and show me what you found.”
He handed her a slip of paper with a GPS location.
“What’s this?”
“Whenever someone takes a picture on a smartphone,” he explained, “it records the GPS coordinates where that image was taken. It’s a feature that has to be turned off, but you’d be surprised how sometimes the simple things get overlooked by the smartest people. I remember once…”
“Tell me next time,” she cut him off. “Did you look the location up?”
“Hell, yeah.”
“And where does it lead?”
“Nowhere you would ever expect.”
Chapter 32
Greenland
After the barrage of falling ice had ceased, it became clear that some of the chunks were as big as a semi-detached home. The tower had not taken a direct hit, although the same could not be said for several of the ancient buildings in other parts of the city. At least two of the stone structures lining the plaza had been pulverized. Jack and the rest of the team had taken shelter inside the shrine, where they had listened to the booming sounds of impact and felt the tremors shake the very bones in their bodies. The only ones still unaccounted for were the aircrew—Steve, Natalie and Chris.
“If I gotta go,” Dag said, his features set, “I want a block of ice to drop right on my head.”
Rajesh’s face scrunched up. “But you won’t even know what hit you.”
Dag pointed at him. “Exactly!”
Eugene’s features were fraught with terror. “Would you stop? You’re gonna jinx us with all your death talk.”
Jack stood by the temple’s arched entrance, scanning the extent of the damage. “I just hope Steve and the others aren’t hurt. Any luck raising them?”
Mullins didn’t reply, but Jack knew a dark cloud over someone’s head when he saw one.
Grant pointed to the damage outside. “If we had any doubts before whether or not an Atean vessel was in the vicinity, I assume those doubts have now been silenced.”
Jack glanced over at the biologist and blinked. He switched the light from his helmet on, cupping it with his gloved hand. “Close your eyes a sec, will you? This may be a little bright.”
“What in heaven’s name are you on about?”
“Just do it.”
Grant obliged and Jack illuminated his features.
“Your skin’s smooth and unblemished,” he said in wonder.
“This is hardly the time to start complimenting each other’s complexion,” Dag said, digging in his pack for something to eat.
“There was a point back on the Orb,” Jack said, switching his light down to twenty percent strength, “where your skin was so ruddy I worried you were either sick with the flu or having a heart attack.”
“Or drunk,” Grant said, through a disapproving look. “Gabby has accused me more than once of taking a nip at an inopportune time. I am British, after all. One of the perks is that you can hammer down a few quick ones and be no worse off for it.”
“This is not about your drinking,” Jack said. “You wanna have a sip here and there, what do I care? But what I’m seeing here is completely different. I’m saying I think your skin has healed.”
“You suppose it could have something to do with the recent blast?” Gabby asked, her voice still a little shaky from the recent scare.
“Most certainly it does,” Rajesh said, piping in. “If you recall on the Orb, Dr. Holland’s hip fracture occurred directly following a particularly violent gamma-ray burst.”
The link made Jack think of Mia. The last time they’d spoken, she had been on a plane heading for Kolkata. Although that had only been a handful of days ago, down here, three days might as well have been three years.
“Anna, is there any chance you can access a satellite from down here?”
She grimaced. “I’m afraid even with the boosters I have been planting, that might be a tall order. On the other hand, I do have news I would categorize as very good if not wonderful.”
“What is it?”
“I have detected a low-level signal at one hundred and twenty hertz. I believe it is coming from Aphrodite.”
“The drone?” Mullins said, sneering.
Anna threw him a look and brought her robotic arm down in a wide arc, her digits snapping three times. “Do not be throwing shade, girlfriend,” she said, her head bobbing from side to side.
Anger filled Captain Mullins’ face as the rest of them burst into laughter.
“That’s right, Anna,” Dag cheered her on. “Don’t let anyone diss your girl Aphrodite.”
Rajesh looked on in horror. “Anna, where did you learn that?”
Anna straightened. “I acquired the vocalization and movements from The Real Housewives of Atlanta.”
Jack’s belly spasmed with a burst of much-needed laughter. Fat tears ran from his eyes.
“Yeah, well, the next time that bucket of bolts insults me,” Mullins said, speaking to all of them in general, but aiming his threat at Jack in particular, “I’m gonna put a bullet between its eyes. See how much laughing you do then.”
Jack knew there wasn’t any point responding. It would only make a bad situation worse. He also knew the emotional program Rajesh had det
ected within Anna’s neural network was magnifying the connection she felt to Aphrodite. For them, it was little more than a tool. For Anna, it was like a friend, perhaps even a child. Still, pulling the drone back online might give them a chance to survey the extent of the damage, check on the missing air crew and locate a group of killers.
When Mullins walked off, Anna moved in closer to the others. “I should let you know, following the last gamma-ray discharge, I was able to triangulate the source of the disturbance.” She fed a visual into each of their glasses. It showed a growing, spherical wave originating from the pyramid and pushing outward in all directions.
Jack finished watching and waved the animation away. “So either the pyramid is a ship or whatever’s creating the flashes is somewhere inside. Either way, we know now for sure which way we’re going. Let’s hope we’re the only ones.”
•••
Aphrodite’s aluminum and plastic frame had suffered a hairline fracture in her initial tumble, but otherwise she took to the sky with ease. The group repositioned to a collection of intact stone structures at the north end of the plaza. Since this was the way the flight crew had taken, it would cut down on the time needed to rendezvous once contact was reestablished.
Anna patched the feed from the drone’s camera into every member’s OHMD glasses. Together, they watched as it buzzed over the tops of buildings, giving the barest of glimpses into the roofless structures lining the city streets.
“Can you switch to infrared?” Jack asked.
“Affirmative,” Anna replied, doing as he suggested. From now on, heat would show up as orange blobs against the now-purple background. The only thing the camera couldn’t do was see through walls.
Aphrodite swept forward, reaching about a hundred yards ahead of them before Gabby shouted for Anna to stop and pull back. Since leaving the plaza, the entire image had shown little more than shades of purple. The drone hovered over a spot where three roads intersected. On one side was a large rounded building, surrounded by a wall, a structure that had taken a direct hit from a piece of falling ice, collapsing part of the wall and showering the area with crystal shards. But that wasn’t why Gabby had ordered Anna to stop. Alongside the wall lay three figures. The heat signatures from all three were barely present.
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