In the cockpit, Fuji was sitting next to his friend. Isabelle was gazing at the world's beauty below. The pain of the loss of her father was in her eyes. Her hand was caressing Gemma’s beads. Fuji knew what was on Isabelle's mind. He turned to her and with a warm smile, he told her the words she needed to hear.
"It's never an end. Only a new beginning."
Isabelle shifted her consciousness towards Fuji to muster a response. Her hand let go of the beads and they floated up between the two. With pain and a bit of irritation to being interrupted, she responded.
"Is that so?"
The string of brilliant beads was spinning weightlessly in the air between them. Fuji reached out and caught the colorful strand of orbs with one finger. He gently returned them to Isabelle's hands. The time had come to let Isabelle in on the secret from which he had protected her all the years after her mother's disappearance.
"You and your parents see things differently."
Fuji reached for a plastic water-bottle in a supply pouch behind the Captain's seat. He broke its seal and carefully squeezed out a large drop of its contents. The translucent sphere floated where the beads had been between them. He continued. "I often think of your mother as a visionary, like Copernicus in his time. Greatness invites persecution."
Isabelle did not agree. "People don't get taken out for making discoveries."
Fuji reached for an overhead reading lamp and turned it on. Its focused beam was directed towards the floating orb of water. The large drop refracted the beam's light into its spectrum. It illuminated Isabelle's face in a rainbow of colors. Fuji was taking the next step.
"Do you know what propels this ship?"
Annoyed that Fuji would think she hadn't figured this out, Isabelle flicked the drop and it splattered in all directions. She replied, "a photon engine."
Fuji was proud of his disciple for her insight and grasp on the world around her. He knew she was ready for the truth that had until this moment posed a threat to her existence.
"Then you realize that the engine's output is light. Nothing but high energy photons pushing this ship."
Isabelle's frustration over her inability to save Lionel's life was mirrored in her response. She reached for the throttle in the center console and responded in an upset voice. "Let's have a little race then."
Fuji placed his hand over hers on the throttle and persuaded her otherwise. "We'd be crushed by our own mass. After that we'd turn back into the light from which we were created." He looked Isabelle in the eyes and continued in a calming voice. "Your mother and I discovered Quantum Energy. In nature it occurs as ball lightning."
Isabelle couldn't believe her mentor and spirit guide would have kept such a vital piece of information from her when he was the very person who had taught her the importance of trust. Her irritation with the moment grew.
"Why didn't you tell me about this?"
Compassion returned to Isabelle as she saw her friend riving in pain from the wound he suffered rescuing her. His calming voice was taking its effect on her demeanor as she listened.
“You wouldn't have lived to do anything about it.”
Isabelle was beginning to understand how elaborate Fuji's efforts had been to protect her from Gene's wrath. It was time for her to acknowledge her mentor's sacrifice.
"Tell me how to fly this thing."
Fuji smiled. He knew Isabelle understood and was, in her own way, telling him not to worry.
39 A SOLAR FLARE LASHES OUT
Sunspot activity occurs in a predictable pattern. It was a year where solar flares had reached a peak. Along with the increased level of magnetic disturbances on the surface of Earth's life-giving star, another factor was contributing to a period of heavy and frequent coronal mass-ejections of particles.
Gene's big company merger and his planned attack on humanity had been scheduled around a date on which several of the solar system's planets aligned in a straight line with earth. This would create a great gravitational pull, which facilitated increased particle streams from the sun. Sunspots are enormous gaps in the sun's magnetic field, which is a fundamental element in supporting its structure. Solar particle-radiation is generally contained in the star's body by its magnetic field. Holes in its fabric permit the turbulent radioactive particles and ions under the surface to escape and travel across the solar system. Often these emissions would interfere with earth's radio communications and electrical grid. Power outages in New York City and Canada during the last period of increased sun-spot activity served Gene as inspiration for his deeds of darkness.
A few days prior, a large sunspot had formed facing earth and opened a gateway for a massive particle ejection from below the surface of the sun. Like a bullwhip, an accumulation of subatomic and ionic particles flung out and sent a stream of its contents racing towards Earth before its lion-share collapsed back into the star's coronal surface. After crossing the orbit of Mercury and Venus, the high-energy volume of matter entered Earth's magnetic field. This combination of magnetism and electricity was the source of Northern Lights, which occurred in the outer layers of the ionosphere.
Back in Spitsbergen, the sky became engulfed in aurorae borealis, much brighter and stronger than Isabelle had witnessed on her recent trip to the seed bank. The frosty landscape turned eerily green. The unusually heavy ionization of Earth's upper atmosphere tore the thin air apart on a subatomic level. Nuclei of gas atoms were bouncing off each other, separated from their orbiting electrons. The frequency of the influx of solar radiation matched the natural oscillation of the air molecules and atoms. This made it impossible for the nuclei to reattach their missing electrons, so they sought out the next best particle to which to bond. Suddenly a mass of nuclei stuck to each other. This increased the subatomic weak and strong forces - the qualities that hold matter together - to the point where they were able to draw in the rogue electrons they lost in the process. The result was an enormous super-atom, the size of a basket ball. Ball Lightning formed, the phenomenon that had been the pivotal subject of Gemma's research and Fuji's and hers ensuing discovery of an unlimited energy source.
One of the properties of this occurrence was its strong affinity for electricity. As soon as the luminous orb had formed, it shot in a straight line towards Spitsbergen's oil-burning power plant that laid in the distance below. The large transformers at the head of the town's power grid presented the strongest electromagnetic field on the entire island and drew in the orb. As it approached the generating station, it passed over a powerful device, the ground-fault detector. This mechanism was designed to shut down the power grid instantly, should a transmission line break under the stress of the Arctic conditions to avoid electrocution of anyone on the snowy ground. This was a frequent event in the cold of the polar region and the device was more sensitive than most in the more tempered parts of the globe.
Just the mere fraction of a second later, the power plant's feed was cut off and the ball lightning crashed into the now cold high-voltage transformers. The power-disconnect had saved the lives of everyone on the island.
Almost a century prior, the forest of the remote Siberian area of Tunguska had not been so lucky. Similar conditions had created ball lightning, stemming from solar wind and heavily ionized air during an electrical storm. The short-lived orb had descended into the mountainous forest and its intensity began to fade. Just before it was about to disintegrate, a bolt of regular lightning was drawn in by its electromagnetic field. The strong current tore apart the orb's structure in a photonic detonation. The pure energy stemming from this matter/anti-matter reaction set free a wave of high-energy photons in every direction in the form of light, followed by intense x-ray radiation.
Plants and animals in the air and on the ground in the immediate vicinity were evaporated at the speed of light. The mountainous terrain functioned as a shield and prevented further spread of the destructive wave of energy across the land. The concussion from the detonation was so great that seismic stations around the
world registered the ensuing pressure wave rounding the globe twice. Had the orb been at its full intensity at the time of the detonation, it would have released enough energy to destroy the entire solar system.
As darkness fell upon the remote island of Spitsbergen in an instant, its inhabitants had no idea of how close they had come to their demise. It could have been argued that once again, Nature had intervened and protected herself. The only electric light that remained on the entire island was the unusual sculpture atop Gene's seed-bank. Layers of shaped tungsten and glass atop the vault emitted a greenish glow, mimicking nature's display of Northern Lights in the sky. The facility's generator had come on-line as soon as the island's power grid had failed.
A second instance of ball lightning emerged from the aurorae in the atmosphere above the isolated isle. Since the orb consisted mostly of empty space, like a single atom, it had virtually no wind resistance. The seed bank's light sculpture drew it in much faster than any solid object could have traveled. Within a few seconds, it reached the glass wall of the unmotivated piece of art atop the vault's only entrance. Like a red-hot knife through butter, the orb cut through the glass and crashed into the layers of metal beyond the barrier. Gene had chosen tungsten for a very specific reason. The rare and expensive metal was one of the few substances virtually impervious to the destructive forces of ball lightning. As a result, the impact of the high-energy sphere was directed into the facility's refrigeration compressor behind the light sculpture. The jagged edges of the tungsten sheets scattered the orb into several dozen smaller ones. Like a load of buckshot, the miniature orbs impacted the compressor and its attached coolant pipes.
Electricity arced across the cooling system and spread along the pipes that lead to the three vaults of the bank. The electric energy was seeking a place to go and found its way to the metal shelves, which held the world's agricultural heritage. A fire storm ensured, melting the plastic crates and scorching the seeds within.
Nothing was left but ashes.
40 LIGHT TURNS TO SHADOW
Still traveling along their suborbital path, Isabelle, Fuji and Ryan were feverishly searching for a way to enter Madagascar's airspace undetected. The group couldn't afford any more attention like Fuji’s flight across Germany had brought them. Ryan had come up with an idea and was busy explaining his plan.
"When Apophis designed the stealth bomber, the company made sure it retained a way to access each plane's avionics remotely. Gene's sentiment was not to trust any government who would employ such cowardly technology, purely designed to kill the unsuspecting."
Ryan was tapping on the touch-sensitive screen of his digital pad. It didn't take him very long and he had accessed the flight computer belonging to Tasha's troop carrier. The screen showed the stealth plane's flight status, altitude, speed and other vital information. Tasha was traveling supersonically and in stealth mode with no marker lights or active radio beacon as would have been customary on a conventional flight. The war plane's guidance system provided him with its exact position. Ryan continued.
"I can assign our transponder ID to their beacon."
Isabelle caught on. "If we fly close enough to them, they would look like us on radar."
Ryan brought up a map on the spaceplane's heads-up display. The projection on the cockpit's windshield displayed a flight path from Berlin to Apophis' facility on a small isle off Madagascar's main land. He pointed to an area over the Mediterranean sea.
"She's just about here. We have to get into her shadow and back out before we are spotted."
Isabelle saw the challenges and added, "all that before they notice their beacon is on."
Fuji knew what Isabelle was thinking. After he had briefly given Isabelle instructions earlier, he felt it necessary to tell her, "At least try the controls first." Fuji didn't need to ask his disciple twice to take the reins and sure enough, he heard her voice command to the plane's computer.
"Guidance: autopilot off."
Isabelle's hands were on the yoke and throttle in an instant. Although there was not enough air in the upper layers of the atmosphere to provide the spaceplane's lift, as would be the case on a conventional plane, Isabelle had no difficulty maneuvering. She took the craft into several brilliantly executed roll and dive maneuvers. Ryan turned to Fuji perplexed.
"How does she know how to do all this?"
Fuji answered with a quiet smirk. There was no doubt left in the men's minds that if anyone could pull off their highly risky plan to become Tasha's shadow, that person would be Isabelle. Fuji programmed the ship's computer with a suborbital path toward the coordinates Ryan had calculated for Tasha's jet.
"Ready to go," said Isabelle and Fuji engaged the autopilot. The little spacecraft went on its 30 minute journey around the globe. While Tonati was enjoying the safety of his harness, the three friends in the cockpit where privy to an amazing view of all the beauty Gene wanted to destroy. Rushing by on the planet below was a tableau of breathtaking vistas of the jungle, the world's deserts, polar regions and a pass across Europe's night. The old continent glimmered with the lights that illuminated its cities. The automatic pilot was directing the craft back into the lower layers of Earth's atmosphere as the Mediterranean Sea was approaching on their path. The glow around the ship increased, it began to resemble on oversize orb of ball lightning.
In an isolated village near the coast of Greece, the townsfolk had gathered for their annual carnival festivities. The colorfully-dressed crowd had been enjoying large quantities of the locally grown wine and more so of its distillates. Like a comet, the brightly-glowing ship rocketed across the night sky. The dumbfounded village folk stared at the unusual sight in awe. Soon fear of the unknown gushed like a wave across the crowd in the town square. The masses did what they were accustomed to when it came to the unseen or unexplained: Like a heard of lemmings, the villagers rushed to their church. The town's priest had been preparing for a late mass that would mark the end of the sins of the carnival. With delight, he saw the masses flooding towards his church. He quickly swung open the building's double doors, where he barely managed to get out of the way. His congregation rushed the church and fell to their knees to pray for forgiveness for their past days of debauchery. Onboard the mysteriously-glowing object, Isabelle had taken over for the auto-pilot. Her hand had a steady grip on the controls and Fuji was giving her readings from the instruments.
"Speed now mach 4 and decelerating."
Not too far ahead, Tasha and her platoon were traveling just a bit over mach 1, the speed of sound. Together with two of her Troopers, she was monitoring Isabelle's progress. The Trooper by the satellite tracking screen was caught a bit off-guard by Isabelle's sudden descent.
"Ma'am, target is dropping out of orbit, projected re-entry somewhere over the Mediterranean Sea."
Tasha knew instantly what that meant. In disbelief of her Trooper's failure to be cognizant of the situation, she barked, "We are somewhere over the Mediterranean"
Growing with awareness of the impending threat, the Trooper took a better look at the display before him. His next report confirmed Tasha's hunch. "Ma'am, target's current vector puts her on a direct intercept with us."
Isabelle, Fuji and Ryan had reached the war bird's cruising altitude and were approaching visual range. A computer-generated image of the stealth was projected around its heat plume on the spaceplane's heads-up display. Isabelle was fastly approaching Tasha and could make out the stealth's outline with her own eyes. After just a short while, both planes had crossed Egypt and the north-eastern portion of Africa. The unusual pair crossed over Tasha's homeland Eritrea and back over the ocean.
"Now Ryan!" was all Isabelle said and her would-be knight in shining armor tapped the field on his digital pad that he had set up to activate the stealth jet's transponder. Tasha's beacon was now transmitting the spaceplane's radio-ID. With the precision of a Swiss watchmaker, Isabelle flew directly below the stealth and matched Tasha's maneuvers.
Onboard the
troop carrier, Isabelle's radar image was shown at the stealth bomber's position. The spaceplane's radio ID was superimposed over the radar image. Little did Tasha's platoon realize at that moment the transmission was originating from their own beacon. The Troopers were too preoccupied with the fact they were no longer enjoying the benefits of cloaked flight.
Traveling like a couple of flies about to mate, Isabelle and Tasha were entering Madagascar airspace. On the ground, the island-nation's air force operated on a much more Spartan concept than Gene’s war-driven nation. The on-duty staff consisted of General Morabi and a radar operator. Isabelle's radar image and call letters appeared on-screen. Immediately, the airman notified the General of the perceived threat. "Sir, a craft just entered our airspace."
Morabi jumped to his feet and shouted, "This could be an attack! Launch our defensive forces." He pushed a button in his desktop and a bell rang across the airfield where personnel rushed to get both jets airborne.
With These Eyes Page 25