‘The radiation shields them from the harvesters.’
She spun around. Her former partner, Charlie, was standing right in front of her. At least, a projection of his consciousness was in front of her. Due to the insubstantial nature of his being, she had not sensed him reaching out to her.
‘Harvesters?’
‘When we named them, we used Mandarin. Harvesters is the closest literal translation that I can think of. It is still rather apt. They come where there is death and take away the soul.’
She thought back to the first time she had encountered one of these beings. It had been in the early stages of the trials. Back then she had been in awe, but when one had taken Sam Carlton, she was filled only with regret.
‘What are you doing here, Charlie?’
‘We are here for the same thing. We are both looking for answers.’
‘But are we asking the same questions?’
Charlie moved away from her and began to glide upwards. She followed closely behind, allowing him to lead her up and onto the observatory roof. Their former residence was like a small island set within a sea of green. As they came to rest, they regained their tenuous physical contact.
‘Does the radiation draw them here?’ she asked, hoping that he would be able to shed more light on the matter.
‘I don’t think so,’ he replied. ‘I think they freely choose to come here. I’ve been studying them for some time now. They don’t seem to be aware of my presence or even each other.’
Looking around, she estimated there to be fifty to sixty energy forms that did not belong. This accounted for just under half of the patients being held at the base. The rest were either in more complete hibernation or projecting themselves elsewhere.
She paused for a moment in order to think over what she was about to say. This was not just a conversation between colleagues and friends. She was negotiating directly with an agent of a foreign government.
‘I could really use you back on my team,’ she said.
‘You know that cannot happen. I have no problem with you, but your team can never be trusted. Look around you. An entire town was destroyed.’
‘That was my grandfather. Besides, how is your side any different to the Americans?’
‘I am not being forced to comply under duress. Can you say the same?’
She did not need to answer. They both knew that she possessed no real control over the project. If she had any freedom, she would never have returned to the experiments at all. They had already cost her more than she was ever willing to pay.
‘Our masters cannot keep out of each other’s way forever,’ she told him. ‘The Americans are already convinced that spies have breached the base. It is only a matter of time before they retaliate.’
‘Is that a threat?’
She noticed that he seemed more amused than concerned. In this state and with this level of communication, she could sense intent in his thoughts much more clearly than she could read an expression back in the material world.
‘More of a warning,’ she told him.
‘I have three years head start on you, remember? My people are more than prepared for any attempted incursion. I would not advise you or any of your American friends trying to cross into our borders. To all intents and purposes – that is a threat.’
‘Then this conversation is over,’ she said. ‘Once I have cured these people, I am going to close down the Americans for good. I expect you to do the same at your end or I will do it for you.’
With that, she broke away from her former friend and partner, and returned to the base. After a few moments, Charlie did the same. He expected it would not be long before she came looking for him again. In fact, he was counting on it.
***
Constance was in the colonel’s office attempting to salvage what was left of her career. She knew that given the top secret nature of the work, if she was taken off the project they would never allow her to return to a normal academic posting. Instead, she would likely be sent to some remote scientific outpost. Somewhere completely cut off from civilisation. Somewhere cold. If it ever came down to a choice between the poles, she would choose the South.
‘If you give me another chance, there’s still a great deal I can contribute to this project,’ she said. ‘I can still work alongside Dr Rayne.’
‘Your relationship with Dr Rayne is not our greatest concern,’ replied the colonel. ‘Washington has set a new agenda. One that will take the research down a different route. If you are to be a part of this work, we need to be sure you won’t lie to us again. You should’ve told us that you knew Dr Rayne previously.’
‘I didn’t know her. I do a lot of guest lectures and there’s no way I could’ve known she had attended one. Please, just give me another chance. I’m willing to do whatever it takes.’
Her apparent lack of professional integrity piqued the colonel’s interest. He leaned forward, projecting a more intimate tone to the meeting.
‘You’re willing to do anything, you say?’
‘Yes.’
This time her voice was less assured. She could tell from his demeanour that she might have played her hand too soon. It was too late for her to take back the offer, placing her completely at his mercy.
‘Does this mean you’ve no moral objection to this technology being used in ways that could be considered as militaristic?’ he asked.
‘The way I see it, the military have been running this project all along anyway. Besides, I just provide the information. What you people do with that knowledge when you have it is none of my business.’
‘And the patients from Jackson’s Hill?’
‘They’re strangers to me.’
The colonel sat back in his chair. He saw no reason for the meeting to extend any further. She had already given him all the information he needed.
‘Okay, Dr Stark, you’ve got your second chance. I expect nothing short of your best this time. I hope you won’t let us down again.’
‘Don’t worry, Colonel. Whatever it takes – you can count on me.’
As she left his office, she wondered if just maybe, she was letting herself in for more than she could handle.
Chapter 20
When the order came through, Emmy was not in the least surprised. Ever since Jimmy’s testimony about the apparition and the colonel’s unreasonable assumptions regarding the event, it was only a matter of time before he decided to act. Curing the residents of Jackson’s Hill was no longer his chief priority. She wondered if this had been the real plan all along.
The revised mission outline was simple. Esteban was to be trained as an astral traveller and once he was deemed ready (by the colonel, not Emmy), they would launch the attack. It was insanity. They did not even know who or where to strike. Her biggest fear was that they may try using Jimmy. Provoking foreign governments was one thing, but messing with the laws of causality would have much more serious repercussions.
Not for the first or the last time, Emmy wished she had remained in hiding. She wished she had listened to Lucy. Things had been so much clearer when it was only the two of them. Back then, everything really was black and white instead of so many shades of grey. Her thoughts again returned to the brief time they shared together.
The cracks had begun to show not long after Jimmy’s brief visit. It was then that Emmy noticed her partner becoming more withdrawn, less open about her feelings, suspicious even.
‘Do you love me?’ Lucy had asked, one night after Emmy returned from picking up supplies at the nearest town.
‘Of course,’ Emmy replied. ‘You know I do. I tell you every day.’
She placed her groceries on the counter, ready to be packed away into storage cupboards. It had not occurred to her that there might have been a problem with the relationship.
‘Then why are you thinking about leaving me?’ asked Lucy, making no effort to assist.
Whilst it was true that she had contemplated moving on and returning to civilis
ation, Emmy had not for one minute considered doing so without Lucy by her side. They had made a promise to each other and she intended to keep it. The love they shared was what she lived for.
‘I would never leave you,’ she said
‘Was I not enough for you?’ Lucy then asked, with a faraway look in her eyes.
‘You are enough. You’re everything to me. We can make a fresh start and still be together. We can find jobs, get a real place, we can have a real life.’
‘No – we can’t. If we are to be together, we have to stay here. Can’t you see that?’
Unfortunately, Emmy could not. She thought that eventually Lucy would come around to her way of thinking. Sadly for her, that was not to be the case. Shortly after that conversation, the pair parted ways and she had neither seen nor heard from her lover since. With the separation of time, those days together now seemed more like a dream than anything real. The sense of loss, however, was every bit real and remained with her, always.
***
Once they got started, Esteban proved to be a quick learner. Emmy recalled the first time she trained a member of the military and it had been a nightmare. There was too much macho posturing and bravado. Everything was turned into a competition. Not so with Esteban. The CIA operative had the discipline and self restraint of a Zen master. He followed her every instruction to the letter and did not once try to undermine her authority. By the end of the week he was ready to undergo the final lesson. She was going to show him how to use his astral presence as a weapon.
Discovering that an astral being can interact with electrical energy had been an accident, but was that not normally the way with science? Newton did not plan for the apple to fall onto his head, inspiring him to come up with his theory of gravity. Sometimes nothing but a stroke of good fortune can alter the entire course of human development.
A disused military compound was chosen as the test site. It was isolated and likely to slip under China’s radar since it was on American soil and well away from the compound in Australia, should their potential enemy be monitoring. As was to be expected, Emmy took the lead, with Esteban following closely behind.
There was previously only one time when Emmy had made a physical interaction while astral travelling and the fallout had been great. She was lucky the only damage done was to property and that no people had been injured by her carelessness. Repeating the process would help to atone for that mistake in the past. It would turn a severe lapse of judgement into something positive. Well, depending on how they would wield this power going forward, it at least had the potential of a positive outcome.
Once she located the strongest power source, a large electrical generator, she took a step back in order to allow her student the opportunity to prove himself. She had earlier given him a mantra to recite in order to focus his consciousness, but he did not need it. As soon as he entered the power source he could feel the energy crackling all around him. For the first time since he had left his body, he felt surrounded by something that was tangible. Something that he could reach out and touch.
With years of military training and self discipline, he was able to channel the energy inward rather than out. It combined with his own life-force and made him stronger, made him almost tangible himself, as if he was once more part of the material world. The electricity was absorbed into his projected consciousness and as it compressed more strongly, tiny atomic particles began to coalesce. He was deconstructing Einstein’s equation, turning energy into mass at the speed of light.
Not since Jackson Fox had developed the ability to reinvigorate himself from the energy of others had one individual possessed so much power as that now held by the South American. The connotations this brought with it terrified Emmy. She became spooked by her partner’s unexpected prowess and the feelings it elicited within her.
Not wanting to take any unnecessary risks, she willed herself to intercept him and as their energies touched, all of the additional electrical energy Esteban had accumulated was forced out of him. An instant later, they were both returning to full consciousness back in the lab.
‘You did it!’ exclaimed Dr Stark. ‘The readouts show that you completely shut down the power grid.’
Emmy was keen to confirm the results, but unlike Constance, she was not in a celebratory mood. Esteban’s actions had suggested that an astral being could take on mass. This raised far too many questions. They were questions she was under too much pressure to answer, and one in particular troubled her.
Charlie’s team had three years head start - could they have come across a similar phenomenon? Would they have made the same conclusions as she? For the first time she was aware of just how much more advanced her rivals may have become and just how dangerous that could make them.
Esteban was characteristically quiet when he exited his projection chamber. There was so much that Emmy wanted to question him about, but she would have to wait until they had privacy. Dr Stark’s continued presence irked her and she did not trust her assistants either. They were lab rats in every sense of the word. They did not care about pushing the boundaries of science, only the next pay check and increased funding by the military. She had to think very carefully about who she could take into her confidence. The more she thought about it, the more her conclusions surprised her.
***
Jimmy no longer felt comfortable by his mother’s bedside. The apparition, he could handle. It was the thought he may endanger her life again by blindly following one of his visions that worried him. He had lost a great deal of his former conviction in the last few days. The self doubt had set in following the train incident. He could still not understand why his vision had not come to pass. This had never happened before and it set a dangerous precedent as well as offering him hope of one day reclaiming his free will.
Whenever he visited the medical bay, he always made sure to have a guard with him. He would have preferred Esteban, but since beginning training with Emmy, the CIA man could not spare the time. The alternatives were not nearly as friendly as the South American. Jimmy knew that all of the other soldiers feared him. They despised being in his presence and the rejection hurt. Why could he not be normal again?
The colonel summoned him to the office for the first time since the breach, as they were calling it. He sensed a heightened tension within the compound and he suspected they were planning something big, but his gift gave him no clue as to what it was. The rigid and predictable routine of the base was preventing him from having visions as frequently as he had previously.
‘You probably already know why I have called you here,’ the colonel said to him, as Jimmy took a seat opposite.
The boy did not answer. He had quickly discovered that the colonel was always more easily pleased by his own assumptions than what people actually told him.
‘Well, you’ll be glad to know that we’re finally in a position to take action against the individuals who breached our compound,’ the colonel continued. ‘As of 08:00 tomorrow, we will be launching a retaliatory mission. Those Chinamen may think they can come in here and spy on us, but we’re going to shut them down, do you hear? Shut them down for good.’
The colonel punched the air with all of the bravado the young psychic lacked. Though he was certainly enthusiastic about the mission, the pathos was purely for his audience’s benefit.
‘And you think I can help you with this?’ asked Jimmy, already knowing the answer, but not because of his psychic gifts. It was simply that obvious – even for him.
‘Hell, son, you can do more than that. You can pretty much guarantee us victory. A lot of people are going to be counting on you tomorrow. The whole of the free world, in fact. Now, do you think you’re up to the task?’
It was not often Jimmy would come up with a plan independent of his gift, but this time he could feel an idea beginning to germinate somewhere in the back of his brain. If he was right, it may even offer him a way out. The colonel was counting on him to provide psychic guidance, but wh
at if he could find a way to block any foresight from coming through? After all, it had been done before when they placed him in the sensory deprivation cell.
‘You know me, sir,’ he replied, easily feigning his trademark optimism. ‘I’m always willing to do my bit.’
‘Excellent,’ said the colonel. ‘I know that with you onboard, there is no way we can lose.’
***
Emmy wanted to spend some time alone in the lab before the big mission. She had been trying to come up with a believable excuse to feed Dr Stark in order for her to remain back after the end of the shift, but as it turned out this was not necessary. Everybody was so elated by the result of the day’s trial that protocols were relaxed.
When Constance saw that Emmy was still logged into her workstation as she was preparing to leave, she simply reminded her to shut everything down before turning in for the night. Then Emmy had the place to herself.
The operating system was unchanged from when she had developed it with her grandfather. The encryption codes had been altered, but they were actually less advanced and therefore less secure than her original codes. Once she was past the firewall it was not hard for her to find the backdoor. This had been put in by her grandfather for his own nefarious plans, but now she had a much more noble use for it. She programmed Esteban’s chamber so that it was linked directly to hers. Should she for any reason have to abort her journey, he would have no choice but to do the same. There would be no way for him to carry on without her.
Once done, she hid her handiwork behind a wall of impenetrable code and then moved on to checking the logs from the day’s trial. It did not take long for her to find an anomaly. It confirmed what she had earlier suspected. At the exact time that Esteban had interfered with the electricity source, his projected essence had altered drastically. A significant amount of electrical energy had been transferred directly to his essence.
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