Tao motioned for two subordinates to escort Charlie away from the console. A replacement scientist immediately took his place.
‘All that matters is getting the girl,’ the general told his new Chief of Operations. ‘Instruct our men to eliminate her companions.’
‘As you wish, General,’ the scientist replied.
‘No!’ screamed Charlie.
He attempted to wrest free of the guards, but their grip was too strong. The more he struggled, the tighter and more powerful their hold on him became. He was their prisoner now. There was now nothing he could do to help his friend.
***
Esteban emptied an entire magazine and not one of his bullets had any effect. It was as if every one of them had missed its target. He knew this was impossible because he was too good a marksman. The reason the bullets failed was because his target was not human. If he had any chance of getting through this he needed to raise his level of attack substantially.
The first grenade went wide of the target and impacted into the snow, which muffled much of its explosive power. The second was a direct hit, but it did not detonate. Instead it appeared to be completely absorbed into the body of the hostile. If it had any effect at all, it was simply to have strengthened an already superior foe.
‘Speak to me, Jimmy,’ he called out. ‘How do we get out of this one?’
The young Australian did not reply. He was in a state of complete shock and disbelief. He wore an expression, the exact like of which Esteban had seen only once before; at the train crash. The kid’s psychic intuition had misfired again. He had led them down a blind alley.
‘Shit!’ Esteban cursed to himself. Their only option was retreat. ‘Fall back,’ he then shouted, whilst laying down a barrage of ultimately pointless cover fire for his teammates to get away.
His priority had to be ensuring both Jimmy and Emmy’s safety no matter the cost he may have to bear.
Jimmy had been in the most advanced position when the attack started and was, therefore, the most vulnerable. Without the benefit of his additional sense he was also completely helpless. This was a fact that the inhuman attackers were quick to pick up on.
Esteban ran towards the boy, but when he got to within just feet of him, one of the enemy combatants was already there. He emptied a fresh magazine into the target’s centre point without even drawing its attention. The soldier then dropped his rifle and withdrew a blade despite knowing that it was likely to be just as ineffective as the bullets had been.
His companions were not faring any better. The second attacker had been drawn toward them by the gunfire. Emmy knew the bullets would be no use and was trying her best to come up with an alternative. She tipped open her pack and sifted through the contents for anything that may be of use. Emergency rations, camera, radio, phone; she had an idea, but one thing was still missing.
‘Jack, I need you,’ she called out, but the soldier was too distracted to respond.
She had figured out what the attackers were. They were astral travellers who had harnessed enough electrical energy to create a second body outside of their own. This would make them completely impervious to conventional weapons, but they were not unstoppable. The fact they were using electrical energy was her one hope. Of course, she still did not have everything that she needed.
Jack had stopped firing his gun and was fast depleting his complement of hand grenades. He lobbed them in quick succession in the hope their effects would be accumulative. The explosions slowed his attacker, but that was all they did. After the final explosive was spent, the being advancing on him did not show any sign of damage or injury.
With no means left with which to defend himself, Jack was grabbed by the throat and lifted two feet above the ground. Emmy could see the agony etched on the soldier’s face as his tormentor tightened its grasp. The electricity that gave it form and substance scorched the young soldier’s flesh. His skin blistered like snags on a barbeque. It was not long before his body fell limp, only to be discarded into the snow like a used battery.
The astral being was now between Emmy and Jack’s pack. Having just witnessed what this thing was capable of, she instantly dismissed any thoughts of attempting to get past it. If a fully trained and armed soldier could be defeated with such ease, she stood no chance. Her only hope was if Esteban was carrying the same kit.
She turned and threw herself down a slope, rolling until she reached the bottom. Once she got back to her feet she scanned the area for Esteban and Jimmy. The soldier was on the floor, but it was Jimmy who was in immediate danger. The enemy being grabbed hold of him, but it did not go for the kill like the other had done with Jack. Instead, it kept him held at arm’s length before leaping into the air, clearing the walls of the compound in a single bound.
The other hostile was not yet ready to flee. Like a mountain lion stalking its prey, it slowly made its way down the slope toward her. She knew it could cross the distance between them in an instant, but guessed it saw no need for urgency due to its impossible advantage. The irony was, the longer it delayed, the more that advantage switched to Emmy.
She located Esteban’s pack just a few feet from where he lay. He was obviously hurt, but the cool mist ascending from his mouth confirmed he was still breathing. Whether he would survive the encounter now rested firmly with her. It only took her a moment to find what she was looking for.
Like Jack, Esteban had been carrying plastic explosive with blasting caps and copper firing wire. By stripping the wires and using the copper to create a coil connecting the camera flash to her phone battery, she was able to construct a makeshift device capable of emitting an electromagnetic pulse. It was crude, but it was her only hope.
She worked as fast as she could and just as she was completing her construction the astral being finally caught up with her. Her time was up and unfortunately for her, she was left needing more. Her device was incomplete. It still needed a trigger switch.
‘Wait,’ she said to the being. ‘You don’t have to do this. Can you hear me?’
His lack of a response told her it did not, although it could have been that it simply did not understand English. With no face to read, she had no way of telling. She needed a different tactic.
‘Charlie!’ she cried out. ‘Charlie, if you can hear me you have to stop this. Call your men off, please.’
She wanted to run, but the astral soldier pre-empted her move and slapped her down with all the ease of swatting a fly. She landed face down in the snow, its coldness stinging her skin.
All hope was dwindling, but she could not give up. Not with so much at stake. The strength to get back on her feet deserted her and she was left instead to crawl. Then she felt something grip the back of her jacket and hoist her back onto her feet. It was Esteban.
‘I’m assuming you have a plan,’ he said.
‘Call me.’
‘What?’
‘You still have your sat phone, right? Call me.’
Before he could ask any further questions she pushed him to the side, making sure she was the one the being followed. She then sprinted over to where her bespoke EMP device had fallen and scooped it up into her hands as she passed. The astral soldier was onto her immediately.
She ducked as it swung for her head and in doing so she lost her balance. This time her attacker could not miss. As it loomed over her, she could have sworn that if it had a face, it would have been smiling, such was the malevolence in its posture. What it did not realise was that she was now the one who had set a trap. She lifted the EMP over her chest and as soon as the speakers came to life, signalling an incoming call, she thrust it up into the air.
‘It’s for you,’ she shouted at the astral soldier.
The flash initiated and with it, discharged the Electro Magnetic Pulse. As the being was composed entirely of electrical energy it felt the blast just like a human soldier would had it been a conventional explosive. Without so much as scream or a whimper, it was gone. It dematerialized before her e
yes.
‘Has that thing got any more juice in it?’ Esteban asked as he caught up with her.
‘Unfortunately not, it was a one shot deal. If my theory is correct, his consciousness will have returned to his body, but there’s nothing to stop him coming back.’
‘That was an astral traveller?’
‘I’ll explain later, but first we’ve got to get out of here. They’ll be back at any moment.’
‘Maybe not,’ replied Esteban. ‘Perhaps I can buy us a little more time.’
He pulled out his final hand grenade and threw it at the power generators. Having taken a significant beating fending off the attackers, his throw was not as accurate as he would have hoped. The explosive fell slightly short of where he had intended it too. Only minimal damage was done by the explosion, but he was confident it would be enough to cause a temporary disablement at the very least.
‘Where’s Jack?’ asked Esteban.
‘Up there. I don’t think he made it.’
‘And Jimmy?’
‘They took him. Chances are he’s alive, but there’s nothing we can do for him right now. We have to get out of here.’
‘Agreed. We’ll head back to the tunnels. We should be safe there. It’s unlikely they know about them.’
After confirming Jack’s demise, they followed their tracks back up the slope toward the mountain. After close to a mile a storm began sweeping its way through the valley. Within moments of the storm hitting they had become hopelessly lost. With the combined effects of fatigue, extreme cold and this new hazard it soon became too much for Emmy. She fell to her knees and then keeled forward before passing out. Esteban did not even notice. Within less than a minute, he too, was unconscious.
Chapter 28
The cell bore much similarity to the one that had initially held him back in Australia. At least there was no attempt at sensory deprivation this time so he guessed that whoever was holding him was not aware of his abilities. This was good. There was not a prison in the world that could hold Jimmy Johnson. All he had to do was wait for his escape route to be revealed to him.
In the meantime, he could only pray that no harm had come to Emmy and the soldiers. He knew they would disagree, but he saw the failure of the mission as entirely his fault. If not for his inability to predict the attack their plan would have succeeded. He had let them down.
It had started with the train. That was the first time one of his visions had not come to pass. Given that a hundred people should have died that day, he did not think that getting it wrong was such a bad thing. Since then it had been happening frequently, though he kept this to himself. That was why he was not concerned when he saw Emmy’s parachute accident. His predictions seemed even more likely to fail when she was involved.
A part of him hoped his failure signalled that he was recovering from the psychic radiation. His powers had manifested gradually so he saw no reason why they would not fade in the same way. In time he may even be free of the visions completely. When that day came, he may not have to die twice.
***
‘What went wrong?’ asked the general. ‘Your orders were simple. Bring the girl and eliminate the rest.’
‘I am sorry, General,’ replied Major Heng. ‘Perception can be misleading on the astral plane. Of the four individuals encountered, the one taken had by far the most unique energy signature. It was the only one to carry the infection referenced in Professor Nguyen’s notes.’
‘It was supposed to be a she and she is not infected. Your poor judgement could prove costly, Major. Do we even know what became of Dr Rayne?’
‘We cannot be certain, but we must assume that she survived. It is doubtful that anybody else would have been able to improvise so effective a weapon in so little time.’
‘And what about Lieutenant Yu?’
‘He was disorientated, but shows no lasting side effects. The only real damage was to the primary generator. Our engineers estimate it will be offline for 48 hours.’
‘In that case, I want it repaired and fully operational in 24. Do you understand, Major?’
‘Yes, General. I will relay this order at once.’
‘Excellent. Do not disappoint me again. You will return to your duties. I, meanwhile, have prisoners to interrogate.’
The major bowed, respectfully, before returning to his post.
General Tao’s next port of call was the infected boy they had apprehended in Dr Rayne’s place. In all his experience working with the radiation in both animals and humans, it had been found to be highly unstable. Animals became aggressive and humans were driven insane. To have captured a survivor who did not display the negative effects was a gift from the Gods. This prisoner could turn out to be the key to unlocking the full destructive potential of this new technology. Ultimate power was within his grasp and he intended to reach out and take it.
***
When the general finally came, he was not accompanied by guards. They were not necessary. He had over thirty years of combat experience to his name. Charlie had not so much as been in a fight at High School. Any physical conflict between the two would be over in a heartbeat. It would also be Charlie’s last heartbeat. As both men were fully aware of the inevitable outcome of a fight neither needed to be on their guard.
The scientist remained on his bed, but swung his legs around to adopt an upright seated position. It is always best to stay below the natural eye line of a predator.
‘You will no doubt be glad to hear that your friend is still at large,’ the general said. ‘We do, however, expect this to be merely a temporary inconvenience. The means of her elimination is being put together as we speak.’
‘Elimination?’
Charlie could feel the panic building in the pit of his stomach. He had been betrayed. The plan had always been to bring her in. Convince her to defect. Elimination had never even been on the agenda. At least that is what he had thought. He now realised that he had been a fool to have trusted General Tao.
‘You should be pleased,’ the general told him. ‘Finally, your work will bear fruit. You see, I have taken the data you provided and used it on a little side project of my own. The hostage we took was the final piece of the puzzle.’
‘Hostage?’
‘Yes, one more precious than even Emmy Rayne herself. He is another survivor from Jackson’s Hill. The only to survive exposure to the radiation, I believe. He is now the key to achieving the full potential of your technology. A sample of his DNA is being examined as I speak. If my intuition is correct, we should be able to use it to synthesize a stabilizing compound for the radiation. Soon our dominance will no longer be confined to the astral plane.’
‘You’re crazy. The radiation cannot be controlled. That is why we have been disposing of it. It is much too dangerous.’
The general smiled. His prisoner was truly naive.
‘Not disposing – collecting. I have had a second team working on distilling the radiation into a serum. A serum that will make our armies invincible. In fact, we will no longer require armies. Why employ thousands of men when all it takes is one to bring down an empire?’
‘You’re insane.’
‘And you are in prison, where you shall remain for a very long time. Unless, of course, you choose to help us.’
Charlie did not need to weigh up the options placed in front of him. To him there was only one.
‘I will never help you ever again,’ he told the general. Then standing and looking the other man squarely in the eye, he added: ‘I have seen a much greater man than you destroy himself. The path you deign to follow leads only to your destruction. If you are lucky, you will lose only your life and not your soul.’
Tao was surprised by the weaker man’s candour. Was this a threat or a warning? The last man to threaten him had met with his end not long after. He wondered if perhaps allowing Charlie to live may not be quite so auspicious after all. On the other hand, there were more painful ways to punish a man than with death.
/> ‘Tomorrow we attack. And you, Dr Nguyen, are going to have a front row seat. I suggest you get some sleep. After tomorrow, I guarantee your nights will be forever tortured by nightmares.’
The general left and Charlie lay back down on his bed. If the general really did intend on unleashing the radiation in whatever form, pretty soon the whole world would be having nightmares and not the kind that they could ever wake from.
He lay still and closed his eyes, but did not sleep. Then after maybe an hour he heard a voice. It was female and vaguely familiar.
‘Why did you betray us?’
He did not immediately answer. Instead, he was trying to comprehend how the girl could have made it past two levels of the most advanced security system in the world and then have gained access to his cell. His cell, which was still locked.
Actually, he had a far more pressing question. He wanted to know how she could be anywhere at all. So far as he was aware, Lucy Skye was dead.
Chapter 29
Emmy woke with a start. The sensation was like returning from an astral trip. It took her a while to realise where she was. Or rather, where she was not. Her last memory had been of trudging through the snow with Esteban. They had tried and failed to relocate the entrance to the tunnels and then...blackness.
She must have passed out. If that was the case, she reasoned Esteban must have carried her the rest of the way. His injuries could not have been as bad as she initially feared. The question was; where was he now?
She was in a small chamber with bare stone walls. Illumination was in the form of a thick candle placed on a recess carved into one of the walls. Apart from the bed, which had been comfortable albeit firm, there was no other furniture in the room. Her pack had been placed in the corner and everything appeared to be in order.
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